Untitled Sermon (2)

** Does it feel good to give a gift? **

** we typically don’t expect anything in return when we give a gift, its free of charge! **

- I want you to think on this as we read our passage.

- (READ) Romans 12:1

- Today we are going to talk about worship and how that relates to presenting your body, holy and acceptable before God.

When we give God our best He is worshipped

- There are just two things we are going to look at today that I want you guys to pay attention to.

- The first: what is worship?

- The second: what are we giving? what is our best?

- As we jump into our text, we are kind of going in backwards a bit, starting with worship which is found at the end of the verse and then working backwards.

- But anyway, if you all could take your bibles or your phone and turn to Romans 12 that would be fantastic.

- Let’s look at this word worship…

1. WORSHIP (READ END OF VERSE)

- Worship has many definitions, but I want to change the way you view worship.

- Worship nowadays is typically correlated with singing or music, right?

- I would like to challenge you in saying that music is only a fraction of what worship really is!

- Worship in essence is giving God something that He deserves. Giving your best.

- Worshipping God can look like showing up on time to work, being faithful to what you say, loving on others, helping others out with stuff they need to get done.

- We worship God when we serve Him and His people.

- But what is so fascinating about this passage is that it calls this type of worship “spiritual.”

- This then takes away any physical sense of the word! It takes away any tangible idea.

- This worship is now expressed spiritually with our heart and mind. It becomes not what you see but where are heart is at.

- You see, I can give up my spot in line at Starbucks to an older lady, but if in my heart I did it so others would see it, it wasn’t genuine.

- I can work really hard, but if I do so with a bad attitude, is that the right thing to do?

- This worship is not just the physical but focuses on our hearts posture. Does our heart worship?

- But what I think is even more interesting is the connection in this verse, from the spiritual to the physical!

- That is what we are asked to give! Our bodies…

2. THE SACRIFICE (READ FIRST HALF OF VERSE 1)

- But what does this sacrifice look like? What is it that Paul is asking us to do?

- The sacrifice we are called to make has three characteristics to it…

A. Holy

- The first is Holy!

- To be holy in this sense is to be pure, both in our standing before God but also in our intentions.

- I am not loving God nor can I please God when I am living in my sin, we see this in Romans 8:8

Romans 8:8 “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

a. Pure in standing: Being pure in your standing before God means to have taken your sin to God and ask for forgiveness, to repent of the sins.

- Now obviously God has forgiven all your sins on the cross, but we continue to sin right? But we still need to keep things right between us and God.

- Staying pure before God means to be open and vulnerable with our shortcomings and sin!

b. Pure in intention: Our sacrifice also needs to be driven out of good motive!

- it should come out of a selfless heart not a selfish one.

- A motive that is focused on the wellbeing of others.

- A motive that is focused on glorifying God!

- Our sacrifice also should be…

B. Acceptable

- It should be acceptable to God!

- This basically means “pleasing” to God.

- We should aim to do things the way He has asked us!

- We please God when we obey Him and His word.

- When scripture asks us to do all to the glory of God, it is pleasing to God when we fulfill that!

- When scripture asks us to do all things in love, it is pleasing to Him when we do!

- Our sacrifice to God is acceptable when it aligns with His Word, and the only way we can know how to make it align with His Word is to read it!

** plumber illustration **

- And finally, our sacrifice should be living…

C. Living

- There is some activity in living right?

- In some form or another you are active, we walk, play sports, use our mind, we even have an active heartbeat! Our life is not a passive life!

- To make a living you must work.

- To eat you need to go get food (or have it delivered now)

- But just the same way, our sacrifice to God should be active!

- It should be pursued. There is something to be done and something to be given!

- There is action that is needed!

- Idk how many of you would say that you would be willing to die for your faith, to die for Christ.

- But let me urge you with this, in order to die for Christ, you must first learn how to live for Him.

- This is the nature of this sacrifice! To give all things that you do to Him!

CONCLUSION

- So, my challenge to you all is this, that you present yourself in this way before God.

When we give God our best He is worshipped

- And so why is this important? Because God is worthy to be praised!

- He is worthy to be worshipped!

- God loves you so so much, and he desires that we walk with Him, because He knows That His way is good.

- So how are you giving God your best? are you?

- Does the way you are living right now align with this passage and the characteristics of this sacrifice?

- Maybe you are living in sin right now, if so, get right before God! that is the first step, getting before Him and asking for forgiveness.

- My prayer for all of you is to give your best to God, that your sacrifice is living, holy and acceptable to God, because He is good and is worthy of praise.