2. Review the Teaching Plan (pgs.18-21). Refine the lesson plan based on your group s particular needs. Adjust the plan if necessary.

Transcription

1 SESSION 2 NO OTHER GODS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT concerns our worship. God has demonstrated His love by redeeming us, and as an affectionate Father, He desires and deserves to have first place in our lives. Breaking this Commandment is what leads to the breaking of the other nine. The only way we can obey this Command is to have a life-transforming encounter with the true God who has given His Son for our redemption and His Spirit for our mission. STEPS TO PREPARE 1. Read and reflect on the passages we will study this week, recording questions and insights that come to you as you read: Deuteronomy 5:1-7 Deuteronomy 5: Review the Teaching Plan (pgs.18-21). Refine the lesson plan based on your group s particular needs. Adjust the plan if necessary. 3. Study the Expanded Lesson Content beginning on page 22. Don t feel pressured to teach all of the content in a single meeting. Determine what elements of this lesson are most applicable to your particular group. Consider ways to personalize the lesson content for you and your class. 4. Pray for the Lord s guidance as you lead your group through this material. LESSON OUTLINE THE FIRST COMMANDMENT 1. Shows God s love (Deut. 5:1-6). 2. Places Him first (Deut. 5:7). 3. Protects us from idols (Deut. 5:22-31). The Gospel Project for Students 17

2 SESSION 2 TEACHING PLAN NOTES: NO OTHER GODS CONNECT OPTION 1 Begin the session with discussion about how one sinful choice often leads to other sins. Show the relationship between the First and Tenth Commandments and how the First Commandment (attitude) is related to the others (actions) (p.22). What are some examples of sinful choices leading to more sinful choices? Why is it important to trace our behavior back to attitudes? What does the First Commandment require? What does the First Commandment forbid? Summarize the session and consider discussing the Martin Luther quote (p.23). OPTION 2 For this option, show the video Idol Worship by The Skit Guys (can be found on the Internet). After showing the video, ask students for feedback. To help further the discussion, consider using the following questions for guidance. If an idol is essentially anything that we place before God in our lives, what are some common idols that students typically struggle with (relationships, social status, etc.)? How can a good thing end up becoming a bad thing when it reaches the status of being an idol in our lives? TRANSITION In this session, we will see how the First Commandment concerns our worship. God has demonstrated His love by redeeming us, and as an affectionate Father, He desires and deserves to have first place in our lives. Breaking this Commandment is what leads to the breaking of the other nine. The only way we can obey this Command is to have a life-transforming encounter with the true God who has given His Son for our redemption and His Spirit for our mission. 18 Leader Guide

3 NO OTHER GODS CONVEY THE FIRST COMMANDMENT SHOWS GOD S LOVE (DEUT. 5:1-6). As you read Deuteronomy 5:1-6 to place the First Commandment in the context of Israel s relationship with God, encourage students to look for certain aspects of this relationship on display in the passage (p.23). Note the covenant relationship of God with the people, God s grace in revealing Himself, and His work in bringing the people out of slavery (pgs.23-24). At this point, consider using the story Redeemed Through Love in the PSG (p.21) as a way to illustrate this point. A brief synopsis has been provided for you in the sidebar. When have you felt the need to earn God s favor? How does God s love for you change how you seek to obey His Word? What attributes did God display when He rescued the children of Israel? 2. PLACES HIM FIRST (DEUT. 5:7). Read Deuteronomy 5:7 and explain how the prohibition against having other gods indicates exclusive devotion to the one true God. God s demand for loyalty is His display of love (p.24). Why is it appropriate for God to demand first place in our lives? Is it appropriate for us to demand this kind of allegiance from those around us? Why or why not? Discuss the I Am Second movement of people testifying about the power of putting Jesus first in their lives. Is this an expression of having no other gods? Why or why not? Point out that an idol is anything we love more than God, trust more than God, or obey more than God (p.24). At this point, consider using the story Keeping God First in the PSG (p.23) as a way to illustrate this point. A brief synopsis has been provided for you in the sidebar. In your own words, define idolatry. Here are some diagnostic questions to discover what you worship: What do you feel you need in order for life to be good? What makes life worth living? What do you dream of having in the future? Where do you go for comfort? REDEEMED THROUGH LOVE Students often have the tendency to view God as a distant Santa Claus who constantly evaluates their efforts at living rightly. Instead of living a life of gracious obedience toward a loving Father, they try to live a good life so as to not anger God. Our obedience toward the Lord should not stem from fear but rather from gratitude for a gracious Father who loved us enough to save us from our sin through Jesus. This redeeming love brings with it joy unimaginable. When was a time you felt you had to work to earn God s favor? How does God s love for you change how you seek to be obedient to His Word? KEEPING GOD FIRST Have you ever become jealous over another s popularity or possessions? It may seem like its own separate sin, but idolatry is at the root of jealousy. Or perhaps you have lied to make yourself look better. Again, idolatry is at the root of that as well. When we seek ultimate joy, satisfaction, or approval in things other than God, we are creating idols in our hearts. The truth is that God is enough. He is all that we need, and substituting the created things for the Creator only brings heartache. Why is it appropriate for God to demand first place in our lives? The Gospel Project for Students 19

