I was ordained when I was 28 years old.
I'd been involved in Christian ministry for quite a few years.
Obviously, I had to train to be ordained.
I was ordained when I was a 28-year-old man.
And within, I can't remember now if it was the first Sunday
when I went to my first church or second or third,
but very early on, I met a woman in a motorized scooter wheelchair.
And I discovered during coffee that she had Lou Gehrig's disease.
That's the disease where your mind is completely unaffected,
but over time, you lose all of the functions in your body.
And one of the very, very first things she said to me
was that she wanted to die,
that she was looking for someone to kill her.
She didn't want to die right then,
but she knew that she was going to be going to a thing
that she thought would be completely and utterly unbearable,
where her mind would be completely fine
and she would lose control of her body.
And she was very open about telling me
that she was hoping that somebody would help her kill herself
when the time came.
I'm a 28-year-old guy.
I'd been in Christian leadership for about almost 12 years.
I had never come across anything like that in my entire life.
I didn't know what on earth to say.
I probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights
as she talked to me.
To be honest, I probably always hoped after that
she wouldn't talk to me at coffee time
because I wouldn't know what to say to her.
And in this particular church that I served at,
there were a lot of shut-ins that we had to visit
and there was this one shut-in in particular,
this one woman who I had to visit.
She was at what we would now call the Elizabeth Breer Center.
I can't remember what her illness was,
but she had increasingly lost all functions in her body.
She didn't have Lou Gehrig's disease.
It was something else,
but her mind was still completely strong.
And I would go in to visit her
and she could only lie down flat in bed
or if the nurses came and moved her.
And she still had just the barest control of her vocal cords.
And she had to speak into this little thing
that would amplify her voice so I could hear her.
I hated visiting her
because I didn't know what on earth I would ever say to her.
But it was my job to visit her.
She ended up being,
she was a very, very devout Christian
and she didn't want to die.
I mean, she didn't want somebody to kill her, I should say.
She wanted to be with Jesus,
but she didn't want somebody to kill her.
And her name was Diane.
I can't remember the name of the first one.
Her name was Diane
and in many ways she was really important to me
in my early years as a minister
because you're dealing with somebody,
you can't say,
does the Lord heal you or,
you know,
it's going to get better.
It's not going to get better.
I mean, it's going to get better when she goes to heaven,
but it's not going to get better here earthly.
It was very, very a hard thing.
I hated visiting her,
but I had to visit her and I did visit her.
And I learned a lot from her.
Now this is 30 years later.
Doctor assisted killing is about to become law in all of Canada.
And it's very, very interesting that at the heart,
even though a lot of the discourse
around doctor assisted killing
is dealing with an uncontrollable pain,
the fact of the matter is,
is that the real thing that's going on
is that for most people,
they fear more than pain in many cases.
They fear one of two things.
They fear the situation where,
like with dementia,
where their mind goes,
but their body is completely healthy.
And we fear that our mind would go
while our body is completely healthy
and we could live for years and years and years and years
and we want to be able to kill ourselves.
And the other thing that we fear
is like these two ladies that I've just mentioned.
That our mind is completely and utterly fine,
but our body goes.
And we're a mind trapped in a body that doesn't work.
And we want to die.
It's in light of that,
you can see how these two deeply held fears in our culture,
and it's not completely just in our cultures.
If we're exempt,
every one of us has,
we have to be honest,
if we got that type of prognosis
that we were going to enter into dementia,
or if we had that prognosis
that our body was going to fail,
but our mind was fine,
that would be a terrifying thing for us.
And it's in light of this
that we can see how unattractive
the gospel is for so many people.
Because in the text that Abby read
just a few minutes ago
that we didn't maybe pick up on,
at the end of the day,
it appears as if
we are asking God
to help us give up control of our body
and control of our mind.
The two things we fear,
the Bible asks us to do.
So let's look at that text.
Be very helpful.
It's Romans chapter 12.
