March 31, 2025 • 50 mins
In this sermon, Pastor Karl explores Romans 12, where Paul shifts from 11 chapters of doctrine—God’s mercy and grace through Christ—to a call for transformed living. He unpacks verses 1-2, urging believers to offer themselves as "living sacrifices," choosing holiness and renewing their minds to discern God’s will, contrasting worldly conformity with the metamorphosis of a Christ-centered life. Pastor Karl emphasizes that knowing truth must lead to doing and becoming, using personal anecdotes to highlight how a renewed mind sparks a shifted life.
Focusing on verses 3-21, Pastor Karl examines spiritual gifts like prophecy, service, and mercy, suggesting Romans 12 offers the core list for expounding God’s Word or expanding His work, encouraging their use over mere possession. He outlines practical transformation—genuine love, abhorring evil, honoring others, and overcoming evil with good—stressing that our lives preach a sermon to those around us. This message challenges us to reject conformity and fully embrace a life that reflects God’s grace.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Well, welcome.
I appreciate you being here.
I know there's a lot of placesyou could be on a Sunday morning,
and I count it an honor and a privilegeto get to be here with you.
A couple of things,just by way of information for you.
Some of you are, aware of,
John Wright going in for surgery.
Heather here, his wife is our our lead
(00:23):
administrator, both for the churchand for the Maywood Center.
And so John has been with us for yearsand years and years.
Dear friend, great servant of Godthrough this church went in for,
went in for a quadruple bypass surgery
on Friday and they got in and decidedthey only had to do three and not four.
So that was an internal prayerright there.
But he's in the ICU, was recoveringwell, got a long road, as you can imagine.
(00:47):
So I just give you that for those of youwho are aware of John and we're wondering,
that's the information for those of youwho have no idea what I'm talking about,
that's the information.
But if
you'll just put John on your prayerlist, please, when you go before
God and pray on his behalf,I appreciate that.
And Sean's great to see you herethis morning, man.
(01:07):
I've been praying for you.
Love you.
John, thank you
for your investment in Sean's lifeand, being the guy.
Being the guy.
Hey, Romans 12 for going through thethrough the book of my friend Johnny isn't
here, is he?
Is Johnny Richards here?
He was.
He was here.
First service, Johnny ritual.
(01:30):
Vietnam veteran guy.
Just a just a stud of a man.
You've been serving this churcha long time.
At the door.
Hasn't been around as much latelywith some health stuff.
And he's moving with his familyto Washington.
And so I was asking
because we kind of honored himin the first service,
but I guess he needed to take off.
(01:51):
So anyway, again, it'sone of those things, if you know Johnny,
you know, just keep him in your prayers.
It's a good move for him.
If you don't know Johnny, keep him inyour prayers.
It's a good move for him.
But anyway, I just wanted to be ableacknowledge him if he were here.
I love that guy.
Hey, Romans 12,
(02:12):
we're going chapter by chapterthrough this book,
and Romans 12, Paul turns a corner.
And in typical Pauline style,the way Paul writes,
Paul always gives doctrine before duty.
He always says, here'syour position in Christ,
(02:33):
and here'syour practice as a Christ follower.
And it's always doctrinefirst before he gets to the duty part.
And so here's here'shis part of part of his emphasis is
he wants us to know so that we will do,but he doesn't want us to stop with doing.
He wants the doing to become becoming.
Okay,so most people just stop with the know.
(02:57):
Well, now I know.
So I'm going to explain this to menow I know and then they go on with life.
Paul's point is, it's not enough to knowyou have to do,
but it's not enough just to dobecause that's a religious robot.
The point is, transformationto actually become is a
there's an existential peace to this is itis knowing, but not just knowing.
(03:18):
It is doing but not just doing.It's actually becoming.
And chapter 12 is when Paulturns the corner to the becoming part.
This is who we are to become
and what he's done.
He's he's outlined11 chapters of doctrine.
So that will have a foundationfor the doing
(03:39):
so that we will become right.
You understand what I'm saying?
But he has to set the foundation first.
He has set the doctrine first,because if we don't know
why we're doing something,we're just told to do it.
We've tried that before.
It's called religionand it just burns us up.
Do this. Don't do that. Why?
(04:00):
Just because you know, it just.
And so Paul says, look,I want you to know why.
And I want you to have a reason why.
And his reason is because of
everythingthat God's done for us in Christ.
That'swhat the first 11 chapters were all about.
He says, I'm goingto give you the foundation of doctrine,
(04:21):
because with the foundational doctrine,it's just really just duty.
And so understand who you arein your position in Christ before
you try to practice the life of a Christfollower and our position in Christ.
That Paul took 11 chaptersto define for us
is this that every one of us are sinners.
We've broken God's command,
(04:43):
and because of that, we're outside of aright relationship with him.
And something has to repairthat relationship.
And what Paul has showed usis that we can't repair
that relationship on our ownbecause we can't be good enough.
We can't even live up to our ownstandards of living, let alone
love the God standard. Right?
And so someone had to fixthat relationship.
(05:05):
And so in those first three chapters,he did an incredible job
of saying, here'sthe here's the nastiness of sin.
This is how dark and deep and brutal sinis, and we're all guilty of it.
And then in verses or in chapters,the last part of three,
all the way through chapter eight,he talks about the grace of God,
(05:25):
and he puts the grace of God againstthe backdrop of the darkness of sin.
And grace just looks amazing, like Goddid all of this for us
so he can invite us into this relationshipnot based on what we've done,
but by his grace, undeservedand unmerited favor
and blessing through faithnot a result of anything we do.
(05:48):
And so it's like he's like,God has done all of this
as David said, there's no condemnationfor those who are in Christ.
All the condemnation that I deserve formy sin was leveled on Jesus.
He took it all so I can stand before
God by his grace through faith.
And God looks at meas if I've never sinned.
(06:08):
Like one ounce.
It's amazingand I did nothing to deserve it.
It was just gifted to me in Christ.
I just have to believe it.
And so Paul says, in light of all of that,this incredible
mercy,mercy is not getting what I deserve.
I deserve condemnation and deathand destruction and damnation.
(06:30):
Mercy is when God withholds that
and he levels that against his son,not against me.
Grace has given me somethingI don't deserve,
which is the unmerited and undeservedfavor of God.
All the spiritual blessingsin the heavenly realm, co-heirs
with Christlike he's given me all of this.
I didn't deserve any of it.
(06:50):
And Paul saying, in love,that's the foundation.
And until you understand the foundation,all the rest of what
Paul is going to tell usis, is just religious duty.
He's going to say,I have a transformed mind. Why?
I don't know, just because you need adifferent mind, you need to do different.
Well, it doesn't make itit doesn't make sense
if I don't understand the foundation,like the foundation
(07:13):
is because of what God has done for usthrough Christ.
He's been so good.
He's been so gracious to us.
In light of all that,now we become something different and so,
chapter 12,
this is the big idea for a chapter 12.
I want you to get this.
(07:34):
Our transformed life is the sermon
that our huddle will always hear.
We have to understand this.
Our transformed lifeis the sermon that those in our huddle,
those 8 to 15 aroundour lives, will always hear in parenting.
I say it like this.
You've heard this said
that our kids learn more bywhat's caught, then by what's taught,
(07:58):
right?
We could tell them everything,but what they will catch
is what they see, not what we say.
And so it's the same thing with our faith.
Now, we have to say, parents,you have to instruct your children,
but your life better looklike your instruction to them.
You follow.
And so we have to say,
(08:20):
but our spiritual, our Christian life
has to look like those things we say.
So our transformed life
is the sermonthat our huddle will always hear.
And so Paul takes a turn nowfrom all the doctrine.
The first 11 chapters and says, now,
in light of all of that, how good God is,
(08:41):
this is what a transformed lifelooks like.
This is what we are to do.
And so in verse one.
Oh, let me say this, I didn't say this,but let me say this, did I?
I shared that part yet.
Yeah.
Verse one here we he says I appeal to you.
Therefore, brothers and sisters,I'm making this appeal
(09:03):
by the mercies of God
to present your bodiesas a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,which is your spiritual worship.
He said, I'm I'm making this appeal to you
by the mercies of God,in light of everything
that God's done, how merciful he's been.
(09:24):
He took what you deserve,what I deserve, and put it on his son.
And he invited usinto this relationship with him
because he values usthat much, that he wants
to repair the broken relationship.
And he's done all the work.
And now he invites usinto this relationship.
But in light of all he's done,he says, I appeal to you
(09:47):
to present your bodiesas living sacrifices.
Now in the Old Testament,they would always do sacrifices,
like at the temple,you know, whatever it was a,
a lamb, a dove, whatever they, you know,for this animal put on sacrifice.
What Paul is saying is take that imagery.
He says,I don't want you to be a dying sacrifice.
(10:09):
Jesus already died in your place.
Now I want you to be a living sacrifice.
Here's the problem with living sacrifices.
Living sacrificeshave a tendency to crawl off the altar,
you know, down and saying, like,God, I'm yours.
