Living Sacrifice

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.—Romans 12:1

I have a friend who is incredibly benevolent and, since he is wealthy, he is constantly receiving request for assistance. Some of the requests are legitimate. Some of the appeals are not.

Personally, I am very careful not to visit him only when I need a favor from him. My focus often is to make a friendly visit to let him know I am interested in him and not just concerned about what he can do for me.

Consequently, if we are not careful, our relationship with God can be one directional. We can be into the getting from God, but not focused on giving to God.

Last week at our George-Greene Baptist Association Minister’s Conference, we discussed worship. Neil Wigley, Worship Pastor at Agricola Baptist, set the tone for our discussion when he stated, “Worship is giving to God.” We go to church to worship God and not to be entertained. For me, I always want to ask, “Was God pleased with me today?” The entertainment value of a worship service is of little importance.

Also, worship is not limited to a place. Worship is to be ongoing in the life of a Christian. Recorded in his Expository Dictionary, William D. Mounce defined worship as “the appropriate response of a believing heart that adores God.”

In Romans 12:1, Paul challenged the believers to present their “bodies” as a “living sacrifice.” The body represents every aspect of life, including the physical, spiritual, and intellectual. Give it all to God.

For Paul, this was the reasonable response. As it has been said, “If Jesus has died for me, the least I can do is live for Him.” British athlete C. T. Studd said, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.”

Finally, Paul closed the passage by saying presenting yourself to God is your “reasonable service.” In other words, daily surrender is your “spiritual worship.” Since Jesus was the final sacrifice for our sins, we do not have to come to God with a dead animal, but we do come with lives surrendered to Him.

Late Monday Musings

This past weekend was filled with family fun, special worship experiences, and intense pastoral care opportunities.

Journey of Hope Conference

At Perdio Beach, AL, our family enjoyed some time on the beach, courtesy of the Journey of Hope Ministry. I heard a missionary from Malawi speak and she brought me to tears. Also, they had a very powerful prayer experience. Representatives from diffierent ministries stood at various sites in the room: New Orleans, Peru, Christian Women's Job Corps. Malawi, and the Middle East were all featured. Specific prayer requests were distributed. I truly felt a burden for these ministries as I prayed for each of them.

Terri and I are writing an online bible study based on John 15. After spending time with folks from this ministry and seeing the quality of their ministry, I am please to be affiliated with them.

Sunday School Class Party

Saturday night, we attended a Sunday School Class party. The food was good. The devotion, led by Ricky Dickson, was powerful and very pleasing to me. He shared the importance of being a witness through relationships. Then, several present shared their excitement about our church.

Sunday Services

While our Sunday School attendance was down from previous weeks, the morning worship attendance was still strong. We observed the Lord's Supper. During the invitation, a young man (28) made a profession of faith and his wife came for membership in our church. This will be the second twenty-something male we have baptized this year. I am thrilled. The Lord's Supper was meaningful.

Our Sunday Eveing Worship Service attendance continues to grow. Our Childrn's Choir is meeting during the evening service. They are preparing a rearrangement of a classic children's musical entitled "Down by the Creekbank."

Tradegy Strikes

Several families were impacted by traumatic events and health challenges this past weekend. I have had a heavy heart for them. Late Saturday a member of my church and I traveled (more correctly "flew") down to Gulfport to be with a family who had a son involved in an unfortunate accident. The surgery was finished at 1:30 AM and I made into the bed at 4:10 AM. I was at church on time. However, I pray I didn't preach any heresy, since I was really in a fog.

Sunday Night Bible Study

"Majoring on the Minor" - Romans 2:17-29

I. Religious Conceit is Harmful (Romans 2:17-20).
II. Religious Conceit is Hypocritical (Romans 2:21-24).
III. Religious Conceit is Hopeless (Romans 2:25-27).
IV. Real Conversion is in Holy (Romans 2:28-29)

Recently, I have heard plenty of talk about "Cultural Christianity," which is the practice of religion without committed followship of Jesus. Especially, in the South, we have a lot of folks who consider themselves Christians, but they have never really spiritually surrendered themselves to God. Furthermore, their faith is directed more toward the institutional church and their allegiance to a local church is customary, because their family has always been there.

Closely related to this type of practice was that of many Jews during the time of Paul. They trusted in their religious heritage, rituals, and knowledge. Paul exposed their hypocrisy in this passge.