100:00:00,000 –> 00:00:12,900He is jealous to guard against all images, because he wants nothing and no one to distract200:00:12,900 –> 00:00:23,959attention from the one true image by which he has made himself known. Jesus Christ is300:00:23,959 –> 00:00:27,600the One True Image of God.400:00:27,600 –> 00:00:32,200Welcome to Open The Bible With Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick. I’m glad you could500:00:32,200 –> 00:00:36,540be with us today. And Colin, last time we began a message called your struggle with600:00:36,540 –> 00:00:39,119worship all about idolatry?700:00:39,119 –> 00:00:44,740Yeah, and we saw from Augustine, the great Christian leader and the thinker, he’s got800:00:44,740 –> 00:00:52,160a marvellous definition of idolatry. He says, it’s using what should be worshiped, or worshipping900:00:52,240 –> 00:00:56,759for what should be used. In other words, like creative things that should be used, putting1000:00:56,759 –> 00:01:03,139them up on a pedestal and living for created things, for this material world, that’s idolatry.1100:01:03,139 –> 00:01:07,459But then there’s another way in which we can be idolaters, and that is trying to use the1200:01:07,459 –> 00:01:10,980one who should be worshipped. And that’s, you know, hey God, what are you going to do1300:01:10,980 –> 00:01:17,440for me? When in actual fact, I should be before him in worship and in adoration. I’m his servant,1400:01:17,440 –> 00:01:19,080not him being my servant.1500:01:19,080 –> 00:01:22,559And that’s very perceptive as to how idolatry works out in our lives.1600:01:22,559 –> 00:01:27,160It is perceptive. And for many people, they might not be aware that it’s something that1700:01:27,160 –> 00:01:28,400they’re actually doing.1800:01:28,400 –> 00:01:32,260Yeah. I think a lot of folks have the idea that idolatry is, you know, hammering out1900:01:32,260 –> 00:01:36,779some wooden image or carving something and so forth. So it seems like it’s from another2000:01:36,779 –> 00:01:44,059remote and early kind of world. But actually, it speaks right into our world today, where2100:01:44,059 –> 00:01:48,639so often you hear people say, you know, I like to think of God like this. In other words,2200:01:48,639 –> 00:01:53,739I’m the one who says who God is and defines him and and makes him up in a way that’s2300:01:53,739 –> 00:01:59,500comfortable for me. And God says to us, No, no, no, wait a minute. I am who I am. And2400:01:59,500 –> 00:02:03,599of course, it’s in the scriptures that he makes himself known and supremely in the Lord2500:02:03,599 –> 00:02:04,959Jesus Christ.2600:02:04,959 –> 00:02:11,800So join us today if you can, in Colossians, chapter one, in verses 15 to 23, as we continue2700:02:11,800 –> 00:02:15,300the message, Your Struggle with Worship. Here’s Colin.2800:02:15,300 –> 00:02:20,699So the question is, Lord, how do you want me to use what you have given to me? Don’t2900:02:20,699 –> 00:02:25,860let it become a God to me. And maybe the most important question that any individual has3000:02:25,860 –> 00:02:33,960to ask is what am I for? I mean, am I just a machine to be kind of fine tuned for physical3100:02:33,960 –> 00:02:43,559performance? Am I a temporal soul to be expanded for endless experiences of pleasure? No, you3200:02:43,740 –> 00:02:51,919and I are special creations of God. We are made intentionally by him, in his image, for3300:02:51,919 –> 00:02:58,259his glory, and that is why you cannot find the fulfilment of your own self or purpose3400:02:58,259 –> 00:03:10,360apart from becoming a worshipper of him. And that’s the second commandment. You’re worshiping3500:03:10,360 –> 00:03:21,100what should be used as idolatry. But it’s only the first part of idolatry and the second,3600:03:21,100 –> 00:03:28,880if anything I find is an even greater temptation and struggle for me. Let’s look at it. Not3700:03:28,880 –> 00:03:34,539only is it taking what