Transforming Lives in 2005

Good Morning,

As you all know, my son came home for Thanksgiving. He’s been playing hockey for the Tulsa Bazooka Blues since mid-August. Joe had been home-schooled from third grade thru High-school and this was the first time he’d been away from home.

We had a great visit. He was home for a few days before we went to church last Sunday. Afterwards, he made the observation that the people from church really hadn’t changed. They were the same as they had been before he left. He had expected them to change, because he had.

I responded that yes he had changed. He had gone to a new place, and met new people, and did new things, and had new experiences. He was now in an environment where most of the people he came into contact with were not Christians. I told him that all these things had the potential of changing his perspective. He was being exposed to a world view.

Then I got to thinking about the motto for 2005 – “Transforming lives in 2005”. Rom 12:2a Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Notice it doesn’t say change, Paul uses the word transform. OK, so there must be a difference. Change means: to act different, to exchange or replace. Change can be temporary or permanent. We change hairstyles, we change our addresses.

Transform on the other hand means: to change the nature, function or condition of, to convert. Transformation is a life changing action. It is always permanent. One thing becomes another. The Greek word here is metamorphos. The way a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly.

But the subtly here is that Paul didn’t tell us transform. He told us to be transformed. The metamorphosis is done to us when we renew our minds.

But the directive Pastor gave us a year ago, wasn’t just to be transformed, but to become agents of transformation. Now I can renew my mind by spending consistent time in the word, by meditating on it, by attending Bible study, by memorizing scripture verses… But I can’t force you or someone in the congregation, or someone in Ford Heights, to renew their mind. Not everyone wants to be transformed.

That’s why it’s important to read the rest of the verse. Why should we renew our minds? 2b Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Okay, so there is a reward for renewing your mind. There is a reward for being transformed. Knowing what God’s good, and pleasing and perfect will is.

Okay, its 11 months later. And things are different than they were a year ago. What I want to know is did we pass the test? Did we just change they way we do things or have we actually been agents of transformation? Remember transformation involves permanently becoming something or someone else.

In 2005

·       464 people professed Jesus as Savior for the first time.

·       101 were baptized

·       266 received the right hand of fellowship

·       ____ we married

·       ____ babies blessed

·       ____ funerals

·       ____ repasts

·       ____ Thanksgiving baskets

In 2005

·       New Faith reached out to the community with door to door evangelism

·       We hosted a Jazz concert to reach people with the gospel who wouldn’t set foot in a church.

·       We hiked for Breast Cancer

·       We sponsored

o      Health Fairs for Men

o      Information summit for Seniors

o      domestic Violence Workshops

o      support groups for those battling addition

o      and a faith fair for Ford Heights

·       We reached out to the Nation with our first Women in Ministry Conference

·       We sent missionary teams to Ghana in West Africa and the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina

·       We collected and sorted, transported, and distributed tons of clothing, food, medical supplies & educational materials

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more I didn’t mention. Things we don’t have numbers for like how many people were counseled over the phone? how many requests for prayer were honored? How many people call every day to ask about Deacon’s Benevolence? Sure we’ve accomplished a lot. And we could pat ourselves on the back and take all the credit, but you know as well as I do that had God not renewed our minds in the first place no transformation would have taken place.

Let me encourage you this morning to kee