Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected
or to give online, please go to hcv .church slash
connect or hcv .church slash give. If any point
during this message you feel called to make a
change in your life, text change me to 97000.
Now enjoy the message. In the middle of summer,
it's nice and warm. I've had to top off the Jeep
for the last four days. It doesn't get any better.
If you're joining us from home, thank you for
welcoming us into your space. So let me let everyone
know the DR Missions team has made it safely
home. They pulled in about 2 .30 or 3 this morning.
I have no idea what happened. What miraculous
things took place. But we will learn in the coming
weeks. And we'll have pictures and testimonies.
And we'll have a time for all of them to share.
But I know that God did do amazing things. I
also want to add that our series this month is
based off a book. And we're going to be launching
nine summer growth groups. Starting this week.
You can meet those that are leading the groups
at the Welcome Hub. I would love to encourage
you to do that. Just to kind of get. your feet
wet for four to five, six weeks. Learn what a
growth group's like. If you've never been in
one, it's just a short time to get in, meet people,
and also to grow in your relationship with Jesus.
So I would like to begin our talk this morning
by reading a familiar list of the rules for life.
And what I'd like for you to do as I read this
list, reflect on which of the 10 is the most
difficult for you to put into practice. Number
one, you must not have any other God but me.
Number two, you must not make for yourself an
idol of any kind or an image of any things in
the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. Number
three, you must not misuse the name of the Lord
your God. Number four, remember to observe the
Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Number five,
honor your father and your mother. Number six,
you must not murder. Number seven, you must not
commit adultery. Eight, you must not steal. Nine,
you must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
And number 10, you must not covet your neighbor's
house. You must not covet your neighbor's wife
or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.
So how'd you do? See, we must remember these
10 commandments are still here for our benefit
today. They teach us about our relationship with
God and with others. The first four commandments
show us how deeply God loves us and desires to
have a relationship with us. The other commandments
show us how our relationships with others can
honor God when we live a life that is pleasing
to Him. I mean, I firmly believe that if the
world put into practice the Ten Commandments,
our world would be a better place. See, God knew
that we would eventually see a perfect example
of these rules put into practice through the
life of his son, Jesus. And now, because of Jesus,
our hope doesn't have to be in keeping the rules.
Our hope is in him who perfected and completed
them. If, however, the... Ten Commandments are
a checklist for us. Isn't it true that we tend
to rest easy or even skip past number two when
it mentions idols? At least we don't have to
worry about that one. After all, we don't worship
idols in our modern day civilization. Or do we?
See, idol worship is a topic rarely talked about
in church. As I was thinking about it this week,
the last time that you probably heard me share
about an idol was when I talked about money and
how money can become our idol. But when we mention
the word idolatry, it doesn't seem to have that
relevant of an issue for us today. Because there's
not many people worshiping images of stone or
wood. When we read idolatry, we think primitive
culture. Not in our modern day civilization do
we struggle with this. This morning we're kicking
off a new series for the month of July called
Gods at War. And for most of us, we will quickly
learn that idolatry is actually the issue. It's
not a issue, it's the issue. It's the one thing
that is keeping us from living an abundant life
that God desires that we walk in every single
day. See, we have these gods at war within us,
and they battle for who is number one in our
heart. Os Guinness writes it this way, idolatry
is the most discussed problem in the Bible, and
it's one of the most powerful spiritual and intellectual
concepts in a believer's arsenal. Yet, for Christians
today, it's one of the least meaningful notions.
After all, there's more than a thousand references
to idolatry in the Bible. But in our modern day
technology, in our modern day civilization, we
tend to skip over those verses thinking, well,
they don't apply to us. However, there are many
ways in which idolatry affects who we are. It
affects our personalities. It determines whether
or not we are living a joyful life. But one of
the... biggest areas that has the greatest impact
on us is in our struggle with sin see as a pastor
as you might guess I oftentimes talk with people
about their struggles with sin and of course
I struggle with my own sin And here's the temptation.
