Respond to Transformation (2026)
4 R's of Transformation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 3 viewsRespond means that we consider what Christ has done for us and we are prepared to act in response to that knowledge.
Notes
Transcript
Our Theme for 2026 is “Embrace Transformation”.
Transformation is the inward change that we experience when we become more like Jesus.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed 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.
Transformation is a process that is ongoing throughout our lives.
For some of us, transformation happened suddenly - there was a dramatic change when we first committed our lives to Christ.
For others it was less dramatic, probably because our lives had already been influenced by the gospel and being raised in a Christian environment.
But for all of us, transformation is not just a one-time event, but an ongoing process of becoming more like Christ every day.
18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Our vision statement at SCF is to “Encounter God’s Transforming Love.”
How do we do that? (Four R’s)
Respond
Restore
Release
Relate
That describes who we are and what we are about.
Over the next 4 weeks we are going to review the 4R’s just as a reminder of what we have committed to do as a church, but we will be doing so as part of the ongoing process of transformation.
Today is “respond.”
Respond is what you do with what you know once you know it.
Earlier this week, the weather forecast started predicting a huge winter storm this weekend. Early on, some of the more responsible forecasters where careful to point out that things could shift north or south and that would make a big difference in what we get. But the point is that just knowing there was a possibility - we began to prepare for action. That is what it means to respond.
“Respond” is represented by the crosses on the logo.
The cross is where God showed His great love for us.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The question for us is, “How will you respond?”
We respond to God by obedience and expect that God helps us when we do.
The resulting recognition is described as an encounter.
A divine encounter is when you recognize who Jesus is.
Before John 3:16, Jesus says this:
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
A divine encounter is just that - an encounter which takes you beyond your natural existence and makes you spiritually alive.
It’s hard to imagine how this happens, but some people have a supernatural encounter and manage to go back to living as if they had not.
The mind had an encounter, but the heart was never changed.
We have a membership process and a membership agreement here at SCF that centers around the four R’s.
Four each of the four r’s there are four statements that members agree to and sign.
And periodically, every year or two, we should go over them just to remind ourselves of what we have agreed to.
And for anyone who has not yet become a member, this might be a good time to consider doing so as we will be going over what is in the membership agreement.
Respond means change.
Respond means change.
We could have known that a storm was coming and refused to change. “We’re having church if we have to take a snowmobile to get there!” I’m sure they do that some places. But you still have to change - you have to get your snowmobile ready.
Have you heard the saying, “If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting the same results.”
Another saying expresses the inverse - “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Change is inevitable - you can fight it, but you will not win.
The appropriate response to change is either acceptance or change with it.
AA is famous for the serenity prayer - its a prayer for acceptance and to change where needed.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."
Change is part of life - we are supposed to change.
So why not embrace it and be intentional about it?
Change is transformation.
Change is transformation.
The biggest problem with Christianity in our society is that people join a religion, but fail to be transformed by it.
Keith Green used to say that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.
Is a person saved by their profession of faith or by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit?
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Its the renewal of the Holy Spirit.
The same Spirit which empowered Jesus is living inside us.
Having the Holy Spirit inside you has a way of changing a person.
You now have conviction of sin - meaning that things you used to want to do - you no longer want to do them.
Or even if part of you wants to - there is another part of you that grieves over that kind of behavior - that’s the Holy Spirit!
Pay attention to that conviction - it will make you a better person!
On the other hand, if you don’t listen to the Holy Spirit - that voice will eventually go away - and you will be just like you were before you knew God - or worse!
That is why it is urgent that we respond - the world has enough hypocrites- people who say they are Christians, but don’t act like it.
We need a faith that is real - people responding to God, embracing transformation empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Respond is more that just saying, “I like the idea of being a Christian.
It is more than just agreeing with the basic principles of Christianity.
It is more than ‘self-identifying’ as a Christian.
