Pastor Brad DeLong - One Lord

i invite you to turn with me the book of deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4. i hope this is recognizable to most if not all of you and if it's not by the end of the day i hope that it will impact and change your life this passage known as the shema which simply means hear when someone pauses and they're talking they say here hear this especially when it's god it's very important and it was extremely important to the original hearers and to us verse 4 hear oh israel the lord our god the lord is one the lord is one the lord is one you'll love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength these words

which i command you today they're so important that they shall be in your heart teach them diligently to your children talk to them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down when you rise up you get the picture talk about them continually buying them as a sign on your hand they'll should be as frontlets between your eyes write them on the doorposts of your house write them on the gates so you can't walk into your house without seeing it so it shall be when the lord your god brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers to abraham isaac jacob to give you large and beautiful cities which you didn't

build and houses full of all good things which you didn't fill and hewn out wells which you didn't dig in vineyards and olive trees which you didn't play when god gives you everything he's promised to you things that you probably don't deserve when you're eating and you're full then beware unless you forget the lord who brought you out of the land of egypt from the house of bondage shall fear the lord your god and serve him shall take oaths in his name don't go after other gods the gods are the people who are around you for the lord your god is a jealous god among you bless the anger the lord your god be aroused against you and destroy

you from the face of the earth lord was obviously very clear in this message to the people of israel and by extension to us today and that message was simply this the lord is one love them with all your heart strength and mind and soul and there should be no others that you serve as we walk a little further in this this journey of revival and reconsecration i want to preach to you today from this passage in this title one lord the lord is going to do some hard work today if we allow him i want us to pray to that end and just tell him lord whatever you need to do in me whatever i got to do to live up to this great command i want to do

it would you lift your voices with me calling his name and sincerely not because i asked it because you're willing god your word your word is going to help us today every last one of us who are willing to listen to it and receive it i pray lord that you'd help me i am not exempt from the need of your word and from the need for revival so this morning i invite your word to cut where it needs to cut lord to pierce where it needs to pierce to challenge correct reprove instruct whatever your word needs to do in me today i invite it holy and i need it in the name of jesus i pray amen you may be seated two weeks ago i noted what paul told

timothy in second timothy chapter 3 and verse 16 that all scripture is given by inspiration of god and that it's profitable among many many things it's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness and particularly the shaman deuteronomy 6 is profitable for all of us as we look to the word of god for the truth and for right doctrine and right teachings it has such a great depth of meaning for both those original hearers and for us today and there's one truth within it that seems to stand out very clearly among the rest i stated it outright this last sunday and i will say it again on this sunday that

we believe in the message of deuteronomy 6 and 4 and that the lord our god the lord is one everyone say what so one of the foundational truths of the bible it's important that we take the time to grasp this this morning this affects how we view god it affects how we worship him it affects how we relate to him it even affects the name that we call on in worship and in communication with him that name we just sang about it is more than just another nuance of scripture or some trivial matter but to those original hearers especially as they came out of egypt in this polytheistic society with many gods and many divinities this was the focal

point of their covenant their worship their lifestyle and it's ours as well today like them we believe that there is one lord and that we should love and with all of our heart all of our soul and all of our strength we believe with deuteronomy 4 and says that the lord himself is god there is no other beside him and we believe the word of the lord that he spoke for himself in deuteronomy 32 he said i even i am he this is the god you were just singing to and worship in a moment i even i am he and there is no god besides me i kill and i make alive i wound and i heal nor is there any who can deliver out of my hand isaiah 43 pronounces the

same powerful truth in verse 10. you're my witnesses says the lord and my servant whom i have chosen that you may know and believe me and understand that i am he before me there was no god formed nor shall there be after me i even i am the lord and beside me there is no savior i have declared and i've saved i've proclaimed and there was no foreign god among you therefore you are my witnesses says the lord i am god indeed before the day was i am he and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand i work in who shall reverse it there's just something powerful inherently powerful about the proclamation of the word of god and this one

