Dennis' Sermon Prep Workflow | Romans 14:7–12

When I was a child my family and I loved a campy movie called Tremors. The story was about a group of subterranean beasts who rose out of the depth to terrorize a small Arizona town. In that movie, one of the most memorable characters were the couple of Burt and Heather Gummer played by Michael Gross from Family Ties and the incomparable Reba McEntire. In the move, Burt and Heather were the epitome of the crazy, wild eyed preppers.

(show picture of Burt and Heather in their bunker)

In their basement, Burt and Heather had an arsenal of guns, food, and ammunition preparing themselves for the end. Back then, they were comical characters, but today, prepping, storing food, ammunition and other items needed for the apocalypse or the collapse of society, has become big business.

According to NPR prepping companies like Judy have sprung up. It sells survival kits (known by preppers as "bug out bags") and was endorsed by the Kardashians on Instagram. Between 2017 and 2025, Allied Research Marketing projects that the global market for "incident and emergency management" will jump in value from $75.5 billion to $423 billion.

And no longer is it simply old, white, crazy-eyed men who are prepping, according to John Ramey, the founder of a popular how-to prepping website called The Prepared, young, urban-dwelling women are one of the fastest-growing groups preparing for calamity.

Like the fall-out bunkers of the 1950’s many see the state of the world today and fearfully prepare for an uncertain future. But what about what happens after that?

Paul in speaking to the Christians in Rome is encouraging them to prepare not for tomorrow, but rather to live life in light of another future, the future of eternity.

So how does Paul command us to prepare for tomorrow?

Heavenly MINDS (Vv. 7-8)

We must think like we belong to the Lord (v. 7-8)

We don't live to ourselves or die to ourselves.All of life is tied up into this truth: We belong to Christ.

1 Peter 4:1–2 ESV

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

Notice what Paul is saying, because Christ died for us we are to have transformed minds that are heavenly focused not worldly focused.

We live in a world that is focused deeply on today.

In the early 2010’s an acronym became extremely popular. YOLO was plastered on clothes, on the internet, and even on a line of clothes. The word is an acronym for the phrase "you only live once", and was a phrase used to express a care free libertinism that summarized the era.

The idea for the phrase was that you only live once so you might as well do whatever you want to do. It epitomizes what Paul was talking about in 2 Peter 2:14

2 Peter 2:14 ESV

They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!

But scripture tells us that we only live once only if we haven’t died to self.

Galatians 5:24 ESV

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Practically, dying to self means that we turn our minds towards Christ and the future. We focus more on building our treasures in heaven than we do earthly pleasures.

So how do we do this?

SERVANT HEARTS (v. 9)

We must Live like We are Servants of Christ (v. 9)

For many of us, our life in Christ is secondary. It’s something we add on. We’re Christian, but what really defines us is something else. We’re a Christian, but we’re a parent first. We’re a Christian, but we’re a doctor first. We’re a Christian, but we’re a Lawyer first.

But in this text, Paul leaves little room for a Christianity that is jammed onto something else.

In his letter to the Philippians,

Philippians 1:19–21 ESV

for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Paul saw life in light of Eternity And seeing it changed the way he lived his life. Despite the quip by Oliver Wendell Holmes and Johnny Cash to not be

True heavenly mindedness creates in us earthly consequences.

In Fact, Jesus told us that we should store up heavenly treasures and not earthly ones but that storing up does have temporal connotations.

Let’s look at some of the ways Jesus told us to be heavenly minded and store up treasures in heaven:

Being humble and pure in heart (Matthew 5:5, 8)

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness (Matthew 5:6)

Showing mercy (Matthew 5:7)

Making peace (Matthew 5:9)

Being persecuted for the sake of righteousness (Matthew 5:10)

Being “the salt of the earth,” which is about, in part, preserving the flavour of godliness in the world and in our relationships (Matthew 5:13)

Being the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)

Following God’s commands (Matthew 5:19)

Resisting anger (Matthew 5:22)

Being faithful to one’s spouse (Matthew 5:28, 32)

.Keeping your word (Matthew 5:37)

Turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39)

Providing for physical needs (Matthew 5:40, 42)

Going the extra mile (Matthew 5:41)

Loving your enemies (Matthew 5:44)

Praying for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44)

Giving to the needy discreetly (Matthew 6:3)

Prayer, and specifically praying for God’s name to be revered as holy and for his kingdom to come (Matthew 6:6ff.)

