Your Idols Called; They Want A Bonfire

A king was born for more than a holiday story—he came to restore what idols ruin. We follow a surprising arc through Matthew’s genealogy: Hezekiah the faithful, Manasseh the notorious idol-builder, Amon the imitator, and Josiah the eight-year-old reformer who read the Book of the Law, called a nation to repent, and lit a literal bonfire for idols. Their lives expose a truth we’d rather avoid: who we imitate shapes who we become. That’s the quiet engine behind generational patterns, social media influence, and why so many resolutions fail by February.

We get practical and personal. Generational sin isn’t a mystical force; it’s learned behavior that feels normal. God’s jealousy is for us, not of us, and iniquity isn’t an accident—it’s what we choose and defend. We ask hard questions about modern idols: the spouse we treat like a savior, the job that supplies our worth, the rest that turns into escape, kids who carry our worship, or the sovereign self we keep enthroning. The quick test: what takes Jesus’ place, where do you run for comfort, and what will you refuse to surrender? When we answer honestly, the path to restoration gets clear.

Josiah shows the way. He picked a spiritual lineage over a biological one, imitating David’s heart rather than Amon’s habits. That’s your invitation too: choose your models, read Scripture without spin, repent publicly and practically, and burn what keeps you from Christ. Real change is not a new planner; it’s a new King. If you’re ready to stop drifting and start restoring, this conversation gives you the language, the courage, and the plan to make your next step unmistakable.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review with one idol you’re laying down this week. Let’s build new patterns under a better King.

Chapters

• 0:00 Advent Focus: A King Of Restoration
• 0:27 Resolutions, Failure Rates, And Real Change
• 1:53 Three Kings In Matthew’s Lineage
• 2:22 Hezekiah’s Faithfulness And Fatherhood
• 3:06 Manasseh’s Idolatry And Influence
• 5:40 Role Models, Media, And Who We Imitate
• 8:02 High Places And Killing The Prophets
• 9:06 Amon’s Short Reign And Copying Sin
• 10:35 Generational Sin Explained
• 13:48 God’s Jealousy And Iniquity
• 17:12 Choices, Consequences, And Agency
• 19:03 Josiah’s Early Reign And Clean Break
• 20:49 Spiritual Fathers And True Imitation
• 22:11 Rediscovering The Law And National Repentance
• 24:18 Revival By Fire: Burning The Idols
• 25:58 From Wickedness To Reform: Hope
• 27:13 It’s Not Where You Start, But Finish
• 29:20 Modern Idols: Spouse, Work, Rest, Kids, Self
• 33:20 The Emptiness Of Self-Worship
• 35:28 Eternity In Our Hearts And True Freedom
• 38:02 Practical Call: Identify And Burn Idols
• 44:20 Prayer For Freedom And Restoration