And then I'm going to get off thisand I'm going to do my own thing.
We keep crawling back
on, crawling back off and crawlback on the crawling back off.
(10:30):
That's the problem with living sacrifices,he said.
But I want you to offer your whole body,your whole self as a living sacrifice.
It's a choice,he says, that you have to make.
It's a decision of the will
to say, God, I understand all thatyou've done for me through your son.
And my response to that is to offer
(10:51):
my whole life as a sacrifice to you.
Here's here's part of what he's sayingGod wants you, not just your work.
And God wants
your choice, not just compliance
that you follow.
Yeah,
see, most religious people
just simply try to live in compliance.
(11:14):
And then when they do, they look downat people who are not in compliance.
Right.
The like Karen at the HOA is always itjust.
And so
God got it in your compliance.
He wants he wants your choice.
He wants you just not what you do.
So offer your whole life to him
(11:37):
as a living sacrifice, holyand acceptable to God.
When Paul uses that word holy, he he'stalking about you said, I want you.
You have to make a decision to holy living
and yield to what holiness does,
burns away all that which is unholy.
I appeal to you in light of all that Godhas done to offer yourself.
(12:00):
Make it a choice, not just compliance,
to offer all of yourselfas a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable to God,which is your spiritual worship.
Some verses say,
or sometimes I say,which is your spiritual act of worship
in essence, here, here's what he's saying.
(12:21):
He's saying that.
That that idea, your spiritual worship.
It literally means a reasonable worship.
It literally means this is the
the reasonable response.
That's what it means in light of all God'sand the reasonable response,
(12:42):
the true and proper responseis given your life as a sacrifice to God.
Literally, it means of the word.
Here'swhat he's saying living a transformed
life is living a lifeaccording to the word.
That's what Paul sayingin light of all that God has done,
are true.
(13:02):
Proper,reasonable response is to live a life
according to the word
which is holy and acceptable to God.
You followwell. You track any questions yet
is only verse one.
We got like 21 to get through.
Now watch.
(13:25):
He says, I want you to be like this.
This whole offer of your life.
How do you do that?
Well, he gives us instruction.
Do not be conformedto the world, to this world,
but be transformed by how?
By the renewal of your mind,that by testing you
may discern what is the will of God,what is good and acceptable and perfect.
(13:47):
It's just, look, I'm not just saying
that we need to offer our lives to Godbecause of what he's done.
I'm going to tell you how this happens.
And the way this happens, he says, isdon't be conformed, but be transformed.
That word conform, literally means inthe Greek it means chameleon.
(14:07):
Don't be a chameleon.
You know what a chameleon is?
This is who I amuntil I'm in this environment.
And the moment I'm in this environment,I look just like the environment
around me.
Follow.
Well, so many of us
claim to be Jesus followers
and then get in an environment
(14:29):
that doesn't look like Jesus,
and we end up lookingjust like the environment.
Right.
Yeah.
He said, don't
you got a choice to make?
Don't
chameleon eyes
I don't that's a word.
(14:50):
Don't be conformed.
Like be transformed.
That word transfer means metamorphosis.
It means there'san actual change of being.
He says, don't be conformed to the patternof this word, to this culture.
Don't look like it,
but be transformed. Well that's great.
How do you remember howhe said to be transformed?
(15:13):
Do you remember
by the renewal of your mind?
It's a choice.
We just don't sit back and say, okay, God,go ahead, do what you want to do.
Like there's a choice.
There's a there's a commitmentbecause of everything.
The heat God's doing, all the heavylifting.
Yeah.
Now there's a commitment choiceon our part by the renewing of your mind.
(15:36):
Philippians four eight.
Finally, brothers and sisters,whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,whatever is commendable,
if there's any excellence,if there's anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
It's a conscious decision, a choice.
Renew your mind. You.
(15:58):
Easier said than done.
Oh, yeah.
Now listen.
Don't be conformed.
Be transformed by the renewing mind.
Then you'll be able to test and provewhat God's will is.
One of the reasons,I think there are so many people
who are trying to follow Jesus, who
end up asking, What's God's will?
(16:21):
Why this? Why that?
I suggest you from what Paul says,without a renewed mind,
you cannot know the will of God.
I'm going.
Without a new mind,you cannot know the will of God.
And I think that's whyso many people sit in church trying to do
right, but end up asking the questionat the end of day, What is God's will?
(16:42):
What does he want?
Why does he allow?
Why does he do reason this?
Because
we're not be an active participantin the renewal of our minds.
Now, I grew up
like I was born in 67,so you can do the math.
You know how old I am.
But my formative years.
Okay.
(17:05):
80s music is the best musicthe world has ever known.
I'm just saying it just.
It just is 70s were pretty cool.
The 60s was like, hey,something new is happening.
70s is a pretty cool 80s was the Paramount
90s 2000 is nothing but trash.
It just is bad.
(17:27):
I'm not going to talk about,you know, as of late.
But here's my point.
When the majority
of what goes through my ears, into my mind
is the theologyand the culture of the 80s,
that is not going to lend itselfto a transformed mind of holiness.
(17:52):
Do you follow the father?
I love 80s music,
but if I want a transformed mind,what needs to go through my ears, into
my mind is the holiness of God,
not the music of the 80s.
(18:13):
Right.
There are so many people that
when we're at home, music's on.
We get into the vehicle, drive.
Music's on the.
And when.
That is the primary source of our theology
(18:34):
and doctrine and worldview and standard.
Those messages are contraryto the holiness of God.
There is no way in God's green earththat I'm going to renew my mind
when it's constantly filled with thingsthat are other than the holiness
and the worldview of my God and Savioryou follow.
(18:58):
And here. So let's not play games anymore.
I won't even talk about
what goes into our head on this thing.
And this source said,this is where the rubber meets the road.
This is where Paul turns the corner.
This is where it gets tough,
(19:20):
and this is where it has to movefrom knowledge
to doing to becoming.
I am someone different now.
I guarantee youthat I can look back on my life
and my spiritual low points.
And there is a direct correlation
to my spiritual low points.
(19:43):
And the difficulty in relationships
when I'm muted.
The words of God in my head.
And those words were coming
from many other things.
You follow,
you know. I'm.
(20:06):
Why is this important?
Because our transformed life will be themessage that our huddle will always hear.
And I cannot be transformed
and know the will of God without my mindbeing renewed.
See, what Paul saying is,I don't want you to blend in like
(20:27):
me, and I want you to break outlike a transformation.
That's what he's sayingin light of what God's done.
Don't be conformed to the standard,the culture,
the movement
of the worldthat is contrary to the holiness of God.
You'll
see at the end of the day,what we have to understand is this
(20:49):
is that a mindshift is what creates a life shift.
Amen.
And so many of us are trying to do rightto make a life shift
without ever having a mind shift.
Approved for the Christian lifeis not what we say.
The truth.
The Christian life is a transformed lifeand that transformation is ongoing.
(21:10):
It's not stagnant,
ongoing, continually renewing our mind.
So that's verses one and two.
We only got 21 to get through.
Let me pick up the pace a little bit.
Look at this.
Verses three, four and five.
(21:31):
For by the grace given to me,I say to everyone among you
not to think of himself more highlythan he ought to think,
but to think with sober judgment, saying,look, listen,
like just come down off the high horsea little bit.
Let's have a sober judgment of ourselves.
It doesn't mean think less of ourselves,it just means think more of others.
(21:51):
So let's just like, be humble here,
each according to the measure of faiththat God has assigned.
God's given us a measure of faith.
For as in one body,
we have many members, and the membersdo not all have the same function.
So we though many of us are
one body in Christ and individuallywe're members of one another.
(22:15):
Here's what he's saying.
He's going to talk about spiritual giftsin just a moment, but he gives a warning.
He says, before you talk,before we talk about ourselves,
just be humble and just be humble.
Don't start thinking about whatother people need to do.
Consider what you need to do.
Don't start to think about you over them.
Just just be humble.
Have a sober opinion of yourself
(22:37):
because he's going to start talking to usabout this idea of spiritual gifts.
And I want to explain this ideaof spiritual gifts to you.
Let me read the passage, and then I'mgoing to come back and explain some stuff.
Having gifts that differ
according to the grace given to us,let us use them.
Let me tell you this the momentsomeone aligns their life
(22:58):
with the father, by his gracethrough faith in the son,
by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit
imparts to that person a spiritual gift.
It's a gift. You're not born with it.
Depending on what God wants to dothrough your life
at that moment of salvation, he gives you
a spiritual gift and it's to be used.
(23:20):
And then he goes into this.
If prophecy is that gift in proportionto your faith, to our faith,
if service is that gift in serving
the one who teaches in his teaching,the one who exhorts in his exhortation,
the one who contributes in generosity,the one who leads with the zeal,
the one who does acts of mercywith cheerfulness.
(23:42):
Let me unpack this.
Every one of you in here, every one of us,
if you have a relationship with Jesus,has one of those spiritual gifts.
Every one of us.
Here's what I want.
One of the things I want to drive home.
