SERMON TITLE: Ministry Celebration 2026
TEXT: multiple
SPEAKER: multiple
DATE: 9-13-26
Sermon Discussion Guide
Take notes here
As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true whether you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us online — I want you to know that God loves you, and I love you too.
Once a year, we take time to remember, celebrate, and be thankful for all that God’s done and is doing in and through our Gateway Church family. And each year we take one of our discipleship characteristics and use it as the glue for our ministry celebration services. Now, if you’re newer to Gateway, you may be wondering, “Discipleship characteristics? What’s that about?”
So here’s the quick version.
Imagine four columns. Each column represents a key component of a local church. The first column is the pastor — that’s me. The second column is the church’s key leaders. The third column is the church’s discipleship process. Here at Gateway, that’s Worship, Connect, Serve, and Go. Then the fourth and final column is the kind of disciples of Jesus we’re desiring to make here at Gateway. Meaning — what’s the goal of having you worship, connect, serve, and go? The goal is for you to be a disciple of Jesus. But what does that mean?
Well, here at Gateway, our vision — our spiritual goal for every follower of Jesus — is that we’d be disciples...
1. Who are...Word and Spirit Christians.
2. Who are…generous.
3. Who are...family.
4. Who are…disciples who make disciples.
5. And who are…Kingdom-minded.
If you want to learn more about these discipleship characteristics, I encourage you to visit our website — gatewayepc.org — and search for our Vision series from 2024. We also have this booklet at the Resource Center, which explains in more detail what I just covered.
So back to our ministry celebration. Each year, we look back at God’s faithfulness — and look ahead in anticipation of God’s future faithfulness — to us as a church. And we do so through the lens of one of our discipleship characteristics: Word and Spirit Christians who are generous, a family, who make disciples, and who are Kingdom-minded.
And — this year — being Kingdom-minded will be the thread that ties this service together.
So — with that as an introduction — if you have your Bible, please turn with me to the gospel of Matthew. We’ll be in Matthew chapter six — looking at verse thirty-three. That’s Matthew chapter six — verse thirty-three.
There we read…
Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
I’ve titled this sermon “Kingdom-minded commitment”. And the question I want us to ask is this: What does it mean to be a Kingdom-minded follower of Jesus? Here’s my answer: It means that we’re committed to prioritizing the Kingdom of God above everything else. It means aligning our lives with God’s purpose for his creation. It means that in this world — that’s full of distractions and competing priorities — being Kingdom-minded means we focus — and often must refocus and refocus and refocus — our lives on God’s Kingdom.
And — when we do so — God will be glorified. He’ll be made to look awesome through our lives — both individually and corporately — as his will is done here on earth through our obedience and commitment to his cause. And — as if that’s not enough — when we commit to being Kingdom-minded followers of Jesus, a wonderful promise becomes ours. The promise that God will provide all that we need to glorify him as we accomplish his will. That’s the “all these things will be added to you” part of our verse. God fully supports his people when they’re committed to being Kingdom-minded.
Now I want to quickly answer two questions before we celebrate together. First, what is the Kingdom of God? If we’re to be Kingdom-minded, we need to know what we mean by the word kingdom.
One definition of the kingdom of God is this: The Kingdom of God is “God’s governing activity and the sphere in which God’s reign is experienced and accepted.” God’s governing activity and the sphere in which God’s reign is experienced and accepted.
What’s the sphere of God’s reign? Everything and everywhere, right? All of creation. From the farthest star in the universe to the lowest depth in the ocean and everything in between — that’s the sphere of God’s reign. But God’s reign isn’t accepted everywhere, is it? And for those who are Kingdom-minded — that’s the issue. For we want more and more of God’s creation to accept his reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.
This primarily happens when the gospel is proclaimed and believed. That’s why going is so important to us. It’s why we say, “You are sent” at the end of every worship service. For we’re sending you out as ambassadors of Christ to expand his kingdom by making his gospel known.
So that’s what we mean by the kingdom of God.
Second question: What does this look like in real life? Meaning, what are some examples of being a Kingdom-minded follower of Jesus? This won’t be an exhaustive list, but I hope it’ll be inspiring. That you’ll either be inspired to do something you hear, or be inspired with an idea that you’ll start doing in order to be even more of a Kingdom-minded follower of Jesus than you are right now.
