Transformed to Serve

INTRODUCTION

*Open your Bibles to Romans 12

Illustration: It is fitting, as we turn to Romans chapter 12, that tonight is Halloween

The festival that we know as Halloween began as a Pagan festival in the Celts of Ireland and Scotland called Samhain.

They believed that at this time of year, the line between the living and the dead became blurred

People built bonfires and wore scary costumes to scare off the ghosts that might hurt them

In the 8th century, the Pope named November 1st as “All Saints Day,” a holy day to remember those saints of the Lord that have passed on before us. This brought people to call the night of October 31st, “Hallowed Eve,” or, “the night made holy.”

It wasn’t long before the two celebrations began to blend together and the “Hallowed Eve” became “Halloween”

It slowly morphed into the costume-clad candy-grab that it is known as today

Now, I’m not here today today to advocate for the celebration of Halloween or to attack it

But what I will say is that there two things in the history of this day that point us towards the passage we are focusing on this morning

The first is that the costumes of this celebration point us to a need and a desire for transformation

In the face of spiritual realities of darkness, there is a need for you and I to be more than what we are

The second is that there is a call on us, on you and on me, there is a call for us to step out of the death of the ordinary and into living holiness. We are called to be set apart.

TRANSITION

Last week, we completed chapter 11, and with it we ended a kind of mini-series on the Romans Road

And in that mini-series,the kind of over-arching theme was along these lines,

That God has gone through great pains and great lengths to make a place for you in His family

God is the one that saves Jews, and God is the one that saves Gentiles

He has a plan for the Jews, even as He has a plan for the Gentiles

AND NONE OF US CAN SAVE OURSELVES:Salvation is a merciful, gracious gift of God

None of us can save ourselves, God must save us through the blood of Jesus Christ

Anyone can be saved, but only those whom God chooses, only those who believe in Jesus Christ, living by faith in Him, will be saved

Your works cannot save you, but if you are saved, there will be works

God is going to be glorified in the end. God will have all of the glory from all things in His creation

God will be glorified in those that serve Him in faithful obedience

God will be glorified in those that suffer His wrathful judgment for their disobedience

In all of these things, we’ve been building to what comes this morning at the beginning of chapter 12.

Romans 12:1–8 NASB95

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

PRAY, Invite the church to sit

*LISTENING GUIDES OUT

There, in chapter 12, verse 1, word 1, is what you and I have been waiting for

As my pastor used to say “what’s the “therefore” there for?

PAUL has been building to this for a long while

Because you are incapable of earning your salvation

Because God loved you while you were His enemy

Because you deserve hell and death, but God gives you every gift as a coheir with Christ

Because God has given everything for you

Because you have been grafted onto the tree and you can be just as easily cut off

Because your salvation was completely an act of God, and HE deserves to be glorified and worshipped,

Because all glory and honor and power belong to Him forever and ever,

Romans 12:1–2 NASB95

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

What is the therefore there for? In these eight verses, therefore points us to three truths. Because we are saved by God through Jesus Christ, because we are saved to follow Him, there are some things that need to be true about us or we’re lying to ourselves. There are things that must be true about us if we want to follow Jesus, and the first is this:

To follow Christ, you must be transformed-you cannot stay the same

This isn’t a suggestion, friends, it is an urgent command

Paul is being emphatic, saying...

Because of the mercy of God, BE TRANSFORMED!-DON’T BE THE SAME. IT IS TIME TO BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Tonight, kids are going to dress up

there will be some here, going to our trunk or treat

They will dress up, but they are not transformed. They are the same kids with different clothes on, different behaviors that they are acting out

WHY ARE THEY PRETENDING? Because they can’t actually be transformed

YOU AND I CAN BE TRANSFORMED, AND YOU ARE COMMANDED TO BE

You can’t be a Christian and be the same

You can’t serve Jesus Christ and your own desires

This world serves their desires

The grace of God is free-but it will cost you everything because you owe Him everything

Without Him, all you have is death. But in the life He gives you, your life from before is forfeit! He is the One calling the shots

A living sacrifice is what you are, meaning that your life now belongs to Him

In 1 Samuel, we learn of the boy Samuel

His mom couldn’t have a child

She cried to the Lord, and He gave her a son

She dedicated her son to God, a living sacrifice

The boy and all of His life belonged to the service of the LORD

JUST LIKE SAMUEL, your life belongs to God

Your transformation begins in your mind

Studying God’s Word gives you a new mind

praying gives you a new mind

Serving others will give you a new mind

As your mind is changed, so will your life be changed

Having a new mind doesn’t just mean you know different things.

