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Howdy, Pastor Mark here,
all sweaty

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got done just yelling,

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got to start the 
Ten Commandments series,

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really excited.

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We got, of course,
10 weeks together

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going through the
Ten Commandments

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and I wanted to thank you;
you are part

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of our extended family
of Mars Hill Global.

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Many of you pray for us,
many of you podcast,

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many of you give
generously and faithfully

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thank you, thank you, thank you

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you're helping us
introduce people to Jesus,

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get solid Bible teaching out,
see lives change.

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The band is playing 
behind me right now,

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people are giving 
their lives to Jesus.

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If you hear some cheering

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it's 'cause they're getting
baptized right now.

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And our extended family goes
really all around the world.

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At 4 o' clock today,
at our last service

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at the Bellevue location
where I'm preaching live

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we've got a guy in from China.

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And apparently 
he can't get baptized

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where he's at in China
because the legalities

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and for some reason
he's in the U.S.,

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he's part of our
extended family

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and we're gonna baptize him here
from China at 4 o' clock.

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We love the opportunity
that technology affords us

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to get the Bible teaching about
Jesus out to the world.

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Somebody else 
getting baptized right there;

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I hope 
you can hear the shouts.

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Sincerely thank you,
thank you, thank you.

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If you're not already
part of the extended family

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or if you wanna invite
others to join us

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and know what's going on
and be kept up to speed,

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marshill.com/global

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is the easiest way 
to sign up for an account.

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And for those of you
who want to follow along

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in the Ten Commandments,

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we did put together 
a study guide.

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You could do this individually,

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you could do this
with your family

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you could do this
with a small group.

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All the proceeds 
go back to the church

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I'm not putting 
my hand on the till

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and it was all written 
by people in the church

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who love Jesus; men,
women, single, married,

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serving and using their gifts
to help serve our church

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and I want to thank you

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for being an extended
member of Mars Hill.

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So thanks a bunch 
and be praying.

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I'm pretty fired up
to be in the Ten Commandments.

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The people of God
were stuck.

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For centuries,
they lived as slaves

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to terrifying task masters

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whose cruelty was
only preceded by their power.

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In these dark days,

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God's people
gave birth to children

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who would inherit
nothing more than misery.

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Their strongest ally
was a God,

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who they had assumed
had forgotten them.

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Far from forgotten,
the people of God

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were rescued by the might
of his hand.

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He put their masters
to open shame

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and led them
into the wilderness.

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Though they were set free,
they weren't yet living free.

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They started to live as slaves
to their own sin.

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What happened next

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reverberates for over
3,000 years of history

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to this current day.

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Like a loving
and patient Father,

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God instructed his children,

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giving them
the Ten Commandments.

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So I grew up next
to the airport

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and as a little boy,

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I would watch
the planes fly over

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and rattle the windows
on our house.

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And I always wondered where
the planes were going,

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and I always wanted
to get on one,

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go to somewhere exotic
and experience another culture.

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I was one of those
peculiarly weird kids.

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I know that's shocking,

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but I'll just share
that with you.

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And I would get on my bike
a regularly ride miles

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to the library so that I could
get magazines and books.

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And I wanted to understand
the whole world and history,

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as well as the present and what
was going on in other nations,

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in other cultures,
just a weirdly curious kid.

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So I remember repeatedly
sitting out in my yard

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just watching the planes
fly over.

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And we could never really
afford to get on one.

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And I thought, man, someday
I want to get on a plane.

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I want to go somewhere,
and I want to experience

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some exotic different culture.

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Then my opportunity came when
I was around 14 years of age.

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Our baseball team won some
state and regional award

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and tournament, and we
got to go play

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in some national/international
tournament.

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And I finally,
for the first time in my life

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as a teenage kid, was going
to get on my first airplane.

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So excited,
could hardly sleep.

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Get up the next day, go to
the airport, get on the plane,

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looking out the window,
fly far, far away

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and land in a place called Ohio.

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Got off the plane,
was greatly disappointed.

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Not the exotic,
cross-cultural experience

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I had been longing for.

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Amen?

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Mark Twain once said,
"If the end of the world comes,

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"I'm going to Ohio because
everything happens there

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10 years later."

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Ohio was disappointing.

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It was not the cultural mecca
that I was anticipating.

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It took many more years before
I would get on another airplane

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and finally as a pastor,
I had the opportunity,

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starting in my late 20s
and early 30s,

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to start to travel and actually
get some of those global,

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cross-cultural experiences.

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And in God's grace,

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I've been to places
like Africa and Haiti and India

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and in each of those locations,

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I have seen pagan, idolatrous,
worship practices

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that is very similar to what
the people of Israel

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are encountering
in Exodus 20,

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which is where
we are 3,000 years ago

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when they received
the Ten Commandments.

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And what I learned going to
these places was that people

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would carry their
Gods, their goddesses,

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their idols with them, sometimes
in their pocket to bless them,

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just like we do our phone.

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Sometimes they
would have idols in their home,

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usually the seats would be
around some little altar,

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kind of like our TV.

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They would have their
temples, their small temples,

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scattered everywhere so there
was one convenient and nearby,

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like our coffee shops and our
bars and our convenience stores.

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And then all of the worshipers
would get together

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in huge places
called temples,

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like our stadiums
and our malls.

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And I was in India
many years ago

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and traveled a great distance
to get there via plane and train

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and something called a rickshaw,

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which is a way to die,
not necessarily travel.

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And they took me out
to this very rural area.

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It was like
"National Geographic."

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I get off the rickshaw
and there's somebody

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plowing the field with an ox.

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All right,
and next thing I know,

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I'm walking out
into this rural village,

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and there are
these small temples

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built for the local gods
and goddesses

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seeking blessing
and favor and crop fertility.

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And I poke my head in one,
chicken feathers, chicken blood,

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chicken parts everywhere.

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They're slaughtering animals
to the local deities

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trying to get blessing.

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I finally make it
to the pastor's conference,

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it's under like a thatch roof,

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people have walked for miles
to get there.

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It's pastors
and their wives.

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I'm talking to
former witch doctors

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and all kinds of crazy
idolatrous temples,

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surround us in the field.

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I've examined
a number of them.

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You know, I'm pretty
freaked out at this point.

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And I talked to a pastor's wife
who's a Hindu convert

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and I asked her, you know,
"So what's your name?"

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She asked me what's my name.

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She says, "Have you
ever been to India?"

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I said, "No, this
is my first time."

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She said, "How are
you liking it?"

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I was like,
"Well, it's different."

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I didn't know what to say.

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And then I asked her, "Have
you ever been to America?"

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She said, "Yes."

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I said,
"Oh, that's great."

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I said,
"How long has it been?"

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She said,
"It's been many years."

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I said, "Well, when are
you going to come back?"

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She said, quote, "I don't
think I'll ever return.

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I can't stomach the idolatry."

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I was like, I think the chickens
would disagree that we have

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the idolatry problem.

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If you polled all the chickens,

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I would think you have
the idolatry problem.

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And it shocked me
and immediately I got defensive

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like, "Hey, hey,
we're not idolaters."

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I'm preaching to a bunch of
former witch doctors who know

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how to kill chickens
to make crops grow.

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If we're going to do
plank/speck, I win, you know?

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But then, you know, then it
dawned on me, maybe she's right.

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Maybe we see idols in other
people's culture far more easily

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than we do in our own.

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Maybe for us it's recreation or
hobby or entertainment or sport,

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but really it is
worship, false worship.

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And since that time,

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I've been thinking
about this issue

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and this brings us

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to Exodus chapter 20,
verses 4 through 6

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where we deal
with idolatry.

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And what I want to do is I want
to set some spectacles

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at the end of your nose, right?

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And in one lens, I want
you to think of idolatry.

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In the other lens, I want
you to think of worship.

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And I want you, with me,
to look at all of your life

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and all of our culture
and all of the world

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00:09:07,833 --> 00:09:10,667
through these two lenses
of idolatry or worship.

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00:09:10,708 --> 00:09:12,292
What is worship?

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00:09:12,333 --> 00:09:14,958
Well, Harold Best in this
great book "Unceasing Worship,"

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he says this, "Worship is
the continuous outpouring

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"of all that I am,
all that I do,

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00:09:19,667 --> 00:09:21,292
"and all that I
can ever become

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in light of a chosen
or choosing God."

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00:09:23,417 --> 00:09:25,042
Here's the big idea,

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everyone worships
all the time.

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00:09:26,917 --> 00:09:28,333
Atheists are worshipers.

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00:09:28,417 --> 00:09:29,750
Buddhists are worshipers.

217
00:09:29,833 --> 00:09:31,167
Agnostics are worshipers.

218
00:09:31,208 --> 00:09:32,542
Christians are worshipers.

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People who are living
are worshiping.

220
00:09:34,667 --> 00:09:37,458
Everyone who's living
is always worshiping,

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00:09:37,500 --> 00:09:41,333
pouring themselves out
for someone or something.

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00:09:41,375 --> 00:09:43,167
That's what
we were made to do.

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00:09:43,208 --> 00:09:44,667
That's what we always do.

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The only difference is
who or what we worship,

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00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:48,750
when or how we worship.

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00:09:48,833 --> 00:09:50,917
The question is not,
do we worship?

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The question is, is our worship
to God or is our worship

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to something other than
God, namely idolatry?

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That's why Peter Kreeft,
the great philosopher,

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he says this, he says,

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00:10:00,917 --> 00:10:03,667
"The opposite of
Christianity is not atheism,

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"but idolatry.

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00:10:05,875 --> 00:10:09,208
The opposite of Christianity
is not atheism, but idolatry."

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00:10:09,292 --> 00:10:11,000
So before we dig into the text--

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because my fear is if I just
open the Bible and say,

236
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"3,000 years ago, these
silly people bowed down

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to created things,"
you'd say,

238
00:10:17,542 --> 00:10:19,042
"Yes, we're like
C.S. Lewis said.

239
00:10:19,125 --> 00:10:21,167
"We have chronological snobbery.

240
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"Yes, 3,000 years ago,
they were very primitive.

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00:10:23,542 --> 00:10:25,667
It's a good thing
we've evolved beyond that,"

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and we won't see that these are
not just timely words for them.

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00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:31,375
They're timely words
for us all.

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00:10:31,458 --> 00:10:33,250
You ready?
Let's do this.

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00:10:33,333 --> 00:10:37,083
Let's look at worship
in our culture.

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00:10:37,167 --> 00:10:40,417
If you imported
a Hebrew from 3,000 years ago

247
00:10:40,500 --> 00:10:43,125
to a college football game
where people

248
00:10:43,167 --> 00:10:46,292
were dressed up like animals,
had their faces painted,

249
00:10:46,333 --> 00:10:49,167
slaughtered an animal and
barbecued it as a sacrifice

250
00:10:49,208 --> 00:10:53,458
at the tailgate party and saw
them all dressed the same

251
00:10:53,500 --> 00:10:55,083
with their arms outstretched

252
00:10:55,167 --> 00:10:58,000
trying to affect
the outcome of a game

253
00:10:58,042 --> 00:11:01,625
like pagan priests who are
doing some sort of mantra,

254
00:11:01,667 --> 00:11:03,833
would you not assume
that they would think

255
00:11:03,875 --> 00:11:06,167
that it was
a religious gathering?

256
00:11:06,250 --> 00:11:07,667
Oh, okay, you feel convicted.

257
00:11:07,750 --> 00:11:10,083
Okay, we'll move on.

258
00:11:10,167 --> 00:11:14,875
Malls and shopping centers
are now temples,

259
00:11:14,958 --> 00:11:18,458
it's where we go to improve
our life and our image.

260
00:11:18,500 --> 00:11:21,917
It's where we go to worship
with our wealth.

261
00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,500
That's why the biggest,
most expensive places

262
00:11:24,583 --> 00:11:27,083
are shopping malls.

263
00:11:27,167 --> 00:11:29,000
Let's keep going.

264
00:11:29,083 --> 00:11:31,125
Sometimes we look
at one person

265
00:11:31,167 --> 00:11:33,625
as a functional savior.

266
00:11:33,667 --> 00:11:36,792
We do this around politicians
and election years.

267
00:11:36,833 --> 00:11:41,667
We put someone up to save us,
to be our functional savior.

268
00:11:41,708 --> 00:11:44,333
We cheer for them.

269
00:11:44,375 --> 00:11:46,167
We vote for them.

270
00:11:46,250 --> 00:11:50,417
All of that can be acts
of worship or idolatry.

271
00:11:50,500 --> 00:11:56,875
We have icons to represent
our idols, do we not?

272
00:11:56,958 --> 00:11:58,542
Do we not?

273
00:11:58,625 --> 00:12:01,625
I know some of you you're
like, "I work at Microsoft."

274
00:12:01,667 --> 00:12:04,417
You're right,
that is an idol,

275
00:12:04,500 --> 00:12:07,667
so is your logo, okay?

276
00:12:07,708 --> 00:12:09,417
It's just a different idol.

277
00:12:09,500 --> 00:12:11,083
And here's what's
interesting about idols.

278
00:12:11,167 --> 00:12:12,500
Idols lie.

279
00:12:12,542 --> 00:12:14,458
They make promises that
they cannot deliver.

