1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:06,160 Oh man, crossing family. I am so glad to be with you 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,640 today. I just have to say this on the 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:15,040 front end. My heart is incredibly full. 25 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:20,240 years ago, my best friend in high school, I would start 5 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:24,680 periodically praying for him to have a relationship with Jesus 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:30,240 Christ and those prayers for him to find. 7 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:34,960 What I found in Jesus have intensified in the past couple 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:43,040 of years. And I got a text message from my 9 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:49,200 mom last Sunday, and we just celebrated the baptism of my 10 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:55,640 friend on the baptism video 25 years after I started praying. 11 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,120 And there's a couple things I need to tell you about that one. 12 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,400 My heart is just so full at the goodness of God. 13 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:03,840 And I know there's some of you you've been praying for a 14 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,600 really, really long time. And you have people that you 15 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,320 care about deeply, that you want to find an intimate, personal 16 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:18,000 relationship with Jesus Christ. And I just want you to know that 17 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,040 God is your ally. He's not your enemy when it 18 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,440 comes to the salvation of the people you love, that he is 19 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,400 predisposed to rescue and redeem. 20 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,920 The Bible says that he is not slow as some understand 21 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,280 slowness, but he is patient, wanting everybody to come to 22 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:38,920 eternal life. And when you are praying for 23 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,520 someone to come to faith, remember there's three parts. 24 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,360 There's your part, there's God's part, and there's their part. 25 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,800 And hear me, you can't do God's part, and you can't do their 26 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,200 part. You can only do your part. 27 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:57,560 But you need to know that God always, always, always is doing 28 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,760 His part. And don't give up praying, don't 29 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,840 give up believing, don't give up sharing the good news. 30 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:08,600 And I need to also just say thank you because to those, 31 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:13,720 specifically to those of you who serve and to those of you who 32 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:18,080 give here at the crossing, you made it possible and you 33 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,400 participated in answering a 25 year old prayer. 34 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,000 Because my friend Kurt didn't find his relationship with Jesus 35 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,040 at the 48th Street campus where I I am preaching. 36 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:32,880 He found it at our Keokuk location that you guys help 37 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,840 support. And I just need you to know I 38 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,120 am. I'm just very, very thankful to 39 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,560 you, and my heart is very full because we serve a really good 40 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:46,000 God and I am so thankful to be in ministry alongside each and 41 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,120 every single one of you. And I want to welcome those of 42 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:51,120 you joining at our different locations, those of you watching 43 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,960 online and those of you who are a part of The Crossing inside, 44 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,320 and specifically those of you who are here for the first time 45 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,080 or the first time in a long time. 46 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,120 This is my personal belief that you are surrounded by some of 47 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:08,200 the best people on planet Earth, and our hope here at The 48 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,400 Crossing is very simple. We want everyone to find an 49 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,400 intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 50 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:18,520 And if you are at one of our physical locations or you're 51 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,800 watching online, I want to encourage you take advantage of 52 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,520 the QR code on the seat in front of you. 53 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,560 We change it every single week. You might be going, yeah, six 54 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:30,520 months ago, I did it. Well, just so you know, there's 55 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:32,760 been a lot that's happened in the last six months and we are 56 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,280 regularly updating it. So that way you can have the 57 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:39,040 tools you need to take your next step, get connected and make a 58 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:40,880 difference. In fact, if you were to hop on 59 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,680 there right now, you'd see this thing for the frigid 5K. 60 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,920 And I've signed my entire family up because we had so much fun 61 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,600 last year making a difference and we're looking forward to the 62 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:51,640 opportunity to make a difference with you this year. 63 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,560 We had over 700 people in participate in the 5K last year 64 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:57,880 and here's what we do as a church. 65 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,460 We take all the profits from the your registration and your 66 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:05,920 T-shirt sales and we take all of that money and we give it to 67 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,920 ministries that specifically help men and women, boys and 68 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,600 girls, be rescued and rehabilitated from sex 69 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,040 trafficking. So we picked a cold day, we go 70 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,399 on a long walk and then we take all the money and we send it to 71 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:20,360 make a difference. And I'm telling you, whatever 72 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,200 you had planned on that Saturday probably isn't as important as 73 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:25,960 that. So I hope you guys will join us 74 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:27,960 because it'll be a great day with a lot of fun. 75 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,840 Now to get in the message, I got a confession to make. 76 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:37,000 And this is always hard for me because I don't like bragging 77 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:42,120 about how wealthy I am, but I don't want to hide it from you 78 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,720 either. I think a couple years back I 79 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,080 kind of told you guys that Jennifer and I were 100 heirs 80 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,560 and and you know, then we became 1000 heirs. 81 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:58,360 And the way we, you know, we kind of celebrated it is we 82 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:03,360 bought electric toothbrushes. OK, I'm just we're so wealthy 83 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,120 that we now have robots brushing our teeth and we got them. 84 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:15,520 We're a part of a exclusive club, and you can go in there. 85 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:21,720 And because of your status, you get insider savings and deals 86 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,640 that aren't available to the public. 