Gods at War: gods of love

Gods at War: gods of love

Genesis 29

Pastor Miles

September 26, 2014

Limerence. Psychologist Dorothy Tennov coined the term limerence in the 1970s. It refers to the phenomenon of falling madly, passionately in love, including what happens chemically in the body. Have you ever been "lovesick"?

Limerence describes a powerful emotional attachment that comes over a person who is powerfully attracted to some other person.

- Kyle Idleman. Gods At War.

1. Romantic love can confusing.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬ NIV)

Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel." (‭Genesis‬ ‭29‬:‭16-18‬ NIV)

So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. (‭Genesis‬ ‭29‬:‭20‬ NIV)

- romantic love can be intoxicating

So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her.

...

When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?" (‭Genesis‬ ‭29‬:‭22-23, 25‬ NIV)

2. When we look to someone other can God to complete us and define our identity, it's idolatry.

Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon. Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi. (‭Genesis‬ ‭29‬:‭32-34‬ NIV)

With each son she has, Leah thinks maybe now her husband will love her. Maybe now he will be attached to her. But with each child she is left disappointed. For years Leah puts her hope in romantic love, but she continues to feel the pain of rejection and loneliness.

- Kyle Idleman. Gods At War.

3. The idols in your heart are defeated, not by removing them, but by replacing them.

She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the Lord." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children. (‭Genesis‬ ‭29‬:‭35‬ NIV)

"This time I will praise the Lord." Leah is taking her husband off the throne of her heart and giving God his seat. This time she puts her hope not in her husband, but in the Lord. How many times has the god of love left you brokenhearted? Maybe this time you should praise the Lord.

- Kyle Idleman. Gods At War.

Only God can complete us through Jesus Christ. It is Him that we have our identify.

We are His child. 

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. (‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭13‬ NIV)

Lionel

God's at War: Choose This Day

God's at War: Choose This Day
Joshua 24:1-15
Pastor Miles
September 14, 2014

We make choices every day and we are defined by the choices we make.
Our choices determine the direction of our lives.
Our decisions determine our destiny.

Joshua 24
1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

2 Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.

5 " 'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. 6 When I brought your people out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. 7 But they cried to the LORD for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the wilderness for a long time.

8 " 'I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. 9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.

11 " 'Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. 13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.'

14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."


I. Why do we have to make a choice?
...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... (‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭15‬ NIV)

Everyone worships something. Worshipping nothing is not an option.
Who or what will you worship?
What we sacrifice for is what we worship.
We make our choices, and our choices will make us. It will determine our destiny and define our lives.

II. What are our choices?
A. Gods of our fathers and mothers.
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates... (‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭15‬ NIV)

Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. (‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭2‬ NIV)

B. Gods of our past.
"Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. (‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭14‬ NIV)

Where has our heart lived in the past? Those places where we once visited may still have a piece of our heart. Have we kept some "souvenirs" that should have been discarded long ago?

C. Gods of our culture.
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, ... or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭15‬ NIV)

Is the world around us squeezing us into its mold? Or are we transforming the world around us?

D. God Himself.
...But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭15‬ NIV)

III. Why does God make us choose?
God is a jealous God.

"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, (‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭4-5‬ NIV)

Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. (‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭19‬ NIV)

Just as God does not condone marital adultery, He certainly does not allow spiritual adultery.

What are the choices that we are making today?
Choose this day whom you will serve.

God's at War. Exodus 20:1-5

God's at War. Exodus 20:1-5
Pastor Miles
September 7, 2014

And God spoke all these words: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, (‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭1-5‬ NIV)

1. What is idolatry?
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. (‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭2-3‬ NIV)

The root of sin is idolatry.

Worship is "worth"-ship.

Idolatry steals or distracts us from God.

2. What is an idol?
"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭4‬ NIV)

Anything that we substitute for God. That makes us serve it rather than God Himself.

3. How do you make an idol?
"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, (‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭4-5‬ NIV)

When our desire for it becomes greater than our desire for God. We can turn a good thing into a god-thing. Where do we look for or turn to for security (salvation), satisfaction (comfort), and significance (worth)?

4. How do you identify an idol in your life?
Idolatry is the root of all sins: idolatry is the root and sin is the fruit (symptom or manifestation).