Introduction

Good morning, my brothers and sisters! We're diving into the heart of a story today that's as relevant now as it was thousands of years ago. It's about identity, about who we truly are and the danger of pretending to be something we're not. The Christian author Brennan Manning once said, "We unwittingly project onto God our own attitudes and feelings toward ourselves... But we cannot assume that He feels about us the way we feel about ourselves—unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely."

Opening Scripture Reading

Let's reflect on that as we read from Exodus 32:1-6: "When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry."

Opening Prayer

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