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 Ten convictions of the early church - 3 Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA June 27, 2004 Main Scripture text: Acts 4:23-31. Ten Convictions Sermon Series June 6, 2004 • Part One June 13, 2004 • Part Two June 27, 2004 • Part Three A conviction is a fixed or strong belief -- something one is convinced of. Our convictions shape who we are, how we think, how we relate to others, and how we spend our time. In the first and second sermons in this series, I covered seven convictions held by the early church: 1) Jesus was alive; 2) Jesus was present with them; 3) The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the culmination of the "Christ event" -- i.e. his birth, life, death, and resurrection all set the stage for the coming of the Spirit; 4) What happened at Pentecost was the fulfillment of a promise of God. 5) God is sovereign over all. 6) God brings good out of evil. 7) What God was doing in and through the church was of cosmic scope and importance. Surely, the early believers held other convictions. I'm choosing to focus on those that I believe are critical to living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Conviction number 8: Persecution is evidence of faithfully following Jesus. They were arrested and warned not speak in Jesus' name. Rather than cowering in the face of persecution, they sensed an even greater sense of purpose. Radical obedience to Jesus will bring criticism, rejection, and persecution at some level. We need to understand that and accept it as part of our lot for following Christ. Conviction number 9: God will do miracles through the church. The early church prayed for God to "stretch out [His] hand," to validate the fact that Jesus was alive and present with them. Faith for miracles comes from the ability to hear from God. When we can hear God say, "I'm want heal that person now," we will have the faith to pray that healing into reality. There is another dimension. In Nazareth, Jesus did not do many miracles "because of their lack of faith." The attitude in a community can hinder the miraculous. It is good that we hold the conviction that God does miracles today, but we must try to foster that conviction in all the churches of Athens. Conviction number 10: Jesus is coming back to the Earth very soon. The Bible says that since we don't know when He is coming back, the expedient thing to do is live each day as though it is the day. If we knew for an absolute fact that Jesus would return to earth tomorrow at 7 p.m. what difference would it make? It would change the way we live! It would change how we spend our time! There would be higher degree of urgency in our witness! We will be far better off to live in the expectation of His immediate return and never see it, than to be caught unprepared at His coming. Supporting texts: John 15:20 | Acts 5:41-42 | Matthew 5:44-45 | John 10:25-26 | John 14:11 | Luke 7:20-23 | Matthew 13:58 | Acts 1:9-11 | 2 Peter 3:8-15 | Matthew 25:13 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 the sermon summarized above is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 040627a: Ten Convictions of the Early Church-3. © 2004 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us