Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Pete Wilson is the founding and senior pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Pete desires to see churches become radically devoted to Christ,  irrevocably committed to one another, and relentlessly dedicated to reaching those outside of God’s family. Pete and his wife, Brandi, have three boys.

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EMPTY PROMISES

Thomas Nelson

Contents

Introduction.............................................5How to Use This Guide....................................9Session 1: The Waiting Rooms of Life.....................11Session 2: The Good Life.................................31Session 3: Religion Lies.................................49Session 4: Money.........................................65Session s: Death of a Dream..............................83Session 6: Soul Satisfaction.............................105Conclusion...............................................125

Chapter One

GETTING STARTED

Watch DVD session 1.

AFTER THE VIDEO

Is there anyone who has not felt the nagging emptiness inside that longs for something: to be a little more beautiful, a little more wealthy, a little more successful, a little more powerful? We always want "a little more." But it is never enough. We look toward tomorrow with hungry eyes, waiting for the thing that will finally satisfy us.

We wait and we wait; and we don't like waiting. Then we get fed up with the wait. Frustration takes over, and we may start feeling our wait is hopeless. If we can't get what we want when we want it, we sometimes take things into our own hands instead of waiting on God's direction. Or we find something else to want. For all our wanting, we remain empty.

Consider the Israelites. They were totally ruled by this same inner hunger—the emptiness within that demands to be filled. Israel had actually seen and experienced God's presence. Through Moses, God had led the Israelites from captivity to freedom. They had seen God work. But the minute Moses was out of their sight, the Israelites were forced to wait. When the waiting continued, they decided to find fulfillment in a god of their own making—an idol.

The Israelites' desire and reaction is really no different from our own. We all seek something to worship; we all seek fulfillment. We seek a feeling of worth and significance. We need to feel we are valued and secure.

God knew about this need. He knew there was an emptiness within all people. He also knew only He could fill the void. He knew there was an ache that haunts every one of us. He knew this longing for purpose, beauty, significance, and peace pulsates through our veins and we would stop at nothing (including building our own golden calves) to fulfill those longings, not even for a moment. So God gave a command: you shall have no other gods before me.

It makes perfect sense that this was God's first command to a newly freed people. We cannot follow His other commands if we break this first one.

Just think about it: your response to God's first eightword command influences every facet of your life. Idolatry isn't simply a sin. It's what is fundamentally wrong with the human heart.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Share about a time in your life when you felt truly satisfied and content.

2. Read Exodus 32:1–6.

• Have someone in the group recall the events of the exodus from Egypt that had taken place not long before this account.

• What are some reasons you think the Israelites wanted Aaron to make them gods to worship (v. 1)?

• Aaron was Moses' brother and helped Moses in leading the people. Why do you think he was willing to do what the people asked of him (vv. 2–5)?

3. Has there ever been a time in your life when you got tired of waiting on God and took matters into your own hands? What happened?

4. Often our search for fulfillment begins with the words "if only I" (for example, "If only I had that ... I would feel this"). In your search for significance, value, satisfaction, and security, what are your "if only" statements?

5. No one likes to wait. Share a time when waiting was difficult for you. Why was it difficult? Why is waiting such a challenge for us?

6. Why do you think the Israelites chose to worship an idol? In what ways do we follow that same pattern of behavior?

7. How can breaking the first of the Ten Commandments—"You shall have no other gods before me"—keep us from following the other nine?

8. Share about a time when you trusted in an idol (another person, a job, your talent, a hobby, etc.) for something only God could give you. What was the result?

9. What attitude lies at the heart of idolatry? In what ways does this attitude reveal itself in your own life?

10. In what ways do you see idolatry influencing the world around you?

11. How can you begin to identify and break the pattern of idolatry in your own life?

PRAYER

Lord, thank you for creating us with the desire for fulfillment that only you can meet. Please help us through this time together as we recognize the pattern of idolatry in our lives. Show us how to break the pattern and seek only you to fill the emptiness inside. When we get tired of waiting, please help us realize that even waiting times can be a gift bringing growth and closer relationship with you. Help us as we declare our independence from idols through our total dependence on you. Please go with us through this week as we seek you and pray for ourselves and others. Amen.

DAY BY DAY

In our first session, we confronted the reality that we simply hate to wait, and that often leads us to idolatry. Although difficult and frustrating, waiting is worth it when we're living according to God's timetable. The good news is, we are not left on our own. God is with us in the waiting and has even given us great examples of real-life "waiters" in His Word. One such "waiter" is Joshua. His life draws a beautiful picture of the truth in Isaiah 40:31: "But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings life eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walls and not be faint." Let's tape a walls this weep through Joshua's life and see how being a faithful "waiter" helped him avoid idolatry and ultimately helped him soar along the journey God had planned for him.

DAY 1

Exodus 1:8, 9, 11: Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.... Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Exodus 14:21, 22: Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Exodus 17:1a: Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim.

Exodus 17:8–10: Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Joshua was one of the Israelites living in captivity in Egypt. He had...