INTRODUCTION
OPENING VIDEO CLIP- THEN CLICK TO POWERPOINT
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, materialism, substances, or just good old self among many things.
• Many, as in our video clip like to order up their god to be what they want them to be.
• WE either choose a god or make a god.
• Look at Deuteronomy 5:7 with me.
• SLIDE #2
• “You shall have no other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 5:7 (ESV)
• After coming out of Egypt, the Israelites were going to have to shop for a God to follow.
• 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. These people relied on the Egyptians for every thing that they had.
• God wants everyone to understand that He wants us to put Him first in our 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.
• Each one of us has to decide what kind of god we are going to follow. We all will go shopping at some point in our lives.
• 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.
• This is an important part of the shopping process. Before we can shop for a god, we need to know what a god is.
• SLIDE #4
A. What is a god?
• The dictionary gives the following definition of what a god is:
• 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.
• A god is something that we give ourselves over to, something that we dedicate our lives, hopes and dreams into.
• 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.
• Your god is what you give yourself over to.
• 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.
• 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!
• Let us look at the next issue concerning our shopping trip. You need to know why you need something.
• SLIDE #5
B. Why you need a god.
• I want us to consider two reasons we need a God.
• SLIDE #6
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?
• SLIDE #7
• Numbers 14:1-4 (ESV) Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
• 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.
• Part of security deals with provision and salvation.
• I want you to think about some things that give people security. (money, spouse, power, prestige, material things)
• These things when we have them seem to give us some level of security. Life seems to be a bit better for us when we posses our God.
• The next thing a god gives us is a sense of purpose.
• SLIDE #8
2. Our god can give us a sense of purpose.
• Think about how entertainment, money, power, etc can give a person a sense of purpose for their lives.
• The purpose of our life sprigs forth from our god. If your god is money, you will spent all your time and energy trying to appease the god you serve.
• Jesus gives our life purpose. Our purpose is to serve Him and to fulfill the purpose that He created us for.
• SLIDE #9
• Paul states it very well in Philippians 1:21 (ESV) For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
• If we are here by some freak of nature, then we really have no purpose to life other than to consume and take, we are not obligated to give anything back.
When you are going shopping for a god you should:
• SLIDE #10
II. DO SOME COMPARATIVE SHOPPING.
• How do you go about choosing between a god and THE God?
• SLIDE #11
A. What do the different gods offer to you?
• There are a lot of different brands of god out there.
• What do they offer?
• Look at the major religions offer to you? What does Hinduism offer? Reincarnation? Islam? 70 virgins?
• What does the god of power and success offer to you?
• What does the god of self offer to you? Is it ultimately fulfilling?
• What does the God of the bible offer you? Eternal life! Peace! Comfort and strength! A relationship with Him forever!
• The God of the bible is the one who created the heavens and earth; He is the one who created YOU! He is the one who loves you and wants to give His all to you!
• What do you get for what you give AND can you trust the promises your god offers you? What do you base your trust on?
• SLIDE #12
B. What is the track record of the god?
• What has the god you are following done for you? Is it a cruel taskmaster, never satisfied, always driving you to get more and more?
• The god money does this, the god of materialism does this, and the god of self does this. The true God is not a cruel taskmaster, God wants you to live a joy filled satisfied life.
• Can your god give you the gift of eternal life?
• Does your god love you so much that he sent his son to die for you?
• Can your god answer your prayers?
• What has your god done for other people throughout history? We have a record of the true God’s activity throughout history.
• What good has you god done throughout history? What has your god done?
• What is the track record of Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism, and many of the other religions?
• Not only did God remind the people who He was, but He also reminded them what He had done for them.
• SLIDE #13
• Deuteronomy 5:6 (ESV) ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
• I choose to follow the God who brought me out of slavery, the God who brought me out of Egypt!
• SLIDE #14
C. Consider the long-range cost of following or not following the god.
• SLIDE #15
• In Luke 14:28 Jesus tells us that we should calculate the cost of following Him, unless we decide we cannot do it later and bring shame on Him and ourselves.
• When you are deciding what to make your god, you will sit down and try to decide what it will cost you to follow that god.
• Islam is growing so much because it does not cost a person much to follow that religion; you only have to do a few things to be right with god, people like something that is not going to cost them much.
• For you to receive the promised benefits from your god, what are you going to have to pay?
• A general rule for life is that something that does not cost you much will not do much for you.
• We do a cost payback analysis when we choose our god. If our chosen god is money, we think about all of the stuff we can get with that money, if it power, it is the same thing. Many times we choose ourselves to be god.
• Will your god require time or money?
• Jesus does not ask you to sacrifice you children in HIS name to killing innocent people.
• Do the other gods love you and have they sacrificed for you or do they just take?
• SLIDE #16
• The ultimate cost of choosing the wrong god is the fact that you will not have salvation. ACT 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
• There is only one true God, when you are calculating the cost of following your god, are you willing to pay the price of loosing the opportunity for salvation. WILL YOUR GOD GET YOU TO HEAVEN?
• The wrong choice WILL cost you your soul!
• SLIDE #17
• MAT 16:26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
• SLIDE #18
D. Make your purchase or (investment).
• In order for the God of heaven to be first in or lives, we must make an investment.
• SLIDE #19
• MAT 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
• SLIDE #20
• LUKE 12:34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where your investment is, there your heart will be also.
• If we are going to claim that Jesus is first in our lives, that we are not putting any other gods before Him, we must invest our time, talents, and money. Our focus must be on Jesus.
• Can we really say that our focus is on Jesus if we are not spending time in the word, if we are not spending time in prayer? When we are giving more attention and devotion to watching TV programs than we are to Jesus, who is really our god?
CONCLUSION
• We can give lip service and say that we do not put anything else ahead of God, but in practice what are we doing?
• It is true that most of us do not have little idols on the mantle that we bow down to, but we do have things that give our hearts to over God.
• Each day you have to choose whom you are going to serve. When you start shopping for a god, I hope that you are a good shopper who makes wise choices!
• As Joshua was nearing the end of his ministry, he reminded the people of the covenant that they had made with God, and this was his final plea to them. This plea still rings out to us today a few thousand years later. This is the challenge for us today.
• SLIDE #20
• Joshua 24:14-15 (ESV) “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
• It is my prayer that you will choose Jesus. Truly put Jesus first, that is what He wants.
