Voices: Week 1

Good morning, everybody! If we haven’t had a chance to meet, my name is Hayley Carter, and I’m a groups pastor here at our north campus. Today, we’re kicking off this Voices series, which means that we have people from our Buda and our South campus joining with us. Would you just give a clap and welcome them? We are so glad you’re joining us online, too.

As you’ll notice on the stage, we have these amazing works of art—these beautiful paintings of butterflies. These were done by a woman in our church who has been here for a long time named Janice Runyan, and she is an amazingly beautiful, wonderful woman. When she heard this series was called “The Butterfly Effect,” she offered to let us use her work, since she paints butterflies often. When I asked her how her painting is connected with her relationship with God, here is what she said:

“My company is called Imago Dei. Imago is the stage of a bug’s life where it sprouts wings. I love that picture because it reminds me of early on when I first experienced forgiveness and freedom in Christ, and also that ongoing morphing available every day that only He can create. Painting is an overflow that comes from the feeling of being overwhelmed by God’s love and forgiveness. In Him, I feel like I’ve been given a completely new life.”

Isn’t that really beautiful? Each week during this series, we’re going to have a new painting on the stage from Janice, and through her talent, she is going to help us visually see this butterfly effect on the stage. Let’s give her one more hand just thanking her.

In this series, we’re going to take what we learned from the early church in the book of Acts and make it personal. We’re going to ask: what would happen if God did what He did through the early church through us here today, right now? A few weeks ago, we heard that at the end of Acts, Paul was proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. The good news and the spread of the gospel of the Kingdom of God did not stop there. It kept expanding, it kept going, and it is here today with us. There is an invitation to all of us to join in with what God is doing today, right here and right now. As we take small acts of faithfulness to the Lord, it can create a ripple effect that continues the spread of the good news of Jesus out and out and out.

To get started, we really need to understand what this butterfly effect is. The term was actually coined by Edward Lorenz in 1960. He was a meteorology professor at MIT studying weather patterns, and he devised a model demonstrating that if you compare two nearby starting points, the weather in one starting point might end up causing severe storms, while the other remains calm. In a complex system, there is really no way to accurately predict what is going to happen. This led to something called chaos theory, which points out that small effects over here could cause massive, unanticipated changes over there. It actually led scientists to feel some fear about how to know what actions are good and what actions aren’t.

Speaking about this, a man named Alessandro Filazzola—a community ecologist, data scientist, and post-doctorate fellow at the University of Alberta—was asked the question, “How can we possibly do much of anything in our lives, then, without fear of causing harm?” That is a legitimate question if small inputs cause unpredictable consequences. He answered by saying this: “A better understanding of the indirect effects is probably the most important step in trying to mitigate these effects. More simply, though, just keeping nature as close to its original state is really the most important thing.”

The butterfly effect for us as Christians is a little different. While Filazzola pointed out the need to stick as close to nature as possible, we serve the God who made all things. He is the Creator of all things, and the Bible tells us He holds all things together. As we follow the instruction given to us by the One who created nature, we can have confidence that obedience to the things He has told us will have ripple effects that cause goodness and beauty to flow out of them. We don’t have to be worried about chaos theory.

For example, the Bible tells us to draw near to God. As we choose to engage with God daily through prayer and Scripture, we become transformed from the inside out. We become the kind of people who are loving, kind, gentle, and generous like Jesus. We see stories all throughout church history and in the Bible of these small acts of faithfulness by ordinary people, and how, in the hands of God, they have led to thousands knowing Him. You may not know this, but so many of our scientific discoveries, hospitals, and orphanages were originally started by Christ-followers being faithful right where they were. It has led to amazing advances in the cultivation and flourishing of humanity.

So, if we’re going to stick as close to nature as possible, what are the instructions God has given us? There are two statements from the life of Jesus that sum up what it looks like to follow Him: the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The Great Commandment is found in Matthew 22 and says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” The Great Commission is found in Matthew 28, where Jesus says: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus lived His life like this—loving God, loving others, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God, which simply means that God has drawn near to us and wants to be in a relationship with us.

How do we do this today? Where do we start? Do we need to quit our jobs and stand on the street corner to preach Jesus? I mean, maybe. Do we need to drop everything and just serve the poor and the needy? It could be that way. But I want to propose that it actually starts smaller—right where you are, in your job, in your family, right where you live, through small acts of faithfulness.