Giftedness does not equal maturity.
(24:03):
So sometimes we look at someone
with a spiritual gift like, wow,they're really gifted.
It doesn't mean they're mature.
There's a lot of gifted peoplewho are super mature.
Okay?
So don't don't make the equationthat this spiritual gift looks like, oh,
they've got to be a mature Christfollower.
It's not the same now.
Much spiritual maturity will not comewithout the exercise of spiritual gifts,
(24:27):
but just because the extra spiritual giftshappen doesn't mean they're mature.
I just want to.
I just want to make that point.
The idea.
I'm going to do a little bit of Bibleteaching.
Okay, so can I do just a little bit oflike pretend like I'm a teacher right now?
Like, and so for, for Bible
students, we know that there's generallyaccepted three sections of spiritual gifts
(24:52):
in the New Testament Romans 12, firstCorinthians 12, and Ephesians four.
That's generally acceptedthe three areas of spiritual gifts.
I want to make the suggestion that this in
Romans 12is the only true list of spiritual gifts,
becauseit's the only place in the New Testament
where the word gifts is used in relationto spiritual gifts.
(25:16):
First Corinthians 12.
Ephesiansfour does not use the word gifts.
It's talking about something different.
And so I want to suggest to youthat this list right here
is the true list of spiritual gifts.
The others are a little bit different,all from the Holy Spirit.
But these this list in Romans 12
(25:37):
are for the purpose of,
this is the only placea gift is used, is for the purpose
of expounding the wordand expanding the work.
This list in Romans 12,they're given to us for one of two
purposes to either expound the wordor to expand the work.
(25:57):
This list is differentthan what's in first
Corinthians 12 and Ephesians four.
What's listed there
is the first Corinthians 12is the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
How the Holy Spirit kind of revealsthe Holy Spirit's work of the world.
And Ephesiansfour is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
But the only place giftedness is usedis here in Romans 12.
(26:19):
And every one of you,for every relationship with Jesus,
have one of these gifts.
And that gift is given to youby the grace of God,
so that you will use it.
Not ignore it,
not waste it.
Not develop it.
To use it and to develop it. Use.
(26:39):
And so let me just go through these.
I want you to be awarewith these spiritual gifts are,
where am I?
Now I in verse five let me go to verse.
Let me go to verse, verse six.
So follow on the computer
back there having gifts that differaccording to the grace given to us.
Let us use them.
I read this already,I did okay, I won't go.
(27:01):
I don't want to read it again.
There's.
Let me tell you what this is.
So verse six says,
if you got to give a prophecy,then prophesy in proportion to your faith.
Here's what this prophecyis not foretelling the future.
Prophecy is forthtelling the truth in the moment.
That's a biblical prophecy.
It might involvefuture, but not necessarily
(27:22):
what prophecy?
The spiritual policy is seenin this instance.
Here's the truth of Scripture.
For this instantyou understand some of you have that gift.
You can.
You see the situation,you see the scenario.
And like this is the Word of Godfor this people at this time.
That's a spiritual gift, a prophecy.
(27:43):
Okay.
In verse seven,if it's serving in service,
some of you havethe spiritual gift of serving.
That is the Greek word diaconate.
It's where we get our church word deacon.
It means literally thosewho do the menial work at the church,
deacons and deaconS's are not those who sit around the table
(28:05):
telling the pastors what they have to doand how to spend the money.
Deacons in the church, according tothe word, is the gift of service.
They're the ones who unclog the toilets,and they're the ones who change
the burned out lights
serving.
They're the ones who do all the renovationof our buildings.
It's a spiritual gift to a serving,and some of you are uniquely
(28:26):
gifted to do that.
Do it.
Please.
Because otherwise, this guy
has her.
Some of you are gifted in this.
(28:47):
The gift of prophecy.
Expounding the word.
The gift of service.
Expanding the work.
And then he says, what's that teaching?
If. If it's teaching, do it, use it.
If teaching is different than prophecy.
While prophecy says this is the word forthis moment,
teaching is instruction in the wordand the ways of God.
(29:11):
Here's the Word of God.
Here's the instruction
to understand.
And some people are gifted in teaching.
And if that's your gift,
teach somewhere
something of God.
Expand
the word or expound the word,
(29:33):
and let other giftedness expand the work.
Exhortation.
If it's exhortation, exhort.
Exhortation is different than prophecyand teaching.
Exhortation is encouragingto do what you already been taught.
And so prophecy will say,This is God's Word for this moment.
Teaching will say,this is how you flesh it out.
(29:54):
And exhortation will say,now let me encourage you to do it.
Do become
you understand?
It's all the gifts to expound the word.
And then he says,
if your gift is giving, then give
(30:14):
generously.
I think all of us desire to be generous.
I don't think all of us are generous.
We judge ourselves by our intent.
But Paul says, look,don't have the intention to be generous.
And there are some, like with biblically,the tithe, the 10%.
(30:37):
That's not generous. It feels generous.Goes to those feels like a lot of money.
But that's duty generous as well.
Beyond that
it means like abounding, generous.
And there are some people who have beenspiritually gifted just off the desire,
but spiritually gifted both to make moneyand whatever money
they make to give generously to it.
(30:58):
Do you know why we could paythis entire site off in nine years?
Because everybody here has been faithful.
So if you're here,
the expectationthat you're faithful in your finances.
But we've had some people who are gifted
in generosity
(31:19):
to make sense
and and through their giftedness,
some of us expound the word
and others help expand the work
you follow.
So if you have the spiritual giftof prophecy, of of general,
of giving awesome.
Give and give a lot.
(31:42):
Here's the great promise about giving.
The Bible says that Godwill never be indebted to anybody.
You can never out give him ever.
And the Bible says, whatever measurewe used to give
God will use to give back to us.
And he says,
and if your gift is leading,then lead with zeal.
(32:03):
That word zeal is going to come up againin chapter 11.
That word zeal means grit,
and it means grit.
If if any of you are leadersor have been a leader,
you know how difficult leading is.
You know how hard it is.
It's hard work.
I don't carewhat is your leading Leadings hard.
(32:23):
The most difficult things to leadare volunteer organizations
because you got no.
You got nothing to hold over anybody.
The most difficult things in the worldlead us to lead our
volunteer organizations.
And then Paul said, look,if you're gifting us with leading,
then lead and have some grit,have some backbone.
Don't quit.
It's going to be tough. It'sgoing to be hard.
(32:44):
They're going to be peoplethat you're going to pour into that
will just going to look at youand you just have to just have some grit.
They're going to walk out on you.
They're going to promisethey're going to be with you
and a couple of years to goand they're going to walk in.
They're going to see him again,have some grit.
Don't tap out.
It ain't going to be easy.It's tough. Right?
Right.
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And nobody could cry for you.
Just lead.
And then he says
if it's mercifulthen be merciful with some cheerfulness.
Some of you, your hearts are so empatheticto what people go through.
Like it?
Just when their hearts break, yours breaklike you feel.
You just don't see.
You feel it and everything in your bones.
You just want to be mercifulto them and be like,
(33:28):
how can I come along and say,how can I like you?
Just understand.
And Paul says, that's a hard
that's a hard place to live.
Don't let it over warm overwhelm.
You do that with cheerfulnessbecause you got some spiritual reserves.
Maybe that they don't have.
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You know how this thing plays out.
He says, whatever that is.
Like you do that,use it so, and you fall in
one of those areas and expounding the wordor expanding the work.
Use your gift.
You understand.
And then
(34:11):
did you ever see old movie?
I just popped in my head,The Chariots of Fire.
If you ever see that movieChariots of Fire.
If you haven't, you need to go watch.
It's like in the 80s.
It's the old movie, but it's great.
Eric Little, this Christian
missionary, world class runnerand one of the
he was having a he was a qualifyfor Olympics on multiple events.
But one of them was was,was was going to be held on Sunday.
(34:33):
And he was just he was like, look, I said,Sunday is the Sabbath.
I'm not going to do anything.
I'm not even going to runin the Olympics on Sunday.
And he was talkingto someone about this, this
who God made him to be.
And he says, God made me fast.
And when I don't run, I hold him
in contempt and.
(34:56):
I heard that when I was in high school,
I thought, that's brilliant.
When I don't do what God gifted me to do,
I hold God in contempt.
You've been gifted.
To be used.
(35:17):
That's what Paul said.
Verse nine. Look at this.
Let love be genuine.
Abhor what is evil.
Hold fast to what is good
is a let just look.
Just be authenticand sincere in your love for each other.
Don't. Don't play games with each other.
Be authentic and sincereand these just abhor what is evil.
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Hold fast what it is.
That wordabhor means treat it like it's cow manure.
It means literally.
Yeah, to detest it, be repulsed by it.
Now, I don't know how many of you,if we're supposed to take
what is evil and simpleand treat it as come.
I don't know how many of you have a theif you have a cow manure collection
like on purpose at homelike you have them displayed there labeled
(36:03):
what the cow ateand this was the result of it.
Do any of you? None do.
