Jesus is greater than religion

1st April 2012

Dan Sweetman

* We all have done wrong and gone against God's will = sin
* Sin is putting something above God


Sin isn't only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is purely idolatry
-Tim Keller-

Jeremiah 2:1-3

Israel Forsakes God

 ¹ The word of the LORD came to me: ² “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:    “This is what the LORD says:
   “‘I remember the devotion of your youth,
   how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the wilderness,
   through a land not sown.
³ Israel was holy to the LORD,
   the firstfruits of his harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty,
   and disaster overtook them,’”
            declares the LORD.

v20-25: ²⁰ “Long ago you broke off your yoke
   and tore off your bonds;
   you said, ‘I will not serve you!’
Indeed, on every high hill
   and under every spreading tree
   you lay down as a prostitute.
²¹ I had planted you like a choice vine
   of sound and reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me
   into a corrupt, wild vine?
²² Although you wash yourself with soap
   and use an abundance of cleansing powder,
   the stain of your guilt is still before me,”
            declares the Sovereign LORD.
²³ “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;
   I have not run after the Baals’?
See how you behaved in the valley;
   consider what you have done.
You are a swift she-camel
   running here and there,
²⁴ a wild donkey accustomed to the desert,
   sniffing the wind in her craving—
   in her heat who can restrain her?
Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;
   at mating time they will find her.


*What is it that we cannot live about?
*It is not sin, it just leads us to sin
*It can be on relationships, career, family
*We may still love God

v25: ²⁵ Do not run until your feet are bare
   and your throat is dry.
But you said, ‘It’s no use!
   I love foreign gods,
   and I must go after them.’

*If we put our relationships first, we may one day see our God (humans) in the coffin
*So what can we do?

1. Admit we are an addict- tell someone what our counterfeit God is

*We were created to be an addict- to come back to the one source
*We don't remove an addiction but we should replace the addiction instead
*When we can get the real thing, we give into things similar
*We have to realize having other Gods will make God jealous and we are actually cheating God
*A husband gives us everything but we are just like a prostitute

2. Understand that you are cheating on God

*We are breaking His heart

3. Remember Grace

*God lived in a perfect life so you did not have to
*Remembering what God has done for us

4. Remember you are on a journey

*We are on a journey and if we are on the right track, we have no worries

*Head in the right direction, but take the pressure off
*We may be in and our but we will never run out of grace
*We can grow on it more
*It is okay if we fall as long as we keep our eyes on him




**Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path**