The temptation is to see someone's life, is to
see their struggles and their sin. And we listen
and we say, well, you shouldn't be doing that.
Let me give you some steps to stop sinning. Because
rarely do I talk to anyone who wants to be that
person who is living actively in sin. They want
to change. They want to be a better person. They
get frustrated over the fact that they're stuck
in sin. They don't want to do it. So why do we
do it? Well, see, that question leads us to our
first thought. Idolatry is at the root of every
sin. Exodus 24 through 5. You must not make for
yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything
in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.
You must not bow down to them or worship them.
For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God who
will not tolerate your affection of any other
gods. See, behind every sin in our life is a
false God that is winning the war of our heart.
Sin is just the fruit. But understand that the
tree from which the fruit grows is always idolatry.
For example, a man caught cheating on his income
taxes. He faces criminal charges. Ironically,
he doesn't even need the money. He doesn't understand
why he made the choice. He doesn't need the money.
Why am I doing this? Why would I sin in this
way? It's because of idolatry. He worships money.
He worships status. He worships possessions.
He needs more, more, more. And he might not say
that, but his actions speak louder than his words.
See, we become what we worship. It's all about
idolatry. And until we understand that this is
a God that is winning a war in my life, in our
life, we're going to continue to struggle with
sin issues one way or the other. And we'll go
a month and do really good and then on Sunday
we'll get convicted and we'll be up front weeping
and crying and then we'll be good for six weeks
and then we'll fall. And it's just this awkward
lifestyle that doesn't produce fruit. Addiction
to pornography, alcohol, drugs. The issue is
not the sexual sin or the alcohol or the drugs.
They're the fruit of the sin. The root issue
is who's the God of my life? Will I worship God
or worship sex, a physical feeling? Will I worship
the creator or will I worship alcohol? Will I
pursue abundance and live an abundant life or
will I worship the high? That's the choice. I
want this more than I want that. And until we
understand that that's idolatry, we're going
to continue to struggle in our sin. Until we
replace the false God of workaholism that is
rampant in the United States, we're going to
continue to work ourselves to death because we're
not focused on the true God. We will not have
victory in those areas of our life. John Piper
defines an idol as anything that we come to rely
on for some blessing or help or guidance in the
place of a wholehearted reliance on the true
and living God. It's not a wooden image. It's
not a golden calf. Our idols today are often
that which most capture our heart's affection
instead of God. And often our affections are
aimed at good things. Good things that God blesses
us with, our jobs, our marriages, our friendships,
our hobbies, wanting to make a difference in
this world, right? It's okay to love those things,
to enjoy those things, but we get off track when
our love for those things is higher than our
love for God. 1 John 5, 21. Dear children, keep
away from anything that might take God's place
in your heart. Idolatry was the issue in Joshua
chapter 24, our text that we'll be focusing on
this morning. And let me just give you a little
of a background story, what is happening in this
chapter. Joshua at this point is 110 years old.
He's an old man. He's lived a pretty full life,
an adventurous life. He was with Moses when they
freed the people out of Egypt. He walked through
the Red Sea. He picked up manna from heaven and
he ate it. He watched the walls of Jericho fall
as the general of the nation of Israel. And he
led victory after victory after victory in countless
battles, seeing God's hand in every one. He stands
in front of the nation of Israel, calls them
together to what he assumes is his final address
to them. And he says this, Joshua 24, 14 through
15. So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly.
Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshipped
when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and
in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse
to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you
will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors
served beyond the Euphrates, or will it be the
gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live?
But as for me and my family, we will serve the
Lord. Very familiar section of the Bible. Some
of you hang it on the outside of your house or
in your living room. But Joshua is basically
giving them four choices. You can worship the
gods of your fathers. You can worship the gods
of the Egyptians where you've been in slavery
for a hundred years. You can worship the gods
of those whose land you are now living or option
number four, you can worship the one true God.
Which leads us to our next thought. You see,
humanity was created to worship. Again, Joshua
24. So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly.
Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshipped.
