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 The power to connect Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA August 27, 2006 Main Scripture text: 1 Timothy 2:1-6 In business and in our social lives, the thing these days is staying "connected": "Is there a Web connection?" "Can you get a cell?" "Can you hear me now?" This is nothing new to God. He established the first wireless network -- and service is available at every spot in the universe. He never drops a call, and His network features unlimited, anytime, anywhere minutes. Most of us are concerned about the world we live in. What I want to do today is "connect the dots" between God's wireless network and the world around us. In today's text, Paul says "First of all..." Before we do any of the other things we might do, the first thing we must do is "pray for everyone." One group that should have priority in our prayers is "those In authority." We should not spend any more time complaining about or criticizing our leaders than we do praying for them. Paul gives us three reasons to pray: 1) That we "may may live peaceful and quiet lives." For that to happen godlessness in our communities must decrease. 2) God "wants all [humanity] to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." Some Christians seem determined to get people into hell, while God's working overtime to save them from it. 3) There is only "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." This is not "politically correct" in our culture, but it is the truth. We should respect all people and respect their God-given freedom to believe whatever they want to believe, but we should never cease our efforts to get them in touch with the one true God. Ephesians 6 makes it clear that our real enemy is the devil. And 2 Corinthians 4 tells us that if our witness for Christ is to bear any fruit at all, we have to "pray the blinders" off of people the devil has hindered from seeing the truth. Prayer changes things. Prayer changes people. Prayer changes us. Indeed, I believe that prayer can change the spiritual climate of a whole city or nation, because prayer can "short circuit" the demonic influence present in that city. Ed Silvoso, a world leader in the Transformation Movement, puts it this way in his book, My City, God's City: For too long we have left the control of the spiritual climate in our cities in the hands of the devil. This is evident when we look at the mire of sin, the hostility and anger, the criminal activity and crushing weight of hopelessness on our fellow citizens.... Satan is keeping a subzero climate in place, while the church is rubbing sticks together to spark a few fires to keep its own people from freezing. But what if the church in the city was able to take control of the spiritual thermostat away from the devil and set it at a comfortable 70 degrees Fahrenheit? Satan would then be on the defensive, assigning his armies to frantically distribute melting ice cubes around the city in a futile attempt to bring the temperature down a few degrees. The Apostle Paul makes it clear: Prayer is the key to taking control of a community's spiritual climate. Are you willing to give yourself to God's service in prayer in order to see our city transformed by the power of God? Supporting texts: Ephesians 6:10-12 | 2 Corinthians 4:4 | 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (35 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 060827a: The Power to Connect. © 2006 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us