You don't have these that you keep in,in jars, that you keep it soft and moist
so you can examine the texture and theconsistency and a little bit of the aroma.
Still none. None of you.
Yeah.
Well, I don't have a cow either,but I do have a bulldog. Oh.
(36:29):
You know,
when Paul says a boar, what is evil,
he means be like, don't play with this.
Now, I'll invite youon behalf of my bulldog diesel.
Would any of you like to know?
Just put your hand in and feel this,like a little bit.
I mean, you don't have to really livein the sand, you know? But.
(36:50):
But just want to play with ita little bit.
Just dabble though.
It's really not going to hurt you.
I mean, you know,I can just one week party.
You just going to interview.
You can feel the weight of it.
The squishiness of it.
Anybody who you take. No.
There you go. There you go.
Yeah.
(37:12):
Feel good?
It's a wet rag.
It's not really my dog stuff. So.
But how many of you were like, don't you?
Right.
Like it's coming at me.
I was like,
That's what Paul saying.
That's how you respond to evil.
(37:34):
Like,we have to get to the point where we say,
I'm not going to flirt with it anymore.
I don't want it even coming at me.
Do you understand?
(37:55):
And so I'm going to cling to what is good.
I'm going to hold fast to it.
Look at verse ten.
Love,one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.
I love that verse.
It means we should be in competitionwith each other to out honor each other.
Like, not in competition as a hey,look at what my kid did.
(38:17):
Or hey, look at the vacationI took, or hey, look at how great this is.
Not that competition,
but the competition into how to outhonor each other.
Do you understand that?
Like, we're going to be so honorablewith other people, with each other?
Do not be slothful in zeal.
Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord.
(38:38):
Rejoice in hope.
Be patient in tribulation.Be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saintsand seek to show hospitality.
I learned this verse, thisa little different translation.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep yourspiritual fervor serving the Lord.
That's how I learned it.
Here's what that means.
Don't be lacking in zeal.
It means, as far as your spiritual
(38:59):
lives are concerned,we ought not be lacking in grit.
There's a stick to it ness to faith.
Tribulation is going to come.
Difficulties is going to come. Peopleare going to be difficult and stupid.
I'm I'm not going to walk back
on who I am becoming in Christ.
I'm not going to you know what?
(39:21):
I'm out.
There's a stick to it.
There's a grit to it.
Never be lacking in zeal.
Be gritty, have a backbone
keeper. Spiritual fervor.
That means there's a red hotness to it,
like red hot coals that whatever.
Because I am not lacking in zealand I'm keeping my spiritual fervor
(39:41):
wherever I land.
A fire is going to start.
That's what that means.
And so many of us been so chameleon ized.
That we look like there's no backboneand there ain't no fire.
Starting where we land.
Like, I want to be a fan of Jesus.
(40:01):
But I don't want tobe like a fanatic. Come on.
And Paul, in view of what God
has done in view of his mercy,in view of his grace,
this is the only logical, reasonable,
responsible response.
All right, all right.
Don't be lacking.
And so keep your spiritual fervor.Serve the Lord.
(40:22):
Rejoice in hope.
Listen. It says, rejoice, Joyce in hope.
Don't rejoice in results,
even in the difficultybefore the results show up.
I am a person that rejoices in the Lordin the hope of God,
not in the results of what he produces,
just in who he is.
(40:43):
Be patient in tribulation.
Hold on.
Don't tap out yet.
Wait. Sitting in a little while.
He is not forgotten about you.
He hadn't neglected you.
He doesn't sleep nor slumber.
So be patient in tribulationand be constant in prayer.
Just keep going before God.
(41:05):
God, it's me again.
Luke 11
and Luke 18 are two parablesJesus told about being constant in prayer.
And Jesus said this.
Keep prayingbecause one day God just might
answer your prayerjust to get you to shut up.
That's what he said.
Luke 11 Luke 18.
(41:26):
You read it.
Sometimes we are so persistent with God.
He's like wavingbecause you know he's Jewish.
Oh, in vain.
Just do what he saidso he'll quit bugging me about it.
Be constant in prayer.
Yeah.
And then he says this
I you know where I am.
(41:48):
Well, oh, thank you.
Contribute to the needs of the saintsand see to show hospitality.
Did you know that in the early churchhospitality was a style of evangelism,
like they would invitepeople over and foreigners
and illegal aliens
and invite them overand be kind and generous,
(42:08):
and in that kindness and generous,tell them about Jesus. Why?
Because they're transformed.
Life was the sermon that
others were hearing.
The guy know what time it is?
Let me wrapthis up. I'm gonna go through 14 or 9.
Bless those who persecute you. Blessand do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Weep at those who weep.
(42:29):
Listen, we cannot weep with
and rejoice with at a distance.
It requires relationship,
and I am in it with you,
and I'll go through it with you.
I'm not going to abandon you.
This is a transformed life
(42:51):
to live in harmony with one another.
Do not,
be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
Never be wise in your own sight.
It's like love.
Just get along.
Repay no one evil for evil.
But give thought to dowhat is honorable in the sight of all.
Look.
Sometimes it has to be enoughto let the other person be right
(43:16):
there.
It has to be enough to say, you know what?
I'm going to be at peace with you.
And the best way for me to dois just not to fight if possible.
So far, so good. Depends on you.
Live peaceably with everybody.
Look, I think you're wrong.
And I think I'm right.
But it doesn't matter.
It's this type of relationship.
I'm gonna let you be right. Oh. Thank you.
(43:38):
These are the best way to destroyan enemy.
Is to make him your friend.
It's the best way to destroy an enemy.
Make him a friend.
Who cares if they think they're rightand you're wrong?
It's it's aif it's an opinion thing, who cares?
Is far like it far is.
It depends on you.
Live at peace means don't seek outconfrontation.
(44:01):
Don't seek out to be contrary.
Some of usI get if you're like me, like I'm.
Sometimes we just like to argue.
We just argue for the sake arguing.
We just like to beat people and just
to be a peace.
Look, we just.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves,but leave it to the wrath of God.
(44:21):
For it is written, vengeance is mine.
I will repay, says the Lord.
Look in verse 20, to the contrary,if your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he's thirsty, give him somethingto drink, for by doing so you'll reap.
Oh, you'll heap burning coals on his head.
Finally.
Do not be overcome by evil.
Overcome evil with good.
(44:42):
Promise. Some of us.
Look at that. Oh! Burning coal.
Yeah. Got him
finally.
It's not talking about itin the essence of cruelty.
It's talking aboutit in the realm of kindness.
Be kind.
Here. Here's what he's saying.
Two possibilitiesfor burning coals on your head.
One, your kindnessis going to burn them up.
(45:08):
Not be cruel to them.
Your kindness
is going to just make them simmer.
The other option is it'sthe burning coals that you give to them
is so they can start their own firefor their own good.
It's never intended for cruelty.
It's always intended for kindness.
(45:29):
Why is this so important?
Because we've already established
that our transformed lifewill be the sermon that our hunter
will always hear.
It's why this is so important.
And so we're left with a question.
(45:52):
In view of all God has done
for us through Jesus,
are you willing
to offer your whole life to him?
To draw a line in the sand.
No more chameleon.
To completely renew your mind.
(46:19):
To take all in,
in all this, in this whole chapterthat Paul's talked through here.
What about our lives is missing?
Nothing that covers our whole life.
So in view of God's mercy.
(46:43):
Are you willing?
Am I willing to offer our whole life
for transformation
and renewal?
And don't just do different.
Become different?
Chapter 12 is a good word in it.
(47:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, so let's pray and apply it.
All right.
Father.
Thank you, thank you.
Just thank you.
Thank father.
Sometimes I am so aware of where I fall.
(47:25):
Far short.
And I thank you thatthere's no condemnation in that for me.
Because I am in your son
and he in me.
Thank you, my
friends.
In this moment,I want to give you the opportunity
to become exactly what the Apostle
(47:46):
Paul has instructed us to become
transformed, not conformed.
So in this moment betweenyou and the father, I would invite you
in prayer to say something along the line
just in your own commitment.
(48:07):
God, I want to be transformed.
I don't want to blend in anymore.
Because you've already done so much
for me.
This is the best wayI know how to respond.
(48:30):
Give me a transformed life.
Help me choose a renewed mind.
Help me abhor evil.
Cling to what is good.
Let me live a life that honors
(48:51):
you and honors your people.
That embraceshow you've gifted me and serve you.
As best as I know how
I give my full self to you. Do in me
(49:17):
what only you can do.
And I thank you for that transformation.
God, I thank you.
You are a good Godand your word is alive and active, sharper
than any two edged sword that both cuts
and repairs.
(49:37):
So, father, continue
to do what you do through your Holy Spirit
to produce a great harvest in our hearts.
Because of this word that's been so.
We love you.
Help us to love you more.
In your name I pray.
Amen.
This one I love you.
It's been good to be togetherthis morning.
Here's your homework.
(49:57):
Go back and read chapter12 A Little Bit New Eyes.