Practicing forgiveness (Matthew 6:12)

Fasting (Matthew 6:16)

Shunning worry, and trusting God to provide for your needs (Matthew 6:25)

Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33)

Not being unfairly judgmental, but someone who examines their own life and integrity first (Matthew 7:1, 5)

Pursuing the things of God (Matthew 7:7)

Entering through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13)

Being on guard against false prophets (Matthew 7:15)

Practicing authentic discipleship, meaning that we not only believe in Jesus, but seek to know him and do what he says (Matthew 7:21)

Being wise. And what does it mean to be wise? Jesus gives us the definition of wisdom. It is hearing his words and putting them into practice (Matthew 7:24)

Now this is in no way a comprehensive list, but men who have lived like this throughout history have shaken the world for the gospel and changed it for good.

In fact, C. S. Lewis stated in Mere Christianity, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next” (HarperCollins, 2001, p. 134).

Let me give you some examples:

Williams Wilberforce and John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace and many other great hymns, fought vehemently to end slavery in England, bringing about social change that freed slaves around the world.

William Carey was a shoe maker and later a teacher before he answered God’s call to go to India, sharing the gospel there and winning countless souls to Christ in the process.

Missionary Amy Carmichael, philanthropist George Mueller, and journalist Robert Raikes rescued children in peril, founded orphanages, and established schools throughout England.

One of my favorite stories about this comes from the life of Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian whose family hid Jews from Nazis during WWII. She and her family were captured and sent to various concentration camps. Corrie’s sister and Father died in the camps and Corrie only survived due to the providence of God as a clerical error released her. She would later build a ministry caring for survivors of concentration camps and called for forgiveness and reconciliation for the Germans.

In 1947 she found herself face to face with a guard from the concentration camp she and her sister were housed in.

Let me read to you her words:

Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: “A fine message, fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”

And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course–how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?

But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

“You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard in there.” No, he did not remember me.

“But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein”–again the hand came out–“will you forgive me?”

And I stood there–I whose sins had every day to be forgiven–and could not. Betsie had died in that place–could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

For I had to do it–I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. “If you do not forgive men their trespasses,” Jesus says, “neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality.

Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.

“Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”

That’s what it means to live HEAVENLY minded and surrendered.

How do we live like this? We Must remember what Paul says in the final verses: we will Be Judged by God (V. 10-12)

Romans 14:10–12 ESV

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

We must live life like this isn’t the end, because it isn’t. Everyone of us will one day stand before the creator of the universe. We will be judged by the one who created it all.

So here’s the question: Will you be heavenly minded.

The Earthly minded accomplish nothing of eternal significance, but those who allow Christ and his Gospel to mark our steps will impact the world for eternity.

Will you make an eternal significance.

So how can you start?

How about by seeing things that need to be done and doing them?

What if all of the believers in our church would look for needs, look for opportunities to bless others and then be proactive, not waiting for someone else?

What if you:

Invited your neighbors to church regularly? If you invited one person a week to church in a year that would be 52 people you invited to church. 82% of the unchurched are at least somewhat likely to attend church if invited. But only 2% of church members invite a single unchurched person to church each year.

Organized a group of people in your church to help someone in need? What if you saw a family whose kids were underdressed and you started a clothing drive, or saw a senior who needed access and gathered a group of men to build a wheelchair ramp? Or what if you saw the school needed something and put out a box to gather school supplies?

Visited the shut-ins and nursing homes. What if you and your family went to nursing homes and played board games with the residents? What if you led a bible study on Sunday afternoons?

You see what God is calling you to do is to get your head out of the sand and love others. That’s what it means to be heavenly minded.

Will you be transformed by Christ and love others well?