Worship.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] I do want to by way of announcement talk about just a couple of things. [0:04] First off, this coming Friday night we’re going to have the first of what we hope will [0:07] become a series of Friday night theology events. [0:11] And this coming week we’re going to be handling the topic, theology of divorce. [0:15] What does the scripture have to say about things like divorce and remarriage? [0:20] I’m also going to cover how dating and how we view marriage and how God views marriage

[0:26] kind of interacts with all those things. [0:28] But we’re really going to be laying out what the Bible and what God has to say about divorce, [0:34] about remarriage. [0:35] We’re also going to have some Q&A time that night. [0:39] We’re going to be able to go in depth with really not much of a time limit on us so I [0:43] can really try to tackle as many questions as you guys have.

[0:47] We’re going to have a number that night for you to text in your questions to during the [0:51] event. [0:51] But I really want to invite you guys out today. [0:53] That starts at 7 o’clock and we’ll go to 8 something. [0:57] That’s the promise. [0:58] It’s going to be 8 something.

[0:59] We don’t know when during the 8 o’clock hour. [1:01] It’s all going to be over but it will be over sometime during then. [1:04] So please make the effort come out to that. [1:06] I’d love to see you there. [1:09] Also this week is Halloween. [1:11] We call Hallows Eve or just Harvest Party.

[1:15] I don’t know. [1:15] Whatever your religion is is really probably how you’re going to define that day. [1:18] But I call it Halloween. [1:20] You probably should too just so that your neighbors will not think you’re such a weirdo. [1:23] But this week we have Halloween. [1:27] In light of that we had our annual Halloween chili cook-off and it went great.

[1:32] We had hundreds of people there. [1:34] If you were there you probably saw a lot of people you didn’t know. [1:38] That tells me that it was a great success. [1:40] We had many people from the neighborhoods around here come and just have a good time [1:44] with you and me. [1:46] We just had fun with Trunk or Treat.

[1:48] We’ve eaten lots of chili. [1:49] We’ve eaten Tums later that evening because we ate so much chili. [1:53] It’ll be alright. [1:54] You’ll get over it. [1:55] You’ll heal. [1:57] But I do want to thank everybody that helped us out with that.

[2:01] Whether it was you made chili, you helped us set up, you helped us tear down. [2:05] Many people, a few people helped us organize it. [2:08] Some of you were manning the bounce house and the face painting and a craft table. [2:12] You set up your Trunks for Trunk or Treat or you made some food, brought some drinks. [2:17] Whatever it is that you did to help out with yesterday I just want to thank you and say [2:22] that without you we could not have pulled off such a great event yesterday for our community

[2:28] as well as for those of you that call Village Church home. [2:31] It was just a great time so thank each and every one of you so much. [2:35] But this week during Halloween I want to encourage you this Thursday evening to be a part of [2:42] your neighborhood. [2:44] If you have the type of neighborhood that lots of Trunk or Treaters come by I’m going [2:48] to tell you to try something this year.

[2:50] Maybe you’ve never done it before. [2:51] Don’t turn that light off. [2:53] Maybe leave it on. [2:54] Maybe go buy Costco, buy a bag of candy and you actually greet people in the driveway. [2:59] You’re very hospitable. [3:00] You’re a good neighbor.

[3:02] You make the attempt to form some relationships with your neighbors this week. [3:07] This is really one time of year where our culture gives us an opportunity where they [3:11] come to us. [3:13] God tells us to love our neighbors and that’s everyone around us. [3:17] I think we’ve got a great opportunity this Thursday evening to really be good neighbors [3:23] and to really get to know people that maybe you’ve never met before.

[3:27] Maybe you don’t know that guy down the street who doesn’t mow his grass and maybe this Thursday [3:31] night you’re going to ask him why he doesn’t mow his grass. [3:33] I don’t know what’s going to happen but you’ll at least get the opportunity to get to know [3:37] your neighbors and we can redeem something. [3:40] We can use our lives for the gospel of Jesus to get to know those that are around us and [3:45] build relationships.

[3:47] If you’re in a neighborhood where people don’t trick or treat maybe somebody in your village [3:51] group has a neighborhood where it’s more than they can handle and you can go give them a [3:55] hand at their house. [3:56] Whatever it is, set up the grill, cook some hot dogs and hamburgers for parents. [4:01] I don’t know but I’m telling you to go all out. [4:03] I’m telling you not to retreat.