god message and truth there is only one lord in this book church and he speaks to us himself today and he speaks to us in isaiah 44 very clearly he says i am the first and the last beside me there is no god and who can proclaim as i do let him declare it and set it in order for me not an admirable position since i appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming and shall come let them show these to them do not fear nor be afraid have i not told you from that time in declaring you're my witnesses is there a god besides me indeed there is no other rock i know not one this is the god that we're serving today he's the only god

he's not one of three persons he is not a pseudo god he's not one who's limited in his scope and power he is god with a capital g and he's lord with a capital l meaning that he is the self-existent an eternal one who was called yahweh in the old testament revealed himself as i am to moses in the burning bush but thank god the revelation didn't stop there but paul said this that the same god was manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit seen by angels preached among the gentiles believed on in the world received up into glory who is he john chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was

god verse 14 and that word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory is of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth that a man named jesus with a name that means yahweh is salvation he came and died for us and this jesus is none other than god himself for in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily and you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power i hope this never gets old to as people of god that the great i am came and he died on our behalf and revealed himself in the man and in the name of jesus the one who willingly died on the cross for our sins that god himself

died on our behalf this is part of the power of the oneness of god that he didn't send someone else he didn't send some lesser being or lesser god to die for us he came himself first timothy two and five for there's one god and one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus who gave himself a ransom for all jesus to be testified in due time it says this is the god we serve the one who came himself on our behalf the one who died for our sins including the sins of every person in this room today not a single one of us is exempt from the grace and the mercy of god whether you've been in church your whole life and you've fallen out

or whether you're coming for the first time that grace is still offered because god himself died on the cross this isn't just an old testament teaching or something that pertain only to the original hearers of the shema but this one lord message and its implication still reaches into this new testament a new covenant era and in doing so it still shapes our view of god his sacrifice his place in our life how we worship him it's more than just another scripture that we quote it's more than just another talking point in conversation or debate it is fundamental to who we are it's fundamental to how we worship and it was so fundamental of

the people of israel they were told to talk about it every chance they got teach it to your children verse six and these these words as i command you today they'll be in your heart they're so important teach them diligently to your children talk about them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down when you rise up that's a lot bind them as a sign on your hand front lifts between your eyes write them on doorposts write them on your gates so you have live laugh love in your house you put deuteronomy 6 4 or the whole shema this scriptural principle was so critical to the covenant the worship the lifestyle and

the holiness of the people of god that was to be a regular discussion in their homes and amongst their families in fact i've i've seen those small boxes they're called mezuzas among other things that they put the the shema inside of it many of them will tie it somewhere they'll tie it to their own body as a reminder that the lord is one it's such an important reminder that they keep it before them regularly and they teach it to their children in fact i was thinking of this was last week mila and i were reading our bibles on the couch and ryan was reading on the other couch and i had mine and mila decided it was time to read her so she

got a little picture bible she doesn't know how to read obviously so she was just going through it and picking out all the characters well there's joseph and there's david david she calls him david and golia the pickle i'll tell you about that again later i already told you i would but she gets to the back half of that abbreviated new testament she starts to see pictures of a man who had crowds all around him and he had he was holding children and he was performing the miraculous and he was healing blinded eyes it was pretty obvious who he was but i decided to ask her anyway i said mila now now who is that i expected her to say the name

that many of you are thinking about right now instead kind of a matter-of-fact way she she said well that's god wow i beamed with fatherly pride and i took the momentum i said you're right jesus is god that's jesus and that's the name that you when you need to get a hold of god mila you just call on his name you just begin to worship him you just speak the name of jesus we're teaching her this foundational truth and it's one of the first verses she learned to memorize deuteronomy 6 and 4 why because it will shape her entire life to know that there is one lord and apart from him there simply is no other that she doesn't have to call on

