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Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia.

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A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY


AUDIO


Being a lighthouse:
Witnessing God's way
(pt. 5)

Jerry Varnado, pastor
Gateway Church, Athens GA

October 15, 2006
  • Main Scripture texts: John 14:12-17
  • We've been studying the biblical pattern for witnessing -- taught by Jesus in Luke 10:

    1)     Speak peace to pre-believers;
    2)     Fellowship with them;
    3)     Take care of their needs;
    4)     Proclaim the Good News.

  • Today I want to move to John 14 and specifically address the connection between "meeting needs" and "proclaiming the gospel."

  • John 14 reveals two claims of Jesus that are critical to our understanding of Him, as well as of the mission to which He has commissioned the church.

1)

That He is one with God -- Jesus not only claimed that God worked through Him but that He and the Father were one

2)

The miracles He performed were evidence of His union with God -- If you can do things that can be done only by God then you either are God or else God is somehow able to work through you.

  • Then in John 14:12 Jesus makes this astounding statement:
    • Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.
  • Jesus is not talking greater in quality or greater in value. He means greater in quantity.

  • Just what had Jesus been doing? Yes, He'd been preaching, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, enabling the deaf to hear and the blind to see -- even raising the dead. But what else?

  • If you see people building a house, how would you describe what they are doing? Would you say, "They're stacking bricks" or "fastening pieces of lumber together"? No, you'd say, "They're building a house."

  • I submit to you that what Jesus was doing was establishing a Kingdom on this Earth and calling people into that Kingdom. The miracles were like laying brick or nailing boards together. He was using those things to accomplish what He was really doing.

  • Jesus said, "Anyone who has faith in me will do what I've been doing." That means we're to call people into the Kingdom, too.

  • Now, let me connect the dots. What evidence is there to shake anyone into the reality of God's coming kingdom? The evidence is that we have prayed for their needs and they have seen God respond.

  • But what if God doesn't come through? Look again at John 14:12-14! It's an unequivocal promise to answer prayer in the context of doing what Jesus had been doing -- populating the kingdom.

  • Jesus says He will do anything we ask so that He can bring glory to the Father. What brings glory to the Father? God is glorified when people acknowledge and submit to Him as the one and only true God.

  • The "greater things" Jesus speaks of have to do with prayer evangelism. Prayer for pre-believers gives Jesus the opportunity to do miracles in their lives -- miracles that'll shake out of their unbelief and bring them to submit themselves to God.

  • Ed Silvoso says prayer for pre-believers is not a precursor to evangelism -- it is evangelism! It is the means by which we show pre-believers the reality of God.

  • Speak peace to pre-believers, fellowship with them, take care of their needs, and pray for them. And tell them, "The Kingdom of God is near!"

  • That's what Jesus taught; that's what Jesus did. Let's be like Jesus.


Supporting texts: John 14:11 | John 15:5

 

A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (33 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 061015a: Being a Lighthouse, pt. 5.


© 2006 Gerald R. Varnado

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