Some examples:
Parents, life can be stressful. Kids fight. Spouses fight. Conflict happens. To be a Kingdom-minded family, set aside one evening a week for a family kingdom gathering. Read a chapter of the Bible that focuses on loving one another, forgiving one another, or being patient with one another. Then talk through ways you can do what you just read as a family. Maybe there’s a current conflict where you can practice forgiveness, or an unkind word recently said that you can repent of. This will help you to be a Kingdom-minded family as you grow together as followers of Jesus.
Let’s talk about work. Work can be a place full of competition and stress. Some of your co-workers may have no issue making unethical decisions in order to get ahead. But you want your Kingdom-minded commitment to be on display at work. So how about taking a quick moment to pray when you feel the competitive culture taking over you? Or try starting a Bible study during your lunch break — even if you’re the only one in the study. By the way, Christians aren’t the only people who get upset with unethical practices, so maybe some of your co-workers — even non-Christian ones — would be interested in creating some sort of ethical accountability. Maybe you can even suggest some biblical principles that can create a more ethical work environment in your company.
You can display a Kingdom-minded commitment by volunteering with one of our local ministry partners: The Women’s Resource Center, Chopin Hall, City Mission, Christian Clearing House, Life Wise…these organizations are always looking for folks who love Jesus and want to see our community be blessed and for God’s Kingdom to grow.
You can volunteer at one of our local schools. I personally know teachers and principals who’d welcome the help — not only teaching their kids to count to one hundred, but also being a positive influence in their lives. By doing so, you’ll know how to pray for kids and their teacher by name. And I feel obligated to give this public service announcement. If your volunteering includes throwing a football or frisbee with second-grade boys, don’t take their word that they know how to catch. If you don’t test them at short range, you may end up hitting them in the face. I speak from experience.
Finally, being Kingdom-minded means sharing the gospel. To your children. Co-workers. Our local community. To people in our country who don’t believe. And — ultimately — to the ends of the earth. Every week in our next gen ministry, the Kingdom of God is expanding as students of all ages hear and believe the gospel. Because we’re Kingdom-minded, we hosted six interns over the summer — potential future leaders in the church whom we believe God will use to expand his kingdom. It’s why we’re investing in a pastoral residency with Chandler and Nick. They’re here to gain both the education and experience they need to be sent out as pastors to expand the kingdom of God. And it’s why we go to places like Cuba, Beirut, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, and others — because we’re committed to being Kingdom-minded followers of Jesus.
You’re going to hear a lot today about how our commitment to being Kingdom-minded is playing itself out in all areas of our church. From next gen to Life Groups, from worship services to our finances. I hope you’ll be encouraged. I hope you’ll be thankful. But my biggest hope is that you’ll be inspired — inspired to be even more committed as a Kingdom-minded follower of Jesus. Let’s pray.
Father in Heaven, inspire your people today to be even more Kingdom-minded. Spirit, as we celebrate your faithfulness to us — in using us for your glory — keep us humble. And, Jesus, all of this is possible because of your love and commitment to your Kingdom expanding throughout your creation — including each of our lives. Help us to play our small part in your Kingdom-expanding even more. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.
Good morning, my name is Lindsay Norman, and I am the Worship Director here at Gateway Church.
This year, the Worship Department has had the privilege to be a part of several events outside these walls with a Kingdom mind. Several of our band members lead worship at events, including Fields of Faith, put on by FCA at Liberty Benton, the Reaching Women Conference, or even just picking up their guitar and leading while on a mission trip. And while these are wonderful ways that demonstrate how Gateway is Kingdom-minded, I hope to show you that every Sunday, we are being shaped into Kingdom-minded people. Audience participation time, what are the last words spoken at every service? “You are sent.” Sometimes we hear things so regularly that we inadvertently don’t hear them anymore, but these words are the culmination of our purpose in gathering each week. Each Sunday we walk through the gospel, and we rehearse our salvation. On the screens you will see a table to help visualize the different elements of our Sunday morning worship.
Each week we begin with a call to worship that reminds us that God has called us to worship him, because we are created to do that. It is his invitation. We read scripture, we sing songs of praise that give us words and melodies to cling to about his character. They shape our view of who God is and what he has done for us, and they also remind us of our need for a Savior which leads us to our time of confession, where we spend time searching our hearts through confessional prayer and lament, but we are not left there in our despair. We are reminded of his forgiveness and love through words of assurance at the end of our prayer time. And because of his grace and kindness towards us, we spend time each week giving back the resources he has blessed us with as an act of thanksgiving for his provision.
