First Sunday Sermon (November): Wrap-up from Hospitality Series & Communion
Text: Rom 12:1-21 (Congregational Reading)
Message Title: (Loving The *Hell Out of People!)
Message Aim: To teach us that serving others is an act of faith that God will have our backs and that God will send others to fend for us. When we only look out for ourselves, we forfeit the gift of God’s promise to accompany us Himself, as well as to give us great community.
*Regina believed he loved her…he offered her something…at a great price…sure he was abusive…but her was a provider and he was consistent
*Mike was an honor roll kid ~ could fare well at school ~ at home, well,… his parents were dope addicts and he learned to run drugs at an early age and got caught up in the lifestyle himself. He felt he’d be judged by people if they really knew who he was. The streets didn’t judge.
*According to Luke 7 A woman was a woman who had many men.. she new how to please…she was “hospitable” …she came up behind him while he was teaching… poor expensive oil on his feet, cried over his feet until there were wet with oil and water. (Oil & Water don’t mix) ~ Luke 8 talks about women who support Jesus.
New Living Translation (Is 65.5)
Yet they say to each other, 'Don't come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!' These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away.
Romans 12
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform 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. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Romans 12 (Highlights)
- (offer bodies as a living sacrifice) True Worship
- Rise above worldly approaches
- Don’t think more highly of yourself; think of yourself with sober judgment.
- We are one body with many members
- we belong to each other************************************************************
Key verses:
v. 3 One of the great stumbling blocks to to loving God and others is our lofted sense of self. Romans tells us:
- don’t compare yourself other others; that ain’t the final examen
- When you compare you have 3 choices:
- 1. You’ll be satisfied with yourself (No!) ~ if you were, you wouldn’t have compared in the first place
- 2. You’ll come up lacking and work to overcompensate and bypass the process that creates maturity, balance, key relationships, gratitude and partnering with God.
- 3. You’ll come up superior and exalt yourself and immediately feel the pressure to maintain that lofty perception ~ you’ll take your eyes off of God and become your own source of greatness. #dangerous
- We must compare yourself the amount of faith that God has given you ~ potential
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
✔When grace is not allowed to identify us as redeemed; rescued, chosen, loved, Fathered, etc., we then look for other things to “mark us.”
✔When we live under God’s banner, but not under His commission, we’re imposters.
✔Humans tend to see other humans as people to emulate, surpass, avoid or control…
✔Good deeds alone don’t make us right with God; because good deeds are often manipulative and came come with strangling strings attached…
✔However…when God has touched our eyes with Grace, we see people the way he does; hence we love and serve them with His heart of compassion ~ hence conjuring his presence — anointing.
✔True service ~ true worship ~ as recognized by God ~ is proof to Heaven that we have seen the light. (There’s no way around this.) True Litmus test!
Challenge: Let’s be a community! Let’s love the hell out of people!!
a. join a small group
b. press out on Wednesday for communal meal and study
c. join a service team and build relationships
d. join our ministry that feeds and accommodates homeless families
e support young girls who are survivors of sexual abuse
f. support our hospitality team by doing their efforts and creating space to connect & fellowship.
g. find out how you work with me to walk alongside Meadowood leaders, families and myself as we structure a revitalization plan together.
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