280
00:12:14,500 --> 00:12:17,167
How many of you have looked
at Absolute vodka and thought,

281
00:12:17,208 --> 00:12:20,375
"Yes, that is
the path to freedom"?

282
00:12:20,458 --> 00:12:22,708
That is the path to freedom.

283
00:12:22,792 --> 00:12:25,042
How many of you find that
alcohol actually results

284
00:12:25,125 --> 00:12:26,875
in slavery?

285
00:12:26,958 --> 00:12:29,042
If you drink too much,
you're enslaved by it.

286
00:12:29,125 --> 00:12:31,042
This is the great themes
of the Exodus

287
00:12:31,125 --> 00:12:33,500
that sin enslaves us
and God sets us free

288
00:12:33,542 --> 00:12:36,000
and then our idols lie
and promise something

289
00:12:36,042 --> 00:12:38,000
that only God can deliver.

290
00:12:38,083 --> 00:12:39,500
And it's an act of worship

291
00:12:39,542 --> 00:12:41,667
to spend our money
to buy the bottle

292
00:12:41,708 --> 00:12:44,583
and to partake to invite
alcohol in instead of

293
00:12:44,667 --> 00:12:46,250
the Holy Spirit to control us.

294
00:12:46,333 --> 00:12:48,250
That's why the Bible
says, "Don't get drunk,

295
00:12:48,333 --> 00:12:49,750
be filled
with the Holy Spirit."

296
00:12:49,833 --> 00:12:51,250
This is all
counterfeit worship.

297
00:12:51,333 --> 00:12:52,792
It's idolatry.

298
00:12:52,833 --> 00:12:54,708
You say, "Well,
I shouldn't have alcohol?"

299
00:12:54,792 --> 00:12:56,667
Not for breakfast.

300
00:12:56,708 --> 00:13:00,333
Okay, I haven't gotten
in trouble for a while,

301
00:13:00,375 --> 00:13:04,417
so I thought
I would share this.

302
00:13:04,500 --> 00:13:06,375
Yoga is exercise.

303
00:13:06,458 --> 00:13:08,000
Okay, for some it is, right?

304
00:13:08,083 --> 00:13:10,875
Like, "Okay, here
we go, that helped."

305
00:13:10,958 --> 00:13:14,917
Okay, but tell me whether or
not that looks like worship.

306
00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:16,833
Yes or no?

307
00:13:16,875 --> 00:13:18,208
Let's vote.
Yes or no?

308
00:13:18,292 --> 00:13:19,708
All in favor?
Yeah.

309
00:13:19,792 --> 00:13:21,417
All who say no?

310
00:13:21,500 --> 00:13:26,333
You're wrong.
Okay?

311
00:13:26,375 --> 00:13:28,167
Sometimes we
worship individuals.

312
00:13:28,250 --> 00:13:30,583
We put them up front.
We pay big money.

313
00:13:30,667 --> 00:13:32,000
We sing along.

314
00:13:32,083 --> 00:13:33,500
We follow them
on social media.

315
00:13:33,583 --> 00:13:36,000
We buy all of their products.
We dress like them.

316
00:13:36,083 --> 00:13:38,500
We sing like them.
We want to be like them.

317
00:13:38,583 --> 00:13:41,750
We'll even say things
like, "They're my idol."

318
00:13:41,833 --> 00:13:44,958
And so we formalize
it with a show

319
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,125
called "American Idol."

320
00:13:48,167 --> 00:13:50,000
We have idols, right?

321
00:13:50,042 --> 00:13:51,875
We all have idols.

322
00:13:51,958 --> 00:13:54,833
What does God have to say
about this issue of idolatry?

323
00:13:54,917 --> 00:13:59,042
Well, here's what he
says, "No idolatry."

324
00:13:59,125 --> 00:14:01,875
He says it this way
in Exodus chapter 20, verse 4--

325
00:14:01,958 --> 00:14:03,542
and the context,
friends, is this--

326
00:14:03,625 --> 00:14:06,917
God has set his people free
from slavery to Pharaoh

327
00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,042
as a nation of a few million.

328
00:14:09,125 --> 00:14:10,583
He's convened them together

329
00:14:10,667 --> 00:14:12,750
for a family meeting where
he's a loving father,

330
00:14:12,833 --> 00:14:15,958
going to give some advise
for his rebellious kids.

331
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,542
They're meeting at the base of
Mount Sinai and through Moses,

332
00:14:19,625 --> 00:14:22,625
Ten Commandments
are given by God.

333
00:14:22,667 --> 00:14:24,625
The first one
we looked at last week.

334
00:14:24,667 --> 00:14:26,083
How many Gods are there?

335
00:14:26,167 --> 00:14:27,500
One.

336
00:14:27,583 --> 00:14:29,542
And this week
we're going to deal with

337
00:14:29,625 --> 00:14:31,417
how to worship that God.

338
00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:33,750
So the first two commandments
are the most important,

339
00:14:33,833 --> 00:14:35,167
that's why they come first

340
00:14:35,208 --> 00:14:36,542
and they establish
everything else

341
00:14:36,625 --> 00:14:39,292
that God is going to teach us
from the Ten Commandments

342
00:14:39,333 --> 00:14:40,792
and the rest of Scripture.

343
00:14:40,833 --> 00:14:43,333
Who we worship
and how we worship

344
00:14:43,375 --> 00:14:45,375
and both are significant.

345
00:14:45,458 --> 00:14:47,667
It's not enough just
to have the right God,

346
00:14:47,708 --> 00:14:50,458
you need to worship
the right God in the right way,

347
00:14:50,500 --> 00:14:52,458
otherwise you can have Jesus
as your God

348
00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:54,667
and be living as a pagan
and committing idolatry

349
00:14:54,708 --> 00:14:56,667
and living in
the slavery of sin.

350
00:14:56,750 --> 00:14:59,375
So it's having the right God
and worshiping the right God

351
00:14:59,458 --> 00:15:01,000
the right way.

352
00:15:01,042 --> 00:15:03,167
And so he starts with
a negative, "No idolatry."

353
00:15:03,208 --> 00:15:04,667
And he says it this way,

354
00:15:04,708 --> 00:15:06,875
"You shall not make for
yourself a carved image,

355
00:15:06,958 --> 00:15:09,583
"or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above,

356
00:15:09,667 --> 00:15:12,500
"or that is in the earth
underneath or beneath,

357
00:15:12,583 --> 00:15:14,792
or that is in the water
under the earth."

358
00:15:14,833 --> 00:15:17,208
Here's what he's saying,
don't worship anything,

359
00:15:17,292 --> 00:15:19,417
anything up there,
anything down there,

360
00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:21,000
anything under there.

361
00:15:21,083 --> 00:15:24,000
Nowhere are we to find something
that becomes for us

362
00:15:24,042 --> 00:15:25,833
the object of our worship.

363
00:15:25,875 --> 00:15:29,208
And idolatry is this, it's
trying to bring God near to us

364
00:15:29,292 --> 00:15:32,417
and trying to bring us near
to God so finding someone

365
00:15:32,500 --> 00:15:36,958
or something that is mediatorial
that helps us get close or,

366
00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,542
at least, feel closer to God.

367
00:15:39,625 --> 00:15:42,250
And in so doing, it opens
the door to the demonic

368
00:15:42,333 --> 00:15:44,625
because Satan is glad
to give you counterfeit signs,

369
00:15:44,667 --> 00:15:47,000
wonderers, miracles,
experiences,

370
00:15:47,042 --> 00:15:49,375
emotional highs
to deceive you.

371
00:15:49,458 --> 00:15:51,167
And God says,
"Do not be deceived.

372
00:15:51,208 --> 00:15:53,542
"There's one God, worship me
alone and don't think

373
00:15:53,625 --> 00:15:56,500
"that anyone or anything else
will get you closer to me,

374
00:15:56,542 --> 00:16:00,917
"give you greater insight to me,
greater experience of me,

375
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,000
that is idolatry."

376
00:16:03,083 --> 00:16:07,167
Two reasons theologically why we
do not worship created things,

377
00:16:07,250 --> 00:16:09,833
anything that is made.

378
00:16:09,917 --> 00:16:12,708
And when I say worship,
think of where your time goes,

379
00:16:12,792 --> 00:16:14,667
where your talent goes,
where your treasure goes.

380
00:16:14,708 --> 00:16:16,875
Think about what you
pour your life out to.

381
00:16:16,958 --> 00:16:19,792
Think about what consumes
the majority of your time.

382
00:16:19,833 --> 00:16:23,167
Two reasons we are not to
worship idols, created things.

383
00:16:23,208 --> 00:16:25,417
Number one,
we do not worship an image

384
00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:28,333
because we are
the image of God.

385
00:16:28,417 --> 00:16:31,167
See, they were worshiping images

386
00:16:31,250 --> 00:16:32,875
and they were not
to worship images,

387
00:16:32,958 --> 00:16:35,667
they were to be
the images of God

388
00:16:35,708 --> 00:16:37,667
who worshiped God.

389
00:16:37,708 --> 00:16:39,042
It says it this way

390
00:16:39,125 --> 00:16:41,833
in Genesis 1:27 when God
first made Adam and Eve.

391
00:16:41,875 --> 00:16:44,625
God created man in his
own image in the what?

392
00:16:44,667 --> 00:16:48,667
One of the Ten Commandments is
don't worship an image

393
00:16:48,708 --> 00:16:50,500
and here God says,
"You're my image.

394
00:16:50,542 --> 00:16:52,500
"In the image of God
he created them;

395
00:16:52,542 --> 00:16:54,000
male and female
he created them."

396
00:16:54,042 --> 00:16:56,500
Okay, so gave you
an example of how this works.

397
00:16:56,542 --> 00:16:59,500
So this morning you got up
and you looked in a what?

398
00:16:59,542 --> 00:17:00,958
In a mirror?

399
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,167
Okay, for some, it was
a sad moment, right?

400
00:17:03,208 --> 00:17:04,542
I understand.

401
00:17:04,625 --> 00:17:08,000
Play the hand
you're dealt, okay?

402
00:17:08,042 --> 00:17:10,500
But you get up and you
look in the mirror

403
00:17:10,583 --> 00:17:12,292
and the mirror does what?

404
00:17:12,333 --> 00:17:14,708
Reflects you, okay?

405
00:17:14,792 --> 00:17:19,667
God is Spirit and God
made us to be his mirrors,

406
00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:23,208
to bear his image,
to reflect his image.

407
00:17:23,292 --> 00:17:25,458
That's what worship is.

408
00:17:25,500 --> 00:17:28,167
Worship is reflecting
the goodness and the glory

409
00:17:28,208 --> 00:17:30,083
of the God of the Bible.

410
00:17:30,167 --> 00:17:32,125
So when we love,
when we forgive,

411
00:17:32,167 --> 00:17:33,958
when we seek justice
and truth,

412
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:35,625
when we are generous,

413
00:17:35,667 --> 00:17:38,458
we are reflecting something
of the character of the God

414
00:17:38,500 --> 00:17:41,667
who made us,
that's what worship is.

415
00:17:41,708 --> 00:17:44,542
It's that who Jesus is
would be shown forth

416
00:17:44,625 --> 00:17:46,250
in how we live.

417
00:17:46,333 --> 00:17:47,667
That's worship.

418
00:17:47,750 --> 00:17:50,000
So he says, "Don't get
an image to worship,

419
00:17:50,042 --> 00:17:53,333
be the image that worships."

420
00:17:53,417 --> 00:17:56,708
So the second question is, okay,
if we're not to worship images,

421
00:17:56,792 --> 00:17:59,208
of course,
we're we to be the image of God,

422
00:17:59,292 --> 00:18:01,500
then what is
the object of our worship?

423
00:18:01,542 --> 00:18:03,167
Who or what do we reflect?

424
00:18:03,208 --> 00:18:04,708
Where do we go?

425
00:18:04,792 --> 00:18:06,333
Well, we go to Jesus.

426
00:18:06,417 --> 00:18:08,833
We do not worship an image,
but rather Jesus,

427
00:18:08,917 --> 00:18:10,375
who is the image of God.

428
00:18:10,458 --> 00:18:12,667
And this is an important verse
in Colossians 1:15

429
00:18:12,708 --> 00:18:14,833
on this issue of worship
versus idolatry.

430
00:18:14,875 --> 00:18:17,083
Paul writes that
he, that is Jesus,

431
00:18:17,167 --> 00:18:19,792
is the image
of the invisible God.

432
00:18:19,833 --> 00:18:22,792
So in the Ten Commandments when
he says, "Don't make an image."

433
00:18:22,833 --> 00:18:24,792
He says,
"You are the image of God,

434
00:18:24,833 --> 00:18:27,208
and the image of God is
perfectly reflected in Jesus."

435
00:18:27,292 --> 00:18:29,375
That's why Jesus
can say, "If you've seen me,

436
00:18:29,458 --> 00:18:30,792
you've seen the Father."

437
00:18:30,833 --> 00:18:32,167
It says that he is

438
00:18:32,250 --> 00:18:33,667
the radiance
of the Father's glory.

439
00:18:33,750 --> 00:18:35,875
No one is a more perfect
worshiper than Jesus.

440
00:18:35,958 --> 00:18:38,583
God cannot be seen anymore
clearly than in Jesus,

441
00:18:38,667 --> 00:18:40,750
that's why we don't
look to created things.

