The Gathering Church Colorado Springs exists to proclaim the Gospel as Jesus revealed it—not a story of an angry Father to be appeased, but the good news of a Father who has always loved us. In this message, Leah Ramirez invites us back to union with Christ, freedom from fear-based religion, and the unshakable reality of being seated with Him.

If you’ve ever loved Jesus but felt nervous about the Father… you’re not alone. Many of us were taught a version of the gospel that starts with God angry, us condemned, and Jesus persuading the Father to tolerate us.

But that isn’t the good news.

The Gathering Church Colorado Springs and the Gospel of Union

This Sunday at The Gathering Church in Colorado Springs, we returned to what Jesus actually revealed: the Father Himself loves you—and the mission of Christ is not to make the Father loving, but to reveal the Father who has always loved you.

Watch the full message here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/wnkQogKBtsk?si=QSAMaHWoXFjB-f6N

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The “Angry Father” story creates fear-based Christianity

When the gospel is preached as “God is angry, Jesus stands in the middle, and you’d better line up,” it doesn’t produce freedom—it produces a relationship of anxiety. You feel safe as long as Jesus is “in the room,” but you’re not sure you can trust the Father’s heart.

That’s why so many believers are devoted to Jesus—and yet quietly wary of God.

Jesus came to confront that distortion. He came to cleanse the religious imagination and restore the truth: God is not divided against Himself. The Father and the Son are united in love, united in purpose, united in rescue.

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Jesus versus the systems that misrepresent God

One theme that kept surfacing: Jesus is not loyal to religious systems—He’s loyal to revealing the Father.

In Scripture, Jesus repeatedly confronts structures that block access to God or reduce life with God to performance:

• Religious performance that ignores mercy and justice (Matthew 23)
• A temple economy that profits from people’s hunger for God (Matthew 21, John 2)
• Rule-keeping that crushes human flourishing (Mark 2)
• Gatekeeping theology that uses Scripture to control rather than liberate (Luke 11)

Jesus is zealous to remove anything that paints the Father as inaccessible, irritated, or withholding.

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“You have never been outside of Christ”

Here’s a line that re-frames everything: There is no such thing as “Christ-less breath.”

If all things were created in Christ, by Christ, and for Christ, then every person you encounter is not “outside” of His reach. The issue isn’t God’s absence—it’s blindness. Evangelism, then, becomes less about “getting someone into Christ” and more about pulling back the veil—awakening someone to what is already true in Him.

This changes how we pray.
Not, “God, invade them,” as if He hasn’t…
But, “God, open their eyes to the invasion of Your love that’s already there.”

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Ultimate reality: “Seated with Him”

A central anchor of the message was Ephesians 2 and Ephesians 1.

Ephesians 2 doesn’t say you were made alive after you got your act together. It says:

• “Even when we were dead… He made us alive together with Christ.”
• “He raised us up… and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ.”

That means: your truest location is not your anxiety, your lack, your diagnosis, your timeline, or your circumstance. Your truest location is union.

And Ephesians 1 presses it further: Christ is seated far above every rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that can be named. Not because He might win—but because He has.

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When circumstances nip at your heels

We named something very practical: life will still “nip at your heels.” Bank accounts, reports, deadlines, fear cycles, old belief systems—it all talks loudly.

But right there, in that moment, you get to recognize what’s happening:

• If you turn and stare at the fear, you can start agreeing with it.
• But if you turn inward—toward Christ within—you realign with reality.

Not magic. Not slogans. Not “decrees” as spells.
Revelation.
Because the power isn’t in the phrase. The power is in the Man.

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A simple practice: Rest, Listen, Recognize

We ended with a simple, repeatable way to “behold” (without becoming weird, performative, or pressure-driven):

1) Rest

Not because life is calm—but because you’re yielding the illusion of control.
A quiet return to: “I can do, by myself, nothing. You are responsible for my life.”

2) Listen

Not for God “out there,” but for Christ within—Spirit to spirit—reassurance, clarity, love.

3) Recognize

Wait for the shift: the moment peace rises and anxiety loosens.
Sometimes it’s 30 seconds. Sometimes a few minutes.
But you recognize: He has been with you the whole time.

This is where steadiness is formed—and steadiness is evangelism in real life.

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Reflection questions for the week

• Where did I learn the “angry Father” story—and how has it shaped my prayer life?
• What circumstance is currently trying to become my “reality”?
• What belief is underneath my anxiety right now?
• What changes if I treat union as ultimate reality—today, not later?
• What would my week look like if I practiced Rest, Listen, Recognize every time I felt rattled?

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Join us at The Gathering Church in Colorado Springs

At The Gathering Church Colorado Springs, we believe transformation flows from beholding Christ, not striving to earn what has already been given.

If you’re looking for a church in Colorado Springs rooted in the Gospel—where the love of the Father is not an accessory but the foundation—you’re invited.

The Gathering
Colorado Springs, CO
More info: https://the-gathering.us/

And if you want to rewatch the message:
https://www.youtube.com/live/wnkQogKBtsk?si=QSAMaHWoXFjB-f6N

Connect beyond Sundays: Company 318 + Re-Found Devotional

Company 318

If what you’re longing for is ongoing formation—union, prayer, covenant community, and steady spiritual clarity—Company 318 is our wider network beyond Colorado Springs. It’s for people across the nation who want to grow in the same Gospel-centered vision we’re living out at The Gathering: Christ within, the Father’s love, and a life shaped by beholding rather than striving.

You can join Company 318 here:
https://Company318.com
And our Substack community is here:
https://company318.substack.com/

Re-Found: 30 Days to Rediscover the Gospel (Devotional)

If this message stirred something in you—especially if you’re ready to come out of fear-based religion and back into the simplicity of Christ—my devotional Re-Found: 30 Days to Rediscover the Gospel was written for that exact journey. It’s practical, gentle, and rooted in the finished work of Jesus—meant to help you reset your inner world and live from union.

Find the devotional here:
https://the-gathering.us/re-found-devotional