September 28, 2025 • 38 mins
We explore Romans 12:1–2 and how God’s mercy fuels a life of reasonable worship, surrender, and nonconformity. We move from grace to practice, urging each other to lay a “blank check” before God, renew our minds, and become a church marked by prayerful presence.
• grace before command and why mercy fuels obedience
• living sacrifice as a pre-signed yes to God
• fears about surrender and the risk of wasted days
• worship as a whole-life response, not only singing
• daring distinction from the world’s patterns and values
• renewal of the mind through Scripture and prayer
• eliminating the bad by inserting the good
• discerning God’s will with growing spiritual instincts
• a crossroads for our church between programs and presence
• call to become a praying people who seek God’s face
If you’re in our area and you don’t have a church home, we would love to see you any Sunday morning at First Baptist El Doredo
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon
Podcast.
My name is Taylor Gere, and Ihave the privilege of being the
pastor here at First Baptist,and I want to thank you for
listening into our sermon thisweek.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist ElDoredo.
(00:25):
Would you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
Open with me to Romans chapter12.
Romans chapter 12 as we continueour series throughout really the
year in the book of Romans.
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Romans chapter 12.
I'm going to read verses 1 and2.
I appeal to you, therefore,brothers, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies as aliving sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is yourspiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed by the
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renewal of your mind.
That by testing you may discernwhat is the will of God, what is
good and acceptable and perfect.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, by your spirit thismorning, would you teach us and
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transform us and mold us?
And Lord, truly our greatestneed is to behold you.
And so, Lord, by your word,through the power of your
spirit, once again, would youteach us, Lord?
Speak through me, speak to us,speak to our hearts, Lord, in
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Christ's name.
Amen.
As we look at Romans 12 through16, we've we've covered a lot of
ground this year, and now wearrive at these final few
chapters of Romans that reallyserve in a lot of ways as the
practical side of Romans.
And so if for 11 chapters we'vewalked through what it means to
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be children of God, what itmeans to have that positional
standing that we've learnedabout before God, well, now we
turn the corner, okay?
If that is your standing, how doyou live that life?
What does that mean for yourday-to-day life to have that
standing before the Lord?
And I want us to see two thingsthis morning.
And number one is simply thisour lives are to be lived in
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rightful response to God.
Our lives, your life, is to belived in rightful response to
God.
Look with me at the verybeginning of verse one of
chapter 12.
I appeal to you, therefore,brothers.
You can think of that generally,brothers and sisters.
I appeal to you, first of all,that word I appeal to you, Paul
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is urging you.
This is a serious urge.
This is not a mere suggestion oran idea.
Uh, you know, try this on forsize, see how it works for you.
No, no.
I urge you, uh, therefore,brothers and sisters, and then
he continues, by the mercies ofGod.
And so he's about to ask us asbelievers to do something.
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He's about to ask you and I totake a step in our faith, in our
sanctification.
But first he says this, underwhat basis, or really, why
should you do this?
And he he prefaces with this bythe mercies of God.
What does he mean by the merciesof God?
Well, uh a few things we couldthink of.
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We could really take up thewhole first 11 chapters of
Romans.
If you want the mercies of Godas seen in the person of Jesus
Christ, read the whole letter upto this point.
Chapters 1 through 3, we sawjust how sinful we were, and it
was a bad picture.
Uh halfway through chapter 3, wethen saw the picture of what
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Christ has done for us, and allthe way through chapter 8, we
saw that Christ has been thesacrifice for us to forgive
sins.
Not only that, chapter 8, we sawour assurance of salvation, both
in this present moment, but forthe future for all eternity.
Chapters 9 through 11, we sawthe beauty of God's sovereignty
in salvation.
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We saw this full picture of themercies of God.
And what Paul wants to show usas he's leading us towards this
practical section is simplythis: that it is God's mercy
that fuels our action.
It is God's work that fuels ourobedience to him.
Another evidence of this, thinkof uh Exodus chapter 20.
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Uh God is meeting with Moses atSinai, giving the Ten
Commandments.
And in chapter 20, you mightask, well, what comes first?
And you'd probably say this,have no other gods before me.
And you would be right, but alsonot quite right, because the
reality is in Exodus 20, verse 1and 2, there's something that
happens first.
It says that the Lord spoke toMoses, and he says this, I am
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the Lord who called you out ofthe land of Egypt.
Therefore, have no other godsbefore you, and then the nine
other commandments.
But do you see what happens inthat moment?
Before giving us that law, thecommandments, where does God
start?
I am the Lord that called youout of Egypt.
So, but before anything elseregarding our obedience, and
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trust me, we're believers, weshould be, will be obedient to
God's call on our lives.
But even before that, what doeshe do?
He reminds us of what he'salready done.
And so our obedience is based onwhat Christ has done.
Not in obedience, as we alwaystalk about, to earn our way to
him, but in obedience becausewe've already found our standing
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in him.
And so I urge you, brothers, Iappeal to you, brothers and
sisters, by the mercies of God,and now here's what he's going
to ask us to do (06:10):
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
To present your bodies as aliving sacrifice.
An old writer, George McDonald,said this: that the chief law of
hell is this, that I am my own.
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The chief law of hell is this, Iam my own.
Do you know we live in a worldand in a culture that that buys
into that lie, that I am my own?
What do I mean by that?
That that buys into the lie thatI get to be the master, the
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king, the ruler of my life, andI get to sit on the throne of my
life.
When as believers, we know this,that we haven't been invited to
now come take the place on thethrone.
We've been invited to live infreedom under the rightful one
on the throne.
And we get to live in thefreedom that comes from that.
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And now that one, God Himself,has uh called us to do
something, to present our bodiesas a living sacrifice.
I remember when I was a kid, Ium went on a uh a cruise with my
grandparents, took the wholefamily on a Disney cruise.
Okay, it's uh it's it'severything with Mickey Mouse,
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but you're just on the water.
Uh it's amazing.
Uh we had a great time, and andwe still joke about this in our
family.
Our grandparents took us on thistrip, and and you got this key
card, and it's it's like a keycard that works at any hotel
you've checked into in the lastyou know 30 years.
You you put that key cord keycard in, and your stateroom door
opens, you walk in, but it wascalled the key to the world,
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okay?
And it did more than just openyour door.
And so, all the grandkids, wegot a key to the world.
And and what we would do is,yeah, it'd get us in the room
and all that, but more thanthat, it's unbelievable this
little card.
At the beginning of the week, wewould go and we would want to
get the soft drink package forthe week, unlimited soft drinks,
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of course we did.
And so we went to the guy, wehanded him this card, and we got
it.
It was ours.
No money changed hands, nothinghappened on our end, just that
card.
If you're passing by the giftshop and you see a uh you know,
Buzz Lightyear stuffed animalthat you just have to have,
here's the beautiful thing.
If you just hand them that card,you can take that little guy
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with you.
