Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Wouldn't it be great if in our spiritual life change just happened like that, that it would just be easy?
[00:00:13] As I've gotten older and at my age, I kind of imagined where I might be in my spiritual life. And honestly, I thought I might be a little bit smarter. By the time I got this old, I thought I might be a little bit wiser, maybe a little bit more mature. And in lots of ways, maybe my life would look a little bit more like Jesus.
[00:00:34] Sometimes when I look at my life, I wonder about some things.
[00:00:38] I wonder, am I always gonna be hurt by criticism?
[00:00:43] Or will I get to the place that I so know that my identity isn't in what other people say about me? I can take their feedback, make adjustments, but my. My identity isn't changed because Jesus is the one who defines who I am.
[00:00:59] Will I always be in that place where I'm thinking about pleasing people? Sometimes even more than pleasing God? That. That's more on my radar screen?
[00:01:09] Why?
[00:01:10] Why would I try to please people? I know. I know that one day I will stand before God. And you know what?
[00:01:17] None of y' all are gonna be there.
[00:01:20] It's gonna be just me. So why do I care what you think more than what he thinks?
[00:01:28] Why do I struggle to forgive people?
[00:01:31] Why can't I just look at the magnitude that Jesus has forgiven me and just naturally extend that into the world around me?
[00:01:41] People that have wronged me?
[00:01:44] Will I always have a fear of failure?
[00:01:47] Will I just not want to take risk? Because what if it doesn't work out?
[00:01:51] Even though I know that kingdom risk and trusting God is part of what it means to walk with him? Am I always going to want comfort? Am I going to try to bubble wrap my life so that nothing bad can happen in my world?
[00:02:05] Am I always going to have anxiety about the future, even though I know that I know the one who knows the future and he hasn't let me down?
[00:02:18] Am I always.
[00:02:20] Whenever God stretches me to grow my generosity, will there always be that question in the back of my mind?
[00:02:28] Will there be enough for me?
[00:02:32] Even though I look across the landscape of my life and there's always been enough for me?
[00:02:38] I have this picture of things that I thought would always be changed in my life, that I would be different? There's this picture, but oftentimes I feel like I'm down here.
[00:02:50] Here's the question. What does it take to go from here to here? What does it take to bring change in our life? Because when I read the Bible, it tells me that the Gospel should change our life to that we would actually change from the inside out and our life should continually look more like Jesus. But how, how does the gospel change our life?
[00:03:19] Over the next several weeks, we're going to be back in the Book of Romans. And if you've been around the last couple of years, you know that we've kind of been taking this block by block. And we're in our fourth and final installment, the last block, looking at Romans chapter 12, verses 16.
[00:03:36] And in Romans in that section, Paul talks about change.
[00:03:43] He talks about what can we expect as it relates to change in our life? What will that look like? What is the process?
[00:03:50] The Gospel of Jesus, Paul is going to tell us, should transform us from the inside out.
[00:03:57] Here's what I want to do to kind of set the stage a little bit. I want to do a little bit of a big picture overview of the Book of Romans. I'm not going to re preach anything, but I want to go back to the very first sermon in this series because in that very first sermon we talked about what I believe is the thesis statement of the book of Romans. This is where Paul lays down everywhere where he's headed in this book.
[00:04:24] Here's what the Apostle Paul says in his thesis statement, Romans chapter one, starting in verse 16, he says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, that good news of Jesus, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone, anyone, everyone that wants it. But everyone who believes puts their faith in and trust in Jesus, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel and as we're here, Paul gives us the shorthand understanding of the gospel. In the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.
[00:05:07] A righteousness that is by faith from first to last.
[00:05:14] Here's what Paul wants all of us to understand. Because up until that time, this idea of righteousness. And whenever Paul says righteousness, he is talking about a right relationship, a right standing before God, that we stand before him absolutely approved. Paul wants us to understand that that righteousness comes by faith and faith alone.
[00:05:39] Because up until that time, the nation of Israel, they believed that this righteousness that we can have before God, it is based on what we do, our performance before. Before God, our ability to be able to accomplish the law of God. And when we do a good job of that, God gives us his righteousness. And Paul says, no, the gospel is good news. It's not about your performance.
[00:06:09] It's not about what you do. It is about Christ's performance and what he has done.
[00:06:18] It's not about us performing for God, but Jesus performed for us.
[00:06:24] He lived the life, friends, that we should have lived. And he died the death that we deserved to die.