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

All right, well, good morning. And as we continue in our Advent series today, we are going to be looking at this. The King is born, the King of Restoration. Alright, and there's a lot we're gonna get into. I'm gonna be honest, we're gonna be in the Old Testament a lot, which is something that, let's be honest, we don't normally hear about a lot, but right, there are 39 books that existed before the New Testament, and they're just as good. But we're gonna look beyond Advent today because a week after Christmas is what? New Year's. And I'm gonna go out on a limb and say most of us are at some level going to go, hey, 2026 is gonna look different than 2025, and here's how I'm gonna do that. And we're gonna create these what? Resolutions, right? 80% of them are done by the end of January. Think about that. Like we want different. We're not afraid to go, hey, we want to look different, but 80% of that's going to be done within a month. Like, how crazy is that? And today, what we're gonna see is how if we actually treat Jesus as King, we can make those resolutions up to 100%. Like through Jesus, we actually can have restoration and completion. So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump in. Father, we thank you so much for your word, and I ask and I pray, God, that as we cover it today, that it be your word. That Father, you speak to us through your word and change us from the inside out so that Father, we can have restoration and redemption in our lives. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, kicking off in Matthew 1.10, it says this, and Hezekiah, the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh, the father of Amos, and Amos, the father of Josiah. Alright, that's all we're gonna look at. These three people, we're gonna look at these three generations of Judah, because we see a lot in these three generations. So, to kick it off, we're gonna look at Grandpa here. We start with Manasseh. Now, Manasseh is the son of Hezekiah, who, according to 2 Chronicles 31, 20, here's who Hezekiah was. He did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. So Manasseh grew up with a dad who, at the very least, the Bible describes as this faithful. Like, could you imagine if God Himself is talking about your life and God Himself went, hey, Joe is faithful, Tim is faithful. Like that's what we want to hear at the end of the day, right? Well done, good and faithful servant. And that is how Josiah, or not Josiah, Hezekiah is described. Now, there's something very important in here for fathers in here. Your kids are watching you. What are they seeing though? Because you want to know like what is a gut punch every day of the week is when JT does something that I know I do, but it isn't one of my favorite traits of myself. Like his short temper. Like when he just blows up at something that is seemingly small. And it's crazy because when I see him do it, I can look at it and go, dude, what's wrong with you? That is not that big of a deal. And then 30 minutes later, I can feel like my heart beating a little faster, and I can feel the blood coming up into my face, and next thing you know, I'm like, I literally just told him not to do this. Why am I? And then you have to sit there and wrestle with that, right? Did he learn it from me, or is this just how he is? Like, is this did he was he born with it? Like, and see, that's what we have to. I I try to use that excuse all the time. Came from mom's side. But that's what we have to see. Like Manasseh here, he grew up with a good dad. And we're gonna see in just a second, though, that isn't who he was, though. Now, I don't know, like the Bible doesn't tell us if like he watched his father closely or anything like that, but it does say this about him. In 2 Kings 21, it tells us that, and this is Manasseh, it's referring to, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an ashrah as Ahab, king of Israel, had done, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them. All right, fathers, I just told you how important it is for you, but and I know our little ones went next door, but however, especially you teenagers in here, let me ask you this: who are you watching, though? What man is it that you're trying to go, hey, if you're a boy, this is who I'm trying to be like? Because if you read through what we just read through, it didn't say, and he did as Hezekiah his father had done. It said he did as Ahab, king of Israel, had done. See, your role models are important. Who you look up to is important. We had a great discussion last night before the parade while we're you know waiting around for you know what seemed like four days about things like TikTok and YouTube and all of this. And I'm here to tell you if you give your kids unrestrained access to that, understand they're gonna find other people to look up to. Understand they're going to find people on there that they're gonna go, hey, that's who I want to be like. Why? Because they have a big following. Like I and and I don't, whatever, I'll call out like YouTubers, they're never gonna hear this anyway. Like, take Mr. Beast, right? Years and years and years ago, like he was the biggest thing on YouTube. And and next thing you know, you have all these other channels that are doing what Mr. Beast did because again, their goal is to get views. And if Mr. Beast is getting all these views, then if we do the same things Mr. Beast does, then we're gonna get views too. But then you see it in school too. And unfortunately, they missed the like the philanthropy, I did not say that right, but the giving away part, they missed that. What they did is the stupid things, right? They went, hey, we're gonna do these challenges. And see, and I luck out because I get to see it all the time. If I hear the word six, seven one more time. Oh my gosh. Like I need to like send waivers home to parents or something that allows me to take your kids' electronics and just break them. Because I'm so sick and tired of hearing whatever the stupid new meme is. And I go, but understand you're looking up to someone. Okay, we made our kids, well, it started with JT. He had to write a letter that he has to keep in his wallet so he has times to remind himself of certain things. Number one, who he is, his identity. Number two, who he is in Jesus. And number three, he had to write down three men that he looks up to and goes, I want to emulate them. And that way, at any given point, he can pull out of his