I know lots of truth that I do nothing with

Having a new mind means that you think differently than before

Different thinking leads to different acting

Different acting leads to different habits

Different habits lead to a different life

YOUR LIFE SHOULD LOOK DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT from others around you

You will steer your life towards what you fix your eyes on.

If your life isn’t headed towards sacrificial living for Jesus, your eyes aren’t fixed on Him

If your eyes aren’t fixed on Him, what does that say about your lack of transformation?

Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus and be renewed to think differently

Romans 12:3–5 NASB95

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

The second thing we see must be true to follow Jesus is this:

To follow Christ, you must unite with His body-you cannot do it alone!

Verse 3 tells us to have sound judgment, but it gives us an odd road map: humility

It sounds funny at first? How will humility bring you sound judgment?

An arrogant man is hard-pressed to find sound judgment for two reasons

First, he assumes that he is right about everything

ladies, don’t hit your husbands, you’ll want to save that for a moment

The arrogant man thinks he is always right, and so he struggles to hear the opinions of others?

Secondly, ladies get ready, he assumes that his opinion is the only one that matters or is important

Either he doesn’t care about other’s opinions, or he finds them irrelevant because he has already assumed he was right

But God gives different measures of faith and wisdom and understanding to different people. And so, it could be that the wisdom the body needs is lying in the mind and life of someone else!

EX: Always assume you aren’t the smartest person in the room

You may be, but let that be proven by action, rather than assumed

God has given different abilities and gifts to each and every part of the body, and everyone of those gifts is necessary in the life of the body.

As Americans, we are a people that pride ourselves in self-sufficiency: we don’t like to admit we need anything from anyone

This is contrary to the Body of Christ. In the body, God tells us that He has gifted others around you with gifts that

1) You do not have, and

2) That are vitally important to your life and growth in Christ

EVERY PERSON IN THE BODY IS UNIQUE AND ESSENTIAL

God put you where you are. He is the only one that can move you, and He put you where you are because He has essential work that needs you, and others have essential things that you need. Look at verse 6

Romans 12:6–8 NASB95

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

This leads us to the last point that we need to remember about following Christ this morning, that

To follow Christ, you must use your Kingdom gifts in the church He puts you in-don’t handicap the church; others need you

All of us know someone who left a church...

Because they didn’t like the music

Because they didn’t like the Pastore

Because they didn’t agree with the direction

Because they got their feelings hurt

BUT THERE ARE ONLY TWO REASONS, OUTSIDE OF DEATH, TO LEAVE A CHURCH:

1) THEY ARE TEACHING HERESY (Even then, God might use you to bring correction)

2) GOD CALLS YOU SOMEWHERE ELSE

No other reason for leaving a church is valid because

Every member of every church was placed where they are by God

Every member is a necessary part of the body.

Each one of us has been gifted by God for a job in the body.

This doesn’t mean the rest of the body is free from these things (all of us have to teach as we disciple others. All of us must give sacrificially of our money, our time, and our abilities. All of us have to share the Gospel)

but you are exceptionally gifted in prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, mercy, and/or in gifts listed elsewhere in Scripture.

These gifts are essential to the body, and God put you here to do them

IF YOU DON’T DO YOUR JOB, NO ONE IS

INVITATION

A hand can’t be a foot. A foot can’t be an eye, but all of these parts need each other. Just as you need the body of Christ around you, the body of Christ around you needs you.

And as we all serve our roles, Christ is revealed through His body to a lost and dying world around us

The renewed mind is humble, the conformed mind is proud

the renewed mind is fixed on Christ, the conformed mind is fixed on this life

The renewed mind transforms, the conformed mind conforms to the norm

The transformed life seeks the Kingdom, the conformed life seeks itself

The transformed life is compelled by mercy, the conformed life is compelled by desire

The transformed life both needs and is needed, the conformed life is complacent and conceited

The conformed life has nothing left to give, the transformed life lives to give

The conformed life comes to church for what they feel, the transformed life comes to church because they know Christ’s love is real!

The conformed life simply is not compelled, the transformed life pulls others out of Hell

Whoever you are, however you came here this morning, by the mercies of Christ who saves you, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed through the renewing of your mind, that you may prove the will of God.

This morning, I’m going to be standing right down front. I’m waiting to pray today, right now, with anyone that is ready to be transformed.

PRAY