[00:06:34] And that when we put our faith not in what we do, but in what he did for us, what he has done, we have a right standing before God. That's what Paul wants to understand is the good news of the gospel.
[00:06:51] But Paul says it doesn't stop there.
[00:06:56] Once we become a follower of Jesus, once we stand in righteousness in this next session, he's going to talk about what then do we do.
[00:07:06] And we see that even in his thesis statement, because he says, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. And just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.
[00:07:23] In light of what Jesus has done for us, Paul says there's a way that we, by faith, there is a way that we should live. And in a way that we are actually being changed from the inside out.
[00:07:40] Here's how I want you to think about this in a. In kind of a picture, kind of a way. Paul is talking about at the beginning of the Book of Romans here he's talking about God's grace. And that God's grace comes down to us. It's like a vertical God extends his righteousness to us coming to earth.
[00:08:02] But then in the second half of the verse, he talks about the idea that that grace, when it comes into our life, is actually extended into the world around us. It's not just that we receive the grace of God, but we actually start to think about how do we extend the grace of God into the world around us. And that's what Paul is talking about when he's talking about the righteous will live by by faith. And so when you think about the Book of Romans, you need to think about the fact that chapters 1 through 11 is this chunk Paul talking about the Gospel. What is this good news, this righteousness from God that's come to us? In chapters 12 to 16 is Paul talking about the reality?
[00:08:52] How do we extend that grace into the world? How do we we live?
[00:08:59] Early on in our study of the Book of Romans, I tried to say this over and over. I hope it was captured in your mind. When we think about the gospel so many times we think that the gospel is simply about going to heaven when we die. We think about that vertical grace that we receive. But Paul says, no, that's not it. It's not just about going to heaven when you die. The gospel is about bringing heaven to earth while you live.
[00:09:29] Yes, the gospel changes our life.
[00:09:34] But as changed people, we change the world.
[00:09:39] That's the message of the book of Romans. And here's the deal, friends.
[00:09:45] We all sit. If you are a follower of Jesus, we, we sit at that crossroads. We've received the grace of God.
[00:09:53] But how are we gonna extend the grace of God to everyone around us?
[00:10:00] And it's in that place, at that crossroads that Paul steps out and talks about change.
[00:10:06] How do we change? How do we change so that we can bring change to the world around us? Paul's gonna tell us that. How?
[00:10:16] Romans, chapter 12.
[00:10:18] Starting in verse one, here's what he says. He says, 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.
[00:10:42] Now, some of you, if you've been around here at all, you know that the first thing that I'm going to point out is the importance of this word right there.
[00:10:51] Therefore.
[00:10:53] And anytime, every time you're reading your Bible and you see that word therefore, there's a question that has to come to your mind. You ask, what is the therefore?
[00:11:05] There we have people that are good students out there. You ask, what is the therefore? Therefore.
[00:11:10] Because Paul is using a connective word like what he's gonna say connects to what he said in the past. And here's where we need to understand, we need to look back. He is connecting all of the first 11 chapters of the book of Romans, this explanation of the beautiful good news, the gospel of what Jesus has done for us. He is saying, in light of all that, here's, friends, what you need to do. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, in view of God's mercy, Paul immediately, friends, he starts to speak to motivation.
[00:11:53] What is our motivation to want to change? What is our motivations to want to obey and follow Jesus with our life? Paul says the only motivation is mercy, grace.
[00:12:07] You notice what Paul doesn't appeal to. He does not appeal to guilt.
[00:12:12] You should be ashamed of yourself. He does not appeal to fear.
[00:12:17] You need to be afraid. He does not appeal to obligation.
[00:12:23] What he appeals to is, is gratitude.
[00:12:26] Gratitude for grace.
[00:12:30] And you need to know, and we need to understand that that is the only sufficient and lasting motivation that will ever work for us to want to grab ahold of change in our life.
[00:12:42] So if we step back and we do what Paul says, he says, in view of God's mercy, what are the things that we've seen in these first 11 chapters of the Book of Romans. What has Paul already told us? Therefore, Paul tells us that our sins have been forgiven.
[00:13:05] What I just said to you, we have a righteousness.
[00:13:07] We are totally approved before a holy God. Not, not because of anything we've done, but only, only because of what Jesus has done for us and our putting our faith and our trust in that.
[00:13:24] But it didn't stop there.
[00:13:27] Paul says we are adopted as his children.
[00:13:31] We're sons, we're daughters.
[00:13:34] We are part of his family.
