(# 388) Romans 12 - Renewing of Your Mind Defeats Worry

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 Isaiah, Chapter 45, Verse 5, the Lord says…

 

ISAIAH 45:5

“I am the Lord…and there is no other…besides Me there is no other God.”

 

In John, Chapter 8, Verse 58…

 

JOHN 8:58

(The Lord) Jesus (Christ) said to the unbelieving Jews, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am (I have existed as Deity for all eternity).”

 

This is the God we worship…the Supreme Being and the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…100% God and 100% man in one person forever.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Renewing of Your Mind Defeats Fear

 

The renewing of your mind is the reason you study the bible.  If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, it’s your chance to listen to the exact thinking of your God and to let the truth of His Word renew you.  Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2 says…

 

ROMANS 12:2

…keep on being transformed by God the Holy Spirit through the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND (by studying the Word of God)…

 

God the Holy Spirit is the member of the Godhead in charge of renewing your mind, and His motto is “out with the old and in with the new.” One of the things He wants to extinguish from your life is psychic fear.  In Isaiah, Chapter 41, Verse 10, the Lord says…

 

ISAIAH 41:10

‘Do not fear, for I am with you…do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God…I will strengthen you…surely I will help you…surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

 

Some say we are living in the Age of Fear.  In fact, keeping you afraid is a multi-billion dollar industry.   The media conjures up threats of terrorism, economic collapse, cyber warfare, and government corruption…the Bed, Bath and Beyond parking lot threat…an angry president with his finger on the button that activates the nuclear codes…to keep us worried and afraid.

 

What are you afraid of?   I’d like you to write down some of the things you are afraid of.  You know we celebrated Veteran’s Day this week.  And as always I was thinking about and appreciating our service men and women… they may be afraid…and their fear is genuine, because they could actually die in their service…but they stand up and they defend us anyway!  They lay down their lives for us.  We celebrate Veteran’s Day to offer those who have served in the military our respect and our gratitude.  Welcome to a place where you can learn, as our service men and women have, to put fear in the proper perspective.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

ARMED FORCES MEDLEY

Armed Forces Bands

 

We enjoy taking a moment to remember the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to come powerfully to our assistance.  We begin this lesson by honoring them with the Armed Forces Medley.  After that we will hear the Gaither Band call them what they are...a Few Good Men and Women.

 

 

US ARMY

The Caissons Go Rolling Along

 

US MARINES

Halls of Montezuma

 

US NAVY

Anchors Aweigh

 

US COAST GUARD

Semper Paratus

 

US AIR FORCE

The Wild Blue Yonder

 

VETERAN’S DAY

November 11

Thank You Men and Women of the Military

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

A FEW GOOD MEN

Gaither Vocal Band

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

You have given us believers in Your Son, Father, A perfect life…thank you for the reward of being in union with Him…we are grateful for all the things you do for us, whether blessings or tribulation because we know You work all these things together for our good…thank you for making something of us nothings…

 

Help us to reflect Your Person to everyone we meet, one person at a time…help us to lead the people we meet to the gospel message…and to the study of the Word of God…help us to care about their eternal future…

 

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

Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Renewing of Your Mind Defeats Fear

 

The renewing of your mind is the reason you study the bible.  If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, it’s your chance to listen to the exact thinking of your God and to let the truth of His Word renew you.  The current passage under study is Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2…

 

ROMANS 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world (by Satan, by his world system of thought, and by the flesh)…instead, keep on being transformed by (God the Holy Spirit)…through the renewing of your mind (by studying the Word of God)…

 

ROMANS 12:2

…so that you may see clearly…through testing…what the will of God is…and the will of God is that which is good and that which is acceptable and that which is perfect.

 

One of God’s purposes in renewing our minds is to eradicate fear.  Here’s what the Lord said to Israel, in Deuteronomy, Chapter 20, Verses 1 and 3 and 4…

 

DEUTERONOMY 20:1

“When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them…for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.”

 

DEUTERONOMY 20:3

“Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them…”

 

DEUTERONOMY 20:4

“…for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”

 

In Luke, Chapter 12, Verse 32…

 

LUKE 12:32

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

 

When your focus is on self, it is not on others…an the unconditional love of God is not being perfected in you…especially when your emotions are overcome by fear, and the venom of that emotion leaks into the mind and destroys it.

 

I have often wanted to write a book entitled, “I Wish I Could Be the Man I Am at Three in the Morning.”  When everyone else is asleep and my house is quiet, all is right with the world.  And I am right with God.  Then when the world wakes up it begins to shout its troubles at me.  That’s why I don’t watch the news.  One day I just got tired of being afraid.

Fear is limiting.  It makes us defensive…it has us reacting to every threat real or imagined…fear ruins our faith by bringing its friends with it…worry, confusion, uncertainty, indecision and doubt.

