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 A warfare worldview (Sixth in the series, 'A Christian worldview') Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA September 12, 2004 Main Scripture text: Matthew 12:22-30 (from The Message) A Christian Worldview Sermon Series Aug. 8, 2004 • The Power of Perspective Aug. 15, 2004 • The Holy Bible: Our Guide for Faith and Practice Aug. 22, 2004 • Origins Aug. 29, 2004 • Will the Real God Please Stand Up? Sept. 5, 2004 • The Spirit World Sept. 12, 2004 • A Warfare Worldview Sept. 19, 2004 • War Stories: Invasion and Liberation Oct. 10, 2004 • War Stories: At the Front Oct. 17, 2004 • The Enemy's Battle Plan Oct. 24, 2004 • Personal Defense Oct. 31, 2004 • Our Weapons: The Sword of the Spirit Nov. 7, 2004 • Our Weapons: The Name of Jesus Nov. 14, 2004 • Our Weapons: The Blood of Jesus Nov. 28, 2004 • Warfare Worldview: The Real Star Wars John Eldredge, in his book Waking the Dead, writes about a scene in the film Amadeus. The movie is a somewhat fictionalized account of the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, perhaps the greatest composer the world has ever known. In the film, a man named Salieri, the head composer in the king's court, is portrayed as a villain worthy of the devil himself. Tormented by his envy of Mozart's greatness, he is driven to hatred and eventually murder. Both enraptured and enraged by Mozart's overwhelming talent, a supremely jealous Salieri lashes out at God: "From now on we are enemies, You and I -- because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile boy, and give me only the ability to recognize the incarnation. "Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature on Earth as far as I am able. "I will ruin Your incarnation." This isn't only Mozart's story, it is our story. Salieri's words express the very heart of the devil toward us. The church is the incarnation of God, in the world in much the same way as Jesus was the incarnation of God when He walked this planet. We are "the Body of Christ." If we are to have a Christian worldview, we must recognize the reality that we live in a world at war. We are born into a cosmic conflict, and there is no escaping it. And the devil delights in taking prisoners of war, people wounded by his schemes and held in bondage by his lies. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has made every provision secure the liberty of every person in the devil's grip, but most people don't know that. Even many in the church are still walking around with great wounds and in spiritual bondage. The devil is trying His best to ruin God's incarnation, but in Christ we have the victory. But we have recognize what the problem is. It is a warfare issue. We must renounce any agreement we have made with the devil's lies. We must reject any embrace we have made with his schemes. In so doing, the power of Christ becomes available to us to break the satanic strongholds that bind us and make us unproductive in the Kingdom. To be set free, and to help others be set free, we must first understand the stark reality of spiritual warfare. We must have a warfare worldview. Supporting texts: John 10:10 | John 12:31 | Genesis 1:26-28 | Ephesians 6:12 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (31:30). (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 040912a: A Warfare Worldview. © 2004 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us