gathering

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 5.3.15

Songs:

In Tenderness by Citizens and Saints

Come Thou Fount by King's Kaleidoscope

Fix My Eyes by King's Kaleidoscope

Take The World by Ascend The Hill

Sermon Tweets:

Jesus’ path to greatness is altogether different than the rest of the world’s.

Jesus isn’t interested in making a slick sales pitch.

Jesus regularly rejects the world’s system of influence to spread his kingdom.

The primary ways by which God’s mission advances are suffering and humble sacrifice.

Throughout all of time, God’s kingdom has advanced by his people dying and dying to self.

God loves to move through the consistent sacrifices of his people.

When we sacrifice, we look remarkably like Jesus.

Jesus will never ask us to sacrifice more than he already has.

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 4. 26.15

Songs:

Hail The King by Citizens and Saints

God Is Good by Dustin Kensrue

In Christ Alone by King's Kaleidoscope

Father You Are All We Need by Citizens and Saints

Sermon Tweets:

When we're actively feasting on Jesus, then we can't help but want others to come feast at the table too.

Because consumerism flows out of emptiness, we'll never be free until we're full of something better.

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 3.22.15

Songs:

Before The Throne by The Modern Post

God Is Good by Dustin Kensrue

Rock Of Ages by Page CXVI

All I Have Is Christ by Summit Worship

Sermon Tweets:

Jesus has better plans than us running around terrified of being known by others.

Jesus wants far more for us than just our physical healing.

In the midst of your suffering, God sees you.

Jesus walks with us in our suffering so that we can walk with others in theirs.

In the midst of others’ suffering, the gospel helps us say “I can’t fix it, but I can be with you in it.”

We are comforted to be comforters to others.

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 3.15.15

Songs:

In Tenderness by Citizens And Saints

Hail the King by Citizens And Saints

Rejoice by Dustin Kensrue

Father You Are All We Need by Citizens And Saints

Fix My Eyes by King's Kaleidoscope

Sermon Tweets:

When we conclude that someone must have “deserved” their suffering, we are ascribing to karma, not Christianity.

If we are here as a result of godless evolution, suffering is no more than the universe weeding out the weak.

Maybe a good question to ask is “how terrible would life be if God always gave us what we deserved?”

Perhaps more dangerous than suffering is the idleness of the soul that comes from the absence of suffering at all.

There’s a way to ask questions of God that are actually accusing God.

Gathering Recap | Downtown |3.1.15

Songs:

All Creatures by King's Kaleidoscope

Praise To The Lord by Citizens

White As Snow by Jon Foreman

Take The World by Ascend The Hill

Sermon Tweets:

Sex is designed to communicate “I do, forever,” not “you’ll do, for now.”

Seeing sex as an appetite to be fed leads to seeing human as objects to be consumed.

All of us long to be fully known and fully loved. Sex outside of covenant is a cheap substitution for that.

We don’t look at porn for just physical pleasure. We look at porn because we want to be wanted.

Despite emotional arguments to the contrary, our casual view of sex has cause more damage than it has “helped.”

We have believed the lie that sex is simultaneously the ultimate source of meaning and meaningless at the same time.

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 2.22.15

Songs:

There Is A Fountain by Citizens And Saints

The Solid Rock by The Dispatch

Come Thou Fount by King's Kaleidoscope

Fix My Eyes by King's Kaleidoscope

Sermon Tweets:

Busyness is not just a practical problem; it’s an identity problem.

Much of our struggle with busyness is a struggle for importance.

Busyness comes from believing our productivity gives us an identity.

We busy ourselves because being alone with our thoughts is a scary place.

Some of our busyness comes from believing our productivity gives us security.

The world is filled with great opportunities; most of which God has not called you to.

If you’re not certain of your priorities, you’ll be a slave to the tyranny of the urgent.

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 2.15.15

Songs:

All I Have Is Christ by Summit Worship

Rock of Ages by Page CXVI

White As Snow by Jon Foreman

Man of Sorrows by Hillsong

Sermon Tweets:

Being a Christian is way more beautiful than passively avoiding a list of bad behaviors.

Apathy is not just an emotional problem; it’s a disconnect from our purpose.

True Christians tend to do well with adversity; they struggle more with affluence.

Because of the gospel, we are no longer enslaved to our apathy.

Grace doesn’t just train us to deny bad things; it trains us to care passionately about good things.

