Idol Hands, Devil's Workshop

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Idol Hands, Devil's Workshop

July 14, 2024 • Dr. James Merritt • Exodus 32

The people of Israel had been treating God like a heavenly bellhop expecting Him to be at their every beck and call and give them everything they wanted when they wanted it. When Moses had lingered on that mountaintop meeting with God, they decide they would just take matters into their own hands. They would make a god more to their liking. The truth is, we all have “idol hands” that tend to either make the God we worship the God we want or make the god that we want the god that we worship. We’re going to learn today that if you are for God, you won’t put anything before God. You may not think that you have an idolatry problem. You may not even understand why we even have to discuss this issue, but when we see how we do choose false idols and what happens when we do, my prayer is it will cause all of us to give our total loyalty, complete love, and full life to the only true God there is.

Knowing God

July 21, 2024 • Dr. James Merritt • Exodus 33

The God we have been talking about throughout this entire series knows you better than anyone or anything. Just like He knew Moses, and He knew the Israelites, He knows you too. But the question of the day is this, “Do you know God?” Now the question is not, “Do you know about God?” The question is not even, “Do you believe in God?” The question I am asking is, “Do you know God personally?” Then I would follow up that question with this one, “How well do you know God?” I can answer that question for all of us. You know God as well as you want to. As we wrap up this series with today’s message, we are going to take a look at how we can come to know God deeply and personally.

Mountain Top Meetings

July 7, 2024 • Dr. James Merritt • Exodus 19

In this message, we are going to study the story of when God had a word for His people and wanted to meet with them. But before the people met with God, God wanted to meet with Moses. Every meeting was a mountaintop meeting and though you might get the idea from the movies that Moses only went up the mountain one time, he actually went up seven times. God wanted to show both Moses and the people that there is no bigger deal in life than meeting with God. What’s also great about this story is that we learn that the same God who met with Moses wants to meet with you. The same God that spoke to Moses wants to speak to you. We can learn from this mountaintop meeting how we can meet with the God of this universe every day, and not only do we not have to make an appointment or wait in line, but when we meet with Him, He will give us His undivided attention.

When Push Comes to Shove

June 30, 2024 • Dr. James Merritt • Exodus 18:13–27

We have been studying a man by the name of Moses in a series we are calling, “Red Sea Moments.” This great man of God was facing a Red Sea moment when he came to his own level of stress. He is leading two million of his people through wilderness and desert and they are burning up at times at the way he is doing it, and he is burning out trying. In the 18th chapter of Exodus, Moses had a moment and a meeting that didn’t just change his life, but it literally saved his life and helped him complete his tasks. It is not only very practical, but it is very spiritual. If you feel overworked and overwhelmed, now’s the time to admit it, because you will never be the father, the mother, the husband, the wife, the employee, or even the Christian that you should be as long as you stay there. Moses took three simple steps that kept him from burning out that you can take as well.