WITHOUT RESERVATION

Introduction

If someone asked you, “Who is God?”, how would you answer?

Some would answer, “God can be many things and goes by many names (Allah, Buddha, Krishna, etc.). Others might say God is everywhere — He is the universe. Some would say “we are all gods.” Others would say, “I am not sure what or who God is…I haven’t figured it out yet.” Finally, there are those who would say, “There is no God.”

There are many opinions and ideas out there about who God is. There are many fake answers and fake or false gods.

If you had the choice, would you rather have a fake or the real thing? A fake Rolex might look like the real thing if you don’t look to close…but it is not.

Have you ever got a really good deal on something…too good to be true? Only to find out you’ve been scammed?

Nobody wants a fake or a knock-off because they are not valuable nor are they satisfactory. We want the real thing.

When it comes to faith and trust in the one true God, many people are blind to the fact that they have chosen a fake imitation of the one true God.

Please be aware of and alert to the worlds many false gods, and choose to trust the one true God no matter what…WITHOUT RESERVATION.

We do not need a fake God… a knock-off.

So I ask again, “Who is God?” What is your answer?

“Creator!” “One and only true God!” “Savior of the World,” etc. HOW CAN I KNOW HE IS THE ONE TRUE GOD?

Where do we go to connect with Him?

One essential way is through the Bible — this is where God reveals who He is, who we are, and how we can have a relationship with Him.

Another foundational picture of God the Father is found through His interactions with many men and women in the Bible — it is through them that He reveals Himself to us.

Creation undeniably points to a Creator.

It is in Jesus that we see God most clearly — He came to purchase forgiveness and offer real life to all who believe on Him

Big Idea: Trust and follow the one true God, without reservation, because His love for you is without reservation.

Transitional: He is the source of all things…the Creator

…believe in and follow...

THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS

In the Beginning God

Genesis 1:1–2 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

He is the first cause of all things

No big-bang

No evolution (adaptation yes, evolution no)

In other words…no matter how hard you try, you end up coming to the conclusion that absolute nothingness cannot create the masterpiece of the universe.

Everything we see in nature is an effect — God is the cause

Mankind is the pinnacle of God’s Creation

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

“In our image” — with moral intelligence, emotions, reasoning skills, creativity, ability to grow mentally and intellectually, etc.

Sanctity of Pre-born Human Life

Today is Mother’s Day!

It would seem that Roe V. Wade may soon be overturned

Stats:

The United States has over 600,000 abortions performed each year

Since 1973, more than 63 million abortions have been performed in the United States.

About 1 in 4 women (24%) will have an abortion by age 45

Nearly half of all U.S. abortion patients are in their twenties

Reasons for abortion

Interference with school or career / unreadiness for a child or another child

Financial difficulties

Single mother/relationship difficulties

Have other children to care for and cannot take on more

Rape, incest (1 percent)

Health of mother, or health of the baby (low percentage)

Adoption is unpopular because giving one’s child away is wrong

Some reasons people say pre-born babies are not the same as babies that have been born

SLED

Size of the body

Level of development

Environment — location (inside the womb)

Degree of Dependency

Compassion and Hope Pregnancy Center

Please support Compassion and Hope Pregnancy Center

www.pocatellopregnancycenter.com

Take a baby bottle and fill it up with money — bring back to church by Father’s Day

FREE...

Pregnancy tests

Referrals (churches, community resources, educational assistance, housing, legal, medical)

Counseling (peer counseling, STD information and education, abortion education, adoption information and referrals, abstinence education, Men’gs programs - parenting and post-abortion support)

Parenting support and classes — earn while you learn program

Material aid & baby layettes (set of clothing, linens, etc. for newborn)

They do not perform or refer for abortion services — they advocate for life

Transitional: Since God created us and gives us life, trust Him…He is trustworthy

…believe in and follow...

THE ONE TRUE GOD, OUR SALVATION

without reservation

Be Alert for Anything that Takes God’s Place (Idols)

Daniel 3:1–6 ESV

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.”

You may never be forced to physically bow down to a graven image....but many people and things in this life threaten to take our devotion away from the Living God — the one true God.

Be Alert for Outside Pressure to Allow Anything to Take God’s Place

Daniel 3:7–15 ESV

Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Application:

Are there things or people in your life that threaten to take the place of God

If you put someone or something ahead of your relationship with God, you have become an idol worshipper

Make a daily commitment to seek God first and foremost — let everything else be influenced by your relationship with God

CHALLENGE

Nothing Compares to the One True God (Daniel 3:16-30 - summarize from Bible)

Do you trust and follow the one true God, without reservation?

He is the Creator and the Sustainer of Life — His gifts to us are sacred: life itself is sacred…the gift of eternal life is sacred and undeserved.

Remember He loves you without reservation — He gave up His only Son to die for your sins…to pay for your crimes and set you free.

Philippians 2:6–11 ESV

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Whatever it is that you are tempted to make a higher priority than your relationship with God, make the choice to love, honor, and serve God above all else.

Are you ready to stand boldly for your faith in Christ when the time comes?

Are you ready to stand boldly for life?