It’s not your Christian t-shirt or your Facebook meme that makes you a Christian.
It’s all about the change!
This change is supernatural.
This change is supernatural.
Some people treat Christianity as if it were just another self-help trend.
And sometimes churches make it sound like their program is the process of spiritual transformation.
We love Elijah House here, but EH is a tool to guide people.
We have men’s and women’s Bible studies.
Karie and I want to start a home group later this spring.
All of these things are designed to encourage transformation.
But none of them can make it happen.
The transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
The Christian life requires and intentional partnering with what God is doing in our lives by His Spirit.
But it is first and foremost recognizing that it is God who is doing it and responding to Him.
Spiritual transformation is supernatural - you can’t do it on your own.
God does it in you - all you have to do is allow it!
Thinking that what you are doing is more important than what God is doing is actually an obstacle to transformation.
You do your part, but know that it is God doing His part that is making it happen.
God is even helping you do your part.
13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
This is what is mean to respond to the Spirit.
You recognize that it is the Spirit working in you and through you that is changing you and the world around you.
This is what it means to embrace transformation.
Transformation is what God is doing or wanting to do and embracing it is your appropriate response.
The appropriate response.
The appropriate response.
Have you ever noticed that the language that we use generally focuses on our response more than what God has done for us.
“I became a Christian”
This focuses on your choice - but was it really your choice.
C.S. Lewis described himself as “The most reluctant convert in all of England”
In doing so he shifts the focus away from his person al choice to the overwhelming evidence of the truth of the gospel.
It’s great that you made a choice for Christ - but if you recognized the truth of the gospel - you didn’t have a choice!
Becoming a Christian was the only appropriate response.
Here’s another one “ I asked Jesus into my heart.”
This one has been popular in Children’s ministry, but has been much debated in recent years.
So Jesus was passively standing outside the door of your heart
Maybe he was gently knocking as in the old picture.
And you had pity on Him and decided to invite Him in.
That makes you look like the hero in this story.
In the biblical story, however, Jesus is the hero and we are the ones being rescued by Him.
A more appropriate picture would be Jesus as a fireman and your house is on fire.
Opening the door is an appropriate response to the One who is trying to save you.
Or how about this one, “I got saved!”
It makes it sound like you acquired salvation like you bought a shirt at Walmart.
Its good that Walmart has a generous return policy, because most people who think that salvation is something they got for themselves, usually end up taking it back.
A lot of churches these days attract members like stores attract customers.
They spend most of there time telling people how Jesus will make your life better.
As if your ownership over your own life is the main thing and Jesus is a useful accessory.
The real Gospel says that God is the Creator of the world and the rightful owner of the universe and everything in it - including you.
When mankind sinned, we rebelled against God.
That set in motion destructive influences in humanity and in our world.
We couldn’t save ourselves - so God reached out to us.
Jesus Christ became one of us - He suffered and died as one of us.
And He did it to save us from ourselves and from certain destruction.
Now that you know the real story - what are you going to do about it?
The appropriate response is to give you life wholly and fully back to God who deserves it.
“Accepting Jesus” means to recognize the truth that already is - not making it so.
Jesus is Lord and Savior whether or not you like it or care to admit it.
Acknowledging it as true is just the beginning of a life that is beginning to find its purpose.
1. I have committed my life to Christ having received Him as Savior and Lord.
1. I have committed my life to Christ having received Him as Savior and Lord.
That means you have recognized the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and are affirming that your appropriate response is to live your life for Christ.
This in not “adding a little Jesus to your life.”
This is not “giving Jesus a try.”
In the wise words of Yoda, “do or do not, there is no try.”
As we look at the cross on the logo, there were actually three crosses.
There was a man crucified on either side of Jesus.
On one side of Jesus was a criminal who wanted to know what Jesus could do for Him.
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
He probably would have believed in Jesus, if Jesus had done what He wanted.
Except believing in Jesus doesn’t work like that.
