Transformed Lives: Living Sacrifices, Renewed Minds, Loving Action

That means every heartbeat, every habit, every late night scroll on your phone, right, every workout, every meal becomes, what does it say? Holy worship, pleasing worship, true worship. You know one of my favorite verses growing up was first Corinthians ten thirty one that states, So whether you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Me being up here teaching God's word, you guys are not my audience, God is, because everything that we do, we do for the glory of God. [00:43:14] (38 seconds)  #WorshipInEverything

It echoed vanity, materialism, greed, pornography, self worship. Well that could also define not just Rome, that could define The United States. That could define Wichita Falls, right? And God has called us to be living sacrifices, not to conform but to allow our minds to be renewed. Because conformity, he doesn't want us just to conform because conformity implies a superficial outward adaptation rather than a deep inner change. [00:46:05] (43 seconds)  #RenewNotConform

We battle sin together because we aren't called to be fans of Jesus, we're called to be followers of Jesus. And if your gift is prophecy, Paul is saying to the church in Rome, proclaim the truth. If it's serving, serve with zeal. If it's teaching, teach boldly. If it's exhorting, spur one another passionately, fearlessly. If it's giving, give generously, not grudgingly. If it's leading, lead as a diligent servant. [00:52:40] (31 seconds)  #ServeWithYourGifts

And as Paul is communicating this he's saying the gospel doesn't just save us from sin, it empowers us to live for Jesus. It empowers us to live for Christ. Why? Because the gospel changes everything. You guys say that with me real quick. The gospel changes everything. We say it, we sing it, but my question is, in the midst of busyness, in the midst of hardships, is your response, have you responded to the gospel? [00:41:03] (39 seconds)  #GospelChangesEverything

Your gifts that you've been given are part of God's game plan and he doesn't want us to sit on the bench, right? Church we've got to stop sitting on that bench. We're not merely a hospital for sinners and those who are hurting, but we are a family. And your role is important no matter your age. Your role is important. And we're in this to not just be a hospital but a family, but also move from a family also to an army. We battle sin together. [00:52:05] (35 seconds)  #GetOffTheBench

You know in Romans chapter 12, I chose that passage today to teach because it's one of my favorite chapters of scripture. And one of the things is it simply communicates, Paul is communicating to the church in Rome what it looks like to live a transformed life. He gives us a blueprint to that. You know when I think about transformation, I think about an elementary school where we all learned about the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. [00:33:38] (36 seconds)  #TransformationBlueprint

So just like this caterpillar, as we talk about transformation and look at Romans 12 we are to surrender our old selves and allow God to do a work within us transforming us into something beautiful and something purposeful. And once that butterfly emerges that process of change is wholly irreversible. The butterfly does not ever become a caterpillar again. And aren't we thankful for that? [00:36:21] (34 seconds)  #FromCaterpillarToButterfly

See transformation, when we allow the Holy Spirit into our lives and surrender, he transforms us. It's a radical internal change. Just like that caterpillar dissolving in a chrysalis to emerge a beautiful butterfly, that transformation comes as the Holy Spirit does a work in our life, it comes as we dig into scripture, as we pray, as we keep in step with the spirit. You know in church of Ephesus [00:46:48] (30 seconds)  #SpiritLedTransformation

We see here that this first mark of what it looks like to walk as the body of Christ. We all should have these familiar things. And the first one's love in action. If we're going to walk as those who've been transformed, one of those aspects, the foundation of it all is love. Love in action. Love is genuine. It's not hypocrisy. It looks like us outdoing one another because we want to rejoice in what God is doing, not in what I am doing. [00:54:20] (33 seconds)  #LoveInAction

We see here in chapter 12 he shifts from that doctrine, that information of the gospel, to applying it. What does it look like? Once, What is our response as we apply it, as we surrender, right? What is our response? That response isn't based upon guilt driven legalism. It's not based upon a fear based religion, but the multifaceted mercies of God. He says, in the view of the mercies of God to live a transformed life. [00:40:02] (38 seconds)  #MercyDrivenLiving

