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 A visible faith (third in the series, 'Mighty Faith') Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA July 3, 2005 Main Scripture text: Matthew 5:14-16. The Bible says the the life of Jesus is the light of the world. As He lives in us, that light continues to shine. According to Jesus, if we really have His life in us, we can't hide it -- any more than you can hide a city built on a hill. Christian faith is personal but should never be private. Just as sure as one lights a lamp and puts it on a stand, God desires that we make Him known to everyone in our sphere of influence. Studies show that more than 75 percent of people who become Christians do so because of the testimony, deeds, and encouragement of someone they know and trust. To help us be His light in the world, God has given us power through the Holy Spirit, but that doesn't mean that sharing faith is easy. For one thing, it is intimate and personal, and sometimes intimate and personal conversations are just difficult to have. Also, there can be demonic interference that must be overcome in prayer through the weapons of spiritual warfare. By sending Jesus into the world to die for us and to be raised again, God has gone to great lengths to "light our lamps." Now He wants to use us as light in the darkness of this world. Think about what we use light for: 1) To find things. Jesus came to seek and to save people who are lost in this dark world -- and now He has given us His light so that we can continue the job. 2) To find the way in dark places. God lit our lamps so we can find the lost and show them the way to Jesus. 3) To expose the true condition of things. If we need to see if a garment is really clean, we put it in the light. The intense, bright, white light of Jesus Christ can be uncomfortable, because it exposes the true condition of our hearts and our lives. Mighty faith is a visible faith, a faith that illuminates this present darkness. It is a faith that is seen in the world so that people can find their way to Jesus. Supporting texts: John 1:4 | Matthew 10:32 | 1 Peter 2:9 | Romans 8:15 | 2 Timothy1:7 | Philippians 4:13 | Romans 8:37 | 2 Corinthians 4:4 | Luke 19:10 | John 3:19-21 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (26:00). (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 050703a: A Visible Faith. © 2005 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us