New Grounds - 2nd Commandment - Prayer - Icebreaker: Who is your hero? / Why do we need a hero?

/ What do idols look like? Idol = anything that takes our focus away from God, e.g. robot dog is artificial and unreal, it can not give to you any more that you give to it, as it is a man made construction. What does God look like? Difficult as God is greater and beyond our imagination. Jesus is the image of God. Made God visible to the world. Jesus tunes us to a spiritual frequency with God. - Introduction: - 2nd Commandment (Exodus 20:4-6) reads 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, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. - It was common to worship many gods in order to get maximum blessing. But there is only one true God! Worshiping idols is a sin as it denotes unfaithfulness. Our God is jealous as he loves us so much he does not want a rival for our love. In fact He finds it heartbreaking when we choose to worship man made objects like clothes and money more than Him, as he after all created us and we are His children. If we don't follow him we will lose out on freedom / forgiveness / friendship and ultimately His plan for us. - Stop and think - definition of 'worship' - praising and praying to God / giving something worth by means of time / energy / devotion / admiration. We give worth to many things (Money, fame, work, hobbies, identity). - Outside influence - what pressures are on us? - The world / Society / Media - money is everything, it buys happiness and satisfaction - brand culture - cars, clothes etc. It defines success / failure. Reality = 'Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's' (money is of the world). - Superstition - Give examples. Acknowledging other powers other than God. Reality = Ignorance, futility. - Choice culture - encourages selfish attitude. We can pick and choose everything from our possessions to what principles we live by. - Real question: Who is at the centre of our heart? Is it God? Where do we spend out time?

- Why are idols needed? - People try and fill voids (emotional/spiritual?) but it is only God who can lead to completeness in these areas (in the Spirit). - BIBLES OUT! - In each passage what does God say? (Group Work) - Exodus 32:4-9 - Need for an idol? They wanted to shape God to their liking. But God can't work in us if we don't accept Him (i.e. his true nature - invisible but always present, everywhere, beyond space and time etc.) - all comes down to FAITH fundamentally but LOVE (of God) is the most important. - Jeremiah 10:1-16 - What is the reality of an idol? What in comparison can God do? Worthless substitute. Idols can never have the power and love-giving nature of God. - John 11:45-53 - Pride of pharisees (v. 48) to murder Jesus as his words have the power to turn their 'business' to ruin! How worldly power can be so easily undermined with a change in people's way of thinking (how we give so much value to money). - Acts 17:16-31 - Who is God? People were too 'religious' and did not know the real God (our Father, our saviour, our redeemer). Ultimately God is in control. - Explanations: - Colossians 3:5-17 - We should be dead to those things, and cut off these things before they destroy us. We must consciously and regularly remove anything that supports and feeds these desires. We must learn from God's Word and try to live in the Spirit (view objects and people with Jesus's eyes and not the world's) - 1 John 5:18-21 - An idol is anything that substitutes the truth. It is a command to not worship them, and there are severe consequences for doing so (v.9 emphasises that idolising worldy things is evil - feeding the enemy) - SO... - In spare moments where does your mind drift to? - Do we put prioritise other things rather than our creator? - Do we have an inadequate idea of who God is / His almighty power (do we 'limit' Him)? - Are we content with letting God have total control of our life? (Discuss the above) - Any questions? - Closing prayer - Help us to worship the one true God wherever we are and whenever we can (all the time preferably!) - to view things with careful spiritual discernment - to understand how awesome God really is - to put our FULL trust in

Him so He may be in full control of our lives - to know and help us to love others as Jesus did and love God with all our heart and mind - to totally remove our selfishness. Amen. ************************************************************************************* New Ground is a bible study for people aged 18-25 which is part of Lighthouse Internation Christian Church, which is a predominantly Asian church. www.lighthouseicc.org.uk