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 In the power of the Spirit Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA January 25, 2004 Main Scripture text: Luke 4:14-30. After His baptism and His temptation in the wilderness, Jesus returns to Galilee "in the power of the Spirit." He is asked to speak in his "home church," the synagogue in Nazareth. He reads from the prophecy of Isaiah and then proclaims, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." That statement, plus other things Jesus said at the synagogue, tell us at least three things about what it means for the Spirit of the Lord to be "upon" someone. First, Jesus talked about God in the present tense. How else would we talk about God if indeed the Spirit were upon us? God is here; He is with us. This was the continuing the focus of Jesus' preaching. "Repent the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It is right before you. God is a present and practical reality to life now, this moment. Second, Jesus taught that faith in God should determine how we live and how we relate to others. The Spirit of God was upon Jesus so He could minister to the needs of hurting people. That is clear from the Isaiah passage he quotes. If the Spirit is truly upon us, we will be moved by the suffering of others. We will be moved by the fact that so many people are without God, and thus without hope in this world. Third, Jesus talked about the universal love of God extended to all persons. No group has exclusive rights to God -- not the Jews, Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Charismatics, or Pentecostals. But don't confuse universal love with universalism. Universalism is the belief that everyone is going to get to heaven somehow. Jesus never said anything like that. in fact he makes it painfully clear that those who refuse God's love and grace will end up in hell, forever separated from Him. But now, God offers everyone a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Now is the time of God's favor. Now is the day of salvation. Don't refuse Him! For us who've already experienced God's saving grace, the words of Jesus in Luke 4 should motivate us to pray earnestly that the healing, restoring, freeing power that flowed through Him would also flow through us. That's what it means to live "in the power of the Spirit." Supporting texts: Isaiah 61:1-2 | John 14:12 | Acts 1:8 | Matthew 4:17 | 2 Corinthians 6:2 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (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 040125a: In the Power of the Spirit. © 2004 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us