We then receive God’s instruction as the Word is preached. And then, we are sent with a blessing. The words ”you are sent" are meant to encourage and remind us that our worship does not end here. We worship Monday through Saturday too. Our daily life, our interactions with others outside these walls, are an act of worship as we share with them all that he has done for us. Our Sunday morning worship is the starting point for making disciples as you work, as you go to the store, as you go to school, as you take your kids to the park, as you get your oil changed, or as you pray for and support our Go Partners.
At the end of 2025, at our combined prayer service, Josh preached from Psalm 67, and we prayed for the nations and for our hearts to be Kingdom-minded. As we close, I am going to read this psalm.
Psalm 67:1–7 NLT
1 May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us. 2 May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. 3 May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. 4 Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world. 5 May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. 6 Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God, our God, will richly bless us. 7 Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear him.
Who knew that an order of service could be Kingdom-minded? I pray that as you are sent each week, you go with the reminder of your redemption in Christ Jesus.
And now Justin will update us on our “Kingdom-minded” Next Gen ministry!
My name is Justin Bower, and I’m the Next Gen Director here at Gateway Church.
Within our Next Gen ministries, living out Kingdom-minded looks a little different. Showing and finding ways to live out being a universal church and supporting all Christians is often finding ways to bring the Big “C” Church to the kids.
For Kidway, we review different missionaries and Christians all over the world monthly, we highlight different unreached people groups, and this past year at VBS, we learned about our Presbytery's unreached people group. In Youth Group, we send youth on mission trips, combine our Youth Group events with other youth groups around Hancock County, and always try to make sure we point to supporting others outside of Gateway.
Check out this video to hear from some of our kids and youth on what being Kingdom-Minded means to them.
My name is Jon McKanna, and I’m the Operations Director here at Gateway Church.
The Operations Department exists to enable and support ministry, and that definitely includes ministry happening beyond our walls. Probably the simplest example of this is through financial support. We manage all of the financial resources that come in and go out from Gateway Church to our ministry partners here in Findlay and around the world. This happens weekly in our department as we account for every cent given to support Mobile Food Pantries, Soup Drive Thrus, Reach Global Trips, foreign mission trips, and quarterly support to partners. Over the last 12 months, 21.6% of our budget has been Kingdom-minded.
We also started a Pastoral Resident program back in January as Chandler and his family left the warm and ever-so-beautiful South to join us in Findlay, Ohio. Nick and his wife Ashley followed suit in April, but it was much more understandable for them to leave the confines of Columbus and get closer to The Big House. The goal of this program is to assist in training up men to be head pastors, while they complete their MDiv and become ordained in the EPC. We can't wait to see what God has in store for this program, these families, and the churches they will one day serve.
Last but not least, we do all that we can to be Kingdom-minded when it comes to property and facilities here at Gateway Church. A prime example of this is through our partnership with LifeWise. Not only do we support them financially, but they also use our County Road 9 Campus facilities for programming on Thursday afternoons. They even store two buses here on the property. Sew Quilt Share uses our facilities to create quilts and reusable feminine hygiene products. They were able to celebrate their 700th quilt a couple of months ago! We also host Reaching Women events and retreats from CO and Campus Ministries, not to mention that we have YoungLife staff using office space at our North Main Campus.
These are all examples of how the Operations Department is Kingdom-minded. Now check out this video from the Connect Department.
Hi everyone! For those of you who don’t know me, I am Kristi St. Amour, and I am the Hospitality Director here at Gateway.
Our Hospitality Team consists of our parking crew, greeters, ushers, those who serve in our cafe, and at our Resource Center. We want to welcome everyone who walks into our doors and show them the love of Christ and the joy we have because of what he has done for us. As we hear often before our greeting time on Sunday mornings from Romans 15:7, “As Christ has welcomed us, so let us welcome one another, for the glory of God.”
We’ve been hearing a lot about being Kingdom-minded today, and I want to challenge you with a way to do that right here in our own community. Almost every week we have someone visit our church that has not been here before. Some have recently moved to the Findlay area and are looking for a new church home. Some attended church as a child or youth and want to come back. Some have never even stepped foot inside a church building before. Despite why they are coming, more often than not they have been invited by a friend, a neighbor, or family member. If I asked you right now to think of someone that you are praying will enter the doors of a church on Sunday morning, I am sure most of you don’t have to think too hard about who that might be.
In the seat backs in front of you, there are cards that say “I Saved You a Seat”. You will see on the back of these cards the service times and locations for both of our campuses. Take one (or two, or three!) of these cards home with you today. Pray about who you can give this to as you invite them to attend one of our services with you. Maybe you give this to the person you had in mind a few moments ago. Maybe you keep one in your wallet or purse for when you are talking with someone and the topic of attending church unexpectedly comes up. Maybe you take on this challenge as a family, and your kids have someone to invite to attend with them. We have plenty of extra cards at our Resource Center in the lobby if you would like some.