Let’s look at a case study in Scripture from the book of Ruth. If you have your Bible with you, go ahead and open up to the eighth book in the Old Testament. Let’s read the introduction starting in verse one:

“In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilian. They were from Bethlehem, Judah, and they went to Moab and lived there. Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilian also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.”

We see that this story takes place in the time of the judges. Anytime we read a book of the Bible, we need to understand the context. The book right before Ruth is called Judges, and it describes this period of time. If you think back on the narrative arc of the Bible, God delivers His people out of oppression in Egypt, brings them through the sea, and takes them into the wilderness. There, He gives them instructions to teach them how to be a people who represent Him and how to be truly human. They do really well for about a few days, and then they begin to break those instructions. They wander around the wilderness for forty years as that generation passes away, and then finally they enter into the Promised Land with Joshua to live in a way that is set apart.

How did they do after Joshua died? Judges 2 describes it like this: “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt.” This was a very disturbing, violent time in Israel’s history. People were not treating others the way God had planned, they were doing what was evil, and they forgot what God had done for them. During this time, military leaders called judges ruled the people.

The book of Ruth notes that there was also a famine going on, which is why Elimelech took his family to Moab. Quickly, he dies. Naomi stays there and her sons marry two Moabite women, but then the sons die too. At that time, if you were a widowed woman without sons, there wasn’t much hope for survival. Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to go back to their families of origin so they can remarry and find security. Orpah leaves, but Ruth says this:

“Don’t urge me to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

Man, that is a determined woman! The first small act of faithfulness we see in this story that causes a ripple effect is Ruth choosing to be faithful to her family and binding herself to Naomi and to God. This was huge, because she knew that if Naomi went back alone as a widow, she would face severe poverty and suffering. We can also assume from the narrative that the family Ruth married into had tried to remain faithful to God even in a lawless time, because her father-in-law’s name was Elimelech. El means God, and melek means king, so his name literally meant “God is my king.” Ruth had witnessed something powerful in the faith of this family, and she chose to leave her homeland, her family, and her gods behind to follow Naomi’s God.

They return to Bethlehem, and the community is talking about the sheer sadness of their situation. Naomi tells them, “Do not call me Naomi [which means sweetness]. Call me Mara [which means bitterness], because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.” The chapter closes by noting that Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

I know at this point you’re thinking, “I came to church to be encouraged and you’re telling me the saddest story in the Bible.” But life is not always easy or joyful. There is suffering in life, and I am personally grateful that the Bible doesn’t gloss over this reality. In fact, Jesus entered straight into our brokenness, lived a life defined by suffering, and died a horrific death because He was willing to do whatever it took to reconcile, heal, and restore the world. Even though life is in the pit for Naomi and Ruth at this point, God is at work. Do you believe that for your own story when you go through times of suffering and loss? God is the God of restoration.

The writer of Ruth gives us an amazing clue in that final line: they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. What I love about being a lifetime student of the Bible is that it is full of what you might call “Easter eggs.” As you read it over and over in community, you begin to see things that are absolutely amazing, and this is one of them.

First of all, Bethlehem literally means “house of bread” or “house of food.” They are returning to the house of food just as the harvest is beginning, meaning the famine is officially over. Secondly, the barley harvest signals the beginning of Passover. This represents immediate provision for their physical needs today, but Passover was also the historic remembrance of how God brought His people out of slavery into freedom. As modern readers, we know that Jesus came to earth and died at Passover, making the ultimate way of restoration for all people. The writer is waving a flag to the reader saying, “Notice this! Even when hope seems gone, God is still writing a story of redemption, often through ordinary people.” Do we have eyes to see it and a heart that believes it?

Moving forward in the story, Naomi and Ruth run out of food, and Naomi tells Ruth to go pick up grain at the edge of a field. In the Torah, God gave instructions to teach His people how to live out their humanity and care for one another. These laws weren’t forms of condemnation or judgment; they were blueprints for human flourishing. One of these laws protected the vulnerable by instructing landowners not to harvest the very edges of their fields, leaving them so the poor could come and glean food.

That is exactly what Ruth goes to do, and the text notes that she “just so happens” to end up in the field of a man named Boaz. That phrase is very tongue-in-cheek; the writer is showing us that God is working behind the scenes. Boaz is a relative of her late husband, and another covenant law stated that close relatives had a responsibility to redeem the family line of deceased kin by buying back their property and marrying the widow.