It's yours.
And so for us grandkids, it wasjust the most unbelievable
thing, this key to the world.
Here's what I didn't know.
That as we were getting ready toarrive back at at uh our port to
go home, uh my grandfather, uhMickey Mouse, gave him a call uh
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to let him know some of thecharges that that he owed.
What I didn't know, as uh asjust the grandchild having the
time of my life, that though itwas free to me, it was not free.
And my grandfather found outjust how not free all of this
stuff was.
And our family, uh, we stilljoke about that, but for me, it
was just a blank check.
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It was just a thing that at anypoint it could be laid on the
table, this blank check, and andand and it could do whatever uh
I needed it to do in thatmoment.
Here's uh the beauty, here's thethe, and you may say this is a
little scary, here's the realityof the Christian life that when
we come to Christ, what we do,we have our standing before him.
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Here is our job and our role asbelievers is to lay our blank
check on the table before theLord and say this whatever you
need to do with my life, it'syours.
Now, here's the good news.
The Lord God is a lot better atgoverning and ruling these
things than a grandchild on acruise ship.
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The good news is this that as welay our blank check on the
table, quite literally, put ouryes on the table before we even
know what the question is fromthe Lord, we put ourselves
before him, this livingsacrifice.
The Lord then will do things inour lives and through our lives
and for our lives and with ourlives that we can never imagine.
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And you will see the Lord workin ways as you bring that blank
check, that yes before him thatyou never thought possible.
You will see the Lord if you arepracticing the presence of God
and bringing your life as thissacrifice, you will see him do
things that you can't imagine.
And I know we're here thismorning and we're saying,
Taylor, that's a little scary,though.
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Because it's easy to say I wantto do that, it's harder in the
moment.
To put that blank check on thetable.
Because the reality, Pastor, isthis what if God calls me to
something that's far outside mycomfort zone?
My family, we've got a goodthing going.
The status quo works great forus.
What if God calls me to dosomething?
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What if God calls me to actuallywitness, evangelize to that
person that's been in the backof my mind?
What if God calls me to restorethat broken relationship and I
know that person doesn't deservemy forgiveness or restoration?
What if God calls me to dosomething that's so far outside
my comfort zone and I just getinto so much more than I signed
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up for?
I I think the better question isthis what if God doesn't?
And what I mean by that is this.
What if you're so closed off tothe movement of God in your life
that you get what you're after?
And God doesn't use you, and Goddoesn't move in your life.
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And God's will will be donebecause nothing can stop the
will of God, but you don't getthe privilege, the joy, the
beauty of getting to be onmission and letting Him do this
work through you.
What if that doesn't happen?
And my biggest fear for you, mybiggest fear for me, my biggest
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fear for my children, my biggestfear for all of us is this that
we would get to the end of ourdays and realize that while
we've had a beautiful life andwe've done a lot of good things
and and you know we we've keptup the status quo that in so
many ways we have wasted thedays God gave us.
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Because we've been unwilling topractice the presence of God in
our lives, to lay the blankcheck before him and say, God,
your way, your will in my life.
By the mercies of God, becausewhat he's already done, present
your bodies as a livingsacrifice, holy and acceptable
to God, which is your spiritualworship.
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You may have a translation thatsays, which is your reasonable
worship.
Just think in these terms.
This is the rightful worship.
This is what God deserves in ourlives.
Well, let's be clear, Goddeserves more than what I can
give him, but he better get allthat I can give him.
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That's a way I can worship.
And that word worship, we wethink about it, and and we think
about it in a lot of good ways.
What we do right here on Sundaymornings, what we're gonna do
tonight at five o'clock when wecome back, we think about
worship in those terms, and bythe way, we absolutely should.
That is worship.
It's not less than that, butit's certainly more.
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It's certainly a way we canworship with our entire lives,
by daily, moment by moment,bringing our sacrifice of
ourselves to Him, saying, LordJesus, whatever you do, whatever
you need with my life, howeveryou want to use me, your will be
done.
That's a way we worship.
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But number two, I want to seethis.
Not only are our lives to belived in rightful response to
God, but number two is simplythis.
Our lives are to be lived indaring distinction from the
world.
Our lives are to be lived indaring distinction from the
world.
Now, you say, Pastor, why do yousay daring distinction?
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Is just because you're apreacher and you like when you
use the same letters.
It absolutely is, but it's morethan that.
It's also because of this thatyou and I both know if if you
live out the Christian lifepracticing the presence of
Jesus, living that blank checkbefore him, letting him work in
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your life.
Here's what is not breaking newsto you that if you do that, you
will look different from theworld.
And why do I call it a daringdistinction?
Because there may be consequencewith that.
It is not the easier path.
It is, in fact, the moredifficult path to look different
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than the world, to thinkdifferently from the world, to
live your life for Jesus Christin such a way that you look
different.
That's why verse 2 says this donot be conformed to this world.
Do not be conformed to thisworld.
I want to say this.
We look around, our world is abeautiful place.
I love this world.
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I love the people of this worldall around us, but we also know
this it is a very, very brokenplace.
We say that all the time.
You don't have to look far tosee the brokenness in our world.
And while let's be clear, asbelievers, we are called to be
in the world.
We are not called to go formsome holy huddle somewhere else.
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We are called to be in theworld, to live amongst the
world, but not be of the world,not be conformed to the world.
What does it mean to beconformed to the world?
It could mean any one of tenbillion things.
I've been thinking so much thisweek about what the world
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values, what the world gives itstime to, what the world uh puts
on the throne of its life andits heart.
Think for a second with me.
What would you say is the theaverage amount of screen time?
Now you're getting nervous.
The average amount of screentime for the individual in the
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U.S.
That's not age specific, that'snot life stage specific, just
the average screen time for aday in the U.S.
That time is this, six hours and40 minutes.
Six hours and 40 minutes.
Now let's take that over thecourse, a child born right now,
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over the course of his or hernext 80 years, on their 80th
birthday, if they just hold thataverage, if they can keep that
average, they will look back ontheir 80th birthday and they
will find that 22 years has beenspent on a screen.
Am I saying screens are bad?
Absolutely not.
You FaceTime your grandchildrenon that screen.
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You you may right now have aBible on that screen.
I hope you do.
You may it's it's not a badthing in and of itself.
None of us are going to be atzero.
We we hey, I'm nothing withoutmy GPS.
I'm not saying that's bad.
What I am saying is this 22years of our lives.
And you may be in the roomsaying, no, no, Taylor, don't,
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don't, don't, don't blame me.
This you know, that youngergeneration is really up in the
average, and and you're you'rehaving those thoughts.
What's the what's the uh timefor 65 plus?
It's four hours a day.
And so if you've just beenaveraging that since really the
uh let's say 15 years since theiPhone has been uh very popular,
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uh 2.5 of those years are gone.