87 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:31,280 And so I was at Sam's and I saw that they were they had a deal 88 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:35,280 on electric toothbrushes. And I I bought two of them. 89 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,640 And well, let me pause for a second. 90 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,640 The first 2-3 days after we had this, Jennifer and I are like, 91 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:51,720 driving around the car going, man, this stuff is incredible. 92 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,120 Like, I it made me wonder if I owed everybody I've ever hung 93 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:57,000 out with before. I got an electric toothbrush, an 94 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:59,720 apology because my teeth have never felt better. 95 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,840 I mean, it's it's fantastic. And it's got the little timer 96 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:05,480 built in that lets you know how long you're supposed to stay in 97 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,680 there and just let the robot do its work. 98 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,680 But since we've been going through this sermon series about 99 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,160 habits, I've been trying to notice that there's certain 100 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,800 things I do and I've been trying to like force myself to change 101 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:17,640 it. And I didn't know this before I 102 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,880 had an electric toothbrush, but I'm a bottom first brusher. 103 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:24,560 Think for a second because you're like, I didn't know those 104 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:26,560 existed, but now you know whether or not you are one. 105 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,960 OK How many of you guys are bottom first brushers? 106 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:30,760 Yeah. OK. 107 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,240 I'm trying to make the switch to a top first brusher just because 108 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,480 we're in this series on creatures of of of our. 109 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,280 Yeah. So the problem is, is when you 110 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:42,600 have an electric toothbrush and it's got all those settings. 111 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,160 It's got like, you know, baby. And then it goes all the way up 112 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,520 to like Briggs and Stratton, you know, like you got a jackhammer 113 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,920 in your head and when you catch yourself bottom brushing and you 114 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,920 go to make the switch, you got to do it very carefully because 115 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,200 otherwise you start rattling the teeth, loosening your brain and 116 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,240 you'll chip a tooth. And then I got the electric 117 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,080 toothbrush going and I go to brush my tongue. 118 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,320 You guys all brush your tongues or you just got one. 119 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:10,880 You brush your tongue. We don't brush, we don't brush 120 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:12,560 both of them. Just this is the first one. 121 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,960 Well, it's what happened. It's my first time with the 122 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,640 electric toothbrush and I go to brush my tongue and I mean it 123 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,360 really started moving my tongue around and it it pseudo tickled 124 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,600 and then I sneezed. And if you've never blasted 125 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,720 sensodyne through your nostrils, that'll clear you right up, you 126 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:34,600 know, spackling with some cold dates. 127 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,880 I'm awake and so you just got to be real careful. 128 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,920 But I've been trying to notice things that I do out of habit 129 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,960 and I've been trying to change them because we're creatures of 130 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:46,400 habit. In fact, we've learned this 131 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:51,560 between 40 and 95% of human behavior. 132 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:57,880 How we think, what we say, what we do are habit based. 133 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:03,200 If your life is based on the decisions that you make, and 134 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,920 your decisions are largely based on your habits, then there are 135 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:08,680 some uncomfortable truths. You guys know this. 136 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:13,240 We've been talking about it. We are creatures of habit, which 137 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:18,560 means that our habits form us. But the good news is that if you 138 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,440 change your habits, you can change your life. 139 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:24,880 And what we've been noticing is we've been going through this 140 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:30,720 series, is that our habits and our sins have both a vertical 141 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,280 and a horizontal component. Vertically, our habits, our sins 142 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:37,400 impact our relationship with God. 143 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,200 Horizontally, it hurts our relationships with the people we 144 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,480 love and the people we're trying to reach for Jesus. 145 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,960 Which is why it is so important for you and me and those of you 146 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,960 at all of our locations to get control of your habits before 147 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:58,960 your habits get control of you. And one of the areas, one of the 148 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:05,640 habits, one of the sins that impacts us all deeply, is 149 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,920 idolatry. God made it super clear when he 150 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:14,720 was giving the 10 commandments that idolatry was a big deal to 151 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,320 him and our relationship with him. 152 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:19,920 It shows up in Exodus chapter 20. 153 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,240 And God spoke all these words. I am the Lord your God, who 154 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,000 brought you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery. 155 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,880 You shall have no other gods before me. 156 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,000 You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything 157 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,080 in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters below. 158 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:40,960 You shall not bow down to them or worship them. 159 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:45,040 For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the 160 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,200 children for the sins of the parents to the third and 4th 161 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:52,640 generation of those who hate me, but showing love to 1000 162 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,440 generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 163 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:01,680 The irony is those of you who know while Moses is on a 164 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:07,200 physical mountain getting the 10 commandments from God, the 165 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,720 people of Israel are down in a physical valley and they're 166 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,840 frustrated with God. And so they tell everybody to 167 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,000 bring their jewelry, their gold together and they make for 168 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,640 themselves an idol in the image of a calf. 169 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,400 So while God is on the mountain with Moses giving the 10 170 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,040 commandments, and the first two are saying you're not going to 171 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,240 worship any other gods and you're not supposed to make any 172 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,760 image, guess what the people of God are actually doing down in 173 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,360 the valley doing that very thing. 