[4:05] I’m telling you to engage. [4:07] Maybe try something new this year if you never have and if you’ve been doing it last year. [4:11] You’ve got to top yourself this year. [4:13] You’ve got to go a little crazier. [4:14] You’ve got to do a little more. [4:15] Maybe adults get some costumes.

[4:16] I don’t know. [4:17] But make sure you don’t give out dental floss. [4:20] Don’t be.

[4:23] Don’t do that.

[4:26] No apples.

[4:29] No. [4:30] And not sugar free candy. [4:32] That’s going to get thrown right away. [4:35] [4:35] Candy. [4:37] Good.

[4:37] Name brand.

[4:40] Alright? [4:41] I don’t want to see a store name. [4:43] I want to see Reese’s. [4:45] And I know it’s good. [4:46] Alright? [4:47] So do that.

[4:47] Join us this week in celebrating with our neighbors and just being a people who know [4:52] how to have a good time. [4:53] Because I think God knows how to have a good time. [4:56] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Romans chapter 12. [4:59] Romans chapter 12. [5:00] We’re going to be starting in verses 1 and 2 this week.

[5:04] We are at the end. [5:05] Really, we’re going to put a book end on our series of core values this week. [5:10] We’ve had four weeks prior to this one where we talked about redemption. [5:14] We talked about mission. [5:15] We talked about community. [5:17] And last week we talked about culture.

[5:19] And what my hope is today is that we can tie that all together to show how these core [5:26] values are not just some words with some good definitions that sound good. [5:33] But rather, what our core values describe is the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ [5:39] seeking to worship Him in all things. [5:42] That if you look at our core values on the website, you’ll notice that they’re in really [5:47] a circle.

[5:48] A circle. [5:49] And in the centerpiece of that circle, connected to every one of those things, is worship. [5:55] That we are here as people at Village Church seeking to live out redemption, mission, community [6:02] and culture for the worship of our God and King Jesus Christ. [6:06] And then in doing that, in living those types of lives, we are giving Him the utmost of [6:14] our worth.

[6:15] Because worship, if you don’t know, if you don’t really know what worship is, it just [6:19] simply means ascribing worth or showing the worth of something. [6:24] And we as followers of Jesus, we exist, and really all people exist, to show and to live [6:32] in such a way as to show that God is of supreme value to us. [6:38] That He is the one who has our hearts. [6:41] He is the one who has our passions.

[6:44] He is the one that commands our very lives. [6:48] And that’s what Paul is getting at in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2. [6:53] Let’s read. [6:54] Paul writes,

[7:24] Romans chapter 12 comes really in a turning point in the book of Romans. [7:31] This is a book that has 16 chapters that was written to a church full of people that [7:36] Paul had never met. [7:38] It’s a church in Rome at that time that had been started by the missionary endeavors [7:42] of other people. [7:43] And Paul writes to them to help them and aid them in their growth as disciples of Jesus

[7:48] Christ. [7:49] If you read through the book of Romans, what you are really going to find is you are going [7:53] to find what I like to look at as Christianity 101. [7:56] Throughout this book, especially in the first 11 chapters, Paul writes the story of Christianity. [8:03] What God has done for us and then what God has promised us as His followers. [8:10] Many times when you are studying the scripture you will see that term therefore.

[8:14] And whenever you see that you know that it harkens you back to what He said previously. [8:19] Normally when you see it in the Bible it’s just going to be maybe the last chapter or [8:23] maybe just the last few verses that He is going to jump off of and explain what that [8:27] is actually going to impact in your life. [8:29] In the book of Romans, He is actually saying everything that I have said up to this point [8:36] informs what you are going to do with your life.

[8:39] When He says therefore, He is pointing you to read the first 11 chapters of that book. [8:46] In the first 11 chapters of the book of Romans we find our story and then we see God’s response. [8:53] That we as a people were created to worship God with our lives. [9:00] That we were created to live showing everything in creation that our creator God has supreme [9:09] value to us. [9:11] Worship is what was to define us as His creation.