442
00:18:40,833 --> 00:18:42,375
We don't look to nature.

443
00:18:42,458 --> 00:18:43,875
We don't look to animals.

444
00:18:43,958 --> 00:18:47,083
We don't like to other people
because if you want to see what

445
00:18:47,167 --> 00:18:48,583
God looks like,
look at Jesus.

446
00:18:48,667 --> 00:18:50,625
There's God,
God become a man.

447
00:18:50,667 --> 00:18:53,792
And that word there
for image is our word for icon.

448
00:18:53,833 --> 00:18:56,083
How many of you grew up
in Catholic churches

449
00:18:56,167 --> 00:18:57,750
or eastern Orthodox churches

450
00:18:57,833 --> 00:19:02,167
and there were icons,
of Jesus or of saints?

451
00:19:02,250 --> 00:19:06,958
We're not to have those kinds of
icons because Jesus is our icon.

452
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,000
The Greek word for "image"
is literally "icon."

453
00:19:10,083 --> 00:19:14,000
If you want to see what God
looks like, look at Jesus.

454
00:19:14,083 --> 00:19:15,417
Amen?

455
00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:18,333
That's what we believe.
That's what we believe.

456
00:19:18,375 --> 00:19:20,208
So we're not to worship
created things.

457
00:19:20,292 --> 00:19:21,792
We're to worship the Creator.

458
00:19:21,833 --> 00:19:24,833
We're not to seek images,
we're to be God's image bearers

459
00:19:24,917 --> 00:19:28,333
and we're to reflect
the perfect worshipers, Jesus,

460
00:19:28,375 --> 00:19:31,708
who is the image of God,
perfectly revealed.

461
00:19:31,792 --> 00:19:35,250
Okay, that being said, let me--
let me do something

462
00:19:35,333 --> 00:19:37,625
that's a bit of an excursus
but very practical

463
00:19:37,667 --> 00:19:39,500
and I think very important.

464
00:19:39,583 --> 00:19:41,708
I was raised Catholic, okay?

465
00:19:41,792 --> 00:19:43,833
Long line of Catholic.

466
00:19:43,875 --> 00:19:48,458
Southern Irish Catholic
as far back as I could trace.

467
00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:50,458
Went there with my dad.

468
00:19:50,500 --> 00:19:54,417
We're Catholic
as far back as we can find,

469
00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:59,333
so much so that my grandma,
when my grandfather died,

470
00:19:59,417 --> 00:20:02,792
she became a nun.

471
00:20:02,833 --> 00:20:04,458
Like we're really Catholic.

472
00:20:04,500 --> 00:20:06,625
I went to Catholic school
for a few years,

473
00:20:06,667 --> 00:20:08,375
helped the priests
with the Mass, right?

474
00:20:08,458 --> 00:20:11,333
So how many of you are former
Catholics here with me today?

475
00:20:11,375 --> 00:20:12,708
How many of you, right?

476
00:20:12,792 --> 00:20:15,208
Okay, my name is Father Mark,
welcome to our Mass.

477
00:20:15,292 --> 00:20:16,625
We're glad to have you.

478
00:20:16,667 --> 00:20:18,333
We'll have Communion
in a little bit.

479
00:20:18,417 --> 00:20:19,750
You'll love that.

480
00:20:19,833 --> 00:20:22,167
Okay, so, so let me talk about
the second commandment

481
00:20:22,250 --> 00:20:24,708
and Catholicism,
which I would also include

482
00:20:24,792 --> 00:20:27,500
could apply
to eastern orthodoxy as well,

483
00:20:27,542 --> 00:20:30,958
the Orthodox branch
of the Christian faith.

484
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:32,750
So I grew up
very, very Catholic

485
00:20:32,833 --> 00:20:35,500
and one of the things I loved
about the Catholic church

486
00:20:35,583 --> 00:20:37,375
was the artistry.

487
00:20:37,458 --> 00:20:41,125
I mean the buildings were
beautiful, stained glass, icons,

488
00:20:41,167 --> 00:20:44,083
paintings, statues, images,

489
00:20:44,167 --> 00:20:48,208
candles, incense,
super sensory,

490
00:20:48,292 --> 00:20:51,042
very beautiful, very beautiful.

491
00:20:51,125 --> 00:20:52,875
Some Catholics know Jesus.

492
00:20:52,958 --> 00:20:54,833
Some Catholics love Jesus.

493
00:20:54,917 --> 00:20:56,667
I wasn't one of them.

494
00:20:56,708 --> 00:20:59,167
I didn't have a bad experience
with the Catholic church.

495
00:20:59,250 --> 00:21:01,458
I'm not going to just start
railing on Catholics.

496
00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:04,000
A lot of my relatives
are Catholic and love Jesus,

497
00:21:04,083 --> 00:21:06,625
and I'll be with them
together forever in heaven.

498
00:21:06,667 --> 00:21:09,292
But God saved me
at the age of 19 in college.

499
00:21:09,333 --> 00:21:10,917
Some of you know my story.

500
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,000
I was reading the Bible
and met Jesus.

501
00:21:13,042 --> 00:21:15,417
I was just a kind of moral,
religious, spiritual guy

502
00:21:15,500 --> 00:21:16,833
up until that point,

503
00:21:16,875 --> 00:21:18,333
at least that's
what I thought.

504
00:21:18,375 --> 00:21:21,500
I was also, you know, had
sin, a lot of it, you know,

505
00:21:21,542 --> 00:21:23,500
beating guys up, sleeping
with the pastor's daughter.

506
00:21:23,542 --> 00:21:25,000
So I was a good guy.

507
00:21:25,042 --> 00:21:29,000
You know anyways, it's amazing
how we all see ourselves.

508
00:21:29,042 --> 00:21:33,417
And then God says,
"I see it different."

509
00:21:36,458 --> 00:21:39,708
So then God saved me
at 19, and I wanted to go to

510
00:21:39,792 --> 00:21:41,458
a Bible-teaching church
because the Holy Spirit,

511
00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:43,958
when you become a Christian,
he just creates an appetite,

512
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:45,667
a hunger in you
for the Scriptures.

513
00:21:45,750 --> 00:21:48,667
All of a sudden I'm like,
I want to learn the Bible,

514
00:21:48,750 --> 00:21:50,167
so I'm looking for a church.

515
00:21:50,250 --> 00:21:51,667
I find myself visiting
Protestant churches.

516
00:21:51,750 --> 00:21:53,417
I've never really been
to Protestant church,

517
00:21:53,500 --> 00:21:54,833
only been to Catholic church,

518
00:21:54,875 --> 00:21:57,000
but they were going through
books of the Bible.

519
00:21:57,083 --> 00:21:59,458
And here's what I noticed,
they were all really plain,

520
00:21:59,500 --> 00:22:03,000
not a lot of color, no stained
glass, no icons, no images.

521
00:22:03,083 --> 00:22:05,042
It was like God
was a dentist.

522
00:22:05,125 --> 00:22:09,333
It was just pretty,
pretty clean, pretty white,

523
00:22:09,375 --> 00:22:11,167
pretty straight down the middle.

524
00:22:11,250 --> 00:22:13,667
But I kept going because
they taught the Bible.

525
00:22:13,750 --> 00:22:16,292
And then I started
asking, "Well, hey,

526
00:22:16,333 --> 00:22:18,667
"how come it looks different
than the Catholic churches

527
00:22:18,750 --> 00:22:21,292
that I grew up in
and visited as a kid?"

528
00:22:21,333 --> 00:22:23,292
And they said, "Oh, because
the Protestant reformation."

529
00:22:23,333 --> 00:22:25,500
I was like, okay,
I gotta figure that out.

530
00:22:25,542 --> 00:22:27,000
"Oh, because of
the second commandment

531
00:22:27,042 --> 00:22:28,375
where we're at today."

532
00:22:28,458 --> 00:22:31,750
So I start researching it
and there were some

533
00:22:31,833 --> 00:22:34,375
in the Catholic faith
including--

534
00:22:34,458 --> 00:22:36,750
and I would say
eastern Orthodox faith as well,

535
00:22:36,833 --> 00:22:39,667
who they
were taking the images

536
00:22:39,708 --> 00:22:42,292
and breaking
the second commandment.

537
00:22:42,333 --> 00:22:45,750
They were taking the paintings,
the statues, the icons,

538
00:22:45,833 --> 00:22:48,667
and they were using
them as objects of worship,

539
00:22:48,750 --> 00:22:51,417
not just to help
tell the story.

540
00:22:51,500 --> 00:22:53,458
That was the whole point
of stained glass.

541
00:22:53,500 --> 00:22:56,333
I mean, stained glass was
the first video screen

542
00:22:56,417 --> 00:22:57,833
in the church.

543
00:22:57,917 --> 00:23:00,125
It was to show the story
of the Bible

544
00:23:00,167 --> 00:23:01,500
for illiterate people.

545
00:23:01,583 --> 00:23:02,917
Well, that's not bad.

546
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,250
It's helping them see
the storyline of the Bible.

547
00:23:05,333 --> 00:23:08,042
But what happened with some of
the icons and the paintings

548
00:23:08,125 --> 00:23:11,833
and the images and the statues,
people started using them

549
00:23:11,875 --> 00:23:15,958
for worship, bowing down
to them, praying to them.

550
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:21,083
And here's what I saw,
bringing offerings to them.

551
00:23:21,167 --> 00:23:24,792
See, in the pagan world,
as long as you feed your God,

552
00:23:24,833 --> 00:23:26,875
it blesses you.

553
00:23:26,958 --> 00:23:30,833
So anytime you see idolatry,

554
00:23:30,875 --> 00:23:36,667
it can even be a small shrine
at an ethnic restaurant.

555
00:23:36,708 --> 00:23:38,250
Have you seen them?

556
00:23:38,333 --> 00:23:41,250
There's a candle lit, there's
a little home for the deity

557
00:23:41,333 --> 00:23:43,167
to come and meet
with the people,

558
00:23:43,250 --> 00:23:46,875
and they'll leave fruit
or food or money.

559
00:23:46,958 --> 00:23:49,667
As long as you feed it,
it blesses you.

560
00:23:49,708 --> 00:23:51,542
That's the exchange.

561
00:23:51,625 --> 00:23:53,250
This is a God
you can manipulate.

562
00:23:53,333 --> 00:23:55,333
This is a God
you can pay off.

563
00:23:55,417 --> 00:23:57,917
Well, next thing you know,
people start bringing

564
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:01,750
the same things to the statues
and the icons and the paintings.

565
00:24:01,833 --> 00:24:03,208
They're leaving food.

566
00:24:03,292 --> 00:24:04,833
They're leaving money.

567
00:24:04,875 --> 00:24:07,333
They're lighting candles.

568
00:24:07,417 --> 00:24:10,333
It starts to become
very pagan.

569
00:24:10,417 --> 00:24:11,917
And all of a sudden,

570
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,708
there is a confusion between
the worship of the Creator

571
00:24:14,792 --> 00:24:16,375
and the worship
of the created.

572
00:24:16,458 --> 00:24:19,125
Now maybe some of those people
did know and love Jesus

573
00:24:19,167 --> 00:24:21,125
and they were abiding by
the first commandment.

574
00:24:21,167 --> 00:24:23,625
They believed in the one God,
but they were violating

575
00:24:23,667 --> 00:24:25,000
the second commandment.

576
00:24:25,083 --> 00:24:28,375
They were worshiping
the right God wrongly.

577
00:24:28,458 --> 00:24:29,958
So all of a sudden,

578
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,833
the Protestants
started breaking stuff,

579
00:24:31,917 --> 00:24:34,500
breaking stained glass,
breaking statues,

580
00:24:34,583 --> 00:24:38,625
breaking icons saying,
"We worship only Jesus,

581
00:24:38,667 --> 00:24:43,292
and we don't worship manmade
created idolatrous things."

582
00:24:43,333 --> 00:24:47,333
This leads to Protestantism
where the plainness

583
00:24:47,375 --> 00:24:50,542
of the architecture
is very intentional.

584
00:24:50,625 --> 00:24:54,042
It's very intentional.

585
00:24:54,125 --> 00:24:56,667
It's knowing that the human
heart easily drifts toward

586
00:24:56,750 --> 00:24:59,625
idolatry and we want, in
the church of Jesus Christ,

587
00:24:59,667 --> 00:25:02,125
to give every opportunity
for God to be worshiped

588
00:25:02,167 --> 00:25:03,958
and no one and no thing else.

589
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,500
So then it raises
the question,

590
00:25:05,542 --> 00:25:06,875
what about the arts?

591
00:25:06,958 --> 00:25:08,292
What about creativity?

592
00:25:08,333 --> 00:25:10,958
How many of you are arty?
You're kind of arty, right?

593
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:12,333
I am.

594
00:25:12,417 --> 00:25:15,500
I was a weird mix growing up.
I was an arty jock.

595
00:25:15,542 --> 00:25:20,125
I'm like a unicorn, like a--what
an unusual species this is.

596
00:25:20,167 --> 00:25:25,583
So I played a lot of sports
and I painted, sketched, drawed.

597
00:25:25,667 --> 00:25:27,417
I liked various medium.