174 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,240 Most of you probably have heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach 175 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,920 and Abednego, that they were taking his captives out of 176 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,600 Jerusalem to Babylon. And they are told that they are 177 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:54,160 supposed to worship an image 90 feet tall out on the plains that 178 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:56,880 was made of gold. That when the music started, 179 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:01,080 when the band played, that they were to bow down and worship it. 180 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:06,680 And they said you can play your music, you guys can bow down, 181 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,680 but we're not. And so they played the music and 182 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:13,720 everybody around them bow down. But these three guys said, yeah, 183 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,480 not going to do that. So then they brought him forward 184 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:18,720 and said, look guys, we're going to do the music thing like one 185 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,680 more time and you're going to want to bow down. 186 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,560 And if you don't bow down, we're going to throw you in this fiery 187 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,240 furnace and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego go. 188 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,120 Appreciate you telling me that. I love hearing your truth. 189 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:35,680 What you need to know is you can play the music one more time and 190 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:39,080 you can talk about the furnace, but we're not bowing down. 191 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:42,760 And if you throw us in the fire, our God can save us. 192 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,880 But if he doesn't save us, we're still not bowing down. 193 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,800 And you might be thinking to yourself, I love this sermon 194 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:53,520 because, Clayton, when you're talking about pride, I was 195 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,160 guilty and we were talking about complaining. 196 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,480 I realized how much I hate this church, right? 197 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:01,840 OK. But today you're like, this is 198 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:03,560 awesome. This is a free day because 199 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:05,200 idolatry. And you're looking at your life 200 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,600 and going, I don't think I've bowed down to anything recently. 201 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,400 And me and my spouse and my family, we haven't, like, pulled 202 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,600 together all of the jewelry we don't wear anymore and melted it 203 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,600 down and made it into a graven image. 204 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:24,360 But idolatry. Idolatry shows up in different 205 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,280 forms. For us, we're devious forms. 206 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:31,080 Jesus gives us insight into this. 207 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:32,600 Look what he says in Mark chapter 12. 208 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,640 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. 209 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,600 Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer. 210 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:42,120 He asked him of all the commandments, which is the most 211 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,840 important, the most important. One answer. 212 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,800 Jesus is this. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 213 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:52,680 God, The Lord is 1. Love the Lord your God with all 214 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,720 your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind and 215 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,080 with all your strength. And the 2nd is this Love your 216 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:06,440 neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater 217 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,120 than these. Now you need to know this. 218 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,600 We're going to be doing a much deeper dive on these two chunks 219 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,240 of scripture and the Great Commission on Super Bowl 220 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,160 weekend. And I want you to start thinking 221 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:23,200 now, who is a person that you can bring with you on Super Bowl 222 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,440 weekend to one of our services at one of our locations? 223 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,000 Because we are going to be starting something as a church 224 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,520 that those who go on it, I believe will be transformed by 225 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,200 it. And so I want you to be a part 226 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:35,840 of it. But until we get there where 227 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,160 we're unpacked this even deeper, I just want you to realize that 228 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:44,840 when Jesus is talking about idolatry, he would say anything 229 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,600 that gets first place in your life that's not him. 230 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,720 He would say anything that directs your heart, your mind, 231 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,840 your soul, your strength is worship. 232 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:02,080 And when you are worshiping a thing that is not Jesus, that is 233 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,640 idolatry. Kim Tim Keller says it this way. 234 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,240 The human heart is an idol factory. 235 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:14,360 It is anything more important to you than God. 236 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,280 Anything that absorbs your heart, your imagination, 237 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:26,120 anything that you seek to give you what only God can give you. 238 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:35,960 The easiest way to look at this is what is first in your life 239 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:42,840 when two things are competing for your time, your energy, your 240 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:51,440 effort, who wins? Let me put it this way, You guys 241 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,040 know that I'm married to Jennifer and she's awesome. 242 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,360 You know that? She obviously puts up with a 243 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,520 lot. I mean, yeah, a lot. 244 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,760 And God bless you and God bless her for it. 245 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:06,720 And let's just say my wife goes, Clayton, we're going to go on a 246 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:11,200 date night on Friday. And I go, that sounds awesome. 247 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:16,760 I love date nights with you. And then Cassie, a girl I hung 248 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,800 out with on high school, reaches out to me and she goes, Clayton, 249 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,080 what are you doing Friday? I want to hang out. 250 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:30,000 Somebody going, Where is this going? 251 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:39,360 Oh yeah, I'll be careful. So I'm like, I love my wife and 252 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,160 boy, I sure have great memories with Cassie. 253 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:50,880 And so I call it my wife. Say, babe, can we pick a 254 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:52,880 different night to go on a date night? 255 00:15:54,840 --> 00:16:02,440 Because I'd like to go for a walk with Cassie and my wife. 256 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,760 You've met her. I bet she would handle that 257 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:11,480 really well, right? That's like the intro to a docu 258 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:17,360 series about how I died. That's what that is now. 259 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,960 OK then let's say a couple weeks later, I'm supposed to go to 260 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:29,400 lunch with Jennifer, and Cassie calls, She goes Clayton. 