multiple persons but there is one lord one faith one baptism one god and father of all who's above all and through all and in you all there's one name she ought to worship and it's a beautiful name and it's a powerful name and it's a wonderful name it's the name you're worshiping right oh why don't we pause and praise that name of jesus we worship the one and only god we worship you jesus we magnify that name of jesus we celebrate one god and the implications of this truth are astounding this morning they're they're further reaching them maybe we realize they go even beyond just our confession and our celebration of one lord and we do

celebrate it and we believe in this one god message and truth but i also need to add this morning that it is not enough to just know the truth of one god but instead beyond that we are also compelled from the shema and from the word of god as a whole to live by that truth and to worship accordingly you see it is one thing to say and acknowledge that there is one lord of our lives but it is another thing entirely to worship him in him only and this really really is the crux of the matter this morning it's one of the key points that the lord and the writer of deuteronomy was proclaiming in the in the shaman other places and you just have

to excuse me really we're just going to dive into the word and dig in a little bit this morning so i'm going to ask you to pay attention because this is so critical and important i don't want us to be a church that declares one lord but doesn't worship him only i want us to be a people individuals in a church that believes in one lord and worships him only this shema some have argued that it was articulated solely as god's individual nature only that that he's the one and only lord that's the only thing it's communicating and others have said it was primarily a prohibition against other gods it wasn't that they were just saying one it

was a prohibition against others the idolatry and israel and it was helping them to to not engage in that but dr norris and other apostolic commentators who have studied this extensively they argue in the writings that they believe it represents both i quote dr norris the shema requires two things that we truly embrace that yahweh alone is to be our god and that we fully live a life of worship in response to this truth and that worship of him requires our whole heart mind soul and strength that simply acknowledging his lordship and his oneness is not enough but our life our decisions and our worship ought to reflect that he is the one

and only lord of our eyes james says it this way you believe there's one god you do well even the demons believe and tremble but do you want to know a foolish man that faith that works is dead was not abraham our father justified by works when he offered isaac his son on the altar do you see that faith was working together with his works and by works faith was made perfect and the scripture was fulfilled which says abraham believed god it was accounted to him for righteousness he was called the friend of god you see then that a man is justified by worse and not by faith only if i could paraphrase in our context today you believe there's

one god awesome great you should now go live like it now act on that belief you believe there's one lord and one god and i worship him and only him accordingly now worship him like you believe he is the only lord of your life and as i mentioned this admonition of the shaman would have been pointed and poignant to the hearers of that day they had just come out of a culture in egypt they had a god of the day whatever they needed it was a god or divinity for that they would pick their god that they need to worship for that day so so the lord knowing full well their backdrop as well as the propensity of mankind including you and i to worship

idols and replace his lordship for others he tells them and he tells us this morning emphatically hear o israel hear o people of god the lord our god the lord is one and you should love him only with all your heart soul and strength again knowing theirs and our frames and our tendency towards idolatry something that i wish was only in the old testament but reaches far beyond the old testament knowing our frame he compels us and them to hear and to heed that you ought to have one lord and one lord only and then he repeats himself in the new testament first of all the commandments he says in mark 12 hear o israel the lord our god the lord

is one you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength this is the first commandment repeats himself in the new testament and in the face of ongoing idolatry for our benefit and for the benefit of the new testament audience he calls for us to acknowledge that he alone is lord that we're to worship him only you see idolatry the worship of false gods the the act in which homage or honor is paid to false divinities or to things which have been made as objects of worship in his stead idolatry it did not die on the pages of the old testament pages that are riddled with false

worship and prohibitions against it but even throughout the new testament and especially into our day this one god message and the worship of him only is still necessary and still needed in the face of other options and other idols and i need you to stay with me this morning because we've got to get a hold of this it's why we have admonitions like the one john gives to us in first john 5 and 20. he writes this to a new testament audience you and i he says we know that the son of god has come given us an understanding that we may know him who is true and we are in him who is true and his son jesus christ this is the true god in eternal

