We Give

We are PBC  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  38:49
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Prayer of Confession

We have failed value what You value - gratification rather than holiness, stuff rather than substance with you, as a nation we have convenience rather than life.

Declaration of Grace

Romans 5:1 ESV
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sermon

Romans 12:1–8 ESV
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Background to this passage:
During the first 11 chapters of the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul has been talking a lot of theology. He’s discussed the nature of God’s sovereignty and His prerogative to choose who will follow Him. Paul has discussed the fallen nature of humans and the means for salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
In fact, if you look at many of Paul’s letters, they can generally be divided into two broad sections:
Indicative truths - or Theological truths - these are things that communicate about who we are, who God is, what God has done. In other words - these sections generally “indicate” that something is. Generally, the second part of Paul’s letters - especially to the churches - are...
Imperative actions - or practical comments - these are things that we should do in light of what God has done or because of who we are in Christ.
There are places where this pattern is found in short succession in scripture...
For example: Romans 6:18-19 basically says:
“having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness…” (indicative). “so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” (imperative).
So in a broad, simple structure of the book, Paul has communicated several truths about God and humans (God’s wrath against all of sinful humanity, God’s saving grace received through faith, the hope that we have because of faith in Jesus, God’s sovereignty - just to name a few), this last part of the book turns on one of the first words in Romans 12:1 - “Therefore.” The last several chapters of the book communicates practical ways to live out these indicative truths.
Today - I want us to think through some imperatives - or practical statements - that we should live out as we seek to be the church that God called us to be.
We learned two weeks ago that:
We Gather - because it’s part of what makes us a church and it’s important to God and important to “one another”
last week we considered that:
We Grow - because God has made us a life-long learners, he has given us a Foundation for growth in His Word, a Framework for growth in evangelists, pastors, and teachers, a Focus for our growth in ministry, unity, and maturity, and even a Fashion for our growth as we put off old ways and put on our new identity in Christ.
Today, we are going to see that:
We Give
This statement will guide our conversation:
Because of Who God is and all that He has done - we are called to give of ourselves sacrificially in an act of worship to God, according to the measure God has given us, in cooperation with each other, recognizing we all have a part to play in the church.
For many of us, when we hear the word “give” we immediately thing money. And rightly so - there are so many ways that giving money is needed. Things happen with financial resources. What we give financially is secondary to the theology of giving. We could spend weeks on this (as we could on so many things), but for now I just want us to think a bit more broadly about giving.
Because of Who God is and all that He has done - we are called to...

give of ourselves sacrificially (12:1)

Romans 12:1 ESV
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
The ESV here says that we should “present” our bodies. The Greek word here has a broad range of meanings, including to offer or to give.
Paul uses an interesting phrase - living sacrifice - normally these two words are mutually exclusive. The idea is that we die to ourselves as we live for God. We die to our wants and desires. We die to our way of doing things or way of thinking about things.
And yet in all of this dying, we are living for God.
We could look at this in so many different ways, but in light of the context, we get to give of ourselves sacrificially among the people of the church.
Imagine what would have happened if people like our worship leaders kept their gifts to themselves. The singers would simply sing in the car or the shower. The musicians relegate themselves to their personal jam sessions - maybe occasionally venturing to another’s basement to rock out. If they held their gifts to themselves, we would not be blessed by it. Our time of worship to God would be far different - and I think - far inferior. Thank you for sacrificing your time and energy to practice on your own and together and then sacrificially sharing your gifts and talents with all of us.
Steve and Reneta - computer/graphics/prints
Last week we got a chance to see how so many of you are serving in various ways. Thank you for giving of yourself sacrificially - teachers, administrators, elders, deacons, assistants...
A caveat - balance - it would be easy for us to get things so scheduled here that every night of the week there is something. We could make an argument and even provide guilt trips designed to get you to fill your time to the brim with church activities. I don’t think that is what Paul is calling us to here, nor is it healthy.
God
Family/
Spouse/
children/
extended
Church
Work
I think when it comes to what a living sacrifice looks like in your life, you ultimately need to think that through between you and God. What is He calling you to do? How is the Holy Spirit prompting you?
So...
Because of Who God is and all that He has done - we are called to give of ourselves sacrificially...

in an act of worship to God (12:1)

There are so many ways that we can give of ourselves sacrificially - but for selfish reasons - in order to get praise or acclaim.
But if God is our audience or the reason that we do what we do - then we should be able to find peace with that. It won’t matter as much if no one notices - though that is an added benefit. It won’t matter if that person doesn’t say thank you. We do these things for God, for His glory.
We can sometimes equate worship with those warm fuzzy feelings we get when that song or video or story hits us just right and get confused by the emotional response rather than a rational act. In Greek, the words rendered “spiritual worship” in the ESV could also be rendered as “rational worship” - something that is logical, or thought out.
Story: (mom and worship at church, Nancy - driving, Jackie Konkus - cards)
Because of Who God is and all that He has done - we are called to give of ourselves sacrificially in an act of worship to God...