The one on the other side seemed to understand better who Jesus is.
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
He gets it - God is God.
We deserve what we get.
But what Jesus is doing is not what He deserves - this is something else.
This is love, mercy and grace.
Jesus is the king of the universe, doing what no worldly king does, and laying His life down for His people.
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
That’s it - that’s the gospel - the good news that Jesus made a way through life and death back to God - back to wholeness.
If you get it then you know that the only appropriate response is to commit your life to following Jesus.
That is what we are asking on our membership agreement.
That you understand the gospel of what Jesus did for you.
And you are responding appropriately.
2. I have sealed my covenant through baptism as a believer and renew it regularly through communion.
2. I have sealed my covenant through baptism as a believer and renew it regularly through communion.
So every commitment has symbols, things that enact our agreement and remind us of the commitment that we made.
I wear a wedding ring on the fourth finger of my left hand.
Karie gave it to me on our wedding day.
And it is a constant reminder of our covenant of marriage.
Marriage is a covenant, not just a contract.
A contract is null and void as soon as one party fails to hold up their end of the bargain.
A covenant remains in force as long as both parties live.
The Bible is full of language that proves that God keeps His covenant even when people abandon it.
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
Covenant symbols serve as a witness to the covenant that we made, even when we are not responding as we should.
Baptism is one of those covenant symbols.
Being baptized - submerged in water - has multiple meanings and parallels.
Its a spiritual cleansing.
It’s a picture of rebirth.
It’s becoming part of the Body of Christ.
It’s being covered with Christ.
It’s crossing over into our promised land.
It’s dying and rising with Christ.
And it’s a new beginning - a reenactment of new creation.
It’s all of those things and if you want to know more - I know someone who wrote a book on the subject!
If you haven’t been baptized as a believer and you want to be, we can arrange that too.
And then there is communion.
Some churches do it every week.
Some do it once or twice a year.
We have communion, on average, about every five weeks.
Often enough, that it keeps it in our minds.
But not so often that we just take it for granted.
Communion is a constant reminder of our union with Christ.
“The bread is the body of Christ”
What do we do with the bread - we take it internally.
We internalize Christ’s sacrifice - not just symbolically but literally.
The reality of who Jesus is is like our food.
If we don’t eat, we die.
We internalize His suffering.
Whatever we suffer is nothing compared to what He suffered for us.
We remember that whatever we may have to suffer in this world is part of our appropriate response to what He has done for us.
And He can more than make it up to us.
We take his blood internally - not literally, but no less real.
Blood is the essence of covenant.
We share a common life.
Communion reminds us that it is the life of Christ in us that animates and empowers us.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
If you have commited you life to Christ, you are welcome to take communion with us.
Our next communion time will be in about two weeks.
However, as members of the church it is good to remind ourselves that communion is not just a tradition.
It is renewing and reaffirming our response to Christ.
An ongoing commitment.
An ongoing commitment.
When I was growing up in the church, there was a big debate about “once saved, always saved.” I don’t hear much about it anymore - but the question was whether or not a person could lose their salvation. In other words, if you become a Christian, you respond to the gospel, but then later decide that your not a Christian or you stop living like a Christian, does that mean that you are not a Christian anymore.
Well the argument breaks down because the “once saved, always saved” camp will simply say that person never was a real Christian - they were just acting the part. For those who believe you can lose your salvation, it becomes a debate about what would it take? How bad do you have to be before you are not a Christian anymore?
Let me just say that I think both sides miss the point. Because they are both focused on what not to do instead of what to do.
I don’t care about how to commit apostasy - that is the state of being “apart from” Christ.
I want to know how to remain in Him and abide in Him.
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
So the question is not, what can I get away with and still be a Christian?
The real question is how do I build on and strengthen my relationship with God?
If you want to know what it means to be a true Christian, ask yourself the second question and not the first!
How do we respond to God in an ongoing and lasting way?
