Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

12 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.

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

We are meant to belong.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

We are created in the image of our God-in-community.

When God created Adam he said it was NOT good for man to be alone.

It’s fundamental to who we are.

Our soul aches to be known, to be accepted, to be loved.

Adam and Eve knew this kind of relationship as they were naked and not ashamed.

They had nothing to hide.

Once they sinned, they hid, not just from each other, but from God, the One whose relationship they had broken and isolated themselves from.

And relationships have been about hiding, faking, disguising the real us ever since, and all the while knowing that our souls long to be known.

Interestingly, after Adam and Eve came out of hiding and were confronted about their sin, God provided a temporary animal covering for them to cover their shame in anticipation when he would send Jesus to destroy the source of shame and offer believers HIS righteous to wear so there would be no more.

Our ultimate relational need is to belong and that need is ultimately fulfilled in a relationship with Jesus.

We belong in Christ.

Note the “For” at the beginning of verse four.

This tells us that what follows will be a logical argument based on what Paul has already stated, namely, that our lives are to be lives of worship marked differently from the world.

(12:1-2)

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,

It is the mercies of God on which all of chapter 12 rests.

is one of the greatest theological statements in all of Scripture.

- We are sinners who deserve God’s wrath.

- We can receive grace and be justified to God through faith inJesus.

- Talks about the change in our life as we are made dead to sin and alive to Christ.

and following Paul takes a shift in his letter to the Romans

This is all

The implications of being in Christ:

- We are justified in Christ.

Romas 6:11 - We are spiritually alive in Christ.

- We have eternal life in Christ.

- We are no longer condemned in Christ.

- We are free from the religion in Christ.

- We are loved in Christ.

- We are fulfilled in Christ.

- We are sanctified in Christ.

- We are given grace in Christ.

- We are wise in Christ.

- We are established and anointed in Christ.

- We are a new creation in Christ.

- We are reconciled in Christ.

- We are blessed in Christ.

- We are sons of God in Christ.

- We are equal in Christ.

- We are blessed in Christ.

- God supplies all our needs in Christ.

- We can never be separated from the love of God in Christ.

We belong to each other.

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

This is a statement of fact.

We belong to each other.

Turn to the person next to you and say, “I belong to you."

We’re gifted for one another (12:6)

We love one another (12:9)

When Paul talks about the church as “The Body of Christ,” there are times when Paul uses the term to describe the universal body of Christ - that is, every believer, in every place, in every age that has placed their trust in Jesus.

We care for one another (12:10)