In fact, actually,
you should get your Bibles
in case you want to write or make notes,
but Andrew,
this is one of those times,
I know it has to be a shorter sermon today,
but we're going to say the verse.
Originally,
I was going to preach on Romans 12,
1 to 8,
and I realized that
we're just going to move
3 to 8 later on after Easter,
and we're just going to look
at these two verses.
We're just going to meditate upon them,
and if we get them at all in our mind,
if you, like me,
would like to memorize these verses,
then that's a really good thing.
So Andrew,
if you could put up Romans 12,
1 to 2.
Could you folks say that with me out loud?
And this version might be
a little bit different than your version.
Some of it's more literally translated
because actually the literal translation
in some ways is more helpful.
It's more helpful when you understand it.
And so let's say this together.
I appeal to you, therefore,
brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God,
which is your rational worship.
Do not be conformed to this age,
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 pleasing and perfect.
There you go.
It's actually a very, very funny translation.
You see there where it says
a living sacrifice?
Another way,
the word for sacrifice there
is the word for the act
and the sacrifice where you kill.
So we're actually saying
a living killing.
That's actually what you're saying here,
a living killing.
That's a weird idea.
So you'll notice with this,
so what on earth,
you can see right in here
that it is talking about that, right?
Present your bodies as a living killing.
And then do not be,
and bodies there,
as we're going to see,
I'll tell you right now,
we don't have to see it later,
bodies there means
everything that makes us us.
But it's so easy for us to think,
in many cultures,
it's easy for us to think
that the most important things about us
is our mind,
or spiritual things,
or our feelings,
or our ideas.
And sometimes it can be
almost as if we forget
that we have bodies.
And so the language here
is to make this very, very concrete.
It's not George
in some abstract, romantic, ideal way,
where I'm a legend in my own mind.
It's the George,
that if you follow George
around 24-7
and you see what George actually does
and what he spends his money on
and the books that he reads
and the books he doesn't read
and the good things
and the bad things that he does.
That's why the word bodies is used.
It's your actual life,
including your body
and all of the things that you do.
And we see then
from that big perspective,
excuse me,
that we're being asked
to give up control.
So who on earth
would ever want to do that?
Like how on earth
could that ever possibly make sense?
Well, you'll notice
that the text is actually
a very, very interesting text
and it begins with this,
therefore.
It's going to follow from,
it follows from all of the things
that have gone on.
And in fact,
actually,
if you go and look,
excuse me,
Romans is written
in a very interesting way.
In some ways,
in all of the New Testament
and maybe all of the Bible,
there's no book
that's been so carefully structured
in certain ways.
And those of you
who have been here before,
you know how I say
how the first 15 verses
is just,
yeah, hi, I'm Paul,
looking forward to seeing you,
I'm doing this,
I'm doing that.
And then 16 and 17,
he gives you the basic idea
of the whole book.
And then basically,
well actually,
why don't you put up
Romans 1, 16 to 17 right now?
Can you read this?
We've read this,
if you're a guest here,
we've read this verse together
every Sunday
that we've looked at Romans
because all of the book
of Romans follows from this.
Could you read it with me?
And so what Paul has been doing
from chapter 1, verse 16
to the end of chapter 11
is he's been telling us
what the gospel is.
What is the good news?
He's been telling us
what the good news is,
he's been explaining it,
and he's been defending it
from certain misconceptions,
and he's been defending it
from certain criticisms.
And what he says
is that the good news,
hang on a sec, sorry.
I have something in my throat.
I feel actually fine,
but it's like just a bit
of a something in my throat.
Anyway,
so what he's been telling you
is that God has provided
something,
he has provided a power
that will make us right
with himself.
That we are to recognize
that we are helpless
in terms of making ourselves
right with God,
but that God,
seeing our helplessness
and still loving us,
he has provided the power
that will make us right with him.
And this power
that will make us right with him
is something which is right,
it's just,
that as you get more
and more deeply
into the mystery
of what he's done
and how he's thought,
you understand
that everything he's done
is not only just,
but more than that,
it's merciful,
because he's seen our need
and provided a power
to make us right
with himself.
