Sermon Review (5)
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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
LIVING SACRIFICES Because of all God’s mercies, Paul pleads with the Gentile believers in Rome to respond to God’s gracious salvation by presenting their bodies as ‘a living sacrifice’. This alone is
1) holy,
2) acceptable and
3) reasonable. It will mean that instead of following the world, Gentile believers will prove experientially God’s good, acceptable and perfect will through a consecrated body and through a renewed mind which He will give them.
V 3–8: LOOK SPIRITUALLY The grace that brings salvation, and enables personal sacrifice in following Christ, also produces a humble and spiritual mindset. This enables the Christian to consider things from a spiritual point of view. Thus self should not be exalted, and one should recognise that whatever God has given is a gift from Him and not a matter for personal pride. Those gifts, given liberally, should be exercised graciously and faithfully within the body of Christ. The Christian mindset should come from a different perspective than that of the world.
THE BATTLE FOR OUR MINDS
THE BATTLE FOR OUR MINDS
But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Our Thoughts Shape Our Actions
Our Thoughts Shape Our Actions
I am too old to change my ways.
God made me this way, so deal with it.
I can do with my body what I want cause it’s my body.
I am not hurting anybody with my sexual choices.
It only makes sense to live together before getting married.
I’m transgender, I never felt comfortable as a ________
Rom. 12:1- 2 “Present our bodies as a living sacrifice”
1 Cor. 6:19-20 “you are not your own”
Mark 10:6 “God made them male & female”
Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’
Our Thoughts Shape Our Actions
Actions shape our habits
Habits shape our Character
Character determines our Destiny
Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies; For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you. The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, And waste your pleasant words.
Actions shape our Habits - All In The Family (a sock and a shoe or sock and a sock) Habits shape our character If you do something immoral, illegal or take an unnecessary risk and get away with it, you are more likely to do it again & again. Character Determines our Destiny. Sin begins in the mind of man; our thoughts lead to our actions; our actions lead to our habits; our habits become our custom; our custom or comfort levels leads to our character; and finally our characters will become our Destiny. Since the soul of man never dies we have 2 choices for our Destiny: A Heavenly kingdom full of Love, Eternal Life and the presence of God the Father, God the Son/Word (which is Jesus the Christ), God the Holy Spirit. Destiny has a 2nd option that would ultimately be the worst choice any one could ever make. I remember when I was a child I wasn’t even allowed to say the word “Hell”. Hell is such a terrible place that words really cannot describe it. In the words of one of our Elders, Bro. Drozd; One would cease to be in the presence of God…… forever! That would mean no Blessings, no joy, no relief from suffering, no rest, no love, nothing but darkness, loneliness, pain & despair forever and ever and ever!!!
The Process of Renewing Our Minds
VIRTUE
KNOWLEDGE
SELF-CONTROL
PERSEVERANCE
GODLINESS
BROTHERLY KINDNESS
L O V E
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Practice Mindfulness & Accountability
Would a spiritual microwave teach a Christian Patience?
Would living in isolation teach us Brotherly Kindness?
Would we learn Self-Control with No options or temptations?
Would anyone in their right mind not Love God if they practiced
MINDFUL ACCOUNTABILITY
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Cultivate A Lifestyle
Of Prayer &
Mindful Thinking
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.