ZERO IDOLS

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Open with buckeye fight song, OH, then say this week we are going to talk about IDOLS????
and baals, planned this really hoping they didn’t lose yesterday.
only reason we can have car show next week is because they are playing a cupcake like youngstown state, and someone will still be checking score the whole time.
For intro, notice commandment 1 says no other gods, making the point that we all have gods one way or another, but this week with idols, have none, because the idea in and of itself is irrational
Could start with separate as combining last week and this week
Careful little eyes what you see, I keep trying to stop thinking about… but you keep feeding? workout videos that idealize unrealistic bodies, tv and movies that idealize unrealistic relationships and lifestyles, or affirm a sin you cant seem to kick, ADD OTHER IDEAS
2 FOUNDATIONAL FACTS? How and where?
Separate
Pluralism/polytheism – the lazy man’s religion. It does not require courage, faith, or a defense of their belief. Anyone who believes in anything, cannot be ok with believing in everything. Christianity is often labeled as intolerant or close minded due to their lack of acceptance towards other beliefs. But any potentially serious religion would never be ok with worship god or gods outside of those in which they put their belief.
Belief in (one ) God demands exclusivity as all truth by definition is exclusive.
Eliminate
Elevate Gives idea of God elevated vs high places maybe
Overcoming diminishing God (art)
To avoid secularism
Ravi quote – secularism,
Exodus 20:4-6
The simplicity of commandment #1 MUST not be overlooked. Last week we examined the importance of not allowing anything to be more prominent in our lives than God. He requires first place in all our lives. This week our focus has shifted from WHO OUR WORSHIP BELONGS TO, TO WHERE WE PLACE OUR WORSHIP… Let me make this clear this morning, if you don’t know WHO you are worshipping you’ll worship anyone or anything you can get a hold of. You see what happens when we commit Idolatry is we confuse the creation with the Creator.
(TEXT) 4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. 6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (PRAY)
Idols come in all different shapes sizes and forms. In all reality we love our idols. Many people would die for their idol. Our idols are wrapped up in all different types of forms and items. Money, fame, power, sex, technology. Idols is where we place our worship. Trinkets and Temples, Shoes, Purses, Cell Phones, Professional Athletes… We even have icons or logos that represent our favorite idols… Golden Arches, Starbucks, Apple…Fit-Bits. Then there’s the false personal Saviors… Politicians. My Man, Or My Woman… We wear T-Shirts that say, “King/Queen..” Many people would die for their idols, but only one God died for His people. And that’s Jesus Christ!
We all have idols. What does God say about them… He says, “no idols allowed!”
He knows that idols will enslave us. He established the fact that there is ONE God, and now He is establishing how we worship Him. Who do we reflect? Who do we worship? Jesus Christ.
God cannot be seen any more clearly than in Jesus Christ. We don’t need a photo, a painting, a statue, bishop, pope, temple, or trinket. We worship God in the image of Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. In fact, 1 Timothy 2:3-5 says… “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is One God, and One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…”
We must separate ourselves from other religious ideologies, and we need to begin to eliminate those idols in our life that would cause our relationship with God to be tainted. We have a tendency to ignore the idols that float around in our life because we don’t give certain acts of sin the respect that they deserve, as we view them as harmless. No idol is harmless. All idols keep us form Holiness. Holiness means constantly examining every area of our life, asking God to reveal what it is that is keeping us from being closer to Him. This has to take place because God is never changing.
So, the only way to get closer to Him is for us to change things that keep us from Him. Sometimes we just need to eliminate from our life what is keeping us from Him. This is when change takes place. You may need to change the way you spend your money, you may need to change the way you dress, you may need to change the television and movies you watch, you may need change the music you listen to, you may need to change some of the words in your vocabulary, you may need to change the places you hang out, you may need to change the people you hang out with, you may need to change the way you talk about other people, you may need to change your poo-poo attitude, you may need to change your view of authority.
