(# 379) Romans 12 - Present Your Bodies to the World

Class Outline:

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Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church with worldwide impact based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  In Psalm 23, Verses 1 to 5 there is a wonderful portrait of our Lord, painted by King David, as he reflects on a life spent following the Lord…

 

PSALM 23:1

The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who keeps on shepherding me…as a result, I cannot lack anything…

 

David begins by talking about the result of a deep, intimate and personal relationship with the Lord.  The Lord is the Shepherd and we are His sheep…and the Shepherd’s primary concern is ALWAYS the sheep…a thing David, the former shepherd boy, knew all too well…the Lord is a nurturer of the souls of His sheep.

 

PSALM 23:2

The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures…He leads me beside quiet waters.

 

In other words, like a great Shepherd, the Lord provides for our nourishment, especially our spiritual nourishment through the Word of God. That is why we’re here today…to study His Word and to be gifted with its spiritual nourishment.

 

PSALM 23:3

The Lord restores my soul…He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

One of the Lord’s primary concerns, like a good Shepherd, is the safety of His sheep.  He guides His sheep down the narrow path that leads to the fullness of the resurrection life…if only we will let Him…

 

PSALM 23:4

Even though I walk through the my very own death shadowed valley,

I cannot fear evil…You, Lord, with me!  Your rod and Your staff (the tools of a Shepherd’s protection), they comfort me.

 

Another of the Lord’s concerns for His sheep is for their protection from evil, even in the face of physical death…the death of a believer in Christ is a delight to the Lord…it is that time when we are rid of our flesh and clothed in the righteousness resurrection body, forever face-to-face with Him.  The Lord prepares us to be in our soul’s new house, a body we will reside in and cherish for all eternity.

 

PSALM 23:5

You, Lord, prepare a table (of banquet…a feast) before me in the presence of my enemies…

 

No weapon formed against a believer in Christ will prosper…no matter who does the forming…the Lord Jesus Christ is a God of provision…always providing victory for His sheep…always providing a banquet of rejoicing as our enemies watch, confounded by our cat-like nine-lives…our always seeming to come out on the winning side of things.  This is a vivid description of the wonderful God we worship.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Present Your Bodies to the World

 

God the Holy Spirit is a God of unity…and He provides the unity for us.  As it says in Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verse 3, we believers in Christ are to…

 

EPHESIANS 4:3

…be diligent to preserve the unity of God the Holy Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

As ambassadors for Christ, representatives of the Lord in Satan’s kingdom, we believers in Christ are to reflect the unity God the Holy Spirit provides for us to a lost and dying world.  How do we do this?  Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 7 and 8…

 

EPHESIANS 4:7

But to each one of us believers in Christ, grace was given by God according to the measure of the gift of Christ given to us.

 

In other words…gifts in the fullest measure…the way God always works…

 

EPHESIANS 4: 8

Therefore it says, “When the Lord Jesus Christ ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave spiritual gifts to men.”

 

God has given these spiritual gifts to imperfect beings…those formerly captive in the slave market of sin…and knowing of their imperfection He redeemed us, and we are to use the gifts to reflect to the world the gift of perfect righteousness given to us by God.  Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 11 to 13… 

 

EPHESIANS 4:11
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers…

 

EPHESIANS 4:12

…gifts to be used for the equipping of the saints (all believers in Christ) for the work of service…gifts to be USED for the building up of the body of Christ…

 

God gives each of us a spiritual gift…and we are to PRESENT OUR BODIES…using the gifts to give spiritual nourishment to those around us.