598
00:25:27,500 --> 00:25:29,583
I wasn't great
but when I was a kid,

599
00:25:29,667 --> 00:25:32,583
I actually won an art contest,
had my stuff in a gallery.

600
00:25:32,667 --> 00:25:34,083
I like interior design.

601
00:25:34,167 --> 00:25:36,208
I got a little bit arty.

602
00:25:36,292 --> 00:25:38,500
I haven't done
anything in years,

603
00:25:38,583 --> 00:25:42,500
but I have a bit of
a creative streak in me.

604
00:25:42,583 --> 00:25:46,167
And at Mars Hill, true or false,
we have a lot of arty types?

605
00:25:46,208 --> 00:25:47,667
Yeah.

606
00:25:47,708 --> 00:25:50,167
Like if you're here you're
like, "I can't play guitar."

607
00:25:50,208 --> 00:25:51,667
Okay, you're
a minority group, right,

608
00:25:51,708 --> 00:25:53,042
like you're a minority group.

609
00:25:53,125 --> 00:25:56,167
We tend to have a very
creative--designers, artists,

610
00:25:56,250 --> 00:26:00,250
interior designers, fashion
designers, I mean, web maker.

611
00:26:00,333 --> 00:26:02,042
We're a creative church.

612
00:26:02,125 --> 00:26:03,875
Well, what does this
mean for worship?

613
00:26:03,958 --> 00:26:06,042
Does this mean that God
doesn't like creativity?

614
00:26:06,125 --> 00:26:08,875
Yes, the Creator
is very creative.

615
00:26:08,958 --> 00:26:10,875
Right, the heavens
declare the glory of God,

616
00:26:10,958 --> 00:26:12,292
the Bible says.

617
00:26:12,333 --> 00:26:14,500
As we look at the world
that God made,

618
00:26:14,542 --> 00:26:17,208
we realize that God cares
a lot about shape and form

619
00:26:17,292 --> 00:26:18,625
and function and color,

620
00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:20,833
that's why we have trees
instead of big boxes

621
00:26:20,875 --> 00:26:22,208
to clean our air.

622
00:26:22,292 --> 00:26:24,708
All right, that our God,
he is a beautiful God,

623
00:26:24,792 --> 00:26:26,417
that our God is a creative God,

624
00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:28,625
and God made us
in his image and likeness

625
00:26:28,667 --> 00:26:31,125
and creativity is certainly
part of worshiping him,

626
00:26:31,167 --> 00:26:33,667
though it can lead
us into idolatry

627
00:26:33,708 --> 00:26:35,625
if we don't guard our hearts.

628
00:26:35,667 --> 00:26:37,458
In the Old Testament,
for example,

629
00:26:37,500 --> 00:26:39,708
in 1 Kings when God
gives the directives

630
00:26:39,792 --> 00:26:41,292
for the creating of the temple

631
00:26:41,333 --> 00:26:44,667
on how he is to be worshiped
and where he is to be worshiped,

632
00:26:44,750 --> 00:26:48,083
it is filled with page after
page after page after page.

633
00:26:48,167 --> 00:26:49,875
Here's what you do
with the fabrics

634
00:26:49,958 --> 00:26:53,500
and these kinds of wood and
these kinds of precious metals

635
00:26:53,583 --> 00:26:55,333
and here are the dimensions

636
00:26:55,417 --> 00:26:57,833
and here are the paintings
and here are the colors,

637
00:26:57,917 --> 00:26:59,917
and it's very beautiful.

638
00:27:00,042 --> 00:27:01,833
It's very artistic.

639
00:27:01,875 --> 00:27:05,583
So worshiping God in beauty
and in creativity is not

640
00:27:05,667 --> 00:27:08,750
in and of itself idolatry,
but let me say this,

641
00:27:08,833 --> 00:27:12,083
and I give you this word for
those of you who are creative,

642
00:27:12,167 --> 00:27:15,083
those of you who are artistic,
for those of who that, perhaps,

643
00:27:15,167 --> 00:27:16,500
have a Catholic background,

644
00:27:16,542 --> 00:27:19,167
for those who are going to
hear this in New Mexico

645
00:27:19,208 --> 00:27:21,417
where Catholic idolatry
has been syncretized

646
00:27:21,500 --> 00:27:23,458
with native spirituality,

647
00:27:23,500 --> 00:27:29,042
that sometimes artistry
can lead to idolatry.

648
00:27:29,125 --> 00:27:30,958
And I think, in particular,
four ways.

649
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:32,333
Number one,

650
00:27:32,417 --> 00:27:35,333
artistry becomes idolatry when
we claim it is mediatorial.

651
00:27:35,417 --> 00:27:37,750
We're still working off of
the practical implications

652
00:27:37,833 --> 00:27:40,375
of the second commandment.

653
00:27:40,458 --> 00:27:44,417
See, 1 Timothy 2:5 says there's
one mediator between us and God.

654
00:27:44,500 --> 00:27:45,833
Who's that?

655
00:27:45,917 --> 00:27:47,500
Jesus.

656
00:27:47,583 --> 00:27:49,500
Nothing mediates
between us and God.

657
00:27:49,583 --> 00:27:52,750
Anytime that artistry is
said to be mediatorial,

658
00:27:52,833 --> 00:27:55,500
it is functioning
in a way that is idolatry.

659
00:27:55,542 --> 00:27:57,000
I'll give you some examples.

660
00:27:57,042 --> 00:28:00,042
How many of you have many
even done this or said this,

661
00:28:00,125 --> 00:28:02,542
you walk into let's say a
religious building, all right,

662
00:28:02,625 --> 00:28:04,542
a church or a mosque
or a synagogue

663
00:28:04,625 --> 00:28:06,042
and it's beautiful,
it's amazing.

664
00:28:06,125 --> 00:28:09,750
You say, "I feel so
close to God here."

665
00:28:09,833 --> 00:28:11,667
Idolatry.

666
00:28:11,750 --> 00:28:13,500
What you've just said is,

667
00:28:13,542 --> 00:28:15,792
"The building brought me
closer to God."

668
00:28:15,833 --> 00:28:18,542
The building can't get you
any closer to God than Jesus

669
00:28:18,625 --> 00:28:20,708
has already gotten you.

670
00:28:20,792 --> 00:28:22,833
Understand that?

671
00:28:22,917 --> 00:28:25,667
You can walk in and say,
"This is a beautiful building

672
00:28:25,750 --> 00:28:28,083
and I really enjoy this space."

673
00:28:28,167 --> 00:28:29,667
That's okay.

674
00:28:29,750 --> 00:28:32,167
You walk in and say
in a massive cathedral, "Man,

675
00:28:32,250 --> 00:28:34,875
the architecture really reminds
me of the sovereignty of God."

676
00:28:34,958 --> 00:28:36,333
Is that okay?

677
00:28:36,375 --> 00:28:37,958
Yeah, that's fine.

678
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,167
You walk into an ancient
cathedral and they're made

679
00:28:40,208 --> 00:28:41,667
in the shape of the cross.

680
00:28:41,708 --> 00:28:44,167
You walk in and say, "Oh,
the architecture reminds me

681
00:28:44,208 --> 00:28:45,833
of the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus."

682
00:28:45,917 --> 00:28:47,250
Is that okay?

683
00:28:47,333 --> 00:28:52,208
But don't say, "When I'm
here, I feel closer to God."

684
00:28:52,292 --> 00:28:56,917
Sometimes a well-meaning but
theologically understudied

685
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,167
worship leader will say it this
way, "Welcome to our church,

686
00:29:00,250 --> 00:29:02,042
"and today
it's my great pleasure

687
00:29:02,125 --> 00:29:05,042
to usher you
into the presence of God."

688
00:29:05,125 --> 00:29:10,833
Ooh, now you're a pagan priest,
with a guitar.

689
00:29:10,917 --> 00:29:12,417
What you're saying is that

690
00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:15,250
the music will get you
closer to God.

691
00:29:15,333 --> 00:29:18,792
Now we're not worshiping God,
we're worshiping worship.

692
00:29:18,833 --> 00:29:20,750
We're worshiping song.

693
00:29:20,833 --> 00:29:23,875
We're worshiping the experience
that we receive

694
00:29:23,958 --> 00:29:26,500
from the sounds that we hear.

695
00:29:26,542 --> 00:29:30,458
Is it okay to say, "I love
to sing because I love Jesus.

696
00:29:30,500 --> 00:29:32,625
I love to hear
God's people sing."

697
00:29:32,667 --> 00:29:35,792
"'God inhabits the Bible,' says
the praises of his people.

698
00:29:35,833 --> 00:29:39,083
"I feel God's presence,
not through the music,

699
00:29:39,167 --> 00:29:41,708
"but the music helps
to awaken my emotions

700
00:29:41,792 --> 00:29:44,042
"and affections
and my heart toward God,

701
00:29:44,125 --> 00:29:47,125
"but I know that I am close
to God because of Jesus,

702
00:29:47,167 --> 00:29:49,833
not because
of the music."

703
00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:53,542
Number two, artistry
becomes idolatry

704
00:29:53,625 --> 00:29:56,958
when any attempt is made
to show God the Father.

705
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,208
The Bible says that
God is not a man.

706
00:30:00,292 --> 00:30:03,833
Jesus says that
God the Father is Spirit,

707
00:30:03,875 --> 00:30:05,917
doesn't inhabit a physical body.

708
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,292
The Lord Jesus entered
into a physical body

709
00:30:08,333 --> 00:30:09,917
to come and live without sin,

710
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,583
to die for our sin
and to rise as our Savior

711
00:30:12,667 --> 00:30:15,125
to be that perfect
God-man mediator to mediate

712
00:30:15,167 --> 00:30:16,542
between men and God.

713
00:30:16,625 --> 00:30:19,333
But God the Father does not
occupy a physical body.

714
00:30:19,417 --> 00:30:23,833
And anytime there's an attempt
to show God the Father,

715
00:30:23,875 --> 00:30:26,500
in a created thing,
it's idolatry.

716
00:30:26,542 --> 00:30:31,792
So let me ask you this,
in a lot of common artwork,

717
00:30:31,833 --> 00:30:35,667
how is God the Father depicted?

718
00:30:35,708 --> 00:30:38,083
Like an old man.

719
00:30:38,167 --> 00:30:39,583
Like an old man.

720
00:30:39,667 --> 00:30:41,917
Okay, is God an old man?

721
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,000
No, he's not a man.

722
00:30:44,042 --> 00:30:45,833
I don't even think he's old.

723
00:30:45,917 --> 00:30:48,917
G.K. Chesterton
rightly said that

724
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,167
we grow old
because we sin.

725
00:30:52,208 --> 00:30:58,375
And God has never sinned, so he
might be younger than us all.

726
00:30:58,458 --> 00:31:02,000
Something wrong happens when
we think that the eternal,

727
00:31:02,042 --> 00:31:06,667
timeless God is old
and something wrong happens

728
00:31:06,708 --> 00:31:11,167
when we project on God
an image of an old man.

729
00:31:11,208 --> 00:31:13,667
The Bible says he's a father,

730
00:31:13,708 --> 00:31:16,042
but God cannot be depicted
as an old man.

731
00:31:16,125 --> 00:31:18,500
So anytime that there is
a painting or a portrait

732
00:31:18,583 --> 00:31:20,667
or a picture of
God the Father,

733
00:31:20,750 --> 00:31:22,667
let's say standing
in the Garden of Eden

734
00:31:22,750 --> 00:31:26,000
with Adam and Eve,
that's idolatry.

735
00:31:26,083 --> 00:31:29,833
Number three, artistry becomes
idolatry when there is confusion

736
00:31:29,917 --> 00:31:32,583
between the Creator
and the created.

737
00:31:32,667 --> 00:31:34,583
This is what Romans 1:25 says,

738
00:31:34,667 --> 00:31:37,083
"They worshiped and served
created things rather than

739
00:31:37,167 --> 00:31:39,250
"the Creator God
who's forever praised.

740
00:31:39,333 --> 00:31:40,917
Amen."

741
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:43,583
Of these people he says, they
exchange the truth of God

742
00:31:43,667 --> 00:31:45,042
for the lie.

743
00:31:45,125 --> 00:31:47,625
The truth is there's
the Creator, the created.

744
00:31:47,667 --> 00:31:51,500
God created us
to worship the Creator.

745
00:31:51,583 --> 00:31:56,708
Idolatry is what happens when we
worship the created, sex, money,

746
00:31:56,792 --> 00:32:01,083
fame, glory, power, prestige,
whatever the case may be,

747
00:32:01,167 --> 00:32:04,583
instead of the Creator.

748
00:32:04,667 --> 00:32:07,083
This is common in Wicca.

749
00:32:07,167 --> 00:32:10,500
This is common in
Pantheism and Panentheism,

750
00:32:10,583 --> 00:32:12,167
and there are some
Christian--Christian,

751
00:32:12,208 --> 00:32:13,667
I use that term loosely,

752
00:32:13,708 --> 00:32:15,667
schools and seminaries
that have drifted toward

753
00:32:15,750 --> 00:32:18,000
Pantheism and Panentheism
that all is God

754
00:32:18,083 --> 00:32:19,458
or God is in all,

755
00:32:19,500 --> 00:32:21,708
that the Creator
and the created are all one.

