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 Mighty faith and prudent living (seventh in the series, 'Mighty Faith') Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA September 11, 2005 Main Scripture text: Proverbs 1:1-7. At the root of early Christianity was what we call "supernaturalism." "Supernatural: means: 1) Attributed to power that seems to violate or go beyond natural forces; or 2) Beyond ordinary human understanding. In biblical times and for centuries afterward, the presence and activity of spiritual beings, whether they be angels of heaven or demons of hell, was widely accepted. Then came the Enlightenment, or "The Age of Reason," during which emphasis was given to the ability of educated humans to make reasonable, rational decisions and choices. Within this framework arose the idea the only true reality was that which could be explained by rational thought and reasoning. This of course created conflict with the supernaturalism of ancient Christianity, so there were efforts to tame Christianity to be more palatable to modern, rational, enlightened humanity. Ultimately, in the early 20th century, theologian Rudolf Bultmann called on the church to "demythologize" the Bible and to reframe the gospel in terms that could be explained and understood in rational terms. This led to the understanding that Christianity was about "prudent" living -- a Christianity about being wise in practical matters, of exercising good judgment, of being rational and reasonable. Certainly, in the normal processes of day-to-day living, God expects us to live prudently. But we must never let that obscure the fact that, at its root, Christianity is the irrational, unreasonable, unbelievable claim that the God who created the universe came to this earth as a person, Jesus of Nazareth. It is also true that God often leads His people where logic, reason and prudence will not go. He does this purposely, so we can experience His presence and power and He can make a name for Himself on earth. We are to live prudently, but we must realize that there are times and circumstances when prudent living gets trumped by something God wants to do through us. There are numerous biblical examples -- Noah called to build an ark to prepare for a flood, when it has never even rained before; Abram called to pack up everything he owned, and head off into the desert not knowing where he is going; Gideon called to engage and army of 135,000 with only 300 men. All of these acted "irresponsibly. "Their decisions and actions were not rooted in logic, reason, or prudence -- but in the simple fact that they had heard from God. Toward the end of his life, Paul wrote these words to Timothy, his son in the faith: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Three things Paul did: 1) He fought the good fight. He didn't wait for someone else to do it; he got into the fray. 2) He kept the faith. Through all the hardship and difficulty he experienced, Paul did not deviate from what he believed God had called him to do. 3) He finished the race. It is important to finish well. You can follow God and then fall away at the end -- and it leaves a sour taste in everyone's mouth. You may have labored long and hard but what people remember is the failure at the end. We started well with our construction project, but we've experienced problems, difficulties and frustrations along the way. We have had to go where prudence would not. Our debt is far greater than we anticipated. Frustrations are increasing as we near completion of the project. Herein lays our challenge and our test: Will we finish well? Or will we allow the frustrations and problems to damage our love for each other and the unity and fellowship that drew us here in the first place? If we do we've let the devil win. I have every confidence that all this will work itself out in the end and everything will be okay, but if it doesn't turn out that way it isn't going to ruin my life and it won't ruin yours or destroy the church -- unless we let it. We may not have always acted prudently, but we have acted as we've felt led of God. Now we need to do whatever it takes to finish the job. In the process we must be loving, kind, patient, forgiving, and respectful toward each other. Let's keep fighting -- the devil and thecircumstances, not each other. Let's keep the faith -- mighty faith; a faith that never even imagines that God won't stand with us. Let's finish well. Supporting texts: Genesis 6:9-22 | Genesis 12:1-4 | Judges 6-7 | 2 Timothy 4:7 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (38:00). (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 050911a: Mighty Faith and Prudent Living. © 2005 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us