Uh think about this, just howour culture views what's even
right and appropriate.
You know, there was a day, andand you may remember it on I
Love Lucy when Lucy and Rickywould go to bed at night.
Do you remember this?
They'd head into their room andthey would go into their two
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twin beds.
Because even being married, itwas too scandalous for
television to have them in thesame bed.
And they were a married couple,and they had two twin beds in
that room.
And now look in 2025, when weturn on the television, multiply
that by streaming services thathave a lot less rules than the
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uh the cable or networkprogramming does, and you look
all around.
Uh, think of our music in 2025.
I found this interesting that inthe 70s, uh, 0.6 of every 1,000
words was considered profane inour music in the 70s.
0.6 of every 1,000.
In the 2020s, 25 out of every1,000.
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Now, you probably say this,Taylor, 25 out of 1,000.
That does not seem, I mean,that's not, we don't like that,
but that doesn't seem like tooterribly much.
25 out of 1,000.
Well, think about this.
I've been preaching long enoughto know my average 30-minute
sermon is about 3,000 words.
So I do the math on that.
If this morning 75 words ofthose were profane, I can
promise you two things.
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Number one, it'd be the mostmemorable sermon you've ever
heard.
And number two, it'd be the lastsermon of mine you ever heard.
But you really do the math andyou look at this and just see
where our culture is heading.
I want to do one more thing.
I want to count to three.
One, two, three.
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In that time, there have been4,000 worldwide visits to the
leading website of adultcontent.
4,000 visits in that threeseconds, 78,000 visits in a
minute, 3.5 million, a billion,excuse me, billion, 3.5 billion
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visits in a month to the leadingadult content website.
Now, that is simply the oneleading website.
That doesn't account foreverything, of course.
That's one website.
You look around at our world andwhat we value and what we put on
uh the the podium, the thepedestal, you look around at the
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world and what we are okay with.
We look around at the culturearound us, and what we see is a
world, quite simply, that justneeds Jesus, and what we see is
the fact that if you and I arecalled to live according to the
word of God, we are going tolook different.
And let me tell you something: the world, in the worst way, (21:04):
undefined
they need you to look different.
I would argue this that theworld doesn't know it, but
they're begging you to lookdifferent.
They are begging you to lookdifferent from the world, to not
be conformed to the ways and thepriorities of this world.
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Because I know this, whetherthey know it or not, the world
is looking for somethingdifferent, for something better,
because they've tried the oldways, and time and time again
they do not work and they needsomething different.
Do you look different from theworld?
Do your coworkers know thatyou're a follower of Jesus?
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I don't mean do they know you goto First Baptist Church.
They may, they may not, but dothey know you're a follower of
Jesus?
You're called to look different.
But I love what Paul does here.
He says this do not be conformedto this world, but look what
next, but be transformed by therenewal of your mind.
Here's the beautiful thing (22:07):
it's not just about eliminating the
bad, it's about inserting thegood.
Think about something in uh Lukechapter 11.
Jesus tells a story of a man whohas this evil spirit, and this
evil spirit is removed from him.
Praise God.
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Yet later the evil spiritreturns to this man, finds the
place swept and well kept, callsseven of his friends, and they
all come back in, and this manis worse off than when he
started.
It's a story Jesus tells.
The point of it is simply thisthat this man eliminated the
bad, what didn't need to bethere, but did not bring in the
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good.
So often we do the same thing.
How many times we talk aboutscreen time?
How many times have you lookedat your screen time and you saw
there's that app that's takingtoo much of my time?
And you said this, I'm gonna I'mgonna be a warrior.
I'm I'm deleting, let's say,Instagram.
Instagram has been deleted, it'snot on my phone.
And you look on your screen timenext week, and Instagram says
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zero, and look what elsehappens.
Face uh Facebook doubled.
You seen that one?
Twitter has now doubled.
Because you eliminated whatneeded to go, but then you just
filled the space with otherthings.
I'm not picking on screen timeor your apps this morning.
I'm just telling you, so oftenwe eliminate, but don't bring in
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the good.
What is the good?
To be transformed by the renewalof your mind, to let God do the
work of transforming us andreally renewing our mind.
Renewal.
That's a word maybe we use nowthan ever as we think about
subscription renewals everymonth, every year.
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What does it mean to be renewed?
To be made new, to be refreshed,to be really turned inside out,
upside down, and and changed.
And our minds have not just runaway from the things of this
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world and the priorities andpractices of this world, but
they have allowed the HolySpirit to do his work in us so
that we are now made new.
Well, here's the question,Pastor.
How in the world do we do this?
We do it with this by havingfellowship with the renewer, by
having fellowship with the onewho is able and capable and
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willing of renewing our minds.
Okay, practically, how do we dothis?
I want to just give us a couplethings.
Number one is this just run tohis word.
And I mean this, don't walk toit.
Run to it.
And I know I sound like justsome pastor telling you, read
the Bible.
It's more than that.
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Commune with the Father.
When you get up in the morningbefore anything else, run to his
word.
You say, Pastor, I don't knowhow to do it, I don't know where
to go.
Well, uh none of us really knowthat well.
I'll tell you this (25:17):
wake up tomorrow morning, read Psalm 1.
Meditate on it.
And then Tuesday morning, here'syour task.
Read Psalm 2.
On Wednesday.
You guessed it, Psalm 3.
Do the same thing with John.
You can do John instead.
John chapter 1.
Half of John chapter 1.
Whatever that looks like, buildthat consistency and look at
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distractions.
Look at anything else thatfights for your attention.
Look at your calendar.
Look at where you've got to be.
Whatever it is, look at it, andyou tell it to flee because
you've got to get with yourfather.
Make practicing the presence ofGod the most important thing in
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your life.
Set your alarm to it.
Find your calendar and write itin there.
Say, no, no, no.
At this time, I am practicingthe presence of God.
I'm running to his word, anddistractions are not allowed in
this moment.
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And feast on the word of God.
And commune with your Fatherthrough prayer.
I love Charles Spurgeon, thegreat preacher of the 1800s, who
said this, I'd give up mysermons long before I gave up my
prayer.
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And as someone who would love tohear Charles Spurgeon preach,
and many did, they probably alltell them, No, no, don't give up
your sermons.
But Spurgeon said this, you cankeep the sermons.
Don't take my communion with theFather.
I want to ask a question.
Is the practice of prayer apriority in your life?
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If you say, Pastor, I'm not allthat good at it.
I get distracted.
I don't even know where tobegin.
I just want to invite you.
I really want to welcome you tothe human race this morning.
We're all in it.
There's none of us who have aPhD in prayer.
A few have made it to middleschool.
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Most of us are in elementaryschool, and we're happy to be
here and we're walking towardsJesus together.
And so, what can you do?
You can sit down and you can putdistractions away and just
commune with your Father.
If you want a great method to doit, come back tonight at 5
o'clock.