4 NOTES: GOD IS MOST VALUABLE Imagine a jeweler sold you a cubic zirconia ring for the same price as a stately diamond ring. At first glance the ring may appear to be expensive, but when compared to a real diamond, the beauty simply is not there. So it is when we seek after the lesser things of this world rather than the Lord. When created things are contrasted against Him, they look just as cheap as the cubic zirconia ring. When we see God for all He is, His worth becomes infinite and everything else becomes finite. What are some things that seek to replace God as most valuable in your life? Show that idolatry is the gateway to other sins by using the example of breaking multiple Commandments. Highlight why it is important to not focus only on behavior, but on the idolatrous heart that leads to wrong behavior (p.25). What happens when we only focus on changing our behavior instead of dealing with the root causes of our sin? Use the smoke and altar illustration (p.25) as a launching pad for a discussion on tracing common sins back to idolatrous desires. 3. PROTECTS US FROM IDOLS (DEUT. 5:22-31). As you read Deuteronomy 5:22-31, encourage students to notice the attitude of the Israelites and the reasons why they wanted to obey. Then point out the three things they d just seen: God s bigness, God s power, and God s holiness (pgs.26-27). What is the relationship between the fear of the Lord and obedience? Is fear of the Lord alone a proper motivation for obedience? Why or why not? What does it mean to fear the Lord? What are some examples of healthy fear (reverence) and unhealthy fear (hiding from God, etc.)? Point out that the power to break free from idolatry comes when we hold two truths together: God in all His glory, infinite in size, power, and holiness and God humbling Himself to death on a cross for our salvation (p.27). At this point, consider using the story God Is Most Valuable in the PSG (p.24) as a way to illustrate this point. A brief synopsis has been provided for you in the sidebar. By focusing on Christ s work on the cross, how can we put on display God s love for the lost? If breaking free of idolatry comes from gaining a proper vision of God s glory and grace, then the church should display God s glory and grace before a lost world. What are some practical ways students can show others that God is glorious and good? 20 Leader Guide

5 NO OTHER GODS COLLIDE The First Commandment clearly demonstrates that God is central and primary in all things. This is extremely important for students to see, especially since it is the tendency of every person to view themselves as the center of the universe. We see a selfish attitude within our hearts on display, whether we are a toddler or an adult. By overturning this mindset, students are able to see the proper ordering in the universe, recognizing that they do not come first, but rather God does. What are some areas where you particularly struggle with an attitude of selfishness? This lesson is extremely important because it gets to a heart issue that every student deals with idols. It reminds us that we have placed other gods before us, no matter how long we have been a believer. Those other gods may be popularity, praise of man, material possessions, etc. Whatever lures students away from finding complete joy and satisfaction in God alone, it is important for them to realize that those things are false idols of the heart. They were never intended to provide the ultimate joy and satisfaction that is found in God, and the First Commandment teaches us that. What are some things that seek to replace God as most valuable in your life? How might you strive to recognize the fakes when they try to steal your attention away from God? NOTES: The Gospel Project for Students 21

