Sunday, November 05, 2006
Romans 12:1-2 - Jeff Ludington
Romans 12:1-2
“Worship: what does that mean to you?”
When I say the word “worship” in reference to a royalty, what do you think of?
· Maybe bowing down prostrate?
· Offering allegiance to.
· Giving of gifts?
When I say the word worship in reference to an idol/Buddha, what do you think of?
· Maybe offering of incense
· Bowing down, (like the yoga positions)
· Offering of commitment or dedication to a system…
When I say the word “worship” in church, what does that make you think of?
· Singing!
What does worship mean?
· It has it’s roots in the word worth
· Started as “worth-ship”
· So, to define it, it would be to ascribe worth to
o This is why it is easy to delineate it as singing
o We offer worth to God in the lyrics
WORSHIP
:proskuneo, (59 times) "kiss (the hand or the ground) toward," hence, often in the oriental fashion bowing prostrate upon the ground; accordingly,
:latreuo, is "serve" (religiously), or "worship publicly," "perform sacred services," "offer gifts," "worship God in observance of the rites of worship."
:shachah (OT – 94 times) "depress," "bow down," "prostrate", "bowed their heads and worshipped". The context determines whether the physical act or the emotional idea is intended.
Notice:
· Most refer to a posture, not a specific action
· We spend too much time on the action, not on the posture
· We calling singing – the bible calls a posture of the heart
Tonight, we want to go beyond the concept of singing, to look at worship:
PRAYER:
Vs. 1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
· Most of you all know this verse
· There is a lot here, so I want to break it down
“Therefore”
· Whenever you see this, you have ask the text what it is referring back to
· Paul has spent 11 chapters discussing Grace
o … and humanity’s need for Grace
Gospel in Romans
· Paul speaks to the church, who already accepts:
o God as Creator
o And, God who loves them
· Paul then spends 11 chapters dealing with the Theology of Salvation
o Humanity’s separation from God by sin
o God’s love for Humanity in salvation
o God’s love in choosing us personally, and calling us by name
“Fallen Humanity”
· “No one is righteous, no one seeks after God” – 3:10-12
· “For all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” 3:23
“Eternal cost of sin”
· “Wages of sin is death” 6:23
“Inability to save ourselves”
· “No one will be declared righteous by observing the law” 3:20
“God’s and provision for us”
· “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 5:8
“God’s offer of salvation”
· “In anyone calls on the name of the Lord, he will be saved” 10:13
TONIGHT:
· If God’s love is something that is new to you, talk to someone after service
· If God’s offer of salvation is something that you want, talk to someone
· If you feel like you need to reconcile to God, and re-focus your like back on Him, don’t leave here tonight without talking to someone
During the response time, when the band is back up at the end of service, we always have people available to pray for you. Come get prayer.
Because of this understanding of God’s grace, Paul says:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers in view of God's mercy”
· With God’s amazing gift of salvation in view
· After 11 chapters of theological discourse on grace
o Paul urges the church in Rome to focus on this
o Look at this next passage in the eyes of what God has done
o View the next thing I write with all of grace and salvation as the filter
AND:
“offer your bodies as living sacrifices”
· Notice by the way it is “urge”
o Not hope, recommend, think it’s a good idea…
o “In view of God’s mercy, I URGE you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices”
· Now, that is an awkward statement
o “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices”
o Not so awkward if you live in a culture full of idolatry and live sacrifice
· “Living Sacrifice”
o Either you were Jewish, and should be sacrificing animals for sin
o Or you were pagan, and could be sacrificing humans!
o Not quite like our culture!
So, in view of God’s great love and mercy:
· Offer your best vocal performance of the Matt Redman song?
· Offer your best singing voice in hymns?
· No, those are all great things, but not the point
Side-note:
· This is why we respond with singing of worship songs at the end of service, rather than in the beginning.
· We choose to ascribe worth to God with our songs, AFTER we have a better view of His love and mercy to us
· We look into God’s Word to us in the Bible, and then respond in worship
Format
· We also always tell you that you have the opportunity to stand where you are, sit where you are, raise your hands, whatever.
· We also tell you that you are free to come and kneel down up front while you are responding to God, as a posture of worship
· Every week we offer you the opportunity to go back to the crosses, and bow before the Cross, symbolically prostrating ourselves before Jesus.
We respond in worship in several ways here each week, and we do this with a view of what God has done that night in His Word!
In the culture Paul is speaking to:
· They are used to seeing people offer actual sacrifices
· So, Paul, offers them a picture of worship
· “offer your bodies as a LIVING SACRIFICE”
o Not as a sacrifice you will kill
o But as one that will live for God
So how do you do that?