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We're gonna pray together in away that you can do every day at
home if you want to.
But just being in the presenceof God.
But you say, Taylor, I promiseyou, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not
messing around with you.
I've tried, and it's just hard,and and my words don't come.
It's not let me ask you aquestion.
My daughter Olivia, in the sameway with James, as he was
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learning to talk, my daughterOlivia is learning to talk, and
and she's starting to get a fewwords going.
But let me ask you a question.
When she comes to me and shejust says the word dada, well,
first of all, when she doesthat, literally, she could ask
for anything in the world andit'd be it would be hers, and
and I would go buy it for her,right?
She she could have my key to theworld on the cruise ship if she
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just says dada.
But when she comes to me, andwhen James used to do it, come
to me and just say dada.
Let me ask you a question.
Did I do I look back at them andGod forbid, I hate to even say
it, do I look back at them andsay, hey, hey, Olivia, have a
when you can get a sentencetogether, maybe come chat with
me then.
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When you can get kind of asubject and direct object, and
there's a verb and a noun andthese things, then maybe we can
have more of a comfort.
No, no, no.
I invite her to me time and timeagain, and as often as she just
wants to say dada or mumble outany other word, uh, whether you
can understand what it is ornot, guess what?
Every time I want it, I'll takeit, I smile upon it.
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There's nothing I love more thanhearing that.
Is God your father?
Because my Bible told me he was.
And if God is your father, doyou not think that he delights
to hear his children come tothem, to him?
And we say, I don't have theperfect words.
Well, that's good.
That's okay.
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Just come to him with theimperfect words, lay your
request before him, or just sitsilently in his presence,
practicing the presence of God.
Run to the Father, let your mindbe renewed.
The verse ends like this that bytesting you may discern what is
the will of God, what is theGood and acceptable and perfect.
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It's interesting as we are apeople who practice the presence
of God as we seek His face, aswe seek His will for our lives.
I don't want to sit here and saywe suddenly have all the
answers, not at all.
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I don't want to sit here and saythere's we get the full
blueprint of what's ahead in ourlives and we never have to
wonder where God's taking us,anything like that.
I'm not saying any of that.
What I am saying is as youcommune with your Father and you
practice the presence of Jesusand you live life in communion
with him, it's just so funny howso much of life with him just
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gets more natural.
How suddenly the will of God itbecomes more natural for you to
see and understand.
And even at those points in yourlife where you're seeking the
will of God, maybe you get acurveball, you can even sit back
and say, But I can trust myFather in this.
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That I know He's taking mesomewhere in this.
There is something about a lifeof practicing the presence of
God and your mind being renewedby Him.
We can see all throughoutScripture that gives you a
peace, even in the storm, givesyou a joy, even in the sorrow,
(31:38):
gives you a hope that nothingelse can give.
Here's what I believe.
I believe that you and I, andreally I believe this church,
I'll speak for all of us thismorning.
I believe this church sits at acrossroads.
I want to be clear.
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It's not simply specific to ourchurch.
I believe every church sits atthis same crossroads constantly,
but I believe we all in thisroom as a church, we sit at a
crossroads.
Because here's what I trulybelieve that option number one
is this.
I I truly believe that a churchthis size, with just your
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natural talents, with a churchbudget like we have, praise God
for it, that we could go, and ifwe just press the right buttons
and if we pull the right levers,we could make church go.
I mean, I kind of do believethat.
That we could continue to havethe activities we have, I love
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them.
And that under our own power, wecould probably make them go.
That uh we could get the rightvolunteers in place, we could do
the right things, and we couldprobably uh maintain a a good
group of us coming, we couldprobably maintain just a good
thing going.
I I really believe that if wedesired, we could press the
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right buttons, we could pull theright levers, and I truly
believe church could go forward.
That's option number one, andthat's one option, okay?
But option number two is this wecould be a church that beholds
the face of God.
We could.
A church that practices thepresence of Jesus in such a way
(33:30):
that the aroma of Christ is justthick in our midst and the
community is changed because ofit.
We could be a church that reallyis a city on a hill, a light on
the hill.
Drive down to the bottom ofNorthwest Avenue right now and
look up.
You're gonna see our domestanding above the whole town.
And I just pray that we would bea church that, as anyone and
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everyone looks to that, theywould see a place where God's
presence is real and active andmoving.
And we could have all of ourevents and everything and yet
have God's spirit so behind itand in it because the people of
God in our midst are completelycaptivated and undone by knowing
(34:15):
the presence and person of JesusChrist, that we can't stop being
a people in prayer, and we can'tstop being a people serving, and
we can't stop telling othersabout Jesus, and we don't have
to drain the Baptistry, and wejust can't stop this because
it's really not us doing it,because the Holy Spirit is doing
it.
Option two is simply this thatwe would behold the face of God.
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And we can choose option one.
But I got a feeling no one inhere wants that.
I've got a feeling everyone inhere, collectively and
individually, you want to saythat I know what it is to be in
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the presence of Jesus.
And I just want us to pray forthat.
Lord God, it is our desire.
Every one of us that knows you,Lord, in our individual lives,
it is our desire that we wouldbe people as individuals that
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practice your presence.
That know what it is to followyou, to know what it is to have
fellowship with you, to knowwhat it is to live life with
you.
And so for myself, for myfamily, for each person in this
room that knows you, Lord God, Ijust pray that you would do a
work in their lives.
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That step by step, day by day,that they would dwell with you.
Make that a priority.
God, the truth of the matter isis that you're ready.
You are ready, you are willing.
(36:11):
The question is for each one ofus individually, are we ready
and are we willing?
Lord, would we be?
And God, not just asindividuals, but as a church.
Once again, you are ready andyou are willing.
Would we as a church be readyand willing?
Would we as a church be a churchthat knows what it is to
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practice the presence of Jesus?
Would we practice your presenceat a church?
One, so that we can be built up,but also so that a community
that is lost can see youclearly.
Can be so affected and changedand helped by the ministries of
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this church.
Lord, would be we be that kindof people?
And would it be fueled bynothing else but your spirit?
Because that's how it can belasting.
And so, Lord, make us a church,Lord, that seeks your face.
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Lord, if there's even one inthis room right now that doesn't
know you, they don't need towait till tomorrow, they don't
need to wait till next week.
Even now, would they give theirheart to you?
If they need to walk right downin a minute and talk with me
about what it means to followJesus, I'd love nothing more.
(37:42):
Any decisions that may need tobe made, Lord, would those
happen now and for the rest ofus?
Maybe we just need to respond inprayer, maybe we just need to
respond in worship.
But however we respond, let usrespond.
And Lord, with our lives, wegive that blank check over,
Lord.
Would we hold nothing back?
(38:04):
Would you take our lives and letthem be used for you and your
glory?
Would we respond now, however,we need in Christ's name?
Amen.
Would you stand as we worship?
I'll be down front if you haveany decisions.