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 2.8.15

Songs:

Just As I Am by The Modern Post

Psalm 18 by Citizens

The Solid Rock by King's Kaleidoscope

How Deep The Father's Love For Us by The Dispatch

Sermon Tweets:

Part of the trouble with worry is that it tells us partial truths about ourselves and our world.

Anxiety occurs when good things we care about meets brokenness in our world.

Worry and anxiety tell us the truth about our world, but omit the truth about God.

The goal of prayer in the midst of anxiety is to bring God back into focus.

The prerequisite for casting our anxieties on God is humility.

One antidote to worry about God’s provision in the future is recalling God’s goodness in the past.

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 2.1.15

Songs:

Psalm 18 by Citizens

Praise To The Lord by Citizens

Be Thou My Vision by Ascend The Hill

In Tenderness by Citizens

Sermon Tweets:

Everyone gets angry; the difference is in how we express it.

At the root of anger is thinking "reality as it stands is unacceptable to me." 

A healthy Christian life is not one absent of anger, but one absent of sinful anger.

We're righteous when we're mad that God's will isn't done. We're unrighteous when we're mad that our will isn't done.

We can find comfort in the fact that ridding the world of injustice does not rest solely on our shoulders. 

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 11.25.15

Songs:

Grace Alone by Dustin Kensrue

The Word by The Dispatch

Doxology by Citizens

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go by Ascend The Hill

When I Survey The Wondrous Cross by Page CXVI

All I Have Is Christ by Summit Worship

Sermon Tweets:

Greed believes the lie that more will fix what’s wrong with us.

Envy is greed directed at a person, with a little bit of malice sprinkled in. 

Envy leads us to a place where we can no longer rejoice in the success of others.

We look at others and say “I want what they have.” Jesus looks at us and says “I want them to have what I have.”

Greed turns our attention so entirely towards what we don’t have, that we forget what we do have.

It’s possible to even use tithing as a tool to feed our greed.

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 11.18.15

Songs:

Noting But The Blood by Citizens

There Is A Fountain by Citizens and Saints

None But Jesus by Hillsong

White As Snow by Jon Foreman

Rock of Ages by Page CXVI

Sermon Tweets:

Guilt is when we feel like we do something wrong; shame is when we feel like we are something wrong.

Left undealt with, your guilt and shame will destroy you.

We don’t just need our record cleared; we need our shame cleansed.

As a result of God cleansing our shame, we get right relationship with Him, as well as with each other.

Guilt and shame tell you stories about yourself that don’t have to be true.

Jesus takes your shame and transforms it into a beautiful testament to his incomprehensible grace towards you.

Anywhere that our shame whispers “dirty,” the gospel whispers back “not any more.”

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 1/11/15

Songs:

There Is A Fountain by Citizens and Saints

Hail The King by Citizens and Saints

All Glory Be To Christ by King's Kaleidoscope

Father You Are All We Need by Citizens and Saints

Fix My Eyes by King's Kaleidoscope

 

Sermon Tweets:

We cannot fix what’s killing us on our own.

What’s killing us is primarily internal, heart-level, and Godward.

One of the biggest obstacles to growth is blaming external factors to avoid being honest about ourselves.

This year we don’t need to turn over a new leaf; we need to be given a new life.

Regeneration brings new desires, not just new behaviors.

Regeneration brings a holy discontentment with sin that remains in our lives.

Regeneration knows that real change is possible.

 [button label="Listen to the Sermon" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/sermon-series/whats-killing-me" shape="default"]

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 12/14/14

Songs:

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus by King's Kaleidoscope

Prepare Him Room by Sovereign Grace

O Holy Night by Sovereign Grace

How Deep the Father's Love For Us by The Dispatch

 

Sermon Tweets:

Christmas is the only time of year where we as a culture demand nothing but a happy ending.

We all live discontented lives, apart from the Holy Spirit's intervention.

We're all story fanatics, and we all believe some type of story about life.

Every story is either a shadow of the gospel story or a longing for the gospel story.

The gospel of Jesus is better than the gospel of blind opportunism that comes with Christmas.

We all long to be "home." And the good news of Jesus is that we are headed there.

We're rallying together as a church to serve families dealing with pediatric cancer. Find out about how you can help:

 [button label="Listen to the Sermon" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/sermon-series/luke" shape="default"]

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 11.16.14

Songs:

Come Thou Fount by King's Kaleidoscope

Rock of Ages by Page CXVI

Father You Are All We Need by Citizens and Saints

Jesus Paid It All by Kristian Stanfill

Man of Sorrows by Hillsong

Sermon Tweets

Love for God is a knee-jerk response to the forgiveness He offers us. 