life and on the heels of that revelation he says oh by the way little children keep yourselves from idols amen he alone is the one and true eternal god because of that and with that in mind keep yourself from idols and worshipping things instead paul says similar sentiment in first corinthians eight and four he says therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols we know an idol is nothing in the world that there's no other god but one for even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven on earth as there are many gods and many lords yet for us there is one god the father of whom are all things and and we we're for him we

were made for him and one lord jesus christ through whom are all things and and through whom we live so idolatry and the worship of anything or anyone other than the one lord it did not cease with the closing of the old testament era and even with the gods of canaan but paul seeing that idolatry in its many forms was alive and well in the new testament gives us a warning and then gives us another one in colossians 3 if then you were raised with christ seek those things which are above where christ is sitting at the right hand of god set your mind church of god on things above not on things of this earth for for you died and your life

is hidden with christ in god when christ who is our life appeared then you also will appear with him in glory therefore put to death your members which are on the earth fornication uncleanliness passion evil desire encourages which is idolatry see we often relegate idols and idolatry to carved images objects of stone and metal but i am afraid this morning that it reaches much further than that instead both a common definition and even the greek definition of idolatry reflect the worship of someone or something other than the one lord as though it were the one lord and that light idolatry is simply affection devotion admiration and sacrifice

given to something or someone in place of the one lord of the bible of deuteronomy chapter six it is loving something else at the same level or even greater than you would love or give devotion to him d.l moody said you don't have to go to heathen lands to find false gods america's full of them whatever you love more than god he says is your personal idol it's part of the reason why a song by jimmy needham surfaced several years ago it hits so close to home to many of us this is the writer's definition of idolatry anything i put before my god is an idol anything i want with all my heart is an idol anything i can't stop thinking of is

an idol that one hit home anything i give all my love is an idol the song and definition struck such a chord because idolatry is still alive and well even in the 21st century and this morning i simply hear the call of god to his church and to his people once again today to hear o israel hear o people of god hero apostolic pentecostal church the lord our god the lord is one and you shall love him with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength because it may just be that like the people of israel something or someone has been the object of our worship of late in the place of or even on par with our one lord and one god

that whether consciously or subconsciously it may be that we have replaced him on the throne or we place someone else next to him in the spirit of revival that we have felt of latest calling attention again to idols and reminding us again of our identity and our oneness doctrine we believe that there is one god and we will worship him only we will make no room for idols in our lives we will make no room for idolatry in our homes we make no room for the worship of any other here at apc and in this church family we believe there's one god and we will worship him accordingly we will not replace him or serve any other beside him we will

not exchange him for anything temporal or trivial we will not share our affection for him with any other but we will be oneness in both our doctrine and in our lifestyle of worship which is what we've always confessed and strived to be knowing this that the bible describes the lord as a jealous god who will not share his worship and throne with any other isaiah 42 and 8 i am the lord that's my name and my glory i will not give to another nor am i praised carved images or idols god has never been content to allow his people to worship any other which is why i feel him calling us all to personal reflection this morning and then to repentance

and revival today i believe we're being called to reconsecration and commitment to this oneness truth and worship which is so fundamental to who we are as a people and as a church it's always been that way here at apc long before i was ever around we were oneness and truth doctrine worship lifestyle long before we were ever here in this building this is who we've been in fact it was a couple years ago i went back to where many of our journeys in this truth started we went and visited the old building at 13th and gravois holds such a special place in my heart and i know many of you as well it's the place i was baptized in jesus name it's

a place where i first heard the oneness of god and the truth of his word so mariah and i went there one day and many of you know it was turned into an antique shop an antiquity shop from things from the far east and things from asia they would sell those there we got into the basement area the foyer area where you walk in and we started walking up those those steps there we got to the vestibule area where all the ushers used to congregate in the nursery spot right over there and my heart just about stopped standing right in front of me where the old nursery used to be it was a six foot tall statue an idol of a hindu goddess my heart

