Smashing Idols: Part Six – Self
Jesus rescues us from ourselves. Jesus is life. God alone deserves all the glory and honor and praise! ...
Keep ReadingJuly 11, 2025 by Matt Karr | Category: Idolatry | Tags: Jesus, Control, Comfort, idolatry, approval, distraction, self, glorify God
Jesus rescues us from ourselves. Jesus is life. God alone deserves all the glory and honor and praise! ...
Keep ReadingJuly 11, 2025 by Matt Karr | Category: Idolatry | Tags: hope, Mercy, Suffering, Comfort, pain, laziness
Comfort is not the absence of something (pain/suffering). Comfort is the presence of something: God! The Bible changes our definition of the word. God doesn’t ask us to stop needing comfort. He asks us to run to Him as He provides it for us. ...
Keep ReadingJune 4, 2025 by Matt Karr | Category: Sermon Series , Sermon Series | Tags: Fear, Control, Freedom, Surrender, Identity, tough situations
THE IDOL: Control. “I can’t change the world, but I can change the world in me.” - Bono (in 1981) Human beings love to be in control. Since the beginning of history, all of us have ignored our obvious smallness and powerlessness, and we’ve tried to wrap our tiny fingers around the control panel of the universe. ...
Keep ReadingMay 7, 2025 by Matt Karr | Category: Idolatry | Tags: hope, time, idolatry, distraction, numbing, attention
Set a timer for 2 minutes and sit alone in silence. Did you try it? Of course you didn’t. Who has time for that? Plus, what would you even think about for 2 minutes? What if pain rushes to the surface? What if all your regrets come to mind? What if you’re forced to face your own emptiness? ...
Keep ReadingApril 2, 2025 by Matt Karr | Tags: love, Acceptance, idolatry, lies, approval
We will do a lot of things to avoid the judgement and potential rejection of other humans. (For an example in the Bible, check out Exodus 32.) It often feels so much easier to avoid situations and conversations that would even make disapproval a possibility. But I think it goes deeper than that too. It’s not just a matter of what’s easier. Human beings have a deep crav...
Keep ReadingMarch 5, 2025 by Matt Karr | Category: Idolatry | Tags: peace, Worship, idol, anger, idolatry
When was the last time you were tempted to bow down and worship a carved wooden image? How about offering a sacrifice to a false god? Was it yesterday? Two weeks ago? Never? For Christians living in the U.S. in 2025, this temptation has most likely never crossed our minds. Yet the Scriptures are full of warnings and commands regarding the worship of idols. Here is what...
Keep ReadingMarch 4, 2025 by Tommy Clayton | Tags: 5th Sunday Service, Truth, Healing, Jacob, wrestle, real, liar
Facing yourself—the real you—is terrifying. In fact it’s so terrifying, few people ever do it. Belle Gibson rose to fame in 2012 as a self-proclaimed health guru who was curing her own brain cancer through healthy eating, positive thinking, and clean living. She took to Instagram, claiming a doctor diagnosed her with terminal brain cancer and gave her four months to ...
Keep ReadingFebruary 25, 2025 by Tommy Clayton | Tags: broken, Alone, grappling, wrestle, scheme, hurt by God, self-reliance
I don’t remember when I first encountered the stirring quote by A.W. Tozer, but it still gets me. He wrote: “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply” (Tozer, The Root of the Righteous). God blessed Jacob greatly. But Tozer was right, God first hurt him deeply. We find that story in Genesis 32. Jacob has received word tha...
Keep ReadingFebruary 18, 2025 by Tommy Clayton | Tags: Life Change, wrestle with God, alone with God, breakthrough
One night, a narcissistic cheat grappled with God and was changed forever. He went from “a cheater” to “The Victor.” But he carried scars from that battle with him for the rest of his life....
Keep ReadingFebruary 4, 2025 by Tommy Clayton | Category: Genesis | Tags: Wrestling with God, grappling, fighting, Jacob, DUI, DWI, Jail, Esau
Blue lights flashed in my rear view mirror as the officer approached my truck window. It was 2am on a cool April night in 1996. I was on my way home after a long day of fishing and partying with friends. Escaping didn’t enter my mind—at least not by driving away. I had another escape in mind. Charm. Charisma. Social capital....
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