Look through that list of spiritual giftsand see where you think you might.
And then let us helpyou take some next steps.
Okay,
I would love to know how we can helpyou take next steps.
Either go to our our
our our start here booth right outfront there or the welcome center.
If you're kind of new here,
we'd love to walk with you through thesenext steps that you need to take.
(50:20):
And then in preparation for next Sunday,read chapter 13.
Okay.
Read chapter is all about
how we're supposed to live nowin light of what God said.
And it
there's some implications here.
So let's read that. You good.
All right. Let's sing.
Well, welcome.
I appreciate you being here.
I know there's a lot of placesyou could be on a Sunday morning,
and I count it an honor and a privilegeto get to be here with you.
A couple of things,just by way of information for you.
Some of you are, aware of,
John Wright going in for surgery.
Heather here, his wife is our our lead
(00:23):
administrator, both for the churchand for the Maywood Center.
And so John has been with us for yearsand years and years.
Dear friend, great servant of Godthrough this church went in for,
went in for a quadruple bypass surgery
on Friday and they got in and decidedthey only had to do three and not four.
So that was an internal prayerright there.
But he's in the ICU, was recoveringwell, got a long road, as you can imagine.
(00:47):
So I just give you that for those of youwho are aware of John and we're wondering,
that's the information for those of youwho have no idea what I'm talking about,
that's the information.
But if
you'll just put John on your prayerlist, please, when you go before
God and pray on his behalf,I appreciate that.
And Sean's great to see you herethis morning, man.
(01:07):
I've been praying for you.
Love you.
John, thank you
for your investment in Sean's lifeand, being the guy.
Being the guy.
Hey, Romans 12 for going through thethrough the book of my friend Johnny isn't
here, is he?
Is Johnny Richards here?
He was.
He was here.
First service, Johnny ritual.
(01:30):
Vietnam veteran guy.
Just a just a stud of a man.
You've been serving this churcha long time.
At the door.
Hasn't been around as much latelywith some health stuff.
And he's moving with his familyto Washington.
And so I was asking
because we kind of honored himin the first service,
but I guess he needed to take off.
(01:51):
So anyway, again, it'sone of those things, if you know Johnny,
you know, just keep him in your prayers.
It's a good move for him.
If you don't know Johnny, keep him inyour prayers.
It's a good move for him.
But anyway, I just wanted to be ableacknowledge him if he were here.
I love that guy.
Hey, Romans 12,
(02:12):
we're going chapter by chapterthrough this book,
and Romans 12, Paul turns a corner.
And in typical Pauline style,the way Paul writes,
Paul always gives doctrine before duty.
He always says, here'syour position in Christ,
(02:33):
and here'syour practice as a Christ follower.
And it's always doctrinefirst before he gets to the duty part.
And so here's here'shis part of part of his emphasis is
he wants us to know so that we will do,but he doesn't want us to stop with doing.
He wants the doing to become becoming.
Okay,so most people just stop with the know.
(02:57):
Well, now I know.
So I'm going to explain this to menow I know and then they go on with life.
Paul's point is, it's not enough to knowyou have to do,
but it's not enough just to dobecause that's a religious robot.
The point is, transformationto actually become is a
there's an existential peace to this is itis knowing, but not just knowing.
(03:18):
It is doing but not just doing.It's actually becoming.
And chapter 12 is when Paulturns the corner to the becoming part.
This is who we are to become
and what he's done.
He's he's outlined11 chapters of doctrine.
So that will have a foundationfor the doing
(03:39):
so that we will become right.
You understand what I'm saying?
But he has to set the foundation first.
He has set the doctrine first,because if we don't know
why we're doing something,we're just told to do it.
We've tried that before.
It's called religionand it just burns us up.
Do this. Don't do that. Why?
(04:00):
Just because you know, it just.
And so Paul says, look,I want you to know why.
And I want you to have a reason why.
And his reason is because of
everythingthat God's done for us in Christ.
That'swhat the first 11 chapters were all about.
He says, I'm goingto give you the foundation of doctrine,
(04:21):
because with the foundational doctrine,it's just really just duty.
And so understand who you arein your position in Christ before
you try to practice the life of a Christfollower and our position in Christ.
That Paul took 11 chaptersto define for us
is this that every one of us are sinners.
We've broken God's command,
(04:43):
and because of that, we're outside of aright relationship with him.
And something has to repairthat relationship.
And what Paul has showed usis that we can't repair
that relationship on our ownbecause we can't be good enough.
We can't even live up to our ownstandards of living, let alone
love the God standard. Right?
And so someone had to fixthat relationship.
(05:05):
And so in those first three chapters,he did an incredible job
of saying, here'sthe here's the nastiness of sin.
This is how dark and deep and brutal sinis, and we're all guilty of it.
And then in verses or in chapters,the last part of three,
all the way through chapter eight,he talks about the grace of God,
(05:25):
and he puts the grace of God againstthe backdrop of the darkness of sin.
And grace just looks amazing, like Goddid all of this for us
so he can invite us into this relationshipnot based on what we've done,
but by his grace, undeservedand unmerited favor
and blessing through faithnot a result of anything we do.
(05:48):
And so it's like he's like,God has done all of this
as David said, there's no condemnationfor those who are in Christ.
All the condemnation that I deserve formy sin was leveled on Jesus.
He took it all so I can stand before
God by his grace through faith.
And God looks at meas if I've never sinned.
(06:08):
Like one ounce.
It's amazingand I did nothing to deserve it.
It was just gifted to me in Christ.
I just have to believe it.
And so Paul says, in light of all of that,this incredible
mercy,mercy is not getting what I deserve.
I deserve condemnation and deathand destruction and damnation.
(06:30):
Mercy is when God withholds that
and he levels that against his son,not against me.
Grace has given me somethingI don't deserve,
which is the unmerited and undeservedfavor of God.
All the spiritual blessingsin the heavenly realm, co-heirs
with Christlike he's given me all of this.
I didn't deserve any of it.
(06:50):
And Paul saying, in love,that's the foundation.
And until you understand the foundation,all the rest of what
Paul is going to tell usis, is just religious duty.
He's going to say,I have a transformed mind. Why?
I don't know, just because you need adifferent mind, you need to do different.
Well, it doesn't make itit doesn't make sense
if I don't understand the foundation,like the foundation
(07:13):
is because of what God has done for usthrough Christ.
He's been so good.
He's been so gracious to us.
In light of all that,now we become something different and so,
chapter 12,
this is the big idea for a chapter 12.
I want you to get this.
(07:34):
Our transformed life is the sermon
that our huddle will always hear.
We have to understand this.
Our transformed lifeis the sermon that those in our huddle,
those 8 to 15 aroundour lives, will always hear in parenting.
I say it like this.
You've heard this said
that our kids learn more bywhat's caught, then by what's taught,
(07:58):
right?
We could tell them everything,but what they will catch
is what they see, not what we say.
And so it's the same thing with our faith.
Now, we have to say, parents,you have to instruct your children,
but your life better looklike your instruction to them.
You follow.
And so we have to say,
(08:20):
but our spiritual, our Christian life
has to look like those things we say.
So our transformed life
is the sermonthat our huddle will always hear.
And so Paul takes a turn nowfrom all the doctrine.
The first 11 chapters and says, now,
in light of all of that, how good God is,
(08:41):
this is what a transformed lifelooks like.
This is what we are to do.
And so in verse one.
Oh, let me say this, I didn't say this,but let me say this, did I?
I shared that part yet.
Yeah.
Verse one here we he says I appeal to you.
Therefore, brothers and sisters,I'm making this appeal
(09:03):
by the mercies of God
to present your bodiesas a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,which is your spiritual worship.
He said, I'm I'm making this appeal to you
by the mercies of God,in light of everything
that God's done, how merciful he's been.
(09:24):
He took what you deserve,what I deserve, and put it on his son.
And he invited usinto this relationship with him
because he values usthat much, that he wants
to repair the broken relationship.
And he's done all the work.
And now he invites usinto this relationship.
But in light of all he's done,he says, I appeal to you
(09:47):
to present your bodiesas living sacrifices.
Now in the Old Testament,they would always do sacrifices,
like at the temple,you know, whatever it was a,
a lamb, a dove, whatever they, you know,for this animal put on sacrifice.
What Paul is saying is take that imagery.
He says,I don't want you to be a dying sacrifice.
(10:09):
Jesus already died in your place.
Now I want you to be a living sacrifice.
Here's the problem with living sacrifices.
Living sacrificeshave a tendency to crawl off the altar,
you know, down and saying, like,God, I'm yours.
And then I'm going to get off thisand I'm going to do my own thing.
We keep crawling back
on, crawling back off and crawlback on the crawling back off.
(10:30):
That's the problem with living sacrifices,he said.
But I want you to offer your whole body,your whole self as a living sacrifice.
It's a choice,he says, that you have to make.
It's a decision of the will
to say, God, I understand all thatyou've done for me through your son.
And my response to that is to offer
(10:51):
my whole life as a sacrifice to you.