6 SESSION 2 SESSION 2 by J.D. Greear EXPANDED LESSON CONTENT NO OTHER GODS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT SHOWS GOD S LOVE, PLACES HIM FIRST, AND PROTECTS US FROM IDOLS. OPENING ILLUSTRATION AND DISCUSSION STARTER The Ten Commandments that sum up the Old Testament Law begin with a Commandment that sums up the other nine. Breaking the First Commandment is what inevitably leads us to breaking the others. Keeping the First Commandment is what will lead to keeping the others. When our hearts turn away from God, we crave other things to take His place, which leads us to act in ways that are contrary to His good design for our lives. Before we dive into our study of this Commandment, let s notice the connection between this one and the last one: do not covet. You may be wondering how they re related, since they don t seem like they d be connected. But scholars and pastors through the years have noticed how the First and the Tenth Commandments are like bookends for the other eight. They both speak to an attitude of the heart something that can t be seen. --The First Commandment tells us to not have any other gods but God. This means God must be the One we most desire. He is the only thing we need for life and happiness. Our fulfillment is found in Him. --The Tenth Commandment tells us not to covet. This implies that our satisfaction and happiness should be found in God and what He has given us. See the similarity? If these two Commandments are true of our hearts, the rest will fall into place. The actions spoken to in the other Commandments (adultery, murder, lying, stealing, blasphemy, etc.) flow out of the attitudes summed up in the first and tenth. So, the First Commandment is of great importance because breaking it leads to breaking the others. In fact, we could say that the other Commandments are the expression of breaking the first of putting other gods before the one true God. 22 Leader Guide

7 NO OTHER GODS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT 1. SHOWS GOD S LOVE (DEUT. 5:1-6). Before we look in detail at the First Commandment, it s important to put ourselves into the scene. The Ten Commandments are originally recorded in Exodus 20. We are going to look at them in Deuteronomy 5, where Moses, shortly before his death, reminds the people of God s law and His saving acts on their behalf. This is the second time the Commandments are listed. Watch how Moses gathers the people and then recounts their history: And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (Deut. 5:1-6). The Commandments are not dictates handed down to us from an impersonal, abstract force. They are given in the context of redemption. When God says He wants first place in the lives of His people, He is not like a child demanding attention for His own sake. He is a loving Father who has redeemed and adopted His people, and as their Savior, He wants what is best for them. He both demands and deserves their affection. Let s note three things in this passage. Do you see the emphasis on God s relationship with His people? The passage begins with Moses reminding the people that God made a covenant with them (v. 2-3). This is a God who makes promises personal promises. He is not a distant deity hurling thunderbolts from afar, but a God of holy and righteous love who wants the best for the people He has made and redeemed. Next, you see the emphasis on God s grace in revealing Himself to the people of Israel (v. 4-5). God was under no obligation to give the law to His people. He could have left them to figure out the best way to live on their own. But, in love, God revealed Himself and His character. Not only that, He allowed Moses to be a mediator a go-between for the people. This desire for a mediator, someone to plead to God on our behalf, is important for understanding how the Old Testament paves the way for Jesus, the only Mediator between God and man. Finally, note how God has worked on behalf of His people (v. 6). This isn t a God who makes promises with words only. He comes through. He does what He says. When God reintroduces Himself, He says He is the Lord God who brought His people out of slavery in Egypt. He is the glorious VOICES FROM CHURCH HISTORY It is the intent of this commandment to require true faith and trust of the heart which settles upon the only true God and clings to Him alone. 1 Martin Luther FURTHER COMMENTARY As in Exodus 20-24, the Ten Commandments stand at the head of the law given at Sinai (see Ex. 20:1-17). In many respects, the detailed laws of Deuteronomy follow the general pattern of the Ten Commandments, suggesting that the Ten Commandments function as a summary of God s requirements for his people. All but the Sabbath commandments (5:12-15) and the commandment against carved images (vv. 8-10) are explicitly reinforced in the New Testament. The Ten Commandments begin with a statement of a preexisting relationship with the Lord (your God) and recognition of his prior action in saving Israel. Obedience to the Ten Commandments and laws in general therefore does not earn the relationship but is a response of faith to God s grace. 2 The Gospel Project for Students 23