i got to looking at that and i thought that just doesn't belong here this isn't a place for that that shouldn't be here this is a place where only one god is worshipped his name is jesus this is a place where that idol shouldn't be neither should any idols there's only one this is a holy place a consecrated place that shouldn't be here as i thought and i contemplated over that something rose in my spirit that is taken aback as i was as disturbed as i was i truly wish i could say that that was the only time that an idol a false god an object of worship and devotion was brought into the church and in the house of worship and displayed

prominently i wish i could say today that i don't have to preach this and that no idols exist in any church and in this holy place i wish i could say that was the first and last time that an idol ever crossed the threshold of the church and ever found its way into a holy place in temple reserve from god not just this holy place but these these temples but that notion would not correspond with the word of god and its warnings in the direction i'm feeling this morning because the truth is whether knowingly or unknowingly we all have the propensity and the capacity to worship others and carry them with us we can and we got that if we're

not worshiping him we are worshiping someone or something and the hope is that we'll discard them at an altar and get rid of them but that isn't always the case so we often carry our objects of affection with them and we give them room in our lives that should only be reserved for him scoot over god i got to put this here next to you on your throne we make room for idols it may not be made of stone and wood but they are just as distracting and they are just as destructive and they are just as detrimental to our walk with god and we can fall into the same chapter the people of israel did despite the warning of deuteronomy 6 and 12 he

said beware lest you forget the lord who brought you here fear the lord your god serve him only don't go after other gods the gods are the people who are around you we hear the same truth and call to worship one lord but we can forget and forego it in pursuit of other affections and other idols this morning i know that i run the risk of stepping on more toes than i already have but i need to get specific about the things that often usurp his place on the throne these idols that we tend to carry around and throw in the mix along with him and again it may not be that we consciously say lord i don't want to worship you anymore we don't

consciously replace him that would be rebellion but maybe we just make room and we tell him to scoot aside and say i'm going to put this on par with you i'm going to worship this for a little while and then i'll get back to you on sunday there are things that we carry in our hearts and our spirits even in our pockets that often meet the very definition of an idol and it may not be an idol in and of itself i don't find myself bowing in worship to it but i find myself gravitate to it and devoted to it as well as the idols that's introduced in my god forbid i leave this at home i thought this morning oh i wish i would get as upset when

i forget to read my bible in the morning as i do when i leave my phone at home in the morning where is it where is it i gotta find it it's underneath the blanket over here where it do i have that response when i don't read in the morning ah despair i haven't read i haven't talked to him we don't often like specifics but we need them you know 150 times on average we pick this up a day average screen time in general in the u.s is over seven hours a day seven hours and this constitutes more than four of those companies like chick-fil-a literally have to bribe families with ice cream to get them to put this in a box and sit and talk to each

other for 30 minutes at dinner and then with that being the case i think we have an issue and an idol and again i don't bow to this device and phone literally but i sure am worshiping something for four plus hours a day i'm preaching to myself right now one of many examples and my prayer of late has been this my god convict me if i can spend hours on apps but i cannot spend mere moments in your presence stir me to repentance in revival if i can spend endless time watching entertainment but i don't have the capacity for a 40-minute sermon and study of your word wake me up if i can watch something for seven hours a day but i can't spend

17 minutes in prayer realign my heart to worship you if every night of the week i devote it to myself in things that i want to do and i chalk up busyness when i can't do kingdom things and god forbid that i would come to worship you on a sunday in a wednesday only to go home to worship everything else this morning i'm talking about one lord worshiping him and him only today i recognize i don't have a six foot tall hindu statue standing here but really if there is anything that i would put on par with him or on the throne with him it is just as much of an idol as what i saw that day in our old church building if there's anything i would

replace him with it's an idol if there's anything i would do in lieu of spending time with him it it might just be and i know if there's anything i would continually consistently do in place of being in his house worshiping him studying his word it may just be an idol paul said in philippians 3 that they live as enemies of christ the cross of christ their destiny is destruction their god what they worship is their stomach or their appetite and their glory is in their shame their mind is set on earthly things but our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there the lord lord jesus christ so if i have more of an appetite