Here's here's part of what he's sayingGod wants you, not just your work.
And God wants
your choice, not just compliance
that you follow.
Yeah,
see, most religious people
just simply try to live in compliance.
(11:14):
And then when they do, they look downat people who are not in compliance.
Right.
The like Karen at the HOA is always itjust.
And so
God got it in your compliance.
He wants he wants your choice.
He wants you just not what you do.
So offer your whole life to him
(11:37):
as a living sacrifice, holyand acceptable to God.
When Paul uses that word holy, he he'stalking about you said, I want you.
You have to make a decision to holy living
and yield to what holiness does,
burns away all that which is unholy.
I appeal to you in light of all that Godhas done to offer yourself.
(12:00):
Make it a choice, not just compliance,
to offer all of yourselfas a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable to God,which is your spiritual worship.
Some verses say,
or sometimes I say,which is your spiritual act of worship
in essence, here, here's what he's saying.
(12:21):
He's saying that.
That that idea, your spiritual worship.
It literally means a reasonable worship.
It literally means this is the
the reasonable response.
That's what it means in light of all God'sand the reasonable response,
(12:42):
the true and proper responseis given your life as a sacrifice to God.
Literally, it means of the word.
Here'swhat he's saying living a transformed
life is living a lifeaccording to the word.
That's what Paul sayingin light of all that God has done,
are true.
(13:02):
Proper,reasonable response is to live a life
according to the word
which is holy and acceptable to God.
You followwell. You track any questions yet
is only verse one.
We got like 21 to get through.
Now watch.
(13:25):
He says, I want you to be like this.
This whole offer of your life.
How do you do that?
Well, he gives us instruction.
Do not be conformedto the world, to this world,
but be transformed by how?
By the renewal of your mind,that by testing you
may discern what is the will of God,what is good and acceptable and perfect.
(13:47):
It's just, look, I'm not just saying
that we need to offer our lives to Godbecause of what he's done.
I'm going to tell you how this happens.
And the way this happens, he says, isdon't be conformed, but be transformed.
That word conform, literally means inthe Greek it means chameleon.
(14:07):
Don't be a chameleon.
You know what a chameleon is?
This is who I amuntil I'm in this environment.
And the moment I'm in this environment,I look just like the environment
around me.
Follow.
Well, so many of us
claim to be Jesus followers
and then get in an environment
(14:29):
that doesn't look like Jesus,
and we end up lookingjust like the environment.
Right.
Yeah.
He said, don't
you got a choice to make?
Don't
chameleon eyes
I don't that's a word.
(14:50):
Don't be conformed.
Like be transformed.
That word transfer means metamorphosis.
It means there'san actual change of being.
He says, don't be conformed to the patternof this word, to this culture.
Don't look like it,
but be transformed. Well that's great.
How do you remember howhe said to be transformed?
(15:13):
Do you remember
by the renewal of your mind?
It's a choice.
We just don't sit back and say, okay, God,go ahead, do what you want to do.
Like there's a choice.
There's a there's a commitmentbecause of everything.
The heat God's doing, all the heavylifting.
Yeah.
Now there's a commitment choiceon our part by the renewing of your mind.
(15:36):
Philippians four eight.
Finally, brothers and sisters,whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,whatever is commendable,
if there's any excellence,if there's anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
It's a conscious decision, a choice.
Renew your mind. You.
(15:58):
Easier said than done.
Oh, yeah.
Now listen.
Don't be conformed.
Be transformed by the renewing mind.
Then you'll be able to test and provewhat God's will is.
One of the reasons,I think there are so many people
who are trying to follow Jesus, who
end up asking, What's God's will?
(16:21):
Why this? Why that?
I suggest you from what Paul says,without a renewed mind,
you cannot know the will of God.
I'm going.
Without a new mind,you cannot know the will of God.
And I think that's whyso many people sit in church trying to do
right, but end up asking the questionat the end of day, What is God's will?
(16:42):
What does he want?
Why does he allow?
Why does he do reason this?
Because
we're not be an active participantin the renewal of our minds.
Now, I grew up
like I was born in 67,so you can do the math.
You know how old I am.
But my formative years.
Okay.
(17:05):
80s music is the best musicthe world has ever known.
I'm just saying it just.
It just is 70s were pretty cool.
The 60s was like, hey,something new is happening.
70s is a pretty cool 80s was the Paramount
90s 2000 is nothing but trash.
It just is bad.
(17:27):
I'm not going to talk about,you know, as of late.
But here's my point.
When the majority
of what goes through my ears, into my mind
is the theologyand the culture of the 80s,
that is not going to lend itselfto a transformed mind of holiness.
(17:52):
Do you follow the father?
I love 80s music,
but if I want a transformed mind,what needs to go through my ears, into
my mind is the holiness of God,
not the music of the 80s.
(18:13):
Right.
There are so many people that
when we're at home, music's on.
We get into the vehicle, drive.
Music's on the.
And when.
That is the primary source of our theology
(18:34):
and doctrine and worldview and standard.
Those messages are contraryto the holiness of God.
There is no way in God's green earththat I'm going to renew my mind
when it's constantly filled with thingsthat are other than the holiness
and the worldview of my God and Savioryou follow.
(18:58):
And here. So let's not play games anymore.
I won't even talk about
what goes into our head on this thing.
And this source said,this is where the rubber meets the road.
This is where Paul turns the corner.
This is where it gets tough,
(19:20):
and this is where it has to movefrom knowledge
to doing to becoming.
I am someone different now.
I guarantee youthat I can look back on my life
and my spiritual low points.
And there is a direct correlation
to my spiritual low points.
(19:43):
And the difficulty in relationships
when I'm muted.
The words of God in my head.
And those words were coming
from many other things.
You follow,
you know. I'm.
(20:06):
Why is this important?
Because our transformed life will be themessage that our huddle will always hear.
And I cannot be transformed
and know the will of God without my mindbeing renewed.
See, what Paul saying is,I don't want you to blend in like
(20:27):
me, and I want you to break outlike a transformation.
That's what he's sayingin light of what God's done.
Don't be conformed to the standard,the culture,
the movement
of the worldthat is contrary to the holiness of God.
You'll
see at the end of the day,what we have to understand is this
(20:49):
is that a mindshift is what creates a life shift.
Amen.
And so many of us are trying to do rightto make a life shift
without ever having a mind shift.
Approved for the Christian lifeis not what we say.
The truth.
The Christian life is a transformed lifeand that transformation is ongoing.
(21:10):
It's not stagnant,
ongoing, continually renewing our mind.
So that's verses one and two.
We only got 21 to get through.
Let me pick up the pace a little bit.
Look at this.
Verses three, four and five.
(21:31):
For by the grace given to me,I say to everyone among you
not to think of himself more highlythan he ought to think,
but to think with sober judgment, saying,look, listen,
like just come down off the high horsea little bit.
Let's have a sober judgment of ourselves.
It doesn't mean think less of ourselves,it just means think more of others.
(21:51):
So let's just like, be humble here,
each according to the measure of faiththat God has assigned.
God's given us a measure of faith.
For as in one body,
we have many members, and the membersdo not all have the same function.
So we though many of us are
one body in Christ and individuallywe're members of one another.
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Here's what he's saying.
He's going to talk about spiritual giftsin just a moment, but he gives a warning.
He says, before you talk,before we talk about ourselves,
just be humble and just be humble.
Don't start thinking about whatother people need to do.
Consider what you need to do.
Don't start to think about you over them.
Just just be humble.
Have a sober opinion of yourself
(22:37):
because he's going to start talking to usabout this idea of spiritual gifts.
And I want to explain this ideaof spiritual gifts to you.
Let me read the passage, and then I'mgoing to come back and explain some stuff.
Having gifts that differ
according to the grace given to us,let us use them.
Let me tell you this the momentsomeone aligns their life
(22:58):
with the father, by his gracethrough faith in the son,
by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit
imparts to that person a spiritual gift.
It's a gift. You're not born with it.
Depending on what God wants to dothrough your life
at that moment of salvation, he gives you
a spiritual gift and it's to be used.
(23:20):
And then he goes into this.
If prophecy is that gift in proportionto your faith, to our faith,
if service is that gift in serving
the one who teaches in his teaching,the one who exhorts in his exhortation,
the one who contributes in generosity,the one who leads with the zeal,
the one who does acts of mercywith cheerfulness.
(23:42):
Let me unpack this.
Every one of you in here, every one of us,
if you have a relationship with Jesus,has one of those spiritual gifts.
Every one of us.
Here's what I want.
One of the things I want to drive home.
Giftedness does not equal maturity.
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So sometimes we look at someone
with a spiritual gift like, wow,they're really gifted.
It doesn't mean they're mature.
There's a lot of gifted peoplewho are super mature.
Okay?
So don't don't make the equationthat this spiritual gift looks like, oh,
they've got to be a mature Christfollower.
It's not the same now.
Much spiritual maturity will not comewithout the exercise of spiritual gifts,
(24:27):
but just because the extra spiritual giftshappen doesn't mean they're mature.
