Message Notes
Honor: Reclaiming what matters most in life
Command #1: Honor God
September 20, 2015
Pastor Joel K. Johnson
And God spoke all these words, saying, 2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3You shall have no other gods before me.”
Exodus 20:1–3 ESV
The Preamble to the Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:1
The First Statement:
Exodus 20:2
The First Commandment:
Exodus 20:3
What does it mean?
What does God want from us?
• Loyalty
• Honesty
• Courage
• Honor
With open hands receiving… With open hands giving…
Worship in Song
How Great Thou Art
All That I Am
Psalm 23
Child Dedication
Community Life
Offering
Head to the Heart
Message
Honor: Reclaiming what matters most in life
Command #1: Honor God
Pastor Joel K. Johnson
Closing Song
For the Honor
Honor: Reclaiming What Matters Most in Life
Command #1 Honor God
Small Group Discussion Questions
The first commandment: Exodus 20:1-3 And God spoke all these words, saying,2 “I am the LORD your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Before answering questions, take the following quiz from last week’s message.
1. The 10 Commandments are ___________.
A:
The way to make a free society.
B:
The blueprint for Socialism.
C:
Merely suggestions on how we should live our lives.
D:
Not revolutionary.
2. What does the First Commandment assert?
A:
God is giving these commandments.
B:
God is the One who delivered you from slavery.
C:
You are wise to follow the nine commandments that follow.
D:
All of the above.
3. Jews and Christians disagree on the enumeration of the Ten Commandments.
A:
True
B:
False
4. What is the thing we can do "for" God?
A:
Offer animal sacrifices.
B:
Treat all His other children decently.
C:
Offer sacrifices of food.
D:
Memorize the entire Hebrew Bible.
5. The Second Commandment only prohibits the worship of idols and ancient pagan gods.
A:
True
B:
False
6. One God means___________________.
A:
One human race.
B:
No person or group is intrinsically more valuable than any other.
C:
One moral standard for all people.
D:
All of the above.
7. Why is this commandment so relevant today?
A:
It isn't relevant.
B:
Today we have as many false gods as the ancients did.
C:
Today we have exponentially more false gods than the ancients did.
D:
We worship the same idols now that the ancients did.
Discuss the following:
1. There are three versions of the Ten Commandments: The Hebrew. The Protestant. The Catholic.
How are they different? Which version is most often posted in the public square?
2. The preamble to the Ten Commandments is rarely taught and yet it is important to the
foundational understanding of why we respect these words. Exodus 20:1 says, “And God spoke
these words.” What does this mean and why is it imperative that we understand God spoke these
words and not Moses or another person?
3. The First Statement reads in Exodus 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. The Hebrew Scripture refers to these Ten
Commandments as Ten Statements. The Hebrew version of the Ten Commandments begins with
this first statement. God is, in effect, saying: “I took you out of slavery to be free, and this is how
you will be free. You can’t have a free society if the people in it don’t observe these
commandments. So if you want to maintain your freedom, and not go back to bondage, here is the
way to do it.” Talk about what this says about how God views slavery and freedom? This text
was key to the founding of our nation. God wants us to be free. Why do you think freedom does
not mean doing anything you want to do, but rather calls for self-control of our morality? For
Christians how does self-control work in light of the Spirit’s indwelling through faith in Christ?
4. The First Commandment in the Protestant version is Exodus 20:3“You shall have no other gods
before me. Note that the Commandments begin with God—not with man. We start with the
vertical—not the horizontal—Why?
5. We may sum up the teaching of this Commandment in three simple statements:
• You must have a God.
• You must have only one God.
• Your God must be this Creator God.
But what does this mean in a practical sense? What is demanded of us? Do the best you can to
summarize what God is looking for as applied to the four words Joel raised: Loyalty. Honesty. Courage
(Repentance). Honor.