[00:13:38] That's not it either.
[00:13:40] He's given us his spirit. He sent the very presence of God to live in the life of every follower of Jesus. God's presence with us, speaking to us, convicting us, teaching us, comforting us.
[00:13:57] He wants to be with us. He wants us to hear and respond to him in every area of our life.
[00:14:04] And he has promised us eternal life.
[00:14:08] We can be secure.
[00:14:11] Who we are in Him. When we go back to the Book of Romans, chapter eight, it starts out, for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
[00:14:22] No condemnation. Nothing stands between us and God. And the end of that chapter says that nothing, absolutely nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God. We are secure.
[00:14:38] We are absolutely, eternally secure in Him.
[00:14:42] Not because of what we've done, but because of what Jesus has done for us.
[00:14:48] Why is that so important?
[00:14:50] Why do we just keep saying that over and over? Because we've got to get it.
[00:14:56] Because, friends, if we are not eternally secure, if we don't know where we stand before God, we will not be able to walk with him and handle all of the things that are going to come at us in life. And I'm speaking specifically about the pain and the sufferings and the trouble that are going to come our way. If we're wondering how God actually feels about us, when we come to those places in our life where we fail, we are failing in our walking with Him.
[00:15:30] We will look at those failures and we will see the trouble in our life. And we will make the assumption God has abandoned me. If we're fear based in our desire to follow him rather than gratitude based, we will assume that God is paying me back. He's abandoned me. I finally crossed the line.
[00:15:52] I don't know where I stand with Him. Our failures will cause us to feel despair and insecurity, but it also creates a problem in our successes when we face trouble in this life. If we feel like man, I am doing a great job. I am obedient. I'm doing everything God that you're asking me to do. When trouble comes our way, we will assume wrongly that this isn't fair.
[00:16:21] God, why are you doing this in my life?
[00:16:24] I thought you were supposed to bless my life.
[00:16:27] Why are you not? Why are you allowing bad things to happen to my life? We're either gonna end up in a place of despair and insecurity or a place of bitterness and confusion.
[00:16:39] When trouble or pain come our way in life, we can't be fear based in our obedience to God.
[00:16:48] Paul says it's gratitude based.
[00:16:52] You've got to be grateful.
[00:16:55] We step back and it's in view of God's mercy.
[00:16:59] Everything that Jesus has done for us, everything that he accomplished for us, we are incredibly grateful.
[00:17:08] And that's what drives change in our life, a desire to change. It is a foundation of, of gratitude. We've got to keep in our mind a view of God's mercy.
[00:17:23] But then Paul says, when we've got that in view, there's a response that we need to make. He says that we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.
[00:17:36] When Paul uses these words of sacrifice, immediately in the mind of a first century person, especially a first century Jew, this is like a temple metaphor for them, temple imagery. They remember what it was like as a kid, as a family, this perfect little lamb that they raised that they would take to the temple and the priest would take that perfect lamb and shed its blood to cover sin.
[00:18:06] That's what they would remember.
[00:18:09] Sin was death.
[00:18:11] The altar meant death.
[00:18:14] But what Paul wants everyone to understand is that Christ is the final sacrifice. It's his blood shed on the altar once and for all pays, pays for all of our sin, past, present and future.
[00:18:32] He wants us to see the difference.
[00:18:35] In the Old Testament, before Jesus, worship in the temple was about death and a sin offering.
[00:18:44] But Paul is saying now it is about a living sacrifice.
[00:18:50] We don't offer up our lives to die, we offer up our lives to live and to live for him.
[00:18:57] That's what a living sacrifice means. It means that we put ourselves fully, fully surrendered and at God's disposal.
[00:19:05] Meaning that we're willing to obey anything and everything that God would ask us to do.
[00:19:12] That's why around here we use the term all in kind of a poker term. But it's this idea that we just push all our chips to the middle of the table. We don't hold anything back.
[00:19:24] When we understand, when we have this view of God's mercy, we actually come to grips with the one that went all in for us. And so we Go all in for him. That's what it means to be a living sacrifice.
[00:19:39] You know what else a living sacrifice means?
[00:19:42] It means it's, it's not just a one time deal that we do, offering our bodies as a living sacrifice. It's not a one time thing. It is a moment by moment, decision by decision, step by step that we make to keep our life surrendered to him in every area of our life.
[00:20:03] Because we can come to that place and often we do, where we offer our life to him in lots of different areas. But you know what the problem with a living sacrifice is?