wallet when he has done an action and go, Am I emulating the men that I decided I wanted to be like? Because it does something. It gives him a navigation to go, is this where I'm headed? Or am I following after a king, Ahab, who honestly was a moron, who just went, you know what, it's easier to go, yes, dear, than it is to stand up and be a man. And it's important because who you are following is who you will become. And that's great. If you're following someone off of the internet, guess what? You know nothing about them except for what they show in public. It's the same thing. Why are we ever like just blown away when we see a pastor fall from grace? Think about it, it is a human being who is susceptible to everything that a human being is susceptible to. But we see an actor who gets in trouble and we're like, I remember years ago, Debbie told me if Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ever divorced, she would lose all hope for marriage. I've changed my standards. And I'm sitting here going, we're basing that on, again, celebrities? Their marriages last like 15 minutes if they're lucky. And I go, and then we're shocked. Think about it, there's an entire industry that makes billions of dollars a year just to like dish out the celeb gossip. Why? Why do we care that much? Well, these are the people we look up to. These are the people we invite into our homes every night. These are the people we sit and eat dinner with, these are the people that like we enjoy with. And we some of us are following after the Ahabs of the world. And when we look at Manasseh, Manasseh was a terrible, terrible king. In fact, most theologians would argue Manasseh was the most evil and wicked king that Judah had ever seen. Think about it, Hezekiah his dad was a faithful king, and we even read in 2 Kings that he rebuilt the high places that his dad tore down. Like if you don't know, a high place is an altar. Okay, so they would literally go up on hills to worship because to ancient Israel, anything above your head is heaven. So if I went up on a mountain, I am literally closer to heaven than if you're at the bottom of that mountain. So when they would build these altars to worship, they would go up higher because that way we're closer to heaven, which means we can get closer to whatever God. So Joe and Kevin would be able to worship better than anyone else in this room if we were still under this idea. So these high places that Hezekiah ripped down, Manasseh goes, hey, no what? We're gonna fund those and we're gonna bring them back. In fact, according to Jewish tradition, Manasseh is the king that has the prophet Isaiah murdered. So when Jesus comes along later and he's talking about, hey, you killed the prophets, this is what he's talking about, because they literally would kill the prophets. Then Manasseh has a son, his name's Amos. Now, some translations, especially earlier transcripts, name him Amon. So you're gonna hear me say Amon more than Amos in this. But he is a son of Manasseh. And if this was a movie, he would be the main character, right? He would be the one that had like this terrible childhood and like was just like beat and locked in a room and all of that kind of stuff. But he pulls himself up by his bootstraps and he seeks the Lord and he turns it around, and we like that movie, right? That's not what happens with him. Like, he he's like, no, you know what? Like, dad had it right, and I'm just gonna follow along with what dad's doing. In fact, we would read this in 2 Chronicles 33. Amon was 22 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all of the images that Manasseh his father had made and served them. Now I will say this, Manasseh at the end of his life, he does repent. He does try to right the ship, but at that point it's too little, too late. His son, Amon, here is just, he's a soup sandwich. And he's just gonna follow right along with what dad did. And I'm gonna kind of take a detour right here because I want to talk about this. This is what generational sin is. I know that there are people out here that believe that generational sin is this spirit that's just attached to your family and it just hits generation after generation. And I mean we could have a discussion about that, but but what we actually see as generational sin is this. It's sin that grips one generation that is passed down to the next generation because it's all they know. In fact, JT, go ahead and put up the stats thing. In fact, if you look at this, this is what generational sin is. A boy who sees his mother being abused is ten times more likely to abuse his female partner. Think about this. All you did was watch what your dad did, and you are ten times more likely to do it yourself. A child who sees a parent who drinks excessively is four times more likely to drink excessively. Why? Because you see it, it's normal. It's just this is just what life is. But this is what we see, and I'm not saying that if your child sees an imperfect, imperfect parent, that they are just doomed. Because guess what? All of us are imperfect parents. Only thing I'm trying to show with all of this is that's how generational sin affects not just your household, but the household of your child. Because your child, you gotta understand, you are setting this is what is normal. So when they go to their house, guess what's normal for them? What they saw. Like that's why when you first get married, right? When you first have kids, it's hard. Because you're taking what was normal for you, and then your spouse is taking what's normal for them, and you're trying to put it together. Like any parents in here, you struggled with the whole should we spank conversation? Because I'm all for it. Debbie, who experienced it from a different perspective growing up, in other words, Debbie didn't just get spanked, she got beat, was like, I don't know how I feel about this one. We need to talk through this. And it was uncomfortable for a little bit. Until the first time JT mouthed off to her, and then it was like, you know what? I am all for spanking, Josh. I've had them. And I go, I get it, right? But this is what generational sin is. It puts a yoke on you, and then it goes, not only am I going after you, but I'm gonna go after your kids too. And that way when they grow up, I'm gonna get them. Exodus 25 shows us, not 25, 25 shows us this perfect. So this is part of the Ten Commandments. This is actually the second commandment, or no, the first commandment, I'm sorry. Anybody know what it is?

