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 Unscripted (Second in a series) Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA December 10, 2006 Second Sunday in Advent Main Scripture text: Luke 1:39-56 Why do we like to watch so-called "reality shows"? It's because there is a certain unpredictability about them. We get caught up in a real story. What's going to happen? How is it going to turn out? That's sort of what happened to Mary. She was engaged to be married and she thought she knew the script: She and Joseph would be wed, settle into a home, have children and live their lives. Then the unexpected happened. An angel brought news that changed everything. God has chosen her to do something that destroyed her script. How do we respond to situations in which God, by His plan and initiative, has thrown everything in our lives into turmoil? We can respond in one of two ways: 1) Worry. In a sense, worry is a turning away from God -- trusting in His power to sustain us. 2) Worship. Worship means to revere, honor, love God in a way that we do not revere, honor, or love anything else. To truly worship we must get our minds off of whatever we are dealing with and focus our attention on God. Mary chose worship. And the song of praise recorded in Luke 1 wasn't just an isolated act of worship. It was an expression of Mary's life. She was a devout, committed, sold-out worshipper of the one true God. How does all this apply to us? We must be ready at any time to abandon our scripted to pursue something else God might show us. Yes, we may find ourselves in the middle of apparent chaos, but God is there with us. If we will worship Him, we'll find the strength to endure and His direction that will lead us to final victory. How about you? Are you facing things that haven't turned out as you planned? Are you worrying about how, what, when, who, and where? Or, are you worshiping, and trusting God -- the God who made you, loves you, and who has called you to accomplish His purpose in the midst of what you're going through? Supporting texts: Matthew 6:25-34 | Proverbs 3:5-6 | James 4:13-15 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 061210a: Unscripted. © 2006 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us