is given to be used and putting it in the place of worship, but3800:03:34,539 –> 00:03:40,720it’s taking the one who should be worshipped. And it’s attempting to use him. That also3900:03:40,720 –> 00:03:49,080is idolatry. Now, God comes to us and he invites us into a personal relationship and this is4000:03:49,080 –> 00:03:53,979a wonderful thing, but you know, there’s something instinctive within our fallen nature4100:03:53,979 –> 00:04:02,559that when God invites you or me into a relationship with him, something within us says, ah, this4200:04:02,559 –> 00:04:11,160could be useful. I mean, if we have a relationship with God, we could get him to protect our4300:04:11,160 –> 00:04:19,079country, we could get him to bless our family. We could get him to give the things that we4400:04:19,079 –> 00:04:23,820don’t have and the things that we very much want. We could ask him to keep the Dow Jones4500:04:24,140 –> 00:04:36,079going up. We could ask him to have a great big church and multiply ministry. Yahweh invites4600:04:36,079 –> 00:04:44,040us into a relationship of worship and there’s something instinctive within us that sees4700:04:44,339 –> 00:04:55,500Him as a resource to be used. So we begin to come to Him rather like Aladdin’s lamp. Remember4800:04:55,500 –> 00:05:00,079Aladdin and his lamp. A great thing to have the lamp, you can get anything you want when4900:05:00,079 –> 00:05:08,679you rub the lamp. If you and I approach God like that, that is idolatry. It is taking5000:05:08,760 –> 00:05:17,519the one who is to be worshipped and it’s attempting to use Him. I have to tell you5100:05:17,519 –> 00:05:24,480that this is my biggest struggle with worship. I want to worship God authentically but there5200:05:24,480 –> 00:05:30,399is something in me that wants to use Him more than worship Him.5300:05:30,399 –> 00:05:34,519I want of course that He’ll forgive my sins. I want Him to get me into heaven. I want Him5400:05:34,519 –> 00:05:40,559to give me good health, long life, an intimate marriage, success in my career, healthy children,5500:05:40,559 –> 00:05:45,940multiple grandchildren. The list is unending and if I find out I go out without one of5600:05:45,940 –> 00:05:54,140these things I then have a problem with God. See, that’s why we keep coming back to this5700:05:54,140 –> 00:06:04,500truth that the greatest worship you ever offer to God is loving Him in the middle of something5800:06:04,540 –> 00:06:14,299you don’t understand, loving Him in the middle of a pain you would rather be without because5900:06:14,299 –> 00:06:25,799what that is saying is, Lord, I love you and I will come as a worshiper, not as a user6000:06:26,279 –> 00:06:37,820offers myself to you in the pain, in the disappointment, I love you still.6100:06:37,820 –> 00:06:39,239That’s worship.6200:06:39,239 –> 00:06:44,720Remember the whole of the Ten Commandments of what it means to love – to love God and6300:06:44,720 –> 00:06:46,040then to love our neighbour?6400:06:46,040 –> 00:06:53,320One writer puts it very helpfully, the explosive power of the living God cannot be harnessed.6500:06:54,100 –> 00:06:56,619He is never at our disposal.6600:06:56,619 –> 00:06:58,459We cannot bargain with him.6700:06:58,480 –> 00:07:04,179He is there to be worshipped not to be manipulated.6800:07:04,179 –> 00:07:07,660You see, idolatry tries to bring God under my control.6900:07:07,660 –> 00:07:09,920Worship places my self under his control.7000:07:09,920 –> 00:07:13,359There’s all the difference in the world.7100:07:13,359 –> 00:07:19,420Of course there’s no area where this is more sensitive to us than the area of prayer.7200:07:19,440 –> 00:07:23,380Somewhere deep within us there often lies this idea that if I really pray, if I pray7300:07:23,380 –> 00:07:28,500for a year, if I have a half night of prayer, if I pray all night, then God must come through7400:07:28,500 –> 00:07:29,500for me.7500:07:29,500 –> 