unknown: 16:00

No other gods before me.

SPEAKER_00: 16:02

There, you shall have no other gods before me. And here's why God says this. He goes, because you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who what? Hate me. Now, I'm gonna disagree with Oprah wholeheartedly, because when God calls himself jealous right here, he's not saying I'm jealous of you. He's saying, I am jealous for you. And here's what that means I am jealous for Debbie. Therefore, another man decides, hey, she's a really good wife and I want to make her my own. I'm gonna step in on that one. Not okay with that. That's what being jealous for means. So God is sitting here going, hey, you want to make another idol your God? I'm gonna step in on that one, not okay with that. And that's what he's talking about here. Now we see this word iniquity. Iniquity and sin are both transgressions, but they mean different things. So, for example, a sin is something you do out of ignorance that misses the mark of being perfect. Iniquity is much different than that. An iniquity is something you sat down and planned to do knowing it was wrong. Now, here's what that drives at. If I'm worshiping an idol, if I'm worshiping an idol, should I know that's wrong before I start? Yeah. But yet I'm still choosing to do it. That's worse, right? In our minds. In the mind of God, it really doesn't matter, right? Because whether you steal a five cent piece of bubblegum or you murder someone, both of these are sins and both of these cause damnation. However, an iniquity like this is sitting here going, I know this is wrong, and I'm still gonna choose to do it. Do you guys understand how much power, like all of you guys that want to argue with me about free will, do you understand how much power comes into your choice? Because here's the deal you're still making a choice. Whether or not God knew you were gonna make that choice or not is irrelevant. You are still making that choice. When Jesus looked at Peter and went, You follow me, guess what? Peter had to make a choice. He had a wife at home, he had a mother-in-law at home, which is probably why he went now that I think about it. This just hit me. It was probably why he was like, Yes, I will follow you, right? They probably brought a nativity scene home, and he was like, you know what? I'm done. Okay, he has kids, like Peter feels all the weight of that decision. Your choices have bearing on your life. So when you choose to make bad choices, you are choosing to get bad results. What is it? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. And here's what I want you to understand as parents in here. The more your kids see you run to idols, the more idols your kids are gonna run to. When we have Manasseh here, and then we have his son Amos. Amos grew up watching his dad run to idols. Amos grew up watching his dad sacrifice to idols. He watched his dad rebuild the altars on the high places, he watched his dad take everything grandpa told him and went, that's baloney.

unknown: 19:47

Malarkey.

SPEAKER_00: 19:48

Malarchy, there we go. I'm gonna do those things. And the more idols Manasseh gave him, the more idols he ran to. So you understand, you wanna show your Your kids, what it's like to worship idols, cool. That's on you and that is your choice. But don't get mad at your kids then for worshiping idols because they learned it from somewhere. Now, however, on the flip side of that, when you rip those idols down, what do we see? Well, old Amos here, he only reigned for two years. So he started at 22, he died at 24. Anybody in here know how he died? It was natural causes of old age, right? No, he's assassinated. Like the people of Israel are fed up with his behavior and they literally kill him. Okay, his brother, or not his brother, his son, I'm sorry, is who takes over after him. His name's Josiah. Does anybody know how old Josiah was when he takes on the throne of Israel? Eight years old. Okay? Little boy, right? Now, here's what's amazing about this. Did he have a lot of time to watch daddy worshiping idols? No. He didn't. In fact, most, now I'm gonna bring in a little bit of modern science, most psychologists will say that you have zero to three memories from the ages of zero to five years old. Now, if you were to sit back and think about your life, because and I hear this every time I bring this up, I remember everything. Think back before you were five. How many memories can you really remember? Think about it. When do you get the most spankings in your life?

unknown: 21:33

Zero to five.

