Sunday Praise

Since there is an extra hour this morning I have decided to put it to use with a Sunday Sermonette. I have decided that along with the time change I will also change that name to the Sunday Mini Sermon.

Humor

A burglar broke into an electronics store one night, and began filling his bag with MP3's, IPODS, and other small expensive items. Suddenly there was a voice, "Jesus is watching you." He quickly doused his flashlight and froze.

After a few minutes of dead silence, he shone the light all around the room and saw no one. So he went back to putting more high tech stuff in his bag. Then he heard "Jesus is watching you," again.

He shone the light in the direction of the voice and saw a parrot. "Was that you?" he whispered. "Of course," said the bird.

"Who do you think you are?" he asked.

"I'm Moses," the parrot said.

"Who would name their bird Moses?" he asked.

The parrot replied, "The same people that named their pit bull Jesus."

The Sunday Mini Sermon

The First Commandment

Exodus 20:2-3 "I AM JEHOVAH, YOUR GOD who has led you out of Egypt [and] out of [the] place of slavery. There are no other gods for you except Me." Deuteronomy 5:6-7 repeats the first command word for word except that the Greek has pro prosopon emou (before My face, or in My sight) in place of plen mou (other than Me, besides Me,or except Me).

Deut. 6:5 explains what should be the motivating force behind obedience to the command, "And you will love the Lord your God with the whole of your heart, and with the whole of your soul, and with the whole of your might."

Because we love God, we follow Him only. Deut 6:14-15 tells what God means by "no other gods". "You may not turn from God to walk in the way of other gods of the nations all around you because your Lord God is passionate with you. You do not want to provoke Lord your God to become angry with you, and destroy you from the face of the earth."

How it hurts God to have His people turn away from Him. We have been told we must be tolerant of other religious beliefs. Is being tolerant the same as approving others gods for worship? It had better never be. 2 Timothy 4:2 says, "Proclaim the Word publicly. Be ready to do this when the time is right as well as when it is not a good time. Refute, admonish, and invite them to come, teaching [them] with patience and perseverance." This is not approving or tolerating other gods.

We are the people of the true and living God. We must show Him honor by keeping His first command in the way He intended.

Quotable and the Not So Quotable Quotes

"The eyes see what the heart loves. If the heart loves God and is single in this devotion, then the eyes will see God whether others see Him or not." ~ Warren Wiersbe, on A Heart for God