 

The Lord tells us not to fear…Hebrews, Chapter 4, Verse 1…

 

HEBREWS 4:1

Therefore, let us believers in Christ fear, if we are to fear anything, that while a promise remains of entering the Lord’s rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

 

When your emotions are overrun with fear, the Lord asks us to come to the Word of God for a renewing of our minds.  In the Messianic Psalm 118, Verse 6…we are reminded…

 

PSALM 118:6

The Lord is for me…I will not fear.  What can mere man do to me?

 

We can eradicate fear by clinging to God’s promises…the whole of Romans, Chapter 8 is a great place to take refuge when you feel afraid…paying special attention to its conclusion in Verses 38 and 39…

 

ROMANS 8:38

For I (Paul) am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers…

 

ROMANS 8:39

…nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the unconditional love of God of the Father, which is manifest in our union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 15 says…

 

ROMANS 8:15

For you believers in Christ have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

 

When we allow God to renew our minds it has a predictable result… Proverbs 3, Verses 21 to 24…

 

PROVERBS 3:21

My son, let knowledge and wisdom not vanish from your sight…keep sound judgment and discretion…

 

PROVERBS 3:22

…so knowledge and wisdom will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck.

 

PROVERBS 3:23

Then you will walk in your way securely (protected and safe) and your foot

will not stumble (confidence).

 

PROVERBS 3:24

When you lie down, you will not be afraid (relaxation)…when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet (serenity).

 

When you let God renew your mind you will have peace of mind.  Let’s take a music break, and as we do, let’s remember we are protected by the LION AND THE LAMB…here’s Crystal Lewis to sing about it.

 

MUSIC BREAK

THE LION AND THE LAMB

Crystal Lewis

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Renewing of Your Mind Defeats Fear

 

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

 

MATTHEW 11:28-29

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.// Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

The Deliverance of the Cross

 

Today, just as we do every month…we celebrate the Lord’s Supper…a meal of remembrance.  It’s a way Christians show their 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 the Cross…not at the symbol…but at the Person who hung there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who from the Cross gave one of the most amazing demonstrations of LOVE in divine history.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26 says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this 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 Christ, we remember the Lord’s death on the Cross which paid the price for Adam’s sin…the sin that is credited to the account of all mankind at physical birth…the sin resulting in spiritual death for all from the moment of birth.  First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 (the first part)…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22 

For all those in union with Adam (at physical birth…and that’s everyone) is set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the shedding of the Lord’s blood to cleanse us from the unrighteousness caused by Adam’s sin…the unrighteousness of a creature turning away from his Creator.  We remember with gladness that the Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross made a way for His creatures to be reconciled to the Father…and to be in fellowship with Him.  By being resurrected from the dead three days later the Lord proved that He is Deity…death could not contain the Lord Jesus Christ.  His resurrection gave all mankind hope by offering the cure for our unrighteousness at physical 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 to righteousness…for by Christ’s wounds you were healed.

 

And now we believers in Christ KNOW, through the infallible Word of God, 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 we come again with Him to witness His glory.  And we KNOW that “the Christ,” the Messiah, made it possible for “whosoever” …for all 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 Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

Have you ever wondered why the Lord Jesus Christ asks His believers to stop every month to look back at the Cross?  In Philippians, Chapter 3, Verse 13…the Lord says through the apostle Paul…

 

PHILIPPIANS 3:13b

…forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead…

 

So why look back, Lord?  He gives us a glimpse of His reasoning in Matthew, Chapter 24, Verse 24…

 

MATTHEW 24:24

For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect (believers in Christ).

As I see it, a renewed mind keeps on looking at and looking for divine evidence.  The Cross is evidence of the divine.  At the Cross, our God delivered us from the kingdom of death.  Colossians, Chapter 1, Verses 13 and 14 say…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:13

For God the Father rescued us believers in Christ from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:14

…in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 

The Lord wants to keep on renewing our minds.  The unrenewed mind suffers spiritual paralysis.  We must be diligent to come to the place where God is willing to renew our minds…to the place of biblical study.  Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verse 12 warns us…

 

EPHESIANS 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but our struggle is against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness… our struggle is against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the (lower) heavenly places.

 

God’s enemy, Satan, is called “the prince of the power of the air” … he is the ruler of the first heaven…the atmosphere of planet earth…placed there by God to prove a boast that he can “make Himself like the Most High” … an absolutely ludicrous claim.  Satan’s goal is to blind the mind with deceit…to keep unbelievers from responding positively to the gospel message, and even to blind the minds the elect…believers in Christ…to invite our minds to disobedient and carnal ground.  Satan influences believers in Christ to entertain thoughts that are anti-people…anti-God…and anti-you.

 

In the matter of others, the renewing of your mind may have you in a state of serenity.  Satan looks for a person in your life that you haven’t forgiven.  In this relationship there are coals burning as embers.  Satan sees the faintest glow of the embers, and he fans the embers.  In an instant, the fire that was almost out is inflamed again.  Satan uses people as his emissaries to irritate you in this way.  You have control over what you let in your mind, but do you stop it?  You can if you forgive as our Lord forgave at the Cross…Luke, Chapter 23, Verses 33 and 34…

 

LUKE 23:33

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Jesus and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

 

LUKE 23:34

But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them…for they do not know what they are doing.”