8 SESSION 2 VOICES FROM THE CHURCH [God] does not save Israel because of their works or their worthiness. He saves them because of his grace and his promise to Abraham. 3 J. Scott Duvall & J. Daniel Hays FURTHER COMMENTARY The teaching of the First Commandment permeates the Holy Scriptures, both Old Testament and New Testament. The prohibition regarding worship of other gods is seen in Exodus 22:20(19), which forbids sacrificing to another god; Exodus 23:13, which bars mention of the names of other gods; Exodus 34:14, which forbids bowing down to another god; and Deuteronomy 11:16, which forbids serving or worshiping other gods. The violation of the First Commandment in the making of the golden calf was such a gross transgression of God s law that Moses smashed the tablets that contained all the Ten Commandments (Deut 9:17). 4 Mark Rooker God who has done great things. And these great things are on behalf of His beloved people. So God works for the good of His people and for the glory of His name. 2. PLACES HIM FIRST (DEUT. 5:7). Now that we ve established the covenant relationship that surrounds God s law, let s take a look at the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods before me (Deut. 5:7). Sounds like a simple command, right? The Hebrew, often translated as besides Me or before Me means in my presence. The point is that nothing else can qualify as god in your life. The true God is not only to be number one, but the only One. In our day, we don t like narrow, exclusive options. We might think God is constraining and restricting our choices. But isn t this how love is expressed? Imagine if I were to tell my wife, Baby, you re number one. No matter how many other wives I take, you ll be my first. That might make for compelling reality television, but that s not going to be a good marriage. Love demands exclusivity. My wife doesn t want to be just number one; she wants to be the only One not because she doesn t love me, but because she does. So, love and exclusivity aren t at odds with each other. God s demand for loyalty is God s display of love. Some of you may see this Commandment and think, I can check this one off. I don t call anything else God in my life. I don t bow down to, or worship, anything else. I don t pray to anything else. I don t have any little statues or shrines in my house. Let s move on. But here s where we need to explore more deeply the meaning of putting other things before God. And this is where we come to a key biblical concept: idolatry. What is an idol? It is anything we put in the place of God in our lives. An idol is anything you consider so central, so fundamental, so essential to your life that you couldn t imagine life without it. An idol is anything you love more than God, trust more than God, or obey more than God. The First Commandment tells us that God expects to be number one. He should be the One we love more than anything else. He is the only One we need to face the future. He is the only One who commands our obedience. God is not content to be merely important to us, or an influence on us; He must be our only God, the God who consumes our hearts and commands our obedience. Truth be told, many of us are scared of this Commandment. We shrink back from the implications of this Commandment because we don t want to be seen as a religious radical. It s respectable to have a small place in our lives set aside for God. But that s not what God requires of us. He must be the One we love supremely, trust entirely, and obey completely. In fact, if God is 24 Leader Guide

