A Transforming Grace in a Competing World | Feb 10th

This morning. We see this message. I want to call it or that I am calling it a transforming Grace in a competing world. If we look two weeks ago. It's God's response and his hospitality. He is is a chewed as as Mary. Your song was great. Just he welcomes us to this banquet fees. And if last week we respond out of that with worshiping and bringing people into our into hospitality and bringing us into their world. This Quest the question that I want us to ask this week is why don't we Why don't we more? Why is it so hard? And we understand the the importance of this as we see scripture this topic this idea of welcoming people in there and it doesn't say Hospitality necessarily, but it's all over the place in the scriptures. Until this morning as we go into it out. I first want to have an activity. I first want you to consider with me in your mind. Think about you going home. And I'm not talking about heaven. I'm talking about going to your house here in town or out in the country where ever it is, I think about your going home. You know, you're home, you know your street in this afternoon you you'll pull up on your block you'll turn the corner and actually maybe we should say think about your home in like June when you'd rather, you know, mow the lawn rather than shovel snow out front, right? We know what we turn we pull up to her house. And and then as we pull up our driveway, we we press the button and the garage door goes open and we drive in your house. And we press the button again and we Praise Jesus that the garage door goes close because on days like this last Thursday, it's nice to not have to be outside in the cold, right? wait, we know our house and is you no take yourself from the garage into the go in and you go through the kitchen and if you're one of the ladies here and you love to bake you see that KitchenAid mixer on the counter and you're like, yes, this is my house things are in the right place at the right where they wanted to be if your guy if you come in and you you see your chair this afternoon and you're like I get to sit and relax and do my thing, you know your house you look around as you picture in your mind and you know that the stuff on the walls really reflects you you got trinkets from your travels you have books on the shelves if you like to read or DVDs if you're a movie buff or If you're more likely some of the people in this community you got tractor stuff on the walls, right anyone know, okay? You know your house. You know your stuff you enjoyed its home it and even if there's not that project that you've been putting off for three or four years. You say I'm going to get to it eventually but you're still like but you know what it's home and that's okay and I like it this way. We know where Holmes home is where the heart is where we eat we sleep and for some of you you spend too much time with the reader's digest in the bathroom and you don't even close the door. That's supposed to be funny can laugh at that. No one's going to raise her hand and give an amen. I'm sure it's okay. It's your home. It's your place.

I'm more familiar with it. And I think these things when we have your image of of this is my space. This is where the rubber hits the road to say. This is we're welcoming people in our world gets hard in our home the house over our heads. And I'm not saying that with you perfect and I'm not saying that we have to be you know, Martha Stewart and just have the perfect parties all the time and entertain but I want us to consider this morning. Why don't we why is it so hard, especially when it comes to our house. This morning you can open up with me to chapter 12 of Romans chapter 12 of Romans, and I'm going to read that the first or the whole chapter but I it we're really in this message going to just focus on Chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 those are familiar versus and they they apply to a lot of things but I think that there's something here that can help us in our context of hospitality that we can consider for a moment. In chapter 12 verse 13 will read it in this passage it Paul actually says pursue Hospitality go after it. Follow it find it do it be hospitable. It's one of the three places where it is at all were called to do it and dare. I say we're commanded to be hospitable. So as we get into this passage, let me let me just read or pray to God and then just ask him to help us to listen to his word and take it to heart and then we'll read the passage. So join me as we go for the Lord.

Father God we thank you this morning.

We thank you this morning that we can gather in this building as a family.

That you welcome us into this family. And as well see this morning. I pray that this is a this is something that we don't deserve it. It's a welcome that we have not earned but you have purchased for us. And now the life that we live is something that we want to give to you.

Lord I pray for my my spirit that as I sit here and think about

A raspy voice or just distractions Lord me May Spirit, you still work through this and may you be working in my heart and in the hearts of us there here?

to just dial in and put ourselves under your word. And consider what what you would have for us this morning as we Ponder Hospitality a little bit more.