756
00:32:21,792 --> 00:32:24,792
There's not this
distinction and separation.

757
00:32:24,833 --> 00:32:27,917
This is very common in
Native American spirituality.

758
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,667
It's very common in
Native American spirituality.

759
00:32:30,708 --> 00:32:33,917
And you'll hear this from
people who are also

760
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:35,458
radical environmentalists.

761
00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:37,750
They'll say, "We worship--
we worship Mother Earth,

762
00:32:37,833 --> 00:32:40,792
not Father God."

763
00:32:40,833 --> 00:32:43,167
It's very common.

764
00:32:43,208 --> 00:32:46,708
And the most common thing
we worship is ourselves,

765
00:32:46,792 --> 00:32:49,000
created things.

766
00:32:49,042 --> 00:32:52,583
It's a pet peeve of mine but
some of you will think that--

767
00:32:52,667 --> 00:32:56,000
and here's what happens, with
younger, newer, Christians,

768
00:32:56,042 --> 00:32:58,625
they get really excited about
old worship practices

769
00:32:58,667 --> 00:33:01,167
because they think
it's more avant-garde

770
00:33:01,208 --> 00:33:02,833
and hip and cool, right?

771
00:33:02,875 --> 00:33:04,250
These are the same people

772
00:33:04,333 --> 00:33:05,833
who wear their
grandparents' clothes.

773
00:33:05,875 --> 00:33:09,417
They're looking for
anything that's vintage.

774
00:33:09,500 --> 00:33:11,875
Just because something is old,
doesn't mean it's good.

775
00:33:11,958 --> 00:33:13,542
It may be pagan.

776
00:33:13,625 --> 00:33:15,625
You need to be discerning.

777
00:33:15,667 --> 00:33:17,417
So what you'll see
at some churches,

778
00:33:17,500 --> 00:33:20,917
it's actually fairly common
especially in mainline liberal,

779
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,000
you know, less Bible-believing
teaching churches.

780
00:33:24,042 --> 00:33:25,500
It's something called
a prayer labyrinth.

781
00:33:25,542 --> 00:33:26,917
You seen these?

782
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:28,917
They actually say,
"We have a prayer labyrinth."

783
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:30,417
What is that?

784
00:33:30,500 --> 00:33:32,417
Oh, let me tell you
since you asked

785
00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:34,417
and I'm glad to do that for you.

786
00:33:34,500 --> 00:33:36,125
So the way
a prayer labyrinth works,

787
00:33:36,167 --> 00:33:38,625
they'll build a beautiful ornate
garden, kind of running water,

788
00:33:38,667 --> 00:33:40,833
some trees, get all your
feng shui shuied away.

789
00:33:40,875 --> 00:33:42,333
Get it all set up, right?

790
00:33:42,375 --> 00:33:44,042
And the way
the prayer labyrinth works,

791
00:33:44,125 --> 00:33:46,042
it's a circle and you're
supposed to meditate

792
00:33:46,125 --> 00:33:47,542
and think and be quiet.

793
00:33:47,625 --> 00:33:51,167
And it's this prayerful inward
introspection and contemplation

794
00:33:51,250 --> 00:33:54,708
where you walk in a circle
slowly until you're standing at

795
00:33:54,792 --> 00:33:59,000
the center of the circle,
as an act of worship.

796
00:33:59,083 --> 00:34:01,000
It's pagan to the core.

797
00:34:01,083 --> 00:34:04,792
Because what it's saying is
the way you grow is by

798
00:34:04,833 --> 00:34:07,792
the self-turning in on the self.

799
00:34:07,833 --> 00:34:11,083
And the essence of spiritual
enlightenment is to have

800
00:34:11,167 --> 00:34:14,833
yourself at the center
of your spiritual existence.

801
00:34:14,875 --> 00:34:16,375
Martin Luther rightly said that

802
00:34:16,458 --> 00:34:19,292
"Sin is the self bending in
on the self."

803
00:34:19,333 --> 00:34:22,292
This is the path to damnation,
not salvation.

804
00:34:22,333 --> 00:34:25,292
The path to salvation, if we're
going to do a prayer labyrinth,

805
00:34:25,333 --> 00:34:27,292
I would tell you
start in the middle

806
00:34:27,333 --> 00:34:28,667
and walk out, right?

807
00:34:28,750 --> 00:34:31,375
"I am a sinner.
I need to get out of myself.

808
00:34:31,458 --> 00:34:33,625
"I need to get out of my life.

809
00:34:33,667 --> 00:34:36,875
"I need to walk away from me
being the center

810
00:34:36,958 --> 00:34:41,333
so that God can be the center."

811
00:34:41,417 --> 00:34:44,000
Number four, artistry becomes
idolatry

812
00:34:44,083 --> 00:34:46,000
when the gathered worship
of God's people

813
00:34:46,042 --> 00:34:49,917
is no longer word based.

814
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:54,625
What happens is that people
will get rid of the word

815
00:34:54,667 --> 00:34:59,542
for images and experiences,
and they go together.

816
00:34:59,625 --> 00:35:04,000
Thank you for letting me
preach the Bible, thank you.

817
00:35:04,083 --> 00:35:07,667
I love the fact that I get to
preach the Bible at Mars Hill.

818
00:35:07,708 --> 00:35:09,500
You sitting there
and listening

819
00:35:09,542 --> 00:35:11,333
is an act of worship.

820
00:35:11,375 --> 00:35:13,500
It's an act of worship.

821
00:35:13,583 --> 00:35:15,167
It's submitting to authority

822
00:35:15,250 --> 00:35:17,458
and it's hearing
the word of God.

823
00:35:17,500 --> 00:35:22,917
The center of our service
is the word of God.

824
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,875
For us, this means that,
that we think in terms of

825
00:35:26,958 --> 00:35:29,458
the word of God of the totality
of Scripture,

826
00:35:29,500 --> 00:35:32,667
that the world came into being
because God spoke it into being

827
00:35:32,708 --> 00:35:34,292
by his word.

828
00:35:34,333 --> 00:35:37,167
One of the first things that God
does to our first parents

829
00:35:37,250 --> 00:35:38,792
is he speaks to them.

830
00:35:38,833 --> 00:35:41,167
When they sin,
he speaks to them again.

831
00:35:41,250 --> 00:35:45,250
He sends priests on his behalf
to speak his word to them.

832
00:35:45,333 --> 00:35:48,375
He sends prophets over and over
to speak on his behalf

833
00:35:48,458 --> 00:35:50,000
to his rebellious people.

834
00:35:50,083 --> 00:35:54,000
He sends the apostles
to write down for us

835
00:35:54,042 --> 00:35:56,792
the veritable words of God.

836
00:35:56,833 --> 00:35:59,167
And faith comes
by hearing what?

837
00:35:59,208 --> 00:36:00,833
The word of God.

838
00:36:00,875 --> 00:36:03,667
Faith does not come
by seeing the painting.

839
00:36:03,750 --> 00:36:06,000
Faith does not come
by pondering the icon.

840
00:36:06,083 --> 00:36:09,125
Faith does not come
by hearing the song.

841
00:36:09,167 --> 00:36:12,167
Faith comes by hearing
the word of God.

842
00:36:12,208 --> 00:36:14,500
And so we're
a word-centered church.

843
00:36:14,583 --> 00:36:16,208
We're a Jesus-centered church.

844
00:36:16,292 --> 00:36:18,167
We're a Bible-centered church.

845
00:36:18,208 --> 00:36:22,292
And what happens is the church
drifts toward pagan idolatry,

846
00:36:22,333 --> 00:36:25,667
all of a sudden, the preaching
of God's word gets diminished

847
00:36:25,708 --> 00:36:27,167
and set off to the side.

848
00:36:27,208 --> 00:36:28,667
Next thing you know
it's like,

849
00:36:28,708 --> 00:36:30,667
"Well, this week
we're just going to gather

850
00:36:30,708 --> 00:36:33,167
"in a circle and talk and see
what everyone thinks.

851
00:36:33,208 --> 00:36:35,167
"Or this week,
we're going to have

852
00:36:35,208 --> 00:36:36,625
"people painting on the sides

853
00:36:36,667 --> 00:36:39,125
"and giving us their
opinion and expression of God,

854
00:36:39,167 --> 00:36:41,833
"and we want you to look
at those and ponder them.

855
00:36:41,917 --> 00:36:44,833
"Or this week, we're going to
look at the icons and meditate.

856
00:36:44,917 --> 00:36:47,333
"Or this week, we're going to
not have any preaching

857
00:36:47,417 --> 00:36:49,333
and we're going to go serve
the community,"

858
00:36:49,417 --> 00:36:51,417
which could be a wonderful
and good thing

859
00:36:51,500 --> 00:36:54,750
if it's guided and led
by the preaching of the word.

860
00:36:54,833 --> 00:36:57,458
Anytime a church drifts away
from the preaching

861
00:36:57,500 --> 00:36:59,083
of the word of God,

862
00:36:59,167 --> 00:37:01,208
it is drifting toward
idolatry and the violation

863
00:37:01,292 --> 00:37:03,125
of the second commandment.

864
00:37:03,167 --> 00:37:05,917
It's true, that's why even
sometimes people come along,

865
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:07,875
they're like, "Why are
the sermons so long?"

866
00:37:07,958 --> 00:37:13,292
Because the book is so good.

867
00:37:13,333 --> 00:37:15,792
This does not mean that
paintings like Rembrandt

868
00:37:15,833 --> 00:37:18,917
that take Bible stories
and illustrate them are bad.

869
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:20,792
They can actually be helpful.

870
00:37:20,833 --> 00:37:22,333
But here's the big idea.

871
00:37:22,417 --> 00:37:25,000
No one can come to saving faith
in Jesus Christ

872
00:37:25,083 --> 00:37:26,667
through art or experience.

873
00:37:26,750 --> 00:37:29,000
It has to be through
the word of God.

874
00:37:29,083 --> 00:37:31,000
You can't look at a painting.

875
00:37:31,042 --> 00:37:32,625
You can't hike in the mountains.

876
00:37:32,667 --> 00:37:34,500
You can't walk through a stream.

877
00:37:34,542 --> 00:37:38,000
You can't listen to the band
and know that Jesus is God,

878
00:37:38,042 --> 00:37:42,500
fully God, fully man,
lived a perfect human life

879
00:37:42,542 --> 00:37:45,667
that we have not lived, died
substitutionary death that

880
00:37:45,708 --> 00:37:48,583
we should have died, rose to
conquer Satan, sin, death,

881
00:37:48,667 --> 00:37:50,333
hell, and the wrath of God

882
00:37:50,375 --> 00:37:52,333
and that apart from
repentance of sin

883
00:37:52,417 --> 00:37:55,167
and faith in him,
there is eternal damnation.

884
00:37:55,250 --> 00:37:58,875
You can't get that by having
an emotional experience

885
00:37:58,958 --> 00:38:00,333
with a piece of artwork.

886
00:38:00,417 --> 00:38:01,750
Amen?

887
00:38:01,833 --> 00:38:03,750
Somebody has to explain
that to you.

888
00:38:03,833 --> 00:38:05,458
That's why it's good news.

889
00:38:05,500 --> 00:38:07,417
News has to be said.

890
00:38:07,500 --> 00:38:09,167
News has to be communicated.

891
00:38:09,208 --> 00:38:13,167
News has to be articulated.

892
00:38:13,250 --> 00:38:15,667
So God's people are
to be word based.

893
00:38:15,708 --> 00:38:19,042
So, there is always a flip side
with the commandments.

894
00:38:19,125 --> 00:38:21,042
He'll say,
"Don't commit idolatry,"

895
00:38:21,125 --> 00:38:22,458
so the answer is worship.

896
00:38:22,500 --> 00:38:25,375
He'll say,
"Don't commit adultery,"

897
00:38:25,458 --> 00:38:28,333
so the answer is
be faithful to your spouse.

898
00:38:28,417 --> 00:38:31,167
There's always
a flip side to the commands.

899
00:38:31,250 --> 00:38:33,167
The flip side to
the second commandment

900
00:38:33,208 --> 00:38:35,500
is worship the Creator,
not the created.

901
00:38:35,583 --> 00:38:37,333
Exodus chapter 20, verse 5,

902
00:38:37,375 --> 00:38:40,000
"You shall not bow down to them
or serve them."

903
00:38:40,042 --> 00:38:43,000
So what I want to do now
is I want to look

904
00:38:43,042 --> 00:38:44,375
at your functional,
actual worship.

905
00:38:44,458 --> 00:38:46,583
Some of you may come
in here and say,

906
00:38:46,667 --> 00:38:48,000
"I'm okay.
I worship Jesus."

907
00:38:48,042 --> 00:38:51,458
You may think you worship
Jesus, you may be a Christian,

908
00:38:51,500 --> 00:38:54,125
but let's examine your worship
and see whether Jesus really is

909
00:38:54,167 --> 00:38:56,292
the object of your worship.

910
00:38:56,333 --> 00:38:58,458
And what he says here,
it's two things:

911
00:38:58,500 --> 00:38:59,958
submission and service.

912
00:39:00,083 --> 00:39:01,708
So who do you submit to?

913
00:39:01,792 --> 00:39:03,167
What do you submit to?