And at the very,
very heart of that power
to make us right
with himself
is the death of Jesus
upon the cross.
It's his sinless life,
it's his teaching,
it's his perfect obedience
culminating in his death
upon the cross
and his mighty resurrection.
And this is the good news,
that when you put your faith
and trust in Jesus,
God in his grace
provides a power
by which he comes
into your life
and makes you right with him.
And that's what Paul
has been trying to defend
and explain for 11 chapters.
Now, if you ever look at books
on how to preach,
one of the things
that books on how to preach
nowadays say
is that you have to answer
two questions,
so what and now what.
And so for 11 chapters,
there's been lots of now what's
that have been implied,
but now Paul is going to answer
the now what question.
If this is all true,
if there really is a God
who does exist,
if he really does love you,
if we really are helpless
to make,
oh, thank you so much, Daniel,
if we really are helpless
to make ourselves right with him,
if Jesus and his death
upon the cross,
his perfect life
and his death upon the cross
and his resurrection
really is God's power,
this news is God's power
that when we hear it
and we receive it,
we ask in faith
that this would be true of us,
that this would somehow
get in us
and that we would get in it,
and that then God's power
is unleashed
to make us right with him.
Well, what on earth
does that mean
in terms of how we live?
And so if you go back
to the text,
we're not going to read it aloud,
Romans 12, 1 and 2,
did you put it back
on the screen?
Romans 12, 1 and 2?
That's the therefore.
The therefore.
Because one of the things
that we're going to see
as we go on
is that God's grace,
this salvation,
isn't just a moment
where we're made right with him,
but salvation means
that our lives
start to be changed,
they start to be transformed,
they start to no longer
be conformed
to certain things
but transformed
into other things.
And Paul here
is going to give
in these two verses
in a sense
the key or the model,
the basic understanding
of all of the rest
of the book of Romans
in terms of how you live.
And it's very,
very counterintuitive.
It's very counterintuitive
and it's very different
maybe than many
of the things
that you hear.
I've learned
lots of good things
on focus on the family,
but one of the problems
with focus on the family
is that often it slides
into moralism
and therapy.
And moralism
and therapy
actually often
doesn't help us
change our lives.
I know that's
a shocking thing
to say about a,
for a group
that many people think
is like right almost
up there with the Bible,
but it's often
just moralism
and therapy.
And the Bible
is going to say here,
Paul is going to say
that actual change
comes about something
different.
It's not moralism
and it's not therapy.
Look at what it says.
I appeal to you therefore,
brothers and sisters,
by the mercies
of God.
By the mercies
of God.
It's telling us
that
what we need to do
to begin
to change
is to be gripped
by the mercies
of God,
to contemplate
and think upon
the mercies
of God.
I've gotten myself
out of notes.
Andrew,
could you put
the first sermon
point up?
I've sort of
got out of track.
I apologize.
Actually,
last Sunday,
it was,
here's just like
two confessions.
You can pray for me.
In my sermon,
I get talking.
You see,
I don't have a written text.
I'm talking and talking
and then I realize,
good grief,
I just got way
out of order.
And I don't know
how you folks
felt the sermon,
but I actually spent
the last three quarters
of the sermon
in stark terror
because I'd gotten
way out of order
from my notes
and my illustrations
got out of order
and I spent the rest
of the time
trying to get back
on order.
Anyway,
this is very simple.
So what's the significance
of the gospel
and the mercies of God?
It's right up here.
Only through the gospel
will I seek to please
the true and living God
who is pleased
with me first.
See,
that's one of the things
that Paul has been
trying to establish.
That in the gospel,
by Jesus' death
upon the cross
and his resurrection,
every single thing
that I have done wrong
that breaks my fellowship
with God,
with the created order,
with other human beings,
every single thing,
even those things
that if I live
to be another 50 years,
these things
that are in the future,
every single one
of these things
with nothing left over
has been taken away
by Jesus.
