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 Here I raise mine Ebenezer Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA November 13, 2005 Main Scripture text: 1 Samuel 7:7-14. After more than 125 years, this could possibly be our last Sunday to worship here in this location. Next week, we hope to be in our new building. Today we need to say good-bye -- and we need to "raise our Ebenezer." That term comes from the seventh chapter of 1st Samuel. Ebenezer means "stone of help." As Samuel placed a stone marker, he said "Thus far has the Lord has helped us." In other words, "It is only by God's grace and assistance that we have made it this far." We need a little more context to grasp the full import of Samuel's words. Earlier in 1st Samuel, the Israelites had fallen away from God, and as a result had suffered two terrible defeats at the hands of the Philistines. In one battle, 4,000 Israelites died. In the second, 30,000 Israelites were killed, and the Philistines captured the ark of the Covenant. Although there is some debate about this, I believe the place where this second terrible defeat occurred is exactly the same place that Samuel later named Ebenezer, after God supernaturally intervened and gave them a great victory over the same enemy, the Philistines. God often meets us at the place of our worst defeat, our worst fear, our most tragic circumstance -- and there shows us His power. Why leave a marker? 1) It serves a sign among the people. It reminds us that God came and gave victory. 2) Children will ask about it, giving us an opportunity to seize a teachable moment and tell them the story. That will help insure that our history, and our relationship with God in Jesus Christ, is passed on to the next generation. In our sermon graphic this week, you'll see a pile of rocks. For those of you who were not here at the time, we made an altar of those stones right here in this sanctuary during our first financial campaign for the new building. The stones represented the sacrificial giving of this congregation. Our intent from the outset was to somehow incorporate those stones into the construction of the new building. And we have. They are part of the portico. When we see those stones, we will be reminded of this place, this building, where we first set them up. This place we are leaving is important to us. I preached my first sermon as a pastor right here. Bev and I were married at this altar. Two of my children were baptized here. Hither by God's help we've come. But it is time to leave this place, to say good-bye. It's time to move -- and time to move on to the future God has in store for us at a new location. We bless this place and the ministry that will continue here in the name of Jesus. Here we've raised our Ebenezer, so that neither we, nor future generations, will forget this place where God came to us, healed us, and helped us to move on. Supporting texts: Genesis 28:10-22 | Joshua 3:14-4:9 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (33:00). (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 051113a: Here I Raise Mine Ebenezer. © 2005 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us