914
00:39:03,250 --> 00:39:05,167
What rules
and authority in your life?

915
00:39:05,208 --> 00:39:07,083
And if it's you,
you worship yourself.

916
00:39:07,167 --> 00:39:09,083
The created thing you worship is
the person

917
00:39:09,167 --> 00:39:10,833
you greet in the mirror
every morning,

918
00:39:10,917 --> 00:39:13,000
because you're the highest
authority in your life

919
00:39:13,042 --> 00:39:14,875
and you decide
what's right and wrong.

920
00:39:14,958 --> 00:39:17,708
Who or what do you submit
to and who or what

921
00:39:17,792 --> 00:39:20,000
or where do you serve?

922
00:39:20,083 --> 00:39:21,708
Where does your time go?

923
00:39:21,792 --> 00:39:23,333
Where does your money go?

924
00:39:23,417 --> 00:39:28,583
Where does your heart go?

925
00:39:28,667 --> 00:39:33,125
As we examine, we can laugh
a all the cultural idols,

926
00:39:33,167 --> 00:39:38,000
but we need to be deadly serious
about our personal idols.

927
00:39:38,042 --> 00:39:41,083
And again idolatry is always
more clearly seen in them

928
00:39:41,167 --> 00:39:44,458
than in me.

929
00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:48,583
So let me share with you why
idols historically are popular.

930
00:39:48,667 --> 00:39:51,417
They're indulgent.

931
00:39:52,708 --> 00:39:54,250
They're indulgent.

932
00:39:54,333 --> 00:39:57,792
Oftentimes with idolatry,
you drink all you want.

933
00:39:57,833 --> 00:39:59,333
You eat all you want.

934
00:39:59,375 --> 00:40:00,917
You carouse all you want.

935
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:02,333
There are no limits.

936
00:40:02,375 --> 00:40:04,250
It's very indulgent.

937
00:40:04,333 --> 00:40:07,000
It's also very desirable.

938
00:40:07,042 --> 00:40:10,333
Idolatry is where you
can be in control.

939
00:40:10,375 --> 00:40:13,958
That you can tell the god or
goddesses or spirit realm

940
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,083
what you want

941
00:40:16,167 --> 00:40:18,625
and you can manipulate
them to get what you want.

942
00:40:18,667 --> 00:40:20,417
Who doesn't want
to be in charge?

943
00:40:20,500 --> 00:40:22,167
Who doesn't want
to be in control?

944
00:40:22,208 --> 00:40:23,667
Who doesn't want to get rich?

945
00:40:23,708 --> 00:40:25,167
Who doesn't want to be healthy?

946
00:40:25,208 --> 00:40:27,125
Who doesn't want
to be successful?

947
00:40:27,167 --> 00:40:29,042
Who doesn't want
to be comfortable?

948
00:40:29,125 --> 00:40:33,583
It's very desirable to be the
one who establishes your future

949
00:40:33,667 --> 00:40:38,958
and then recruits some spiritual
deity to bring it to light.

950
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:41,042
In addition, very ornate.

951
00:40:41,125 --> 00:40:43,042
As I talked about it,

952
00:40:43,125 --> 00:40:46,750
the temples
around the world are glorious,

953
00:40:46,833 --> 00:40:53,333
they're beautiful, and this is
the case historically as well.

954
00:40:53,375 --> 00:40:56,042
The lighting, the color,
the architecture,

955
00:40:56,125 --> 00:40:58,083
it's magnificent.

956
00:40:58,167 --> 00:41:00,875
How many of you are
really arty and honestly,

957
00:41:00,958 --> 00:41:03,917
this is a temptation for you?

958
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:06,625
I've seen people
leave Jesus-preaching,

959
00:41:06,667 --> 00:41:10,625
Bible-preaching, theologically
robust churches to go to

960
00:41:10,667 --> 00:41:13,292
somewhere that is bordering
on heretical

961
00:41:13,333 --> 00:41:16,250
because the architecture
and the experience

962
00:41:16,333 --> 00:41:22,583
connected with their
artistic giftedness.

963
00:41:22,667 --> 00:41:26,583
Man, there's nothing
cooler than a concert.

964
00:41:26,667 --> 00:41:29,708
There's nothing more exciting
than a sporting event.

965
00:41:29,792 --> 00:41:33,833
There's nothing more intriguing
than the perfectly set up mall

966
00:41:33,875 --> 00:41:36,458
where the worshipers walk around

967
00:41:36,500 --> 00:41:41,417
and tithe to their
gods and goddesses.

968
00:41:41,500 --> 00:41:44,750
It's also likable,
just super popular.

969
00:41:44,833 --> 00:41:48,708
Festivals, holidays, you get
dressed up, kind of like we do,

970
00:41:48,792 --> 00:41:51,375
parties, celebrations
and traditions.

971
00:41:51,458 --> 00:41:54,583
And what happened in that day
and it happens in our day is,

972
00:41:54,667 --> 00:41:56,667
"Well, it's not idolatry.
That's Halloween.

973
00:41:56,708 --> 00:41:58,292
"That's not idolatry.

974
00:41:58,333 --> 00:42:03,500
That's Cinco de Mayo," which
is Hispanic for drunk, I guess.

975
00:42:03,542 --> 00:42:06,250
You know--it's,
you know, it's not--

976
00:42:06,333 --> 00:42:08,917
that's not a religious thing.

977
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:12,000
That's Mardi Gras.

978
00:42:12,042 --> 00:42:17,833
We create holidays that compel
us toward pagan revelry,

979
00:42:17,917 --> 00:42:20,833
drinking too much, eating
too much, dressing up,

980
00:42:20,875 --> 00:42:22,792
pretending to be
someone we're not,

981
00:42:22,833 --> 00:42:25,625
maybe even taking on the image
of a created thing like

982
00:42:25,667 --> 00:42:28,333
an animal or a bird, going out
and cavorting and carousing,

983
00:42:28,417 --> 00:42:30,042
and it's really--everybody
likes it.

984
00:42:30,125 --> 00:42:32,125
You're against that?

985
00:42:32,167 --> 00:42:34,750
And it's very simple.

986
00:42:34,833 --> 00:42:36,625
It's very convenient.

987
00:42:36,667 --> 00:42:42,000
You could take your god with
you, there's one nearby.

988
00:42:42,042 --> 00:42:44,500
It's very convenient.

989
00:42:44,583 --> 00:42:47,917
It's very simple, not like
the God of the Bible

990
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:49,625
who makes you
examine your heart,

991
00:42:49,667 --> 00:42:51,667
repent of your sin
and learn some things.

992
00:42:51,708 --> 00:42:53,333
It's not like that.

993
00:42:53,375 --> 00:42:55,167
You get what you want.

994
00:42:55,250 --> 00:42:58,167
All you gotta do is just
be a little bit spiritual

995
00:42:58,250 --> 00:42:59,875
and then you get what you want.

996
00:42:59,958 --> 00:43:04,500
It's very simple.

997
00:43:04,583 --> 00:43:07,250
We're idolaters, right?

998
00:43:07,333 --> 00:43:08,833
Are you with me?

999
00:43:08,917 --> 00:43:10,333
Have I made my case?

1000
00:43:10,417 --> 00:43:12,208
I made my case?

1001
00:43:12,292 --> 00:43:15,125
And idolatry leads to slavery,
that's why people are addicted,

1002
00:43:15,167 --> 00:43:17,875
perverted, indebted.

1003
00:43:17,958 --> 00:43:19,667
See, idols lie.

1004
00:43:19,708 --> 00:43:22,792
They promise things that only
God can deliver and they do so

1005
00:43:22,833 --> 00:43:26,167
to enslave us, and that's
why the worship of God

1006
00:43:26,250 --> 00:43:30,042
is so important
because that alone free us.

1007
00:43:30,125 --> 00:43:31,750
Let me ask you a few things.

1008
00:43:31,833 --> 00:43:33,917
Let me first give you
a few statements

1009
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:35,875
to help you find your idol.

1010
00:43:35,958 --> 00:43:38,125
An idol lives in our heart

1011
00:43:38,167 --> 00:43:41,375
before it escapes
into our lives.

1012
00:43:41,458 --> 00:43:44,292
Luther said, Martin Luther,
the great reformer,

1013
00:43:44,333 --> 00:43:47,833
"That to which your heart clings
and entrusts itself is, I say,

1014
00:43:47,875 --> 00:43:50,708
really your god."

1015
00:43:50,792 --> 00:43:53,333
An idol is a good thing,

1016
00:43:53,417 --> 00:43:58,542
family, marriage,
health, GPA, income.

1017
00:43:58,625 --> 00:44:02,208
An idol is a good thing
that becomes a god thing,

1018
00:44:02,292 --> 00:44:05,083
which makes it a bad thing.

1019
00:44:05,167 --> 00:44:08,500
An idol is something that keeps
you up at night

1020
00:44:08,542 --> 00:44:11,958
and gets you up in the morning.

1021
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:15,500
An idol is anyone or anything
that replaces Jesus

1022
00:44:15,542 --> 00:44:18,417
at the center of your life.

1023
00:44:18,500 --> 00:44:22,167
An idol is any created thing
that takes the Creator's place

1024
00:44:22,208 --> 00:44:25,500
in your life.

1025
00:44:25,583 --> 00:44:29,500
An idol is what you turn to
instead of God

1026
00:44:29,583 --> 00:44:35,917
to get what you want.

1027
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:39,583
If you idolize,
you will demonize.

1028
00:44:39,667 --> 00:44:41,708
The great American theologian
Jonathan Edwards

1029
00:44:41,792 --> 00:44:46,333
articulated this,
if you idolize your job,

1030
00:44:46,417 --> 00:44:50,083
eventually you'll demonize your
job, you'll hate it.

1031
00:44:50,167 --> 00:44:53,375
If you idolize your spouse,
eventually you will demonize

1032
00:44:53,458 --> 00:44:56,500
your spouse and hate them.

1033
00:44:56,583 --> 00:44:58,500
Do you ever wonder
why in our culture,

1034
00:44:58,583 --> 00:45:01,000
there will be certain
politicians, celebrities,

1035
00:45:01,042 --> 00:45:03,208
business leaders, whatever
the case might be,

1036
00:45:03,292 --> 00:45:07,208
there's this roaring surge
of worshipful approval.

1037
00:45:07,292 --> 00:45:09,083
We idolize them.

1038
00:45:09,167 --> 00:45:11,833
And then when they fail
because their name isn't Jesus,

1039
00:45:11,917 --> 00:45:15,208
what do we do to them?

1040
00:45:15,292 --> 00:45:16,875
We demonize them.

1041
00:45:16,958 --> 00:45:18,417
We vilify them.

1042
00:45:18,500 --> 00:45:19,833
We criticize them.

1043
00:45:19,875 --> 00:45:23,167
We hate them.

1044
00:45:23,208 --> 00:45:25,542
How many of you this
has happened to you,

1045
00:45:25,625 --> 00:45:29,292
somebody idolized you, you
failed them, they demonized you?

1046
00:45:29,333 --> 00:45:33,292
How many of us
have done it to someone else?

1047
00:45:33,333 --> 00:45:40,125
If you idolize or worship
someone or something,

1048
00:45:40,167 --> 00:45:45,125
invariably, you will demonize
that person or thing.

1049
00:45:48,125 --> 00:45:53,250
One more thing, don't let
idol hunting become your idol.

1050
00:45:56,958 --> 00:45:59,250
See, immediately some of you
are tender conscience,

1051
00:45:59,333 --> 00:46:01,000
you're very serious.

1052
00:46:01,042 --> 00:46:02,375
You're introspective.

1053
00:46:02,458 --> 00:46:03,792
You do love the Lord.

1054
00:46:03,833 --> 00:46:06,333
You want to get it right,
so immediately you'll become

1055
00:46:06,375 --> 00:46:09,500
absolutely, "Oh, my gosh,
where are my idols?

1056
00:46:09,542 --> 00:46:12,042
"What's in my heart?
What am I living for?

1057
00:46:12,125 --> 00:46:14,042
"Why do I get up
in the morning?

1058
00:46:14,125 --> 00:46:15,542
"How do I spend my money?

1059
00:46:15,625 --> 00:46:17,375
What motivates me?
What drives me?"

1060
00:46:17,458 --> 00:46:21,125
You know what?
You're still all about you.

1061
00:46:24,833 --> 00:46:27,750
You're still not about
Jesus and other people.

1062
00:46:27,833 --> 00:46:29,958
Jesus said the whole point
of the law is

1063
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,625
that we would love God
and love our neighbor.

1064
00:46:32,667 --> 00:46:35,708
So at some point you've got
to stop looking at yourself

1065
00:46:35,792 --> 00:46:37,667
and get out to Jesus

1066
00:46:37,750 --> 00:46:41,042
and get out
to some other people.

1067
00:46:41,125 --> 00:46:46,167
What happens with some people
is they become very dark.

1068
00:46:46,208 --> 00:46:48,083
All of a sudden, for them,

1069
00:46:48,167 --> 00:46:51,542
the mark of true spirituality is
finding idolatry.

1070
00:46:55,917 --> 00:46:58,167
Historically,
there are people, who,

1071
00:46:58,250 --> 00:47:00,958
in an effort to help
atone for their own sin,

1072
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:02,375
would harm themselves.