And it's not just
that I have a clean slate,
but that the perfect life
of Jesus,
his perfect life
of obedience,
his perfect relationship
with the Father,
all of that,
as we saw in Romans 6,
that when I put my faith
and trust in Jesus,
it's that what happens
is he becomes
my substitute
and he exchanges
his position for mine
and he bestows upon me
his perfect obedience.
And that is how
I now stand
before the Father
in very, very traditional
Anglican dress
to illustrate that.
The minister wears all black
and on top of the all black,
he wears a white robe
and normally the white robe
would allow some of the black
to peek out.
And it's to be
a walking illustration
or a lesson
that my sins were black
and I am clothed
in the righteousness
of Jesus.
And so that means
that I don't have to worry
about my Father in Heaven
being pleased with me.
He is pleased with me.
I mean, there's things
obviously I have to do.
I've done things
that I have to say
I'm sorry for.
I mean, because I want,
but everything
in the Christian life
flows from the fact
that my salvation
is completely and utterly
accomplished by Jesus.
I've done nothing.
And that when I put my faith
and trust in Jesus,
the standing of my Father,
my Heavenly Father,
towards me
is that he's pleased with me.
And so that means
that the entire Christian life
is not that,
oh, if I just help
in the nursery,
then maybe God
will be pleased with me.
If I just sing
in the praise band,
maybe God
will be pleased with me.
If I just,
you know,
if I don't do naughty things,
maybe God
will be pleased with me.
That the Christian life
is not about trying
to get God
to please you,
but that
he is pleased with me.
Like,
I can't make him,
in a sense,
more pleased with me,
but he's pleased with me.
You see,
it takes a whole,
the whole Christian faith
is to flow out of gratitude,
not out of fear.
When I went to
first year university,
I fell into the very,
very trap
that many,
many first year university
students fall into.
I majored in having fun
for my first term.
I minored in going to class.
And the reason was
is that in high school,
they took attendance
and they had
regular assignments.
And if you didn't show up
and if you didn't do
the assignments,
there'd be a phone call
to my parents.
So my compliance
was basically fear-driven.
You go to university,
I don't know if there's
any professors present,
but you know,
from the outside,
it looks like they don't
give a hoot
whether you show up
to class or not.
It doesn't bother them,
they still get paid.
And nobody calls up anybody
if you don't hand in
your papers
or don't do your midterms
or anything.
And so at the end
of my first term,
I was desperately failing
three of my five classes.
And it was out of fear
of failure
that I started
to press into my work.
And a lot of people,
the Christian life
is a fear of failure.
And what Paul is saying here
when he says,
I appeal to you therefore,
brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God,
he's saying,
you know what
does the gospel
told us?
The gospel has told us
that God is pleased
with you in Jesus.
He's pleased with you.
Your motivation,
there's a fundamental security
as you're gripped
by the gospel,
there's a security
that you act out of.
And it's very interesting
if you're looking there,
it says,
by the mercies of God.
It's very intentional.
It doesn't say mercy.
Mercy's abstract.
Oh yes,
God is merciful.
Oh yes,
God is love.
Well,
how has he been merciful
or loving?
Don't know.
But the word mercies
is to be concrete
and historical
and specific.
That's why it says it.
That we're not just to think
of how God is love
or God is mercy,
that we're to think
of God's mercies.
We're to think about Jesus.
We're to think about him
when he was tempted
by the devil
in the wilderness.
That we're to think upon him
as he feeds the 5,000,
as he calls to Peter
to walk on the water.
We are to think about him
as he heals
the Gadarene demoniac,
as he deals with the woman
at the well,
as he deals with the woman
caught in adultery.
We're to think about him
as we think about his perfect life.
And most of all,
we're to think about him
as when he had the option,
Joey,
the hymn sang it very well,
it was love that held Jesus
to the cross,
not the nails.
And we're to think about
the mercies.
And this leads us
to the second thing.
If you could put up
the second point.
I will lack an interest
in holiness
if I am not gripped
by the gospel
and contemplate God's mercies.