And all throughout those words, you see worshipped,
worshipped, worshipped. We are all worshippers.
And as we talk about idolatry, this is a foundational
truth that we have to understand. Worship something.
Right? Joshua, he didn't give the people a fifth
option. He doesn't say, well, your other choice
is don't worship anything at all. Right? That's
not an option. We are all worshipers. God hardwired
into our DNA that we are to worship him, the
one true God and creator of heaven and earth.
But if you can look throughout every civilization
and culture in the history of mankind, and you're
always going to find worshipers. We could visit
the deepest jungles of Africa, and you find a
tribe that has never been exposed to an outside
civilization or influence, and what are you going
to find? They are worshiping a god or many gods.
We could fly to London or New York City. We could
hang out with the world's elite, and we would
find that they worship a god. Now it might be
a God of intellect or success or money or power,
but they worship. Now some of you are thinking,
well Chris, I'm not a Christian. I don't believe
in a God, so I'm not a worshiper. To that I say,
yes you are, you just worship yourself. Everybody
worships a God of some kind. Some of you choose
not to worship God, then by default. You're going
to worship what Tim Keller calls a God substitute.
You will put in your life some substitute for
God and that is what you will worship. And that's
what will control us. And that's what will rule
over our hearts. That's what will have power
over us. And that's why people get stuck in addiction.
Philosopher Peter Kreeft explains it this way.
The opposite of theism or the opposite of belief
and faith in God is not atheism. It is There
are only two choices. You either worship God
or you worship a false god. You worship an idol.
And please understand, a false god doesn't have
to be something wrong or evil. Quite often, we
think false god, we think witchcraft, right?
We think blood, we think evil. No. God's good
gifts can become idols in our life. Joshua highlights
that for all of us. We are all worshipers. And
it's not just in the Old Testament, right? It's
not just Joshua here. Listen to Romans 1 .25.
They traded the truth about God for a lie. So
they worshiped and served the things God created
instead of the creator himself, who is worthy
of eternal praise. Amen. That leads us to our
third thought. God leaves us with a choice. All
of us have to make a choice. Joshua 24 .15. Serve
the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the
Lord, then choose today whom you will serve.
Joshua gives them choices. And I want you to
think through this for yourself. He says, you
know your choices. You can worship the gods of
the culture. Here's what society values. Here's
what society teaches. Just do it. Just go for
it. That's one choice for your worship. The second
choice, he says, you can worship the gods of
your fathers. And see, that's what many of us
do, and we don't even know we're doing it. We
worship the gods, the idols that our parents
have handed down, passed down to us. That's why
we worship work, success, power, because our
dad worshiped work, success, and power. We worship
sports because our dad worshiped sports. We worshiped
Alcohol because our mom or dad was an alcoholic.
We worship what other people think about us because
our mom or our dad or our grandmother worshiped
what other people thought about her. We worshiped
our kids because our mom worshiped us when we
were a kid and we were spoiled rotten. How about
this one? We worship spiritual rules, religious
rules and traditions. which can definitely be
a false god because our parents worshipped religious
rules and traditions. So that's what many of
us choose to do. We just accept those idols that
have been handed down through us through generations,
and God is challenging us to change, to break
those negative generational curses. Galatians
4, 8 through 9. Before you Gentiles knew God,
you were slaves to so -called gods that do not
even exist. So now that you know God, or should
I say now that God knows you, why do you want
to go back again and become slaves once more
to the weak and useless spiritual principles
of this world? So what I want to do this morning
is I want to spend a few minutes together identifying
what are some gods at war within us. Because
most of us, we don't do a good job of diagnosing
where we struggle. Typically in the American
church, we smile, we wear a mask. I love Jesus.
Praise God. He is good. And we just move on with
life. But I want us to identify some gods that
are warring within us, wanting to consume our
hearts and our lives. So I'm going to ask you
some very simple questions. And these questions
can reveal some things that will surprise you.