Let me give you a confession from my personal life to bring it home a little. Years ago I used to justify the watching of certain tv shows and movies. PG-13 was ok, and Rated R could be ok if it only contained only certain sins. So, in other words I can watch a movie with profanity but not sex. I can watch a movie with violence, but not gory violence. Finally, I realized that the more time I had to spend trying to create a standard for an idea, the more God was probably calling me to error on the side of holiness. Let me beat you to your next thought…. You may be thinking… “God convicts us all in different ways!” You see I’ve heard this my whole life, but never found biblical back for it anywhere in scripture.
If you believe that God convicts different people of different things then how could we ever preach against sin? The homosexual could simply state that they have never felt convicted of their homosexuality and you would have no ground to stand on, especially because some of them are nicer people than the people that sit in church every Sunday. But thankfully we don’t have to listen to that type of reasoning because there are not different levels of conviction; instead there are only different levels of obedience. (REPEAT) You know what’s interesting about idols is, they lie. They make promises but can’t deliver. Nobody ever looks at a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and thinks, Yes! There it is, the pathway to freedom. But how many times have we looked at the alcoholic and thought he or she is completley trapped. Our idols can and will enslave us… Our sin enslaves us, Jesus can set us free.
So how often should a Christian find themselves eliminating an idols of influence from their lives in order to grow closer to a Holy God? I believe that the answer is CONSTANTLY. Eliminate the idols that are prohibiting you from getting closer to a holy God.
Now that we have covered acknowledging and eliminating our idols let’s talk about Elevating God… You see… As we eliminate the idols in our life God will be elevated.
What IDOLS is God exposing in your life right now? Will it be too difficult to change because your spouse or friends might not buy into your willingness to obey the Holy Spirit? Very often, your earthly relationships will suffer because of your desire to obey God at a higher level, because in doing so you naturally create a process by which others believe you are accusing them of continuing to do that which you chose to stop doing. Unfortunately the children of Israel were guilty of Idolatry and so are we. We love our idols.
Romans 1:25Describes these people it says, they exchange the truth of God for the lie.
The truth is, there’s the Creator and then there’s the creation. They are not the same. The truth is, there’s the Creator and the created. The creation was created to worship Him. The best way to define Idolatry is when we worship the creation and not the Creator. Our idols are wrapped up in all different types of items. Money, fame, power, sex, technology.
Overcoming diminishing God (art) – Anyone know who this is? Preach it. Make sure people know the cow story, Purpose of cow, purpose of picture, I need to touch, feel, sense God, danger of picture, necklaces, jewelry, pictures. 2 picture slides, spent 250k to rebuild… in God’s face maybe? God didn’t want any earthly representation of God. Your God is bigger than all of these ideas, stop diminishing him.
Worship – The true remedy to a low view of God, or a high view of ourselves, is worship. When we worship God we are acknowledging Him as our creator. We realize that He is worthy of all the gratitude and glory that we can bestow upon Him for the things that have happened in their life. I have heard people say that they don’t sing in church for one reason or another. It is a dangerous thing if you do not have a song in your heart, as a song of worship should constantly be in our hearts. Worship God in all of your daily activities and find that He will hold a greater significance in your life, and you will obtain greater significance in the Kingdom of God.
PARKING LOT: Idolatry often confuses the creation and the Creator.
Romans 1:25About these people He says, they exchange the truth of God for the lie.
The truth is, there’s the Creator and then there’s the creation. They are not the same. The truth is there’s the Creator and the created. They are not the same the creation should worship Him.
You cannot get any closer to God than what Jesus has got you!
I feel so close to God when I am here… (Idol)
Usher you into the presence of God… (Pastor/Worship Leader)
The most common things we worship is ourselves.
Worship is about submission and service.
Who what where do you submit to and serve.
Where does your time go, your service go, your money, your effort.
It’s a boat, it’s a buffet, it’s a holiday, it’s a truck, it’s a house, it’s my team…
It’s family, marriage, health.. It’s what you turn to, to get what you want.
Keeps you up at night and gets you going in the morning.
Colossians 1:15
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