for that hobby career ambition relationship that form of entertainment that sports team that object of my desire if i have more of an appetite for those than i have for him that thing has become my idol and that appetite has become my god even things that are amoral not even immoral things that have captured my attention my devotion my affection they can become idols by replacing him on the throne of my life robbing him of my time and my worship paul discussing idols he said all things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful all things are lawful for me but not all things edify not all things help others not all things help

me even things that are lawful and permissible can turn into things that are unlawful and idols that if it encroaches on my time with him and my worship of him it very well could be a stumbling block to me and to others jeremiah talks about this in chapter 2 and verse 11. he asked this struck me has a nation or people ever change its gods yet they're not gods at all he said but my people have exchanged their glorious god for worthless idols the lord asked in isaiah talking about the other gods in the land he said with whom will you compare me or count me equal to whom were you liking me that we may be compared who or what would you be

willing to put on par with me who would be deserving of my devotion and shared prayer who who is it that you'd be willing to worship in place of me the almighty god and one lord and the answer we all know it it's nothing it's it's knowing there's no one worthy like he's where there's no one in nothing who deserves our praise and our time and our sacrifice like he does no idol that deserves any room in my life from the throne of my life there's no other god and lord that's worthy like our lord and everything else is worthless in light of his glory and in light of his greatness nothing is worth in exchange for my worship of him and him

only i recognize that we know this but it truly is another thing entirely to live it every single day musicians you can come we realize it we recognize one lord but that one lord has to have control over every area of our lives if he's to be one lord he's either lord or he's not he's either on the throne or he's not i don't see god wanting to straddle the throne and say i'll stay on there sundays and wednesdays and some other days and you replace me other days this hit me hard a couple years ago i was in a time of growth and development and lord was working on me still is for the sake of clarity and accountability i'll share with you

like many in the room this morning i started sensing feeling a need for change in my life and in my worship and i invite you i implore you right now if you're feeling the lord bring things to your heart and mind and saying give me that and give me please don't shut that down and don't turn that off i know it will be painful in many respects but it will be worth it i can tell you from experience services like these the lord would bring one particular affection an idol to my mind something i never thought was an idol it's often the things we never thought would be idols that the lord brings to our attention they're blind spots we don't

see them many of us would never purposefully carry one around or worship it but we do looking back now i recognize i devoted too much time to it i i desired it i had an appetite for that often surpassed my appetite for him i felt like it was amoral it was it was lawful it was permissible but it was not helpful which is why i felt the lord call me to give it up in light of my relationship with him and my worship of him and i really wish i could tell you that i did that immediately and then i went on with my life but unfortunately it took multiple conversations services moments of conviction for that to happen and again when i look back

at what i was willing to exchange for my time with him and my devotion to him it was worthless it had no value but my god became my appetite and i attempted to make room on the throne of my life for an idol that could never offer me anything in the slightest and for something that will wither and fade in the end and right now i feel the holy ghost dealing with individuals and families about things that you've allowed in your hearts and your lives and in these temples dedicated to the lord they've been bought with a price and my admonition to you today is seek revival get rid of things that have stolen your affection your time your worship

from the only one who is truly worthy of it all and for all of us i felt a word this week for apc that it's time to clean the house it's on par with god if it's stealing and robbing my time with him get rid of it get rid of the groves restore the earth and temple seek renewal don't just declare one lord but worship one lord staying together this morning i recognize this moment many of you have had many like it i feel the holy presence of god calling us to consecration i know we think that revival looks like us running and jumping screaming and shouting in many ways it might but i think what we're about to do really reflects revival and

i also recognize in this moment you typically have one of two or one of three responses i can go and fully give myself to him i can hang back and hold on to what i've got or i can give it and then pick it back up and walk out i'm asking you to do the first revival looks like second kings chapter 23. they brought the law into king josiah they began to read it to him he started surrenders garments what have we done we've allowed idols everywhere pulls all the people together says this is the word i'm not josiah today i'm not on par with him but i am trying to tell you this is the word and in the chapter 23 in verse 5 says and the people

