Grace Raleigh

As we dive back into our New Testament series, Twenty-Seven, you'll hear about lousy poker players, top-notch detectives, three great untruths, emotional reasoning, fickle feelings, competing realities, the power of the mind, a great migration having nothing to do with wildebeest, Monarch butterflies, or Canadian geese...all in service to Paul's overarching message to the Ephesians!

One of our faithful ministry partners, Sarah Prince, is our guest speaker today and is going to share a bit of her family's story of faith, struggle, and triumph in service to God and His kingdom in South Africa.

Most of us would probably not say at first glance that we struggle with idolizing comfort. But the reality is we are so culturally numb to this that we are far more susceptible to this idol than we realize. And the consequences are disastrous.

Self-discipline, diligence, and order are very good things. But when we allow our bent towards those things to go too far, we begin to idolize control. And when we do that, we are ultimately just getting in God's way.

To some extent, the approval of others is a fundamental need in today's society. We require approval to thrive in areas such as interviews, marriage, and friendships. However, when seeking the approval of others becomes an idol, we end up living a life we never intended and find it difficult to break free from it.