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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
If
you want to read The Washington
Post or check your e-mail, you can
do it from anywhere on the planet. All you
need is a computer and a
connection. Getting
to heaven is sorta like
that. You
can get there from anywhere, as long as
you have the "right
equipment." You
see, the only problem about going to
heaven is that we human beings don't
have the "right
equipment." 'Fraid
not. Doesn't work that way. It's like
this: heaven is where God is, right?
Y'know, "Our Father, who art in
heaven..." Well,
to be with God, you have to be without
sin. Yeah.
Let's face it. None of us is without
sin. That's
not the point. The point is: are you as
good as God? Oh,
you can. But first you have to realize
that you don't have what it takes to get
there. Well,
you have to rely on someone else to get
you there. Bingo!
Oops. Didn't mean to say that. We
Methodists are opposed to gambling,
y'know. It's bad for society. Now, what
were we talking about? Yeah,
you're absolutely right. Jesus is the only
way you can get to heaven. He said that in
the Gospel according to John, chapter 14:
"I am the way the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through
me." Yep. That's
it. That's how you get to heaven from
Athens, Georgia -- or from anywhere else
in the world. You
got it. Ah!
That gets us back to equipment
issue. That's
right. You need purity and instead you've
got sin. Yeah,
that's bad news. But... Well,
this is what going "through Jesus" is all
about. You see you have sin, but he
doesn't have any. Not
a bit. You see, the Bible says Jesus is
God and that he came down from heaven and
lived as a man. Yeah,
it was a major deal. God was coming into
the world. Well,
that's part of the reason Jesus came. So
people would know that God loves 'em and
is concerned about them. Exactly.
Even though he knew you'd be a sinner,
Jesus loved you enough to die for
you. Ah,
but he knew you were going to be
here. So he did what only he could
do. Well,
you know that sin we were talking
about? Hey,
it's important. In fact, the Bible says
"the wages of sin in
death." Nobody
does. But this is why the whole Jesus
thing is such good news. Jesus,
the one who never sinned, died in your
place. He got what you
deserved. Awesome,
isn't it? And you know why he did
that? Because
God doesn't want you to die. In fact, he
wants you to go to heaven. And Jesus rose
from the dead to prove all
that. Exactly.
That's what the Bible says. All that you
have to do is put your trust in Jesus.
Y'know, accept the fact that what he did,
he did for you. Well,
this is where it gets really good. You
see, Jesus not only takes your sin away,
he gives you his righteousness. When God
looks at you, he sees
Jesus. And
that's how you can get to
heaven. It's
like this: Jesus is the only one who
deserves to go to heaven 'cause he's only
sinless one. But, when you put your trust
in Jesus, God looks at you and sees him.
As far as God is concerned, you qualify
for heaven -- not because you have the
"right equipment," but because Jesus
does. All
I can tell you is what the Bible says:
"Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved." And not only that,
when you put your trust in Jesus, he
starts turning your life around. Not only
do you get heaven later, you get what
Jesus called "abundant life" here on
earth. Well,
if you mean, "What do I have to do get all
this?," the answer is: nothing. It's a
free gift from God. This
is. No strings attached. All you need is a
desire to turn away from your sin and turn
toward Jesus -- and the Bible says God
will even give you that. Here's
what the Bible says in Romans 10: "If you
confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,'
and believe in your heart that God raised
Him from the dead, you will be
saved." It
means you're telling Jesus he has the
right to run your life from now
on. He
is God, after all. Well
said. You
got it. And the Bible says, "Those who
trust in the Lord will never be
disappointed." Never. Backed
by the full faith and credit of the
Sovereign God of the
universe. You're
close. HE is it. Jesus. Follow Him.
You'll never be the same. If
you believe Jesus died for you and want to
accept God's free gift of new and abundant
life, tell Him so. You
can talk to God in your own words, of
course, but the following outline may help
you: •
"I know that if I got what I deserved
it would be death." •
"I recognize that I have no power over
my sin." •
"God, by your grace, I turn away from
my sin," •
"I ask your son, Jesus Christ, to come
into my life right now and forgive
me." •
"Come into my life and be my Lord,
Jesus." •
"Thank you, God, for loving me. And
thank you for your free gift of
everlasting life in Jesus.
Amen."
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
Ministry
of the
Word:
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sermons
Our quarterly e-magazine
Gateway
Today
For the Gateway family
Pastor
Jerry's Weekly
E-Mail
How
to get to heaven
from Athens,
Georgia!
(or
from anywhere else)
Y'know,
in these days of cyberspace and virtual
reality, it doesn't matter all that much
where you are.Yeah,
that's neat.
Have
laptop, will travel.
Huh?
Are
you feeling OK?
You
can't get to heaven on a pentium chip,
eh?
Yeah,
I've heard that.
Uh,
oh.
Well,
maybe not. But I'm not as bad as some
people.
OK,
so I'm not as good as God. But you said
I could get to heaven from anywhere.
Now you're telling me I
can't.
All
right, already. I'll grant you that
point. I don't have what it takes. So
what do I do?
You're
talking about Jesus aren't
you?
Jesus.
We were talking about Jesus. You said I
couldn't get to heaven on my on and I'd
have to rely on someone else to get me
there. And I said, "You're talking
about Jesus." And you said,
"Bingo."
I
think I'm starting to get it. The
Father is in heaven...
And
to get to heaven, you have to go
through Jesus.
Through
Jesus.
Well,
I have only one question. What does
that mean, "through
Jesus"?
Oh,
yeah. I don't have the "right
equipment" to get to
heaven.
Bummer.
But
what?
None?
No
kidding! So that's why the angels
showed up and there was the star and
all that stuff.
Wow.
I've always thought of God as sorta out
there -- somewhere.
Wait
a minute. Is this where the "Jesus
loves me this I know, for the Bible
tells me so" stuff comes
in?
For
me? Hey, I wasn't even
there.
What
was that?
Back
to that again.
Don't
like the sound of that.
Keep
talking.
He
got "paid my wages,"
huh?
No.
Why?
So
he made a way for that to happen even
though I don't have the "right
equipment."
OK.
Then what?
No
kidding!
Time
out! You lost me.
How
do I know for sure that this'll work
for me?
So
what do I have to do?
Free?
There's gotta be a catch. Nothing's
free.
God
doesn't want to take no for answer,
huh?
"Lord"
--what's that mean?
Hmmm.
Good
point. I mean who better to run my
life, huh?
And
I guess if he loves me enough to die
for me, and he loves me enough to make
me want to turn to him, and he loves me
enough to want me to go to heaven, then
I can TRUST Him to run my
life.
Never?
That's
quite a guarantee.
Y'know,
I been thinking for a while that's
there's gotta be more to life than
sleeping, eating, and going to work.
Sounds like this is it.
•
"God, I know I'm a sinner."