I tweeted Saturday night or Sunday morning that yesterday’s Gathering was specifically one that I had been praying for a while. Men, I pray that we would be ferocious warriors when it comes to fighting for our marriage.

The best place for us to start is with our eyes fixed on the cross. The best thing that we can do for our marriage is to treasure Jesus and his glory more than our spouse and marriage. I know that may seem crazy or upside down, but that is how Jesus operates.

There is so much that could be said from Walt’s message, but let me just emphasize a couple of things. Please go listen or watch the  message as soon as it is available for download. Believe this is definitely one of the most important messages from Walt in our short history as a Gospel Community.

1. You are not alone. The reason that we emphasize Gospel Community so much is because we want you to know that we are on the same team. You have support here. That does not mean that we will stroke your ego, but it does mean that we love you and care about you and your marriage/relationship/walk with Jesus. We care about community because Jesus cares about community. There is nothing in the Bible about your walk being private. There is a personal aspect to your relationship with Jesus, but not a private.

2. There are only two directions: Bitter or Better. Don’t know what else I can say here. If you keep chasing the fairy tale, you will only grow bitter. If you chase Jesus, your marriage can get better (notice that Better does NOT equal easier).

Songs from the Gathering:

• Glorious Day
• God Undefeatable
• Your Great Name
• Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners
• Great I Am

We had a phenomenal gathering yesterday.

7 people went through the baptism waters. Jesus is doing an amazing work in and through Capstone Church. I believe that he is just getting started. Remembering the joy and celebration from yesterday, let us pray for Jesus to send more workers into the harvest.

We will be getting back to the series called the Mount this week. Don’t miss it.

Songs from the Gathering:

• Happy Day
• Glory to God Forever
• Christ is Risen
• Carry Your Name

I’m still jacked about yesterday’s Gathering. The voices filled the room. Please don’t let that stop. Don’t allow the songs we sang and the message we heard to be choked out by the stress and cares of the world. Keep those thoughts and tunes with you as you live as light and salt in the world.

The series through the Sermon on the Mount may go down as one of the best. So many times, we miss the truth of Scripture because we fail to see it within the proper context. We separate the Beattitudes from what Jesus says about worrying, marriage, or another topic found in Matthew 5-7. When we disconnect “Blessed are those…” from “You are the salt of the earth” then we miss a valuable understanding.

Being the light and salt is not an easy assignment. It is also not an option for us. It is a declaration of who we are as followers of Christ. You don’t get to choose when to be light either. Our light does not just shine in the good times, but instead I would argue that it shines brightest in the toughest times.

Here are the Songs from Yesterday:

• Your Name High
• Our God
• Jesus Paid It All
• Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Chorus only)
• This Changes Everything (Reflection Time)
• It is Well

For the second session, we were able to see several people’s experiences with whispers from God. The whispers ranged from daily commute interruptions, to peace and calm while visiting a child in the hospital after a tragic car accident. The important thing to remember is to pay attention, and know it’s from God.
Bill Hybel also brought to our attention that the Lord will be our shelter in a storm – whatever kind of storm you may face, He is there.

Where have you heard a whisper? What has assured you it was God?

Enjoyed the day off, but definitely time to get back to work. So just a few quick thoughts from Sunday.

1. I am so looking forward to walking through the Sermon on the Mount between now and Easter. I would challenge you each week to read Matthew 5-7. Those 3 chapters are packed full of Gospel Awesomeness.

2. God cares more about your HOLINESS than your HAPPINESS. My prayer this morning was for Capstone Church to care about the same thing. That is not an easy prayer, but I would argue that God knows what is best. If God is for us, then he is for our joy and if God is for our joy then he must know what will bring us the fullness of joy. So when he says that your holiness is more important than your happiness and that holiness is found in the person of Jesus, then God must know that our greatest joy could only be found in Christ.

3. I want to echo Walt in his message from Sunday. You can’t read this sermon and come away with “Do Better, Try Harder.” You can’t do it. Your only hope is found in the work of Christ. He fulfilled the law not so that we wouldn’t have to, but because we couldn’t.