00:07:35,820And if he doesn’t, we get very frustrated.7600:07:35,820 –> 00:07:40,619Prayer is not a tool for manipulating God.7700:07:40,619 –> 00:07:46,459Prayer is not an Aladdin’s lamp to get everything that I want.7800:07:46,459 –> 00:07:50,899And true prayer is offered in the name of Jesus Christ, that means in submission to7900:07:50,899 –> 00:07:54,600Him, that means that it is subsumed under His purpose.8000:07:54,600 –> 00:08:01,019And that is always the spirit in which I come, to the one who loves me.8100:08:01,019 –> 00:08:06,540And for that reason, I’ve come to begin to love Him.8200:08:06,540 –> 00:08:13,380Idolatry then is very much closer to home than we often think.8300:08:13,559 –> 00:08:22,980Taking what’s to be used and worshiping it, taking the one who is to be worshipped and8400:08:22,980 –> 00:08:25,619attempting to use it.8500:08:25,619 –> 00:08:29,320Now that’s the second commandment, why is it so serious?8600:08:29,320 –> 00:08:35,140Why would this issue be the one that God would single out for the second commandment?8700:08:35,140 –> 00:08:39,219It’s clearly a big issue, much bigger than we normally realize.8800:08:39,219 –> 00:08:43,780Let me just offer three comments in the time that remains, all of them from the text here.8900:08:43,780 –> 00:08:50,359First, idols are offensive, they are deeply insulting to God.9000:08:50,359 –> 00:08:51,320Look at verse five.9100:09:01,320 –> 00:09:06,140Now here we can use something that we learned last week, notice that the word Lord there,9200:09:06,219 –> 00:09:10,140if you look in your biblical, you’ll see Lord is printed with four capital letters.9300:09:10,140 –> 00:09:14,359And remember we saw last week that if the word Lord is printed in four capital letters,9400:09:14,359 –> 00:09:19,659it means that the Hebrew word YHWH, the name that God gave to Moses is being used and that9500:09:19,659 –> 00:09:24,020name means, I am who I am.9600:09:24,020 –> 00:09:26,919So let’s put that back into the text and read it again.9700:09:27,539 –> 00:09:34,880You are not, verse five, to bow down to them, that’s to the idols, or worship them, for—9800:09:34,880 –> 00:09:37,080So he’s going to give a reason.9900:09:37,080 –> 00:09:40,280Here’s the reason coming on why you’re not to bow down to idols.10000:09:40,280 –> 00:09:46,659You’re not to bow down to them or worship them for, I am who I am.10100:09:46,659 –> 00:09:49,239That’s what the text says.10200:09:49,239 –> 00:09:51,859That’s what God literally said.10300:09:52,719 –> 00:09:57,700You’re not to bow down to idols, because I am who I am, I am not whoever you want me10400:09:57,700 –> 00:09:59,340to be.10500:10:01,900 –> 00:10:09,099And loving God means embracing him as he is and any attempt to pretend that he’s something10600:10:09,099 –> 00:10:15,299other than he is is profoundly insulting and offensive to God.10700:10:15,299 –> 00:10:20,580Now, maybe we can get a handle on just how offensive and insulting this is from a human10800:10:20,619 –> 00:10:22,460analogy.10900:10:22,460 –> 00:10:26,780We all know that trying to reshape another person according to your fantasy is just about11000:10:26,780 –> 00:10:29,940the most insulting thing that you can do.11100:10:29,940 –> 00:10:34,059But let me paint for you an imaginary scene.11200:10:34,059 –> 00:10:38,260I’ve chosen two names here, Hamish and Heather.11300:10:38,260 –> 00:10:43,440This is a Scottish proposal of marriage that we’re going to describe here.11400:10:43,440 –> 00:10:49,840And I want you to imagine getting the romantic mood here, a candlelit restaurant, nice table,11500:10:49,840 –> 00:10:56,039and Hamish has saved up all his money, and he’s bought the ring, and he’s about to propose11600:10:56,039 –> 00:11:01,320to Heather, with the candlelight flickering in the restaurant.11700:11:01,320 –> 00:11:04,580Hamish gets down on one knee.11800:11:04,580 –> 00:11:12,239Heather, he says, will you marry