SPEAKER_00: 21:34

Zero to five. You get more correction and you learn more about life from zero to five than you do the rest of your life. Okay? Now, that being said, I think God kind of designed it that way. Because He didn't want you to look at your parents like these evil, wicked monsters who just were forever telling you no. Okay? So if we take zero to five and throw that out the window, that means Josiah only has like three years. And I don't know if you know this or not, but if you're dealing with like a six, seven, eight-year-old and you're trying to explain to him like big things, half the time they're like this. Here's how I knew that Jesus did not call me to children's ministry. Because when I would do children's church and I am up there talking, and then I ask a question, and the kid's like, and I'm like, cool, they're getting it, they're getting it. Are we gonna get snack? I'm like, did you hear anything I just said? Like, I'm not gonna lie, I struggle sometimes with high schoolers because I'm like, they ask the same things. Is it break time? We go to break every single day at the same time. I shouldn't be hearing that question right now. Right? So here is what's happening. Josiah doesn't have this like generational thing hanging over him. He wasn't old enough to bring daddy's idols along with him, and they haven't had time to root in his heart. And let's hear what the Bible describes Josiah as. In 2 Kings 22, 2 it says this, and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. Now, if you're like really sharp with it, right? You should have picked up something in that verse that we just read that you're like, hold up, that that sounds different. Is this a different Josiah? Because who did that verse say was his dad? David. But we literally just said that Amos is his dad. And we read in Matthew 1 that that was his dad. The Bible isn't talking about when it talks about dads right here, it's not talking about the physical dad, not the biological dad. It is talking about the spiritual dad. What it is saying is, is Josiah is not like his dad. He is like David. Now, why is that important? Because David is a man after God's own heart. Now, does that mean he was perfect? Oh, God, no. We looked at him last week, right? I mean, he did some wicked things, but yet was after God's own heart. Then we get to Josiah here, and the Bible's going, no, he loved God, he feared God, he did not turn to the right or to the left. Here's what that means: he had blinders on and he went, I am going towards God. I don't care about all of this stuff. If we could just learn what that meant in your life, you could just put blinders on and you just focus on Jesus and you stop looking around at all this other crap that the devil's using to distract you from Jesus. Understand how powerful that is in your life. The problem is, is you get so distracted and you worry so much about the shiny things of right here. When we're sitting here talking about idol worship, if you are focused on Jesus, how are you gonna start worshiping an idol? You're not. We turn to the left and the right to worship idols. And we're gonna get into that in just a second, but but the Bible is talking here about a spiritual father. Guys, it's okay in here if you don't have that role model to look at a different role model. And I'm gonna tell everybody in here, I don't care how grown we are, you need to have someone that you were sitting here going, that's who I'm trying to emulate. How do I know this? Because 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul tells us this imitate me as I imitate Christ. Which means we all have to have someone that we're looking at going, that's who I'm trying to imitate. Ultimately, it should be who? Jesus. But maybe you're sitting here going, no, no, no, I need like more of a person I can like text right now. Cool, find someone. Because I'm telling you, you're trying to be like someone. You're trying to do something. Who is it? Right? So let's get to Josiah. So it says it doesn't turn to the left to the right. Does anybody know what else he did? Alright, so they're rebuilding the temple, right? It got damaged, they're they're remodeling it, they're renovating it, and they find this thing, and it's called the Book of the Law. Now, does anybody know what the book of the law is? What we refer to it as?

unknown: 26:30

The Torah?

