A Faithful life that pleases God
Romans 12:1-8 New International Version (NIV)
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.
Humble Service in the Body of Christ
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
To Worship God means to lift up your utmost and best self to Him. Through today’s scriptures, let’s find out what kind of worship pleases God and what is truly spiritual worship.
1. First, we need to ask what we must do as Christians
a. We must submit our bodies to God
i. Spiritual worship doesn’t just mean doing an elaborate prayers
ii. We must give of ourselves
1. As we commit to give of ourselves, the action of giving our bodies as living
sacrifices means for us to submit to the will of God
iii. We must submit our lives to God
1. Pure worship entails submitting our daily lives to God
2. Whether in school or work place, we must continue to submit our daily
lives to God
3. Wherever we may be, we must be willing to glorify God by submitting our
lives to him in worship
b. We must be pleasing to God
i. How can we please God?
ii. We must do in accordance with our faith
1. In Hebrews it says that we can’t please God without Faith
2. Our Faith makes God happy
3. His miracles and blessings comes to us when he is pleased with our
worship
iii. God is pleased by a righteous sacrifice
1. In order to give a righteous worship, we must first be cleansed of our sins
2. A worship without repentance is a dead worship
3. Worship by those who have repented of their sins is considered to be
righteous worship in God’s eyes and it is pleasing to Him
c. We must submit ourselves as Holy Living Sacrifices
i. We must submit ourselves with sincerity
1. Sincere worship is our current day sacrifice to God
2. Sincere heart of worship is to be able to have the commitment to God to be
able to sacrifice your most precious possession just like Abraham was
willing to do with Isaac
ii. Our bodies must be holy
1. As we submit ourselves as living sacrifices to God we must check
ourselves to makes sure that we are suitable to be submitted to Him, holy
and pleasing in His sight, repented of sin
2. Second, we must have self-reflection
a. We think that we know ourselves the best but the scriptures tell us that
this is a foolish thought
b.We must know our limitations and how it impacts our judgment of
ourselves and others
c. This does not mean self-contempt
d. We must be true to ourselves
e. Reach beyond your current means
f. Keep yourselves in check so that we will maintain reasonable judgment
i.The standard by which we make all judgment must be based on the
word and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
ii. Faith and obedience must be our only standard
iii. All other standards besides Faith, will lead us astray and away from
Humility
3. Third, do in accordance with your faith’s measure/level of your faith
a. Christians have different and unique duties/tasks
b. Christians must form one body
c. We must become one with Jesus Christ
4. Fourth, there are spiritual gifts that have been given to Christians
a. Prophesy
b. Ministry & Teaching
c. Administration & Politics
d. Charity & Compassion
i. Charity
1. 1 John 3:17, 18
2. Acts 5:1-11
ii. Compassion
1. We must do this with joy
2. We must do this willingly and not begrudgingly
3. We must reflect God’s presence and love
5. Conclusion
a. In today’s message we are encouraged to submit ourselves as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God and to live our lives reaching for
Godliness which is far greater than just morals and ethics
b. We must give all of ourselves; our bodies, our souls, our minds, and with
all of our strength, we must submit ourselves to God as living sacrifices
c. We are encouraged to not conform to this world but rather choose the
path that God has shown us
d. Put aside hatred, greed, and selfishness and choose to walk the path of
love, towards God and to your neighbors. Choose to do the things that
will please God no matter how many times it may lead to worldly failures
because it will lead to spiritual victory
e. Today’s lesson is to do the most and best you can with what you have
been blessed with, working together with your brothers and sisters to
combine your talents for God’s ministry
f. We must self-reflect on what we have received from God and use it to do
good within the church
g. We must serve with more abundance, with more diligence, with more
sincerity, and with more thanksgiving. If each individual church member
puts his/her best effort to strive to do these things with joy in their hearts,
our church will grow not only in number but in spiritual abundance