[9:17] The very first command that God gives His people in the Old Testament is the command [9:23] have no other gods before Me. [9:27] What God is telling the nation, He is telling us through that is that He is the only God. [9:33] That we are to live lives in which nothing else has our allegiance. [9:38] Nothing else can give us satisfaction. [9:40] Nothing else consumes our joy.

[9:43] Nothing else exists that we pour our lives into through our thoughts, through our actions [9:50] and through where we are going with our lives other than God. [9:54] He is to be the one who commands everything in our lives. [9:59] But early on in the book of Romans, Paul points out one very important thing. [10:03] That each and every one of us have failed. [10:08] Each and every one of us have exchanged that worship of God putting Him above absolutely

[10:15] everything else. [10:16] Showing creation all around us that He is the one of supreme value. [10:20] And we have instead exchanged His glory for the glory of creation all around us. [10:26] We’ve attempted to find our satisfaction in the things that we make by our own hands in [10:33] this world. [10:35] No matter what it is, every one of us have done that.

[10:39] None of us have given God and have shown Him the value that He demands. [10:46] I call that treason. [10:49] What we were designed for, what we were created to do, what we are supposed to and called [10:55] to do with our lives, none of us have lived up to. [10:59] And as he continues to lay out this story, he shows us in chapters 2 and 3 of the book [11:04] of Romans that all of us have failed at this.

[11:07] No one has succeeded. [11:09] That everyone has sinned against God. [11:15] Because when you deal with the issue of sin, when you deal with the issue of the things [11:20] that you do wrong that God is not pleased with, ultimately there is always something [11:26] beneath that. [11:28] And that something is a worship problem.

[11:32] That you believe something else more than you believe God. [11:39] Because if you believed Him, you’d give Him the value. [11:42] You’d give Him your allegiance. [11:44] But instead, by our very lives, by the very things that consume us, by the very values [11:50] that we pour ourselves into, often times in everything that we do, we show that God is [11:57] not of supreme value in our lives.

[12:01] That something else has more value to us than God does. [12:07] We are seeking to find what God says you can only find in Him in something else. [12:16] And in that sense, each and every one of us chase after false gods with our lives. [12:25] And what God does throughout the book of Romans is that He shows that in light of [12:30] that, in light of every one of us committing treason and transferring our allegiance over [12:37] to someone or something that we were not created and designed to worship, in love, He sets

[12:47] out on a mission of redemption. [12:50] In love, He seeks to save us. [12:55] And how He does that is that He sends His own Son, Jesus Christ, to live a life that [13:01] we do not live. [13:02] That He lived in this world completely perfect. [13:05] His allegiance never growing faint.

[13:09] His loyalty to the God and King, His Father, never came into question. [13:13] He lived 33 years completely perfect up to the point of death. [13:19] And why did He die?

[13:25] Because the sentence for treason is always death.

[13:29] And Jesus, though He does not deserve death, though He never sinned, though He never did [13:35] one thing in which He poured value into something that God deserved, He goes to the cross and [13:41] He dies the sinner’s death, He dies the death of someone that did commit treason. [13:45] Why? [13:46] Because of us. [13:48] Because that is what each and every one of us deserve.

[13:51] And God goes to that cross to take our sentence, to take our sin, and He takes it from us as [13:58] we make an exchange from one God to another. [14:04] God Himself makes an exchange. [14:06] He takes our sin from us and gives us the righteousness of Jesus Christ as if we did [14:14] that righteousness, which we did not. [14:17] And that is why the cross of Jesus Christ proclaims such an amazing grace to us that

[14:22] through that cross we find forgiveness of sins. [14:26] Through that cross we find hope. [14:28] Through that cross we find redemption from the sins that keep us disobeying God over [14:34] and over again. [14:37] And then it is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we see and can believe and [14:42] trust that God has power over sin and death.

[14:47] That He has the power and authority to give us a brand new life in which we have the [14:54] opportunity and we have the ability through His strength to worship Him, to live the lives [15:00] that we were designed for, to live the lives that we were created for. [15:05] But we struggle in that. [15:08] And we fight a fight in that. [15:11] And when Paul says in Romans chapter 12 verse 1, I appeal to you, what he is saying is,

[15:20] is look at what God has done for us in the gospel. [15:25] Look at what Jesus has done for us on the cross. [15:30] Look at what the resurrection offers us for a life. [15:35] And trust it. [15:37] Believe God more than you believe anything else. [15:42] So I want to put forward to you three things that this is going to cause for us today.

