Message Notes from Pastor David:
As a believer our life is about changing to reflect more of Jesus through the process of sanctification.
Text: Romans 12:1-8
1 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. 2Do 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 3 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. 4 For in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 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.
Sanctification – to make holy or set apart.
Leviticus 20:26 says….
“You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
Sanctification begins when we come to faith in Christ, and God sets us apart as His children. 1st Corinthians 6:11 says…
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
God continues to transform us daily from the inside out so we can reflect Christ to this world more and more.
We must allow our lives to be changed to reflect Christ.
We have to be the willing vessel that God has called us to be.
Being spiritually alive means more than calling yourself a believer. There must be actions to our words.
The problem we face as believers is that we don’t like growth and change when its painful.
Sanctification is a lifelong process for the believer, with all the details and messiness that it brings.
It’s not an easy process and takes a lot of faith in the things unseen.
The Spirit that dwells inside of every believer transforms us from the inside out.
The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead lives inside every believer….
Romans 8:11 says:
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ
Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Paul tells us here that we should, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” and for us not to “be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
Our life should be that living sacrifice – one that is set apart for God’s glory. We should be cultivating spiritual disciplines daily.
Prayer, service, study and community are a few ways for us to feed our spiritual growth daily. God changes our thoughts, emotions and habits when we fully surrender our lives over to Him.