SPEAKER_00: 26:30

The Torah. Okay, it's the first five books of the Old Testament. We also could call it the Pentateuch, right? And what it is is when God first comes to Israel, when he first calls Israel out of slavery, he raises up Moses and he goes, Hey, here's what you need to write down. Here's who I am, here's how you will be my people, and I will be your God. Okay, and Josiah finds this book. They haven't been using this book. Kind of sounds like American Church right now, right? We got a lot of motivational speakers that get these really big audiences, but they're forgetting to use scripture to actually go, here's why we come to these conclusions. And what Josiah does is he just takes the book. All he does is take the book, calls all of Israel together, and they literally just open up the book of law and read it. There's no sermon, there's no fancy illustrations, there's no lights, there's no songs, there's no funny like stories, there's none of that. They just open up the book and they go, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And they just go on through. And then Josiah goes, You guys know what? As king, here's what I'm calling Israel to. We are going to repent and we are going to return to God. He then gathers together all of the idols, they get this giant fire going, he gathers all the books, like the witch books and stuff like that, and they throw it all into the fire and they watch their idols burn. And Josiah at this time is eight, maybe ten by this time. So, you youngins in here, enough with your freaking excuses. You are definitely old enough to be able to take a stand for Jesus because that's what Josiah does at this point. Stop being a little in fact, this isn't not at all in my notes, but it just hit me. Do you realize that for the majority of humanity, we only had two things you could be? You could be a child or you could be an adult. All of this bull crap in the middle that psychology now goes, hey, well, you know, you could be a toddler, you could be an infant, you could be an adolescent, you know, their minds are still, yeah, your mind should always be growing until the day you die. But the reason we have 30-year-olds living in like grandparents' garages is because, well, you know, they just, no, you were either a child or an adult. JT turned 18 Friday. Yeah. And I let them know right out the gate, hey, look, it's no longer child abuse. I can deal with a misdemeanor. We're not getting the felony. And number two, the first time you tell me I'm a man, I will tell you to get out of my house. Because there's only one man in my house. Because understand, I don't care how old you are. You're either a child or you are a man. And when you're ready to be a man, there's the world out there you can go conquer. And see, in some of us, we baby the kids for too long. Josiah's only like 10. And he's calling an entire nation to repentance. He builds this fire and he goes, hey, bring all the things, bring all the idols. I don't care if it's gold, I don't care if it's silver, I don't care if it's a book, because understand books they didn't have the printing press back then. So books were expensive. I don't bring, I don't care what it is, you bring your idols and we're throwing them in this fire. He brings back Passover to Israel and he ushers in a new peace for Israel. Why? Because of revival. Now, where did Josiah come from? Manasseh. Without the most evil and wicked king that ever lived, you don't get to Josiah. Think about this, guys. Like, why do we look at these three? Because Manasseh was the most wicked, and yet his grandson, the Bible says of this in Josiah. Ready? In 2 Kings 23, it says, before him, before Josiah, there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. Could you imagine the compliment of God going, there has never been a dad like Stephen, who just loved God with everything he was and loved his kids so well, and after him there'll never be another dad like him? Like, could you imagine the compliment that would be? Like standing in front of the creator of the universe and him going, You did what I told you to do. You were faithful to me. Now, why can we have a difference like this in a family? Why can we go from Manasseh two generations later and get to Josiah? Because there was a king born. And a king that went, I'm going to redeem what is mine. See, Josiah chose to turn to the Lord. Josiah didn't have the influences of his wicked dads like that. You don't think God set that up on purpose? Because what would have happened if Josiah grew up seeing the same things his dad saw? Now, we're not like fortune tellers in here, so I have no idea what would have happened. I do know God can do whatever God wants to do, and He will grab whoever's heart he wants to grab. But you don't think that he died at 24 for a reason? Because God went, no, I'm gonna I'm gonna protect that heart because you're gonna grow up to be this. See, Jesus came so that no matter where we came from, no matter how bad it is, we don't have to be a statistic. Here's the thing. I know some of you in this room, and I don't know everyone's like backstory and every traumatic event that you've lived through in your life, especially you guys, because let's be honest, that's not what we talk about. Right? No, we talk about things that make us laugh or make us feel more manly, and we hide our insecurities under that. But here's the deal. Some of you, you came from messed up families. And I'm talking about like you had to build more closets in the house to put all of the skeletons in because you ran out of room. And that's what we're coming from. You know who else did? Josiah. Josiah came from a messed up family. His granddad was literally building altars to worship idols. His dad is literally an evil and wicked person. But yet Josiah didn't turn to the left or the right. Why? Because he went, Jesus is worth it. Because he decided this day if we want to get into Joshua, since we're already in the New Testament. Joshua 24 shows us what choose this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods of your fathers and the Amorites who live in the land we came from, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. See, Joshua, I'm gonna be honest, he was tired of hearing Israel. And I get it. Like he was tired of hearing the grumbling and the complaining and the well, and then and he was like, you know what? Enough. Choose today who you will serve. Enough with your excuses, enough with your complaining, enough with your grumbling. Choose today who you are going to follow. Why? Because that's all you got. But if you're gonna follow Jesus, here's how it's going to look. See, Josiah could be who he was because it's not where you start that matters. It's where you end. Think about it. You could be you could be crushing a team 49-0 in the first quarter. They don't call the game, right? Like you're definitely behind. You're definitely, it's not looking good for you. If you guys remember a couple years ago, right? And I know there's not a lot of sports fans in here. I get it. There's enough that this illustration will make sense. Atlanta was winning a Super Bowl a couple of years ago by 28 points going into the fourth quarter.

unknown: 34:59

28 to 3.

SPEAKER_00: 35:00

23?

unknown: 35:00

28 to 3.

SPEAKER_00: 35:02

Oh, 25 points, my bad. Against a team that, let's be honest, unless you were from one small little area of the country, you can't stand. And a quarterback that everyone in here, minus Natalia, is sitting here going, he's so overrated. Who was one of the last people picked, by the way, in his draft class? Because he's slow and he's not very strong.

unknown: 35:30

Dumb, ugly.

SPEAKER_00: 35:35

And yet, can anyone tell me who wound up winning that Super Bowl in one quarter?

unknown: 35:40

The double guy? The devil.