261 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,200 There's this new salad place in town. 262 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,560 Do you want to go and eat some leafy greens with me? 263 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:45,120 And knowing how much I love leafy greens, I called my wife 264 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,720 up and I go, Jenny, you're not going to believe this. 265 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:51,800 And you know how much I love you, sweetie. 266 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:53,400 Poopsie. Whoopsie. 267 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,240 You know I'm not using my pet names with you guys. 268 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:05,119 I don't trust you. We have them and I go snookums. 269 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,400 Can we reschedule? And she says why? 270 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:16,240 And I say it is leafy green Friday at that new place in 271 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:18,200 town. And Cassie wants to go. 272 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:26,599 You know what that is? I am on a path towards adultery. 273 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,680 That's what that is. I am prioritizing somebody who 274 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:38,160 is not my wife in my life. And that is the reoccurring 275 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,680 image that God uses in the Old Testament. 276 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,640 When he talks about idolatry in the human heart, when it comes 277 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,840 to Him, he says you are committing adultery on me. 278 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,800 Jennifer would be fully right to say, am I your first priority 279 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:59,000 relationally? And I'm going, yeah, except 280 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:05,920 anytime there's a conflict, I choose somebody else, I choose 281 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:13,000 something else. Idolatry is not necessarily you 282 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,560 bowing down and worshipping bad things. 283 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:22,800 Idolatry can happen when you put good things in the wrong place. 284 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,200 This is the part of the sermon when you're going to go. 285 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,080 Why did we come to The Crossing this weekend? 286 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,520 OK, so but just for the next 5 minutes, just suffer through 287 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:32,080 this with me because I'm on the journey with you. 288 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:38,360 Idolatry is when you put something good in the wrong 289 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:40,760 place. So let's just pick a couple 290 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,480 sports. Sports aren't bad. 291 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,560 However, when sports take precedence over your walk with 292 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:54,800 the Lord, it becomes idolatry. I'll talk to pastors of churches 293 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,160 that in that are in large communities where they have an 294 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:01,560 NFL team and they can tell you that their church attendance is 295 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,240 impacted by what time the game starts. 296 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,240 And I'm thinking to myself, when most churches offer multiple 297 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,320 service times on multiple days, how in the world can you not 298 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,040 make church happen and still get to the game? 299 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,480 What that means is, is that when there's a conflict between 300 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:28,680 church and a Bengals game and the Bengals win that conflict, 301 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:32,240 you know what that is? It's a Dollar Tree. 302 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,680 How come is it that you can have an NFL game and they can be 303 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:42,080 cold, rainy, snowy and people will navigate the roads, the 304 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,680 traffic and the weather to show up, pay a high price for 305 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:49,280 tickets, get absolutely pillaged when they try to buy a hot dog, 306 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,520 a piece of pizza, a couple of beers and some cheese curds And 307 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:54,600 they'll be happy that they went there. 308 00:19:55,480 --> 00:20:00,880 And then those same people will show up at a church for free and 309 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,400 or they won't show up because it's a little cold outside. 310 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:05,960 Or if they do show up, they'll come up with a boy. 311 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:07,560 All the church cares about is money. 312 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:12,720 You know what that is? That's idolatry, just so you 313 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:14,960 guys know. People on staff at The Crossing 314 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,440 We love sports and we love our kids playing sports, and we're 315 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,240 heavily invested in developing them athletically. 316 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:26,200 But I love the example that our pastors set that they make sure 317 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,960 that the spiritual development of our kids remains primary. 318 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:33,560 Here's another one. Sex. 319 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:41,080 Sex is not bad. However, when we start using sex 320 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:45,560 to gratify our own selfish desires, when we use sex to 321 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,600 engage in activity with somebody who's not our wife, so that 322 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,040 means somebody I'm dating, somebody that I'm engaged to, or 323 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,800 somebody that I'm while I'm married, I'm engaging in sex 324 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:57,360 with somebody that I'm not married to. 325 00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:58,920 You know what the Bible calls that? 326 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:03,240 Not just adultery. The Bible calls it idolatry 327 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,360 because you are worshipping you and you're trying to convince 328 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:19,280 somebody else to worship you too, and you take God's plan and 329 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:21,800 you prioritize your flesh over it. 330 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:24,720 Money. Money is not bad. 331 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:27,760 Money is a good thing, a necessary thing. 332 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:34,280 However, when we start living on 100 and 500 and 10120% of our 333 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,960 income, we keep buying things and attempt to make us happy. 334 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,920 And we never stop working because we need to keep the 335 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,000 financial plates spinning. Do you know what the Bible says? 336 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:51,120 That's idolatry. Government. 337 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,880 Well, I'm just making all kinds of friends this weekend. 338 00:21:55,320 --> 00:22:03,640 Government is actually good. However, every time we have an 339 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:08,520 election, we find out that people all across the world, or 340 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:13,520 at least across the country, are way better Republicans and way 341 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:18,480 better Democrats than they are Christians, because we have to 342 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,360 deal with people who are basing the future salvation of the 343 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:24,880 world on the next election cycle. 