Cherish, don't cheapen the church
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
Introduction
Blessings
Encouragement
Cherish, don’t cheapen the church
Cherish, don’t cheapen the church
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. 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.
Our response as the people of God
Based on Jesus’ plan for redemption
In light of His mercy
Not to advance my kingdom
But to advance His kingdom
Is to be the church
A gathering of believers
Serving one another according to our gifts
teaching the gospel
and being the hands and feet of Jesus to the world around us
To be the church we must
Sacrifice (Rom. 12:1) “present your bodies as a living sacrifice”
To offer your bodies would have been a shock to some of the Greek readers.
Platonic thought. Soma sema estin (the body is a tomb)
This idea that our spirits are trapped in this physical tomb that is our bodies
It also would have been a shock to the Jewish readers
They would have been accustomed to the OT sacrificial system
Sacrificial system of the OT fulfilled through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
No longer do we bring animals
But there is still a NT and new covenant sacrificial system
Not for an atonement but because an atonement has been made for us
The New covenant sacrificial system requires that we lay down our lives
Not just sacrificing our money
Not just sacrificing our time
Not just sacrificing our gifts
But sacrificing all that we have and all that we are
Presenting ourselves as holy and pleasing to God
Worship (Rom 12:1) “Which is your spiritual worship”
Worship is more than a song
Worship is a way of life - it’s how we live
We really have two things that we can worship. the things of this world or God.
Do not be conformed to this world (Rom 12:2)
We are by nature conformists - we must fight against that urge (Seen through my kids)
But we are not called to be nonconformists for nonconformity sake
If the world does this then I don’t do it
Paul is after the alignment of our hearts and lives
We are to be aligned with the Father
Aligned to the word
Aligned with the Spirit
That is where we make all of our decisions from
Our lives should be lived in a way that worships the creator
We renew our minds (Rom 12:2)
If by nature we want to conform then we must renew our minds
Why? To know the will of God.
How? By knowing the Word of God.
There is no magical way to know the will of God, apart from drenching yourself in the Word of God
But why does Paul use the mind as the key to transformation?
Why doesn’t Paul say it’s the renewing of the heart that leads to transformation?
Because the heart can not love what the mind does not know.
If I told you that I loved classical music but could tell you nothing about it then how real is my love?
In the same way we renew our minds, we learn to love that which God loves, by reading and studying His Word.
We can only learn to love God by learning about God through His Word
In it we find truth and the standard for righteousness
If God reveals something is good then we know it is good
If God reveals something is wrong then we need not to debate over it.
We must find ourselves daily in His word so that we may begin to see God, know God, renew our minds to think like God and learn to truly love God
As believers, when we renew our minds this way we begin to understand His good pleasing and perfect will.
Work together (Rom 12:3-8)
It takes the unity of the body working together to accomplish the goal set out.
Paul points out that we all have gifts that we bring to the body for the body.
This morning won’t be a focus on the specific gifts
Other gifts are found in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4
But rather, we will focus on what the unity of uniqueness (different gifts) does for the common good of the local church
In order to be a healthy church that gathers and uses the gifts God has given then our churches must be:
Humble (Rom 12:3)
We are to be humble
Recognizing who God is
Holy, powerful, just, perfect
Recognizing who we are
Sinful, wretched, dead
Tim Keller “...the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.”
So to work together we must be a people who are rooted in gospel-humility
Courageous
We are to be courageous
“the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Rom 12:3)
We all have God-given abilities and gifts
We should not look down on those gifts but exercise them with both humility and courage
“Having gifts that differ, according to the grace given to us” (Rom 12:6)
rejoicing in that truth
not exalting gifts over others
In church we typically exalt certain gifts over another
But God has given the church the gift of prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, acts of mercy
And it takes all to form the body for the purpose of God’s glory and the common good
d. Must be marked by Love (Rom 12:9-21)
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Love not of selfish motive
Love not for the gain of self
Love for the good of one another
When the church looks like a people who are faithfully gathering, in humility, bringing forth their God-given gifts, to love one another, then the church becomes most effective
We can be kingdom minded
It’s no longer Cornerstone vs Calvary
But the church of Jesus after the advancement of the gospel
We can be kingdom impactful
It’s no longer how many people can I get to show up to my church
It’s how many people can we reach with the gospel
We can be kingdom sowers
Let’s leave a legacy to our children that when they look at the church this is what they see.
Church bodies coming together, working together, fighting together to reach the world.
Ephesians 3
Paul writes to the church in Ephesus a prayer.
As we close today I’d like to read this prayer over the church of Calvary and over the church that is in Taylor County
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
To show the love that Paul portrays in Romans 12 we must understand the love of God
My prayer for the church of Taylor County is that we would be a people who understand and are marked by the love of God