 

EPHESIANS 4:13

…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and until we all attain to the knowledge of the Son of God…until we all attain the status of maturity, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

 

Welcome to a place where you can learn your spiritual gift and how to use it as you are willing to shut up, to grow up, and to stand up, presenting your bodies as living and holy sacrifices, acceptable to God.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

DROPS IN THE OCEAN

Hawk Nelson 

 

God wants us just the way we are…not as we think we ought to be…it’s nothing short of miraculous what God can do with our imperfection…here’s Hawk Nelson to tell us about it, with our opening song…DROPS IN THE OCEAN.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you for sending Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to a Cross to provide us with a “so great” salvation…to provide us with a way to be reconciled to You…thank you for Your forgiveness which is high and wide and deep…thank you for Your grace which makes it okay for us to learn by making mistakes, knowing that You will provide a Cross of tribulation to get us through to the other side…from death to victory in every situation…

 

Father, as we celebrate the Cross in the Lord’s Supper today…and as we learn more about presenting our bodies as a sacrifice acceptable to You… help us to know how much You love us, how unconditionally You love us…how much You are on our side, and how to use Your amazing and enabling power to reflect Your bigness to a lost and dying world, one person at a time…

 

Father, You control the weather…place Your blanket of protection over those who are in the path of hurricanes during this hurricane season, and use the disasters to illuminate Your presence and to bring people into a relationship with Your Son…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...

Amen.

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Present Your Bodies to the World

 

We’re studying Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1…

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore…I (Paul)…urge (beseech) you…brethren (believers in Christ)… as you keep on being persuaded because of the many mercies of God…TO PRESENT YOUR BODIES (by choice, not by command…as) A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE… acceptable to God the Father… which is your spiritual service…worship.

 

We’ve taken a look at a series of relationships we’re in as we study this first verse of Romans, Chapter 12…and we’ve looked at these relationships in the context of the marriage relationship…wonderful things to consider for those who are married, and wonderful things to consider for those who are contemplating marriage.  Our relationship with TIME is called a schedule… our relationship with GOD is called a spiritual life…our relationship with SELF is called individuality…our relationship with relatives is called FAMILY…our relationship with our bodies is called HEALTH…our relationship with money is called FINANCES…and our relationship with a COMPANION is called intimacy. 

 

I’ve asked you to ask yourselves how you are doing in all these areas, especially as they apply to the context of the marriage relationship.  If you’re being honest, you must readily admit that you are failing miserably at any intentionally conscious approach to these areas of your lives.  We are more likely being blown about by every wind in these matters, and we’re often concerning ourselves with things other these vital, but not always urgent realities.  Often demanding meaningless things get our immediate attention, and the vital, life sustaining things get put on the back burner.

 

There is a secret message that God hides inside every relationship…not only is He hiding within each of these relationships…His Person…but also unity is hiding in each of these relationships.  God wants His creatures to be in unity with their Creator…to be of one mind…and He provides a series of classrooms for this unity…our relationships with TIME, and GOD, and SELF, and FAMILY, and HEALTH, and FINANCES and a COMPANION all have the message of unity versus disunity hidden within them…the message of effectiveness versus ineffectiveness…the message of intentional versus involuntary.  In short, God wants us to heed the message of the Wizard of Oz…He wants us to use brains, and heart and courage, in balanced and equal measure, in our relationships.  He wants our will to be expressed as He expresses His…perfectly…He wants us to think more than we emote…He wants us to feel compassion rather than being cold.  He wants all three in equal measure.

 

The final relationship you’re invited to look at is your relationship with mankind…which is called a CAREER.  God gives us the gift of a CAREER.

 

You-Spouse Diagram with the word CAREER in the box>

 

What is a career?

 

CAREER

A series of jobs that happen one after another.

 

Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 15…

 

GENESIS 2:15

Then the Lord God took the man (Adam) and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

 

Shortly after creating Him, the Lord put Adam to work.  Your career is your service to all mankind.  Here’s what the Lord said to Adam in the garden about work…Genesis, Chapter 3, Verses 17 to 19…

 

GENESIS 3:17

Then to Adam, the Lord said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and because you have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground because of you…in toil you will eat of the ground all the days of your life.”

 

So much for retirement!  God commands that we work!

 

GENESIS 3:18

“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you…and you will eat the plants of the field…”

We will have tribulation in our work….the need to pick up a Cross.