me?11900:11:12,239 –> 00:11:19,539You’re not what I was looking for, but you’ve got potential.12000:11:19,539 –> 00:11:23,140I’d like you to lose a little bit of weight.12100:11:23,140 –> 00:11:28,659I need you to change your wardrobe, it’s dreadful.12200:11:28,659 –> 00:11:35,919Your laugh really irritates me, and you’re going to have to do something about that appalling12300:11:35,919 –> 00:11:38,960accent.12400:11:38,960 –> 00:11:41,580What will she say?12500:11:41,580 –> 00:11:46,099She’ll arise from the table.12600:11:46,099 –> 00:11:50,559Snapping him roundly in the face, she will say,12700:11:50,559 –> 00:11:59,559Hamish, you don’t love me at all, you’re in love with a glittering image that12800:11:59,559 –> 00:12:05,299exists only in your imagination, and I cannot and I will not fulfill your fantasy.12900:12:05,299 –> 00:12:09,299You almost want to applaud for her, don’t you?13000:12:09,299 –> 00:12:14,840Of course she would say that, because she has been insulted in just about the deepest13100:12:14,840 –> 00:12:18,320way a person ever could be.13200:12:18,320 –> 00:12:25,520I am who I am, Heather would say, not whatever you want me to be.13300:12:25,520 –> 00:12:33,760Our postmodern culture is saying to us, God is whoever you want him to be, and nothing13400:12:33,760 –> 00:12:41,880in all the world could be more offensive to the God who says, no, no, no, no, I am who13500:12:41,880 –> 00:12:47,700I want him to be, no, no, no, I am who I want him to be, and nothing in all the world could13600:12:47,700 –> 00:12:55,239be more offensive to the God who says, yes, yes, I am who I want him to be, and nothing13700:12:55,239 –> 00:13:04,179in all the world could be more offensive to the God who says, no, no, no, no, I am who13800:13:04,179 –> 00:13:11,739I want him to be, no, no, no, no, I am who I want him to be, and nothing in all the world13900:13:11,739 –> 00:13:20,239could be more offensive to the God who says, yes, yes, I am who I want him to be, and nothing14000:13:20,239 –> 00:13:26,039in all the world could be more offensive to the God who says, yes, yes, yes, I am who14100:13:26,039 –> 00:13:34,380I want him to be, and nothing in all the world could be more offensive to the God who says,14200:13:34,380 –> 00:13:41,500yes, yes, I am who I want him to be, and nothing in all the world could be more offensive to14300:13:41,500 –> 00:13:49,460the God who says, yes, yes, I am who I want him to be, and nothing in all the world could14400:13:49,460 –> 00:13:55,900be more offensive to the God who says, yes, yes, I am who I want him to be, and nothing14500:13:55,900 –> 00:14:02,700in all the world could be more offensive to the God who says, yes, yes, I am who I want14600:14:02,700 –> 00:14:04,900him to be.14700:14:04,900 –> 00:14:12,599The child follows the father’s sin, he copies it, he repeats it.14800:14:12,599 –> 00:14:17,539The father hates God, the son hates God.14900:14:17,539 –> 00:14:23,599It is an observable reality in any society that a community reaps what it sows.15000:14:23,599 –> 00:14:29,900The more we replace the living God with idols as substitutes for him, the further and further15100:14:29,919 –> 00:14:37,159we end up in the cauldron of the effects of our own departure from God.15200:14:37,159 –> 00:14:44,179Look at how our society has changed in the last forty years with the release and multiplication15300:14:44,179 –> 00:14:52,039of promiscuity as something which is to be used has been put in the place of God.15400:14:52,039 –> 00:14:59,179You see the breakup of family life, the multiplication of disease, we reap what we sow.15500:14:59,320 –> 00:15:03,280No one sins in private.15600:15:03,280 –> 00:15:10,380Every sin has a domino effect on those God has placed around us.15700:15:10,380 –> 00:15:14,239The Bible faces up to the reality that all of us know that we’re affected by the sins15800:15:14,239 –> 00:15:15,239of others.15900:15:15,239 –> 