REDEMPTION

When I was young growing up here in Granbury we had stores that gave S&H Green Stamps as a bonus to your purchases. Some had double stamps on certain days. Perry's service station gave triple stamps when we filled the hay trucks with gas. I watched as the cashier rang up the purchases, pulling a lever with each entry. My eyes lit up every time I heard the cha-ching, knowing that meant more stamps. When the total was tallied, the cash register spit out a stream of stamps, both large and small. We always put the stamps in books right away. Large stamps represented dollars spent and only three filled a page. Small stamps represented cents spent and 30 filled a page. I like doing the dollars. After six months of collecting stamps and six hours of pasting them in the books, we excitedly drove to Cleburne to the S & H Green Stamp Redemption Center. Oh, it was an exciting day to make a that trip to Redemption Center and trade in our stamps for a special prizes.

Have you ever noticed there are some Christian words we repeat often, but have difficulty explaining? I think redemption is one of those words. Redemption what does it mean?
To me, it meant to trade something in for something else, to take my stamps and trade them in (redeem them) for a prize -- for something valuable. And that's exactly what it means.

Jesus Christ traded in His life to redeem mine. Listen to what these two passages have to say: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.' He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit (Galatians 3:13,14 NIV).
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect (I Peter 1:18,19 NIV).

Jesus traded in His life so that each of us could receive prize. To Him, we are the prize -- a treasure. But that's not all. He's made it possible to do a little bit of trading as well. You can trade in confusion for the mind of Christ, filthy rags for a robe of righteousness, bondage for freedom, bitterness for forgiveness, darkness for light, condemnation for acceptance, spiritual poverty for abundance and the list goes on and on.

He even gave me (and you) the Holy Spirit as a down payment for more that is yet to come. What an abundance of treasures -- much more valuable than an electric can opener or set of mixing bowls.

What is going on at GATEWAY

The garden took a hit with the freeze. There are plants that will have to be replaced. This is a fact of gardening. Bonnie and Cherry were out in the garden working away when this blog was being prepared. CC said Eddie had been there earlier, if there are more of you working in the garden let the Vine know.

AB, Carl Ansley , Carl Crosby (now refereed to as Crosby) and Eddie took on the task of laying the 4 pallets of grass. Josh Riddle secured the purchase of the grass at a below market price. He purchased the grass for $75.00 a pallet. The collected view of the situation is we need at least 2 more pallets. This is not a budgeted item. Back to the laying of the grass, Loretta and Georgia where invaluable help. There is still work to be done . The grass needs to be watered on a regular basic of at least a week. If you would like to volunteer for this, please contact the office .

The puppet ministry went to the Juvenile Detention Center Friday April the 10th. Church these kids are some of the best kids in the world, be proud of them, encourage them. They took donated bibles and went to witnessing. Not a lot of fan fare, just took the word of God and went to work. The children (inmates) want Gateway to come back and come back often. This is remarkable, some of theses kids have never had attention ( the right attention), not even knowing what love is, they saw love in action. They are being told about Jesus and they may never have been exposed to this before.
Gateway Children's Ministries are winning souls for Christ.

Georgia cleaned up the flower bed and updated the bark mulch and added some new plants. The darker mulch stands out with a good contrast to the yellow church walls. I know for certain that she worked a 10 hour day that day. It takes a lot of work to maintain.

Alvin has been keeping the sign interesting.Due to age and wind new letters, numbers and punctuations are needed. A new set will cost around 200 dollars or so. This was an item that was discussed for the budget for the grounds and maintenance.

Danny Bass has stepped forward to volunteer in keeping the Baptistry clean and ready to go. This will also include the robes and towels. It is an awesome responsibility to take on. Terry King has served in this capacity foe several years. A break is in order and well deserved. This is one example of how you can make a difference in the Church. There are many positions that could be helped with your help. There are only three that have signed up to mow the grounds. It will take more than that. During the rain season (?) if will have to be mowed often, later in the season not so much. If you would like to volunteer PLEASE contact the office 817-579-0509 or talk to Carl Ansley he will fix you right up.

The youth are preparing for there mission trip. The Vine has little information on this trip. Money is needed to meet travel needs. Contact Linda Lawrence, Travis or Kalrice for further information. The Vine will look into this matter and get back with you.

For those that were not at church Sunday, Spencer came forth to accept Christ and submit his self for baptism. Oh how wonderful to see the children come. Not a dry eye in the house.

The interpret dance on Both Sunday services was breath talking. The girls and Linda have been working long hours to present this worship to the King. What a wonderful performance in deed.

OKEY DOKEY THEN

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