Gods At War Part 1 | Our American Idols with Chris Schlotterbeck

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected

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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

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

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

Joshua 24:2–13

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.