· The next few words tell us
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”
· “holy and pleasing to God”
· This is how your “LIVING SACRIFICE” is to look.
· Your life (which is your sacrifice) is to be “holy and pleasing to God”
· What does that mean?
Holy:
· Consecrated to God
· Sanctified
· Holy
o They all mean the same thing
If you had a $1000, and you took $100 dollars and set is aside to do God’s work, that money would be …
· Holy, Sanctified, Consecrated to God
· I like the term “set apart”
Your life is to be like that money that is “set apart” for God.
That money could be:
· For missions
· It could be set apart for building fund
· You could give it to a deacon’s fund
· You could give it to a para-church organization
Your life is to be like that:
· Set apart for God’s work!
· That is what “holy and pleasing to God” means
Paul concludes with:
“ — this is your spiritual act of worship”
· Paul says that a life lived for God is worship
· Set apart your life for God, and that is worship!
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.”
The church that I came from has a sign as you leave church:
· “worship begins here”
“That was designed to tell the people that worship isn’t the singing inside, but the life lived outside, that is worship”
How do we do this?
Vs. 2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
· Paul says quit viewing our life and our ideas through the eyes of culture
· To live a life set apart for God is to view things differently
o Viewing them through the eyes of scripture
· That is our goal here at Emerge!
o To change how we view things
o To some it is changing the view of the church
§ Stuffy, hypocritical, suits and ties
§ Not accepting of people that don’t fit the mold
o To others it is how we view God
§ Like the divine Santa Claus
§ Or, like an overbearing killjoy
o To most it is to re-define the view of Jesus Christ
§ Not some Galilean peasant
§ Not a “good man” or “good teacher”
§ Not a dead sacrifice, but a living God!
The reason we are called to be a living sacrifice, is because we are called to follow Jesus Christ.
· That is why we bear His name as Christians
· We are called to surrender our lives, as He did His.
o However, we don’t have to die
o Because He already died in our place.
REVELATION:
· All about the Worship of Jesus Christ
· Therefore, I want to start by deconstructing the image of worship as us singing at the end of service.
· That one way we ascribe worth to God
· But our lives should be living sacrifices, in order to worship God!
Isaiah 6:1-8
I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
· Isaiah gets a view of who Jesus really is
· It also shows him who he really is, sinful and broken
· But God is merciful and touches him
· His response is to give his life over to God
Who shall I send?
Isaiah says, send me!
· Isaiah has become a living sacrifice!
“Worship: what does that mean to you?”
When I say the word “worship” in reference to a royalty, what do you think of?
· Maybe bowing down prostrate?
· Offering allegiance to.
· Giving of gifts?
When I say the word worship in reference to an idol/Buddha, what do you think of?
· Maybe offering of incense
· Bowing down, (like the yoga positions)
· Offering of commitment or dedication to a system…
When I say the word “worship” in church, what does that make you think of?
· Singing!
What does worship mean?
· It has it’s roots in the word worth
· Started as “worth-ship”
· So, to define it, it would be to ascribe worth to
o This is why it is easy to delineate it as singing
o We offer worth to God in the lyrics
WORSHIP
:proskuneo, (59 times) "kiss (the hand or the ground) toward," hence, often in the oriental fashion bowing prostrate upon the ground; accordingly,
:latreuo, is "serve" (religiously), or "worship publicly," "perform sacred services," "offer gifts," "worship God in observance of the rites of worship."
:shachah (OT – 94 times) "depress," "bow down," "prostrate", "bowed their heads and worshipped". The context determines whether the physical act or the emotional idea is intended.
Notice:
· Most refer to a posture, not a specific action
· We spend too much time on the action, not on the posture
· We calling singing – the bible calls a posture of the heart
Tonight, we want to go beyond the concept of singing, to look at worship:
PRAYER:
Vs. 1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
· Most of you all know this verse
· There is a lot here, so I want to break it down
“Therefore”
· Whenever you see this, you have ask the text what it is referring back to
· Paul has spent 11 chapters discussing Grace
o … and humanity’s need for Grace
Gospel in Romans
· Paul speaks to the church, who already accepts:
o God as Creator
o And, God who loves them
· Paul then spends 11 chapters dealing with the Theology of Salvation
o Humanity’s separation from God by sin
o God’s love for Humanity in salvation
o God’s love in choosing us personally, and calling us by name
“Fallen Humanity”
· “No one is righteous, no one seeks after God” – 3:10-12
· “For all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” 3:23
“Eternal cost of sin”
· “Wages of sin is death” 6:23
“Inability to save ourselves”
· “No one will be declared righteous by observing the law” 3:20
“God’s and provision for us”
· “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 5:8
“God’s offer of salvation”
· “In anyone calls on the name of the Lord, he will be saved” 10:13
TONIGHT:
· If God’s love is something that is new to you, talk to someone after service
· If God’s offer of salvation is something that you want, talk to someone
· If you feel like you need to reconcile to God, and re-focus your like back on Him, don’t leave here tonight without talking to someone
During the response time, when the band is back up at the end of service, we always have people available to pray for you. Come get prayer.