But it doesn't necessarily mean you've made them
idols, but these gods certainly have the potential
in your life to become an idol. So these questions
come from Dr. David Paulson's work on the motivations
of human behavior. Now remember, these questions,
they ponder thought. They make us reflect on
where our heart is, where we're headed, what
we're struggling with. The first one is this.
Where is your time and money spent? Where is
your time and money spent? Now in our text, in
Joshua 24, the word serve is used seven times
in two verses. In Joshua's day, the word serve
carried with it the idea of sacrifice. Sacrificing
time, sacrificing money. And for them, it was
farm products and animals to sacrifice. For us,
that we don't make sacrifices anymore, my question
to you is, what's your schedule and calendar
look like? Are you so busy that you don't have
time for God? Are you so busy you don't have
time for a growth group? Are you so busy you
don't have time to be encouraged? What does your
bank account look like? What's that say about
what we worship? Because quite often our bank
account is very revealing. Where do you spend
your money? I mean, that's why we consider our
offering that we take up every Sunday here at
HTV an act of worship. An act of worship. As
we pass... The buckets as you put money in the
boxes. We do it at the end of worship because
I believe that's the most tangible worship that
we have in this gathering. God, I have this money.
You've given it to me. You've blessed me with
it. I want to spend it on a lot of things, but
I'm choosing to give it back to you first. It's
the most tangible action you can give back to
God. And some of you are struggling right now
with giving and you blame the church. All they
want is my money. When in reality, God just wants
you to put him first. Which leads us to question
two. What do you worry about? Or to say it another
way, what are you most afraid of? Psychologist
Alfred Adler says, if you want to understand
what someone is living for, don't ask them because
people don't give you the straight answer because
oftentimes they don't even know what they're
living for. He said, if you want to know what
someone is living for, ask them, what is your
greatest nightmare? So what's your greatest nightmare?
What are you afraid of? Because it's what you're
afraid of that has the potential to become a
God in your life. What is it that if you lose
it, life would not continue to hold meaning for
you? Maybe it's your job. Maybe it's a house.
Maybe it's that you're afraid of not being successful.
Maybe you have a fear of not being liked by others.
You try to impress others. Maybe you're overwhelmed
with anxiety because of the inflation and rising
food prices. After all, we're Americans and comfort
and security is a God. Or your political party
didn't win, so you're pointing fingers and arguing
over their wrong and their right and their wrong,
when in reality, God's in control anyway. Some
of you are afraid of just being alone. So you're
looking for the relationship, or you're putting
all this pressure on your spouse. Our fears reveal
what can become a God in our life. Number three,
where do you turn when you're hurting? Where
do you go when you really need comfort? You had
a long day at work. You were stressed. You were
overwhelmed. You get home and immediately you
run to the refrigerator because you need some
comfort food. It works. For some of you, you
turn on the TV. You binge watch Netflix to make
you feel better about life. When you get into
a fight with your spouse and you feel rejected
and you're angry and you're upset, what do you
do? Do you immediately seek? Do you immediately
restore the relationship or do you run for your
computer and dive into the porn that gives you
comfort? Or let's say you lose your job and you're
devastated. Where do you go? Do you run to a
person? That's not a bad thing, but God wants
you to go to him first. Henry Blackaby defines
an idol this way, anything you turn to for help
when God told you to turn to him for help. Number
four, what makes you angry? What makes you angry?
I'm a very competitive person that some of you
know. Years ago, I used to play church softball.
And about 10 years ago, I did a Sunday morning
talk and threw away my cleats and haven't played
since. And it wasn't that I couldn't play. I
could still play now. I've been asked to play
every year since. And I always say no because
it made me sin. I wanted to win. I don't like
to lose. And it became this thing where winning
was so important. It wasn't necessarily that
we would win. It was just that other people took
winning too far, and then I would want to really
show it. But anyway, the point is, if something
makes you angry, it could be a God in your life.