Jesus you're worthy of of of listening to you and considering and so we we want to hear from you now. But your name because of your death in your resurrection that we pray these things. amen Romans 12 chapter 1 chapter 12 verse 1 Paul says this I appeal to you therefore Brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as living as a Living Sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by the testing you may discern. What is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect? He goes on forever by the grace given to me. I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought. But to think was sober judgment each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned for is in one body. We have many members in the members do not all have the same function. So we know many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another Heaven gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. Let us use them if Prophecy in the proportion to our faith if service and are serving the one who teaches in his teaching in the one who exhorts in his exhort ation, the one who's contribute contribute and generosity in the one who leads with Zeal the one who does acts of Mercy with cheerfulness. Let's let love be genuine abhor. What is evil hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. I'll do one another in showing honor do not be slothful in Zeal, but be fervent in spirit serve the Lord rejoice in Hope be patient in Tribulation be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the Saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you bless and do not curse them Rejoice with those who Rejoice weep with those who weep live in harmony with one another do not be haughty but associate with the lowly never be wise in your own site. Repay. No one evil for evil but give though you do not know you do. What is Honorable in the sight of all if possible so far as it depends on you live peaceably with one in it with all beloved never avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine. I will repay says the Lord to the contrary if your enemy is hungry feed him if you're thirsty give him something to drink Force by so doing you will Heap burning coals on his head. Do not overcome evil, but overcome evil with good

I want to read that chapter not just because in chapter 10 verse 13, we see Paul say Seek Hospitality. But as I read this definition which is on this next slide that the hospitality is defined as

the critical and consistent Act of working welcoming strangers to become family by offering what is most needed out of that which God has given us again. This is our definition of red multiple men. Both of their sermons hospitality is the critical and consistent Act of welcoming strangers to become family, but offering what is most needed out of that which God has given us. Paul only mentions the word hospitalities one time but as you read through the book of the chapter of Romans 12, you will see that what he is talking about through this whole thing is being hospitable loving one another sharing our gifts that God has given us with one another giving even our enemies food and drink he he's talking about this idea of caring for one another and being something that fits into this definition. Being hospitable. He only says it one time but this whole passage speaks of being horizontally hospitable as part of God's family as part of our worship with one another and then also into the community Broad. And that's why I want to focus on your verses 1 and 2 verses 1 and 2 are going to be the hinge verse which I'll speak of what that means in a little bit of this passage of Romans as we look before we get into these exhortations of hospitality. It's important for us to just remember this morning. What Micah told us last week Micah red from Hebrews 12. And if you weren't here, he did a great job of just taking apart this this call to be inhospitable, but he he be based on the idea that we have been given something. We've been given an unshakable Kingdom that can't be taken away Hebrews 12:28. He says therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and that's what his offer to God acceptable worship. God has been hospitable to us. We are hospital with the others because that is our worship to God because of what he's given to us. We can't be shaken. We've been given something great and we can continue more into John's into John's gospel where Jesus himself he says his words right that he is going to a home. He's going to prepare a place for us. Our kingdom will also be RH home for eternity John 14. Let not your hearts be troubled believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many rooms if we're not so I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will take you to myself that I wear that where I am. You will be also. this in shakable Kingdom that that God has given us as one that Jesus has gone to prepare for us and he will come to bring us back to And in this conversation that I'm having that I want us to be thinking about our house the physical roof over our head. We are reminded that we have a home for eternity in Christ. Jesus is a spy, It's where you going? We don't know the way it just says I am the way I am the truth and the life no one comes to the father but through me this is just setting a foundation for us to be reminded of what we've been given as Paul is about to ask if something major in Romans. if we are in Christ, if we trust him as Lord and Savior, we have been given much we've been walking into his hospitality and we need to be reminded of that again and again and again and again,

