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 True Christian humility (First in the series, Demolishing Strongholds) Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA April 1, 2007 Main Scripture text: Philippians 2:5-13. Demolishing Strongholds April 1, 2007 • True Christian Humility April 15, 2007 • Understanding Strongholds April 29, 2007 • Tolerating Jezebel May 6, 2007 • Recognizing the Spirit of Jezebel May 27, 2007 • Demolishing the Spirit of Jezebel To some, humility is -- as one humorist put it -- "the ability to act ashamed when people tell you how great you are." To others, it means being timid -- or go around talking about one's own inadequacies. None of that is what the Bible is talking about when it encourages us to practice humility. Here are some of the elements of true humility as taught in the Scriptures: Submission to God -- evidenced by believing what God says and obeying what He says; Trusting God -- We trust Him, not our good works, for our salvation; Childlike faith -- We must have an unwavering trust in Him and a total dependence on Him for our provision. In recent weeks, I've been talking with you about "community transformation." 2 Chronicles 7 shows us the relationship between humility and a God-driven transformation of our community. It's not the "sinners," but us -- the people of God -- who must repent and turn from our wicked ways. This brings us to the element of true humility: Agreeing with God about our sin. We must allow the Holy Spirit to expose ways in which we participate in -- or are tolerant of -- strongholds of demonic power in our culture. Community transformation is a divine intervention in human history. We can't "make it happen" -- we can only receive it. Arrogance and pride cannot receive, they demand. God has made Himself clear: He opposes the proud and but gives grace to the humble. If we want to see community transformation, we must first humble ourselves before God -- and fully submit to Him as our Savior and King. Supporting texts: James 4:10 | 1 Peter 5:6 | Philippians 4:13 | Romans 8:37 | Exodus 10:3 | Luke 18:9-14 | Matthew 18:1-4 | 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is not yet available. © 2007 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us