I will lack an interest
in holiness
if I am not gripped
by the gospel
and contemplate God's mercies.
Listen to Romans 12,
1 and 2 again.
Or the verse 1.
I appeal to you therefore,
brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God
to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God,
which is your rational worship.
It calls us to remember
what Jesus did for us
on the cross,
how our Father
is now pleased with us.
If this,
you know,
I use the example
over these last few weeks,
if I grow this church
so that it's as big
as Joel Osteen's church,
God's not going to be
more pleased with me
than he is today.
Do you know how freeing that is
when that starts to grip you?
But does that mean
that you do nothing?
No, it doesn't mean
what you do nothing.
It means that you relate to God
from a completely
different perspective.
And you not only relate
to God from a perspective
of not having to win his favor,
but you can begin
to relate to God
out of gratitude
because you think
upon his mercies.
And it's as you think
upon his mercies
that within you
becomes a desire.
It becomes reasonable.
It, in fact,
becomes rational.
Irrational
to offer your body
as a living killing.
So, in fact,
when we have no interest
in holiness,
it might very well be
that what's motivating us
is our fear of failure
or a desire to accomplish
or to try to make God
pleased with us.
And the Bible here
is very counterintuitive.
Do you want to deal
with a desire for holiness?
Be gripped by the gospel
and contemplate
the mercies of God.
And as that happens,
it starts to become rational
to say,
I'm going to hold
somebody else's
crying kid.
It starts to become
rational to say,
I'm going to give away
10% of everything I make.
It starts to become
rational to say
that I'm going to
risk being stupid
by telling somebody
about Jesus
or by offering
to pray for them.
I,
the way to change
is not by that
old story
being the little train
that could.
Gotta make it,
gotta make it,
gotta make it.
That just gets us tired.
It doesn't go anywhere.
It's to be gripped
by the gospel
and contemplate
the mercies of God.
One more thing
can you put up?
The third point,
please, Andrew.
As I am gripped
by the gospel,
it is rational
to present
every square inch
of who I am
to God
as a living sacrifice.
As I am gripped
by the gospel,
it is rational
to present
every square inch
of who I am
to God
as a living sacrifice.
See,
one of the problems
with the sexual revolution
and how it's bent
lots of churches
out of shape
and the heart
of the sexual revolution
began amongst heterosexuals
and now it's moved
into,
you know,
in terms of
how we deal
with those
who are same-sex attracted
and now how we deal
with those
who believe
that they were meant
to have a different gender
than they are,
than their sex,
is that it's bent
churches out of shape
because there's
a fundamental part
of the person
who says,
oh yeah,
okay, God,
you can have my emotions,
you can have this,
you can have that,
but this thing
is perfect already
and I'm holding on to it.
You have no right
to define it,
no right to limit it,
no right,
you can't say
that you have to make
this whole.
To a heterosexual man
who wants to find
every third woman
he sees attractive,
that there's no right
for you, Father,
to actually try
to curb that in me.
For a man
who sees another man
and wants to sexually
know him,
there's no right
for you to change
that in me.
For a man
who actually thinks
he's a woman,
there's no right
for you to change
that in me.
But this text
is saying something
very counter-cultural.
It's saying that
as you're gripped
by what Jesus
has done for you
on the cross
and as you're mindful
of the mercies of God,
as that deepens
within you,
it becomes rational
for you to understand
that every square inch
of who you are,
every square inch
of who you are
is to be offered
to God
as a living sacrifice.
See, one of the ironies,
if you could put up
Romans 12, 1 and 2,
we're going to read it.
The second part
would be quick
because I'm very conscious
of my time here.
Oh yeah,
actually we're doing
pretty good.
Just before we all
read this together
as a thing,
you know,
one of the deep ironies
in our culture,
it's a very,
very deep irony.
I don't know
how to talk about it
in public.
You know,
maybe by me saying this
it will help you
think about it publicly.
But what are the two
deep fears in our culture?
I began this sermon
with this,
this move to have
doctors be able
to assist people
to kill themselves.
