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Vox Sunday Sermon – Slow Grow – Behold and Become (The Hands) Part 2

Written by

Jay Downes

in

Sermon by – Lead Pastor Justin Kendrick – Vox Church

My Notes…

Discipleship Pathway

Start → Commit → Lead

A working model of change involves the Head, Heart, and Hands operating in community with the Spirit of Jesus.

  • Head – Understanding the truth of God.
  • Heart – Transforming our desires through spiritual disciplines.
  • Hands – Living out faith in action.

1. Seeking God Lifestyle (Sermon 02/02/25)

How We Grow Our Hearts

“Do not love the world or the things in the world.” — 1 John 2:15

Our Culture’s Obsession with Limitlessness

Our culture celebrates those who live without limits — those who push past boundaries to achieve greatness. But often, those great achievers sacrifice everything else in their lives to reach that level of success.

No matter how strong or capable you are, everyone eventually faces the reality that they are not limitless.

What Does “Do Not Love the World” Mean?

  • John 3:16 — God so loved the world (people).
  • 1 John 2:15 — Do not love the world (the system).

The Bible isn’t telling us to reject people or the beauty of creation. It’s a warning not to love the system of the world — a mindset that treats the material world as all there is.

  • You are an eternal being with an eternal purpose.
  • Don’t be deceived by temporary distractions and forget your eternal nature.

The Problem of Disordered Loves (Augustine – theologian and early father of the church.)

  • Augustine warns that the problem is not that we love things — but the order in which we love them.
  • Paul says that humanity’s fundamental mistake is worshiping created things rather than the Creator — the essence of idolatry (Romans 1:25).

Modern Idolatry

  • In ancient times, people worshiped carved statues.
  • Today, we look to created things for security, identity, satisfaction, and meaning — that’s modern idolatry.

An idol is usually a good thing that becomes too important — something you turn to more than God.

  • If something is more central to your heart than God — that’s idolatry.
  • Idolatry is the fundamental problem of the human heart.

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” — 1 John 5:21
(Mic drop.)

David Foster Wallace’s Insight

“There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.”
— David Foster Wallace

The default setting of the human heart is idolatry.

2. The Big Three Idols of the Heart (1 John 2:16)

John identifies the three core idols that dominate human hearts:

  1. Desire of the Flesh – The desire to feel (hedonism)
    • Over-passion for comfort, pleasure, or escape.
    • Seeking satisfaction through indulgence.
  2. Desire of the Eyes – The desire to have (materialism)
    • Covetousness and greed.
    • Believing that possessions will satisfy the heart.
  3. Pride of Life – The desire to control (individualism)
    • The most cunning and hidden idol.
    • The need for power, autonomy, and self-sufficiency.

These Idols Are as Old as Humanity

Genesis 3:6 (The Fall) — Eve’s temptation reflects the same pattern:

  • Good for food → Desire of the flesh
  • Pleasing to the eye → Desire of the eyes
  • Good for gaining wisdom → Pride of life

Jesus’ Temptation Follows the Same Pattern (Matthew 4)

Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness using the same three idols:

  1. Desire of the flesh – Turn stones into bread → Hedonism
  2. Desire of the eyes – All the kingdoms of the world → Materialism
  3. Pride of life – Throw yourself down and prove your power → Control

3. The Antidote to Idolatry

John’s solution isn’t willpower — it’s love.

  • “Don’t love the world” → Not through avoidance, but through replacement.
  • Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.
  • The cure is to fill yourself with the love of the Father.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” — 1 John 3:1

When the love of God takes root in your heart, the need for idols fades.

  • Idols are only necessary when God’s love is absent.
  • God’s love makes idolatry unnecessary.

4. Living a Life of Limits

Jesus Embraced Limits

  • Jesus didn’t resist limits — He embraced them.
  • He accepted human weakness, time constraints, and the will of the Father.
  • He died not just to forgive us — but to pull us into His family.