9 NO OTHER GODS not our only God, the One who is the primary delight of our heart and who commands our obedience, we are living in idolatry. The reason breaking the First Commandment leads to breaking the others is that idolatry is the gateway to all other sins. If you look deeply into the ways you disobey God, you ll usually find idolatry at the root. Let s look at several examples. The Second Commandment obviously deals with idolatry: do not make any graven images. Why are we tempted to make God out to be a certain way, rather than who He is? Because the god we create is the god we think will give us what we want. The idolatry is expressed in wanting something from God rather than wanting God Himself. Jump forward to the Sixth Commandment: do not murder. What makes a person murderous? If you trace it back, you often find some sort of idolatry. Someone has angered you by attacking an idol in your life or threatening something you love. You reach the point you desire to harm someone because you believe their harm will bring you happiness. How about the Seventh Commandment? Do not commit adultery. What leads us to fall into sexual sin? Usually, it s because we ve made an idol of pleasure. We need sexual pleasure or emotional fulfillment in order to be happy, even if it means violating ethics and betraying our commitments to obtain it. Take the Eighth Commandment, for example: Do not steal. What leads us to steal? Often, it s because we ve made money an idol. We need money to be happy, even if it means breaking God s law and cheating others to obtain it. Or take the Commandment about telling lies. Why do we bear false witness? Because we believe a lie will benefit us. We love what a lie brings to us more than we love the truth. We exaggerate our accomplishments and minimize our failures because we want people to think highly of us. Because we make an idol of other people s praise, we are driven to telling lies! Or take the Tenth Commandment: Do not covet. What leads us to desire things that belong to others? The idolatry of believing happiness is in the obtaining of certain wishes. What we worship, we will want. What we want, we will worship. We could go on with any number of other sins. The point is this: idolatry is behind our breaking all the other Commandments. The areas in your life where you are breaking the Commandments are like smoke from a fire. Don t focus on the smoke. Follow the trail of smoke back to the fire and you will arrive at the altars of the idols you are worshiping. Sin and disobedience can t be fixed by changing behavior. We ve got to go back to the attitude that leads to the action the idolatrous heart that leads to the idolatrous action. Worshiping something or someone else other than God is what leads us into sin. Therefore, to truly escape the harmful effects of sinful behavior, we ve got to go back to what we worship. And the First Commandment is all about God being first. The Gospel Project for Students 25

10 SESSION 2 3. PROTECTS US FROM IDOLS (DEUT. 5:22-31). VOICES FROM THE CHURCH You worship your way into sin, and you must worship your way out. 5 Paul David Tripp VOICES FROM THE CHURCH The First Commandment reminds us to keep the main thing the main thing. Everything begins and ends with God. He always comes first. 6 Winfield Bevins VOICES FROM CHURCH HISTORY Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped. 7 Augustine We ve looked at the First Commandment and the meaning of idolatry. If you re like me, you might be wondering what the solution is. After all, we are often guilty of putting other gods before God. None of us has loved God with exclusive devotion. So what can help us defeat our idols and love God the way He intends? Take a look at how Moses described the giving of the Ten Commandments. In this passage, we notice a connection between getting a glimpse of God in His glory and the desire to get rid of idols. These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And you said, Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it. And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! Go and say to them, Return to your tents. But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess (Deut. 5:22-31). This passage is interesting in that it shows how the people of Israel, upon receiving this First Commandment, immediately wanted to obey. In Exodus 19, the author says that they trembled and believed. Here in verse 27, Moses reminds the people of Israel of their initial desire to listen and obey everything the Lord God revealed. And then again in verse 29, the Lord puts a heart to fear God next to keeping all the Commands. Why were the Israelites inclined to obey God when they received the tablets? Their obedience was connected to their fear of the Lord, and their fear of the Lord was connected to the awesome display of God s power they d just witnessed. God descended upon Mount Sinai and revealed His awesome majesty, power, and holiness. 26 Leader Guide

