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 Gratitude and the cost of receiving Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA November 20, 2005 Main Scripture text: Mark 5:21-43. Gratitude isn't just a response to receiving something, it is also an attitude of the heart. And I believe there is a connection between gratitude and receiving from God. In Luke 7, the Bible tells about a woman who had received forgiveness for her many sins, so she loved the Lord much. In that same account, a Pharisee named Simon was so arrogant he couldn't even see his need for forgiveness, so he received none -- and he loved little. Although God desires to freely bestow His blessings on us, I have come to the conclusion that receiving from God costs us something. I see at least five things we have to lay down to put ourselves in the position of being able to receive what God has for us: 1) Ingratitude. God is reluctant to give to ungrateful people -- because ingratitude is a character defect He wants to root out of us. He's not about to feed it. 2) Prejudice. Prejudice means to judge before you know the facts. In our text today, we read about Jairus, the ruler of a synagogue, an important position in the Jewish community. Jairus had to overcome a significant prejudice to come to Jesus, who was an "unlearned" man from a town no one respected. Also in our text, we see a woman who was ceremonially unclean. She was ostracized from society. And yet she pushed through the crowd to Jesus. She had to overcome the prejudice against her to receive her healing. 3) Dignity. This is "the condition of being worthy or honorable." God often requires us to do something before we can receive. For example, forgiveness requires repentance. True repentance comes hard to the dignified. It often makes us weep. Neither Jairus nor the woman came to Jesus with any sense of worthiness. Jairus fell at his feet, the woman sneaked up behind Him probably on her hands and knees. Our sense of dignity sometimes gets in the way of our receiving -- and if we want to receive from God it will cost us that dignity. 4) Pride. This is somewhat related to dignity. It is pride that drives us toward seek self-sufficiency. It's hard for us to admit we're needy. But unless we humble ourselves and become like little children, recognizing our desperate need for God, we will miss much of what God wants to give us. I believe Jairus had to overcome a huge mound of pride to ask Jesus for help. 5) Peer affirmation. Jairus and this sick woman didn't seem to care what others thought of them. They were willing to face public ridicule. Telling our friends and family that we're trusting Jesus to provide our needs, heal our bodies, lead us to the right job, or help us find a wife or husband will not always bring affirmation. The world -- and many in the church -- will advise us against such, but God wants us to rely upon Him in just that way. Supporting texts: Luke 7:39-47 | Hebrews 12:28-29 | 1 Timothy 4:4-5 | Numbers 22:21-31 | 2 Kings 5:9-16 | Matthew 6:33 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (41:00). (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 051120a: Gratitude and the Cost of Receiving. © 2005 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us