Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO The invited guests Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA December 14, 2003 The Third Sunday in Advent Main Scripture texts: Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 2:8-20. Several years ago, we visited Washington, D.C.. We wanted to go to the White House, but the lines were simply too long. Just this week, I was at the home of some friends and noticed several pictures of them inside the White House. It was clear from the photos that they weren't there as tourists, but as invited guests, because of their role as election workers in the 2000 campaign. It's one thing to get in as a tourist to look around; it's quite another thing to be an invited guest. Let's look at the invitation list for the unveiling of the Savior of the world. The only list we have includes only two very unlikely groups of guests: 1) The magi; 2) The shepherds. The magi received a personal invitation from God by virtue of the unusual appearance and movements of a star, which led them to the place where Jesus was born. There are two big reasons why their invitation is very unlikely: 1) They were not Jews but Gentiles. The law provides in clear, unambiguous terms that the Jews were to keep separate from the gentiles. 2) The Greek word translated magi -- or wise men -- is magos, which likely means a magician or sorcerer or astrologer. These men are Gentiles, foreigners, and strangers to the covenants of God who likely practice occult arts that God has condemned -- yet they get a personal invitation from God to the most important and holy event in history. Then there are the shepherds. 1) At the time of Jesus' birth shepherds suffered a poor reputation in Israel. For the most part, they were hirelings who were prone to steal from their owners' flocks. 2) Shepherds were considered so unreliable that by the First Century they were not permitted to testify in Jewish courts. Shepherds were thought to be low-life, bottom of the barrel people. Yet God sent angels to give them a personal invitation to the most important and holy event in history. Are you hearing the good news yet? Anyone would expect people of class and standing to be invited -- but not Gentiles, not sorcerers, not shepherds. They were the marginalized of Jewish society. So God knew they needed a special invitation, so they would know they were welcome. This is the message of the manger scene! Everyone is invited to come to Jesus: Gentiles, sorcerers, shepherds, rich, poor, sinners of every kind and description, without regard to sex, age, race, religion, national origin, financial or social status! Come. Ask forgiveness for your sins. His mercy is over all He has made! It doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done! No one is excluded, except those who exclude themselves by refusing to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. This is God's open invitation to everyone: Come to Jesus! Supporting texts: Deuteronomy 18:10-11| John 1:12 | Matthew 11:28-30 | Isaiah 55:1-2 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of this sermon is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 031214a: The Invited Guests. © 2003 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us