SPEAKER_00: 35:42

Yeah, the Patriots took it, right? It would have been Atlanta's first ever Super Bowl. You are ahead by 25 points going into the last 15 minutes of play, and yet you lose. Look, you might be going into the last quarter of your life right now. I don't know. But here's what I'm gonna tell you. It doesn't matter what part of your life you're in, it ain't too late for it. It ain't too late to pick different. See, Christmas is coming up. Here's what you need to do: have a bonfire in your yard and get all your idols and throw them right in the fire. See, too many of us we want to cling to these idols. Now, when I talk about idols, here's what I don't think anyone in here has, and I may be wrong because I haven't been to everyone's house. But I'm pretty sure you don't have like totem poles at your house that you are literally bowing down and worshiping. Some of you might, some of you have cats, okay?

unknown: 36:43

Same thing.

SPEAKER_00: 36:44

Exactly, it is the same thing. They are evil and wicked, and you need to get rid of them. Throw them in the fire. Okay? No! Here is the easiest way to know if what I'm talking about is an idol in your life. And some of this stuff I'm going to give you a hint right now, you cannot just throw into a fire. Okay? It is called murder in some cases. Alright? The easiest way to know what an idol in your life is is this. What takes the place of Jesus? How are you justifying it? And where do you run for comfort? That is how you know what are the idols in your life. Because not all idols are carved images that you bow down and worship. See, for some of us in this room, your spouse may be an idol. I will tell you right now, this is one of those things I have to battle in my own heart. Because when I've had a bad day, when I need comfort, when I want to feel a certain kind of way, Debbie is what I run to. She's the first person I want to talk to. When I wake up, she's the last person I want to talk to when I go to bed. I'm talking about even before Jesus. And that's pretty hard because like she wakes me up every morning knowing how much I hate when she's like, good morning. I've told her for 20, almost two years now, stop saying good morning. Just say morning. I know it's morning. Like it's never a good one though. Please don't put on fire. I'm not going to. Some of you in here at work may be your idol. Because that's where you get your validation from. Because at work you're a somebody. And so you're sitting here going, oh, I I like work. I'm gonna, in fact, I'm gonna ignore my family and I'm gonna ignore the other things in my life because, well, I feel like a somebody when I'm at work. I don't feel like a somebody when I'm sitting at the house. I don't feel like a somebody when when like there's not people telling me how good at my job I am. Some of us in here, relaxation may be your idol. You may be sitting here going, no, like you don't understand. Like, I just need. I'm gonna tell you, we're looking forward to vacation this week. And it's gonna be amazing. I have no intention of relaxing on my vacation though, either. You know why? Because permit are not an easy fish to catch. Because when you have a little boat in a big ocean, things can go like sideways quickly. So I have no intention of relaxing because I'm sitting here going, we're going to work. I will catch a Florida slam by the end of the year, right? See, some of us, your kids may be your idol. I get it. The Bible says kids are a gift from God. And some of you may have struggled to even have kids to begin with. And so you finally get that one gift, and and you're like, well, I gotta like cherish it. I get it. And I'm not saying don't love your children well. Just understand they can't handle your level of worship. Oh, we're we're gonna get there in that. See, look, we Got mind reading. Some of us ourselves are our idols. Because we are sitting here, and I've told you guys this for I don't know how long. This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eve, right? Or Eden, not Eve. When Eve goes, why did Eve eat the fruit? She wants to be like God. I want to be God. And let's be honest, this is where most of us live. We don't say it out loud, right? None of us would have been brave enough to ask that question. All of you should have been, though. But this is where we live. This world revolves around me and it's about my happiness. We live in a society that sits here and preaches this all day on social media. It's all about you. You make you happy. You relax. You enjoy. You get, you be God. Here's the thing. All of you in here that are like that, and I'm not gonna call anyone's names, you know who you are. How miserable are you in life? You wanna know why? Because you make a terrible God. And the more you try to get for yourself, the more miserable you are going to feel on the inside. The more dead you are gonna feel on the inside. Because you're sitting here thinking that this thing exists for you. When in fact, this thing exists so that we pour out. We got a while before we get to Matthew 5 when Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount. But I'm gonna tell you right now, here's the title of the sermon series, The Upside Down Kingdom. Because Jesus comes along and goes, hey, that way you think life should have been lived, that's from your father, the devil. Here's how life should actually be lived. Me and JT have had a lot of conversations this week as he's hitting that 18 mark, right? And he's he's now trying to like immediately mature into a man in one day. And almost all of them have had the same thing. JT, the more you do for you, the more unhappy you're gonna be in here. I was way into my 20s before I realized this