When Ruth arrives to glean, Boaz goes completely above and beyond what the law requires. He tells his men: “Let her gather among the sheaves, and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to pick up. Don’t rebuke her.”

This is the second small act of faithfulness: Boaz sees Ruth’s need and goes above and beyond to provide for and protect her. Remember, during this period, most people were ignoring God’s way. Boaz not only follows the law, but he exceeds it. He sees how beautifully Ruth has honored Naomi, and he returns that honor by ensuring her safety and provision.

The next part of the story sounds a bit sketchy to modern ears. Naomi knows her daughter-in-law needs a secure future, so she tells Ruth to go to the threshing floor where Boaz is sleeping and lay down at his feet in the middle of the night. It sounds crazy, but Ruth trusts her mother-in-law and obeys. When Boaz wakes up startled to find a woman at his feet, Ruth boldly says, “I am your servant Ruth. Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are the guardian-redeemer of our family.”

Asking someone to spread their garment over you was a cultural idiom that meant “marry me.” Imagine being woken up in the middle of the night by someone asking you to marry them! It was an incredibly bold move for a foreign, widowed woman in the house of a respected landowner. Yet, Boaz responds with total dignity and honor. He promises to fulfill her request, but notes that there is one closer relative who has the legal right of first refusal to redeem the land and the family line. Boaz protects her reputation through the night, sends her home safely with food before dawn so she won’t face public shame, and goes straight to the city elders the next morning. The closer relative wants the land, but backs out when he realizes the responsibility includes marrying Ruth. Boaz immediately steps forward, redeems the property, and marries Ruth.

This is the third act of faithfulness: Boaz puts Ruth’s interests above his own and redeems all that was lost. There are so many incredible details in these four brief chapters, and I highly encourage you to read the book of Ruth for yourself this week.

The book concludes by telling us that Ruth and Boaz have a son named Obed, who becomes the grandfather of King David. Centuries later, when Matthew records the lineage of Jesus, he breaks historical convention by mentioning women—and Ruth is explicitly named in the genealogy of the Messiah. Small acts of faithfulness from an outsider—a widowed Moabite woman—and an honorable insider—Boaz—became the literal pathway for the King of Kings to bring redemption to the entire world.

Could Ruth have known that staying by her mother-in-law’s side would lead to the lineage of the Savior? Absolutely not. Did Boaz know that choosing integrity in a time of widespread lawlessness would make him the great-grandfather of King David? Not a chance. They were simply faithful right where they were, and God used that daily obedience to bring about global redemption. Over and over, the Bible shows us this truth: God most often chooses to work out His grand plans through ordinary, faithful people. That’s you, and that’s me.

How can you and I take a small step of faithfulness to love God and love others today? How do we live so that our lives have a ripple effect? Let’s start small by asking: What makes you tick? What are you passionate about? Where do you live, and where do you work? These are the exact places where God wants to start partnering with you. For Ruth, it was devotion to her family and binding herself to Naomi’s God. For Boaz, it was choosing to follow God’s commands when nobody else was.

What does this look like in modern life? Consider Kolton Rogers, a 20-something in our church who runs a successful media company. During the pandemic, my oldest son, Elijah, became deeply interested in film and photography and asked Kolton if he could shadow him for a summer. Kolton later joked that on the days Elijah was “helping” him, they probably didn’t get very much actual work done! But that summer caused my son to grow immensely in both his technical skills and his faith. He interned with Kolton summer after summer, growing in character, developing a deep love for God and the church, and building a passion to tell stories of ordinary people encountering an extraordinary God. Today, he is in film school doing exactly that.

When I asked Kolton why he invests his time mentoring teenagers, this is what he said:

“When I was a teenager, I had a few adult mentors who took a chance on me. They saw something in me before I saw it in myself, and they helped me discover skills and passions that have shaped my career and ministry. Mentoring can be as simple as being present and intentional with the people already around you. I’ve found that God most often opens doors through ordinary conversations, especially when I’m curious with people around me and make the effort to keep showing up. I believe leadership is influence, and everyone has influence. If you can encourage, inspire, or help someone see what is possible, then you have the ability to mentor. You don’t need a title to make an impact.”

Through the simple, ordinary action of welcoming a teenager in and letting him shadow his work, Kolton made a lasting ripple impact. Is there a young person around you that you could pour into, simply letting them see your life and talking honestly with them? If you don’t know where to start, we have incredible things happening with our Next Gen ministries here at Gateway, and you can get plugged in by talking to leaders like Maddie or Isaiah.