 

In the midst of being mocked and insulted and sneered at, the Lord demonstrated the ultimate in self-control through forgiveness.  When a believer’s mind is carnal, disobedient to God, forgiveness is the last thing on his mind.  Let God renew your mind.

 

In the matter of God, the renewing of your mind may find you bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  Satan, God’s enemy, looks for opportunity when you are enduring tribulation, to sew the seeds of doubt.  He wants you to ask, “Why me God?” … and when you ask, “Why me God?” you’re forgetting about the unconditional love, the wisdom, the divine power, and the faithfulness of God.  Remember what the serpent, Satan, told Eve in the Garden of Eden?  Genesis, Chapter 3, Verse 5…

 

GENESIS 3:5

“God knows that in the day you eat from the tree your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…” 

 

Yeah right!  We wish we could be God-like…whatever THAT means.  Doubt eradicates faith.  Let God renew your mind and bolster your faith.

 

In the matter of self, God wants you to be happy.  Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 11…

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:11

…I (Paul) have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

 

Satan wants you to obsess by over-scrutinizing, over-analyzing, and over-

judging self…by shining a critical mirror on self…comparing yourself self with others…always picking a person to compare yourself with who makes you feel inferior…and Satan’s invitation to this obsessive introspection makes many Christians question, “Am I even saved?”  “Do I sin so much that I have committed the unpardonable sin?”

 

Satan wants to blind us to God by creating strongholds in the mind…Second Corinthians, Chapter 10, Verse 4…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 10:4

…for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but they are divinely powerful weapons (directed by God the Holy Spirit’s omnipotence…perfect weapons…) for the destruction of fortresses (also known as strongholds).

 

Satan is like I used to be on the basketball court.  If I am playing you, I will come at you relentlessly again and again…and even if you stop me one time, I will keep coming at you until you prove you can stop me all the time.

 

We look back to the Cross to get a renewed spirit and a renewed mind.  The Lord’s renewing provides a garrison for your mind and for your soul.  This military fortification for the mind and soul is made possible by the Lord’s suffering on our behalf at the Cross.

 

Satan invites believers onto carnal ground and off of spiritual ground.  The Lord wants the lies out of us.  The Lord wants truth in our innermost being.  England Dan and John Ford Coley were right…LOVE is the answer.  The Lord Jesus Christ’s unconditional love lights up the world and shines on each of us.  The Cross is the answer.  And it is an absolute pleasure to look back to the Cross, to reflect on it, and to admire the One who hung there to demonstrate His love.

 

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 FOR US…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

 

There is only ONE WAY to get to heaven…a single road…a narrow gate you must pass through.  The Lord Jesus Christ says, in Matthew Chapter 7, Verses 13 and 14…

 

MATTHEW 7:13-14

“Enter through the narrow gate…for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through the wide gate.//For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to the resurrection life, and there are few who find the narrow way.”

 

Do you want to be one of the few who finds the narrow way?

 

To get to heaven, you need someone to take you there…and the Person who volunteers to take you there says HE is THE WAY to get to heaven in John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…

 

JOHN 14:6

The Lord Jesus Christ said to doubting Thomas, “I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the resurrection life…and no one comes to God the Father but through believing in Me.”

 

The Lord Jesus Christ died on a Cross and shed His blood to make a way for you to get to heaven, and He is the ONLY WAY.  Philippians, Chapter 2, Verse 8 says…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:8

Being found in appearance as a man, the Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross.

 

Three days later Jesus Christ rose from the dead for you, to prove to you that He is God.  No one else has ever risen from the dead.  Colossians, Chapter 1, Verse 18 says…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:18

The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the body, the church…and He is the

beginning…the firstborn from the (resurrection of the) dead, so that the Lord Himself will come to have first place in everything.

 

And so right now, right where you sit you can ask the Lord Jesus Christ to take you to heaven when you close your eyes in this life.  The Lord is always offering a free trip to heaven for anyone who wants it…but you have to come to Him to ask for a ride.  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 says…

 

ACTS 16:31

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

 

John, Chapter 3, Verse 36 says…

 

JOHN 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

Once you have salvation you cannot lose it…John, Chapter 10, Verse 28 says…

 

JOHN 10:28

…I (the Lord Jesus Christ) give eternal life to believers in Christ, and they will never perish…and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

 

Jesus DIED for you.  Jesus ROSE FROM THE DEAD for you.  Jesus LOVES you.  Jesus FORGIVES all of your sins.  Jesus wants to welcome you with open arms into heaven.  Jesus protects your salvation forever.  All you have to do to get to heaven is to place your TRUST in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and He will come through for you.  He is your ONE and ONLY WAY to get to heaven.  Do it now!  Don’t wait.  Turn over your salvation to the only One who can deliver you…the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Here is His invitation…and June Murphy to sing about it…

 

CLOSING SONG

THERE’S JUST ONE HOPE

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

Thanks for coming!

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Thanks for listening!

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