life doesn't exist to make me happy. And regardless of how much excess I try to bring in, I will never fill up this empty hole I have in the middle of my chest. I can fill it with drink, I can fill it with women, I can fill it with money. It will never fill. Why? Because Ecclesiastes shows us that God placed eternity into the heart of man. In other words, the things I long for aren't things that are eventually going to be taken away from me. Because when you die, your money doesn't go with you. As just ask any Pharaoh. When they pulled their tombs, what was left in there? All of their money, all of their possessions. When you die, your spouse doesn't go with you. Regardless of how long you were married, and regardless of how well that marriage went. When you die, your kids don't go with you, your house doesn't go with you, your car doesn't go with you. You know what you get? Nothing. But you know where you wind up? Eternity. See, one day we will all appear before the judgment and seat of Christ. And the Bible says we will be judged according to what we have done, whether it be good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5.10. However, what we long for is Christ. This is how we can check the idols of our own heart. Because all you got to do is go, what's taking the place of Jesus? What is it that you run to for comfort? What is it that you can burn? See, whatever it takes for you to return to Christ, that is what we need to burn. Because this Christmas can be the Christmas where your chains are broken. Some of you, you gotta understand the Bible tells us that who the sun sets free is free indeed. But some of us just live shackled like Ebenezer, or not Ebenezer, Bob Marley. Not Bob Marley. I know that. What song? It's not a song from Scrooge. Ebenezer Scrooge. Oh, yeah, Marley and Marley. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ebenezer Scrooge is a different character. The first ghost that it comes to him, he has all the chains. That's Bob Marley, right? We're cutting this out from the online. Anyway, that's how some of us live our life. You have no freedom even in Christ because you're just bound by the chains of your idols. Jacob Marley. Jacob Marley. Okay, we got the last name right. I don't know. I was like, okay, the Muppets Christmas said this. Scrooged it was this guy. Like, there's 18 different variations of this movie. But understand, those chains don't have to exist. Because 2025 years ago there was a savior, a king born that went, I'm going to restore my people. I'm going to make you whole. I'm going to be able to go into your heart, and I'm going to be able to grab those things and I'm going to pull them out. Why? Because I am greater than anything else you will ever get. It is the greatest gift of all to be able to sit here and go, it isn't me. I don't have to put my focus here. I can choose different because that's what salvation actually is. It is this word soterial, which means to be delivered from. What am I delivered from? That evil wickedness that I was in. I am given a new heart and I can choose to say no now. You know when I couldn't, according to the Bible? Before Christ saved me. Because Romans 7 puts it very clearly. I'm either a slave to righteousness or a slave to sin. Those are the only two areas I can be. But when Jesus invades my heart, I finally have the opportunity to go, no, because I have been restored. I have been redeemed. I can now see my sin for what it is, and I can choose to go, I don't want that. So today, our call to action is very simple. Take stock of your life and identify your idols. No one else in this room can tell you this is what you idolize. You know what your heart is, and you know what you idolize. Identify it, and then understand. Throw it in the fire. You're a parent in here? Understand if your kids are seeing your idols, you're just showing them how to idol worship. And we all have the tendency to do that. I've told you guys very clearly. I have to watch even with fishing. Because if I'm not careful, it will become my idol. And ultimately, that idol is not necessarily fishing. It's the relaxation that comes with it. But if I'm sitting in my bed at night and I'm just watching videos about people fishing, guess what I'm not doing? I'm not struggling with anything. My sin doesn't matter. My parenting doesn't matter. I can leave the kids out there for hours because of YouTube. And if I'm not careful, that becomes an idol in my life. So identify your idols as we close today. And this Christmas, put them in the fire. Let them burn. You don't have to live like that. You can have change. You can have restoration. We literally saw the family of Judah go from the most wicked king to ever live to the one who no king will be like ever again. In two generations. Why can't God do the same thing with you? So, Father, I ask and I pray that if there is anyone in here, Father, that is sitting here going, hey, you know what? I need an idol. God, show them who you are. Turn their heart to you, Father. Let them not walk to the left nor the right. But Father, let them just cast their eyes upon you and follow you. Father, I ask and I pray if there are people in here who are sitting here just tied up in chains, that Father, today be the day of their freedom, their reconciliation and their restoration. Father, I pray that as we move forward into this Christmas season, that God, you give them a bonfire to burn all the idols of their hearts. That Father, they come out ready to look at you, and their only resolution be I'm going to follow thee more closely. Father, I pray with everything we are that God you restore and redeem in the way only you can. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.