Going to Romans this book this letter that Paul writes. We We Know by the title. That it's written a group of people who just so happen to be in the city of Rome. I don't know if you knew this. But Rome in that day was kind of a big deal. It was the place of government. It was a place of entertainment. It was the the place of Commerce as Caesar was on his throne lyrics and that is a kingdom that was setting the culture of the time. Those words Kingdom and culture shaping. Those are things that I want us to consider this morning a little bit later. Keep those in mind Rome is this place? Where were they the Christians were having to live in the midst of their Kingdom and say do I trust in God's kingdom that I've been given this unshakable Kingdom or do I live in an in amongst the culture in the Kingdom? That is before me do I buy into the culture that is in my world to you? Just so happens that roam the nation that was the Empire that was has collapsed. It was a not a unshakable kingdom. It was shakable. It did fall and this book is written to those people who are really dealing with these life things as their new Christian Bale Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. They're trying to figure this out as they go and they are believers of of Jesus and Paul's exhorting them. How do you live? How should you live? Chapter one if we were to go there. We we know the chapter that it speaks kind of this this kind of challenge that the world has has exchanged God's ways for their own ways. They they've turned away from god and goddess kind of let them go ahead with that. But and it's a kind of a sad commentary on the culture in the world. That is his chosen. I want my own stuff my own can I'm going to trace the king of the world. and we can sit there and point fingers and say yeah, I look at the world how bad they were but we often forget is in chapter 2 Paul says that she says That world out there. They're strangers. But so are you you were far fewer enemies you were distant from me. And now you have been brought back and we know that the trace the line that your Gentry of the Gospel or the The Book of Romans, it moves through the gospel and it talks about how all of sin and fall short of the glory of God with the wages of sin is death and that Jesus son. He is becoming that that sacrifice that brings us back and justifies us and bring us back in the right relationship with God that's chapters 2 through 11 of Romans in the end. It was saying amen. The gospel is good. It's brought us back in and so chapters 1 through 11 is really Gone. Chapter 12 through the end of the book is ethic. It's how we should live and that's why this chapters 12 wanted to become such a big hinge. That because of the Gospel now we live in such a way that responds properly. And we seeing that our first point of our first idea that is really just a repetition of weeks prior that hospitality is built upon God's hospitable Grace. Hospitality is built on this grace that God has shown us and we need to be reminded of it that again and again and again and that is why in chapter 12 of Romans Paul set starts off with saying I peel to you therefore. Because of in light of all that I said in the first 11 chapters because of what Jesus has done there for you should live in such a way.

important to see this line of thought Gospel therefore live hospitably. It's not be hospitable. Therefore get something from God. We live out of the responsible God he's showing us and we build up our Hospitality on that solid foundation of saying I have been given much I can be freely in open hand with that. It's important and I know it sounds like a broken record. But but it's in a truly is is something that we need to hear that that if we try to do this Hospitality what it were calling for over these five weeks and we try to do it out of our largest Duty we try to do it out of feeling like okay Ghana at you told me to do this. So I'm going to do this and we aren't first filled out by what he's done. We're going to burn out where the flame out. We're not enjoyed it so I can be Spirit-filled is not going to be what we will God really wants because what's going to happen is it is we aren't going to have that Foundation of delight from God that he's done something for us as we're showing Hospitality to other people. Edgmont reminded about what we've been given we will miss out on now what we're heading and what will clean title is. I don't want to give my kingdom. I don't want to give my house. I don't want to open it up. So we need to consider that's based upon this Foundation of God being hospitable to us. That's important because as I said what he saying in chapter 12 for them and for us it is really a shift in a in a changing world you it's a it's a pressing thing that really calls for us to just shift our priorities in life around and how we live. Because what he's going to ask us to do in versus one. It's a layer life down before the Lord in and that's the next thing that we see. That hospitality is an aspect of lane or life before the Lord. Hospitality is an aspect that we can call use these verses for a whole lot of other things, but at least in our context Hospitality, there is part of us that that being hospitable is us to lay in our life down for the Lords are our worship. And Paul is calling us to do that. He says first one I appeal to you or other translations use call or urge or even in the New Living Translation says I plead I beg with you realize what you've been given and live out of that. In the living out of that is to present your bodies. As a Living Sacrifice when he says body, I don't think he's mean in the body that we sing about when we're kids head and shoulders knees and toes knees and talk like he's not just talking about our physical bodies. He's talking about our life our everything our personalities who we are our possessions to lay them down before the Lord.

