Idol Quest: False gods and pretty idols

First Covenant Church of Willmar

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Idol Quest: False gods and pretty idols

March 6, 2022 • Pastor Chris Pappenfus • Exodus 20:3–6, Jeremiah 25:4–7

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Lent is a 40-day season of preparation before Resurrection Sunday during which Christ-followers are encouraged, through prayer and fasting, to acknowledge their sinfulness. Lent isn’t a time to try and impress God with acts of righteousness or be overcome with guilt and shame over our sinfulness. Lent is a season in which we humbly acknowledge that the LORD God is God alone, and we are God’s people.

Too often in Lent, we fixate on the symptoms of our “sin disease” without properly diagnosing the real problem. Author and pastor Kyle Idleman suggests that the heart of our rebellion against God is an insatiable appetite for false gods and crafted idols. We are an idolatrous people. Now, you may be thinking, “No way, I don’t have any little gold figurines that I bow down to pray to. I’m not an idolater.” But what if your idols are hiding in plain sight - so ingrained in your day-to-day life that you don’t even recognize them for the God-substitute they have become. Perhaps our adversary knows that Western Christians are too clever to intentionally worship a crafted image of gold or silver. So our idols must take the form of pleasure, power, love, even tradition.

This Sunday, we begin our series, Idol Quest. The purpose is not to find idols to worship, but instead - discover the idols that already exist - the ones that are hiding in plain sight. This quest will lead us into repentance as we humbly acknowledge our idolatry and faithfully replace the false gods of our culture with the True God, revealed in the Messiah - Jesus.

In preparation for this Sunday Read Exodus 20:3-6 and Jeremiah 25:4-7.
Today is Communion Sunday

The False god of Self - The Idol of "me"

April 10, 2022 • Pastor Chris Pappenfus • Jeremiah 2:11–19, Ezekiel 28:2

This Sunday, we begin Holy Week with the celebration of Jesus’ entrance into the city of Jerusalem. The scene of Jesus riding on a colt to the shouts of “Hosanna!” remains a vivid scene. According to Luke’s account of Jesus’ entry, our LORD wept over the great city of Jerusalem as he approached. What an interesting sight - while Jesus’ followers were shouting and singing His praises, Jesus moaned and sobbed. While Jesus’ followers perceived a new king coming into power, Jesus perceived a sham trial and cruel execution. While Jesus’ followers worshiped a messiah of their own expectations, Jesus understood His purpose was to do the will of His Father. Jesus is the Messiah that we need, not the Messiah we want. Let that sink in for a moment. This Sunday, we will consider one more final idol, the false god of self, or the “idol of me.” Ever since the Garden of Eden, human beings have bought into the lie that they are the center of the Universe. The original sin was the result of a temptation to be like God. This idol is perhaps the most difficult idol of all to uncover. Our entire sin nature is bent towards self-fulfillment, self-gratification, self-preservation, and self-sufficiency. As the One True God would declare through the prophet Jeremiah, “My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13). This passage takes on new meaning as Jesus entered a city whose heart had been turned against the One True God. The idol of "me" (that is hiding in plain sight), demands much of your worship, but there is nothing outside of yourself to replenish the cistern. So, while Jesus’ followers shout for joy, the Messiah weeps.

Idols of Tradition

April 3, 2022 • Pastor Chris Pappenfus • Genesis 31:22–35

Throughout the season of Lent, we have been considering the false gods and idols hiding in plain sight. These idols are in our lives and prevalent in our land. Our Heavenly Father loves His human creation and delights in giving us good gifts. However, in our sinfulness, we turn the gift into a false god, worshiping the gift and turning it into an idol of our own making. We then give our idols power over our lives, distorting our true identity as God’s children. This Sunday, we will be exploring idols of security. We want a higher power to cover us and protect us. We know that many things in our lives are simply outside of our ability to control, so we build a hard shell of protection, but it may be nothing more than a false sense of security. For many, we turn to money as our idol of choice. If I earn enough, save enough, invest wisely, my money will shield me from calamity. Money is a false god of security as well as a false god of power. Author and Pastor Kyle Idleman provides a compelling video on this subject. You can watch it through Rightnow Media at https://app.rightnowmedia.org/en/player/video/1278?session=8150. This Sunday, we will be focusing on another idol of security, the false gods of tradition. Tradition has merits and we see throughout the Old Testament God’s instruction through the prophets to uphold certain rituals and festivals. They are gifts from God meant to help God’s people re-order their lives around the One True God. But what happens when traditions become idols? To what extent are we carrying around idols of tradition handed down from previous generations? What if these gifts of tradition have become for us a false god, instilling in us a false sense of security? This Sunday, we will again return to the complicated family of Jacob in Genesis 31:22-35 as we explore the idols of tradition hiding in plain sight.

Idols of Love

March 27, 2022 • Pastor Chris Pappenfus • Genesis 29:16–35, Genesis 22:1–19

Unearthing the false gods and idols hiding in plain sight can be dangerous, just ask Indiana Jones! For the rest of us, unearthing the hidden idols in our lives can prove perilous to our old habits and comfortable religion. Already we have come face to face with some surprising false gods. Idols of pleasure can take on the form of sex, entertainment, and food. Idols of power can be seen in a relentless pursuit of success and desire to achieve. These idols are jealous for your time, talent, treasure, and testimony. The real problem with all of these false gods is that they battle against the One True God, who is also jealous for you. So, who will you worship? Like the Hebrews listening to Joshua as they settle into their new homes, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15). Idols in our lives and in our land all seem to stem from good gifts given to us by a loving Heavenly Father. However, we too often turn the gift into a god. This is perhaps most evident in the Idols of Love. We know that love is good. In fact, love is at the very center of God’s heart for us. We crave love. We are commanded to love God and love our neighbors. How can love be an idol? Well, never underestimate the depravity of our sinful nature. This week we will explore the idols of love which take the form of romance and family.