Please come see me.
Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon
Podcast.
My name is Taylor Gere, and Ihave the privilege of being the
pastor here at First Baptist,and I want to thank you for
listening into our sermon thisweek.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist ElDoredo.
(00:25):
Would you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
Open with me to Romans chapter12.
Romans chapter 12 as we continueour series throughout really the
year in the book of Romans.
(00:46):
Romans chapter 12.
I'm going to read verses 1 and2.
I appeal to you, therefore,brothers, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies as aliving sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is yourspiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed by the
(01:09):
renewal of your mind.
That by testing you may discernwhat is the will of God, what is
good and acceptable and perfect.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, by your spirit thismorning, would you teach us and
(01:32):
transform us and mold us?
And Lord, truly our greatestneed is to behold you.
And so, Lord, by your word,through the power of your
spirit, once again, would youteach us, Lord?
Speak through me, speak to us,speak to our hearts, Lord, in
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Christ's name.
Amen.
As we look at Romans 12 through16, we've we've covered a lot of
ground this year, and now wearrive at these final few
chapters of Romans that reallyserve in a lot of ways as the
practical side of Romans.
And so if for 11 chapters we'vewalked through what it means to
(02:15):
be children of God, what itmeans to have that positional
standing that we've learnedabout before God, well, now we
turn the corner, okay?
If that is your standing, how doyou live that life?
What does that mean for yourday-to-day life to have that
standing before the Lord?
And I want us to see two thingsthis morning.
And number one is simply thisour lives are to be lived in
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rightful response to God.
Our lives, your life, is to belived in rightful response to
God.
Look with me at the verybeginning of verse one of
chapter 12.
I appeal to you, therefore,brothers.
You can think of that generally,brothers and sisters.
I appeal to you, first of all,that word I appeal to you, Paul
(03:02):
is urging you.
This is a serious urge.
This is not a mere suggestion oran idea.
Uh, you know, try this on forsize, see how it works for you.
No, no.
I urge you, uh, therefore,brothers and sisters, and then
he continues, by the mercies ofGod.
And so he's about to ask us asbelievers to do something.
(03:24):
He's about to ask you and I totake a step in our faith, in our
sanctification.
But first he says this, underwhat basis, or really, why
should you do this?
And he he prefaces with this bythe mercies of God.
What does he mean by the merciesof God?
Well, uh a few things we couldthink of.
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We could really take up thewhole first 11 chapters of
Romans.
If you want the mercies of Godas seen in the person of Jesus
Christ, read the whole letter upto this point.
Chapters 1 through 3, we sawjust how sinful we were, and it
was a bad picture.
Uh halfway through chapter 3, wethen saw the picture of what
(04:07):
Christ has done for us, and allthe way through chapter 8, we
saw that Christ has been thesacrifice for us to forgive
sins.
Not only that, chapter 8, we sawour assurance of salvation, both
in this present moment, but forthe future for all eternity.
Chapters 9 through 11, we sawthe beauty of God's sovereignty
in salvation.
(04:29):
We saw this full picture of themercies of God.
And what Paul wants to show usas he's leading us towards this
practical section is simplythis: that it is God's mercy
that fuels our action.
It is God's work that fuels ourobedience to him.
Another evidence of this, thinkof uh Exodus chapter 20.
(04:53):
Uh God is meeting with Moses atSinai, giving the Ten
Commandments.
And in chapter 20, you mightask, well, what comes first?
And you'd probably say this,have no other gods before me.
And you would be right, but alsonot quite right, because the
reality is in Exodus 20, verse 1and 2, there's something that
happens first.
It says that the Lord spoke toMoses, and he says this, I am
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the Lord who called you out ofthe land of Egypt.
Therefore, have no other godsbefore you, and then the nine
other commandments.
But do you see what happens inthat moment?
Before giving us that law, thecommandments, where does God
start?
I am the Lord that called youout of Egypt.
So, but before anything elseregarding our obedience, and
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trust me, we're believers, weshould be, will be obedient to
God's call on our lives.
But even before that, what doeshe do?
He reminds us of what he'salready done.
And so our obedience is based onwhat Christ has done.
Not in obedience, as we alwaystalk about, to earn our way to
him, but in obedience becausewe've already found our standing
(06:02):
in him.
And so I urge you, brothers, Iappeal to you, brothers and
sisters, by the mercies of God,and now here's what he's going
to ask us to do (06:10):
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
To present your bodies as aliving sacrifice.
An old writer, George McDonald,said this: that the chief law of
hell is this, that I am my own.
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The chief law of hell is this, Iam my own.
Do you know we live in a worldand in a culture that that buys
into that lie, that I am my own?
What do I mean by that?
That that buys into the lie thatI get to be the master, the
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king, the ruler of my life, andI get to sit on the throne of my
life.
When as believers, we know this,that we haven't been invited to
now come take the place on thethrone.
We've been invited to live infreedom under the rightful one
on the throne.
And we get to live in thefreedom that comes from that.
(07:13):
And now that one, God Himself,has uh called us to do
something, to present our bodiesas a living sacrifice.
I remember when I was a kid, Ium went on a uh a cruise with my
grandparents, took the wholefamily on a Disney cruise.
Okay, it's uh it's it'severything with Mickey Mouse,
(07:33):
but you're just on the water.
Uh it's amazing.
Uh we had a great time, and andwe still joke about this in our
family.
Our grandparents took us on thistrip, and and you got this key
card, and it's it's like a keycard that works at any hotel
you've checked into in the lastyou know 30 years.
You you put that key cord keycard in, and your stateroom door
opens, you walk in, but it wascalled the key to the world,
(07:57):
okay?
And it did more than just openyour door.
And so, all the grandkids, wegot a key to the world.
And and what we would do is,yeah, it'd get us in the room
and all that, but more thanthat, it's unbelievable this
little card.
At the beginning of the week, wewould go and we would want to
get the soft drink package forthe week, unlimited soft drinks,
(08:18):
of course we did.
And so we went to the guy, wehanded him this card, and we got
it.
It was ours.
No money changed hands, nothinghappened on our end, just that
card.
If you're passing by the giftshop and you see a uh you know,
Buzz Lightyear stuffed animalthat you just have to have,
here's the beautiful thing.
If you just hand them that card,you can take that little guy
(08:38):
with you.
It's yours.
And so for us grandkids, it wasjust the most unbelievable
thing, this key to the world.
Here's what I didn't know.
That as we were getting ready toarrive back at at uh our port to
go home, uh my grandfather, uhMickey Mouse, gave him a call uh
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to let him know some of thecharges that that he owed.
What I didn't know, as uh asjust the grandchild having the
time of my life, that though itwas free to me, it was not free.
And my grandfather found outjust how not free all of this
stuff was.
And our family, uh, we stilljoke about that, but for me, it
was just a blank check.