God’s Limits Bring Life

The first limit in Scripture was given in the Garden of Eden:

  • “You may eat from any tree except this one.” God knew the damage that would befall and placed restrictions for our benefit.
  • Limits aren’t punishment — they are protection.

Do You Have a Theology of Limits?

  • We resist limits because we equate them with weakness.
  • But God’s limits give life and prevent destruction.
  • Not all limits need to be broken — some need to be submitted to.
  • Wisdom is knowing which limits to challenge and which to embrace.

5. Seeking God Lifestyle

To break the power of idolatry, you need to pursue a lifestyle that shapes your heart toward God.

Create Space for God

  • Spiritual disciplines are the pathway to cultivating a heart that desires God.
  • Not because you have to — but because they bring life.

What you desire will follow what you invest in. Time-Resources- Energy

Spiritual Practices:

  • Silence → Listening for God’s voice.
  • Solitude → Being alone with God.
  • Prayer → Talking with and hearing from God.
  • Worship → Reorienting your heart toward God’s greatness.

The Life of Limits

God’s Directions in Scripture to Abstain from Certain Behaviors

God’s commands and instructions in Scripture are not meant to restrict us arbitrarily but to protect us, shape us, and lead us toward holiness and deeper relationship with Him. The limits God sets are invitations to freedom — freedom from sin, destructive patterns, and false sources of security and identity.

  • God’s limits aren’t barriers — they are freedom.
  • A life shaped by limits becomes a life of peace and stability.

6. Summary – How to Guard Your Heart

✅ Recognize the idols in your heart.
✅ Replace the love of the world with the love of the Father.
✅ Practice spiritual disciplines to cultivate a heart for God.
✅ Embrace the right limits — and break the wrong ones.

Examples of Idols of the Heart

  1. Pride – When self-worth and identity are built on personal achievements, status, or recognition rather than on God’s grace.
  2. Self-centeredness – Living with a focus on self-fulfillment, comfort, and personal desires at the expense of others and God’s will.
  3. Greed – Placing excessive value on wealth, financial security, and material possessions, believing they provide ultimate happiness or security.
  4. Gluttony – Seeking comfort, escape, or pleasure through food, drink, or indulgence rather than relying on God for satisfaction.
  5. Love for Possessions – Placing value and trust in material things (house, car, clothes, gadgets) as symbols of success or identity.
  6. Elevating Desires and Ambitions – Allowing career goals, personal dreams, or life ambitions to become the foundation of purpose and security instead of God.
  7. Idolatry of Relationships – Seeking identity, validation, or emotional fulfillment from a romantic partner, family member, or friendship instead of from God.
  8. Success and Achievement – Defining worth and purpose through accomplishments, career advancement, or influence rather than in God’s calling and purpose.
  9. Approval of Others – Basing identity and value on the opinions, validation, and acceptance of others rather than on God’s love and truth.
  10. Comfort and Security – Relying on financial stability, health, or lifestyle for peace and stability instead of trusting God’s provision and faithfulness.
  11. Control – Attempting to manipulate circumstances or people to create a sense of safety and predictability rather than trusting God’s sovereignty.
  12. Entertainment and Pleasure – Seeking constant distraction, excitement, or pleasure through media, hobbies, or experiences to numb or avoid deeper spiritual needs.
  13. Political and Social Ideologies – Defining morality, justice, or identity primarily through political or social movements rather than through God’s truth.
  14. Religious Performance – Finding value and worth in religious duties or moral behavior rather than in God’s grace and relationship with Him.

Idols of the heart are often good things elevated to ultimate things — where trust, identity, and fulfillment are misplaced in something other than God.

My Takeaway

Idolatry is the default state of the human heart — but the love of God is the cure. When you fill your heart with the love of the Father, idolatry loses its grip.

  • Love God first.
  • Let His love reshape your desires.
  • Live within the limits God designed for life.

A heart that seeks God will always be satisfied.

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