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 Uncompromising faith (fourth in the series, 'Mighty Faith') Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA July 10, 2005 Main Scripture text: Hebrews 11:1-6. In an earlier sermon I defined Christian Faith as: "A centered, personal, relational response to God, involving trust and obedience. Today I want to say a bit more about the "trust" element in this definition. God doesn't always do what we expect or want. His ways and thoughts are not always like ours. I've come to believe that "mighty faith" is uncompromising faith. In other words, it is faith that is unwilling to make a concession that would in any way that would serve to undermine or call into question God's care and trustworthiness. It seems to me this is what the writer of Hebrews is talking about when he writes: "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." If we want to keep our faith from being compromised, we must hold fast to some foundational things. 1) The authority of Scripture. It is through the Scriptures that God reveals Himself and we can learn of purposes in the world. If we distrust any part of what is clearly taught in Scripture, we have compromised our faith. 2) A biblical view of God's character and nature. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent; He is the creator and sustainer of the universe; and He is love. 3) The truth that God loves us and desires good for us. At times, circumstances may seem to say that God doesn't care about us. But we must go by what we see or feel. If we do, it's like allowing a crack in a dam, that could cause the collapse of our faith. Our lives and futures are fraught with uncertainty -- at least from our vantage point. We are in dire need of faith, mighty faith. This is not a faith that circumstances will work out the way we want them to. It is a faith in a loving God who is working out His purposes in the world. It is this mighty, uncompromising faith that will keep us on the path of God's will. Supporting texts: Hebrews 11:32-39 | 2 Timothy 3:16 | John 3:16 | Luke 12:20 | Luke 12:39 | Luke 17:26 | 1 Thessalonians 5:3 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (43:00). (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 050710a: Uncompromising Faith. © 2005 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us