(09:21):
It was just a thing that at anypoint it could be laid on the
table, this blank check, and andand and it could do whatever uh
I needed it to do in thatmoment.
Here's uh the beauty, here's thethe, and you may say this is a
little scary, here's the realityof the Christian life that when
we come to Christ, what we do,we have our standing before him.
(09:43):
Here is our job and our role asbelievers is to lay our blank
check on the table before theLord and say this whatever you
need to do with my life, it'syours.
Now, here's the good news.
The Lord God is a lot better atgoverning and ruling these
things than a grandchild on acruise ship.
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The good news is this that as welay our blank check on the
table, quite literally, put ouryes on the table before we even
know what the question is fromthe Lord, we put ourselves
before him, this livingsacrifice.
The Lord then will do things inour lives and through our lives
and for our lives and with ourlives that we can never imagine.
(10:30):
And you will see the Lord workin ways as you bring that blank
check, that yes before him thatyou never thought possible.
You will see the Lord if you arepracticing the presence of God
and bringing your life as thissacrifice, you will see him do
things that you can't imagine.
And I know we're here thismorning and we're saying,
Taylor, that's a little scary,though.
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Because it's easy to say I wantto do that, it's harder in the
moment.
To put that blank check on thetable.
Because the reality, Pastor, isthis what if God calls me to
something that's far outside mycomfort zone?
My family, we've got a goodthing going.
The status quo works great forus.
What if God calls me to dosomething?
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What if God calls me to actuallywitness, evangelize to that
person that's been in the backof my mind?
What if God calls me to restorethat broken relationship and I
know that person doesn't deservemy forgiveness or restoration?
What if God calls me to dosomething that's so far outside
my comfort zone and I just getinto so much more than I signed
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up for?
I I think the better question isthis what if God doesn't?
And what I mean by that is this.
What if you're so closed off tothe movement of God in your life
that you get what you're after?
And God doesn't use you, and Goddoesn't move in your life.
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And God's will will be donebecause nothing can stop the
will of God, but you don't getthe privilege, the joy, the
beauty of getting to be onmission and letting Him do this
work through you.
What if that doesn't happen?
And my biggest fear for you, mybiggest fear for me, my biggest
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fear for my children, my biggestfear for all of us is this that
we would get to the end of ourdays and realize that while
we've had a beautiful life andwe've done a lot of good things
and and you know we we've keptup the status quo that in so
many ways we have wasted thedays God gave us.
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Because we've been unwilling topractice the presence of God in
our lives, to lay the blankcheck before him and say, God,
your way, your will in my life.
By the mercies of God, becausewhat he's already done, present
your bodies as a livingsacrifice, holy and acceptable
to God, which is your spiritualworship.
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You may have a translation thatsays, which is your reasonable
worship.
Just think in these terms.
This is the rightful worship.
This is what God deserves in ourlives.
Well, let's be clear, Goddeserves more than what I can
give him, but he better get allthat I can give him.
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That's a way I can worship.
And that word worship, we wethink about it, and and we think
about it in a lot of good ways.
What we do right here on Sundaymornings, what we're gonna do
tonight at five o'clock when wecome back, we think about
worship in those terms, and bythe way, we absolutely should.
That is worship.
It's not less than that, butit's certainly more.
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It's certainly a way we canworship with our entire lives,
by daily, moment by moment,bringing our sacrifice of
ourselves to Him, saying, LordJesus, whatever you do, whatever
you need with my life, howeveryou want to use me, your will be
done.
That's a way we worship.
(14:12):
But number two, I want to seethis.
Not only are our lives to belived in rightful response to
God, but number two is simplythis.
Our lives are to be lived indaring distinction from the
world.
Our lives are to be lived indaring distinction from the
world.
Now, you say, Pastor, why do yousay daring distinction?
(14:35):
Is just because you're apreacher and you like when you
use the same letters.
It absolutely is, but it's morethan that.
It's also because of this thatyou and I both know if if you
live out the Christian lifepracticing the presence of
Jesus, living that blank checkbefore him, letting him work in
(14:56):
your life.
Here's what is not breaking newsto you that if you do that, you
will look different from theworld.
And why do I call it a daringdistinction?
Because there may be consequencewith that.
It is not the easier path.
It is, in fact, the moredifficult path to look different
(15:20):
than the world, to thinkdifferently from the world, to
live your life for Jesus Christin such a way that you look
different.
That's why verse 2 says this donot be conformed to this world.
Do not be conformed to thisworld.
I want to say this.
We look around, our world is abeautiful place.
I love this world.
(15:41):
I love the people of this worldall around us, but we also know
this it is a very, very brokenplace.
We say that all the time.
You don't have to look far tosee the brokenness in our world.
And while let's be clear, asbelievers, we are called to be
in the world.
We are not called to go formsome holy huddle somewhere else.
(16:03):
We are called to be in theworld, to live amongst the
world, but not be of the world,not be conformed to the world.
What does it mean to beconformed to the world?
It could mean any one of tenbillion things.
I've been thinking so much thisweek about what the world
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values, what the world gives itstime to, what the world uh puts
on the throne of its life andits heart.
Think for a second with me.
What would you say is the theaverage amount of screen time?
Now you're getting nervous.
The average amount of screentime for the individual in the
(16:47):
U.S.
That's not age specific, that'snot life stage specific, just
the average screen time for aday in the U.S.
That time is this, six hours and40 minutes.
Six hours and 40 minutes.
Now let's take that over thecourse, a child born right now,
(17:08):
over the course of his or hernext 80 years, on their 80th
birthday, if they just hold thataverage, if they can keep that
average, they will look back ontheir 80th birthday and they
will find that 22 years has beenspent on a screen.
Am I saying screens are bad?
Absolutely not.
You FaceTime your grandchildrenon that screen.
(17:28):
You you may right now have aBible on that screen.
I hope you do.
You may it's it's not a badthing in and of itself.
None of us are going to be atzero.
We we hey, I'm nothing withoutmy GPS.
I'm not saying that's bad.
What I am saying is this 22years of our lives.
And you may be in the roomsaying, no, no, Taylor, don't,
(17:49):
don't, don't, don't blame me.
This you know, that youngergeneration is really up in the
average, and and you're you'rehaving those thoughts.
What's the what's the uh timefor 65 plus?
It's four hours a day.
And so if you've just beenaveraging that since really the
uh let's say 15 years since theiPhone has been uh very popular,
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uh 2.5 of those years are gone.
Uh think about this, just howour culture views what's even
right and appropriate.
You know, there was a day, andand you may remember it on I
Love Lucy when Lucy and Rickywould go to bed at night.
Do you remember this?
They'd head into their room andthey would go into their two
(18:31):
twin beds.
Because even being married, itwas too scandalous for
television to have them in thesame bed.
And they were a married couple,and they had two twin beds in
that room.
