Tear Down the Idols Week 1

Questions for Scott:

Have you ever been on a rescue Operation?

How many kids have been rescued this year?

How many Hawaiian shirts do you have?

Who is the coolest youth leader?

Tear Down the Idols Week 1 - Message Outline

We are circling back to our Pie analogy that we started the school year off with.

We can’t experience the “Jesus Way of Life” without first “Tearing Down the Idols.”

Big Question: What is idolatry and why is it so dangerous?

Main Idea: God is good. Idols are bad. The choice is yours.

Exodus 20:1–5 NLT

1 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 3 “You must not have any other god but me. 4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

Know: God is good. Idols are bad. The choice is yours. Idols may give you what you want now,but they will cost you what you want most. Serving God may cost you what you want now, but He will give you what you want most.

Feel: Confident that serving God is the pathway to a full life. Hopeful that they can be rescued from the idols that have enslaved them. Empowered to fill their life with things that feed their soul and put away the things that rob their purpose.

Do: Serve God with your whole life. Fill your life with things that draw you to God. Put away the things that distract you from God.

GOD IS GOOD.

“Are they who they say they are?” This is the question everyone who has ever been on a reality dating show is always asking. Love is Blind, Married at First Sight, or whatever other dating show you prefer, this is the thing everyone wants to know. Are they who they say they are? Or are they putting on a show? Are they hiding something or is this the real them? Who are they when the cameras aren’t rolling?

Most of the time, they aren’t. Most of the time, they’re putting their best foot forward and hiding the real stuff, the ugly stuff. But… God is exactly who He says He is. He doesn’t hide His character or sugarcoat His commands. He is upfront and honest about who He is. He is good and true, through and through. He loves us, wants a relationship with us, and has our best interests in mind, even when we may not understand it.

As a matter of fact, when God first laid out the Ten Commandments, He starts by reminding us who He is and what He has already done for us:

Exodus 20:1–2 NLT

1 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

IDOLS ARE BAD.

Exodus 20:3–5 NLT

3 “You must not have any other god but me. 4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

With these first two commandments, God is making it clear that a relationship with Him is all-in and exclusive.

Another thing you may not know, is that all throughout the Bible, idolatry, serving idols, is compared to adultery. Because serving idols is basically cheating on God.

You can’t give God all of you if you’re giving an idol part of you.

Which brings us to why some of you are frustrated in your faith, you’re not growing spiritually, you feel like your prayers aren’t powerful, and you’re not experiencing the joy that some of your friends are. It’s because you’re not giving God your best. Instead of loving and serving Him as your Creator, you’re treating Him like a hookup. Only hitting Him up when you feel lonely or want something from Him. But today is the day that changes. Because today is the day you TDTI...

So, what exactly is an idol?

Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters How to Make a God

It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.

God’s vs. Idols

● The ratio. Unfailing love for 1000 generations. Sins to the 4th generation. God’s love

goes 250x farther than sin. This doesn’t mean He isn’t just and won’t hold people

accountable for their sins. Of course He will. But the ratio matters. 1000:4.

● The logic. Sin never just affects us. It always impacts the people around us. God isn’t

unfairly punishing people for crimes they didn’t commit. He is clearly communicating the

reality of our wrongdoing.

END: Which brings us to part 3. God is good. Idols are bad. And

THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

Who you serve is up to you. Whatever you choose though, will have consequences. Serving an idol may give you what you want now, but it will cost you what you want most. Serving God may cost you what you want now, but He will give you what you want most.

Let’s get practical. How do we serve God and tear down the idols in our lives?

Put away the things that distract you from God. Lots of things you can do, but my top recommendation is:

Delete the apps, unfollow the accounts, and block the websites that continue to pull you away from God. This is why I don’t use social media and my phone is locked down.

“Be Smarter than your Phone”

Fill your life with things that draw you to God.

Being at Church. Godly friendships.

Prayer. Bible reading. Listening to sermons during chores. Worship in the car. Christian content on YT.

Jesus’ own words:

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Serve God with your whole life. Fill your life with things that draw you to God and put away things that distract you from God. Because, if you want to make a difference, serve Jesus. If you want to waste your life, serve idols. The choice is yours.

Before you can experience the “Jesus Way of Life” you have to “Tear Down the Idols” in your life.