00:15:19,020You go to any counsellor, you present a problem, in all likelihood they will ask you about16000:15:19,020 –> 00:15:20,380your past experience.16100:15:20,380 –> 00:15:21,380Why?16200:15:21,380 –> 00:15:25,780Because they recognise that there is an influence that comes into our lives from our past experiences16300:15:25,780 –> 00:15:28,900and from the sins of others.16400:15:28,900 –> 00:15:35,460And that is why I am so grateful for the privilege of being a preacher for the gospel16500:15:35,460 –> 00:15:37,979of Jesus Christ.16600:15:37,979 –> 00:15:43,000Because the good news of Jesus Christ says that the Grace of God can reach into these16700:15:43,000 –> 00:15:47,700otherwise continuing lines.16800:15:47,700 –> 00:15:48,700Some of us have known that.16900:15:48,700 –> 00:15:54,460We’ve come from incredibly dysfunctional backgrounds.17000:15:54,659 –> 00:16:00,919We’ve suffered from the example and perhaps the actions of others.17100:16:00,919 –> 00:16:07,619But God’s grace has touched you, and because God’s grace has touched you, a new line begins17200:16:07,619 –> 00:16:08,619with you.17300:16:08,619 –> 00:16:11,679Light comes into a dark place because of you.17400:16:11,679 –> 00:16:16,619A different kind of example touches your neighbors, your friends, your children, because17500:16:16,619 –> 00:16:18,760of you.17600:16:18,760 –> 00:16:22,159And it’s the Grace of God bringing an entirely new beginning.17700:16:22,159 –> 00:16:25,260He breaks the power of canceled sin we sang earlier.17800:16:25,260 –> 00:16:26,760He sets the prisoner free.17900:16:26,760 –> 00:16:32,260He forgives sin and He breaks its power so that in Jesus Christ, as we embrace Him, and18000:16:32,260 –> 00:16:39,900He embraces us, we no longer need to live under the power of a bad example.18100:16:39,900 –> 00:16:44,219It’s the release of the gospel.18200:16:44,219 –> 00:16:53,099Notice that while the breaking of God’s commandments sows weeds that afflict society for ongoing18300:16:53,099 –> 00:16:58,219years and generations, it is also true that when a person comes to know and to love this18400:16:58,219 –> 00:17:04,079living God, the influence of that spreads into the lives of others, and it will never,18500:17:04,079 –> 00:17:08,939never, never, never end.18600:17:08,939 –> 00:17:11,420Ideals are offensive.18700:17:11,420 –> 00:17:12,420Ideals are destructive.18800:17:12,420 –> 00:17:16,300That’s why we need to flee from them.18900:17:16,300 –> 00:17:19,800And lastly, Ideals are useless.19000:17:19,800 –> 00:17:24,280The idea, of course, of inventing your own god seems very attractive because I could19100:17:24,280 –> 00:17:27,339then invent a god who endorses everything that I want to do.19200:17:27,339 –> 00:17:28,339Wouldn’t that be wonderful?19300:17:28,339 –> 00:17:33,819Yes, except that such a God exists only in my imagination and therefore is unable to19400:17:33,819 –> 00:17:36,260do anything for me.19500:17:36,280 –> 00:17:38,579He lives only within my mind.19600:17:38,579 –> 00:17:42,479He’s produced as a figment of my own creativity.19700:17:42,479 –> 00:17:44,319He dies with me.19800:17:46,839 –> 00:17:49,060Listen to this from Shirley MacLaine.19900:17:49,060 –> 00:17:56,800I quote her because she has done so much to popularize the New Age religion that is sweeping20000:17:56,800 –> 00:18:01,640our culture in many, many subtle ways.20100:18:01,640 –> 00:18:06,119And I want you to see clearly where that thing is coming from and where it is going to.20200:18:06,859 –> 00:18:09,800This is Shirley MacLaine and I quote,20300:18:09,900 –> 00:18:17,739I know that I exist therefore I am.20400:18:17,739 –> 00:18:24,719I know that the God Source exists therefore it is.20500:18:24,719 –> 00:18:32,640Since I am part of that force then I am that I am.20600:18:33,599 –> 00:18:35,599Wow.20700:18:38,280 –> 00:18:48,560If Shirley is the I am I feel sorry for the rest of us.20800:18:48,560 –> 00:18:58,719And more than that if Shirley is the I am I feel dreadfully sorry for Shirley20900:18:58,760 –> 00:19:03,160Because who can she turn to?21000:19:03,160 –> 00:19:08,920Who can do her any good?21100:19:08,920 –> 00:19:14,880The history of the last 50 years in the Western world has been the story of an attempted dethroning21200:19:14,880 –> 00:19:21,260of God in order to enthrone the individual.21300:19:21,260 –> 00:19:26,199And I want us to see with stark clarity where that leads.21400:19:26,199 –> 00:19:32,000In God we trust becomes we trust in ourselves.21500:19:32,000 –> 00:19:38,520One nation under God becomes one nation pleasing ourselves.21600:19:38,520 –> 00:19:45,319God bless America becomes hey, let’s all bless ourselves.21700:19:45,319 –> 00:19:48,339See that’s the tragedy of what we saw in the video earlier, isn’t it?21800:19:48,339 –> 00:19:53,119That intelligent people in the early 21st century asked a simple question about who21900:19:53,239 –> 00:20:01,500you worship in the street could seriously say, I worship the air, I worship my little22000:20:01,500 –> 00:20:03,459dog.22100:20:03,459 –> 00:20:10,520There is a world of a difference between the post-modern idea that is all around us that22200:20:10,520 –> 00:20:15,839says God is whoever you want Him to be and the revelation of the Bible that says He is22300:20:15,839 –> 00:20:17,300who He is.22400:20:18,180 –> 00:20:21,880And I tell you, I’m so glad that I can speak about the living God who is there, who is22500:20:21,900 –> 00:20:25,020the Creator.22600:20:25,020 –> 00:20:28,900The God with whom we sometimes struggle but the God who is able to reach out to us in22700:20:28,900 –> 00:20:34,180love in Jesus Christ and if you want to know the ultimate reason why the Second Commandment22800:20:34,180 –> 00:20:37,780is so important, surely it is this.22900:20:37,859 –> 00:20:47,380That God is jealous, he uses that word, he is jealous to guard against all images because23000:20:47,380 –> 00:20:57,500he wants nothing and no one to distract attention from the one true image by which he has made23100:20:57,500 –> 00:20:59,180himself known.23200:20:59,180 –> 00:21:05,339Jesus Christ is the one true image of God.23300:21:05,339 –> 00:21:10,079That is why Christian worship must always centre around the word and must always focus23400:21:10,079 –> 00:21:16,800on Jesus Christ because this is how the God who is has made himself known not through23500:21:16,800 –> 00:21:21,599a projection of our experience, not through a cultivation of our imagination, but in the23600:21:21,599 –> 00:21:30,560word and in the flesh of his Son, who is the image of the invisible God, the exact representation23700:21:31,439 –> 00:21:39,319and that is why he could say, he who has seen me has seen the Father.23800:21:39,319 –> 00:21:47,439You will not find God through an endless exploration of spiritual experience.23900:21:47,439 –> 00:21:54,640That is a labyrinth from which you will find no exit.24000:21:54,640 –> 00:22:00,579You will find God through Jesus Christ.24100:22:00,579 –> 00:22:05,180This is why he has come into the world.24200:22:05,180 –> 00:22:09,339The one eternal God reaches out to you in Jesus24300:22:09,339 –> 00:22:13,280and if you will embrace him as he is in Christ,24400:22:13,280 –> 00:22:18,300he will embrace you as you are in Christ.24500:22:18,300 –> 00:22:21,500And that is the beginning of worship.24600:22:21,579 –> 00:22:26,819It’s the beginning of eternal life.24700:22:26,819 –> 00:22:30,040You’ve been listening to Pastor Colin Smith on Open the Bible24800:22:30,040 –> 00:22:33,140and a message called Your Struggle with Worship.24900:22:33,140 –> 00:22:36,699Part of our series, The Ten Greatest Struggles of Your Life25000:22:36,699 –> 00:22:38,780all about the Ten Commandments25100:22:38,780 –> 00:22:42,859and the relevance of these to your life today.25200:22:42,859 –> 00:22:44,660Don’t forget, if