5.9.49 11.1.2020 When Grace Comes to Town God’s Mind Molds us Romans 12.1-2 (2)

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Entice: Your best life is not something go out and seize. It is something you achieve through surrender. Everything Paul has said in Romans about the love of God in Christ Jesus, everything that happens when Grace comes to town all of it is available to you but you cannot buy it and you cannot win it. You can only receive it in the surrender of faith.

Engage: In an age of excess the message of the Kingdom does not always resonate. When ego abounds and success is the ultimate barometer, words of self-surrender and recommendation of self-sacrifice will not take hold .

Expand: This is our message. This is our Gospel. A crucified saviour requires surrender. He who willingly died a sacrificial death asks us to live a sacrificial life.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

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.

Excite: Our world seems to thrive on the narrative of

going big.

The narrative Paul offers is a story of

going small.

You will be more content in your Christian walk when you commit your self completely.

Explore:

When grace comes to town it teaches us the way of surrender.

Explain: Paul begins this practical section by sketching three expressions of full, uninhibited commitment.

The First expression is...

1. Focused Worship 1

1.1 Appeal

based upon the fullness of God’s mercy

1.2 Action

Sacrificial offering of self.

1.3 Assessment

This is the reasonable, responsible way to approach God.

2. Transformed Mind 2a

2.1 Resist Assimilation.

2.2 Renew your Mind.

3. Demonstrated Service. 2b

3.1 A process of proving

3.2 Mind the GAP of Service.

Good

Acceptable

Perfect

Life Re-defined:

God has been so good to us that everything about life is refefined; our approach to the sacred, our intellectual life, our purpose.

God's compassion reaches to you. The change He can bring about through Jesus is radical and revolutionary. The impact is both immediate and eternal.

God knows what you need. He has acted in Jesus to meet that need. The power to change awaits you. Why not respond in faith right now.