Approaching to Worship

Romans 12:1, 2

I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Worship results less from spontaneity than it does as the result of planning. Nevertheless, we can plan the Spirit right out of worship. Worship demands that we approach God with a plan for worship. This is not to say that there is not an element which is beyond our ken—there is. God must reveal Himself to us, but He is pledged to do precisely that if we will but come before Him prepared to worship.

At the heart of this well-known portion of the Word is encouragement to worship. Paul writes of our spiritual act of worship. This translation is controversial. Should you read an earlier version of the Word of God, you will read about reasonable service [kjv], an equally valid translation. The Greek [th;n logikh;n latreivan uJmw`n] admits of either translation, and therein lies the controversy. The Greek term latreiva can mean either service or worship. This shouldn’t be too puzzling, since worship of God can easily be understood to be service to God. The plural of latreiva can even mean rites or duties. In fact, we derive our English word liturgy from this Greek term.

The Greek adjective in this combination is logikov", which can be translated by either spiritual or rational. It should be obvious that this Greek word is the root of our English word logical. By combining the adjective and the noun to derive the phrase logikh;n latreivan, two quite different meanings are possible. One meaning is preserved in the King James Version of the Bible, which speaks of your reasonable service. The alternative meaning is that which is found in many contemporary versions, such as the New International Version, and which presents the concept of your spiritual worship.

Is it reasonable service, or is it spiritual worship which is the focus of Paul’s teaching? The answer is that the Greek language likely embraces both concepts at the same time, spiritual worship being thought of as rational service. Worship of God is reasonable, if it is a spiritual act. This definition precludes, of course, all acts presented to God as mere form or by rote. Worship—true worship—is rational and reasonable.

How, then can we prepare ourselves for worship? What specific steps can we take as individual Christians and as a congregation, in order to ensure that we worship? This is the focus of the message today. This is intended to be an introduction to the art of worship to unite us as a congregation so that in the remainder of these summer months and in the months of Fall which shall shortly follow, we may begin to worship.

Worship Demands that we Offer our Bodies as Living Sacrifices. This is a rather demanding condition, wouldn’t you say? The very citation of this particular condition raises questions which cannot be ignored. How do we offer our bodies? What degree of sacrifice is required of our bodies? Does a particular lifestyle lead us automatically to worship? Such questions beg answers and we are obligated to provide the same if we will honour God.

In order to provide the answer it will be necessary to focus rather intently on the first verse of the text. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Whenever you see a therefore, ask what it is there for. The Apostle is building all the exhortations of the remainder of this book (and more particularly for the purpose of this message the exhortation of this text) upon the theology of the first eleven chapters. In other words, because of God’s grace in saving sinful man and because we are responsible to honour Him through obedience and godliness, we will now receive this further exhortation.

The Apostle urges all fellow believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices. This is not a mere request, for it carries the authority of a preacher who is a mediator of God’s truth. Technically, this is not a command, but it does nevertheless impose responsibility on the conscientious child of God.

The motive behind the apostolic urging is that it is presented in view of God’s mercy. What is mercy? Mercy is an aspect of grace, but the distinguishing mark of mercy is that it is extended to the pitiful. Arthur W. Pink says, Mercy … denotes the ready inclination of God to relieve the misery of fallen creatures. Thus, “mercy” presupposes sin.[1]

Paul was well equipped to write about mercy. As he neared the end of his life, he wrote: Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life [1 Timothy 1:15, 16]. He had indeed received great mercy. This was the man who hounded the saints to prison and even to death. When Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned, this same man stood there approving of his death.

God showed this wicked man great mercy. Here is the account his conversion. Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered [Acts 9:1-10].

I speak of this divine mercy with reverence since I am the recipient of great mercy. I was a wicked man when Jesus confronted me. Hating all mankind, I worked to bring great hurt to the world, even attempting to subvert my government. God graciously intervened to set me free from hurt and bitterness and appointed me as a herald of the Gospel. That is mercy!

What mercy has God shown you? If you are a Christian, you have received great mercy. Whereas we each should have received judgement and condemnation, we received mercy. Instead of a sentence of death, we have been set at liberty, and this is by God’s mercy. This is the message of the Apostle in the Ephesian Encyclical.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus [Ephesians 2:1-7].

The mercies of God are not simply a matter of past benefits, but we continue to enjoy the mercies of God and shall continue to do so throughout all eternity. Grace now reigns over us. Consequently, we find that we want to worship. Even when the flesh rebels at the thought of entering into the presence of God, we are drawn to worship. Our spirits, made new in Christ, draw us toward Him and we want to marvel in His presence.