Before we get into kind of saying what does that look like or what is that? He has this little phrase in there by the mercies of God by the mercies of God, or he says in view of what again going back to the gospel because of what Jesus has done and we can say what are the mercies of God what we know we say God is merciful the what does that mean? What are the mercies? I I want to just there are many but I just want to clue in on one passage the Paul gifts for us in the middle of Romans Romans 5 verses 8 through 10. He says this But God shows his love for us that while we were still still sinners Christ did what he died for us since there we have now been justified by his blood meaning we've been made in right relationship with God our sins have been forgiven. We have we have been pulled out of hell for if we trust in this message. He says much more shall we be saved with him from the wrath of God and then goes on for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more now that we are reconciled. Shall we be saved by his life? There's this idea of that we've been not only brought back to life. But now it's the idea as we live life by God's mercies the life. We've been given it it's been purchased by Jesus's blood and the life. We now live it belongs to him.

Sometimes we hear the gospel. We trust the gospel. What we miss that aspect that the life we live out our our our new life in Christ is one that was paid for at a steep cost. And as we live each day the breath that were given the opportunity as we give our given the stuff we have and how it was purchased by the blood of Jesus.

And so here he's offering us to say present or offer to God give to God your life your everything your body's or or more correctly. Give give him all.

In the message Eugene Peterson translates this verse like this. Just take your everyday ordinary life you're sleeping. You're eating you're going to work and you're walking around life and place it before God as an offering.

Just give everything to him. And really he can do that in Pokemon for that because it said everything you've been given its guns. Anyway, so really you're not giving him something new with something that he's purchased you just saying, it's yours. Anyway, I want to be open handed with it. I think that applies to our home if Peterson is right and translated that way saying the place you eat the place where you sleep the place where you just hang out and spend lots of your hours. It's the Lord's give it to him.

If you don't think your house pertains to your personality what you lay down. I I just I think this is interesting. We bought a house up on the North End of town and I'll try to tell people where they live and people would say, I don't know where that is Midway Road. I have no idea but then I would say what's the house that John Klassen used to live in and people immediately. So, yeah. I know that house. It's the idea that even in our community. We know that's that are home. And where we live is attached to our personalities who we are and if people know stuff about us based off where we live and we say it will I be open handed with that. Because it's Paul's cleaning with us. He's saying we need to say God. This is yours the roof of my head. It's yours. You purchased it with your blood. It's not mine. Yes. The mortgage has your name on it and you pay the the bills and you work the job, but we need to see that the town's you have to work at the money. You can get it's all God's anyway, so we need to just consider these things that were really just returning to him. What belongs to him. All goes on to say that we offer these things our bodies as living sacrifices. We lay it down but we we give to him and sacrifice and and and that idea of living applies to the sacrifice. Which is to suggest that it's it's not because we're leaving but it's the same we're constantly doing it. We're continually moving forward in offering Moment by Moment by Moment by moment and God this is yours is yours is yours.

Twist, and if there's air in my lungs if I have possessions, I want them to be yours.

In terms of hospitality. There's a book that I read called making room by Christine Pohl and she says this this image in terms of hospitality Living Sacrifice. She says why we might imagine sacrifice in terms of a one moment heroic martyrdom, like we give one time and just laying down our lives and it's awesome. She says with hospitality. It's more like this faithful Hospitality usually involves laying our lives down in little pieces small acts of sacrificial love and service over time.

Is Michael talked about this is our worship day in day out to the Lord. This is where we give to him. What is his and we say Lord I worship you with all that. I have all that I am. But practically of course this looks like not just saying come Lord Jesus Be Our Guest at our dinner table. It's saying Lord Jesus. I want to walk them other people in it. And is Mica talked about last week when we walk them other people into our world and our home into our personality to who we are but we are actually welcoming in him into our world. We're doing it as on the hymn In Our Lives. So this idea of welcoming people in its it's a sacrifice. It's laying down. It's an offering of the Lord and saying Lord. I want to be a Living Sacrifice. I want to be holy and acceptable to you. I want to give you worship through being hospitable.