 

GENESIS 3:19

“By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground,

because from the ground you were taken…for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

 

Because Adam sinned by eating, he would be required to work to eat.  So it is for us.  We work to eat.  In Second Thessalonians, Chapter 3, Verse 10, Paul reminds the church at Thessalonica of this responsibility…

 

SECOND THESSALONIANS 3:10

For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order…if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

 

Yet as with all things divine, the Lord expects us to use our spiritual gifts to serve mankind.  How do we best do this in a career?

 

First, God wants us to serve with JOY.  God wants us to do what we would do for free, but to get paid for it.  What is your attitude about work?  Do you have work ethic?  Do you love what you do for a living or are you miserable in it?  Everybody who is “living for the weekend” needs to rethink what he is doing.  A career was never intended by God to be slavery.

 

Second, God wants us to be opportunists in our careers.  He wants us to look for every opportunity to evangelize.  We evangelize best with the BIGNESS of our own lives. 

 

Third, God wants bigness in our careers.  He wants us to look for breakthrough performance opportunities, not gradual performance opportunities.  He wants us to be different, not to be better.  He wants us to make a difference.  He always wants us aspiring to move to the next level of growth and never to stay stale.  It means giving your all.

 

Colossians, Chapter 3, Verses 23 and 24…

 

COLOSSIANS 3:23

Whatever you do, do your work with a sincere heart, as if you are working for the Lord rather than for men…

 

COLOSSIANS 3:24

…knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Jesus Christ whom you serve.

 

What are you like when no one is watching?  What are you like when someone trusts you?  Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verses 7 and 8…

 

EPHESIANS 6:7

With good will render service, as if you are giving your service to the Lord, and not to men…

 

EPHESIANS 6:8

…knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

 

We are to respect those with charge over us.  It is God who rewards us. 

 

Proverbs 14, Verse 23…

 

PROVERBS 14:23

In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

 

We are not to talk about work…not to just talk about what we want to do, we are to put what we want to do into action.  Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9, Verse 10…

 

ECCLESIASTES 9:10

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

 

When you’re dead there is nothing left to do…especially in the Lake of Fire where all there is to do is to weep and gnash teeth!  So leave all your effort spent in a worthy cause of your choosing…your career.

 

And we are to remember that work is a PART of our life…not our whole

life.  We are to live in balance and we are to dedicate intentional time to the other areas of life. 

 

Let’s take a quick music break…when we come back we will take the offering and we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

 

MUSIC BREAK

EAST TO WEST

Casting Crowns

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Present Your Bodies to the World

 

Let’s begin the next portion of our lesson by giving you a chance to make an offering…we need and we value your financial support to continue the work of this ministry…please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

JOHN 10:27-28

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…and I give eternal life to them…and they will never perish…and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

The Cross is an ENORMOUS Blessing

 

Today, just as we do every month…we celebrate the Lord’s Supper…a meal of remembrance.  It’s a way to demonstrate our unconditional love for the Lord Jesus Christ.  We eat, by breaking bread…we drink, by tasting the fruit of the vine…and we look back to admire the Cross…one of the most significant occurrences of unconditional LOVE in divine history.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26 says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the significance of the Lord’s death until He comes.

 

At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, as a gathering of believers in the Deity of Jesus Christ, we remember the Lord’s death on the Cross paid the price for Adam’s sin.  It is the sin that is credited to the account of each and every person at physical birth.   It is the sin resulting in spiritual death for everyone.  First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22a reminds us…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a 

For all those in union with Adam are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

We are condemned at birth. 

 

At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we bring to our memory the shedding of the Lord’s blood that cleansed us from the unrighteousness caused by Adam’s sin.  When His creatures turned away from their Creator, the Lord turned faithfully toward us, giving us a solution to the sin problem.  We remember, with gladness, that the Lord Jesus Christ made a way for His creatures to be reconciled to Him…to be in fellowship with Him…by dying on a Cross, and by being resurrected from the dead three days later.  His resurrection from the dead proved that He is Deity…death could not contain Him…and it gave all creatures HOPE…a cure for our unrighteousness at birth.  First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 24 says…

 

FIRST PETER 2:24

…and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself bore our sins in His own body on the Cross, so that we might die to the sovereignty of sin and so that we might live in righteousness…for by Christ’s wounds you were healed.