[00:20:15] A living sacrifice can crawl right back off the altar.
[00:20:21] We can say, I give my life to you, but we can also say, I want to take my life back.
[00:20:27] God, I give this to you, I want you to have everything.
[00:20:30] But then we take it back. There's this battle that goes on, our flesh, our life. We want to be the king of our own castle. We don't want to be beholding to anyone. That's why it is a continuous thing. We've got to continue to, to offer our lives as a living sacrifice. It's the same idea. When Jesus invited people to follow him in the New Testament, he said, whoever, whoever wants to be my disciple. Meaning you want to be a follower of me, you want to bring your life under me, you want to become like me. He says, this is what you need to do. You need to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me.
[00:21:16] It's not a one time thing.
[00:21:19] We've got to continually lay our life at the altar.
[00:21:24] We surrender, we surrender to him and then we resurrender. And we resurrender. And we resurrender moment by moment, decision by decision.
[00:21:38] And then Paul says this, he says, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. And then he says, this is your true and proper worship.
[00:21:51] True and proper worship. That word right there in the original language transliterated is logicon.
[00:22:03] What does that sound like?
[00:22:05] Yeah, it sounds like logic.
[00:22:08] Paul's saying it's the only logical decision that a person can make.
[00:22:14] The only clear thinking decision that you can make in view of God's mercy and everything that has been done for you in Christ. The only thing that we can do is offer our life to him in every way that we would absolutely go all in.
[00:22:31] We offer our life to Him.
[00:22:36] Here's what I think I need.
[00:22:38] I just need to say if you look at the mercy of God and all that Jesus done for you, and it doesn't do anything to your heart.
[00:22:56] It doesn't melt your heart in any way.
[00:22:59] It doesn't soften your heart in any way.
[00:23:04] I think according to Paul, I would say you don't understand the gospel.
[00:23:10] You don't have a clear view of the mercy of God or you've lost sight of it in some way. That's why Paul will always tell us to step back and think about the mercy of God, all that he's done for us. And our logical response is that we would surrender to him again. When we come to grips, when we actually come to grips with the One who went all in for us, the only decision that we can make is to go all in for Him.
[00:23:40] That's the why.
[00:23:42] Paul gives us a compelling why.
[00:23:46] But now, as we transition to verse, Paul moves from why to talk about how.
[00:23:54] How do we actually make change in our life?
[00:23:58] Paul moves from this idea of, like, an external life that we offer to him to an internal life. He goes to the place of the mind.
[00:24:08] Because here's what Paul knows, is that both a life of sin and a life of righteousness, both of those start in. In the mind.
[00:24:19] Here's what Paul says.
[00:24:21] Romans, chapter 12, verse 2. He says, do not conform to what? To the pattern of this world.
[00:24:31] But in contrast to that, be transformed. How?
[00:24:37] By the renewing of your mind.
[00:24:40] Then.
[00:24:41] Then you. You will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.
[00:24:54] Here's what Paul wants us to understand.
[00:24:57] You are changing.
[00:24:59] Your life is changing.
[00:25:03] But the question that we have is, is our life conforming to the world around us? Or. Or is our life being transformed into the will of God? Which is it?
[00:25:15] And here's the reality, friends, for every one of us.
[00:25:19] It's probably a little bit of both.
[00:25:23] Both of those things can be happening in our life in the same time. But here's what Paul wants us to understand is that we need to understand that there's a difference between conforming and transforming. There are two different paths that we can. And we need to be able to recognize which path we're on because that path of conforming, it's this idea that there are external things in and around our life that are actually shaping us from the outside. In. The J.B. phillips paraphrase of this verse says, don't let the world press you into its mold.
[00:26:01] That's what Paul's saying. And that is being contrasted with the reality that we can be transformed, we can be changed, meaning that we are changed from one thing to another thing, from the Inside out, conforming from the outside in, being transformed from the inside out.
[00:26:20] But we've got to be able to recognize when are we being conformed.
[00:26:26] How do we know if we're being conformed?
[00:26:30] If you want to be conformed, you know what you need to do?
[00:26:35] Nothing.
[00:26:36] Just exist. Just live in this world. Because this world will try to Bombard you with IST's message.
[00:26:45] It'll try to conform us by the entertainment that we allow into our mind. It'll try to conform us by the social media that we consume.
[00:26:55] We can be conformed by the 24 hour news cycle can start to shape our mind and our thinking. The world wants to conform us to this idea of consumerism. Like we've got to have stuff and stuff and more stuff. The world wants to form us with political ideologies, advertising things that you need.