344 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,920 They're more concerned with elephants and donkeys than they 345 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,040 are with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the lame of God. 346 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,440 The same people who say they get nervous about sharing their 347 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,880 faith have no problem at all telling everybody else who to 348 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,640 vote for and telling them that they're going to hell if they 349 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:46,400 don't vote for their candidate. In fact, this year, in the late 350 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:50,200 spring, we're going to do an entire sermon series on politics 351 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:51,720 and the church. Why? 352 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:56,240 Because I'm psycho, that's why. All right? 353 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:58,400 And we're going to address these issues. 354 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,600 And I know right now there are some of you who are already 355 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:03,560 frustrated that our church is going to be talking about 356 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,080 politics and you don't even know what we're going to say. 357 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:10,080 You know what that means? You might have an idolatry 358 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:16,400 problem. Family is a good thing, but if 359 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:21,840 you put your family in the wrong place, it becomes idolatry. 360 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:25,080 And it sounds super cute when people say this. 361 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,640 You guys have probably heard it. Maybe you can set it yourself. 362 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:35,160 You'll hear somebody say my kids are the most important thing in 363 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,080 the world to me, and when someone says that to me, this is 364 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,240 what goes through my head. That is a really cute way of 365 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:48,400 saying I'm committing idolatry because your kids should never 366 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:53,160 be the first place in your life. Think of everything that God's 367 00:23:53,160 --> 00:24:05,560 done for you and then your kids. Enough said. 368 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,280 Like, look at the cross and then pull. 369 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,600 Go home today and just remove one couch cushion. 370 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,760 I'm not worshipping this kid, right? 371 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,760 And hear me, Some of you, you're trying to worship your spouse 372 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:28,480 and you're trying to spend your whole life trying to make them 373 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:29,960 happy. Them whole. 374 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:34,000 Them complete. And you know what? 375 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:43,480 They make a lousy God. There is no way, there is no way 376 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,440 that you can be the person that God created you to be as a 377 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:51,960 spouse, as a parent, if you're not a godly parent or a spouse. 378 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,760 And there's no way you can be a godly parent or a godly spouse 379 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,880 unless God is first in your life. 380 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:04,320 Working out is good, I've been told. 381 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:12,840 However, when it takes place of time with the Lord, it becomes 382 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:16,480 idolatry. That's why I stay like this. 383 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:20,920 So you know that I am poring over the word of God. 384 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,360 Actually, we're going to get into a cool series later on 385 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:26,840 about that. Hear me, people with 6 packs who 386 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,720 say that they don't have time for the Lord have an idolatry 387 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,560 problem. People will say to me, man, the 388 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:34,320 Bible is just too hard to understand. 389 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:36,560 But those same people know everything they need to know 390 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,000 about super sets tracking their macros. 391 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:42,720 Level 2 Cardio, Water Intake Minimums, Which supplements will 392 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,480 help maximize your effort. You you can figure it out. 393 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,520 I could just as easily, when we're talking about idolatry, 394 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,000 talk about our screen time. It's Sunday. 395 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:55,440 If you have an iPhone, you've already got your notification. 396 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,440 Did you know that the average American could read through the 397 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:04,200 Bible every month in the amount of time that they spend on their 398 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,560 phone? Not, man. 399 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,680 I'm going to try and read the Bible this year saying like you 400 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:13,160 could have read the Bible this month if you'd have just said no 401 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,640 to the scroll. And just so you know, hear me 402 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,760 OK, tough part's over. I'm not yelling at you about 403 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,840 this. I'm in this with you. 404 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:29,680 I'm wrestling through this with you because all of us struggle 405 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:35,160 to keep God first in our lives. But idolatry has a way of 406 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,920 separating us from God and God's best. 407 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,120 Look what it says in Galatians chapter 5. 408 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:46,040 The acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality, 409 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:52,320 impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, Hatred, 410 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:58,120 discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, 411 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:02,800 factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. 412 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:09,840 I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this 413 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,360 will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 414 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:23,120 If you were to be put on trial today for being a Christian, and 415 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:27,480 the only evidence that you could bring was the areas of your life 416 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,920 where God is first, could you be convicted? 417 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:35,800 What's the first thing you do in the morning? 418 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:39,440 Is it prayer? What's the first thing you read? 419 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,600 Is it the Bible? What's the first thing you do 420 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,000 with the money you make? Is it to honor God with the 421 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,440 tithe and be obedient? What do you do with the first 422 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:50,200 day of the week? Is it Go to church? 423 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:57,720 Where is God first in your life and where is he not? 424 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:03,120 Wherever God is not first is idolatry. 425 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:07,440 I'll go a step further. When there's conflict about 426 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:13,120 which thing to do, that's idolatry because it shouldn't be 427 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,000 a conflict. Now I'm just going to give you 4 428 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,040 reasons why I believe you should put God first. 429 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,200 And these are for me personally, so you don't have to do anything 430 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:21,880 with them, but I just want you to know where I'm at. 431 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,800 First thing is he created me and he knows what's best for me. 432 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,520 That's why he should be first. He put me together, he knows 433 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:34,800 exactly what I need and he knows that life lived on my terms or 434 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,960 somebody else's terms is not the best life for me. 435 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,360 But if I live my life on his terms, it's what's best for me. 436 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,480 Second reason I do it is no one has done as much for me. 437 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,840 He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross on my behalf. 