I have some concrete suggestions.
3. I accept the Bible as my authority and seek to both hear and obey God’s direction for my life.
3. I accept the Bible as my authority and seek to both hear and obey God’s direction for my life.
One of the ways that I know a person has a genuine encounter with God is that they develop a hunger for the Word of God.
They want to know how God thinks and what God says.
Why? Because they want to please God and they want to know how to do that.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
It’s actually very simple to please God, just do what He says!
It’s like learning to obey our parents when we are kids.
Yeah, that wasn’t exactly easy , was it?
But consider that God is the perfect parent who truly knows what is best for us.
The principle that we believe and affirm is that by giving us His Word - the Bible - God has also shown us the best way to live.
Some call it - “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth”
Its a handbook, and instruction manual.
It’s not just a rulebook - it’s more of a story book.
It shows us how God has responded to the problem sin and gives us Jesus as a model for the kind of humanity that God created us to be.
When you read the Bible, don’t just read it as rules and commands.
Read it as the story of God’s redemption.
It’s a love story about God creating a people and then coming to save them.
The Bible is authoritative and is meant to be obeyed - but we are not obeying verses taken out of context as if they were written only to us.
We are obeying God by honoring His intention for the world and for mankind.
By loving God and loving each other.
By stewarding our responsibility in relationships.
And by following the example of Jesus Christ.
Our commitment here is not that we will do everything perfectly, but that we genuinely seek to know and to do what is right according to what we see revealed in Scripture.
I think that is the appropriate response to the Word that God has given us.
4. I participate in worship, not just publicly, but also privately and from my heart.
4. I participate in worship, not just publicly, but also privately and from my heart.
Notice we don’t say, “I will attend church every Sunday - or even once a month”
It not about church attendance - its about worship.
Worship is our appropriate response to seeing who God is - His nature and His character.
Notice that worship is what is happening in heaven.
10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Now there is a worship service that I look forward to attending.
It sounds like a rock concert where people are throwing things up onto the stage.
And they are screaming and freaking out because the voice that they have spent countless hours listening to and the songs that have shaped their existence are embodied by the person on stage.
Can you imagine what it will be like to see, in person, the embodiment of all that we are and have become?
I might just do a little screaming myself!
And all of my life’s achievements - my titles and accolades - those are just something to throw down at his feet.
It’s all for you Jesus!
That is the kind of worship that we want here at SCF.
This is not about mandatory attendance.
This is about coming together as an expression of who we are - people whose lives are transformed and are being transformed by Christ.
You have the presence of the Holy Spirit in you.
He was in each of us before we came.
We don’t just worship in church - we do that everywhere we go.
But when we come together, something special happens.
That flame in each of us intensifies and burns a little brighter.
And if someone flame is a little dimmer, we come around that person and lend them our strength.
It’s part of our appropriate response to God that we also strengthen and encourage each other.
And along the lines of responding to God, I want to remind us that the front of the sanctuary - what we call the altar, representing the presence of God - is always open.
We used to have “altar ministry times” at the end of each service and that is still available if you want it.
You can alway come up to Karie or myself after service or at the close of the service and ask for prayer.
Any of our leaders would be willing and available to pray with you as well.
But going forward, I also want to invite you to use our worship times as response times as well.
If you come to church and you are having difficulty worshipping God because something is weighing on you - come to the altar and someone will pray with you.
If you want someone to agree with you in prayer for healing or for breakthrough in some area of your life - come to the altar - God will meet you here.
Or if your flame is burning a little dim and you want it rekindled - come and let us pray with you.
Reaffirmation of our response:
Reaffirmation of our response:
1. I have committed my life to Christ having received Him as Savior and Lord.
2. I have sealed my covenant through baptism as a believer and renew it regularly through communion.
3. I accept the Bible as my authority and seek to both hear and obey God’s direction for my life.
4. I participate in worship, not just publicly, but also privately and from my heart.
