Lifetime Change-Romans 12:1-2

 As we were walking into church this morning, this is what I saw. I took this with my phone, no special camera, and no post-editing.

July 29, 2012 Brother Blake gave the sermon in Brother Terry's absence. It was extremely poignant and pertinent.

A Living Sacrifice

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.

  

Brother Blake broke it down into three points:

1. Sacrifice ourselves
2. Transform our life
3. Submit our will 

1. Sacrifice ourselves, surrender all, be a living sacrifice, a holy sacrifice, and a pleasing sacrifice. He didn't halfway die for us, so we can't halfway life for Him. 

2. Transform our life. The light of a new Christian is brightest at rebirth. I liken it to a sparkler on the 4th of July. When you first light a sparkler, that is so bright you almost need welders goggles. But as it burns, it runs out of fuel and the light gets dim. If you don't give it more fuel to burn, it will eventually die. Our faith needs fuel, and that fuel is the word of God, and it is the fellowship of our church sharing in our light that keeps it burning. If what we were doing before we found God was so great, we wouldn't need him. We have to become what is pleasing to him to be able to fully gain the benefit of the gospel. Be set apart from the world in speech, in actions, in life. Be a living word and message of God. We will fail, but it is how we pick ourselves up when we stumble that defines us. Renew your mind. What you put in your head is what feeds your spirit. Don't feed it with vulgar music and movies, tv shows and books. 


3. Submit our will. We cannot do the will of God if we are under our own will. He has a plan for us, but we can't see it and have to have faith in him to guide us. We must obey his word and submit. A pilot can't fly a plane that's on autopilot. One of the two has to relinquish their will over the plane. Let God steer us. He referenced Jeremiah 29:11-13 with emphasis on verse 13.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I think of all these, the transformation would be hardest. I once thought submitting my will would be, but I have decided I have done a spectacularly awesome job of messing things up so it's best I let God lead the way from here on out. Transformation isn't going to be easy, though. It took years to get to where I am. I am regimented; I am structured. But, I have to ask each day to be that person that others see Christ through me. I don't want people to question if I am His child. I want it to be obvious that I was born again by the blood of Christ. All this in His name. Amen.