1 Thessalonians 02 You Turned to God From Idols 1:1-10

HI SBC Family and Friends!

Since people are made in the image of God they are made to worship. There are not people who worship and people who don't, but people who worship the one true God and people who worship idols. Idolatry is the way the natural man builds up mental strongholds either to attempt to cope with his situation or to attempt to justify his perception of reality. Idols can and do become very powerful. They are very difficult to root out of a person's thinking. That is why the gospel is so powerful. In 1 Thessalonians we see that they turned to God from idols. This is not possible apart from the preached gospel and the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. Here are some idols present today...

Idols of Humanity
Humans being gods
Humanitarianism
Equalitarianism, et. al.

Idols of Money
Covetousness
Theft
Inflation
Materialism
Redistribution of wealth
Price control

Idols of Power
The State as savior
Creating a utopia
Rule of elite
Attack on family

Idols of Religion
State Churches
Kingdom now
Anti-intellectualism
Anti-clericalism

And many, many more...

Thessalonica was near Mt Olympus and a very powerful seat of idolatry, yet when they heard Paul's gospel they "turned to God from idols." This was an expression used to depict what happens when a person believes the gospel. See the attached notes for biblical cross references and notes on all the verses in 1 Thess 1:1-10.

Hope to see you tonight!

Grace to you,
Jeremy

Attachment:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13uecHA7OyfVVbC1uFRB1pV-JOkrUu1A7/view?usp=drive_link