If you will not see yourself as a sinner, you can not love God. 

External sin repented of is better than internal sin not repented of. 

We will love God to the degree that we recognize the magnitude of our sins and God’s grace to forgive them. 

Many of us lack love because we lack repentance. 

The only thing that can humble proud people and lift up broken people is the gospel. 

 [button label="Listen to the Sermon" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/sermon-series/luke" shape="default"]

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 11.9.14

Songs:

Oh God by Dustin Kensrue

Psalm 18 by Citizens

Praise To The Lord by Citizens

Father You Are All We Need by Citizens

Sermon Tweets

The gospel says that life is fundamentally about God; not about us.

If your identity is completely defined by your desires, it will be impossible to give them up.

Jesus does not owe you your dreams.

If Jesus is who he says he is, and did what he says he did, then everything in our lives is on the chopping block.

No matter what Jesus asks us to give up, he always gives us the peace of his presence.

We're less than two weeks away from our Baptism at . Get all the details here:

 [button label="Listen to the Sermon" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/sermon-series/luke" shape="default"]

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 11.2.14

Songs:

Psalm 18 by Citizens

Grace Alone by The Modern Post

Savior King by Hillsong

Rock of Ages by Page CXVI

Be Thou My Vision by Ascend The Hill

 

Sermon Tweets

The hope we have is not that God will always change our circumstance, but that he can be trusted in any circumstance.

The peace of Christ will rule in your life when you realize that nothing compares to his power.

Jesus does not trivialize our circumstances. He simply declares that he is bigger.

The cross of Jesus is an anchor for the soul in the midst of life’s scary, unmanageable circumstances.

If you find yourself following a Jesus that you have no fear of, you’ve not found the historical Jesus.

Following Jesus means knowing that he is powerful enough to calm storms, and powerful enough to have reasons not to.

Resting in Jesus' power is all about understanding that through the cross, his power is for you and not against you.

  [button label="Listen to the Sermon" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/sermon-series/luke" shape="default"]

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 10.19.14

Songs:

Made Alive by Citizens

Out Of The Mud by Seeds Family Music

Psalm 18 by Citizens

Nothing But The Blood by Citizens

All I Have Is Christ by Summit Worship

Amazing Grace by Citizens

 

Sermon Tweets

Our external actions are inextricably tied to the condition of our hearts.

If we want our actions to change, we need a changed heart.

We don't just need more accountability; we need new hearts.

Difficult circumstances only reveal soul-level problems, not create them.

Families need the family of God to become better families.

Parenting is a community project.

  [button label="Listen to the Sermon" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/sermon-series/luke" shape="default"]

Gathering Recap | Downtown| 10.12.14

Songs:

Dear Refuge Of My Wear Soul by Trinity Grace Church

10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

I Will Exalt You by Hillsong

The Word by The Dispatch

 

Sermon Tweets

 Every time we see sin in others, it should be a reminder to examine ourselves first.

To be forgiven by God will invariably cause me to become a forgiving person.

In your relationships, you are either cultivating a gospel culture or a sinful culture.

There's a way to clearly state right and wrong without being a judgmental person.

Gospel humility is to be more aware of my own sin than I am of someone else's.

We have plenty of sin to be concerned about in our own lives.

Calling out sin in others is an easy diversion tactic to distract from our own sin.

 [button label="Listen to the Sermon" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/sermon-series/luke" shape="default"]

Gathering Recap | Downtown | 10.5.14

Songs:

Come And Stand Amazed by Citizens

All I Have Is Christ by Sovereign Grace Music

Fix My Eyes by King's Kaleidoscope

Rock Of Ages by Page CXVI

Kingdom Come by Elevation

 

Sermon Tweets

 Just because some of us don't have enemies doesn't mean we don't have people who are difficult to love.

If Jesus says to love our enemies...it's safe to assume that includes people who disagree with us.

If Jesus says to love our enemies...it's safe to assume that includes people who annoy us.

If Jesus says to love our enemies...it's safe to assume that includes people we don't have much in common with.

If Jesus says to love our enemies...it's safe to assume that includes people who we think are immature.

At the core of Jesus’ call to love our enemies is the story of a God who died for His.

Jesus turned his enemies into friends and we're called to do the same.

Immaturity is living life in response to others. Maturity is living life in response to God.

 [button label="Listen to the Sermon" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/sermon-series/luke" shape="default"]

1800 Blanding Street

Columbia, SC