all pledged to the covenant every last one of them said we're going to do that they didn't just pledge it one lord they went out of there and they started getting rid of idols and they started getting rid of things and they started to restore the temple and they held a passover like they had never seen oh they started to experience the glory and the goodness of god on levels they could never see before they turn their hearts revival that's what i want and i believe many of you wanted as well so in just a moment i'm going to invite you to come and i'm going to turn off my microphone and i'm going to join you because i am not exempt from

the need for revival and i'm not exempt from the need for god to help me in reconsecration right now if you want to commit to him to serving him and worshiping him only i wonder if you wouldn't hesitate but begin to step out of your seat and out of your aisle and find a place to pray if at all possible you can come to this altar as a sign of faith in an act of faith i invite you to come right now and lay before the lord oh and if there's an idol i beg you leave it there today don't pick it up oh jesus so jesus from beginning to the end jesus jesus at the center of it all jesus at the center of it all from beginning to the end it will

always be it's always been you jesus nothing else jesus you're the center everything revolves around jesus be the center of my life jesus be the center of my life it will always be it's always been you jesus jesus nothing else do jesus you're my center so everything revolves around you jesus nothing in this world jesus you're the center everything revolves around you jesus jesus be the center of my life jesus be the center of my life from beginning to the end it will always be as it's always been you jesus my jesus nothing else nothing in this world everything revolves around else jesus your center everything revolves around you jesus

be the center it's all about you yes it's all about you from my heart be the center is all about you this is all about you from my heart to the heavens jesus jesus all about you yes it's all about you first samuel chapter 5 tells us that philistines captured the ark of the covenant placed it in their temple next to their god they're gone next morning says that they came in to find their god on its face before the ark what's remarkable as they went and they propped it back up many of you know the story that the next morning they went back in and it had fallen again its head had fallen off its hands and broken off two things occurred to

me when i considered this first of all the lord doesn't share space with idols and other gods he alone is sovereign and i mentioned he's either god or he's not lord or he's not secondly even after the people of felicia saw their idol was nothing in lie the lord they went back and picked up that idol and propped it back up the application today is that we don't worship or serve anyone other than him and that when the lord calls for an idol we get his presence and that idol is laying on its face before god and we see how insignificant it is in front of him please don't go back when you get home and pick it back up and put it back in its

place it at the altar leave it here leave it in its brokenness and nothingness because in the end that's what it will be we're going to pray to that end i felt specifically to pray that we would leave what we have committed to the lord here those idols those things that god has spoken to us about would you lift your voice and pray with me along those lines today however you feel lord i thank you for illuminating things in my life and our lives that do not belong lord and today i commit to you lord i'm gonna leave it here we're gonna leave it here we will not go back lord and try to set it back up in its place lord but this morning we

commit and we're going to let that idol lie and we're going to let it continue to be insignificant in your presence lord and we're going to continue to recognize that it has no worth in our lives especially not in comparison to you this morning as a church family as individuals we commit to one lord and truth one lord and doctrine and one lord in worship and lifestyle in jesus name i got a wonderful picture this morning as i stood from prayer and just looked across saw young people saw parents saw elders people from all generations re-consecrating themselves to the lord and i thought that's revival that is revival it comes at a cost

but i know a church that is willing to pay it brother mike mcguire told me before service he felt like we were going to leave here on a note of victory and some of us have gained victory over idols that have plagued our generation our family for generations just like gideon did i wonder if we could just take a moment and thank the lord for what he's done today i thank you jesus oh i thank you lord for your help and your word into the victory oh that's hero god whether we feel it or not i know it's here and i thank you for victory that families have gotten this morning i say lay some things at the altar and then leave them here i thank

you for everything that we've gained today including victory by the power of the holy ghost thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you lord thank you jesus i want to thank you all for being a church that allows the word to be preached our team and staff and pastoral leaders are going to continue to do that thank you and thank you for believing in one lord we are oneness people we believe the power one lord