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Location:
349 Jefferson River For
directions, click here.
We
endeavored to meet those three
conditions but apparently failed. In
October 2000, we simply weren't on
track to be in a new building by
August/September 2001. I
pointed out in a newsletter article and
in a sermon that our human tendency,
when told that God is going to do
something big and wonderful, is to just
sit back and see if He really
will. But
the witness of Scripture is this: we
must "press in" to God and seek the
thing that we believe He has foretold.
One way we press in is by doing all
we're capable of doing. This
demonstrates our faith and sets the
conditions for God to act. I
gave some Biblical examples: the woman
with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34);
the four men who tore a hole in the
roof to lower their lame friend to
Jesus (Mark 2:1-5); the parable of the
unjust judge who neither feared God nor
respected men. The judge granted the
request of a poor widow for no other
reason other than her
persistence. These
examples and others demonstrate that
people are able to appropriate the
promises and blessing of God by
pressing in and not giving
up. Even
though a new building seemed
unreachable at the time, I encouraged
myself -- and hopefully you -- by
saying: "This is not the time to give
up or give in; rather it is time to
stand up and press in." We
began to press in, maybe reluctantly at
first, but we starting doing what we
could do and asked God to do the rest.
We persisted in seeking the vision that
God had put before us. Now
we are almost ready to begin
construction. Hallelujah! At this
point, it's just a matter of receiving
our final plans, getting governmental
approval, and selecting a
contractor. It
will be a push but I believe we will
celebrate Christmas 2004 in that new
building. We
still have some fundraising to do, but
we have come so far even the worst
doubting Thomas can muster the faith to
believe that God, working through the
faithful people of Gateway Church, is
going to see this thing
through. It is
going to happen! Perseverance pays
off! But
we must remember this: "Unguarded
strength is double weakness" (Oswald
Chambers). We can't let up; we must
keep pressing in to God. John
Eldredge in his best-selling book,
Waking the Dead, holds out three
truths Christians must understand in
order to appropriate the abundant
living Jesus promised. One of those is
of particular importance to us at this
time: "We are at war." We
are about to take new ground for the
Kingdom of God. Previously unoccupied
territory will now be occupied by a
church which will speak loudly to this
city: "Jesus is alive and His kingdom
is advancing." Trust me, the devil will
not let us do that without a
fight. Our
struggles will not be over until we
reach heaven or Jesus comes back to
earth. We are at war! The
devil will use every means to frustrate
our efforts. He will try to cause
division and infighting among us over
decisions that will be necessary in the
construction process. We must not let
that happen. Rather
than relaxing now that our goal is in
sight, we must double our guard. We
must ask God to train our hands for war
(Psalm 18:34; 144:1) and to post
watchmen on our walls (Isaiah
62:6). We
must continue to be diligent in prayer,
faithful in giving, and watchful at all
times. Above all, we must love each
other. We must be kind and considerate
to one another. We
must continue to persevere so we can
receive the reward God has promised.
Not just a new building but new life --
indeed, abundant life. Persevere!
It pays off!
Remember
those two things you can take to the
bank, God loves you and so does the
preacher. See
you in Church Sunday.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
Road in Athens, Georgia,
three blocks off Hwy. 129
(Jefferson Road).
Ministry
of the
Word:
Recent
sermons
Our quarterly e-magazine
Gateway
Today
For the Gateway family
Pastor
Jerry's Weekly
E-Mail
FROM
THE PASTOR
From
Gateway
Today
The
e-magazine of
Gateway Church
SPRING
2004
Perseverance
pays off
So
do not throw away your confidence; it
will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you
have done the will of God,
you will receive what he has
promised.
(Hebrews
10:35-36)
In
October 2000, it had been more than six
months since a prophecy was given in
our church that we would be in new
building, debt-free, in 18 months -- if
we were united, prayed and
believed.
by
Jerry
Sermons
Persistence
in seeking
A
spiritual battle
©
Gerald R. Varnado. All rights
reserved.
