Merry Christmas!
I recently found my first Christmas letter to the people at Gateway! This was written in December of 1996. Take a trip down memory lane as you read with me the following:
Dear Family and Friends at Gateway,
The sights and sounds of the season are everywhere. In the mall, green trees glisten with bright red ribbons and gold ornaments from Hallmark. Street after street and house after house seem to be in a contest for creating the merriest of Christmas displays. Radio stations play "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," but we know there will probably be another mild
Everyone seems to join in. Hollywood releases another Santa story that keeps kids guessing into puberty, "Is he real or not?" But aren't so many people missing the meaning behind the music, forgetting the prize beyond the pageantry and presents? In our
For our family, this is a new year with a new and marvelous challenge: ministry to you here at Gateway, while also touching our community with the real reason for the season. I thank God for the call to this body, and for the challenges that lie ahead:
1. Expand the opportunity to worship: January 5, 1997; 9:00am and 10:30am.
2. Increase our ability to reach and teach through home groups.
3. Continue to make children and youth a priority and joyful challenge God desires them to be.
Well, that was eight years ago and we have kept our priorities right where we started. God has blessed us from a church with one service and 150 people to this fellowship of over 500.
We are ready to see our best days yet. So again, Merry Christmas and let's have a great new year for Jesus' sake.
Pastor Mark
