“Seek God, Not Idols!” - Part I

Activity (Opening ) -There is some money in the room, in this portable building, and I need everyone to help me find it. 4 minutes. Go!

Dialogical Questions:

As you were searching, what was going through your mind?

What motivated you; or, what was your reasoning?

Did you expect to find it or did you assume it would show up?

Was it difficult?

Honestly, did any of these thoughts come to mind when you were searching?

Black History and Women’s History: Harriet Tubman isn’t the first black woman to appear on currency in the U.S. (slate.com)

Key Point: God is requiring us to seek Him with the same fervor (intense and passionate feeling) than we do our idols. God wants us to seek Him only.

When you want something really bad from your parents. Or when you want to hang out with your friends and will do anything. When you love your friends and girlfriend/boyfriend. When you love certain foods that you crave. So, God is not saying to have the same kind of love for it. God’s love is different. God is saying to look at your pursuit that you have for “idols” and weigh that against the pursuit for me.

Acts 17:24-28 “24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’”

Background: Paul wrote to this church in Athens while he was on his missionary journey; his second one. Paul realized that the citizen there were worshiping idols. TV show example - do people who are bi-polar know that they are bi-polar? No. I’m guessing that they have been that way for a while or lived one way for a long time that they do not know the difference. In the same way, I dare say that they don’t realize there is something wrong with worshiping idols…these are religious people…this has become who they are...they were worshiping idols.

What is an idol? An idol is an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.

What are some idols that we deal with today?

Why are idols formed? Impatient, it fills time, it’s tangible though it changes; provides immediate relief and answers, lost faith like the Israelites in the Old Testament

Exodus 32:1-4 “1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”” The people created it. Later as we understand worship, these idols didn’t bring them from Egypt, and can’t save them.

Question: How are we to seek God?

Seek means to pursue. Pursuing is not the challenge. It’s the idols that we use as our focus, our target and never pursue God with the intense and passionate feeling that will push us closer to God.

Question: What is your seeking strategy?

Seek in order to find; to crave, demand something; to worship God

Seek God’s love vv24-26 [ He did all of this…for us] He created all of these things, he gave, not for His health, but because He loves us. Question: How do we know something is God’s love? Use 1 Cor 13:4-8 “4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”

Practical Application

What can we do to deal with our idols?

Evaluate and recognize the idols that you have created or things you have put before God. Think about why it is an idol; what is its importance to you? Over this next week or so, pray to God that He helps you to see the idols and things that you have put before Him, ask for forgiveness and ask that God begins to help you to seek His love.

Invitation to Christian Discipleship

This is a time to get closer to the God already loves you. We believe that God loves us, and He loves us so much so that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:9 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

If you are not “saved”, we offer a time to sit reflect on this scripture and to accept the invitation. If you are saved, we offer this time to reflect on your relationship with God and to see what idols you have put in place of God.

Pray