Transformation
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· 15 viewsTo be a follower of Christ is to break from the pattern of the world and changing the way you think.
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Today we are talking about transformation. Of everything we do here at GXE, the community events, the small groups, the serve days and the things we will do, like mission trips, worship nights, building and planting more churches…we do all of these things for one reason and one reason alone, we want to see more people come to know Jesus.
It is our greatest mission to bring people into an intimate relationship with Jesus.
Ryans Testimony
We want people to not just accept Jesus as their savior, but change as a result of it.
We want people to not just accept Jesus as their savior, but change as a result of it.
We want to see lives transformed by the power of the gospel.
We want to see lives transformed by the power of the gospel.
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. Do not conform any longer 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.
Charlie’s God Story
I cant quite remember the date, but at some point, during my 5th grade year, I moved to Las Vegas with my parents to try and start a new life. Navigating Sin City, as a lost adolescent was as hard and as confusing as one might think. Sex was on every corner, casinos as common as grocery stores, gambling a part of every home in some way or form. Life moved quickly there, and the pressures of growing up weighed heavily on the minds of teens, and I was no exception.
I found myself lost in girls, gold, and glory. I began running with the wrong pack of kids, getting into all kinds of mischief and mayhem on a nightly basis. Eventually, my exploits lead me down darker and darker paths, and instead of finding myself, I lost who I was and what I was living for. Depression took hold and I needed help.
My sister was and is, an incredibly faithful believer. She is a lot older then me and served as more of a mother figure when she lived at home with me before she headed off to college. When she was with me, her faith encouraged me, but her absence, left a spiritual hole for a kid that did not how to navigate faith. She loved me of course, and when she heard my downward spiral she invited me to come visit her in Florida for the summer. I jumped at the chance; I needed a change.
I got off the plane and headed immediately to a church camp. She was married to a pastor and they were having their annual summer retreat and I left the airport runway and headed to a bunk in a campsite that same day. It was at this camp, that I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me in a way that only God can. It was God’s love and words of longing for my devotion, that left me in tears and a heart of repentance beyond anything that I had felt before. I was sorry for my sinful life. I was sorry for hurting the God that loved me so much. I wanted to live to please the one that gave everything to me. I was 16 then.
Everyday, has been an aftermath of that event, and I have tried to live a life worthy of the calling Jesus placed in my life. I ask hard questions and seek real answers. I am unsatisfied with half-truths and inauthentic relationships. I try to be the same man outwardly as I am in inwardly. And I do my best to live as an outward thinker, just as Christ teaches us. Finally, I love to lose myself in my quiet times with Jesus. It’s in Scripture and singing songs of praise, in intimate prayer where I speak to my Father plainly, that I find myself as I should be, standing naked before my Creator and I am unashamed.
Ryan’s God Story
I think every person that truly loves Jesus has a reason that they decided to follow Jesus with their lives.
But accepting Jesus as your savior and deciding to follow him, makes a big difference.
In Romans, the Apostle Paul takes the first 11 chapters and explains how salvation works and how Jesus’ love lead him to lay down his life and pay the heaviest of prices so that we can come to him “clothed in righteousness.”
You see the price of our mistakes, and our sin, is death. That is the bill and the bill comes due for us all. We all die in the end, but for those that do not accept Jesus as their savior, we believe that a spiritual death awaits them as well. But for those that choose to accept Jesus as their savior and as a result decide to follow him with their lives, they are given spiritual renewel, their sins are paid for, and they are given the right to be called sons and daughters of God.
As we reread , we are urged to follow Jesus because of all that God has done for us.
So lets look at Romans and see what following Jesus looks like:
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. Do not conform any longer 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.
To offer your bodies...
To offer your bodies...
Our bodies are all we have to offer - we live in our bodies. The body enfolds our emotions, our minds, our thoughts, our desires, and our plans.
As living sacrifices, holy and please to God...
As living sacrifices, holy and please to God...
When sacrificing an animal according to God’s law, a priest would kill the animal, cut it in pieces, and place it on the altar. Sacrifice was important, but even in the Old Testament God made it clear that obedience from the heart was much more important (; ). God wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices - daily laying aside our own desires to follow him, putting all our energy and resources at his disposal, and trusting him to guide us.
Our new life is a thank offering to God. Offering our body as a living sacrifice is holy and pleasing to God. To be a holy sacrifice is to be set apart and dedicated to his service. Those who are dedicated to God are pleasing to God because they can participate in his service.
