Transformed

Transformed

Romans 12:1-3

Transform our

Attitudes towards worship

Love for the lost

Walk with Christ - Kingdom Minded

Introduction

From our passage this morning, Paul gives us a statement and ideal that we should always be living by. Not only is the good news of Christ facts to believe, but it is a life to be lived. A righteous life.

We use this passage fairly often, but do we think about the seriousness or the impact of it? If we are to be Christians, if we are to live a proper life in Christ, we must transform our hearts, minds, and faith. We transform by going from that old man of sin to a new creature and a new life. This new life will not resemble any of the worldliness that we once were involved in. It is no longer about who I am, but about who Christ is.

Making ourselves a sacrifice for the cause of Christ, not falling into the clutches of this sinful world, and renewing our minds daily to know what it is that God requires of us are all essential to our new lives in Christ.

With that thought in mind, I want us to think about some aspects of our lives that should be transformed. Oftentimes we allow ourselves to get into ruts. We allow things to become nonchalant when they are so very important to remain focused on.

Our attitudes, dedication, and our focus are all necessities to our lives as Christians.

I want us to look at just a few points this morning

Transform our Attitudes toward Worship

How important is Worship to us? Is it something that we look forward to every week? Are we worshiping in the correct way?

The Hebrews Writer in Hebrews 12:28 tells us to serve God acceptably, or as the ESV says, to offer to God acceptable worship. This implies that there is a correct and incorrect way to worship God. We know the five acts of worship. We know that we must pray, sing praises to God, partake of the Lord’s Supper, give, and study from his word every Sunday. But, what is our attitude when we do that? Is Worship just something we check off our list of things to do? Is it even somewhere we want to be? Do our minds wander? Are we focused on the worship that God has commanded us? When you answer those questions, we can see if we are truly worshiping God in an acceptable way.

Friends, worshiping our God is not only commanded, but it is our privilege. Being able to worship the God from which we receive every blessing, the God who has given us the opportunity of salvation, and the God who loves us. Does this not make us want to worship Him and sing His praises? I know there are illnesses, and physical ailments, and maybe jobs that can keep us from physically being at the church building every time, but what does it say to God when we choose to not be here when the doors are opened? I am not talking about only Sunday morning. I am talking about our attitudes towards every time the door opens. As the children of God, should we not yearn, should we not desire to be with those of like faith? To learn more about our God and to give Him our best effort in worship that we possibly can?

When we sing to God, sing out loud! It is okay if you are not the best singer. It is okay if the people next to you hear you. That is what singing is about! Colossians 3:16 tells us to teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. How can we do that if we are singing so low that no one can hear us? I will tell you this.. God does not care what we sound like. He only cares about where our hearts are.

Turn in your Bibles to John 4:21-24

Jesus tells us how to worship. He says for us to worship in Spirit and in Truth. God is a spirit and those that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

Truth has to be the basis of everything that we do, practice, and every aspect of worship.

Spirit is the emotion of us who worship. We are not to just go through the motions. We participate in the worship with gratitude, with feelings of salvation, redemption and reconciliation. Our worship should be totally focused on God. It will never be about pleasing me, you, or any others after us. It is about giving the honor, praise and glory to God that He deserves.

We have to transform that attitude of selfish worship into selfless worship to God. When we act like worship is a chore, or as if worship is keeping us from doing something, how do we think that reflects on us? How truly dedicated are we to God? I am not saying that we cannot receive anything from the worship service. We definitely feel recharged, and are able to learn from our Bible classes. But, we have to get it out of our minds that it is about us first, and God second. It should always be about more of God and less than us.

In order to be transformed like Paul tells us in Romans chapter 12, we have to worship in spirit and in truth. We have to have the proper attitude when it comes to worship. Our worship is for God and not for me. It is to praise and glorify his name and his name only.

Transform our love for the lost

Not only do we have to transform our attitudes about worship, but we must also transform our attitudes about our love for the lost and reaching out to them. We know in Mark 16:15-16 that we are tasked with going to the entire world and preaching the gospel. But the question is, do we prioritize seeking and reaching the lost?

We know that in 1 Corinthians 11:1 we are told to be followers, or to imitate Christ. And we know in Luke 19:10 Jesus tells us that He came to seek and save the lost. So if we are to imitate Christ, if we are to follow in his footsteps and His example, then we should have zeal and enthusiasm about reaching the lost. We see that word “seek” used by Jesus fairly often. Do we seek after opportunities to teach others? Do we seek after people who need to hear the Gosepl? Friends, being a Christian does not mean that we keep the Gospel for ourselves. We are supposed to be living lives of righteousness and in the image of Christ. Did Jesus hold back when it came to teaching? Did the Apostle’s hold back? We should be seeking and searching for these opportunities. If we are not concerning ourselves with preaching and teaching others about Jesus, then we are failing.

The Gospel is the good news and for some reason we are afraid to tell others about it. We are afraid of conflict, we are afraid of strife, and we are afraid of being challenged. Our attitude has to change. We have to get away from the idea that evangelism is done within the four walls of the church building. We as Christians should be taking the Gospel to the world. The world is not going to stumble into the church building to hear the Word of God. Christ tells us to go. He does not tell us to wait for the lost to come to us. He says to go and make disciples out of all nations. It is up to us to continue on in doing so. No, we do not have to go overseas. We do not even have to go over to the next county. There are people in our lives that we know are not Christians. There are people we interact with that are not Christians. It all starts with the impact of those around us. Do not be afraid to share the Gospel with others. Share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:12 that since we have this hope, we should be bold. That does not mean for us to hide the Gospel away like it is some big secret. We ought to be proclaiming the name of Jesus to others by our actions, our faith, and our words.