438 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:56,200 No one and no thing has ever done as much for me as he's done 439 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,160 for me. And if he wants first place in 440 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:03,280 my life, he's earned it. Third reason I belong to him. 441 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:08,600 The Bible says that I was rescued, redeemed, and ransomed. 442 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:14,240 I'm no longer mine. I'm supposed to belong to him. 443 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:16,120 You. If you're in an intimate, 444 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,360 personal relationship with Jesus, he has rescued, redeemed, 445 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,560 and ransomed you. You don't belong to you anymore. 446 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:30,280 You belong to him. #4 The people I love need me to be a Jesus 447 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,600 first person. If you're wanting to be a really 448 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:39,520 good husband, if you're wanting to be a really Good Wife, if 449 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,320 you're wanting to be a really good dad, a really good mom, 450 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:49,600 they need you to be a Jesus first person so you can be 451 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:52,120 everything that they need you to be. 452 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:55,320 Because I cannot possibly be what they need me to be on my 453 00:29:55,320 --> 00:30:00,480 own, but I can be everything that God wants me to be with His 454 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:06,080 power and His strength. To illustrate this idolatry 455 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,600 issue, I want to I want to take you to the store or to the Book 456 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:10,440 of Judges. Now for those of you who aren't 457 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:14,080 familiar with the Book of Judges, the people of Israel 458 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,120 have come out of Egypt and they've entered into the 459 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:23,160 Promised Land. And then after Joshua is gone, 460 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,520 the people have no leader. And the Book of Judges kind of 461 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:28,520 underlines the challenge that they're facing. 462 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,560 And they it simply just says this, that in those days Israel 463 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,520 had no king and everyone did what was right in their own 464 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,280 eyes, which is kind of a not true statement because they did 465 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,280 have a king. They had God who was their 466 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,560 leader, but what they would do is they would reject him and 467 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,480 they would neglect him. And so here's what would happen 468 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,560 to the Israelites. Tell me if this sounds familiar, 469 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:56,160 the Israelites would follow God for a while, and then they would 470 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,840 stop following God for a while and they would start worshipping 471 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,680 other gods. And then God would remove his 472 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,800 blessing because God's blessing only flows in the direction of 473 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,240 obedience. And so God would remove his 474 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,160 blessing from them and they would begin to suffer. 475 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:16,040 And then when they started to suffer, it would get really, 476 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:19,120 really bad. And then they would go, God, we 477 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:23,240 really need your help. Turn this thing around and guess 478 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,880 what God would do. God would raise up a judge who 479 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:30,000 would lead the people and would turn their affections back to 480 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:34,480 him, and he would restore them. And the people would do really 481 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:38,640 good for a while. And then they'd stop worshipping 482 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,880 God, and they'd start worshipping other gods. 483 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,120 And God would remove his blessing, because God's blessing 484 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:45,680 only moves in the direction of obedience. 485 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:47,640 The people would begin to suffer. 486 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,120 And then eventually they'd cry out to God. 487 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:54,600 Hey, we're in a pretty bad mess. We need your help. 488 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:57,640 And God would raise somebody up to turn. 489 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,400 You know what? These people sound like idiots. 490 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:04,760 You know who else they sound like? 491 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,160 Us. Isn't this us? 492 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,480 I've been in ministry so long, I've looked at my own life for 493 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,960 so long. People get fired up about Jesus. 494 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:17,960 Woo. I'm doing the God thing. 495 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:19,600 This is fantastic. I love it. 496 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,560 I think I want to do this for a little while. 497 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,400 I'm tired of all the rules. I'm just going to kind of do my 498 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:31,160 own thing. My life is completely falling 499 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,400 apart because I've been doing my own thing. 500 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,240 And now my life stinks. And then I go, you know what I 501 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:37,720 got to do? I got to get back to church. 502 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:40,640 I got to start following after Jesus and God. 503 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:41,920 I need you to turn my life around. 504 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,440 And God hears us and he starts to turn our life around. 505 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:48,360 Man, I'm loving this Jesus thing. 506 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:49,720 I've been reading my Bible all the time. 507 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:53,280 Things are going fantastic. I think I want to have an 508 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,160 affair. That sounds fantastic. 509 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:58,720 I'd like to have two different families. 510 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:01,760 I'd like to have no money, no free time. 511 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:07,480 I'd like to just destroy lives. I can't believe I did this. 512 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,080 God, you got to help me. Help me get things right. 513 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:18,080 Help me. God's so good, man. 514 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,000 He's great. He's always there for you. 515 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:21,480 I'll tell you what, he's fantastic. 516 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,400 I'm going to just be a crazy person. 517 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:28,240 This Is Us, right? This is not just other people. 518 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:33,800 This Is Us. And I just want you to know that 519 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,160 every. I mean, I love God and he's 520 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:38,680 fantastic. And we always talk about how God 521 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,200 loves us, and he does. But I just want you to know that 522 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,520 God sometimes claps back. Look what he says in Judges 523 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,640 Chapter 10. Go and cry out to the gods 524 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:51,040 you've chosen. Let them save you when you're in 525 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:55,520 trouble in Judges 10. God's kind of like, Oh yeah, 526 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:57,600 you're here. Oh, let me guess. 