And now look in 2025, when weturn on the television, multiply
that by streaming services thathave a lot less rules than the
(18:54):
uh the cable or networkprogramming does, and you look
all around.
Uh, think of our music in 2025.
I found this interesting that inthe 70s, uh, 0.6 of every 1,000
words was considered profane inour music in the 70s.
0.6 of every 1,000.
In the 2020s, 25 out of every1,000.
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Now, you probably say this,Taylor, 25 out of 1,000.
That does not seem, I mean,that's not, we don't like that,
but that doesn't seem like tooterribly much.
25 out of 1,000.
Well, think about this.
I've been preaching long enoughto know my average 30-minute
sermon is about 3,000 words.
So I do the math on that.
If this morning 75 words ofthose were profane, I can
promise you two things.
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Number one, it'd be the mostmemorable sermon you've ever
heard.
And number two, it'd be the lastsermon of mine you ever heard.
But you really do the math andyou look at this and just see
where our culture is heading.
I want to do one more thing.
I want to count to three.
One, two, three.
(20:01):
In that time, there have been4,000 worldwide visits to the
leading website of adultcontent.
4,000 visits in that threeseconds, 78,000 visits in a
minute, 3.5 million, a billion,excuse me, billion, 3.5 billion
(20:22):
visits in a month to the leadingadult content website.
Now, that is simply the oneleading website.
That doesn't account foreverything, of course.
That's one website.
You look around at our world andwhat we value and what we put on
uh the the podium, the thepedestal, you look around at the
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world and what we are okay with.
We look around at the culturearound us, and what we see is a
world, quite simply, that justneeds Jesus, and what we see is
the fact that if you and I arecalled to live according to the
word of God, we are going tolook different.
And let me tell you something: the world, in the worst way, (21:04):
undefined
they need you to look different.
I would argue this that theworld doesn't know it, but
they're begging you to lookdifferent.
They are begging you to lookdifferent from the world, to not
be conformed to the ways and thepriorities of this world.
(21:27):
Because I know this, whetherthey know it or not, the world
is looking for somethingdifferent, for something better,
because they've tried the oldways, and time and time again
they do not work and they needsomething different.
Do you look different from theworld?
Do your coworkers know thatyou're a follower of Jesus?
(21:47):
I don't mean do they know you goto First Baptist Church.
They may, they may not, but dothey know you're a follower of
Jesus?
You're called to look different.
But I love what Paul does here.
He says this do not be conformedto this world, but look what
next, but be transformed by therenewal of your mind.
Here's the beautiful thing (22:07):
it's not just about eliminating the
bad, it's about inserting thegood.
Think about something in uh Lukechapter 11.
Jesus tells a story of a man whohas this evil spirit, and this
evil spirit is removed from him.
Praise God.
(22:28):
Yet later the evil spiritreturns to this man, finds the
place swept and well kept, callsseven of his friends, and they
all come back in, and this manis worse off than when he
started.
It's a story Jesus tells.
The point of it is simply thisthat this man eliminated the
bad, what didn't need to bethere, but did not bring in the
(22:51):
good.
So often we do the same thing.
How many times we talk aboutscreen time?
How many times have you lookedat your screen time and you saw
there's that app that's takingtoo much of my time?
And you said this, I'm gonna I'mgonna be a warrior.
I'm I'm deleting, let's say,Instagram.
Instagram has been deleted, it'snot on my phone.
And you look on your screen timenext week, and Instagram says
(23:14):
zero, and look what elsehappens.
Face uh Facebook doubled.
You seen that one?
Twitter has now doubled.
Because you eliminated whatneeded to go, but then you just
filled the space with otherthings.
I'm not picking on screen timeor your apps this morning.
I'm just telling you, so oftenwe eliminate, but don't bring in
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the good.
What is the good?
To be transformed by the renewalof your mind, to let God do the
work of transforming us andreally renewing our mind.
Renewal.
That's a word maybe we use nowthan ever as we think about
subscription renewals everymonth, every year.
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What does it mean to be renewed?
To be made new, to be refreshed,to be really turned inside out,
upside down, and and changed.
And our minds have not just runaway from the things of this
(24:18):
world and the priorities andpractices of this world, but
they have allowed the HolySpirit to do his work in us so
that we are now made new.
Well, here's the question,Pastor.
How in the world do we do this?
We do it with this by havingfellowship with the renewer, by
having fellowship with the onewho is able and capable and
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willing of renewing our minds.
Okay, practically, how do we dothis?
I want to just give us a couplethings.
Number one is this just run tohis word.
And I mean this, don't walk toit.
Run to it.
And I know I sound like justsome pastor telling you, read
the Bible.
It's more than that.
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Commune with the Father.
When you get up in the morningbefore anything else, run to his
word.
You say, Pastor, I don't knowhow to do it, I don't know where
to go.
Well, uh none of us really knowthat well.
I'll tell you this (25:17):
wake up tomorrow morning, read Psalm 1.
Meditate on it.
And then Tuesday morning, here'syour task.
Read Psalm 2.
On Wednesday.
You guessed it, Psalm 3.
Do the same thing with John.
You can do John instead.
John chapter 1.
Half of John chapter 1.
Whatever that looks like, buildthat consistency and look at
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distractions.
Look at anything else thatfights for your attention.
Look at your calendar.
Look at where you've got to be.
Whatever it is, look at it, andyou tell it to flee because
you've got to get with yourfather.
Make practicing the presence ofGod the most important thing in
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your life.
Set your alarm to it.
Find your calendar and write itin there.
Say, no, no, no.
At this time, I am practicingthe presence of God.
I'm running to his word, anddistractions are not allowed in
this moment.
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And feast on the word of God.
And commune with your Fatherthrough prayer.
I love Charles Spurgeon, thegreat preacher of the 1800s, who
said this, I'd give up mysermons long before I gave up my
prayer.
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And as someone who would love tohear Charles Spurgeon preach,
and many did, they probably alltell them, No, no, don't give up
your sermons.
But Spurgeon said this, you cankeep the sermons.
Don't take my communion with theFather.
I want to ask a question.
Is the practice of prayer apriority in your life?
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If you say, Pastor, I'm not allthat good at it.
I get distracted.
I don't even know where tobegin.
I just want to invite you.
I really want to welcome you tothe human race this morning.
We're all in it.
There's none of us who have aPhD in prayer.
A few have made it to middleschool.
(27:33):
Most of us are in elementaryschool, and we're happy to be
here and we're walking towardsJesus together.
And so, what can you do?
You can sit down and you can putdistractions away and just
commune with your Father.
If you want a great method to doit, come back tonight at 5
o'clock.
(27:53):
We're gonna pray together in away that you can do every day at
home if you want to.
But just being in the presenceof God.
But you say, Taylor, I promiseyou, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not
messing around with you.
I've tried, and it's just hard,and and my words don't come.
It's not let me ask you aquestion.
