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 Is it time for a will alignment? (fourth in the series, 'Experiencing God') Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA March 13, 2005 Main Scripture text: Luke 12:31-34 In this sermon series, we've talked about the reality that we can hear from God. We've looked at the biblical evidence that shows that God seeks a love relationship with us. We also discussed the fact that God's invitation for us to join Him in His work usually results in a crisis of belief. Today, let's focus on two more realities of experiencing God: "Joining God in His work requires major adjustments in our lives," and "We experience God as we obey Him." The reality that joining God in His work requires major adjustments is found throughout Scripture. Let's look at five specific kinds of adjustments we may have to make: 1) Circumstances 2) Relationships 3) Commitments 4) Actions 5) Thinking (beliefs) Overarching all these is the main adjustment: We must move from thinking in terms of... our working for God in our way, according to our abilities, likes, resources, goals and timetable, to thinking in terms of... doing God's work in God's way in accordance with His desires, power, resources, and timing. This brings us to the final reality of experiencing God: We experience God as we obey Him. This is not like the obedience of an army private, who bites his lip obeys the drill instructor for fear of consequences. It is more akin to a child who does a chore around the house because of love for his or her parents. Jesus said that if we're to be his disciples, we must "take up [our] cross daily" and follow Him. Our "cross" is that thing which stands in the way of obeying God. Self-denial is critical to living the Christian life. When occasions arise, in any dimension of our life, where choices must be made, self-denial means that we will say "no" to self and "yes" to the Lord. It means that we make whatever adjustments are necessary to obey Him. The daily pattern of experiencing God is to daily surrender our lives to His life, our will to His Will. The wheels on your car need to be in alignment for your car to operate correctly. If the wheels are out of alignment the tires do not roll true and they will wear out before their time. The Christian life is something like that. If your will is out of alignment with God's will, you'll have just enough religion to make you miserable. God wants to use you and He longs for you to experience Him. Then submit to the Master Mechanic for a will alignment. To paraphrase the old song, "Adjust and obey, for there's no other way to experience God, but to adjust and obey." Supporting texts: Philippians 3:7-9 | John 14:15-24 | Hebrews 5:8-10 | Luke 9:23 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (31:00). (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 050313a: Is it Time for a Will Alignment? © 2005 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us