As we wrap up today, I want to invite my friend Mona Routley up to the stage to share a bit of her story. Mona is a leader here at Gateway, and her life is a beautiful picture of what it looks like when God weaves small steps together.

Mona was born hard-of-hearing, was diagnosed at age two, received hearing aids, and learned to speech-read. She didn’t grow up using sign language or socializing within the Deaf community. Yet today, fifty years later, she is fluently using ASL and working full-time in ministry within a global Deaf community where less than 2% know Jesus.

Looking back, she can see the unique seeds God planted along the way. In middle school, she developed a dream to become a teacher for the Deaf because of the profound impact of her own kindergarten teacher. Later in college, she found herself struggling and frustrated by her hearing limitations, asking God why He made her hard-of-hearing. God met her through the words of John 9:3—the story of the blind man—reminding her that her life was meant for the works of God to be displayed in her. After college, she began helping care for a young deaf boy at her church who had multiple disabilities, and he inspired her to take three ASL classes in her twenties.

Twenty years later, the pandemic hit. Because of widespread masking, speech-reading became completely impossible, making daily communication unbearable. Grieved and deeply depressed by the sudden isolation, she returned to work after being out sick, and a fellow teacher noticed her pain and signed, “Sorry you’re sad.” That simple, small interaction instantly reminded her of the ASL classes she took two decades prior.

That very same week, her school superintendent informed her that her full-time position was being cut for the upcoming fall. Recognizing a shift, and knowing her aging parents lived here in Texas, she felt God prompting her to move. She specifically wanted to avoid a traditional hearing workspace due to the ongoing masking barriers, so she applied for various roles at the Texas School for the Deaf. Even though her sign vocabulary at the time was limited to an elementary level, they interviewed her and hired her onto their overnight staff.

Upon arriving in Texas, Mona intentionally sought out a Deaf Christian community. She quickly connected with the Deaf Mentoring Project and a local church that provided ASL interpreters, showing up faithfully every single week. Just one year later, the founder of the Deaf Mentoring Project invited her to join their staff part-time.

When Mona looks back at the middle school dream, the college questions, the young boy at church, the ASL classes, the isolation of the pandemic, the job loss, and the move across the country, she sees how God was intricately weaving every single piece together. He didn’t give her the full picture upfront; He just gave her the next step. She shared that even now, she often catches herself thinking, “I can’t do this, I am too limited,” but then she remembers: God can. He is all-powerful and completely able. Choosing to trust Him in those moments of decision brings His faithfulness to life, turning the journey into a beautiful adventure where we are never alone.

What about you? What small chapters is God writing in your story that you have written off or ignored? Maybe you’ve never even realized that the Creator of the universe wants to partner with you. You are not too insignificant, and you are not too ordinary. You don’t need to cross a certain threshold of Bible knowledge or have decades of perfect Christian execution under your belt. The invitation is simply: are you willing?

Walking with God is the most exciting adventure. As we close our time, let’s not rush out. I want to invite everyone to just pause right where you are in your seat and talk to God. How might He want to partner with you through small acts of faithfulness that will ripple out in ways you could never imagine?

• Maybe you have a artistic talent He wants to use, like Janis and her paintings.

• Maybe you run a business or manage a workspace where you can practice integrity and honor like Boaz.

• Maybe you are a teacher or professional surrounded by people daily, and your workplace is the perfect platform to love people unconditionally.

• Maybe you are a student navigating the intense challenges of middle school or high school, and you can commit to the life-changing motto: “There is always room for one more.”

Let’s take a few moments of intentional silence to ask God: What is one small, faithful step I can take this week that You can use to cause a ripple effect for the future? Let’s listen to Him.

(30 seconds of silent reflection)

God, I sense that there are many in this room who have counted themselves out of the story You are writing because they feel ordinary or unimportant. But that is not how You see us. You have designed each of us uniquely and on purpose. Even though we face suffering, pain, and unexpected turns, we know that in the hands of an Almighty God, our lives can bring about beauty—not just for ourselves, but for everyone around us. This butterfly effect is exactly how You choose to move in the world.

Even in our doubts, if there is just a small part of us today that says, “Please use me,” we offer that simple prayer to You right now. Thank You that You don’t do it all alone, but choose instead to partner with ordinary people. Open our eyes this week to see the next small steps right in front of us, and give us the courage to say yes. We pray this in Your holy name, Jesus. Amen.