As a church family, I invite you to join me in praying on Sunday mornings for those who are entering our doors for the first time. Pray that the message of the gospel draws them closer to Christ.
I ask you again to think of the person you are praying will attend church. How would you want them treated as they enter our doors? We are always happy to have you join our Hospitality Team to help welcome each person who walks through our doors, whether they are here for the first time or have been coming here for decades. Come see me at the Resource Center if you are interested! But my prayer is that each one of us in this room today is Kingdom-minded by actively welcoming those they don’t already know on Sunday mornings. Again, as Christ has welcomed us, so let us welcome one another for the glory of God.
And now we will hear from our Go Ministry.
My name is Laura Moore, and I’m the Executive Director here at Gateway Church.
Since everything we do within our Go ministry is about being Kingdom-minded, there are a lot of stories we could choose to tell this morning. We could celebrate exciting things God is doing through our 16 local and national partners, and 23 international partners, but instead I’ll invite you to stop at the Resource Center after the service to sign up if you would like to receive prayer updates from them. We could share some incredible stories from the mission teams we’ve sent out this year, and the many ways team members experienced God moving in and through them on those trips. But instead, I’ll invite you to come out to our Go Celebration on November 17 to hear directly from those teams.
Today we want to celebrate how God is answering our prayers to call members of Gateway into full-time mission work. Last year we officially commissioned and sent our first couple to minister in Central Asia. A few months ago, we announced a second couple, Carsten and Emily Weizer, that we will be sending to work with World Outreach in the coming months. Carsten’s role with World Outreach will be unique, but one that God has clearly been preparing him for. He will be responsible for creating videos that share the stories of ministry happening on the field with churches and supporters back home.
Earlier this year, Josh announced that Gateway was the recipient of the Greg Livingstone Award - an award honoring a church within our denomination that is doing good work to advance the gospel to hard places. Carsten was asked by World Outreach to make a video highlighting the value of Going here at Gateway. This video was shared at our denomination’s annual meeting earlier this summer. So this celebration is 2-fold… by sharing an example of the kind of work Carsten will be doing to support World Outreach workers, we celebrate both the calling God has placed on Carsten and Emily’s lives as well as his faithfulness to Gateway over the past 24 years in making us a people who are deeply committed to missions.
Due to security risks for some global workers featured in the video, we are going to cut the live stream feed as we watch the video, and then we will close out the service by celebrating communion together.
Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God! In eternity, people will come from east and west, and from north and south, to sit at the table in the Kingdom of God. According to Luke, after he was crucified and raised from the dead, Jesus ate a meal with his disciples. And during the meal he took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
This is the Lord's Table. And our Savior invites those who trust him to share the feast which he has prepared.
Hear the words of Paul: The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes.
Now with thanksgiving for all the things God has done for us in his Son Jesus Christ, let’s spend a moment in silence, offering to God our grateful praise for cleansing us from all of our unrighteousness.
—moment of silence—
God, in your wisdom, you made all things and sustain them by your power. You formed us in your image, placing us in this world to love and serve you, and to live in peace with your whole creation. When we rebelled against you, refusing to trust and obey you, you did not reject us, but still claimed us as your own. You sent prophets to call us back to your way.
Then in the fullness of time, out of your great love for the world, you sent your only Son to be one of us, to redeem us, and to heal our brokenness. Therefore we praise you — joining our voices with the choirs of angels and with all the saints of every time and place who forever sing to the glory of your name — the words are on the screens if you’d like to say them with me.
Congregation: Holy, holy, holy God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Amen.
At this time — those who will be serving communion can make their way to the tables. In a moment, ushers will begin dismissing you by rows, so you can come forward to receive the bread and the cup. Take both before returning to your seats. There are baskets — up front — for you to put your empty cups in. We also have a gluten-free wafer option for those who need one. If you’re unable to come forward — raise your hand and let the usher know as they dismiss your row — and someone will come and serve you in your seat.
And — if you're not coming forward for communion today — know that no one is judging you for staying in your seat. We would appreciate it if you could help those who are coming forward make their way past you. And if you have any questions about communion or what it means to follow Jesus, please stop by the resource center before you leave today.
Finally, to any of our homebound members — who are watching this from home — know that your shepherding elder is available to bring communion to you in your home. Please reach out to him if you’d like to have communion brought to you.
May you go, committed to being a Kingdom-minded follower of Jesus. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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