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 The fire of God Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA March 7, 2004 NOTE: Responding to the movement of the Holy Spirit in the March 7, 2004 worship service, Pastor Jerry Varnado set aside his prepared sermon for the day and preached this impromptu sermon. The "fire of God" is mentioned in Scripture in three different contexts. First: the fire of God's judgment, pictured in the Book of the Revelation as a lake of burning sulfur that never goes out. Second: the fire of holiness. God wants us to be holy. John the Baptist spoke about a baptism of unquenchable fire that would be part of the ministry of Jesus. The is the fire that burns away the chaff in our lives, the things that keep up from reaching our full potential in Christ. Third: the fire of God's Word. Jeremiah the prophet said that the Word was like a fire "shut up in his bones." It burned in his heart and he had to proclaim it! God wants to put a fire in our bones, a passion to see lives transformed by the power of the living God, a passion to see the River of God flowing through this community. This is what God wants to do in us and through us. Get ready for it! It's coming! Supporting texts: 2 Peter 3:10-13 | Revelation 20:9-10 | Revelation 21:7-8 | Matthew 13:30 | Matthew 25:41-43 | Matthew 13:41-42 | Malachi 3:1-4 | Job 23:10 | Malachi 3:3 | Luke 3:15-18 | Jeremiah 20:8-9 | Proverbs 13:15 © 2004 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us