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A
GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY
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AUDIO
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Ten
convictions of the early church - 1
Jerry
Varnado,
pastor
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
June 6, 2004
Trinity Sunday
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- Main
Scripture
text:
Acts
2:1-13.
- God
the Father is revealed in the Old
Testament as the Sovereign Creator of
the universe.
- In
the gospels God the Son is revealed in
the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
- Then
came Pentecost, with God the Holy
Spirit bringing the Father and the Son
directly into people's lives.
- That
first Pentecost was an explosion of
supernatural power of such magnitude it
has reverberated around the world for
20 centuries.
- What
was it about the people of the early
church that enabled them to be so
powerfully used by God? I think it
related to their convictions.
- A
conviction is "a fixed or strong
belief." It is something that one is
absolutely convinced of. Conviction is
the opposite of doubt or disbelief.
- I
believe there were three convictions
that the 120 in the upper had that
prepared them for Pentecost.
- First,
they
were convinced Jesus is
alive.
If we are not convinced that Jesus is a
living person who knows us and can be
known by us, the our faith will not be
alive and active, but dead.
- Second,
they
knew Jesus was spiritually present with
them.
Jesus said, "For where two or three
come together in my name, there am I
with them." If that is true, then
anything is possible!
- Third,
they
believed that the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit was the culmination of the
Christ
event.
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- It
is a common belief in the
church today that the death
and resurrection of Jesus, and
the forgiveness of sins
accomplished thereby, was the
culmination of what God was
doing in Jesus Christ.
- That
is not what the Bible says.
Until you have received the
Holy Spirit you've not
experienced the fullness of
what God desires for you.
- Let
me be clear: The resurrection
is essential to Christian
faith. But if we stop there
our salvation belongs to
another world, to a future
time when God will save us
from the seeming finality of
death. That is a distortion of
the Christian faith.
- Salvation
is not just a future thing to
which we are moving; it's a
present reality. Pentecost is
the coming of God the Holy
Sprit to indwell, strengthen
and empower us, so we can
participate in His divine
nature, and be co-workers with
God in the coming of His
kingdom.
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- Fourth,
they
believed that what happened at
Pentecost was the promise of God the
Father.
This is what Jesus told them in Acts
1:4-5. They understood the events of
Pentecost as the coming of the promised
New Covenant.
- The
power of Pentecost is a promise of God
-- and God always keeps his promises.
If we can say "Amen" to that, we are in
the frame of mind and heart to receive
what God has promised.
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Supporting
texts: John
14:12
| John
14:18
| John
14:23
| John
16:7 |
1
Corinthians
15:17-18
| Matthew
18:20
| Acts
1:4-5
| 2
Corinthians 1:20-22
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 040606a: Ten
Convictions of the Early Church-1.
A
downloadable mp3 audio file of this sermon is no
longer available.
Audio files remain posted for 12 months after the
sermon date.
© 2004
Gerald R. Varnado
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