But the text continues on the first two. Verse to we see this that Hospitality as we look at God's Kingdom in our King of the down side or the the shadow of this is is that Hospitality will create a conflict of Kingdoms. I promise you that. As you're trying to press into this as you're trying to lay your life down that there is going to be a conflict that arises looking for assume. He's telling his Christians that you should be a Living Sacrifice. But then he gives this kind of parallel verse to kind of give further means he says in that do not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind by the testing you may discern what the will of God is what is good and acceptable and perfect. He says don't be conformed don't be kind of shaped like the world how many of us are looking at the world and went and we were like, yeah, I don't want to be like the world. I don't want to be right for Jesus. But I think that there's an idea here that as we sit there safe. I don't want to be conformed that we really need to take and ask this question. Am I or am I really living different or am I are there ways subtle ways that I'm being conformed to look sound feel act like the things that the culture of the world prioritises. Interesting cuz that word that verb conformed it's a command but buddy and which says do not do this, but in at there's there's kind of a lot of saying that if we don't really know if it's if he's challenged him to say the world without you knowing it is changing you and kind of forcing their way or we don't know if this church in Rome is just kind of said I give up I'm just going to go with the world either way it seems as if what Paul is calling us to is this uphill swim against the current of culture against the kingdom of the world. He's calling us to be different than that to be distinct from it.

Micah and I as we met we talked about some of the questions to be asked after this and then we were talking about this passage. We seem that we seem to see that that In this passage where we're talk about an uphill swam and you're trying to swim against the current the reality is is that there's there's no neutral. There's no just kind of sitting still in floating in this battle with the culture is going this way and we're not swimming against it were either going to be just kind of giving up and floating and that's going to take us Downstream or going to give in and we're going to swim with it and say I'm just I just give in and I'm going with the culture.

The conflict starts to occur when we say do I want to trust in God's unshakable kingdom. Do I want to live for that and hold on to that and live and and and breathe Kingdom Life or do I want to just be part of the culture the world around me? Preliminary day it was it was Jew Gentile Christian relations. It was eating practices and we don't have that before them. They're asking do I have to trust in the Kingdom my kingdom iComfort do I trust him God is calling me to do.

And actually was Paul gives this message historically we can look back and said the church like she did quite well, they actually did welcome people and they took response to what Paul said in Roman in Rome and they did this today welcomes II the the needy in but as the culture took on the form of Christianity what happened was the same word that we use Hospitality hospital and hostel these places these institutions of welcoming people in they move outside of the home and they moved into out their places and so over time the culture went that way and took Hospitality on and put it made it into institution and meanwhile Christians kind of neglected welcoming people in their homes.

Christine Paul again, she says people are hungry to be welcomed. People in our society are excited for they want that but we as Christians have last track of our heritage of hospitality.

Today we don't have the same issues but culture is shaping Us in ways that we don't realize.

Dustin Williston and Brandon Clemente in their book the simplest way to change the world which is all about Hospitality in her homes great book. They say this. When it comes to biblical Hospitality, the thing that we are calling us to respond to you and to do they say that almost every everything in our culture is set up to hinder us from pursuing it. Almost everything in our culture is set up to hinder us from pursuing biblical hospitality. And they give for things. I'll have those pop up on this light here these four things that that they give to us as as conflicts with the kingdom the the conflicts the the culture that we live in challenges as these things. I want to just give to astrix next to this. First off is the things that you see them come off. Your your reaction is going to be one to kind of take out a press in and say like what those are bad things and I will affirm that yes these things that are going to be on the screen aren't bad things to a point. But when our home especially our house at takes on and this is our whole worldview, we have to ask am I just s*** bean-shaped with the culture? You're staying in this is just my comment in this whole message. Because I'm one of them is for you introverts and I won't ask you to raise your hand cuz you won't raise them anyway. That's funny.

Then I'm not asking us to be these party planners. I'm not asking us to be just just Martha Stewart and then to entertain all the time. I'm asking us to at least just press it and say where are bite-size places where I can move against the grain and welcome people into my world. The first one that they have is call is is the word isolation. This is the idea or the the cultural norm. This is my home is my kingdom my Oasis my retreat. It's the place I go to remember the garage doors. I talked about the garage door goes I drive in garage door closed closed and I never have to interact with my world around me. My home is mine.

