January 2024

Part of Gather’s 2024 Year of Radical Vision is staying open to new ways of doing—not for novelty’s sake but to be spiritually led into open spaces and greener pastures. The big clue about how this happens comes from the Gospels and Acts, where the first Christians were remarkably flexible. Sometimes church happened around a table. Sometimes on a hillside. Sometimes there were three people. Other times five thousand showed up. The experience changed but the vision remained constant: living into the “and” of God’s will… making space for more… consistently curious… unafraid of abundance.

This Sunday’s YouTube will be another fresh fresh—a roundtable gathering hosted and led by our own worship leader Angela Tarrant. It will be recorded in real-time in her home, with stirring conversation and anointed music and, of course, breaking sacred bread. You’re invited to be her virtual guests this Sunday at 5pm CST on our YouTube channel. I’ve already RSVP’d “Yes!” to the invitation. I hope you’ll be there too!

Peace,

Pastor Tim

Can anything good come out of…? – John 1:46

Dear Gatherers,

Bradley Cooper’s Maestro landed with great fanfare on Netflix just before the New Year. The film’s merits and flaws will be debated for years to come, as expected since Cooper’s subject was the charismatic conductor, composer, and pop culture icon Leonard Bernstein.

As I watched the Maestro—awestruck at times, frustrated at others—its theme was inescapable. Lenny was just too big for labels. His life was too messy for a saint, yet his spirit was too pure to call him a sinner. He dominated every space he occupied—whether a concert hall or backroom bar—yet he was remarkably human.

This Sunday we’re launching “Human Lives as Sacred Text,” a series of occasional conversations about people whose gifts and challenges disrupt norms and defy nature. What can we gather from Bernstein’s experience in a world much more like ours than those we find in biblical texts? How does his story resonate with those ancient texts? These are the first questions that will guide our exploration of a life that, in the end, is every bit as human as Jesus of Nazareth and us. See you online this Sunday at 5pm CST!

Peace and blessings,

Pastor Tim

The man looked up and said, “I see people. They look like trees, only they are walking around.” – Mark 8:24

Dear Gatherers,

Clarity takes time. We see this in the story of the blind man who needs two turns to gain his sight. The process is very telling. First, Jesus leads him out of his village and the sensory comforts he relies on. Then Jesus spits on his eyes—yes, that’s right—and lays hands on him. But apparently he needs something more. All he sees are tall people walking around. Then Jesus touches his eyes and he sees.

Gather is going into 2024 much like the man in the story. We’ve been led away from our comfort zones. We’ve experienced the life of Christ and God’s hand on our lives. But we’re still not seeing or hearing clearly. We need God to touch our eyes so we can see more clearly. Our theme for this year is “Radical Vision” as we develop sharper sensory skills to see where God is leading and hear what God is saying. That will require attentive prayer and prayerful intention.

As lead pastor, I want to be fully transparent: 2024 is the make-or-break year for us. Presently we are not sustainable without generous outside support. We’re not being as consistent and reliable as we must be to move ahead wit clarity. This Sunday Pastor K is going to lead us to consider our listening skills in a powerful message drawn from Jesus’s own baptism. In the weeks to come, we’re going to keep asking, “How can we perceive God’s plan for Gather more clearly?”

It’s going to be an amazing adventure. But we’ll need our senses sharpened to trace the path we’re taking—all of us listening and seeing and responding with profound spiritual precision. We can do this. Of that I’m certain.

With blessings and much love,

Pastor Tim