No Other gods

In this first Sunday message of a new series on the Ten Commandments, Pastor Jason Duff opens Exodus 20:1-3 by establishing why the moral law still matters in the age of grace — it drives us to Christ by revealing how far we fall, directs us in Christ by showing us how to live, and helps us discover Christ by revealing the heart of the Lawgiver. He reads the first commandment through three lenses: a Premise (the ancient gods of prosperity, pleasure, and practicality that Moses' generation chased are alive and well in modern culture), a Prediction (those gods never deliver — Solomon started with a whole heart toward God and ended writing the empty, disillusioned book of Ecclesiastes), and a Promise ("before my face" means false gods cannot stand in God's presence, just as Dagon kept falling before the Ark). The message closes with the image of David's stronghold-breaking coronation — the Jebusites held Jerusalem against every judge and king until David ruled all of Israel, not just part — as a picture of the spiritual reality that strongholds in our lives don't fall through striving to dethrone false gods, but through fully enthroning Christ.