This brings us to the matter of presenting our bodies as living sacrifices. For Christians, sacrifice has been forever banished from Christian worship. We offer no bloody sacrifices such as were required under the Old Covenant. The author of the Hebrews letter teaches us that the law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

…[Christ] said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

“This is the covenant I will make with them

after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.”

Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more.”

And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin

[Hebrews 10:1-4, 9-18].

The sacrifice we are to offer is qualified by three adjectives. Thus, we know that the sacrifice demanded of believers is living, holy and well pleasing to God. We need to look at these qualifiers in order to understand our responsibility for worship.

First, the sacrifice demanded of us is distinct from ancient sacrifices in that it is living. Such a thought was utterly foreign to ancient worshippers. As Christians, if we will worship we are to offer our very lives to God that as a result we should no longer live for [ourselves] but for him who died for [us] and was raised again [see 2 Corinthians 5:15]. What this means is that we must be believers in order to give again that life we have received. Perhaps other people can attempt to give God money or time, even taking up a religious vocation, but only one who has been made alive in Christ can offer again that life which was received. This point is vital to worship—only believers can worship! Only those who are born from above can worship. Thus, atmosphere and music can never induce worship if the one attempting to worship has never been born from above.

Again, this means that our bodies are to be offered to God. We Christians recognise that our bodies are members of Christ Himself [1 Corinthians 6:15] and the body of each Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit [see 1 Corinthians 6:19]. In fact, we are responsible to offer each part of our bodies as instruments of righteousness [Romans 6:13]. Therefore, we are to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit [1 Corinthians 7:34].

Do not fall into the trap of thinking that what you do is unimportant to God. Your manner of life determines whether you will worship or merely perform a ritual. How you live is vital to God. An old saying in the southern United States cautions that you can’t live on skim milk all week and expect cream on Sunday. Similarly, I suggest that you can’t engage in wicked acts while maintaining Sunday School thoughts. Offering our bodies requires that we present God our minds, our eyes and ears, our tongues, and our hands to be employed as He wills.

Our offering to God must be holy—pure and unblemished. The sacrifice with which we were each redeemed was the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect [1 Peter 1:19]. To offer God anything less than a holy sacrifice would insult this sacrifice with which we were redeemed. Therefore, God calls His people to be holy. You will recall that this is emphasised in 1 Peter 1:15, 16. Listen to the Apostle’s command. Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Holiness is the aim of this letter to the Romans. Those who have read this Roman letter will recognise that holiness is evidence of divine life. We are not holy in order to be redeemed, but because we are redeemed, we will be holy. Whether we know God and are on our way to Heaven is demonstrated by a holy life. Paul pleads with Christians to look to their baptism and all that it pictured in that sacred rite [see Romans 6:3-7]. Then, he makes the application which is too often missing in this day.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness [Romans 6:8-13].

If you will worship you must prepare by equipping yourself to be holy. In order to be holy, I recommend that you review how your body is employed—mind, eyes, ears, mouth, hands and feet.

Consider the importance of employing your mind in God’s service. Few Christians today are capable of distinguishing between truth and error. An astounding number of contemporary Christians attempt to mix evil and good, endeavour to embrace such dying philosophies as pantheism, pondering crystals and worship of mother earth even as they profess the Faith of Christ the Lord. Professing Christians hope in reincarnation and believe in flying saucers and creatures from outer space, demonstrating their ignorance of the Word of God and revealing their lack of spiritual discernment.

I am not advocating an evangelical monasticism, but I do insist that the secular spirit must be counterbalanced by the spiritual if we will worship. I challenge you to review your entertainment. If it fails to build you up, perhaps you shouldn’t listen or watch. Philippians 4:8, 9 has not yet been repealed. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

GIGO is a term popularised by computer programmers. It means, “Garbage in, garbage out.” Your life reflects what is in your mind.. The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man “unclean.” For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him “unclean” [Matthew 15:18-20a].

Can young people listen to Puff Daddy graphically describe his sexual fantasies without themselves become casual about sex? Will you argue that you can listen to Lady Marmalade intone again and again voulez vous couchet avec mois, without degrading the concept of marriage in your own mind? Do you think that when Ricky Martin sings “She Bangs” that he is singing about a woman drummer? Will you contend that listening to Eminem sing about graphic rape and violent acts toward women has no consequence? Do you believe that it exalts your mother or your wife in the eyes of mankind? Watching “X” rated late movies on ShowCase or Bravo is not calculated to make one holy, is it?