Songs from the Gathering:

• Stir Our Hearts/All for You (Dukes)
• Victorious (Dukes)
• To the Cross (Baloche)
• Christ is Risen (Maher)

What a great start to community groups for 2012!

After breaking up into small groups, we discussed how the Lord has spoken to us in our lives before watching Bill Hybel’s video. We saw the story of a man who found Christ later in life, and who was told by the Lord to donate his kidney to a guy that he met through work. Gerry barely knew this man he was risking his life for, but to him, there was no question that he was going to do what the Lord told him.

Wow – to have that kind of faith!

Bill Hybel’s filters for knowing if the Lord is truly talking to you were right on. You need to ask – Is this truly from you, God? Also, make sure what you are hearing is Scriptural, wise, in tune with your own personal character, and in line with what people you trust most would agree with.

Think about Chris’s challenge…think of three goals or aspirations in your life right now. Think of how you can make sure you are hearing from the Lord on these matters, and really seek His counsel. Like Chris said – the only way you can hear a whisper is if you are beside Him!

Make sure to join us next week for the next session – Wednesday, January 18th – 6:30 – Capstone building.  Childcare and warm coffee is provided! See you then!

What a celebration yesterday. A celebration of Christ and all that he has done in the three years of Capstone Church. I will be posting some more thoughts about 2012 and thoughts from this past Sunday this week, but for now lets just remember. Let’s remember all that God accomplished through the faithfulness of a small community of Christ followers. Let’s remember that faithfulness as we pray bold/strong prayers for 2012.

Here are the Songs We Used for Worship:

• God Undefeatable (Austin Stone Community Church)
• Glorious Day (Michael Bleecker)
• Victorious (John Dukes)
• It is Finished (Matt Papa)
• No Condemnation (John Dukes)

Reflecting over the past 3 years as we prepare to celebrate Jesus and his work in and through Capstone got me and Walt to thinking. Here are some of the major changes that have happened at Capstone:

10. Moving from 500 sq ft for our kids to over 5000 sq ft for our Children’s Ministry at the permanent facility.

9. Three Crafts of Coffee to Thirteen Crafts of Coffee at the Gathering

8. Trailer Stolen – The Woody Wood Pecker Trailer GONE (luckily it was after we became permanent)

7. The amount of people who can actually say “Chris Barrineau” correctly.

6. Parents making church growth important (just look at our Pebble Beach numbers over 3 years)

5. We have “some” sound equipment that we actually PAID for (but we are still all for the hand-me-down)

4. Freezing Ice Fishing Tank to now a warm Jacuzzi for baptism.

3. . Walt’s Sermons have moved from leftovers in the microwave to meat loaf (who knows when we will start to get Prime Rib)

2. Number of people who have Passports for Gospel Ministry

1. Transformed LIVES by the Gospel of Jesus

Anything else you would add?

We are celebrating 3 years of Gospel ministry this coming Sunday. So with that in mind we would love to hear from you about your memories or favorite moments from the last 3 years. What is something that God has taught you? Share about Jesus moving in your life. You can add it in the comment section of the blog or you can share on Facebook.

So let’s hear from the Stoners:

A few things that I think are helpful to stay focused on reading the Bible in 2012.

1. Pick a Time – Set aside a specific time to read the Bible. This is important. Guard it ferociously. Don’t hope that you will “find” time each day.
2. Journal – After you read, write down a verse or 2 that stuck out to you. Write out your prayers. Write down what God said about himself in the passage you read. Write! Write! Write! It is a beautiful gift to look back over the year and see how God has answered your prayers.
3. Remember the Gospel – You will get off your plan. The good news is that God does not love you more because you read your Bible on that day or love you less because you didn’t. His love for us is based on Christ’s work and not yours. So if you miss a day don’t beat yourself up. Instead keep pushing forward. Keep moving toward the goal.