11 NO OTHER GODS GOD S BIGNESS The Israelites got a glimpse of God s bigness through the thunder and earthquakes and lightning that surrounded the mountain. They saw a majestic God who commands the creation. One of the best things you can do is to be reminded of God s majesty. He is a big God. I read recently that if the distance between the sun and the earth were the thickness of one piece of paper, then the distance between earth and the closest star would be a stack of paper 70 feet high, and the distance across our galaxy would be a stack of paper 310 miles high. And our galaxy is but a speck of dust among the millions of galaxies! Yet God spoke it all into existence with a word. He s a God whose size you literally cannot exaggerate! GOD S POWER The Israelites got a glimpse of God s power by the way He delivered them from Egypt. The ten plagues were aimed at the Egyptian gods. From the Nile River turning to blood to the darkness that crept over all of Egypt, God was showing that He is stronger than the made-up Egyptian deities. Not only that, when God delivered His people from slavery, He showed them He was able to do what they had never been able to do for themselves. For 425 years, they d sat helpless in slavery and in a moment God did for them what they hadn t been able to accomplish in ten generations. The God who parted the Red Sea had proven His infinite power. GOD S HOLINESS The Israelites also got a glimpse of God s remarkable holiness. In the passage, you can sense the fear and dread of the people to approach or touch the mountain. God s presence was not just about His power and authority, but His perfect righteousness that exposes all our sin. He is a God of such purity that standing in His presence with even one sin would lead to immediate annihilation. In fact, in verse 24, the Israelites are shocked that God in His grace allowed Moses to even speak with Him. The Israelites desired to obey God because they saw His majesty, His power, and His holiness on full display. It s important that we go from this burning mountain of unfathomable power and holiness back to the statement we read at the beginning: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (v. 6). Yes, He is the God who spoke the worlds into existence. Yes, He s the God who is so absolutely holy that, apart from grace, no sinful being can survive in His presence. But He is also the God who sent His Son to earth to bear your punishment and save you. He is the mighty Father who carried you in His arms out of the jaws of death. The power of breaking through patterns of idolatry comes from holding these two truths together: God in all His glory, infinite in size, power, and holiness, and God humbling Himself to death on a cross for your salvation. The Gospel Project for Students 27

12 VOICES FROM CHURCH HISTORY It is the normal state of the human heart to try to build its identity around something besides God. 8 Soren Kierkegaard When the people of Israel witnessed the glory of God firsthand, the attraction to lesser, inferior, powerless gods was broken. It was the redeeming work of a holy God that led the Israelites to desire to obey God, and it is the redeeming work of Christ on the cross that empowers us to obey God today. The Hebrew word glory contains the notion of weight. For something to have glory in your eyes means it has great weightiness. We give glory to God when we worship Him rightly when He outweighs our desire for and our dependence on everything else. Most Christians struggle to obey the Commandments and to not chase after idols because they suffer from a severely diminished view of God. They don t see or feel the weight of His glory. That s why it s not enough to simply say, Stop being an idolater! Instead, we must say, Behold your God! It s only when we sense the weight of His glory and the goodness of His redeeming work that we are freed from idolatry. When you see the size of the God who loves you and how great His love is for you (as seen in the cross of Christ), then you will be driven away from lesser idols. Seeing God in all of His size, holiness, and immeasurable love is the only thing that can fill up your soul to the brim with holy, life-satisfying, soul-sustaining pleasure. CONCLUSION REFERENCES 1. Martin Luther, The Large Catechism (Milton Keynes, UK: Authentic Media Limited, 2012). 2. Paul Barker, ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 339, n. 5:1-21; n J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Living God s Word (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), Mark F. Rooker, The Ten Commandments, vol. 7 in NAC Studies in Bible & Theology (Nashville: B&H, 2010), Paul David Tripp, What Did you Expect?? (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), Winfield Bevins, Creed (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2011), Augustine, On the Psalms, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, ed. Philip Schaff, vol. 8 (New York: Cosimo, 2007), Soren Kierkegaard, The Sickness unto Death (Pacific Publishing Studio, 2010), x. 9. Colt McCoy and Matt Carter, The Real Win (New York: Multnomah, 2013), 34. The Israelites desire to obey didn t last long. Tragically, they saw God s glory but then forgot. Their vision of God faded away. If we are to keep the First Commandment, we must return again and again to the vision of the one true God. The mountain of Sinai points forward to the mountain of Calvary, where Jesus showed the full extent of God s love for the world. This mighty God has given His Son for our redemption, and He has given us His Spirit to empower us to be on mission. The mission of the Christian is to lead others to behold God. We don t take to the world a list of Commandments to follow. We take a gospel of redeeming love through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Only after beholding the beauty and wonder of the gospel are we freed from our idols to serve the one true God. VOICES FROM THE CHURCH God has placed in the heart of every man a longing for Himself, and nothing that isn t Himself, nothing that s not eternal, can fulfill an eternal longing. 9 Colt McCoy & Matt Carter 28 Leader Guide