 

And now we believers in Christ KNOW, through His infallible Word, the Bible, that the Lord Jesus Christ is seated victorious at the right hand of His Father’s throne, waiting for the moment when God the Father will make the Lord’s enemies a footstool for His feet.  As believers in Christ, we are seated there with Him, in union with Him, on victorious ground, waiting for that glorious time when He comes again, bringing us with Him, to witness His glory.  And we KNOW that “the Christ,” the Messiah, made it possible for “whosoever,” for all of His creatures, to be saved by what He did at the Cross.  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 says…

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

In the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we take a look back to the Cross.  What do you see when you look at the Cross?

 

I see power!  The Cross is NOT a symbol.  The Cross is a mighty power…an eternal, never ending power…at work for us believers in Christ at every moment of every day.  The Cross may have occurred at a single moment in time, but its results move infinitely and eternally in each direction…into the past…now, very present…and into the wonderful future.

 

Our biggest problem, as humans, is that we think too small.  We think as if we are hopeless.  Our God is a God of hope.  Here’s God’s attitude about life, expressed by the apostle Paul, in Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 13…

 

ROMANS 15:13

Now may the God and Father of hope fill you believers in Christ with all joy and all peace in your believing, so that you will abound in hope (the absolute confidence of the fulfillment of your dreams) by the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit.

 

Our God wants us to abound in hope…and that means He expects us to think BIG.  Yet we think too small.  I must quickly admit guilt in this realm.  And through the courtesy of the flesh from within and Satan’s promptings from without, through his world system of thought, I am all too willing to blame my small thinking on God.  How about you?  Do you think too small?

 

What are some of the ways we think small? 

 

“God would never want me to be wealthy.”    God would never want me to be a millionaire…or a billionaire.” 

“It’s best to be humble.  I’ll just dumb myself down.” 

 

“God would never want me to have an amazing relationship.  So I’ll settle.” 

 

“God would never want my health to be perfect.  So I’ll just ingest whatever I want.” 

 

“God would never want me to be happy so I’ll take miserable.” 

 

Need I go on?  That’s our philosophy as humans.  Small.  J

 

Frankly, it’s why Barah Ministries isn’t growing.  It’s because we are content to be small.  God is not content for that fate for His church.  God doesn’t want Barah Ministries to be small.  God doesn’t want Barah Ministries to settle for simply teaching the truth.  He expects that.  He wants the truth to show up as powerful in our lives, His power on display.  And when something is powerful in your life, how can you NOT tell others about it and bring them to it?

 

God uses the Cross to give us HOPE.

 

Think about the irony of that.  At the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ was broken.  He experienced a life of trouble, and anguish, and sorrow, and pain, and despair.  Then He was crucified.  For those looking in from the outside, it seemed there was no way out of His predicament in this life.  Isaiah, Chapter 53, Verse 3 says…

 

ISAIAH 53:3

The Lord Jesus Christ was despised and forsaken of men…a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…and like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised…and we did not esteem Him.

 

It is the same for us.  We sin.  Sin makes us small.  We attempt to follow the law, an attempt to reduce the Christian Way of life to a set of rules.  Yet the law makes us sin more.  We try asceticism, the pseudo-sacrifice of self-denial…turning attention to our martyr-like sacrifices and taking attention away from the Lord’s sacrifice at the Cross that paved the way for our “so great” salvation.  We try lasciviousness… the “do whatever feels good” approach to life.  It feels good for a time, but ultimately, inside, we know something about this approach isn’t quite right.  What’s not quite right is that it’s small.  God intends abundance for us, and we settle for the scarcity of slavery to sin, to the law, and to the world.