This is your spiritual act of worship.
This is your spiritual act of worship.
Other translation define spiritual here as “rational” or “reasonable.” To offer your body as a living sacrifice is the only reasonable/rational act of worship for God that has given us so much.
Has Jesus forgiven us?
Has Jesus loved us?
Has Jesus died for our sins?
Has Jesus set us free from the bondage of sin and death?
Has Jesus given us a new hope for the future?
Has Jesus given us a new citizenship in heaven?
Has Jesus given us a new purpose?
Has Jesus taught us how to love God, love others, and in turn love ourselves?
To offer ourselves to God solely and completely is the natural response to his goodness.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.
We phrase “any longer” makes a case that we are already in a pattern of conforming…and by conforming we have chosen to assimilate - to become behaviorally or socially similar to; to be shaped or molded to a certain pattern.
And the scriptures seem to be informing us that even if you accept Jesus as your savior. If you believe that he lived a sinless life, and that he gave his life to be the ultimate sacrifice, died and rose again from the dead, and decide to call him Lord…that acceptance doesn’t now make you immune to your selfish desires, your conceit, your envy, your anger, your desire for passion, power, or petition as it says in .
Accepting Christ is the first step towards something greater, a life transformed.
Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.
So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
peter 1:14
And the scriptures seem to be informing us that even if you accept Jesus as your savior. If you believe that he lived a sinless life, and that he gave his life to be the ultimate sacrifice, died and rose again from the dead, and decide to call him Lord…that acceptance doesn’t now make you immune to your selfish desires, your conceit, your envy, your anger, your desire for passion, power, or petition as it says in .
Accepting Christ is the first step towards something greater, a life transformed.
This idea of not conforming to the pattern of this world…to the mold in which everyone is living, to break free from the status quo is something Jesus modeled with his life, but its also an incredibly popular theme in books and in movies...
Movies like, inception, brave new world, 1984, pleasantville, footloose, a wrinkle in time, and the matrix are all about or have scenes where people need to break from the flow of society.
In the same way, Paul is painting this picture of humanity molded, shaped, and assimilated to the evils of the world we live in.
Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.
But those that choose to follow Jesus, Paul urges us to not conform, but transform by what?
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Being transformed is more than just appearing that you’ve changed. Its not about adopting a list of ways to be a better christian. I read my fair share of self help books. 4 Ways of Effective Leadership, 6 Keys to Effective Communication, 7 Ways to Strengthen Your Marriage…and these are all well and good, but I found the problem with this stuff is that when my wife and I get into an argument about money or ministry, the 7 ways to Strenthen Your Marriage doesnt come to mind. Because lists are great, but lists are external.
Aren’t we blessed the bible isn’t about a set of rules to follow, but transformation comes from renewing your mind…and how do we renew our minds? By letting the gospel do its work.
Look, I make it pretty clear that I am not holier than you or greater than you. I think when you put your pastor on a pedestal of infallibility your doomed to be hurt and disappointed because all pastors are just people, people that are fallen and need Jesus, BUT…and its a big BUT, there are people in your life, myself included here, that you can look too to help guide your life spiritually. There is a difference between someone who has walked with Jesus one day verses 20 years.
That is why we encourage mentorship here. Find older men and women that love Jesus, people that you can look up to spiritually that has a history of authentic relationship with Jesus. Find those men and women and allow them to speak into your life on a regular basis.
To be transformed by the renewing of your mind is to be changed daily by the gospel…and that happens when you have a continual, daily, relationship with Jesus. When the mind changes, so will your disposition, so will your behaviors, so will your entire being. You will begin to change.
The pastors and staff at Grace Empire want you to know Jesus, but our greatest desire is for that knowledge of Jesus to begin transforming you…to beginning changing your mind, the way you think, because true transformation is our only reasonable and rational act of worship.
Celebrating Baptism
Celebrating Baptism
And thats why we are celebrating this idea of transformation with baptism today. Baptism is an outward declaration of our inward change. Its telling the world that things are different in your life. But its more than just lip service. Its more than just saying those words…its believing what you say because something has begun happening in you…It doesnt mean your perfect, but just as we said in the sermon, its daily walking with Jesus and letting the gospel begin changing you, bit by bit, little by little, to be more like him.
Check this video out.