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 Overcoming self-centeredness (Third in the series, Overcoming the Enemies of Joy) Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA March 5, 2006 Main Scripture text: Philippians 2:3-11 The dictionary defines self-centered as "engrossed in oneself and one's own affairs." Self-centeredness has many different names and manifests itself in many different ways -- selfishness, greed, materialism, arrogance. Some manifestations of self-centeredness are not so obviously self-centered behaviors: workaholism, perfectionism, insensitivity to others. Self-centeredness is an insidious obstacle to the joy God had for us -- and we all wrestle with it to some degree. How can we we get rid of self-centeredness? Paul recognized this problem in the Philippian church. In Philippians 2, he gave specific instructions about overcoming this destructive enemy of joy. His solution can be summed up in one word: Humility. Here are his specific instructions. 1) Do nothing out of selfish ambition. 2) Consider others better than yourself. 3) Consider the interests of others. Paul is talking about a change of attitude. Getting rid of self-centeredness requires an attitude adjustment. We must change how we think about ourselves and others. Paul offers Jesus as the model of we ought to think and act. Even though Jesus was in very nature God, He didn't consider that something to grasp and selfishly hold on to. Sermons in this series 1-The Promise of Joy 2-Overcoming Unbelief 3-Overcoming Self-Centeredness 4-Overcoming Our Fear 5-Overcoming Anger 6-Overcoming Negative Thinking 7-Rejoice Always! Rejoice! Instead, Jesus made Himself nothing. He emptied Himself -- of self! He humbled himself and was obedient to the Father's plan, even to the point of death. In Luke 9:23-24 we find these words: "Then [Jesus] said...: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'" The key is dying. If we're going to have the same attitude as Jesus, we have to die -- daily. We must die to self so the life of Jesus can manifest itself on our bodies. God helps us out in the process. For example, Francis Frangipane says God designed and instituted marriage to kill us! Think about that. Marriage is about commitment, sacrifice, giving. It is about dying to self! God designed marriage to assist in our demise, so that we might overcome our natural self-centeredness. The Apostle Paul wrote often his personal experience of God's joy. But, you know what? He had to die to get it! That's why he wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." If we really want to experience God's joy, we must want it enough to die for it. As we die to self -- daily -- and live for Christ, he will give us His joy and His life. Supporting texts: James 4:6 | Mark 7:20-22 | Galatians 5:19-21 | James 3:16 | Luke 9:23-24 | Galatians 2:20 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (26 min.). (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 060305a: Overcoming Self-Centeredness. © 2006 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us