Another thing that makes me upset is when I get
disrespected. When someone disrespects me, Watch
out. Why? Because when I get disrespected, I
feel like they're not just disrespecting me,
but they're disrespecting God. But still, that's
my issue. Right? But if it makes you angry, you
have to ask yourself, has it become a false God?
Number five. This is a good one. What do you
complain about? If I were to ask your spouse,
your kids, your parents, whomever you choose,
What does so -and -so complain about? Whatever
answer they give back and tell us about a God
that is a war within you. What are you passionate
about? Is it football? Is it golf? Is it restoring
a car? Is it decorating? Is it gardening? Is
it your work? Is it music? Is it movies? Is it
physical appearance and exercise? All these things
have the potential. To become for us a God. And
God is jealous because of all the passion and
the time and the energy and the effort that we're
given to other things. Number seven, what brings
you the most joy? Many things that God gives
us are good gifts and he wants us to experience
joy through those gifts. But when these gifts
cause us to find more joy in them than him, then
that's a competition. And there shouldn't be
a competition between his gifts that he's given
us and our relationship with him. Where do you
find the most joy? Look at your phone. Look at
your screensaver. Maybe it's a vacation destination.
Maybe it's your house. Maybe it's your car. Maybe
it's your family. Maybe it's your kids. They're
all good things. When they become a God thing,
it's idolatry. And our last question, whose approval
do you long for? Is it your boss telling you
that the company wouldn't be the same without
you? Is it your spouse saying you're the best
husband, you're the best wife that I've ever
could have met? Is it your dad, you're living
for your dad to say I'm proud of you, I love
you? Are you living for your mom to say, son,
daughter, you're doing a great job with your
kids? You know, as I went through this set of
questions, I had an answer for every single one.
They're convicting. And it's really easy for
us to allow some false God to win the war in
our heart and to have a position of prominence
over the one true God. And what is it for you?
What is God, what is the Holy Spirit whispering
to you today that, no, this is warring, this
is warring? And Joshua, he identifies these gods
and here's what he does next. He basically, he
throws down a challenge and he says to the people,
choose this day. Choose. You get to choose. And
that's what I hope will happen for all of us.
I hope we all make a choice this month, over
the next six months, to change, to work on, to
experience freedom that God is identifying to
get rid of those gods. More powerful than the
one true God. Francis Schaeffer talks about how
many followers of Jesus think about their choice
for God as a choice that was made past tense.
In other words, I chose God on this date. That's
where I was saved. I chose God at kid's camp.
I chose God when I was baptized. I chose God
when I walked forward, when I raised my hand,
when I said a prayer. We think about a time that
we chose God, but Schaeffer points out that the
word choose that Joshua uses here in this text
It's not a one and done choice. It's a continuous
action. It's an ongoing choosing that is to take
place for us every single day. It's as if Joshua
is saying to the people, as for me and my family,
we choose the Lord. We are choosing the Lord
every single day. And we have to understand as
followers of Jesus, it's not the choice that
was made on the day of salvation. But it's an
ongoing choice where every day there's a battle
waging in our heart for who is number one. And
God desires that we put him first. And if you
read throughout the Bible, you will discover
how God feels about idolatry. See, there's this
surprising emotion that is an attribute of God
when it comes to this subject of idolatry. And
the Bible tells us that he is jealous. Again,
Exodus 20. You shall not make for yourself an
idol in the form of anything. You shall not bow
down to them or worship them. For I, the Lord
your God, am what? I am a jealous God. See, God
doesn't want to share. He won't share you any
more than your spouse would be okay if you went
to him or her and said, you know, I think I'm
going to start dating other people, but you're
always going to be first. Tell me how that works
out for you. True love doesn't share. And God
desires that we make a choice for him, which
leads us to our action steps. Choosing God every
single day. Three simple steps that we can put
into practice that puts God first in our lives.
Number one, appreciate what God has done in your
life. Appreciate what God has done. In Joshua
24, verses 2 through 13, you can read it for
yourself. Joshua is reminding the people, God
has done this for you. He has done that for you.
