"I will make known my holy name among my people Israel… and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day...” Ezekiel 39:7,8 NIV

Dear Gateway Church Family:

As I write to you in this new year of 2010, I am reminded anew of what a privilege it is to serve Jesus. God is doing some wonderful things among us, and He continues to reveal Himself and teach me through many of you. Truly, I thank God for the blessing you are to me.

This Sunday many of you were there when we made an announcement that relates to a special approach we are taking to a Sunday morning on Family Day Weekend – Valentine’s Day – February 14th, 2010.  I don’t have the space to explain everything in this letter and so more information will come out in the weeks leading up to that Sunday.

Many of you are aware that the theme of the Gateway leadership team for this season, sometimes referred to as our “rallying cry”, is: Our Gateway family experiencing God in everyday life and not just Sundays at the building. That is why I have been preaching the “His” series of messages: It’s His Day, His Job, His Choices, His Body.  We need to invite God to own, to fill, and to use each area of our lives for His purposes and glory and not just when we walk in through the doors of our church building.

The staff and the elders of Gateway are persuaded that there is a real urgency for each of us to experience this fullness of life that is God’s will for us.  Let’s keep in mind that we all know family members, friends, co-workers and neighbours who desperately need to see Jesus in us and hear about Jesus from us. Not only are they struggling with the challenges of this life, but they are headed for eternity without God. And their only contact with the One who loves them and gave Himself for them may be as they get to know people like us.

And so our relationships, with God and other people, have eternal significance. I am sure we would all agree that no sacrifice is too great to see someone come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Even so, other commitments, priorities and distractions often keep us from doing what we know God would have us do as we reach out with His love.

It is with this urgency in mind that our staff wrestled with the question: “What are we willing to give up here at Gateway in order to experience our Rallying Cry?”  What are we willing to sacrifice in order to demonstrate that experiencing God in everyday life really has the importance it deserves?  And so we have decided to “sacrifice” a Sunday at Gateway, in order to provide an unusual opportunity for everyone in the Gateway family to experience and share their relationship with Jesus in a different way.

That’s why, on Sunday, February 14th, there will be no public services at Gateway. 

It’s like nothing we’ve ever done before!  On the Valentine’s Day and the Family Day weekend, we urge you to use that morning creatively to draw nearer to Jesus and to “be Jesus” to someone who does not yet know Him. You may want use that time to advance a relationship, or to initiate an “act of random kindness” or to initiate Faith at Home with your children or something else as prompted by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The name we are giving this initiative is, “This Is The Day!” in order to emphasize the importance of everyone at Gateway personally and prayerfully taking ownership of the urgency of our Rallying Cry.

So here’s what we need you to do.  Please pray about “This Is The Day!” on the weekend of February 14th and ask God to help you make a plan that reflects both the “who” and the “what” that He is asking from you. One of the best things you can do is to bring this topic up in your small church this week and pray about how you plan to move the Rallying Cry forward in your lives that weekend.

The Gateway facility will be open that Sunday to connect with any visitors that arrive and for hospitality purposes.  The important thing is that we all pray about and consider how we may harness that weekend to move forward the Rallying Cry in our lives.  We will be giving you more information about this in the weeks to come.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask somebody on the Gateway staff team by calling 905-765-5407. 

After He led the Samaritan woman and many of her friends to repentance and eternal life, Jesus challenged his disciples to see others as He sees them. “The harvest is now!” Jesus urged, not next week, next month, or next year.  This is the day.  May God help each one of us to see, to believe, and to act.

Sincerely,

Pastor Steve on behalf of the Gateway Elders and Staff Team