[15:46] And the first thing is that trust. [15:48] That God is worshiped through faith. [15:53] That is the first command of worship. [15:56] Without faith you simply cannot worship God. [16:00] It is the starting point of everything that you do in your life. [16:03] When he says, I appeal to you therefore by the mercies of God, he is summing up everything

[16:10] that he has been saying thus far. [16:12] And then in Romans chapter 3 he goes so far as to say that we are all going to die because [16:19] of our sin, but thanks be to God that he has instead put forward his son Jesus Christ [16:25] as a way from his wrath into his favor. [16:31] And so God proclaims, if we will just trust him, if we will just transfer and turn from [16:40] our trust in other things that are not God into his plan of redemption through Jesus

[16:45] we will worship him once again. [16:51] This is how he puts it in Romans chapter 5 verse 1. [16:54] He writes, therefore because of what Jesus did, since we have been justified by what? [17:00] By faith. [17:02] We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [17:05] Through him we have also obtained access by what?

[17:09] By faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [17:18] This summarizes and states that God gives us life by our faith in him. [17:24] It is faith that gives us his forgiveness and it is faith that gives us his life. [17:31] What must we do to come into a union with God? [17:37] What is it that we must do in order to repent of our treason against God? [17:43] Of giving our allegiance into the things of this world more than we give our allegiance

[17:47] to God? [17:48] What must we do? [17:49] We must have faith.

[17:53] And it is faith in a very specific thing. [17:56] It is faith in Jesus. [17:59] It is faith in what God reveals to us through Jesus. [18:02] It is faith in the life that Jesus lives for us. [18:05] It is faith in the death that Jesus dies for us and it is faith in the life that Jesus [18:10] gives us in his resurrection.

[18:13] He tells us that it is through faith that we have justification. [18:18] That we are justified. [18:20] What is that? [18:21] It is that our slate is wiped clean. [18:23] That our sins condemn us no longer. [18:25] Jesus himself said that he came for judgment and then he goes and he takes the very judgment

[18:32] that he came to give. [18:34] He takes it on to himself. [18:37] And it says it is by faith that we have access to the grace of God. [18:43] What is that grace? [18:45] It is the grace that God will give us what we do not deserve. [18:50] Because friends let me tell you what we do deserve is death.

[18:55] What we do deserve is the sentence for our treason. [18:59] It’s a complete separation from God. [19:01] It’s an eternity in torment. [19:03] It’s an eternity under his wrath. [19:06] But instead we have access to what we don’t deserve. [19:09] And that is the life that God gives us through his son Jesus.

[19:14] It is the eternal life to be with him forever and not be defined by our sin. [19:20] But instead to be defined by his righteousness for us. [19:26] He does the work we get the benefit if we have faith. [19:31] Without faith we can’t worship God. [19:33] In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 the author puts it this way. [19:37] And without faith it is impossible to please him.

[19:40] For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

[19:50] See often times the struggles that we have in our lives is that we pour our value and [19:54] we pour our lives into the things of this world because we can see them because they [19:58] are right there because we made them by our own hands because they seem dependable to us. [20:03] But the gospel undoes every bit of that by showing us that God is not interested in what we can do. [20:09] God is interested in what he can do. [20:11] Because if we do it we get the glory.

[20:13] If he does it he gets the glory. [20:15] And in the cross of Jesus Christ you see his work for us. [20:19] And he says that is how I get my glory. [20:21] And he says without faith and that you cannot worship me. [20:26] You cannot please me. [20:28] You cannot know me.

[20:29] I want your trust. [20:31] I want your heart. [20:32] I want your passion. [20:33] I want your value because he is God. [20:36] And he says that is what he deserves. [20:38] And he says that he rewards those who diligently seek him.

[20:43] Because in the cross we don’t just get a slate wiped clean we also get a litany of promises [20:48] that God gives us for the life that is to come. [20:51] 2 Corinthians chapter 2 tells us that every promise that God has made finds its yes in Jesus. [20:59] It is secure. [21:00] It is not dependent on you. [21:02] It is not dependent on me.

[21:04] It is dependent on Jesus and Jesus alone. [21:07] And this is the one who rises from the dead under his own power. [21:11] So I am pretty sure he can keep any promise he makes. [21:14] That is real power. [21:16] That is real strength. [21:18] That is a good God.