I am astonished at Christians who argue that what they hear and see have no effect upon them. Advertisers don’t believe that! By the age of twenty-one the average young person has been bombarded by 300,000 commercial messages, all arguing from the assumption that personal gratification is the dominant goal in life.[2] Do you really believe that these advertisers invest that amount of moneys without expecting a return? They know that what we see and hear effect how we live!

If you spend the most of your time watching television you will increasingly reflect the moral perspective of the scoundrels portrayed on the screen. If you listen to contemporary music you are filling your mind with the philosophies of this dying world. On the other hand, you can feed your mind on the Word of God and good Christian literature. You will thus train it to critique what you see and hear and discover that you are beginning to honour God by applying biblical truth to what you see and hear. I suggest that for every secular book you make it your goal to read at least one Christian book which will stretch your mind spiritually.

I challenge you to spend at least as much time reading your Bible, in prayer or serving in the church as you do in watching television and listening to contemporary music. If we were to do just that, worship would be transformed in our church.

Our tongue is also an instrument demanding that we exercise control. Our speech will either desecrate or glorify. Recall James’ words in James 3:6. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. This is the negative side of speech, as we each know altogether too well.

Challenge yourself by asking whether your tongue praises God, or whether it is given to the pedestrian and mundane affairs of this dying world? Do you often find yourself singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in addition to giving thanks to God the Father [see Ephesians 5:19, 20]? Which more commonly marks your speech: praise to God or gossip? Which is more commonly found on your tongue: witness of God’s grace or slander? Is it easier to talk about the affairs of this world, or of the world to come? Here is a goal worthy of consideration by every profession child of God: use your tongue to tell others about Jesus instead of idle conversation.

Using our bodies as living sacrifices will demand that we also consider how we employ our hands and feet. In 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12 we are taught to use our hands so that we can be self-supporting. Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. Ephesians 4:28 instructs us to work with our hands so that we will have something to share with those in need. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Christians should be productive, busy people, using their hands to the glory of God.

In Romans 10:14, 15 the Apostle speaks of the feet of disciples. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Are your feet beautiful? Who heard the Good News this week past because of you?

I recommend that for every secular function you attend you make it your goal to attend at least one Christian function. When you do go to a secular function, do so as a witness for Christ the Lord. Use your feet and your hands to serve God. Let the world know that you are a servant of the Lord God. See how this will transform worship. Your church will never be the same again! You will never again be content with worship which is pedestrian and mundane and boring.

If we make it the goal of our daily life to be pleasing to God, we will worship. However, if the sum of our life is to please ourselves, we cannot expect to worship. However much the worship team labours to provide for worship, no matter how diligently the Pastor studies and prepares the message, until you seek to make your life pleasing to God, you will never worship. Others about you may worship and you will witness their joy, but you cannot worship. When we seek to please God, we will discover that His will for us is good, pleasing and perfect. In endeavouring to please God, we will discover that His will is pleasing to us. Only as we seek to please God through our own lives can we please ourselves, and worship.

Worship Demands that we Resist Conforming to the Pattern of this World. Romans 12:2 is a verse which is clarified through considering other translations. Here is one. Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think [New Living Translation]. Consider this translation. Do not change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but be changed within by a new way of thinking [New Century Version]. One of my favourite translations, which helps to bring clarity to this verse is this. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within [Phillips].

We Christians once feared worldliness and endeavoured to be godly. Perhaps we were unclear on what it meant to be worldly. Some of that thinking still infects the church of this day. We think that worldliness is defined by what we do. I precipitated a firestorm in one church when I told the congregation that they were so proud of their anthem, an anthem which stated:

I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew,

And I don’t go with girls that do.

However, this is not necessarily descriptive of what it is to be worldly.

Permit me to direct attention to some Bible verses which speak of worldliness. Note, as I read the verses, that they speak primarily of attitudes.

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 speaks of worldliness. Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? An attitude of “self” is worldly. Jealousy and quarrelling marks an individual as worldly. A divisive spirit is a worldly spirit.

Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow [Colossians 2:16-19]. Religion which is focused on performance instead of recognising the importance of relationship is worldly.

The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good [Titus 2:11-14]. Worldliness is characterised as undisciplined and impure.

Bitterness, envy, selfish ambition, boasting—all demonstrate a worldly spirit. If you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice [James 3:14-16].

A casual attitude toward honesty is worldly [2 Corinthians 1:17]. Fatuous conversation and vacuous philosophy is worldly [1 Timothy 6:20, 21], as is gossip and slander [2 Timothy 2:16]. What is vital to understand is that it is less the actions which mark us as worldly (or spiritual) than it is the attitude underlying the action. What I think will shortly be revealed in what I do.