1073
00:47:02,458 --> 00:47:07,500
They would remove from
themselves any sort of pleasure.

1074
00:47:07,542 --> 00:47:10,667
It's blasphemous.

1075
00:47:10,708 --> 00:47:12,833
Saying, "You know, when
Jesus said it was finished,

1076
00:47:12,917 --> 00:47:14,667
"he was wasn't talking to me.

1077
00:47:14,708 --> 00:47:16,333
"He didn't suffer for my sin.

1078
00:47:16,417 --> 00:47:18,458
"I need to suffer
for my sin too.

1079
00:47:18,500 --> 00:47:23,833
I need to help little Jesus
out with my forgiveness."

1080
00:47:23,917 --> 00:47:25,542
Don't beat yourself up.

1081
00:47:25,625 --> 00:47:27,208
Don't obsess.

1082
00:47:27,292 --> 00:47:30,542
Don't spend your whole life
looking for your idols, okay?

1083
00:47:30,625 --> 00:47:33,958
When the Holy Spirit
shows you one, smash it.

1084
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:36,875
If there's somebody you love
and you see it in their life,

1085
00:47:36,958 --> 00:47:38,292
lovingly approach them.

1086
00:47:38,333 --> 00:47:40,792
But here's the deal,
we're all going to have idols.

1087
00:47:40,833 --> 00:47:42,167
They're going to show up.

1088
00:47:42,250 --> 00:47:43,667
John Calvin,
the great Bible teacher,

1089
00:47:43,750 --> 00:47:45,875
said that the human heart
is an idol factory.

1090
00:47:45,958 --> 00:47:47,292
We're going to make some.

1091
00:47:47,333 --> 00:47:50,500
But don't obsess over this.

1092
00:47:50,583 --> 00:47:54,167
All right, the worse you feel
does not necessarily mean

1093
00:47:54,250 --> 00:48:00,083
the holier you are.

1094
00:48:00,167 --> 00:48:06,292
So the answer is not to
make idol hunting your idol,

1095
00:48:06,333 --> 00:48:09,833
but to make Jesus
the object of your worship.

1096
00:48:09,875 --> 00:48:11,500
The way out of idolatry is
worship.

1097
00:48:11,583 --> 00:48:12,917
You're made to worship.

1098
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:14,333
We're all going to worship.

1099
00:48:14,375 --> 00:48:15,708
So if we worship Jesus,

1100
00:48:15,792 --> 00:48:18,292
that sets us free
from the idols and sin

1101
00:48:18,333 --> 00:48:21,792
and it liberates us to live
the life that God intends

1102
00:48:21,833 --> 00:48:24,083
for us, the one of true freedom.

1103
00:48:24,167 --> 00:48:28,417
And so the last question is, why
is worship better than idolatry?

1104
00:48:28,500 --> 00:48:31,125
Here's how he says it,
Exodus 20:5 and 6,

1105
00:48:31,167 --> 00:48:33,333
"For I the LORD your God."

1106
00:48:33,417 --> 00:48:36,000
Okay, alcohol is not your God.
Sex isn't your God.

1107
00:48:36,042 --> 00:48:37,542
Fame isn't your God.

1108
00:48:37,625 --> 00:48:39,042
Pleasure isn't your God.

1109
00:48:39,125 --> 00:48:40,500
Your spouse isn't your God.

1110
00:48:40,542 --> 00:48:42,042
Your children are not your God.

1111
00:48:42,125 --> 00:48:44,208
Your marriage is not your God.

1112
00:48:44,292 --> 00:48:46,000
Your beauty is not your God.

1113
00:48:46,083 --> 00:48:48,167
The car you drive,
the clothes you wear,

1114
00:48:48,250 --> 00:48:50,500
the house you live in
or other people's opinion,

1115
00:48:50,583 --> 00:48:52,000
they are not the Lord.

1116
00:48:52,042 --> 00:48:53,375
They're not the sovereign.

1117
00:48:53,458 --> 00:48:54,792
They're not in control.

1118
00:48:54,833 --> 00:48:56,167
They're not in charge.

1119
00:48:56,250 --> 00:48:57,583
He is.

1120
00:48:57,667 --> 00:49:00,167
And he says this,
"For I the LORD your God

1121
00:49:00,208 --> 00:49:04,500
am a jealous God."

1122
00:49:04,542 --> 00:49:06,042
Idols are not jealous.

1123
00:49:06,125 --> 00:49:08,875
Idols will let you
worship anyone,

1124
00:49:08,958 --> 00:49:12,708
everyone and everything because
behind them are Satan and demons

1125
00:49:12,792 --> 00:49:14,708
and as long as they
can enslave you,

1126
00:49:14,792 --> 00:49:17,167
they don't care how it happens.

1127
00:49:17,208 --> 00:49:21,333
But the one true God is jealous
and he loves to set people free.

1128
00:49:21,417 --> 00:49:23,625
"Visiting the iniquity
of the fathers"--

1129
00:49:23,667 --> 00:49:25,875
How many fathers in the house?

1130
00:49:25,958 --> 00:49:28,708
Pay special attention, dads.

1131
00:49:28,792 --> 00:49:33,125
"On the children to the third
and fourth generation of those

1132
00:49:33,167 --> 00:49:38,875
who, hate me, but showing
steadfast love to thousands"--

1133
00:49:38,958 --> 00:49:40,750
and that's thousands
of generations--

1134
00:49:40,833 --> 00:49:45,000
"of those who love me
and keep my commandments."

1135
00:49:45,042 --> 00:49:47,875
First of all,
God is a jealous God.

1136
00:49:47,958 --> 00:49:50,958
Praise God he's jealous.

1137
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:55,583
Anytime I meet a couple and she
says he's committing adultery

1138
00:49:55,667 --> 00:49:58,708
and she says he's--you know
they're committing adultery.

1139
00:49:58,792 --> 00:50:00,208
"How do you feel about that?"

1140
00:50:00,292 --> 00:50:02,708
"You know, we're okay with it.
It doesn't bother us."

1141
00:50:02,792 --> 00:50:06,292
You don't love each other,
because love is exclusive.

1142
00:50:06,333 --> 00:50:08,167
Love is very exclusive.

1143
00:50:08,250 --> 00:50:11,583
God doesn't say, "Well, you can
have me and other gods and other

1144
00:50:11,667 --> 00:50:13,583
goddesses and other religions
and other spiritualities."

1145
00:50:13,667 --> 00:50:16,083
You know, because on CNN they
keep talking about tolerance

1146
00:50:16,167 --> 00:50:18,292
and diversity and we looked at
multiculturalism and pluralism,

1147
00:50:18,333 --> 00:50:19,792
you know, in community college

1148
00:50:19,833 --> 00:50:21,958
and it's just good to be open
to everything.

1149
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:25,500
God says, no, no, it's like
a marriage relationship.

1150
00:50:25,542 --> 00:50:27,667
God's like a groom.

1151
00:50:27,750 --> 00:50:34,208
His people are like a bride
and idolatry is adultery.

1152
00:50:34,292 --> 00:50:39,500
And God doesn't like when his
wife is out whoring around.

1153
00:50:39,583 --> 00:50:41,250
Some say, "I don't whore around.

1154
00:50:41,333 --> 00:50:44,125
I just do a little Buddhism."

1155
00:50:44,167 --> 00:50:47,167
It's whoring around.

1156
00:50:47,250 --> 00:50:49,667
It's whoring around, okay?

1157
00:50:49,708 --> 00:50:51,500
So you say, "Boy, that's
pretty emotional."

1158
00:50:51,542 --> 00:50:53,042
Welcome to love.

1159
00:50:53,125 --> 00:50:55,542
All right, if Grace brought
a boyfriend over for dinner,

1160
00:50:55,625 --> 00:50:57,083
it would be anything
but indifference

1161
00:50:57,167 --> 00:51:00,667
that would be experienced
in my home, all right?

1162
00:51:00,708 --> 00:51:02,667
Because love is exclusive,
and love is passionate,

1163
00:51:02,708 --> 00:51:05,208
and love is jealous,
and love is like a marriage.

1164
00:51:05,292 --> 00:51:07,167
And God is like a husband,

1165
00:51:07,208 --> 00:51:09,667
and his people are like a bride
that he loves.

1166
00:51:09,708 --> 00:51:11,875
Imagine, ladies, on
your wedding day,

1167
00:51:11,958 --> 00:51:18,750
walking down the aisle to your
fiance with your boyfriend,

1168
00:51:18,833 --> 00:51:20,375
okay?

1169
00:51:20,458 --> 00:51:23,750
If he didn't have any
emotional reaction,

1170
00:51:23,833 --> 00:51:27,042
he should never
be your husband.

1171
00:51:27,125 --> 00:51:29,000
He doesn't care.

1172
00:51:29,042 --> 00:51:32,167
God is a jealous God
like that.

1173
00:51:32,208 --> 00:51:36,167
Number two, there are
consequences for idolaters,

1174
00:51:36,250 --> 00:51:40,167
that God will visit the iniquity
of the fathers on the children

1175
00:51:40,208 --> 00:51:42,167
to the third
and fourth generation.

1176
00:51:42,250 --> 00:51:44,833
How many of you,
this makes sense?

1177
00:51:44,875 --> 00:51:47,500
We hear the analogy like
mother like daughter,

1178
00:51:47,583 --> 00:51:50,125
like father like son.

1179
00:51:50,167 --> 00:51:52,500
If you read this,
you say,

1180
00:51:52,542 --> 00:51:54,917
"Well, so the one generation
sinned and God punished

1181
00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:56,375
"three or four generations?

1182
00:51:56,458 --> 00:51:58,042
That's not just."

1183
00:51:58,125 --> 00:52:00,167
You're inferring that the third
and fourth generation

1184
00:52:00,208 --> 00:52:02,250
weren't just like their parents.

1185
00:52:02,333 --> 00:52:05,000
He says,
"All those who hate me."

1186
00:52:05,042 --> 00:52:07,250
He was taking about parents
who hate God

1187
00:52:07,333 --> 00:52:08,833
who raise kids who hate God,

1188
00:52:08,875 --> 00:52:10,667
who raise grandkids
who hate God

1189
00:52:10,708 --> 00:52:12,458
who raise great grandkids
who hate God,

1190
00:52:12,500 --> 00:52:14,542
and that's not
a life of flourishing.

1191
00:52:14,625 --> 00:52:16,625
That's not a life of freedom

1192
00:52:16,667 --> 00:52:19,417
because that's not
a life of faith.

1193
00:52:19,500 --> 00:52:21,042
It leads to death.

1194
00:52:21,125 --> 00:52:24,167
How many of you, this has
been the issue in your family,

1195
00:52:24,250 --> 00:52:28,042
the same stupid thing
for generations?

1196
00:52:28,125 --> 00:52:33,292
The same foolish, rebellion,
spirituality, idolatry,

1197
00:52:33,333 --> 00:52:37,000
addiction for generations.

1198
00:52:37,083 --> 00:52:39,667
That's the consequence.

1199
00:52:39,708 --> 00:52:41,333
Our kids become like us.

1200
00:52:41,375 --> 00:52:42,750
Our grandkids become like us.

1201
00:52:42,833 --> 00:52:44,500
Our great grandkids
become like us.

1202
00:52:44,583 --> 00:52:47,958
And for some of us growing old
is not a joyful occasion because

1203
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:51,833
we get to see our sin magnified
and amplified generationally

1204
00:52:51,917 --> 00:52:56,458
to our misery.

1205
00:52:56,500 --> 00:52:59,458
But here's the good news.

1206
00:53:02,375 --> 00:53:07,417
"But showing"--what?

1207
00:53:07,500 --> 00:53:12,083
Steadfast love, patient
love, gracious love,

1208
00:53:12,167 --> 00:53:17,958
a father's love
to thousands of generations.

1209
00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:19,958
Isn't it beautiful that
the punishment will go

1210
00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:21,333
three or four generations,

1211
00:53:21,417 --> 00:53:23,667
but the blessing
can go to a thousand?

1212
00:53:23,750 --> 00:53:27,750
It tells you that God is
really happy to pour out grace.

1213
00:53:27,833 --> 00:53:30,500
God is really happy
to change families.

1214
00:53:30,542 --> 00:53:33,625
God is really happy to have
people with your last name

1215
00:53:33,667 --> 00:53:38,667
be friends of his long
after you're gone.

1216
00:53:38,708 --> 00:53:41,250
Who--what's the key?

1217
00:53:41,333 --> 00:53:42,875
"Love me."

1218
00:53:42,958 --> 00:53:44,750
That's what commandment?

1219
00:53:44,833 --> 00:53:47,125
The first commandment.

1220
00:53:47,167 --> 00:53:51,250
"And keep my commandments,"
which is the second commandment,

1221
00:53:51,333 --> 00:53:55,167
worship God alone.

1222
00:53:55,250 --> 00:53:58,833
How many of you,
your parents, your grandparents,

1223
00:53:58,917 --> 00:54:02,458
they were godly and there has
been God's blessing and favor

1224
00:54:02,500 --> 00:54:04,542
on your family?

1225
00:54:04,625 --> 00:54:06,708
You're like,
"Yeah, they stayed married.

