"Kingdom Building Community"(Roman 12:1-2)

 Roman 12:1-2

Kingdom building comes when King Jesus becomes your ruler over your whole life so that Jesus makes you more like him and uses you to bring healing, reconciliation, and spiritual growth.

 We can love and bless people without overtly telling others about Jesus. When their hearts are touched, they want to know more about why we have love and compassion for them and others.  Then we can tell them about Jesus. The others will also be touched and although they may not be ready for Jesus, it could happen later.

 Do we want die for God or to live for God?  What does it mean to live for God? Paul tells us to present ourselves as living sacrifices. We are to live for the Lord as a living sacrifice. There may not be a definitive answer, but we probably can agree that we live to glorify God.

 This does not mean that we should do more, but that our new life is living for God. It is not with their words, with their mouth or their mind. It is with our body. We need to act. We need to give our time and resources. 

 With a willing congregation, God can do great things.

 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.

Romans 12:1 ESV

 

1. This is not just coming to church once a week. It is an appeal to live completely for God by God's mercies. We need to build our lives on the mercies of God. When we experience God's love, then we can live as a living sacrifice.

 God's mercies come first! His mercies remove His wrath. Jesus came to sacrifice Himself so that we could be saved. After we accept Jesus, we can be transformed. As a new child, we have an eternal inheritance and live that new life as a living sacrifice.

 Many of us might forget the great mercies of God. Then we move away from that knowledge of what God has done and our new identity in Christ. We need to always go to the cross and remember what God has done and how we are different.

 Let's go to the cross and be grateful for God has done in our lives. We can go to the cross at the end of the day and be grateful for all that God has done for us that day.

 If we want to be used by God, we need to remember the mercies of God and intentionally live for God.

 Do 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 and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 ESV

 

2. In a way, Paul is talking about our mind's software. The software can be the world's software or God's software.  The two are incompatible.  The world's software wants money, prestige, and security. God's software will give you a new definition on what success is and how to be successful. 

 We will all die and need to give an account of our life. God will ask us how we lived for God.

 It does not matter how many times you go to church. It matters how we live our life. Do we sacrifice our time and resources for God or do we work just to make money to make us happy. Do we use our time just for our happiness and status.

 God's software will help us to grow. It will help us know how to live God's word. It will help us know who God is.  We need to take time to read God's word and meet God in His word. God's word needs to confront our lives. When we become uncomfortable, we can change.

 

3. We need to put to practice what we know. It is so easy to forget what we learn in QT and church or mission work. Therefore we do not grow.

It is when we practice what we learn, we start to grow. Our practice reinforces the lessons, but it also allows us to grow. We do not need to do much to continue where we are, but we need to be diligent with our spiritual practices.  Unless it becomes a habit. It will not change you. Put to practice what God is telling us to do. Then we will be able to grow and serve.