God is doing this for you. He has done that for
you. And when we remember what God has done for
us, it puts him back where? He puts him back
in the number one position of our life. He puts
him first in our life. I mean, that's why we
gather here on Sundays at HCV. We come together
to celebrate who God is and what he has done
for us. How he's freed us from the power of sin.
How he's filled us with the Holy Spirit. How
he's given us the promise of salvation. That's
what we do. He becomes what is most important.
We live out Psalm 107. Let them praise the Lord
for his great love and for the wonderful things
he has done for them. Let them offer sacrifices
of thanksgiving and sing joyfully. About their
glorious acts. I sent out my weekly email. I
got a response last week from a gentleman that
wanted to meet and share and learn how to get
more involved in HCV. I said, sure, I'll meet
you for lunch. Sat down with him. He said, yeah,
I've been coming to HCV for about a year now.
And told me his story and his background. But
then he went on to say, yeah, about. A month
into me starting to come to the church, you were
on the stage, and you mentioned about getting
prayer. You offered prayer at the end of one
of your gatherings, and I just took a step of
faith. I had this bad sciatica. I couldn't even
stand during worship. I was constantly sitting.
I couldn't walk right. I had a cane. But yet
when you said, if you need prayer, put your hand
up, I did. I took a step of faith. bearded guy
that I have no idea who he is, came and put his
hand on my shoulder. He began to pray for me.
And as he prayed, suddenly the pain started to
go away. And as the week progressed, by the middle
of the week, I had no sciatic pain whatsoever.
It was completely healed. I said, I said, it
would be good to share that with people. He goes,
oh, I've been sharing it with all my friends
and family since I started coming. I said, okay,
well, it's okay to share it with me too so that
I know these things are happening because that's
a testimony of healing in faith. So if you're
like Jim, would you please let me know that you're
experiencing some kind of healing and freedom
here at HDV, please? So that I can share these
testimonies and raise people's faith for more
healings to come because that's what we want
to see, right? We want to see the signs, the
wonders, the miracles, the kingdom invade the
tri -state area. That happens when people hear
the stories of God. Ephesians 5. Don't be drunk
with wine because that will ruin your life. Instead,
be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves.
Make music to the Lord in your hearts and give
thanks for everything to God the Father in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be grateful for
what God is doing in your life, leading us to
our next step. Recognize who God is. Joshua continues
in verses 19 through 22. Then Joshua warned the
people, you are not able to serve the Lord, for
he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive
your rebellion and your sins. If you abandon
the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against
you and destroy you, even though he has been
so good to you. But the people answered, Joshua,
no, we will serve the Lord. You are witness to
your own decision, Joshua said. You have chosen
to serve the Lord. Yes, they replied, we are
witnesses to what we have said. See, when we
recognize who God is and all he's done, then
he becomes number one in our worship. He becomes
first. One definition of worship is, worship
is our response to God for who he is and what
he has done for us. When we gather together,
we should desire to want to just all out abandon,
want to get closer to God. When we sing, when
we share testimonies, when we're challenged to
change, it's a choice to allow God to move in
our hearts. Some of you are worried about Sherry
or Tom sitting beside you and you can't put your
hands up and you can't receive and you can't
kneel and you can't weep and you put on this
mask and God is saying, get rid of it. I'm greater
than all of those. Which leads us to our final
step. We destroy all other gods. Again, Joshua
says, all right then, destroy the idols among
you and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God
of Israel. The people said to Joshua, we will
serve the Lord our God. We will obey him alone.
And it's funny because they say that, but we
know as we continue through the Old Testament,
they don't get rid of the idols. They don't deal
with it in time and time and time again. It's
get rid of it, bring them back, get rid of it,
bring them back. They hide them, they put them
away, and then they get them out when they're
frustrated and they're tired. And Joshua is telling
them, no, just turn your lives completely over
to God. Trust him. Trust him with all your heart,
then he will remove those idols, whatever idol
is that you're struggling with, whatever sin.