527 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,080 Let me see if I can predict the future. 528 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,000 You're going to cry out and ask me to help you out of the 529 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:06,280 situation that you got yourself into because you rejected me as 530 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:08,719 your God. You know what? 531 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:10,320 He says. How about you cry out to the 532 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:16,560 gods that you've been serving? See, if they rescue you, it 533 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:20,719 impacts God. It hurts God when we put 534 00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,840 something else in first place. One time the Israelites cried 535 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:29,320 out to God, and God appeared to a young man named Gideon. 536 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,520 And he says the Lord is with you, mighty warrior, and I'm 537 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,440 going to deliver you from what's happened to you. 538 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,199 And look at what Gideon says to him. 539 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,360 Pardon me, my Lord, Gideon replied. 540 00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:47,400 But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? 541 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,560 Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when 542 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,080 they said, did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt? 543 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:58,160 But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of 544 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:02,320 Midian. Gideon is wondering where God 545 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:08,360 is, but the people of Israel have been serving another God. 546 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:16,720 I need you to hear me. Our idolatry leads the next 547 00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:23,840 generation to doubt. When God is not first in your 548 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:29,960 life, it will sow seeds of doubt in the generation that will come 549 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,720 after you. Gideon's going Where is this God 550 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,120 who performs all these marvelous acts? 551 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,720 The reason he hasn't seen the power of God is the people 552 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:43,600 stopped following God, and the power of God and the blessings 553 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,480 of God only flow in the direction of obedience. 554 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:53,000 So Gideon's family tree has story after story of how good 555 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:59,240 God is, but Gideon has none because he's never seen the 556 00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:03,000 power of God because he's generation hasn't been obedient 557 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:07,680 to God. In your life, the areas where 558 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:13,240 God is not first will lead the people coming after you to doubt 559 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:19,080 his existence. God says I'm going to save you, 560 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,880 I'm going to rescue you, but there's something you need to do 561 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:26,800 first. Judges Chapter 6. 562 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:31,240 That same night the Lord said to him, take the second bull from 563 00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:33,880 your father's herd, the one seven years old. 564 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:38,520 Tear down your father's altar to bail, and cut down the Eshera 565 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:42,520 pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of 566 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:46,120 altar to the Lord your God on the top of its height, using the 567 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:49,760 wood of the Eshera pole that you cut down off of the second bull 568 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,560 as a burnt offering. So Gideon took ten of his 569 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:55,960 servants and did as the Lord told him. 570 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:59,240 But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he 571 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,160 did it at night rather than in the daytime. 572 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,040 Crossing family. Serious question. 573 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:14,000 What idol needs to be torn down in your life today? 574 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:20,280 What is the idol that is going to lead your kids to doubt the 575 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,800 goodness of God? What is the idol that's going to 576 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,040 veer you off track, take you down a road you never wanted to 577 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,440 go and take you to a place you never wanted to be? 578 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:34,400 Today, every single one of us have an opportunity to remove 579 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:38,480 that idol and put God first in your life. 580 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,080 Some of you, you might be going, man, there's just no way that I 581 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:44,960 can take this idol down by myself. 582 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:50,000 I've tried time and time again. I want you to know you don't 583 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:55,000 have to tear it down alone. You can grab the hand or you can 584 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,400 tap the shoulder of somebody who brought you to church or comes 585 00:37:57,400 --> 00:37:59,600 to you with church. You can go find one of our staff 586 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,000 people, somebody who's going to be standing by the baptistry and 587 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:05,600 we'll come alongside of you and help you tear it down so you can 588 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,200 put God first in your life. And I hope you'll do that. 589 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:09,640 We're moving to a time, a decision. 590 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:19,920 I want to say this softly, but some of you here today you've 591 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,080 never started or intimate personal relationship with 592 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,080 Jesus. And I want to suggest that 593 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:27,640 possibly the reason why you haven't started that 594 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:31,040 relationship with Jesus might be because of idolatry. 595 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:36,360 It might be you thinking you just want to keep doing you and 596 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:38,800 you don't want to make God the center of your life. 597 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:42,800 You want to be around it. You just don't want to be 598 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,600 committed to it. And it shows up in subtle ways. 599 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,760 It might even show up in ways that sound good from the 600 00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:53,400 outside. Like, I want to get serious 601 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:57,160 about Jesus. I just need to fix some things 602 00:38:57,360 --> 00:38:59,440 first. Hear me. 603 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:05,520 If you could fix you, God wouldn't have sent Jesus to die 604 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:09,520 for you. If you could put it together, if 605 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:13,200 you could turn it around, if you could make it right, He wouldn't 606 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,520 have sent Jesus. The fact that Jesus came and 607 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,280 died on the cross proves to us, we can't fix us. 608 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:23,920 We can't get us right. It's something that God does on 609 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:27,760 our behalf, and our job is to receive what he has done. 610 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:30,640 And so if you're here today and you've never started a 611 00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:33,240 relationship with Jesus and you're putting it off because 612 00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:35,680 you're trying to put it together first, I'm just telling you, 613 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:39,280 that's just not going to work. That's not how it works. 