[21:20] And I will tell you friends that this morning faith is not something that I say is very easy. [21:26] Faith is the hardest thing you will ever have. [21:30] Because this is a world that is not always marked by good but it is often marked by pain. [21:37] It is often marked by suffering in our lives. [21:41] And often times that suffering and that pain distracts us from God. [21:45] And we look to God and we say how can you let this happen to me?

[21:49] But we have got it backwards. [21:51] We have got it all wrong. [21:53] It is we who cause the pain. [21:54] It is we who cause the suffering and our great treason against God. [21:59] But I will tell you we cannot say that in our pain and suffering that God does not love us. [22:04] Because this is the God who lowers himself into the greatest depths of suffering that man has ever known.

[22:11] The greatest death and execution that man has ever known. [22:13] And pain on the cross. [22:15] The greatest suffering that anyone has ever known. [22:16] By having the condemnation of all of our sins combined. [22:21] I feel the condemnation of my sin. [22:23] Jesus felt the condemnation for all of our sin.

[22:28] And God himself lowers into those sufferings. [22:33] And he experiences it for us. [22:35] He experiences it as our substitute so that we will not have to carry that burden throughout our lives. [22:41] But can rather instead look and say this is a God who loves. [22:45] This is a God who suffers for me. [22:48] No one has ever invented a religion with a God like that.

[22:53] Most Gods that are created by man are disconnected from us and cannot feel pain. [22:58] They cannot feel suffering. [22:59] They cannot be imminent with us, there for us. [23:02] But God is a God who inserts himself into his creation and says I will suffer for you. [23:09] That is a good God. [23:11] Have you ever felt unlovable?

[23:13] Have you ever felt unneeded? [23:16] Have you ever felt unvaluable?

[23:20] Have you ever felt the pain of not feeling that you have any worth whatsoever in this world? [23:28] Friends I am here to tell you today that the cross of Jesus Christ says that you are loved. [23:34] The cross of Christ stands to say that you are worth something. [23:38] The cross of Christ stands to say that you are wanted. [23:41] By who? By the God of the entire universe. [23:45] The cross stands to say that the God that we have sinned against, the God that we have committed treason against,

[23:52] he looks to us and he says I want you. [23:54] He looks to us and he says I love you. [23:56] He looks to us and says I care for you. [23:59] He looks to you and he says I value you. [24:01] He looks to you and says I want to redeem you to the life that I created you to live. [24:06] And I want to save you from the suffering for your sins.

[24:11] He gives us life. [24:15] But we have got to trust it. [24:17] But we have got to believe it. [24:19] But we have got to have that life. [24:21] And he says to begin a life of worshiping me, believe God more than any other voice that you hear in your life. [24:33] Giving you any other message, of any other value, of any other worth, of any other success, or any other sacrifice.

[24:41] He says I am God. [24:43] I will save you. [24:45] Trust me. [24:47] God is worshiped through faith. [24:51] Secondly this morning, what does that faith cause? [24:55] Well that faith builds inside of each and every one of us.

[25:00] If it is true, it builds in us a great affection for God. [25:07] It builds in us a great awe of the God that would suffer and die for sinners. [25:13] It builds in us a passion for a God who would redeem me from my sins so that I could have the freedom to live the life that I was created to live. [25:24] And what that causes is action. [25:28] God is worshiped through action. [25:33] See often times we kind of separate faith from action because I think we get it all wrong.

[25:38] Faith is the basis for action. [25:41] Without faith your actions are meaningless. [25:44] Without trust your actions have no value. [25:47] Without God and a passion for him where he gets your affection, where you look to him and you say God has a deep love for me. [25:54] And that is creating inside of me a deep trust and a deep love for him. [25:59] Without that basis, without that foundation, your activities are nothing more than religious earnings.

[26:07] And your religious earnings are worthless. [26:10] God doesn’t need them. [26:12] God doesn’t want them. [26:14] God wants your heart. [26:15] God wants your life. [26:17] God wants your love.

[26:18] He wants your allegiance in love. [26:22] And through that he brings us into a life of great action. [26:26] Look back into Romans chapter 12 and the second half of verse 1.

