MEligion is when your faith is all about you. In this message, Pastor Jamie Nunnally shares how to ensure that you are not worshipping MEsus. When we engage in MEligion, we are worshipping MEsus. MEligion is idolatry.
What is idolatry?
An idol is anything or anyone we allow to take the place of God in our lives.
Exodus 20:3 First commandment: You shall have no other gods before me or beside me.
God doesn’t want to be one of many, He wants to be your one and only.
Worship is Attention, Affection, and Action.
“A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will come out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping, we are becoming.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson (19th Century American Philosopher)
How do we defeat idolatry?
Engage your blades! Cut down those things in your life that replace the Lord—especially yourself. Deuteronomy 12:1-3
Three blades to engage so you don’t worship Mesus:
1. Engage your focus.
Mark 12:29-31 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Current world population is just under 8.1 billion people. God loves you, and He is interested in you. If He were interested in only you, He would have created only you.
Philippians 2:4 NLT “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”
2. Engage your humility.
Humility is accurately determining who is really in charge. Understanding authority is key to humility. We can only do something good because He first did something good for us.
Philippians 2:3 NLT “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
We are to act as if others are better, not think they actually are better.
James 4:6b NLT “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Humility turns God from your adversary to your advocate.
3. Engage your service.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Service is God’s pathway to our purpose. You won’t be happy until you’re helping.
We assume that in order to be happy we have to focus on ourselves, when all along God wired us for happiness through helping others.
Matt 25:37-40
Engage the blade of service and watch selfishness turn into selflessness.
Are you worshipping MEsus?