Summary: Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message #74 <br><br> Scripture: Hosea 10:9-13 <br><br> Based on a list of sins which the great evangelist Charles G. Finney gave in his classic sermon titled "Break Up Your Fallow Ground: It is Time to Seek the Lord", we began pinpointing some of the sins which we as the church need to confess and repent of. This week, we are continuing this series by addressing the next three sins on our list. <br><br> I. The first sin we will address today is the sin of idolatry. Paul writes in I Corinthians 10:14-15, "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say." Idolatry is defined as the worship or placing of anyone or anything in the stead of God. God gave the children of Israel stern prohibitions against idolatry. The first and second of the Ten Commandments have to do with idolatry. Exodus 20:3-5 says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." <br><br> II. The second sin we will address today is the sin of laziness. The book of Proverbs is replete with warnings against laziness or slothfulness. Proverbs 13:4 says, "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." And Proverbs 21:25 says, "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour." <br><br> III. The third sin we will address today is the sin of racism. The Bible says in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." As much as we would like to believe to the contrary, the simple fact remains, my friend, that racism is not dead. Just a few weeks ago, a predominately white church in Mississippi refused to allow a black couple to be married in their church building. In our society, there is still discrimination and division along racial lines. It is not as blatant as it was during the Civil RIghts era, but unfortunately it is still there. A 2008 survey revealed that 30% of Americans admitted that they harbored a racial prejudice toward some other group. <br><br> + Plus, listen to Candi Staton singing "Love Lifted Me" and Patrick Dopson singing "Not About Me"
