What is one of the greatest threats facing the church today?

It may not be that people stop worshiping. It may be that we continue worshiping while slowly replacing God with ourselves.

In Week 1 of our five-week State of the Church series, Pastor Shea Shrader examines the danger of self-centered Christianity and asks a deeply personal question:

WHO IS SITTING ON THE THRONE?

Romans 1 shows what happens when humanity stops glorifying God as God. Worship doesn't disappear. It simply changes direction. Instead of looking upward toward our Creator, our hearts begin bending inward toward ourselves.

Scripture gives us sobering examples:

Saul couldn't celebrate another man's success.

Haman couldn't get past one man's disrespect.

The Pharisee needed someone beneath him.

The rich fool believed every blessing existed for himself.

The disciples turned Kingdom work into a competition.

Diotrephes simply had to be first.

Different people. Different circumstances. Different centuries.

Same throne: SELF.

And self-worship can enter the church. It can carry a Bible, sing a hymn, serve on a committee, preach a sermon, and sit in the same pew for decades while still asking, “What about me?”

But Isaiah 6 gives us the cure: a bigger vision of God.

When Isaiah saw the Lord “high and lifted up,” his attention shifted from himself to the holiness and glory of God. When God becomes enormous in our vision, self gets smaller.

This message challenges each of us to examine our hearts:

When Jesus disagrees with me, who has to change?

State of the Church begins with the state of my heart.

When self is on the throne: “What about me?”

When God is on the throne: “Here am I! Send me.”

📖 Key Scriptures: Romans 1:18–25 | Isaiah 6:1–8 | Romans 12:1 | Matthew 16:24 | Philippians 2:9–11 | John 3:30

STATE OF THE CHURCH | 5-WEEK SERIES

Week 1 – When Self Takes the Throne

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” — John 3:30

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