Because of this understanding of God’s grace, Paul says:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers in view of God's mercy”
· With God’s amazing gift of salvation in view
· After 11 chapters of theological discourse on grace
o Paul urges the church in Rome to focus on this
o Look at this next passage in the eyes of what God has done
o View the next thing I write with all of grace and salvation as the filter
AND:
“offer your bodies as living sacrifices”
· Notice by the way it is “urge”
o Not hope, recommend, think it’s a good idea…
o “In view of God’s mercy, I URGE you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices”
· Now, that is an awkward statement
o “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices”
o Not so awkward if you live in a culture full of idolatry and live sacrifice
· “Living Sacrifice”
o Either you were Jewish, and should be sacrificing animals for sin
o Or you were pagan, and could be sacrificing humans!
o Not quite like our culture!
So, in view of God’s great love and mercy:
· Offer your best vocal performance of the Matt Redman song?
· Offer your best singing voice in hymns?
· No, those are all great things, but not the point
Side-note:
· This is why we respond with singing of worship songs at the end of service, rather than in the beginning.
· We choose to ascribe worth to God with our songs, AFTER we have a better view of His love and mercy to us
· We look into God’s Word to us in the Bible, and then respond in worship
Format
· We also always tell you that you have the opportunity to stand where you are, sit where you are, raise your hands, whatever.
· We also tell you that you are free to come and kneel down up front while you are responding to God, as a posture of worship
· Every week we offer you the opportunity to go back to the crosses, and bow before the Cross, symbolically prostrating ourselves before Jesus.
We respond in worship in several ways here each week, and we do this with a view of what God has done that night in His Word!
In the culture Paul is speaking to:
· They are used to seeing people offer actual sacrifices
· So, Paul, offers them a picture of worship
· “offer your bodies as a LIVING SACRIFICE”
o Not as a sacrifice you will kill
o But as one that will live for God
So how do you do that?
· The next few words tell us
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”
· “holy and pleasing to God”
· This is how your “LIVING SACRIFICE” is to look.
· Your life (which is your sacrifice) is to be “holy and pleasing to God”
· What does that mean?
Holy:
· Consecrated to God
· Sanctified
· Holy
o They all mean the same thing
If you had a $1000, and you took $100 dollars and set is aside to do God’s work, that money would be …
· Holy, Sanctified, Consecrated to God
· I like the term “set apart”
Your life is to be like that money that is “set apart” for God.
That money could be:
· For missions
· It could be set apart for building fund
· You could give it to a deacon’s fund
· You could give it to a para-church organization
Your life is to be like that:
· Set apart for God’s work!
· That is what “holy and pleasing to God” means
Paul concludes with:
“ — this is your spiritual act of worship”
· Paul says that a life lived for God is worship
· Set apart your life for God, and that is worship!
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.”
The church that I came from has a sign as you leave church:
· “worship begins here”
“That was designed to tell the people that worship isn’t the singing inside, but the life lived outside, that is worship”
How do we do this?
Vs. 2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
· Paul says quit viewing our life and our ideas through the eyes of culture
· To live a life set apart for God is to view things differently
o Viewing them through the eyes of scripture
· That is our goal here at Emerge!
o To change how we view things
o To some it is changing the view of the church
§ Stuffy, hypocritical, suits and ties
§ Not accepting of people that don’t fit the mold
o To others it is how we view God
§ Like the divine Santa Claus
§ Or, like an overbearing killjoy
o To most it is to re-define the view of Jesus Christ
§ Not some Galilean peasant
§ Not a “good man” or “good teacher”
§ Not a dead sacrifice, but a living God!
The reason we are called to be a living sacrifice, is because we are called to follow Jesus Christ.
· That is why we bear His name as Christians
· We are called to surrender our lives, as He did His.
o However, we don’t have to die
o Because He already died in our place.
REVELATION:
· All about the Worship of Jesus Christ
· Therefore, I want to start by deconstructing the image of worship as us singing at the end of service.
· That one way we ascribe worth to God
· But our lives should be living sacrifices, in order to worship God!
Isaiah 6:1-8
I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
· Isaiah gets a view of who Jesus really is
· It also shows him who he really is, sinful and broken
· But God is merciful and touches him
· His response is to give his life over to God
Who shall I send?
Isaiah says, send me!
· Isaiah has become a living sacrifice!