Have you ever driven around Mountain Lake and at night? And noticed I'm not again saying if you do this, I'm not blaming it. But I'm just saying that it's the culture that we live in that in every house. The blinds are closed as if to say, I don't want you to see in here. I don't want you to look into my house and noticed that there's actually people that actually live here. I laugh because there's a couple houses that I can think of in my mind where I can see the giant TV on the other side of that shining back at me, but I can't see the people that are in there. It's saying I'm closed off to the world around me. Or consider how our porches Inn in our they have moved from the front of the house to the back of the house. This idea is that I my house is a place where I isolate myself from the world around me and it's my domain where I go to be by myself. It's my retreat my Oasis as I mentioned.

The second one that they mention is relaxation again, not a bad thing. But when our home takes on the cultural norm that my home is where I come after A Hard Day's Work where I want to unwind where I want to just put up my feet but we we need to see that that's a cultural norm that goes against the Bible of welcoming people in and what we're supposed to use for that space we can relax. But let it not be at the cost of hospitality.

thirdly entertainment My home is where I go to enjoy life. And we know that in the world of 24-hour news station that we can turn on the n in the world Netflix in the world of our hobbies that we can have in the world of of sports. I mean think about the time of of Rome they had to actually go to the Coliseum to see sport hear the Colosseum comes to us every Sunday with the NFL, right? We go in our home and we are entertained and we think that life is all about just enjoyment and being being satisfied and being entertained rather than welcoming people in with the gospel. Again to have a TV not a crime. To have the nice things that we like to enjoy not a bad thing, but when it becomes our worldview, we need to consider am I missing something am I going with the flow culture fourthly busyness? This is the idea that my home is already already has so much to do. There's cooking. There's cleaning their sleeping. There's studying and taking care of the kids. There's all these things and that doesn't even mention. I'll have to go out and take the kids to soccer or where I have to go do whatever the idea is that I don't have time to be hospitable room my schedule to welcome people over. the culture kind of allows as soon as we go with the culture that becomes and Norman and if we're honest we we we fall into this line of thinking more often than I like and I I myself am one that does that

What's a what's sad is not only does this transform into our home, but I think it even comes into our churches as well that our church has we come to say this is about me. I'm here for my relaxation. I'm here to be fed. I'm here to be entertained and I'm here to be to have all sorts of programs rather than I'm here to meet the person in the Pew next to me and find out what's going on in their life.

When I just three more things that they didn't mention it before I think are important. Few more things one is just our sin nature think we have to acknowledge that are a while we are saved will we are redeemed that we still have a sin nature in a in a world that's broken and nrr Nature's to be praising ourselves into making much of our kingdom. We will falter into this all the time.

Second thing I said this that that I think we we don't swim against the culture is fear. Fear of rejection fear of not being relevant think fear of especially if we're maybe older saying I don't have anything to offer to this younger generation or where I can't give them the meal that I once could I I think just even saying hey come over for a cup of tea or coffee would be wonderful. Fear the fear of being hurt the fear of not knowing what it's like to welcome someone to my home. Those things are all realities that cause us to not swim against culture and to drift into a lack of hospitality. The third is the enemy I think we have to admit there's an enemy that wants to battle against us that wants to stop us. If God has called us to this and he sees it as part of his mission to the world. I think there is an enemy that is going to be speaking lies to us and saying don't welcome people in your home. Your home is your home your stuff is your stuff don't welcome people in. Those three things are just helpful for us to be reminded. What is working against us the battle that we are fighting at the uphill stream that we have to go against. If you look to Jesus and Paul, and I'm not going to go into that here, but we could we could really kind of hash out that Jesus is example is is not one that isolates. He went to the people he took time out of I mean, he was King over the universe and he took time on a schedule to do what to come and bring us back to him. He came to the Earth. I think a Paul's example, you know, they had an example of I come to relax. I I put in my time at my job and then I kick my feet up and Paul was a tentmaker he had another job and yet he was a greatest Church planter of all. He didn't kick his feet up he pressed in. And he said in all his letters. I want to come to you. I want to be with you. I want to share life with you.