614 00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:47,480 The good news is, no matter how much we've messed up, no matter 615 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:51,680 how far we've gone in the wrong direction, God is ready to heal 616 00:39:52,160 --> 00:40:00,080 and restore what's been broken. The Bible says this Lean not on 617 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,720 your own understanding, which is what a person does who doesn't 618 00:40:03,720 --> 00:40:05,760 have an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus. 619 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:08,240 You're doing what seems right to you. 620 00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:11,840 You're leaning on your own understanding, Boss says. 621 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:14,840 Lean not on your own understanding in all your ways. 622 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:16,840 Acknowledge him. That's God. 623 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:20,360 Put him first in every area. And then what does he do? 624 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:25,720 He blesses your obedience, and he will make your path straight. 625 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,320 Some of you you're trying to figure out, man, I've got all 626 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:32,400 this going on in my life. I just don't know quite yet how 627 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:37,440 I'm going to fit God in. I just want you to know God 628 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:41,600 doesn't plan on fitting in. God plans on taking over. 629 00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:44,640 You're going. I mean, it's kind of like me at 630 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:49,040 Thanksgiving. Like you get your plate and 631 00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:54,280 you're looking at like how long the the line is of food and 632 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:57,800 you're trying to figure out how much of everything you can put 633 00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:00,720 on the plate. And then you know at the very 634 00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:07,320 end is the Oreo fluff, and Oreo fluff is different. 635 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:12,400 Like Oreo fluff, it can't touch gravy. 636 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,240 They can't touch Turkey. They can't touch. 637 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,080 What's the what's the weird potatoes. 638 00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:21,960 What are those called? Sweet potatoes. 639 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:22,960 Thank you. God bless you. 640 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:26,640 You can come back. Yeah, those right. 641 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:29,960 And you're sitting here going, how you get all. 642 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:33,160 You got your plate done and you got all this stuff and you're 643 00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:35,440 going, how am I going to get the Oreo? 644 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,000 That's why I'm here. That's the only reason I came to 645 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,200 this Thanksgiving. It's because there's Oreo fluff. 646 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:42,240 I'll give you guys the recipe next year. 647 00:41:42,240 --> 00:41:45,080 I'll bless you. And so you know what you're 648 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:46,600 trying to figure out? How do I put this on there? 649 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,520 And that's what a rookie does. That's what a person doesn't 650 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:51,520 know any better. That's what a non Christian 651 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:53,760 does. You know what a saved person 652 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:55,520 who's been to a Thanksgiving before does? 653 00:41:56,240 --> 00:41:59,920 You don't try to fit cookies and cream on an old plate. 654 00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:03,600 Oh no, no, no, no. You go back to the front of the 655 00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:07,600 line and you grab a new plate the platter size and you 656 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:09,520 designated as holy under the Lord. 657 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,480 You keep the small plate that keeps your mom and your wife off 658 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,640 your back about your heart disease issues, and you set that 659 00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:20,040 plate down, and then you dedicate yourself wholly to the 660 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:24,440 Oreo fluff, and you put all the Oreo fluff you want on its own 661 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:33,280 plate like Simba. You carry it back and you got 662 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:36,920 one plate for all the Oreo fluff. 663 00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:43,720 And then you got another plate, a secondary plate that if you 664 00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:48,720 get through with the Oreo fluff and you're still hungry, then 665 00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:51,000 you'll eat the, what's it called, sweet potatoes. 666 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:55,720 Then you eat the sweet potatoes. The Bible actually says this, 667 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:57,800 that you don't try to fit God in. 668 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:01,920 He comes to take over. He comes to make you new. 669 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:04,800 And when he makes you new, he gives you a new plight. 670 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:11,080 And he says this Seek first the Kingdom of God, and then what 671 00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,480 happens? And his righteousness and all 672 00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:19,720 these other things will be added to you as well. 673 00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:25,000 He's saying, come after me first, and it will take care of 674 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:27,000 the rest. And if you're here today, you've 675 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:28,640 never started a relationship with Jesus. 676 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:34,560 Don't put it off to the rest of you who already have a 677 00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:38,000 relationship with Jesus. You will never be the wife you 678 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,120 were supposed to be, never be the husband you were supposed to 679 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:42,560 be. Never be the parent that you're 680 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:46,360 supposed to be. Unless God is 1st and there is 681 00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:48,840 an idol in your life, because there's an idol in mind. 682 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,480 And if we don't tear down that idol, it will lead to doubt in 683 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:56,400 the people that are going to come behind us, and we need to 684 00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:58,440 tear it down. Maybe you're going to come to 685 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:00,760 the steps and pray. Maybe you need to bring somebody 686 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:02,440 with you. Maybe you need to come over and 687 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:05,120 borrow a staff member and we'll pray alongside of you. 688 00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:08,320 But you and I have an opportunity right now to put God 689 00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:11,200 where He belongs, and I hope you don't miss it. 690 00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:13,920 Would you stand with me, Heavenly Father? 691 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:19,200 Do a work in this church? Do something that only you can 692 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:24,080 do, in ways that only you can do it give us the courage to walk 693 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:27,640 after you and to chase after you and to put you first. 694 00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,840 God, our lives belong to you, and they are better when they 695 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:35,720 are hidden in you and God. I pray that today you'd give 696 00:44:35,720 --> 00:44:38,520 every person in here not just the clarity of what they're 697 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:41,240 supposed to do, but the courage to walk it out. 698 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:42,840 And you know my pray. Amen.