You know what happens as we reject conformity? Well we begin to discern God's will. As we reject conformity, as we seek to be a living sacrifice, the benefit of that, the results of that is God begins to speak to us. As we surrender and renew our minds, he begins to unlock the power to test and approve what his good and perfect will is. Good, which is morally pure, pleasing, which is acceptable to him. Perfect, which is complete, mature. [00:47:36] (38 seconds)  #DiscernGodsWill

So as we seek to respond to the gospel, we have to present our bodies as living sacrifices. Well what does that mean? That means that that our bodies aren't dead and tossed to the side, it means we become a new creation, it means every ongoing step, every breath, we seek to devote our bodies as instruments of worship, as an instrument of worship. [00:42:30] (29 seconds)  #LivingSacrifice

we've got to be humble, we've got to self evaluate. He says, Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought but rather think of yourselves with sober judgment. Because why? Because God dispenses faith, God dispenses gifts, not equally but precisely as we need as the body of Christ. But we also know, point B, it says this, one body many members. Like a human body, eyes see, [00:50:45] (30 seconds)  #OneBodyManyGifts

It says, We though many form one body, each member belongs to one another. And it expands it in First Corinthians 12, it says, If the foot says, 'Because I'm not a hand I do not belong to the body,' it would not, for that reason, stop being a part of the body. Guys, we find that your role is important. In this process, blueprint of being transformed is your part of the body is important because we have unity and diversity. [00:51:18] (32 seconds)  #EveryRoleMatters

Paul's saying, Listen, you don't have to walk in a dead religion, it's all about the gospel, the previous 11 chapters because of the gospel, you don't have to walk in this dead religion because the gospel changes everything. The gospel propels us from dead religion to passionately pursuing Jesus and loving God and loving others. Does that sound familiar, First Baptist? Because our mission statement is to move from lifeless dead religion to passionately pursuing Jesus. [00:48:14] (31 seconds)  #FromReligionToRelationship

What he's saying is we've got to love in action, but part of that love in action also looks like for us having the mind of blessings over bitterness. The blessings of what God has given us, the blessings of the gifts he's given us. Just because I'm not the leg and I may be a pinky toe to the body of Christ, you still have a valuable role. And we seek to look at blessings over bitterness. [00:55:13] (29 seconds)  #BlessingsOverBitterness

And what happens is as we invest in others and use the gifts that God's given us, he does a work in us. That's truly a blessing. And those marks, those marks of living out action and love, those marks of blessing over bitterness, of overcoming evil with good, listen, we understand that God has a place and a plan for you. He didn't transform you into a follower of him for us to sit in pews, He did it so we can impact his kingdom [00:58:52] (38 seconds)  #ServeDontSit

Like as a 45 year old I'm remembering those names because they were an impact in my life. You have something to offer all generations and don't let Satan tell you otherwise because he wants to continue to grow you as you take on that challenge. Because let me just tell you, it is challenging, right? I'm a dad of an 18 year old and a nine year old, it is challenging but it's worth it because it's all about kingdom transformation. [00:58:17] (35 seconds)  #GenerationalImpact

I just want to share with you some of the greatest influences on my life when I was a young preacher's kid and my dad was a big, my family was a big influence, my youth pastor was a good influence, youth leaders. But let me just tell you, you know people that influenced me? Was many of our senior adults. Omar Brown, Hazel Standridge who climbed steps to help teach our class that she shouldn't have been climbing because she was using her gifts, right? [00:57:42] (30 seconds)  #GiftsAcrossGenerations

As we Paul's building on surrender here, he commands, he says, listen, allow your mind to be transformed because he recognized that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking to devour us. The things that we think about, he knows that there's a battle going on. That's why we have the armor of God, right? See, I love about this passage, we understand that Paul, as he's talking to those in Rome, Rome echoed access. [00:45:30] (35 seconds)  #ArmorOfGod