[26:31] When he starts he says, I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God, by the entirety of the gospel, by the whole message that we’ve just gone through. [26:40] To present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

[26:47] Holy and acceptable to God, which is what? Your spiritual worship.

[26:55] Oftentimes when we look at that we begin to try to say things like, well then okay so I’ve got to do all of this stuff so in my doing I earn. [27:05] But that’s not at all the message here. [27:07] What Paul is doing is he is just giving you sound logic. [27:11] He’s just saying, if all of this is true then your natural reaction is just going to be, okay God you can have my life. [27:23] Okay you can have it all. [27:25] And the end of that text of verse 1 when it says your spiritual worship in the ESV and other translations, maybe you have one, it says things like your reasonable service.

[27:35] Both translations are correct. [27:38] But here’s the reality, that’s why that term reason is in there. [27:42] Because he’s saying that you give your life over simply because that’s what’s reasonable.

[27:50] Note what Romans chapter 6 verse 13 says.

[27:55] He says, do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. [28:04] And your members to God as instruments for righteousness. [28:08] I cannot help but think that when Paul writes Romans chapter 12 verse 1, he’s taking into consideration what he said in Romans chapter 6. [28:17] Because he’s talking about the same thing in both verses. [28:20] He’s saying, if you hold on to your life, if your faith in God does not naturally cause your life to change in such a way that you now live for Him, [28:36] that your actions are determined by Him, that your life is pointed by Him, that He is the authority, then you didn’t get faith.

[28:45] You didn’t really trust Him. [28:48] Because he’s saying, in your actions, in what you are capable of doing, in the life that you are capable of living, your best bet is death.

[29:01] In Romans 3, he says, in Romans 6 later in this chapter, verse 23, he starts out that verse by saying, the wages of sin is death. [29:09] So what he’s saying is, if you are a sinful person, by the way, everyone, all of us, we’ve all done it,

[29:17] you’re saying, your best bet in the life that you’re going to build, all the success that you can have, [29:22] all the greatness that you can grab onto, all the possessions that you can acquire, all the greatness and fame that you can have, [29:28] your best bet is, guess what, you’re going to die still.

[29:32] Because you are someone that through your life, no matter what you’re doing, you are carrying unrighteousness with you, [29:40] and unrighteousness causes death. [29:43] But he’s saying, with God, the only bet is life. [29:49] Because God only possesses life. [29:52] God is the author of life. [29:54] God is the giver of life.

[29:56] God is the creator of life. [29:58] So all that God does is give life. [30:01] Even in the death of Jesus, what does he do? [30:04] Life.

[30:07] And so apart from God, there is no life. [30:12] And when he’s talking in Romans chapter 6, he’s saying, give your members, or everything in you, [30:18] or everything that you’re going to do, everything that will happen in your life, [30:22] give it over to God as an instrument of righteousness, because if you do not, the alternative is to be an instrument of unrighteousness. [30:31] There’s no in between, there’s no kind of for God, kind of not for God, there’s death and there’s life. [30:38] Those are our two choices.

[30:40] And so when he says in Romans chapter 12, he says, present your bodies to God, [30:45] he’s talking about tangible life. [30:47] He’s talking about real life. [30:49] And I love it, because we have this great temptation to mentally agree with faith. [30:56] To kind of nod at it and say, I want heaven. [31:00] Better than hell.

[31:01] Pretty easy. [31:03] Okay?

[31:05] But Paul goes a step further, and he disqualifies what we would say, because we deal with two different types of life. [31:13] We’re talking about our spiritual life over here, and that’s what God wants. [31:17] But I’ve got my physical life over here, and that’s what I’m in charge of, that’s what I’m commanding, that’s what I’m doing. [31:24] Paul says, no. [31:26] Present your bodies to God.

[31:33] He’s not talking about just some spiritual agreement that you have, a mental thing where you’ll read your Bible a couple of times a week. [31:41] He says, that’s not all that God wants. [31:45] God wants it all. [31:47] Present your physical body over to God to live holy and acceptable lives, and that will be your spiritual worship for him. [31:59] God is a God who says, I didn’t just make a spiritual realm, but I created the physical realm, and I want that. [32:07] Because it already belongs to me, but you’re treasonous, and you’re trying to steal it from me.