 

Everywhere we do this, and every time we do this, God introduces a Cross to the situation…a road of tribulation filled with trouble, and anguish, and sorrow, and pain, and despair.  Ever wonder why your plans seldom work?  It’s because our smallness of thought induces God to put a Cross in our situations.

 

Why?

Because if we are to represent the Lord Jesus Christ properly, as His disciples, we must be as HUGE and as ENORMOUS as He is…Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verse 20 describes God…

 

EPHESIANS 3:20

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the divine power (omnipotence) that works within us…

 

Do your plans reflect that you have access to divine power, the same power that resurrected the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead?  Hardly.  Our plans reflect a mixture…a little divine power mixed with a lot of Satan’s world system of thought and sin.

 

The God of Hope does not allow a mixture.  Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17 says…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:17

Therefore if anyone is in union with Christ, and all believers in Christ are, he is a new creature…the old man things have passed away (died)…behold, new man things have come.

 

There is no mixture, in God’s world, between the old and the new.  He crucified the old things at the Cross…He changed everything back to the original state before the fall…to absolute righteousness…to purity…to a cleansing from all unrighteousness.

 

In the sin of disunity, for example, there is a malicious mixture…1+1=2.  The Lord’s work at the Cross killed off the mixture, and He insists on the purity of unity…1+1=1.

 

We have taken the resurrection life that the Lord has given us and made it small.  We have settled for slavery and tyranny and smallness, when our destiny as Christians is liberty, and freedom, and purity…an unadulterated bigness…an enormity...the fulfillment of our dreams…HOPE.  Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 13…

 

ROMANS 15:13

Now may the God and Father of hope fill you believers in Christ with all joy and all peace in your believing, so that you will abound in hope (the absolute confidence of the fulfillment of your dreams) by the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit.

 

And of course we know that there is no Christian Way of Living without turning over control of our lives to God the Holy Spirit of power.  He is the one committed to removing the mixture of impurity from our lives and restoring us to our original condition by pouring His enabling power into us.

 

So God uses the hopelessness of a Cross to bring us to hope.  In that wisdom hides His divine power.  And every time we look at the Cross, we must see the Lord’s POWER at work…an ever present, ENORMOUS power, wrapped in His never ending faithfulness to restore for us all that was lost through Satan’s and Adam’s sin.  It’s the call to BIGNESS from smallness.  It’s the call to ENORMITY from a life spent settling for less than the Lord has planned for us.

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

Enjoying the Elements

 

Following God’s request, we keep on celebrating CHRIST and His Cross on a regular basis…we eat to remember who He is as a PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK, the voluntary sacrifice He made at the Cross on our behalf as our sin substitute…and we are grateful for what God has done for us.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 and 24 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:23

For I, Paul received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which He was betrayed took bread…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:24

…and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is, and keeps

 on being My body, which is broken for you…keep on doing this celebration

 for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

When we eat the bread during the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the Lord Jesus Christ AS A PERSON. 

 

When we drink the cup, we remember THE WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 25 and 26 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:25

In the same way the Lord Jesus Christ took the cup after supper, representing His death on the Cross, saying, “This cup is a new testament forged with My blood…keep on doing this celebration…and as often as you drink it…do so for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup (as part of the Lord’s Supper Celebration), you proclaim (as a reality and you announce the significance of) the Lord Jesus Christ’s death (on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead) until He comes (again in the second coming).

 

As you enjoy the bread and the cup, enjoy the memory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well. Now and always, let us keep on giving thanks that we are loved unconditionally and accepted fully by THE LORD WHO IS ALWAYS THERE…the One we can depend on…let’s keep on being transformed by His life and His death and His Word…and let’s enjoy His unconditional love Day by Day…and that’s the name of our Lord’s Supper song.

 

LORD’S SUPPER SONG

DAY BY DAY

Godspell

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked (Paul and Silas), “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

ROMANS 10:10

…for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

 

SECOND PETER 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of, but instead He is patient toward you unbelievers, not wishing for any to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

LUKE 19:10

“For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

CLOSING SONG

HE’S BEEN FAITHFUL

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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