Surrender Your Life
Notes
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Intro:
Intro:
AG: Finger trap.
Have you ever played with a finger trap? The harmless looking woven tube entices you to place a finger in each end. When you attempt to pull your fingers out, the trap tightens and won’t allow you to do so! You have to quit pulling, the natural instinct, and push from the opposite end.
That is the way it is in our walk of faith. In our human hearts we think we have to work hard to get ahead. But in matters of faith, our hard work is pointless. We must quit striving and surrender to the Master.
TS: This morning, we begin a new series of sermons on our walk of faith. Over the next few weeks, we will exmamine the essentials of living for God’s glory.
Intro Series
This morning, we begin by exploring the principle of surrendering. We must surrender our life to the Master.
Paul spoke of this concept in .
RS:
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
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.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
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.
Romans 12:1
The Sacrificed Life
The Sacrificed Life
begins with Paul saying, “I appeal to you therefore,”
whenever you see “therefore” it is good to find out what it is there for.
Paul is basing the call to a surrendered life because of what He said in .
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Ro 11:36
God is the source, the sustainer, and the rightful end of everything that exists!
He created it all by His power for His glory
He sustains it all for His glory
The universe exists to glorify Him
In light of this:
1. Present Yourself as a Living Sacrifice
1. Present Yourself as a Living Sacrifice
surrender yourself
Living Sacrifice
Living Sacrifice
This makes no sense?
How can this be?
What is a sacrifice?
an animal was sacrificed by killing it, draining its blood and burning it!
How can we be a “living” sacrifice?
That is an oxymoron: 2 contradictory words put to gether.
Jumbo Shrimp
Crash Landing
Growing Smaller
Deafening Silence
How can we be both alive and a sacrifice?
I think Paul answers this in writing to the Galatians as he shares this:
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.
“I” am crucified
my will
my dreams
my sin nature
“I” no longer live
I get out of the driver seat of my life
Christ lives in me
Christ the Lord is in the captain’s chair
He is in charge now and lives through me.
Because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, no other sacrifice is needed to bring salvation!
No more animal lives will be given to temporarily cover sins.
No longer will we have to pay for our own sin through eternity in hell.
Jesus took that upon Himself.
We do not sacrifice, surrender, ourselves to be saved.
We surrender ourselves because
It is our spiritual service, our act of worship and only reasonable to give ourselves to Him in gratitude.
We owe God our highest form of service
The idea here is of priestly, spiritual service like OT priests.
We offer up a sacrificed life as our spiritual service, our act of worship
It is our spiritual service, our act of worship
AP: How does that look?
The call Paul so urgently gives to us is to live in obedience to the Lord.
A surrendered life is a life of obedience to God.
It is a life which gives up everything to Him
recognizing that we all and all we have are His!
When my will is sacrificed, His will becomes the driving force.
IL: The Potter
We were blessed to see Parables of the Potter at the Great Passion Play this week.
It is amazing to watch the master potter take a pile of clay and transform it into a useful vessel.
He pushed and nudged and worked the clay to create what he desired.
That is exactly what our Lord does!
He is the potter and we are the clay.
The surrendered life is a life of being malleable clay in the Master’s hands.
That will result in....
2. Live a Transformed Life
2. Live a Transformed Life
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.
a. Don’t be conformed to this world
a. Don’t be conformed to this world
First, we must no longer conform to this world
The easy path is to go along with the crowd.
Have you ever found yourself trying to go up stairs when everyone else is coming down?
It is not easy to go the opposite way is it?
The world has a concept of how we should be.
society has a code of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.
They are constantly changing!
What is acceptable today, may be out of fashion tomorrow.
Surveys and polls show changing opinions on many issues.
When we are thinking of fashion there may be nothing wrong with conformity.
However, when we talk about lifestyle and mindset, as Paul does here, it is far more important.
A life surrendered to God has His mindset and opinion as top priority.
The world pushes us to fit into their mold.
They want us to view things their way
They call it “political correctness” and “tolerance”
In actuality, what they want is conformity!
b. Be transformed
b. Be transformed
We are called to undergo a metamorphosis (which is the Greek word used here).
a caterpillar encases itself in a chrysalis and its body is warped and reshaped until it is ready and finally emerges as a beautiful butterfly.
That is what God does in us!
The surrendered life is one in which we have become a living sacrifice and God begins changing us into a new being.
We begin to outwardly manifest our new redeemed natures.
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
c. By renewing your mind
c. By renewing your mind
c. By renewing your mind
c. By renewing your mind
This is accomplished through the Spirit’s work in renewing our minds.
The Holy Spirit changes our thinking through consistent study and mediation of Scripture.
Consider the following verses:
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Ps 119:
28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
The world’s mindset, which ultimately comes from Satan, is replaced by God’s Word!
His thoughts become our thoughts
His word permeates our thinking
This results in holy living which is “good acceptable and perfect”.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
We are called to surrender. Acknowledge the fact that He is Lord.
Sacrifice yourself to Him
Live for Him
He will transform us into what we are meant to be.