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 Preparing the way Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA December 4, 2005 (The Second Sunday in Advent) Main Scripture text: Mark 1:1-8. When Mark's gospel mentions the "desert region" or "wilderness," it is doing more than simply describing the geography of the area. Jews knew that the term "wilderness" carried with it the national memory wandering around the desert for 40 years after they were set free from Egypt. God sent them into the wilderness as punishment for their unbelief. But during that wilderness time, God forged together a people of faith and courage who could go in and take the Promised Land. So "wilderness" has become a symbol of a time when God is preparing us to receive the fulfillment of His promise. And, frankly, it's usually a time of purification and testing that's not very pleasant. God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians, but they wouldn't believe Him that they could go in and take the Promised Land. Unbelief leads to disobedience. Why? Because God invariably asks His people to do scary things, things we can't do with our own power and resources. He does that to show us and the world that He is real and powerful. When we come up against something hard and scary, like taking land away from giants, we won't obey God unless we really believe God. We must believe God has spoken to us and that He will empower and equip us with everything we need to get the job done. The is the Second Sunday in the Season of Advent. "Advent" means the coming of God. If we want God to come to us in delivering power and fulfill His promise of abundant life in us, we must prepare the way for that to happen. Mark's gospel says we must "repent." Repentance prepares the way for the Lord's coming. The voice of John Baptist cries from that wilderness: "Repent of your unbelief." Turn around and accept the greater baptism offered by a risen Lord. The call to repentance isn't just to those outside the church. It is word is for all of us, but especially for those in the midst of a struggle of unbelief. God is calling you to repent and believe the Good News that you can be a person of faith and a warrior in the Kingdom. Through Jesus Christ, you can have a personal advent, in which God equips you with everything you need to do His will. A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (29:00). (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 051204a: Preparing the Way. © 2005 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us