you ever miss one of the series25300:22:44,660 –> 00:22:46,699you can always catch up or go back and listen25400:22:46,699 –> 00:22:51,060again online at our website or find it as a podcast25500:22:51,099 –> 00:22:53,520and those are on all the main podcast sites,25600:22:53,520 –> 00:22:58,180our website address, openthebible.org.uk.25700:22:58,180 –> 00:23:01,260Open the Bible is supported by our listeners,25800:23:01,260 –> 00:23:04,020people just like you and we’re immensely grateful25900:23:04,020 –> 00:23:05,540for your support.26000:23:05,540 –> 00:23:07,560If that’s something you haven’t done so far26100:23:07,560 –> 00:23:10,859but you’re considering starting to support Open the Bible26200:23:10,859 –> 00:23:13,140we have an offer for you this month.26300:23:13,140 –> 00:23:15,819If you’re able to begin a New Direct Debit26400:23:15,819 –> 00:23:17,579to the work of Open the Bible26500:23:17,579 –> 00:23:20,479in the amount of 5 pounds per month or more26600:23:20,479 –> 00:23:23,760or a one-off gift of 50 pounds or more26700:23:23,760 –> 00:23:25,959we’d love to thank you by sending you a copy26800:23:25,959 –> 00:23:29,439of Pastor Colin’s book, Drive Thru The Bible,26900:23:29,439 –> 00:23:31,060a 30-day journey.27000:23:31,060 –> 00:23:33,400Here’s Open the Bible’s Amanda Cunningham27100:23:33,400 –> 00:23:35,180to tell you about this offer.27200:23:35,180 –> 00:23:39,020Yes, in May we are really excited to be giving away27300:23:39,020 –> 00:23:41,520a brand new book by Colin Smith27400:23:41,520 –> 00:23:44,219called Drive Thru The Bible.27500:23:44,219 –> 00:23:48,239It’s a 30-day journey of just five minutes per day27600:23:48,319 –> 00:23:52,079exploring the landscape of the entire Bible story.27700:23:52,079 –> 00:23:54,579It brings you into the valleys of the Old Testament27800:23:54,579 –> 00:23:58,439with chapters such as Curse, Covenant and Chaos.27900:23:58,439 –> 00:24:01,400It then moves on to the peaks of the glory of Jesus28000:24:01,400 –> 00:24:05,780as we look at how he suffered, rose and is now waiting28100:24:05,780 –> 00:24:09,119and finally the ups and downs of the Christian life28200:24:09,119 –> 00:24:12,959with chapters such as Conflict, Joy and Death.28300:24:12,959 –> 00:24:14,819It also includes a short study guide28400:24:14,819 –> 00:24:16,880at the back of the book to help you apply28500:24:17,540 –> 00:24:18,719the truths that you’ve learned28600:24:18,719 –> 00:24:22,359which you can use on your own or as part of a study group.28700:24:22,359 –> 00:24:24,880We’re giving you this book for free in May28800:24:24,880 –> 00:24:28,900when you set up a new Direct Debit of at least five pounds28900:24:28,900 –> 00:24:31,800or give a one off gift of 50 pounds.29000:24:31,800 –> 00:24:33,000Many thanks Amanda.29100:24:33,000 –> 00:24:34,839So, that’s our free gift to you29200:24:34,839 –> 00:24:37,000if you’re able to set up a new Direct Debit29300:24:37,000 –> 00:24:38,680to the work of Open the Bible29400:24:38,680 –> 00:24:41,439in the amount of five pounds per month or more29500:24:41,439 –> 00:24:44,180or a one-off gift of 50 pounds or more.29600:24:44,219 –> 00:24:46,359It’s Pastor Colin’s new book,29700:24:46,359 –> 00:24:48,020Drive Through the Bible.29800:24:48,020 –> 00:24:50,060A 30 day journey.29900:24:50,060 –> 00:24:52,859Full terms and conditions and to give online30000:24:52,859 –> 00:24:57,619come to our website, openthebible.org.uk.30100:24:57,619 –> 00:25:00,160For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith,30200:25:00,160 –> 00:25:03,699I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll join us again, next time.30300:25:10,520 –> 00:25:12,339The Third Commandment says30400:25:12,339 –> 00:25:16,099You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,30500:25:16,099 –> 00:25:18,880but this is about more than just swearing.30600:25:18,880 –> 00:25:21,719Find out why, next time on Open the Bible.