He won against the grain. couple more quick points here the text as instead don't be conformed to the world. Don't fall into that but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. be transformed in the the word there is it is kind of cool in two different ways one it suggests that if you I like shoot. I'm really messing missing and I'm really depending on my own kingdom on that last point this idea saying we can change that. There is hope. That we're struggling in this as we admit that and we renew our mind on what God is calling us to we can move forward.

The second part that's really nice about that are cool about that is it says that the verb is transitive transform is passive. It means that we aren't doing the one that's doing the transforming it saying God is going to do the heavy lifting God is going to do the work. He's going to be the one that changes us into who he wants us to be. The spirit is working through us as we press in.

We start to say it's yours. Anyway, I just want to live for you. I want to give this over to you Lord. God will say I'm going to I can work with that.

That says we do this by the renewing of your mind. Now what Paul is not saying though, I think it's important as he's not saying go have extended prayer sessions. Just go and read the Bible at the time and just get more information in there. I think the renewing of our mind and he suggested not just in our head but it moves down into our heart and has to move into our hands and I I say that because where he goes in the rest of chapter 12 is doing stuff. The part of the reminder of of us living this out is actually not just to have more but to let it trickle into our heart and then to move into Praxis to live that out and actually pressed and that's where we're going to be transformed when we actually step into Transformation we step into hospitality.

I give this all those commands in the following passages.

I want to get tested moving to my own world that I

on this in the next point is that I've been a Christian all my life for for a lot of my life. I grew up in a while and I came to Jesus as as a child. I did this the youth group thing. I was a missionary or sees I'm Cemetery train all these things and I would say within the last year or so as this topic has become more and more illuminated and is I've trusted in Hospitality to trust God in it. I can honestly say has Pastor that I am being transformed in ways that I did not imagine God is using and transforming by his grace and Powerful ways that I would have never expected as I'm trust in San okay gone our house is we moved into it over this last year. It's not our house is your house. How do I welcome people in?

Australia is a powerful transforming Grace and we need to believe that we need to press in.

There's no slide for this. I realized this morning that there I forgot this one but has to tell you also comes with the blessing of confirming God's heart. Hospitality if you're reading this on comes with a blessing of confirming God's heart

it says renew by the renewing of your mind that by testing you may discern. What is the will of God? That idea of testing is that something will hold the test of time that it will show itself as a proved that it will hold up in the Wind.

But it's not saying that you will be tested and you will hold up. It's actually saying God's will God's heart that's compassion his Covenant his his attitude to welcome people in will hold up.

Again, I think that what he's trying to get at with Paul is going for here is the same as you trust the Lord as you press in and you step in his it I want to welcome others in as I want to welcome people in place of what you give me what's going to happen is we are going to learn truly that God is who he says he is we're going to start learn some about his nature his character. We are going to be confirmed and we're going to say God you are so good.

I think of the idea and the reality of of being told by someone who you poured into insane. I don't want to meet with you anymore. Or are being told like I know that that you welcomed me in but they kind of disregard and they don't truly think that I recognize that and it affirms God you have done that with me as I say God. I know you give me stuff but I don't really care. I don't really want to acknowledge that. This aspect of hospitality. We learn new stuff about God's character his compassion at his love for us his plan for the world through this act of hospitality and something that I think we need to press into

It comes with the blessing of confirming God's heart and that's why we do it as we look depressed and we look to Christ as an example. And this kind of comes full circle with a where where where we were flip over with me and I just want to read these verses chapter 15. Pause the game and it's a welcome one another this idea of hospitality number seven, but I want to just read these verses 10 through 15. Paul is kind of moving towards the closing of his message. And he says this we who are strong verse one have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves Let each one of us, please his neighbor for his good and build him up for Christ did not please himself, but as it is written the reproaches of those who approach you fell on me.

For whatever was written in the former days was written for our instruction and it through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures. We might have hope May the god of endurance and encouragement Grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accordance with an a chord with Christ Jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he's talking about the unity of the church there. We'll talk about that next week. He goes on to say therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. for the glory of God Christ welcomed Us by saying God my life in the flash. It's yours. I'm open-handed. I will be a sacrifice for this people. I will purchase them with my blood. I will welcome him into your hospitality God Through My Sacrifice. As we think about our home we think about was precious to us. Jesus gave his life.