My daughter Olivia, in the sameway with James, as he was
(28:15):
learning to talk, my daughterOlivia is learning to talk, and
and she's starting to get a fewwords going.
But let me ask you a question.
When she comes to me and shejust says the word dada, well,
first of all, when she doesthat, literally, she could ask
for anything in the world andit'd be it would be hers, and
and I would go buy it for her,right?
She she could have my key to theworld on the cruise ship if she
(28:37):
just says dada.
But when she comes to me, andwhen James used to do it, come
to me and just say dada.
Let me ask you a question.
Did I do I look back at them andGod forbid, I hate to even say
it, do I look back at them andsay, hey, hey, Olivia, have a
when you can get a sentencetogether, maybe come chat with
me then.
(28:57):
When you can get kind of asubject and direct object, and
there's a verb and a noun andthese things, then maybe we can
have more of a comfort.
No, no, no.
I invite her to me time and timeagain, and as often as she just
wants to say dada or mumble outany other word, uh, whether you
can understand what it is ornot, guess what?
Every time I want it, I'll takeit, I smile upon it.
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There's nothing I love more thanhearing that.
Is God your father?
Because my Bible told me he was.
And if God is your father, doyou not think that he delights
to hear his children come tothem, to him?
And we say, I don't have theperfect words.
Well, that's good.
That's okay.
(29:41):
Just come to him with theimperfect words, lay your
request before him, or just sitsilently in his presence,
practicing the presence of God.
Run to the Father, let your mindbe renewed.
The verse ends like this that bytesting you may discern what is
the will of God, what is theGood and acceptable and perfect.
(30:06):
It's interesting as we are apeople who practice the presence
of God as we seek His face, aswe seek His will for our lives.
I don't want to sit here and saywe suddenly have all the
answers, not at all.
(30:26):
I don't want to sit here and saythere's we get the full
blueprint of what's ahead in ourlives and we never have to
wonder where God's taking us,anything like that.
I'm not saying any of that.
What I am saying is as youcommune with your Father and you
practice the presence of Jesusand you live life in communion
with him, it's just so funny howso much of life with him just
(30:52):
gets more natural.
How suddenly the will of God itbecomes more natural for you to
see and understand.
And even at those points in yourlife where you're seeking the
will of God, maybe you get acurveball, you can even sit back
and say, But I can trust myFather in this.
(31:15):
That I know He's taking mesomewhere in this.
There is something about a lifeof practicing the presence of
God and your mind being renewedby Him.
We can see all throughoutScripture that gives you a
peace, even in the storm, givesyou a joy, even in the sorrow,
(31:38):
gives you a hope that nothingelse can give.
Here's what I believe.
I believe that you and I, andreally I believe this church,
I'll speak for all of us thismorning.
I believe this church sits at acrossroads.
I want to be clear.
(31:59):
It's not simply specific to ourchurch.
I believe every church sits atthis same crossroads constantly,
but I believe we all in thisroom as a church, we sit at a
crossroads.
Because here's what I trulybelieve that option number one
is this.
I I truly believe that a churchthis size, with just your
(32:21):
natural talents, with a churchbudget like we have, praise God
for it, that we could go, and ifwe just press the right buttons
and if we pull the right levers,we could make church go.
I mean, I kind of do believethat.
That we could continue to havethe activities we have, I love
(32:43):
them.
And that under our own power, wecould probably make them go.
That uh we could get the rightvolunteers in place, we could do
the right things, and we couldprobably uh maintain a a good
group of us coming, we couldprobably maintain just a good
thing going.
I I really believe that if wedesired, we could press the
(33:06):
right buttons, we could pull theright levers, and I truly
believe church could go forward.
That's option number one, andthat's one option, okay?
But option number two is this wecould be a church that beholds
the face of God.
We could.
A church that practices thepresence of Jesus in such a way
(33:30):
that the aroma of Christ is justthick in our midst and the
community is changed because ofit.
We could be a church that reallyis a city on a hill, a light on
the hill.
Drive down to the bottom ofNorthwest Avenue right now and
look up.
You're gonna see our domestanding above the whole town.
And I just pray that we would bea church that, as anyone and
(33:53):
everyone looks to that, theywould see a place where God's
presence is real and active andmoving.
And we could have all of ourevents and everything and yet
have God's spirit so behind itand in it because the people of
God in our midst are completelycaptivated and undone by knowing
(34:15):
the presence and person of JesusChrist, that we can't stop being
a people in prayer, and we can'tstop being a people serving, and
we can't stop telling othersabout Jesus, and we don't have
to drain the Baptistry, and wejust can't stop this because
it's really not us doing it,because the Holy Spirit is doing
it.
Option two is simply this thatwe would behold the face of God.
(34:41):
And we can choose option one.
But I got a feeling no one inhere wants that.
I've got a feeling everyone inhere, collectively and
individually, you want to saythat I know what it is to be in
(35:04):
the presence of Jesus.
And I just want us to pray forthat.
Lord God, it is our desire.
Every one of us that knows you,Lord, in our individual lives,
it is our desire that we wouldbe people as individuals that
(35:27):
practice your presence.
That know what it is to followyou, to know what it is to have
fellowship with you, to knowwhat it is to live life with
you.
And so for myself, for myfamily, for each person in this
room that knows you, Lord God, Ijust pray that you would do a
work in their lives.
(35:49):
That step by step, day by day,that they would dwell with you.
Make that a priority.
God, the truth of the matter isis that you're ready.
You are ready, you are willing.
(36:11):
The question is for each one ofus individually, are we ready
and are we willing?
Lord, would we be?
And God, not just asindividuals, but as a church.
Once again, you are ready andyou are willing.
Would we as a church be readyand willing?
Would we as a church be a churchthat knows what it is to
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practice the presence of Jesus?
Would we practice your presenceat a church?
One, so that we can be built up,but also so that a community
that is lost can see youclearly.
Can be so affected and changedand helped by the ministries of
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this church.
Lord, would be we be that kindof people?
And would it be fueled bynothing else but your spirit?
Because that's how it can belasting.
And so, Lord, make us a church,Lord, that seeks your face.
(37:20):
Lord, if there's even one inthis room right now that doesn't
know you, they don't need towait till tomorrow, they don't
need to wait till next week.
Even now, would they give theirheart to you?
If they need to walk right downin a minute and talk with me
about what it means to followJesus, I'd love nothing more.
(37:42):
Any decisions that may need tobe made, Lord, would those
happen now and for the rest ofus?
Maybe we just need to respond inprayer, maybe we just need to
respond in worship.
But however we respond, let usrespond.
And Lord, with our lives, wegive that blank check over,
Lord.
Would we hold nothing back?
(38:04):
Would you take our lives and letthem be used for you and your
glory?
Would we respond now, however,we need in Christ's name?
Amen.
Would you stand as we worship?
I'll be down front if you haveany decisions.
Please come see me.
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