I just want to.
I just want to make that point.
The idea.
I'm going to do a little bit of Bibleteaching.
Okay, so can I do just a little bit oflike pretend like I'm a teacher right now?
Like, and so for, for Bible
students, we know that there's generallyaccepted three sections of spiritual gifts
(24:52):
in the New Testament Romans 12, firstCorinthians 12, and Ephesians four.
That's generally acceptedthe three areas of spiritual gifts.
I want to make the suggestion that this in
Romans 12is the only true list of spiritual gifts,
becauseit's the only place in the New Testament
where the word gifts is used in relationto spiritual gifts.
(25:16):
First Corinthians 12.
Ephesiansfour does not use the word gifts.
It's talking about something different.
And so I want to suggest to youthat this list right here
is the true list of spiritual gifts.
The others are a little bit different,all from the Holy Spirit.
But these this list in Romans 12
(25:37):
are for the purpose of,
this is the only placea gift is used, is for the purpose
of expounding the wordand expanding the work.
This list in Romans 12,they're given to us for one of two
purposes to either expound the wordor to expand the work.
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This list is differentthan what's in first
Corinthians 12 and Ephesians four.
What's listed there
is the first Corinthians 12is the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
How the Holy Spirit kind of revealsthe Holy Spirit's work of the world.
And Ephesiansfour is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
But the only place giftedness is usedis here in Romans 12.
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And every one of you,for every relationship with Jesus,
have one of these gifts.
And that gift is given to youby the grace of God,
so that you will use it.
Not ignore it,
not waste it.
Not develop it.
To use it and to develop it. Use.
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And so let me just go through these.
I want you to be awarewith these spiritual gifts are,
where am I?
Now I in verse five let me go to verse.
Let me go to verse, verse six.
So follow on the computer
back there having gifts that differaccording to the grace given to us.
Let us use them.
I read this already,I did okay, I won't go.
(27:01):
I don't want to read it again.
There's.
Let me tell you what this is.
So verse six says,
if you got to give a prophecy,then prophesy in proportion to your faith.
Here's what this prophecyis not foretelling the future.
Prophecy is forthtelling the truth in the moment.
That's a biblical prophecy.
It might involvefuture, but not necessarily
(27:22):
what prophecy?
The spiritual policy is seenin this instance.
Here's the truth of Scripture.
For this instantyou understand some of you have that gift.
You can.
You see the situation,you see the scenario.
And like this is the Word of Godfor this people at this time.
That's a spiritual gift, a prophecy.
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Okay.
In verse seven,if it's serving in service,
some of you havethe spiritual gift of serving.
That is the Greek word diaconate.
It's where we get our church word deacon.
It means literally thosewho do the menial work at the church,
deacons and deaconS's are not those who sit around the table
(28:05):
telling the pastors what they have to doand how to spend the money.
Deacons in the church, according tothe word, is the gift of service.
They're the ones who unclog the toilets,and they're the ones who change
the burned out lights
serving.
They're the ones who do all the renovationof our buildings.
It's a spiritual gift to a serving,and some of you are uniquely
(28:26):
gifted to do that.
Do it.
Please.
Because otherwise, this guy
has her.
Some of you are gifted in this.
(28:47):
The gift of prophecy.
Expounding the word.
The gift of service.
Expanding the work.
And then he says, what's that teaching?
If. If it's teaching, do it, use it.
If teaching is different than prophecy.
While prophecy says this is the word forthis moment,
teaching is instruction in the wordand the ways of God.
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Here's the Word of God.
Here's the instruction
to understand.
And some people are gifted in teaching.
And if that's your gift,
teach somewhere
something of God.
Expand
the word or expound the word,
(29:33):
and let other giftedness expand the work.
Exhortation.
If it's exhortation, exhort.
Exhortation is different than prophecyand teaching.
Exhortation is encouragingto do what you already been taught.
And so prophecy will say,This is God's Word for this moment.
Teaching will say,this is how you flesh it out.
(29:54):
And exhortation will say,now let me encourage you to do it.
Do become
you understand?
It's all the gifts to expound the word.
And then he says,
if your gift is giving, then give
(30:14):
generously.
I think all of us desire to be generous.
I don't think all of us are generous.
We judge ourselves by our intent.
But Paul says, look,don't have the intention to be generous.
And there are some, like with biblically,the tithe, the 10%.
(30:37):
That's not generous. It feels generous.Goes to those feels like a lot of money.
But that's duty generous as well.
Beyond that
it means like abounding, generous.
And there are some people who have beenspiritually gifted just off the desire,
but spiritually gifted both to make moneyand whatever money
they make to give generously to it.
(30:58):
Do you know why we could paythis entire site off in nine years?
Because everybody here has been faithful.
So if you're here,
the expectationthat you're faithful in your finances.
But we've had some people who are gifted
in generosity
(31:19):
to make sense
and and through their giftedness,
some of us expound the word
and others help expand the work
you follow.
So if you have the spiritual giftof prophecy, of of general,
of giving awesome.
Give and give a lot.
(31:42):
Here's the great promise about giving.
The Bible says that Godwill never be indebted to anybody.
You can never out give him ever.
And the Bible says, whatever measurewe used to give
God will use to give back to us.
And he says,
and if your gift is leading,then lead with zeal.
(32:03):
That word zeal is going to come up againin chapter 11.
That word zeal means grit,
and it means grit.
If if any of you are leadersor have been a leader,
you know how difficult leading is.
You know how hard it is.
It's hard work.
I don't carewhat is your leading Leadings hard.
(32:23):
The most difficult things to leadare volunteer organizations
because you got no.
You got nothing to hold over anybody.
The most difficult things in the worldlead us to lead our
volunteer organizations.
And then Paul said, look,if you're gifting us with leading,
then lead and have some grit,have some backbone.
Don't quit.
It's going to be tough. It'sgoing to be hard.
(32:44):
They're going to be peoplethat you're going to pour into that
will just going to look at youand you just have to just have some grit.
They're going to walk out on you.
They're going to promisethey're going to be with you
and a couple of years to goand they're going to walk in.
They're going to see him again,have some grit.
Don't tap out.
It ain't going to be easy.It's tough. Right?
Right.
(33:06):
And nobody could cry for you.
Just lead.
And then he says
if it's mercifulthen be merciful with some cheerfulness.
Some of you, your hearts are so empatheticto what people go through.
Like it?
Just when their hearts break, yours breaklike you feel.
You just don't see.
You feel it and everything in your bones.
You just want to be mercifulto them and be like,
(33:28):
how can I come along and say,how can I like you?
Just understand.
And Paul says, that's a hard
that's a hard place to live.
Don't let it over warm overwhelm.
You do that with cheerfulnessbecause you got some spiritual reserves.
Maybe that they don't have.
(33:49):
You know how this thing plays out.
He says, whatever that is.
Like you do that,use it so, and you fall in
one of those areas and expounding the wordor expanding the work.
Use your gift.
You understand.
And then
(34:11):
did you ever see old movie?
I just popped in my head,The Chariots of Fire.
If you ever see that movieChariots of Fire.
If you haven't, you need to go watch.
It's like in the 80s.
It's the old movie, but it's great.
Eric Little, this Christian
missionary, world class runnerand one of the
he was having a he was a qualifyfor Olympics on multiple events.
But one of them was was,was was going to be held on Sunday.
(34:33):
And he was just he was like, look, I said,Sunday is the Sabbath.
I'm not going to do anything.
I'm not even going to runin the Olympics on Sunday.
And he was talkingto someone about this, this
who God made him to be.
And he says, God made me fast.
And when I don't run, I hold him
in contempt and.
(34:56):
I heard that when I was in high school,
I thought, that's brilliant.
When I don't do what God gifted me to do,
I hold God in contempt.
You've been gifted.
To be used.
(35:17):
That's what Paul said.
Verse nine. Look at this.
Let love be genuine.
Abhor what is evil.
Hold fast to what is good
is a let just look.
Just be authenticand sincere in your love for each other.
Don't. Don't play games with each other.
Be authentic and sincereand these just abhor what is evil.
(35:37):
Hold fast what it is.
That wordabhor means treat it like it's cow manure.
It means literally.
Yeah, to detest it, be repulsed by it.
Now, I don't know how many of you,if we're supposed to take
what is evil and simpleand treat it as come.
I don't know how many of you have a theif you have a cow manure collection
like on purpose at homelike you have them displayed there labeled
(36:03):
what the cow ateand this was the result of it.
Do any of you? None do.
You don't have these that you keep in,in jars, that you keep it soft and moist
so you can examine the texture and theconsistency and a little bit of the aroma.
Still none. None of you.
Yeah.
Well, I don't have a cow either,but I do have a bulldog. Oh.
(36:29):
You know,
when Paul says a boar, what is evil,
he means be like, don't play with this.
Now, I'll invite youon behalf of my bulldog diesel.
Would any of you like to know?
Just put your hand in and feel this,like a little bit.
I mean, you don't have to really livein the sand, you know? But.
