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 new thing Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA March 25, 2007 Main Scripture text: Isaiah 43:14-21. We can understand or experience biblical prophecy in three ways: 1) Historically: This passage from Isaiah is about something that happened in history, the downfall of Babylon and the return of the Jews to their homeland in 539 B.C. 2) Allegorically. Surely we can see in this prophecy a parallel to the the coming of the new covenant ushered in through Jesus Christ. 3) Personally. The Holy Spirit can apply a text to a particular set of circumstances for an individual or a group in a way that has nothing directly to do with the historical or eternal truth that text reveals. Let's look at this text from Isaiah in this sense. What is "Babylon" to us? To the Jew, exile in Babylon separated them from the temple -- their point of contact with God that made their faith personal and real. In the same way, "Babylon" to us anything that stands in the way of an active living relationship with God. Let me name just a few of them: 1) Rush. Rushing here, rushing there. No time for contemplation. No time for God or one another. Why are we are in such in a hurry? There is no telling how many times I've run right by God. I was too busy, in too big a hurry to hear His voice. 2) Materialism. Jesus made it clear that we could not worship both God and money. At one time, we actually recognized that truth in this country. That's why we began stamping on our money, "In God We Trust." 3) Tradition. Good traditions are good things -- but they sometimes become bondage. "We've always done it this way" -- no matter that today it's totally ineffective. In many place, the church is choking to death on outdated traditions. God says "forget the former things." This sounds strange coming from the One who has gone to great lengths to help them remember the former things. The key to understanding is in the phrase: "Do not dwell on the past." Remembering is good. It helps build our faith in God. But we can't live there. God does new things all the time -- to keep pace with a changing world that needs to hear the timeless truth about Jesus in ways they can understand. The 50s aren't coming back. Neither are the 60s, 70s, 80s, or even the 90s. And if we don't adjust our sails, we'll miss the blowing of the wind of His Spirit today. I think one of the new things God is doing in the world is marketplace ministry through prayer evangelism leading to community transformation. To become part of that movement, we're starting a new prayer group on Wednesday nights from 6-7 p.m. We want to engage in strategic prayer -- prayer focused on addressing strongholds in our culture that resist the gospel. Don't dwell on the past. God is doing a new thing. Let's all get in on it -- and get on with it. Supporting texts: Hebrews 4:12 | Psalm 137:4 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (26 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 CD of the sermon summarized above is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a CD by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify number 070325a: A New Thing. © 2007 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us