[00:27:18] We can be conformed by our family patterns and experiences.
[00:27:23] We can be conformed by the people that are around us. If you want to be conformed, just do nothing.
[00:27:31] But if you want to not conform, if you want to allow God to shape your thinking, it's going to take intentional, intentional discipleship to Jesus. You're going to have to figure out, how do I push back on all these messages that are trying to conform me to them?
[00:27:52] Because if you don't have intentional discipleship to Jesus, the world will disciple us.
[00:27:59] The world will be the ones that conform us. And Paul just says that believers, we naturally drift to conformity unless we have an intentional process of transformation.
[00:28:14] So I just want to ask the question, I mean, you know what you're exposing your life and your mind to?
[00:28:21] What are the voices that most influence your thinking?
[00:28:27] What gets your ear?
[00:28:29] What gets your attention?
[00:28:32] How is it, friends, that maybe we're conforming and adopting the cultural values versus adopting the biblical values, the will in the word of God? What voices are you listening to?
[00:28:49] How are you conforming?
[00:28:52] But Paul would say this, you don't have to conform.
[00:28:56] You can be transformed.
[00:28:59] We can be changed. We can go from here to here being more like Jesus if we can be changed in order to bring change to this world. But here's what Paul's gonna tell us. It happens in our mind.
[00:29:14] The means, the path to a transformed life is renewing your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will. If you renew your mind.
[00:29:30] A changed life happens by changed thinking.
[00:29:34] A new orientation in our thinking creates a new orientation in our behavior.
[00:29:40] And that's why Paul would say, think About?
[00:29:44] Think about the things that you think about. What do you allow your mind to be given to?
[00:29:52] What is it?
[00:29:54] Do we actually take the time in our life to allow God to speak to us, to shape our mind through his scriptures, where we hear and respond, where we're actually changing our thinking? And when we see that our thinking and our life are in a different place from the Word and the will of God, we actually offer our lives to him again.
[00:30:18] God has sent His Holy Spirit to live within us, to convict us, to, to teach us, to comfort us. When we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, do we respond in obedience and do we offer our life to him, whatever it is that he might be asking us to do?
[00:30:36] Do we allow the body of Christ? Other followers of Jesus who also have the scripture in their life and the Spirit of God in their life, do we allow them to speak into our life?
[00:30:49] Man, I can't tell you how many times that it's been through a friend, a guy or a gal speaking truth with grace into my life. That has sent me in a completely different direction in life from conforming to being transformed. We've got to have those things. What are the voices that you are listening to in your life?
[00:31:14] Here's the promise that Paul gives us.
[00:31:17] The promise is this. Our lives can be changed when we choose not to conform. And we're willing to renew our mind.
[00:31:27] Because here's what happens gradually.
[00:31:31] When I say gradually, I mean it's a process.
[00:31:34] But when I say gradually, I do not mean that it's not supernatural. It is supernatural.
[00:31:40] It's God working in us.
[00:31:42] But as we allow our mind to be renewed, suddenly, moment by moment, decision by decision, we actually start to think a little bit more the way that God thinks.
[00:31:57] Our heart actually starts to desire the kinds of things that God desires.
[00:32:03] Our heart is after his heart.
[00:32:06] We actually start to love in some of the same ways that God loves. We become like Jesus. And we just start to see, little by little, gradually process over time. We start to see the world from God's perspective and it changes our life so that we can bring change to the world around us.
[00:32:37] Where are you at?
[00:32:40] Where do you need to be? Where is it that God wants you to be?
[00:32:44] Where do you need to bring change into your life?
[00:32:49] Let's get personal.
[00:32:52] I want to show you this picture again because if you're here today and you're a follower of Jesus, every one of us sits at this crossroads.
[00:33:04] We've received grace from God.
[00:33:08] But Paul wants to know how we gonna live in Light of that, how are we gonna live a changed life in order to bring change to the world around us?
[00:33:21] Paul's already told us it's about not conforming and being transformed.
[00:33:26] But here's what you need to hear from me.
[00:33:29] This process, it is gradual and it is a battle.
[00:33:36] It is not easy.
[00:33:39] Why?
[00:33:41] You know this. You know that you have patterns of behavior, you have patterns of thinking. You have ruts in your life that are difficult to pull out of. Difficult, absolutely. It is a battle, but not impossible. God wants to change us from the inside out. How?
