Service Welcome Opening Prayer Praise Sermon Offering Lords

Service �Welcome �Opening Prayer �Praise �Sermon �Offering �Lord’s Prayer �Dismiss

Service �Welcome �Opening Prayer �Praise �Sermon �Offering �Lord’s Prayer �Dismiss

Service �Welcome �Opening Prayer �Praise �Sermon �Offering �Lord’s Prayer �Dismiss

Service �Welcome �Praise �Sermon �Offering �Lord’s Prayer �Dismiss

Service �Welcome �Praise �Sermon: A Spiritual Life �Offering �Lord’s Prayer �Dismiss

�A Spiritual Life �Rom. 12: 1 -2

Romans 12: 1 -2 � 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

� 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters. �Paul is speaking to believers, and urging them as an act of love.

�Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice

�Understanding what God has done for you is a critical starting point.

For someone you love?

? Someone who rejects you

What did Jesus Do for you?

Totality of the Sin of the world on his shoulders

Why? �John 3: 16 � 6 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

� 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy,

�We are all deserving of Hell, but God’s mercy gives us an opportunity to avoid the hell that we deserve.

�How would you feel towards this person?

�What if you were saved not for 55 years, but for eternity?

�There are certain things that one would naturally do if they truly understand what Jesus’ death meant to them. �When we truly understand consider what God has done for us, It should be natural to give everything back to him. We can never out-give God.

�We don’t become Christians to change from being on the line to Hell to going on the line to Heaven. �We become Christians to give and serve because of what God has done for us.

�to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice �What does that mean?

Offering=perfect Using all the parts of our bodies

�to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice

Colossians 3: 23 �Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.

�Under the Old Covenant, God accepted the sacrifices of animals as an atonement for Sin. For example a perfect goat would be given to the priests, and the priests would put the goat on the alter and sacrifice it to God as an atonement for sins. �But these were just a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Because of His ultimate, oncefor-all-time sacrifice on the cross, the Old Testament sacrifices became obsolete and are no longer valuable. �God doesn’t want dead animals, he wants living men and women.

�Romans 12: 4 -8 � 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

� 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

�The key to being a living sacrifice is giving all you have to God. �We do this when we serve with love. �God doesn’t want us to be 99% faithful, he wants us to be 100% faithful.

What are these?

�Where is your thermostat set when you clean your room? �Where is your thermostat set when you study for an exam? �What about being a living sacrifice and serving with love?

� Rich young ruler � Matthew 19: 16 -26 New American Standard Bible (NASB) � The Rich Young Ruler � 16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life? ” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments. ” 18 Then he *said to Him, “Which ones? ” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; 19 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. ” 20 The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking? ” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be [a]complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. ” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

�You can’t only sacrifice what you feel like you can spare. Often you need to sacrifice what you really want to hang on to. �The ruler was not willing to make the sacrifice that God wanted.

� 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

� 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will.

�How many television commercials tell you to be a more devout Christian?

�The message of the world (television, society) is telling you that: �If you drink alcohol, you will be cool. �If you dress in a certain way, are thin, if you wear a certain make-up, or perfume you will be popular.

�But Christians are told - Do not conform to the pattern of this world

Eagle in a chicken coop. � A naturalist came to a farm one day to see if the rumors he heard about an eagle living like a chicken were true. He walked over to a small enclosure and saw several hens pecking and scratching the ground. To his amazement, the naturalist noticed an adult bald eagle among the group mimicking the actions of the chickens. � Puzzled by his findings, the naturalist began to question the farmer about the creatures behavior. � “I found him in an abandoned nest in the wilderness several years back and decided to bring him home as a pet. I didn’t have a cage to keep him in, so I put him in the chicken coop with the hens. After a few weeks he began to act just like them. ” � “But his wings are so big!” The naturalist observed. “Doesn’t he try to fly away? ” � “Well, why would he? He doesnt know what it means to fly? He was raised as a chicken. So for all intents and purposes, he is no longer an eagle, but a chicken. ” � After hearing this, the naturalist was almost beside himself with disbeleif. He thought the entire idea was absurd. Convinced that the eagle was still indeed an eagle, he made a proposition to the farmer. “I bet if you give me three chances, I can make this eagle fly. ”

� “And if you can’t? ” The farmer questioned. � “If I cant, then I’ll give you a hundred bucks. ” Knowing that the eagle had never flown a day in his life, the farmer obliged. � The first thing the naturalist did was throw the eagle in the air above his head. “Fly eagle!!!” Much to his disapointment, the great bird came down with a crash. � “OK. ” The farmer remarked. “That’s one. ” � The naturlaist, not wanting to give up, put the Eagle on a fence post in the center of the chicken yard. He then commanded, “Fly Eagle!!!” The bird once again found his way to the ground and began pecking at the sand for worms. � “Strike two, nature boy. ” � The naturalist then had an idea. He took the farmer on a trek high into the mountains. They climbed for several hours until they reached the highest mountain’s peak. When they finally stopped, they found themselves surrounded by other eagles gliding through the skies on lofty air currents. The naturalist once again threw the eagle into the air shouting, “FLY EAGLE!!!” Now recognizing its potential and being placed in the appropriate environment, the eagle began flapping its wings and soaring through the skies above the mountain tops.

�The world tells us that we are chickens. We are not. We are new creations in Christ. We are saved and redeemed. We need to act like the saved and redeemed creatures that we are.

�The world asks us to be something we are not. �We must reject that, and instead be something that we are.

�Jesus’ sacrifice allowed us to be freed from prison. Our chains have been broken. Society tells us that we should aspire to worship the things of this world, and essentially break ourselves back in to prison.

� 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. �Don’t conform, be transformed.

�How are we transformed? �transformed by the renewing of your mind.

�How does one renew your mind? �Reading the word, QT with God, fellowship with other believers, singing praise, worshipping, serving. �We must be careful to avoid listening, watching, and doing things that manipulate our minds to make us conform to the world.

�Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

�Without having fellowship with God, how can you expect to do things according to his will? �This renewing of your mind is a daily process.

�What have we learned? � 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Challenge �To reflect on what we learned today

Service �Welcome �Praise �Prayer �Sermon �Offering, offering prayer (offering and message prayer) �Announcements �Lord’s Prayer �Dismiss

Service �Welcome �Praise �Prayer �Sermon �Offering �Announcements �Dismiss

Service �Welcome �Praise �Prayer �Sermon �Offering �Lord’s Prayer �Dismiss

Service �Welcome �Praise �Prayer �Sermon �Offering �Lord’s Prayer Memorization �Dismiss

Service �Welcome �Praise �Prayer �Sermon �Offering �Lord’s Prayer �Dismiss