1226
00:54:06,792 --> 00:54:09,125
"They love each other.
It's not perfect.

1227
00:54:09,167 --> 00:54:14,083
I learned about Jesus.
We prayed together."

1228
00:54:14,167 --> 00:54:17,750
Continue that legacy
of faith, amen?

1229
00:54:17,833 --> 00:54:20,917
How many of you never had that
legacy of faith and you're like,

1230
00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:22,917
"I don't understand
the people who's like, 'Yeah,

1231
00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:24,917
"'my parents love Jesus,
my grandparents love Jesus

1232
00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:26,333
and I don't.'"

1233
00:54:26,375 --> 00:54:27,708
What?

1234
00:54:27,792 --> 00:54:29,917
You're living under all
the blessings of the people

1235
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:31,917
who love God
and God's grace to them

1236
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:33,667
and you have
no gratitude for it.

1237
00:54:33,708 --> 00:54:37,833
You have no sense
of commitment to it.

1238
00:54:37,917 --> 00:54:40,750
How many of you, you look at
your family history in line

1239
00:54:40,833 --> 00:54:43,042
and you say,
"A bunch of idolaters,

1240
00:54:43,125 --> 00:54:45,000
"a bunch of functional pagans

1241
00:54:45,083 --> 00:54:49,833
and a bunch of misery
and sadness"?

1242
00:54:49,875 --> 00:54:53,833
Here's the answer:

1243
00:54:53,917 --> 00:54:57,208
love God,
keep his commandments

1244
00:54:57,292 --> 00:55:00,208
because God wants to bless you,

1245
00:55:00,292 --> 00:55:03,042
and he wants to bless
your kids,

1246
00:55:03,125 --> 00:55:05,375
and he wants to
bless your grandkids,

1247
00:55:05,458 --> 00:55:07,333
and he wants to bless
your great grandkids.

1248
00:55:07,375 --> 00:55:09,500
For how many generations?

1249
00:55:09,542 --> 00:55:13,833
A thousand generations.

1250
00:55:13,917 --> 00:55:17,875
This is the Father heart of God.

1251
00:55:17,958 --> 00:55:22,833
He loves his children, and he
loves his children's children,

1252
00:55:22,917 --> 00:55:26,125
and he loves his children's
children's children.

1253
00:55:26,167 --> 00:55:28,167
Amen?

1254
00:55:28,250 --> 00:55:29,667
So all of this, Mars Hill,

1255
00:55:29,750 --> 00:55:32,292
all of this,
forgiveness of sin,

1256
00:55:32,333 --> 00:55:37,292
eternal life, freedom from
bondage, escape from slavery,

1257
00:55:37,333 --> 00:55:41,167
worship instead of idolatry,
it's ours.

1258
00:55:41,208 --> 00:55:42,667
It's yours.

1259
00:55:42,750 --> 00:55:44,167
It's your children's.

1260
00:55:44,250 --> 00:55:47,833
It's your children's children's
children's children

1261
00:55:47,917 --> 00:55:50,667
if you will belong
to the one true God,

1262
00:55:50,708 --> 00:55:54,625
the Lord Jesus Christ
and worship him.

1263
00:55:54,667 --> 00:55:56,625
So guess what
we're going to do now.

1264
00:55:56,667 --> 00:55:58,667
We're going to worship Jesus.

1265
00:55:58,750 --> 00:56:00,542
You're listening
to the word of God,

1266
00:56:00,625 --> 00:56:02,000
that's an act of worship.

1267
00:56:02,083 --> 00:56:03,708
Now responding to
the word of God

1268
00:56:03,792 --> 00:56:05,125
is an act of worship.

1269
00:56:05,167 --> 00:56:06,667
We'll collect our
tithes and offerings.

1270
00:56:06,708 --> 00:56:10,000
This is where we give, not
so that we can get from God,

1271
00:56:10,083 --> 00:56:13,333
but because God has already
given us himself as a gift.

1272
00:56:13,375 --> 00:56:16,375
We're not giving to manipulate
God like the pagans do because

1273
00:56:16,458 --> 00:56:20,208
God already does bless us
and he gives us his grace.

1274
00:56:20,292 --> 00:56:22,000
He gives us his love.

1275
00:56:22,042 --> 00:56:23,667
He gives us his mercy.

1276
00:56:23,708 --> 00:56:25,042
He gives us his Son.

1277
00:56:25,125 --> 00:56:27,792
Our giving is imaging, it's
reflecting, it's mirroring.

1278
00:56:27,833 --> 00:56:29,917
God loved me
and gave me himself.

1279
00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:34,208
I will give to worship him
to image and reflect him.

1280
00:56:34,292 --> 00:56:36,750
We're also going to partake
of Communion

1281
00:56:36,833 --> 00:56:38,833
and as we partake of Communion,

1282
00:56:38,875 --> 00:56:42,542
we're remembering,
we're remembering how we become

1283
00:56:42,625 --> 00:56:45,667
the children of God,
that God became a man,

1284
00:56:45,708 --> 00:56:48,333
that he lived without
sin, that he died for sin,

1285
00:56:48,375 --> 00:56:50,167
that he rose for salvation,

1286
00:56:50,208 --> 00:56:52,667
that the wine reminds
us of his shed blood,

1287
00:56:52,708 --> 00:56:55,667
that the bread reminds
us of his broken body.

1288
00:56:55,708 --> 00:56:59,500
And here's the--here's
the big idea, the pagan gods,

1289
00:56:59,542 --> 00:57:02,167
they demand that you
make a sacrifice.

1290
00:57:02,208 --> 00:57:06,542
The real God offers
himself as the sacrifice.

1291
00:57:06,625 --> 00:57:09,042
In addition,
we're going to sing.

1292
00:57:09,125 --> 00:57:11,333
We don't worship music.

1293
00:57:11,375 --> 00:57:13,833
We worship God through song.

1294
00:57:13,917 --> 00:57:16,000
And so as we sing together,

1295
00:57:16,042 --> 00:57:19,167
it's an act of corporate
collective worship

1296
00:57:19,208 --> 00:57:22,500
and it is us together
crying out to God as Father

1297
00:57:22,542 --> 00:57:27,333
and asking him to help us
to live lives of worship.

1298
00:57:27,417 --> 00:57:29,958
Because here's the problem, you
don't have an adultery problem,

1299
00:57:30,000 --> 00:57:31,458
you got a worship problem.

1300
00:57:31,500 --> 00:57:34,542
You don't have a greed problem,
you got a worship problem.

1301
00:57:34,625 --> 00:57:36,125
You don't have
a coveting problem,

1302
00:57:36,167 --> 00:57:37,542
you have a worship problem.

1303
00:57:37,625 --> 00:57:39,417
And if you would worship God,

1304
00:57:39,500 --> 00:57:42,667
then that would fix
all your other problems.

1305
00:57:42,750 --> 00:57:44,500
And God wants that
freedom for you,

1306
00:57:44,583 --> 00:57:46,792
and God wants that
freedom for your family,

1307
00:57:46,833 --> 00:57:49,958
and God wants that
freedom for your legacy.

1308
00:57:50,000 --> 00:57:53,167
And I would encourage you this
week, study the word of God.

1309
00:57:53,250 --> 00:57:56,000
Grab a study guide,
get in a Community Group,

1310
00:57:56,083 --> 00:57:58,542
walk with God's people.

1311
00:57:58,625 --> 00:58:00,333
I don't get any money for this.

1312
00:58:00,417 --> 00:58:02,208
All of it goes to the church.

1313
00:58:02,292 --> 00:58:04,667
We want to help
you be word based.

1314
00:58:04,708 --> 00:58:06,625
We want you to be
studying, reading,

1315
00:58:06,667 --> 00:58:08,875
discussing God's word
through the week

1316
00:58:08,958 --> 00:58:11,167
so we've got resources for you.

1317
00:58:11,250 --> 00:58:13,083
And as we're finishing
our offering

1318
00:58:13,167 --> 00:58:15,042
and you're preparing to worship,

1319
00:58:15,125 --> 00:58:19,000
I want you to see God's love
and his grace and his mercy

1320
00:58:19,083 --> 00:58:21,750
poured out on the family
of Mars Hill Portland.

1321
00:58:21,833 --> 00:58:23,167
Amen?

1322
00:58:23,208 --> 00:58:25,083
Here's a little
good news report.

1323
00:58:31,833 --> 00:58:34,208
Tim Smith here
from Mars Hill Church.

1324
00:58:34,292 --> 00:58:38,500
I first came to Mars Hill
in August of 1999.

1325
00:58:38,583 --> 00:58:40,333
That was almost 14 years ago.

1326
00:58:40,417 --> 00:58:41,792
At that point in time,

1327
00:58:41,833 --> 00:58:44,000
it was about 200 people
in a rented space,

1328
00:58:44,083 --> 00:58:46,917
and it has grown to be
an amazing movement since then.

1329
00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:49,542
I was the first
worship pastor at the church,

1330
00:58:49,625 --> 00:58:53,583
and I served for many years
in that kind of a position.

1331
00:58:53,667 --> 00:58:55,667
But about 2 1/2 years ago,

1332
00:58:55,750 --> 00:58:59,333
God started to give me a desire
to plant a church.

1333
00:58:59,375 --> 00:59:02,625
And it wasn't a general
desire to maybe plant a church

1334
00:59:02,667 --> 00:59:06,167
somewhere, it was always in
light of my specific hometown,

1335
00:59:06,208 --> 00:59:09,500
the great city of
Portland, Oregon.

1336
00:59:09,583 --> 00:59:12,125
We officially launched
Mars Hill Church Portland

1337
00:59:12,167 --> 00:59:14,667
in January of 2012.

1338
00:59:14,750 --> 00:59:17,167
God blessed us with
an amazing space,

1339
00:59:17,208 --> 00:59:20,875
and since that time
in that roughly 18 months,

1340
00:59:20,958 --> 00:59:23,417
we've seen God do
amazing things.

1341
00:59:23,500 --> 00:59:26,792
Average attendance has grown
from a very small core group

1342
00:59:26,833 --> 00:59:29,167
to over 700 weekly.

1343
00:59:29,208 --> 00:59:32,292
We've seen over
100 people baptized,

1344
00:59:32,333 --> 00:59:33,917
with many of them
becoming Christians.

1345
00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:38,500
We've also seen that over half
our adults have become members

1346
00:59:38,583 --> 00:59:42,208
and decided to make this
church their home church.

1347
00:59:42,292 --> 00:59:45,667
And over 70% of the adults
in our church

1348
00:59:45,750 --> 00:59:47,833
have connected to community.

1349
00:59:47,917 --> 00:59:49,625
In every way you look at it,

1350
00:59:49,667 --> 00:59:55,042
God is really building
a vibrant church family here.

1351
00:59:55,125 --> 00:59:58,083
We're really encouraged by
everything that God is doing,

1352
00:59:58,167 --> 00:59:59,875
but if we're honest,

1353
00:59:59,958 --> 01:00:02,042
the growth has been a bit
overwhelming for us.

1354
01:00:02,125 --> 01:00:06,875
We have simply not been able to
keep up with developing leaders

1355
01:00:06,958 --> 01:00:10,000
fast enough to be able
to care for our church

1356
01:00:10,083 --> 01:00:13,583
as it has just exploded, so we
could really use your prayer

1357
01:00:13,667 --> 01:00:15,167
in the coming season.

1358
01:00:15,250 --> 01:00:18,000
We want to be able
to love, serve, and care

1359
01:00:18,083 --> 01:00:22,083
for everyone that God draws to
be a part of our church family,

1360
01:00:22,167 --> 01:00:25,417
and to do that, we need a lot
more Community Group leaders,

1361
01:00:25,500 --> 01:00:27,458
we need a lot more
Community Group coaches

1362
01:00:27,500 --> 01:00:28,958
and head coaches,

1363
01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:31,000
we need a lot more
Redemption Group leaders,

1364
01:00:31,042 --> 01:00:32,708
and we need more pastors.

1365
01:00:32,792 --> 01:00:36,708
So, just continue to remember
us in prayer here in Portland.

1366
01:00:36,792 --> 01:00:38,333
Pray that God

1367
01:00:38,375 --> 01:00:40,833
will continue to draw people
here to hear about him,

1368
01:00:40,917 --> 01:00:42,833
have their lives
changed by Jesus.

1369
01:00:42,875 --> 01:00:45,833
Pray for more leaders
to care for our people.

1370
01:00:45,917 --> 01:00:51,333
And pray, ultimately, that more
and more people will be changed

1371
01:00:51,417 --> 01:00:55,500
by Jesus here at
Mars Hill Church Portland.

1372
01:01:01,458 --> 01:01:04,375
Each year, over 10 million
Mars Hill church sermons

1373
01:01:04,458 --> 01:01:07,500
are downloaded
worldwide for free.

1374
01:01:07,542 --> 01:01:10,083
This ministry is generously supported

1375
01:01:10,167 --> 01:01:12,708
by Mars Hill church members
and listeners like you.

1376
01:01:12,792 --> 01:01:16,292
If you'd like to support our efforts
to preach Jesus to the world,

1377
01:01:16,333 --> 01:01:19,292
Please consider making
a tax-deductible donation

1378
01:01:19,333 --> 01:01:22,167
by visiting marshill.com/give.