[00:34:03] How are we going to let him?
[00:34:06] I want to leave you with just one question and a couple follow up questions.
[00:34:14] Here's a question I want to ask yourself. I want you to ask yourself, honestly, what part of my life have I not yet surrendered?
[00:34:27] If our only logical response is to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, what am I holding back?
[00:34:36] What is that thing in my life that I refuse to let go of?
[00:34:42] What is it?
[00:34:44] I want you to just think of one thing, just one thing.
[00:34:49] And here's the deal, friends. Some of you, if you're like me, and I know that I am, you're saying to yourself, Bob, just as you've been talking, my list is longer than you can even imagine.
[00:35:04] Yeah, mine too.
[00:35:07] That's not a bad place to be. God is working in your life. He's showing you where you're conforming and where you need to be transformed. Be grateful. God's love is being poured out into your life and he wants to bring change into your life. There may be lots of things, but can I just ask you pick one.
[00:35:25] Where are you going to start today?
[00:35:28] Just grab one thing and I feel like I need to say this.
[00:35:36] Probably the place that I would be most concerned is if you're sitting there and you're saying, I can't think of anything.
[00:35:45] I can't think of anything that I'm holding onto.
[00:35:49] Friends, if you can't think of anything in your life where you're misaligned to the will and the word of God, I think it's not because you're perfect.
[00:36:01] I think it's because you've aligned your life to a picture of God that just aligns with what you think. You've aligned your life to yourself and you're calling it God, it's okay to have a long list and start through the list. Where is it that I'm gonna offer my life to him and it's gonna be a battle because your flesh, yourself does not want to put anything on the altar.
[00:36:30] We want to be king of our castle. We want to be lord of our life. It will take incredible faith. And Paul said, the righteous will live by faith. It'll take incredible faith to offer every area of your life to him.
[00:36:46] If you're having trouble thinking of something, here's my two clarifying questions.
[00:36:52] Where am I conforming?
[00:36:54] Where does my life look more like the world than my life looks like the will and the word of God?
[00:37:02] What does that bring to your mind?
[00:37:05] Where?
[00:37:06] Second clarifying question.
[00:37:09] Where do I need to transform my thinking?
[00:37:14] Where are things that are going on in my mind, messages that are going on in my life, voices that I'm hearing in my heart and my mind that don't.
[00:37:24] That don't respond to with what God says is true of us? Where do we need to change our thinking? You've got to think about what you think about. You've got to take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ, offering every one of those thoughts to the altar of. Of Christ. Think about what you think about.
[00:37:48] And when we do that, Paul tells us our life will change, our life will change, and we'll actually be the kind of changed life that can change the world around us. And that's what God wants to do. I'll say it again. It's not. The gospel is not just about you going to heaven when you die.
[00:38:07] The gospel is about bringing heaven to earth while you live, changing the world around us. But we've got to be changed people if we're going to bring change to the world around us. Where, friends, where do you need to be changed? And here's where the book of Romans 12 to 16 is going.
[00:38:25] Paul starts out with this idea of change.
[00:38:28] Then he just starts to walk through all these different things that will become true of us as we start to not conform to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
[00:38:40] And then. And then we will know the will of God. And Paul starts to unpack. What does that look like for us? What are the kinds of changes Paul wants that God wants to do in our life? That's what Paul's gonna tell us as we continue through the book of Romans.
[00:38:56] You're changing.
[00:38:58] You're changing. Change is inevitable.
[00:39:02] But are you gonna be the kind of person that's changed order to bring change to the world around us? That's what we're praying for.
[00:39:10] Let's pray.
[00:39:21] Jesus.
[00:39:24] Thank you.
[00:39:26] We want to start where Paul asked us to start. We want to step back and view your mercy thank you for your grace.
[00:39:34] Would the truth of that go to the deepest places of our hearts, that we would know beyond a shadow of a doubt where we stand with you, that we would be secure in that?
[00:39:46] And with that foundation, that foundation, would you cause change in us to bring change to the world? Jesus, we need you.
[00:39:59] Holy Spirit, I just pray that through the course of this series that you would bring deep and lasting change to every one of us. Holy Spirit, you know. You know better than we do where you want to bring change to us, we surrender to you. We offer our life. We offer our mind to you. Holy Spirit, speak.
[00:40:18] Tell us what we need to hear.
[00:40:21] And Jesus, it's in your powerful and resurrected name that we pray. And all God's people said, amen.
