Refreshed by the Gospel
Our gatherings are completely shaped by the gospel. We sing about the gospel, read and speak the gospel, and proclaim the gospel in preaching. Therefore when you come you are reminded that God is Holy, that you are a helpless, and Jesus is your only hope. You may not remember every point from the sermon, you may not remember every song sang or every scripture you recited (if you do communal scripture readings), but in the end you were refreshed by the gospel, you worshiped God, and your faith was built up.

Community
Our gathering grows our community. We welcome each other as is welcoming each other into our own home. We come to collectively worship with others who have responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is something great about a communal worship experience. To come together and collectively proclaim God’s holiness, your sinfulness and need for a savior; your thankfulness for a redeemer like Jesus; it binds your hearts together as one. You are reminded that we are all sinners, seeking to be more like Jesus, failing miserably at times, but not alone in our pursuit, rather, given to one another for the upbuilding of each other.
*If you only view the gathering from the lens of what it gives you, you’ll be a sparse attender. But if you view this as a way to serve and love others (to be apart of the building up of the body) then you will see it as a responsibility; a responsibility to those to whom you have committed yourself for their growth and betterment.

Mission
Our gathering is part of our mission. In other words, its one of our entry points into our community. This means we need to be ready to meet and welcome new people into our community at the gathering. If you aren’t there how will you welcome new people? If you aren’t there how will you participate in that aspect of our mission? This is especially important in a church plant because a sparse gathering is uncomfortable to new comers (especially if they aren’t Christians).

How Do You Do It?
Simple- Make it a priority and protect that time. Plan out your week to include time for your church gathering. If you are in school and working and have a packed schedule, plan ahead and get your study time in at other times in the week so you protect the couple hours of your weekend. Let your friends and family know if they are coming into town that you will be going to your church gathering at [insert time] and you’d love for them to come with you, DVR the football game, tell your kids coach you wont be there for Sunday morning (or Sat evening) games, tell your friends at midnight you have to go home and cant stay up until 3am because then you’ll be tempted to skip the gathering in the morning, etc….. In other words, don’t make your weekend plans and then try to fit in going to the gathering, make your weekend plans around your gathering. Again, make it a priority, not an optional event, and protect it like crazy. It’s worth it.