(36:50):
But just want to play with ita little bit.
Just dabble though.
It's really not going to hurt you.
I mean, you know,I can just one week party.
You just going to interview.
You can feel the weight of it.
The squishiness of it.
Anybody who you take. No.
There you go. There you go.
Yeah.
(37:12):
Feel good?
It's a wet rag.
It's not really my dog stuff. So.
But how many of you were like, don't you?
Right.
Like it's coming at me.
I was like,
That's what Paul saying.
That's how you respond to evil.
(37:34):
Like,we have to get to the point where we say,
I'm not going to flirt with it anymore.
I don't want it even coming at me.
Do you understand?
(37:55):
And so I'm going to cling to what is good.
I'm going to hold fast to it.
Look at verse ten.
Love,one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.
I love that verse.
It means we should be in competitionwith each other to out honor each other.
Like, not in competition as a hey,look at what my kid did.
(38:17):
Or hey, look at the vacationI took, or hey, look at how great this is.
Not that competition,
but the competition into how to outhonor each other.
Do you understand that?
Like, we're going to be so honorablewith other people, with each other?
Do not be slothful in zeal.
Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord.
(38:38):
Rejoice in hope.
Be patient in tribulation.Be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saintsand seek to show hospitality.
I learned this verse, thisa little different translation.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep yourspiritual fervor serving the Lord.
That's how I learned it.
Here's what that means.
Don't be lacking in zeal.
It means, as far as your spiritual
(38:59):
lives are concerned,we ought not be lacking in grit.
There's a stick to it ness to faith.
Tribulation is going to come.
Difficulties is going to come. Peopleare going to be difficult and stupid.
I'm I'm not going to walk back
on who I am becoming in Christ.
I'm not going to you know what?
(39:21):
I'm out.
There's a stick to it.
There's a grit to it.
Never be lacking in zeal.
Be gritty, have a backbone
keeper. Spiritual fervor.
That means there's a red hotness to it,
like red hot coals that whatever.
Because I am not lacking in zealand I'm keeping my spiritual fervor
(39:41):
wherever I land.
A fire is going to start.
That's what that means.
And so many of us been so chameleon ized.
That we look like there's no backboneand there ain't no fire.
Starting where we land.
Like, I want to be a fan of Jesus.
(40:01):
But I don't want tobe like a fanatic. Come on.
And Paul, in view of what God
has done in view of his mercy,in view of his grace,
this is the only logical, reasonable,
responsible response.
All right, all right.
Don't be lacking.
And so keep your spiritual fervor.Serve the Lord.
(40:22):
Rejoice in hope.
Listen. It says, rejoice, Joyce in hope.
Don't rejoice in results,
even in the difficultybefore the results show up.
I am a person that rejoices in the Lordin the hope of God,
not in the results of what he produces,
just in who he is.
(40:43):
Be patient in tribulation.
Hold on.
Don't tap out yet.
Wait. Sitting in a little while.
He is not forgotten about you.
He hadn't neglected you.
He doesn't sleep nor slumber.
So be patient in tribulationand be constant in prayer.
Just keep going before God.
(41:05):
God, it's me again.
Luke 11
and Luke 18 are two parablesJesus told about being constant in prayer.
And Jesus said this.
Keep prayingbecause one day God just might
answer your prayerjust to get you to shut up.
That's what he said.
Luke 11 Luke 18.
(41:26):
You read it.
Sometimes we are so persistent with God.
He's like wavingbecause you know he's Jewish.
Oh, in vain.
Just do what he saidso he'll quit bugging me about it.
Be constant in prayer.
Yeah.
And then he says this
I you know where I am.
(41:48):
Well, oh, thank you.
Contribute to the needs of the saintsand see to show hospitality.
Did you know that in the early churchhospitality was a style of evangelism,
like they would invitepeople over and foreigners
and illegal aliens
and invite them overand be kind and generous,
(42:08):
and in that kindness and generous,tell them about Jesus. Why?
Because they're transformed.
Life was the sermon that
others were hearing.
The guy know what time it is?
Let me wrapthis up. I'm gonna go through 14 or 9.
Bless those who persecute you. Blessand do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Weep at those who weep.
(42:29):
Listen, we cannot weep with
and rejoice with at a distance.
It requires relationship,
and I am in it with you,
and I'll go through it with you.
I'm not going to abandon you.
This is a transformed life
(42:51):
to live in harmony with one another.
Do not,
be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
Never be wise in your own sight.
It's like love.
Just get along.
Repay no one evil for evil.
But give thought to dowhat is honorable in the sight of all.
Look.
Sometimes it has to be enoughto let the other person be right
(43:16):
there.
It has to be enough to say, you know what?
I'm going to be at peace with you.
And the best way for me to dois just not to fight if possible.
So far, so good. Depends on you.
Live peaceably with everybody.
Look, I think you're wrong.
And I think I'm right.
But it doesn't matter.
It's this type of relationship.
I'm gonna let you be right. Oh. Thank you.
(43:38):
These are the best way to destroyan enemy.
Is to make him your friend.
It's the best way to destroy an enemy.
Make him a friend.
Who cares if they think they're rightand you're wrong?
It's it's aif it's an opinion thing, who cares?
Is far like it far is.
It depends on you.
Live at peace means don't seek outconfrontation.
(44:01):
Don't seek out to be contrary.
Some of usI get if you're like me, like I'm.
Sometimes we just like to argue.
We just argue for the sake arguing.
We just like to beat people and just
to be a peace.
Look, we just.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves,but leave it to the wrath of God.
(44:21):
For it is written, vengeance is mine.
I will repay, says the Lord.
Look in verse 20, to the contrary,if your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he's thirsty, give him somethingto drink, for by doing so you'll reap.
Oh, you'll heap burning coals on his head.
Finally.
Do not be overcome by evil.
Overcome evil with good.
(44:42):
Promise. Some of us.
Look at that. Oh! Burning coal.
Yeah. Got him
finally.
It's not talking about itin the essence of cruelty.
It's talking aboutit in the realm of kindness.
Be kind.
Here. Here's what he's saying.
Two possibilitiesfor burning coals on your head.
One, your kindnessis going to burn them up.
(45:08):
Not be cruel to them.
Your kindness
is going to just make them simmer.
The other option is it'sthe burning coals that you give to them
is so they can start their own firefor their own good.
It's never intended for cruelty.
It's always intended for kindness.
(45:29):
Why is this so important?
Because we've already established
that our transformed lifewill be the sermon that our hunter
will always hear.
It's why this is so important.
And so we're left with a question.
(45:52):
In view of all God has done
for us through Jesus,
are you willing
to offer your whole life to him?
To draw a line in the sand.
No more chameleon.
To completely renew your mind.
(46:19):
To take all in,
in all this, in this whole chapterthat Paul's talked through here.
What about our lives is missing?
Nothing that covers our whole life.
So in view of God's mercy.
(46:43):
Are you willing?
Am I willing to offer our whole life
for transformation
and renewal?
And don't just do different.
Become different?
Chapter 12 is a good word in it.
(47:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, so let's pray and apply it.
All right.
Father.
Thank you, thank you.
Just thank you.
Thank father.
Sometimes I am so aware of where I fall.
(47:25):
Far short.
And I thank you thatthere's no condemnation in that for me.
Because I am in your son
and he in me.
Thank you, my
friends.
In this moment,I want to give you the opportunity
to become exactly what the Apostle
(47:46):
Paul has instructed us to become
transformed, not conformed.
So in this moment betweenyou and the father, I would invite you
in prayer to say something along the line
just in your own commitment.
(48:07):
God, I want to be transformed.
I don't want to blend in anymore.
Because you've already done so much
for me.
This is the best wayI know how to respond.
(48:30):
Give me a transformed life.
Help me choose a renewed mind.
Help me abhor evil.
Cling to what is good.
Let me live a life that honors
(48:51):
you and honors your people.
That embraceshow you've gifted me and serve you.
As best as I know how
I give my full self to you. Do in me
(49:17):
what only you can do.
And I thank you for that transformation.
God, I thank you.
You are a good Godand your word is alive and active, sharper
than any two edged sword that both cuts
and repairs.
(49:37):
So, father, continue
to do what you do through your Holy Spirit
to produce a great harvest in our hearts.
Because of this word that's been so.
We love you.
Help us to love you more.
In your name I pray.
Amen.
This one I love you.
It's been good to be togetherthis morning.
Here's your homework.
(49:57):
Go back and read chapter12 A Little Bit New Eyes.
Look through that list of spiritual giftsand see where you think you might.
And then let us helpyou take some next steps.
Okay,
I would love to know how we can helpyou take next steps.
Either go to our our
our our start here booth right outfront there or the welcome center.
If you're kind of new here,
we'd love to walk with you through thesenext steps that you need to take.
(50:20):
And then in preparation for next Sunday,read chapter 13.
Okay.
Read chapter is all about
how we're supposed to live nowin light of what God said.
And it
there's some implications here.
So let's read that. You good.
All right. Let's sing.
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