Remember the sin, what is the sin? The sin is
the fruit. that points to the root, which is
a idol. Deal with the idol, then you get rid
of the what? Sin. And that's what God is inviting
us to do this morning. And we're going to do
that by sharing in a time of communion. So if
you need an element, you didn't get an element,
stay seated. Put your hand up so we can get you
one, because there's probably a lot of you. All
right, team, go. Get the elements out. Thank
you. Jess, can you grab some? They're probably
right out there in the thing. Here they come.
Here they come. There we go. All right. Now,
some of you are thinking, well, Chris, what's
communion have to deal with dealing with idols?
Well, as a community of faith at HTV, we share
communion corporately. That means as a group
once a month, every first. Sunday of the month.
And we do this because Jesus told us to do it.
Jesus said to share in communion and to do it
regularly because we are pointing ourselves and
our minds and our hearts back to him. Back to
what he did for us. Back to how he desires to
set us free. So please understand, this isn't
just something we do at church. Some of us grew
up in environments and in churches where, oh,
it's just something you do. No, this isn't something
we do. This is an opportunity to meet the living
God and have your life radically changed. Because
the bread, the broken bread is a reminder of
Jesus' action, his broken body on the cross.
The juice reminds us of his shed blood that frees
us from the power of idols and sin and allows
us to walk in freedom. So this morning, I don't
want you to focus on the sin. What do I want
you to focus on? I want you to focus on a God
or an idol that you have discovered through those
questions that is controlling part of you. Success,
money, fame, whatever it is. And you say, well,
Chris, how do I deal with it? You lay it down
at the feet of Jesus. Just like Rhett sang in
that new song, if we can just get to his feet,
that's enough. Last time I checked. The woman
with the issue of blood, what does she do? She
touched his garment. And for some of you, you
have the opportunity to be overwhelmed and filled
with the power of the Spirit in a way that sets
you free from your addictions, your idols that
you've been struggling with for years. And today
could be your day. So will you stand with me?
Before I move forward and share in the communion,
I'm going to pray a simple prayer right here,
right now. If you're not in a relationship with
Jesus, I believe that people come into our gatherings
every single Sunday that are not in a relationship
with Jesus. I get it. But today is your day.
And if you feel like you're not ready yet, put
the elements down. That's my only issue. Put
it down. Don't partake in it. Because if you
partake in it and you don't believe, basically
you're saying, yeah, whatever, God. And I don't
want anybody to do that. We partake in communion
and we believe it's holy and we believe that
the Holy Spirit is blessing it and overwhelming
us. So I'm going to give you an opportunity to
enter into a relationship with Jesus right now.
We're all going to pray it together. I'm not
going to have you come up here, raise your hand
or anything. You know your heart. Let's pray.
Jesus, I'm broken. I'm full of doubt. Shame,
regret, sin. Change me. I believe you're God's
son. I believe you died for me. Make me new.
Set me free. Fill me with your spirit. Help me,
God, to serve others. In Jesus' name, amen. So
if you prayed that prayer for the first time,
text me, hug me, tell me. At some point, so that
I can give you some good next steps on how to
follow up. But for the rest of us, if you're
struggling, if you have a heart issue, where
something is before God, lay it down at his feet
right here. Because I believe God wants to free
you of it. On the night that he was betrayed,
Jesus took bread. He broke it. He gave it to
his disciples and said, take, eat. This is my
body, which is broken for you. Holy Spirit, free
us today as we partake in this wafer in Jesus'
name. Amen. Let's eat. Likewise, after supper,
he took the cup of wine. He said, this is my
blood, which is shed for you and for many for
the forgiveness of sins. Drink it often. And
when you do, do it. In remembrance of me, Holy
Spirit, cover us with your peace, your comfort,
and free us to live in abundance. Church, let's
drink. God, I am thankful for what you're going
to do and what you continue to do through our
community of faith. Permission us, God. Charge
us, God, to live on mission, to see others set
free. to come into a loving, growing relationship
with you. In Jesus' name, amen.