And that it's a right
that we force people
over against their
conscience to do this,
which is what the law
wants to do.
And force nurses
to refer or participate
or at least participate
by referring.
Force doctors to do it.
And as I said,
it's not often as much
worried about pain,
but underneath this
is this loss of control.
This fear that the mind
can be perfectly fine
and the body
loses its control.
And the fear that
you could have a body
that's fine,
but the mind
loses itself.
And because of this
deep fear,
it's deeply ironical
that the culture's
response to it
is to kill both.
Like,
how's that a win?
Like,
if you have a mind
that's still fine
but your body's going
and your fear
of losing control,
how is it a win
if you lose control
of your mind
and your body
in death?
And the opposite.
Like,
how is that actually,
like,
you're going deeper
into losing control?
And what we desire
by going deeper
into losing control
in a way that's crazy,
if you understand
there really is a God
that does exist,
who loves you so much
that he sent his son
to die upon the cross
for you,
that he's pleased with you
when you put your faith
and trust in him,
that everything
that you need to do
to make yourself right
with God
has been done by him
because you can't do it
for yourself.
And then he asks you
to lose control
of your body
and your mind.
This is a losing
of control
of your body
and your mind
that actually gives you
proper control
of your body
and your mind.
It's sane.
It's an outline
of moral,
intellectual,
emotional,
and relational sanity.
Some other time
we'll have to talk,
I mean,
I, you know,
obviously,
and there's people
in this congregation
who have to live
with people,
their loved ones
who are losing
this type of control
or we all have friends
like it and I,
there's obviously
lots of other things
that need to be said
about the nature
of community
and how to help people
who are going through
such unbelievably
tough times.
But you see that,
look that,
our culture never seems
to dawn on them
that they're actually
seeking an irrational
solution to the problem.
And at the same time
that they don't recognize
their own irrationality,
they look at a text
like this
that actually is rational.
It makes sense.
This is only half
of the verse.
Could you read this
with me again?
And by the way,
I mean,
I give you little points
to try to help
to ground
what the text is saying,
but my hope
and my prayer
is that when you
leave from here,
you want to memorize
Romans 12, 1 and 2,
not my words.
If you go away
thinking about my words
and you forget
about the Bible,
I failed.
Because my words
are just my words.
These words
are God's words.
Could you read it
with me again, please?
I appeal to you,
therefore,
brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God,
which is your rational worship.
Do not be conformed
to this age,
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 pleasing
and perfect.
And now,
here's the big
countercultural idea
in the second part
of the text
where it says,
do not be conformed
to this age,
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 pleasing
and perfect.
Andrew,
if you could put up
point four,
I know I have to go quicker.
My mind is renewed
as I walk
in God's will.
My mind is renewed
as I walk
in God's will.
See what it says here?
It doesn't say
your mind is renewed
as you think
great thoughts,
as you work
on increasing
your IQ,
as you work
on your reasoning
abilities
or any of those things.
It actually doesn't
tell us that.
You know,
if you think about it,
you just think about
your life a lot.
A lot of times,
the mind follows
the will.
I want to have that.
I want to go out
and I want to go drinking.
And then your mind
comes up with reasons
as to why that's reasonable.
I had a hard day
at the office.
I'll feel so much better.
I can be with my friends.
It'll help me forget my,
you know,
whatever it is,
you know?
So yeah,
yeah,
yeah.
You know,
you want to cheat
on your taxes.
Well,
the government is corrupt.
The government is evil.
Civil servants
just waste all their time.
You know,
whatever it is,
you'll just come up
with reasons
to lie on your taxes
and cheat.
The mind often
follows the will.
We don't think about it,
especially in a city
like Ottawa
with very high IQ
and lots of
well-educated people.
But the Bible here
is pointing to a different way
to have our minds changed.
And it begins
with the will.
Obviously,
the mind is at work here
because the mind
has to help understand
what God's will is.
But what really brings
about transformation
is walking in God's will.
