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 Seeing is believing Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA August 6, 2006 Main Scripture text: Acts 9:1-20 We have all thought about how great it would have been to live during the time when Jesus was on earth -- to walk and talk with Him, to experience His presence. We think, "If we only we had seen Him in person, it would be so easy for us to believe" -- because, as the old saying goes, "seeing is believing." But the Bible teaches that the eyes we receive at birth are not really enough to see the most important things in life. This is clearly evident in the life and conversion of Saul. Saul was spiritually blind. He knew the Scriptures, but was blinded by tradition. One day Saul was struck to the ground by a blinding light and confronted by Jesus. He then became physically blind, but it was during that time of blindness that he really began to see. He saw that Jesus was the Messiah. Confronted with that truth, he asked this question, recorded in a later account in Acts 22: "What shall I do, Lord?" Acts 9 says he immediately began preaching that Jesus was the Messiah. Eventually, Saul assumed the Greek form of his name, Paul, and went on to become the most prolific of all the Apostles. It all started with that encounter on road to Damascus, when he truly "saw" Jesus. Seeing is believing -- but not in the sense of seeing in order that to believe. From the biblical perspective, seeing and believing are really the same thing. When we see, when we believe, the natural response is the response of Saul on the road to Damascus: "What shall I do, Lord?" This is the response of faith. Faith says "yes" to Jesus, even before it knows the question. We don't have to go back to biblical times to see Jesus. We can see Him today -- with the eyes of of faith. We can see the spiritual reality of the One who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who holds the keys of death and hell, who gives life and peace to those who come to Him. And with hearts of faith each of us can ask, "Lord what shall I do?" Supporting texts: Matthew 15:14 | John 3:3 | Mark 8:18 | Acts 7:57-8:1 | John 5:39-40 | Acts 22:10 | Acts 26:11-19 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (30 min.). (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 060806a: Seeing is Believing. © 2006 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us