Gathering Waco

🔔🚨📣 Due to the weather forecast, we've canceled service this Sunday (January 25).

We recorded a special service which will be available on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning: YouTube.com/

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Stay safe, and know you're in our prayers!

God bless, Pastor Rory

Living in the Light of Christ's Love #8 by Matthew James

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9).

On our return to “the promised land” of Texas on a recent summer roadtrip, my family took a slight detour to visit the tri-state marker of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. We were able to stand in three places at once. You may have had similar experiences along those imaginary lines we create in our world, trying to stand in as many places as possible at once. At some point, you also may have felt homesickness and the desire to rush to return to your place of comfort.

Today, we prepare our hearts to celebrate the ultimate act of standing on multiple border lines: Christ, the son of God, entered into the body of a man, stepping down from heaven with one foot to live among God’s creation. His stepping across from heaven onto earth had nothing to do with our merit. His arrival was purely out of God’s depth of love for His creatures that are unable to measure up. His perfect justice requires punishment; our constant need to be forgiven requires a sacrifice. Instead of smiting us, which He could easily do, instead He sent his son to take on our punishment as a perfect sacrifice. Jesus lived in two places for a while so that we might be saved from eternal death and separation from God who demands justice but also loves unconditionally. This is the good news of the Gospel!

What should our response to this good news be? We are asked to take up our cross and follow in His footsteps, to stand in multiple places at once. Sometimes, I feel that I focus too much on my foot stuck in the mud of this world, losing sight of the “promised land” of heaven. Other times I might grow too “homesick,” focusing on my foot aching to step onto the golden streets of what is to come, and I lose sight of my God-given responsibilities in the here and now. I must remember that we are called to live a life that should have one foot solidly on this earth, while our other foot stretches across toward our heavenly reward. Our lives should be lived as a sacrifice, seeking to bridge the chasm between the two places to which we now belong.

Due to Christ’s humble arrival in a stable, His stepping across a great chasm, we can have an eternal view in this time and space: spreading the good news to others, helping the hungry, comforting the sick, praising God now, and then, evermore. Through His sacrifice and resurrection, we are guaranteed a place in the true “promised land” of heaven. As the angels proclaimed to the shepherds, Do not be afraid! He is with you every step of the way.

Prayer:
Dear heavenly father, as we await our heavenly reward, just as the world awaited the arrival of the Messiah, give us the patience and the fortitude to walk in Your path. Keep our feet solidly on the ground in the places You have prepared for us. Help us to share your love with the many others we meet along the way.

Walking in the Light of Christ's Love #6 by Katie James

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:7–8).

In this passage, James urges his readers to be patient until the Lord’s coming. In many ways, this seems fairly passive. It sounds like we need not try to be perfect or successful, but just to wait. Yet that is not all James tells us. He also advises us to “stand firm.” This is active. This is defensive. This is more in line with perseverance.

Patience, then, seems to have something intrinsically to do with perseverance. It takes patience to grow a crop, like James mentions, and perseverance to overcome the problems along the way. Together, patience and perseverance produce a rich reward.

In the next verses, James advises us how necessary both patience and perseverance are to the Christian walk:

“As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:10–11).

We must be patient. We must stand firm. We must persevere. There have been, are, and will be dark days since Jesus ascended. There will be—darker still—days like the ones Job experienced, when he lost his family, suffered tragedy upon tragedy, and felt hopeless. It was not Job who ended up the victor, but God, through Job’s faithfulness. So it is with us. We need neither to lie on the ground in submission to the enemy nor to fight for God like some crusader. We simply need to stay true and stand firm. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. His mercy rendered the birth of his Son, and his compassion bore the cross. We need nothing more to stand firm. We already have the greatest hope.

Prayer:
Lord, you are our greatest hope. Thank you for sending us hope at Christmas. Let that hope help us stand firm through it all, so that we can see what you will finally bring about through us, your church. Amen.