If you could put up
the next point,
Andrew,
as well.
I usually need
to obey my way
to mental clarity.
When I refuse
to obey God's will,
I lose mental clarity.
I usually need
to obey my way
to mental clarity.
When I refuse
to obey God's will,
I lose mental clarity.
See,
it's very,
very interesting.
It says here,
do not be conformed
to this age,
but be transformed
by the renewal
of your mind.
And the two words
conformed and transformed,
they have the different sense.
It's not as obvious
in English,
but in the original language,
it's very obvious.
They're in the passive tense.
So what it means is
it's saying,
like if you've ever
been to a cottage
and you're on a cottage
that has a very,
like a river
with some flow,
if somebody tells you
just go put the canoe
out at the end of the dock,
if you put the canoe
at the end of the dock
and you don't tie
the canoe down,
the river will take
the canoe away.
You have to tie the canoe
or it will go.
And the word here
is that if we don't do anything,
we'll be conformed
to this age.
It's like putting a canoe
at the end of the dock
and not tying it down.
The canoe will be taken away
by the current.
And the text is saying
if you don't do anything,
if you just sort of go with,
if you just live,
the age,
you'll conform to the age.
But if you want
to be transformed,
it's also in the passive.
It's implying that God
does the transformation.
But in this case,
you need to give God permission.
You need to say,
God,
I give you permission
to transform my mind
and renew me.
And it's God who does it.
And the means by which
is as we hear the Bible
and we think about
the mercies of God
and we begin to understand
who God is
and what his will is,
that we try to obey it.
And so it is
that I usually need
to obey my way
to mental clarity.
And when I refuse
to obey God's will,
I lose mental clarity.
Sixth point,
here's the good thing
for the Christian.
My mind always needs
more renewing.
It doesn't matter
if you're here
and you're 90 years old.
It doesn't matter
if you're here
and you're 18 years old.
Your mind always needs
more renewing.
The very, very heart
of the Christian faith
is that there's this call
to constant renewal
for the rest of our lives.
It's going to look
a little bit different
if you're 96
and you're walking around
like this.
This is racing down
the hallway.
I don't know.
If I'm 96 and I can do that,
I'm just going to still be glad
that I can be vertical
and move at all.
Let me tell you,
that'll be fast for me
and I'll be happy.
Hopefully,
I'll give God praise
and glory for it.
So,
could you put up
Romans 12, 1 and 2
one more time?
We're going to read it
one more time
and then we're just going
to say something in closing
to summarize it for us
and then we'll,
I think we're going to
sing a hymn and go.
I'll say a prayer,
we'll sing a hymn and go.
Here it is.
Say it with me, please.
I appeal to you,
therefore,
brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God
to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God,
which is your rational worship.
Do not be conformed
to this age,
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 pleasing
and perfect.
Final slide,
Andrew, please.
The gospel is the good news
that Jesus Christ crucified
is the power of God
for salvation.
The Christian life begins
when I receive the gospel
by faith alone.
The Christian walk
is grounded on the gospel,
shaped by the gospel,
pushed by the gospel,
and pulled by the gospel.
Let's stand.
Father, you know right now
some area in every person's life here
we're struggling to obey.
Father, maybe it's a wife
who's struggling to obey,
to try to respect her husband.
Father, maybe it's a husband here
who's just really controlled
with some anger
or willfulness
and we don't want to obey.
Maybe, Father,
it's some of us
that we want to try
to cut corners at work
or cheat at work
in some type of way.
Or, Father,
maybe some of us
we're hanging on to bitterness
and we're refusing to forgive.
And, Father,
you know that every single one of us
have obedience challenges before us.
And we ask, Father,
that in your mercy
you would pour out
your Holy Spirit upon us,
that you would make us
disciples of Jesus
who are gripped by the gospel,
that you would help us
to think upon your mercies.
And so, Father,
instill and grow within us
a desire for holiness,
a desire to walk in obedience.
Father, we ask that you would
pour out your Holy Spirit
in such a way upon us.
And this we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.