Refer once again to Jesus’ teaching on this issue. Jesus was confronted by religious leaders who challenged Him because His disciples failed to keep the minutiae of the Law. Jesus demolished their teaching and seized the opportunity to instruct the disciples in some of the great truths of the Kingdom. The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man “unclean.” For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him “unclean” [Matthew 15:18-20a].

The world has certain ways of thinking and acting. The pressure to conform is tremendous. Nevertheless, Christians are to resist the pressure of this world so that we will glorify God. We are not to adapt ourselves to this world, but we are to equip ourselves for the world to come. This world attempts to compartmentalise life into separate boxes. Part of life is secular and part is sacred. We step out of the secular at 10:30 on Sunday and step into the sacred for a period of a couple of hours and then return to the secular. We call this worship. However, as Christians we must recognise that either Jesus is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. The Word of God is staunch in its insistence that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved [Romans 10:9].

Again, the world insists that those who will please the world must be tolerant. What we believe is less important than demonstrating tolerance of all beliefs. However, we must realise that if all beliefs are equally valid then none have any validity. Christianity is not simply another way to God, for Jesus clarified that issue forever when He stated I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me [John 14:6].

Humanism, relativism, materialism—all alike mark this dying world. However, Christians are to resist the urge to exalt mankind over God. Christians are to recognise that truth is fixed by God who is true. Christians are to resist adopting the view that the one with the most toys when he dies is the winner. We are to live for eternity and with a view to glorifying God.

Worship Demands that we be Transformed by the Renewing of Our Mind. Mind renewal in preparation for worship is not simply thinking about Christian subjects; renewal of the mind as envisioned by Paul is endeavouring to think Christianly. We are to avoid thinking in a secular way. Instead, we are to think in a Christian manner.

The Lord’s Supper is perhaps the most spiritual of all Christian worship experiences; yet it is possible to approach the Lord’s Table in an unchristian manner. Perhaps a deacon is thinking of the cost of the elements instead of focusing on Christ. Another communicant is thinking that someone participating is unworthy instead of remembering the love of Christ. Another communicant is thinking that she doesn’t like the manner in which the Pastor is officiating instead of thinking of the return of the Lord. In each of these instances, though the person is participating in what should be an act of worship, their minds ensure that worship cannot occur.

On the other hand, there is no subject so mundane that we cannot think Christianly about the matter. Perhaps as an attendant fills our tank we are thinking about how a mechanised world tends to make God unnecessary. Perhaps we are thinking of the exhausts which pollute the world and desecrate God’s creation. Perhaps we wonder about how we can still be wise administrators when time is even more compressed. This is nothing less than living in the presence of God.

To think Christianly is to consider the source of a particular attitude or action. It is to weigh how God may be glorified or dishonoured should we embrace a particular attitude or action. Christian thinking is the foundation for godliness, and consequently it is the means by which we begin to worship.

Of course, you cannot hope to worship until you begin to think Christianly. You cannot think Christianly if you are not a Christian. To be a Christian is not simply a matter of joining the church, participating in the rituals of the church, or even of acting in a certain way. To be a Christian, one must be born from above. To be born from above means to be accepted into the Family of God. That acceptance is accomplished only through submission to the Son of God. This is the way to life.

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13].

I do pray that all who hear this message have placed their faith in the Living Son of God. If you have not yet believed this Good News that He died because of your sin and that He raised to declare you free of condemnation, I invite you to this day tell the Risen Christ that you accept Him as Master of your life. I urge you to call on the Name of the Lord, confessing that He died because of your sin and confessing that you now accept His mastery over your life.

To all who confess Him and yet have lived for this dying world, I command you to now begin to live godly lives. Prepare yourself to worship. Begin now to challenge how you live and prepare yourself for worship. Review what your mind feeds on to consider whether it is worthy of Him who loved you and gave Himself for you. Consider the books you read, the television shows you watch, the music you listen to. Is He honoured in these activities? Where have your feet carried you this past week? Whom have you lifted with holy hands? Who is a Christian today through your witness?

May God impart to all who are called by His Name a desire to worship. Filling us with the desire to worship, may He draw us to honour Him through godly walks. Review the text throughout this coming week as you consider each major activity of your life. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will [Romans 12:1, 2]. May God Himself transform our lives and our worship. Amen.

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[1] A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI n.d.) pp. 83, 84

[2] cited in James Montgomery Boice, Mind Renewal in a Mindless Age (Baker, Grand Rapids, MI 1993) pg. 40