Shopping For A God

INTRODUCTION

SLIDE #1

• We are a very consumer oriented society. We shop for everything. There are so many items to choose from.

• If you want a car, there are hundreds of different types, styles and brands.

• Each day we do some kind of shopping and shopping means that we must make decisions. We decide what we are going to eat what we are going to wear among many other decisions that we make each day.

• There is another area in which we have a consumer mentality. We also choose who or what our god will be. We make that decision by the way we structure our life priorities.

• Everyone has a god that runs their life. Our god can be Jesus or it can be materialistic, substances or just good old self.

• In Exodus 20 and again in Deuteronomy 5, we have the giving and reading of the 10 commandments.

• The Israelites who had been in bondage for over 400 years to the Egyptians needed some parameters in which to live their lives. These people did not know how to govern themselves; they did not know how to conduct themselves without being told what to do. These people relied on the Egyptians for every thing that they had.

• In giving the 10 commandments, God was giving the people a sense of direction and purpose for their lives. Can you imagine what it would be like to drive on roads in which there were no laws?

• The first 4 of the 10 commandments deal with man’s relationship with God and the other 6 deal with our relationships with other people. SLIDE #2

• I want to focus in on the first of the 10 which is, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 5:7

• After coming out of Egypt, the Israelites were going to have to shop for a God to follow.

• God wanted the people to understand that He wanted them to put Him first in their lives. Many times we say that Jesus is first in our lives, but in practice we have many things that we put ahead of God. What ever is first in our lives is our god.

• Since God gives the command to have no other gods before Him, there must be other gods out there for us to choose from.

• In our country we cannot grasp the though of serving other gods, because we do not bow down to idols or go to temples to worship statues. We think that not having any god’s before the God of the bible means that we will not bow down to some statue, but the statement really means more than that.

• If we are going to be a wise shopper for our god, we will need to look at a couple things that will help us to invest ourselves in the right God.

SLIDE #3

SERMON

When you are going shopping for a god you should:

I. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SHOPPING FOR.

SLIDE #4

A. What is a god?

1. The dictionary gives the following definition of what a god is:

CLICK #4

• Any person or thing exalted as the chief good, or made an object of supreme devotion; anything that absorbs one’s attentions or aspirations; as money.

2. A god is something that we give ourselves over to, something that we dedicate our lives, hopes and dreams into.

3. A god can be many things, it can be The God of heaven, it can be money, power, prestige, or Buddha you name it. It can be a career, a person, your children, a god is what you put first in your life, what to strive for.

4. Your god is what you give yourself over to.

5. In the Deuteronomy passage, the first commandment tells us that The God of heaven must occupy first place in your life. Whatever you put first in your heart is your god.

6. God did not want lip service when it comes to putting Him first, He states emphatically that YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME!

SLIDE #5

B. Why you need a god.

CLICK #5

1. A god gives you security.

• For the Israelites, their god became the very people who enslaved them. The Egyptians took care of them, they fed and clothed them, and they gave them shelter. We know that this is true because when the people were leaving Egypt, they wanted to go back when times seemed a little tough.

• Just as they were to head into the Promised Land and the spies gave the bad report to the people, what was their response?

• READ NUMBERS 14:1-4

• A god is something that we fall back on during times of need. Our god gives us comfort. Have you noticed that when something bad happens, people most always say a prayer to God, or when a loved one dies, we always say that they are in a better place because they are with God? It does not matter to us that the person may have never given God the time of day during their life, but we still draw comfort and security from our gods.