FREEDOM“You shall not

make for yourself an idol”

Exodus 20:4-6 John 8:31-36

SECOND COMMANDMENT

“You shall not make for yourself a idol 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 fathers 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.”

o

“Not me, guv!”

SECOND COMMANDMENT

“You shall not make for yourself a idol 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 fathers 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.”

Who made your God?

Did you?

Did God create you?

Did you create God?

or

“I don’t know …”

A DENTON VICAR

[Try Genesis 1:1]

"Exploring and promoting religiousfaith as a human creation ..."

“You shall not make for yourself …”

The appearance (eidolon) of God, but man-made

Who is this? >>>>

worship = worth-ship

“Worthy is …?…. to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!”

‘begotten, not made’

“ - having a form of religion but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5)

Choose your rut carefully - you’ll be in it for the next 50 miles.

Where is it heading … ?

“Everyone who sins is a slave to sin”

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”

←←← scribe

←←← pharisee

←← ABRAHAM

THE JEWS - who had believed in Jesus!

(or at least they said they did)

“Abraham is our father. We are Abraham’s descendants”

AbrahamThe God of AbrahamJewish

believersChristians

(Us!)↑ ↑

↑ Faith

↑ ↑ ↑ Faith

↑ ↑ ↑ Faith

The coupling is not biology or genealogy or religion or good deeds but ….

FAITH in THE GOD OF ABRAHAM - in His spoken and living word

“You are ready to kill me because you have no room for my

word!” JESUS

(Father, Son & Spirit)

“You belong to your father, the devil …”

Descendants of Abraham, but not children of Abraham ….

?

TEN

LAWS OF LOVE SET IN

STONE

J. John

£9.99 David C. Cook

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God …”

Where is your hope, security, trust, comfort and pleasure found?

Being British, being C of E, being nice, being nicer than the man next door, never doing anyone any harm, being respectable, knowing that God would never send anyone to hell, putting off any real commitment until tomorrow, surrounding myself with things that silence awkward questions, having a Christian Mum or Dad, going to church every Sunday (well, nearly every Sunday), reading my Bible (almost) every day, being generous to lots of charities, knowing lots of vicars, being a vicar, being religious (whatever that means) ….

Where is your hope, security, trust, comfort and pleasure found?

“I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

THE WRONG ANSWERS

THE RIGHT ANSWER

“I die by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave

himself for me.”

On our scale which we use to explain the seriousness of Elaine’s illness to the boys, where one hundred is death, we are at 98.

What will we do with the remaining time? What we have done throughout the nineteen months of Elaine’s illness!  We’ll seek to live in the strength God gives one day at a time.  We’ll enjoy the good moments; support one another through the dark moments; be thankful to God for all his many blessings, including loving family and friends; and keep our focus on Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. He is our hope and our healer.

We had a wonderful time the weekend before last celebrating Elaine’s birthday in Cardiff and I’ve posted a few pictures below.  Today we are off to see the Minion’s movie with a few friends.  Tomorrow we hope to be with our church family at Headley Park Church - singing praises to Jesus, listening to him speaking to us through his Word, re-tuning our hearts to his amazing grace.  If you’re free at 10.30am, we’d love to see you there.