according to the measure God has given us (12:3)

Romans 12:3 ESV
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Recognizing God has blessed each of us differently - different personalities, different spiritual gifts, different capacities to use those gifts. Even if God has given two people the same gift - teaching, or administering, or serving - He has also given us unique abilities to express those gifts.
Using the gift/talent that God has measured to us…to the full extent of that measure.
(personal struggle with comparison) - other pastors or teachers or musicians - we have to recognize that God has gifted us, fashioned us - not better or worse than someone else, but uniquely designed by God for His glory.
Because of Who God is and all that He has done - we are called to give of ourselves sacrificially in an act of worship to God, according to the measure God has given us...

in cooperation with each other (12:4-5)

Romans 12:4–5 ESV
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
When we began looking at this series - we began by asking the question - what is a church - essentially it’s a gathering of people around a core set of beliefs. We considered the idea that part of the reason we gather is because our gathering has high value to God and displays His glory in the world as we do life with one another. We gather in vertical worship and in horizontal ministry - both with each other and to each other. We could even say that we relate horizontally because we are of one another.
1 Corinthians talks about us being one body with many parts. These parts have to cooperate with one another in order to work.
If you have your Bibles, flip to the right one book to 1 Cor. 12 - starting in verse 12: This is a bit of a longer passage - but I want you to hear the importance of the cooperation that we have with one another.
1 Corinthians 12:12–27 ESV
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Importance of membership - joint commitment covenant.
Importance of giving of ourselves to one another - because we are all part of one another.
Because of Who God is and all that He has done - we are called to give of ourselves sacrificially in an act of worship to God, according to the measure God has given us, in cooperation with each other...

recognizing we all have a part to play in the church(12:6-8)

Romans 12:6–8 ESV
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
It doesn’t do a lot of good for us to have these gifts and abilities from God if we don’t use them.
There is a tendency here in the church in North America for us to give some people celebrity status for people who happen to be gifted in special ways.
People equate certain big churches with certain celebrity pastors - North Point in Atlanta - Andy Stanley, Willow Creek in Chicago - Bill Hybels, Saddleback in Southern California - Rick Warren. Even here locally - Covenant Life with Josh Harris or CJ Mahaney or Church of the Redeemer with Dale O’Shields or McLean with Lon Solomon or David Platt (newer) or Capital Hill Baptist with Mark Dever. There are times when God gifts certain people to lead in big ways - but there is a risk with some celebrity that what goes up must come down.
We have to keep in mind that the church is not the pastor - it’s not me - but us. I’m just one part of this. We all have a part to play. Those big churches might have big budgets and big platforms, but they don’t have something that we have - they don’t have you and me. You and I have a part to play here. We have a calling to this town, to this community, for this season - to give of ourselves to the glory of God.

Concluding Thoughts

Because of Who God is and all that He has done - we are called to give of ourselves sacrificially in an act of worship to God, according to the measure God has given us, in cooperation with each other, recognizing we all have a part to play in the church.
This means giving our time, abilities, finances according to the measure that God has given us.
I hope you’ve seen that our giving is deeper and more profound than just our money. Our giving is worship. Our giving is service. Our giving glorifies God.
We received a note last week from the Big World Project. They were thanking us for our partnership with them in ministry. In many ways, our partnership is prayerful and financial. Just as it is with Eric, Lynn, Oliver, Elizabeth, and Nadine. Just as it is with Kelsey and the Dilworths. Just as it is with the Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists. But the Big World Project folks were also expressing gratitude for a special gift. There are ladies in our church and other churches who have, I think, the spiritual gift of service and mercy and the natural talent to sew. Wyatt Elliott with the Big World Project said this:
I would like to give an extra special thank you to...the women’s group for the blankets that we were able to personally distribute to the kids. It was a heartfelt moment for all who were there, with some of the older girls at the home wiping away tears at the generosity of your church. You provided the means for over 50 children and leaders to experience Christ’s love firsthand. You are appreciated.
Thank you all for giving in the way that you do.
Or as Nehemiah might say - “you’re doing a great work, don’t come down.”
Let’s pray.

Discussion Questions

When you think of giving of yourself sacrificially, what comes to your mind? Why is that a sacrifice?
How is it possible to give of ourselves sacrificially and not as an act of worship to God? What makes the difference? Share some sacrificial acts that can be done in a worshipful manner.
God is the giver of all things. He gives to the people of the church gifts to share with one another. What gift(s) has God given you? How are you using it for His glory in the church? References on Spiritual Gifts: Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:7-10, 28; Eph. 4:11.
Benediction:
Romans 11:33–36 ESV
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
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