If we are not willing to do it, if I am not willing to do it, then who will? I know many will see this as an overreaction, but friends, we are required to spread the Gospel. We are required to lead certain lives that bring glory to God like we read about in Colossians 3:17. In order for Him to receive that glory, we have to talk about Him right? If I do not talk about Jesus, if I do not act like Jesus, if I do not love like Jesus, then how can people know that I am a follower of Jesus? How can people know the Gospel has changed my life? How can people know the hope of salvation?

1 John 4:7-11

If we do not love others, and that includes the lost, then we do not know God. Romans 5:8 tells us that while we were yet sinners, God loved us and gave His Son to die for us. Friends, we have to love the lost. We must be willing to take them the Gospel. It is only up to us to plant the seed, and let God give the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:7).

Let us be transformed in our love for the lost. Let our love be enough that we go boldly into the world, preach Christ, and be the example of His love to all.

Transform to be Kingdom Minded

Colossians 3:1-4

Paul says to keep our minds on things above and not on things of the earth. To keep our minds and hearts set on Christ. To be Kingdom minded is to keep Christ at the center of our lives. We have to transform from the thought that our lives are about us. We should change our hearts and minds to a new outlook. That the things we do, the things we say are all in accordance with the Word of God. In John the 14th chapter, Christ says that if we are to love him then we need to adhere to the Word of God. If we are going to be kingdom minded, we have to continually look to Christ as the example. We have to continue to love him and keep his commandments.

The struggle we all have is trying to be Kingdom minded in a world that is only self-minded. Remember our main passage from this morning? We are not to conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I think it was Ken who mentioned this to me in a class I was teaching a month or so ago. The soul is the only thing that can be renewed daily. These physical bodies that we have are declining every single day. But our souls can be renewed and strengthened every day. But to be Kingdom minded, we must continually renew our minds through the study of God’s Word. That will help us keep Christ in the center of our minds, hearts, and focus. Paul tells us that we are to do this in order for us to discern what is the will of God. And that we can know what is acceptable and perfect. Friends, in order for us to know what to do with our lives, to know how to live, to know how to act, we have to renew our minds through that study, through prayer, and through keeping our hearts and minds focused on Christ and the things above like we are told in Colossians 3.

The world wants us to conform. The world wants us to be like them. They want us to hate, discourage, be selfish, and not desire to spread God’s word. But we have to remember who we are. We have to remember that we put on the Christ in baptism and are now Christians. We wear that name with pride and we show others who Jesus is. Do not let this world beat us down. Do not let it wear us thin. Paul tells us in Romans 8:31 that if God is for us, then who can stand against us? If we are with God, we are the majority. If we are with God, then we have the strength to stand against the battles of the world.

This is definitely not an easy task to uphold. But, we have the resource of the Bible, the strength God provides, and we can seek him out in prayer. Be Kingdom Minded. Everything we do should be for the Kingdom of God. Everything we say should be that which will show others who Christ is. To be Kingdom minded is to be honest with ourselves and to be the examples and the disciples Christ calls us to be. When our minds our renewed, they are no longer set on the things of this life. When our minds are renewed, we now know where it is our hearts should be. Do we take priority in this? What kind of life are we living? Are we self-minded like the world? Or are we keeping Christ in the center of our lives? Are we renewing our minds daily through prayer and study? Are we keeping our hearts and minds set on things above?

Conclusion

As Christians, we have expectations from God. We no longer are conformed to this world. We are transformed. The old man that we once were is no longer alive. In Colossians 3:3 that we read a few minutes ago, Paul tells us that we are dead, and our lives are hid with Christ.

Paul what are you saying? I am still alive, I am not dead. You are dead to the world. You are dead to the old man. You are dead to the thoughts, ideals, and practices of this world. We are transformed into a new creature. We are a new person. We now have a life in serving and living according to the perfect will of God.

I am not saying there will not be rough roads. I am not saying we will not mess up. We are still humans. We do not always make the best decisions. The book of Romans tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

But how committed are you? If we are transforming our worship, our love for others, and transforming to be Kingdom minded, do you prioritize God? Is He what you set your heart and mind on? Is He the goal? Is He your life? We cannot be Lukewarm Christians as described in Revelation 3:15-16. Our new, transformed lives as Christians requires dedication. It requires submission with love to the Lord. And it requires that we labor with all of our hearts to spread the Gospel.

The life of a Christian is not something we should take lightly. It is the greatest life you can ever live, with an infinite abundance of blessing, especially that of eternal life. And that’s only found in Christ.

Jesus Christ came to this earth. Lived a perfect life and died on a cross to be raised on the third day so that you and I could be saved. So that we could be transformed from that old man of sin, into a child of God. Christ is the only answer to the things of this world. He is the one true purpose that gives us hope and gives us life.

Do not stay conformed to this world friends. Today is the day to make things right with God.

If you haven’t obeyed the Gospel, all that He asks is that you

Hear the word (Romans 10:17)

Believe that word (Hebrews 11:6)

Repent of your sins (Acts 2:38)

Confess Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 10:9-10)

Be Baptized for the remission of your sins (1 Peter 3:21)

Remain faithful (Revelation 2:10)

Maybe you have done those things and for some reason have allowed the world to put a wedge between you and God. Today is the day to break free of that. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, but today.

It is time for us to be transformed away from the world and not conformed to it. Whatever you need this morning, God’s invitation is always open. Won’t you come as we stand and as we sing?