[32:13] So give it back. [32:15] That’s what faith does. [32:17] It says, I’ve been using it wrong, now God help me to use it right. [32:22] And so we present it back over to him. [32:26] And this is going to play its way out in the commitments of our lives.

[32:35] Practically, the way that we show value, the way that we show what we’re committed to, is by what we spend our time on, and what we spend our money on. [32:47] We are a culture of commitment. [32:50] I mean, we’ve got so many commitments going on each and every week, that when our calendars aren’t synced up just right, we don’t even know when to eat. [33:00] I talk to people sometimes, they’re like, I forgot to eat lunch, because I didn’t schedule it. [33:06] I’m like, I don’t ever want to be that. [33:08] Because I’m really hungry.

[33:10] I’m like, is it lunchtime yet? [33:11] Because that’s what I’m looking forward to. [33:14] But we’re just committed to so many things, and what we’re committed to with our time and with our money is going to show what our God is, what we are really worshiping. [33:26] Those are what demands our actions. [33:29] We’re so committed to the things of this world that they command us. [33:36] Because there’s a system of values that is made by this world that we’re socially preconditioned to give our lives over to.

[33:44] And so that naturally is what our actions are going to be commanded by. [33:48] And then there’s God’s world, which is by His definition, which is what He wants, which is what He has laid out. [33:54] But we have a tough time giving faith over to God, instead of what’s already made by our hands. [34:02] We live in a world where if our child is not throwing a perfect curveball by the age of 14, his life is obviously over.

[34:12] I was reading Paul Tripp the other day, and they have SAT tutoring that begins at age 11.

[34:20] And if my son doesn’t get a high enough grade on the SAT, it’s just going to ruin everything. [34:25] It’s going to ruin his life. [34:27] We have baseball tutoring, we have soccer tutoring, we have basketball tutoring, we have football tutoring, so they can get that perfect spiral. [34:34] We have dance tutoring, we have math tutoring, we have English tutoring, we have history tutoring. [34:38] We have so much tutoring that I don’t even know how kids get up on Saturday morning. [34:43] Because we get them up at 6 a.m. and they don’t come home until about 8.

[34:49] Because there’s a system of values that we must pour our lives into, or the life that they live in this world will be less than. [35:00] Voddy Balkan remarks that he doesn’t know how George Washington ever became anything, because he didn’t have little league.

[35:12] Interestingly enough, I don’t think Jesus could ever throw that perfect change up, but he did alright.

[35:21] The reality this morning is that we have wars going on in our lives for our commitment. [35:27] And friends, what you pour your time into speaks a message of what you believe is ultimately valuable.

[35:42] God wants us to worship him with our actions. [35:47] Many of us, though, are doing whatever we want, because we want and we believe that what we think will benefit our lives the best. [36:00] We then wonder why we don’t feel passion at all for God.

[36:06] Because here’s what you might be doing. [36:08] I’ve been there. [36:09] You sit and you trust God, and you say, okay, I believe in you, I trust in Jesus, and I’m just going to sit here, and I’m going to live my life, and I’m going to do my thing, and I hope you bless it, and if you want me to do something else, interrupt it.

[36:28] I’m going to wait for you to move in my life, to give me a special calling. [36:32] Maybe you burn a bush when I’m walking home at night. [36:35] You know, I don’t know, maybe some special waves come through the radio, and when you do that, God, I know I’m supposed to live your mission.

[36:47] You are not in charge. [36:50] God is. [36:52] God is moving. [36:55] He’s moving in his mission in this world. [36:58] He’s moving to redeem as many worshipers as possible. [37:01] He’s moving to build a community through his church.

[37:05] He’s moving to form a culture for his glory in this world, and you cannot command him to get off of his mission to slow down to grab you. [37:18] That’s not faith. [37:20] Faith is saying, God, you have clearly revealed your mission through what Jesus has done, and through what you did in my life to get me to Jesus, and I’m going to follow you in faith. [37:34] Because faith tells me to move with God. [37:37] Faith doesn’t tell God to move with me. [37:41] Because I’m still treasonous when I do that.

[37:44] Friend, if you tell me today, I’m not feeling it, I don’t have an awe of God, when I worship, it’s meaningless. [37:52] When I read my Bible, it’s nothing. [37:54] When I pray, I can’t do it. [37:56] What I’m telling you is you have a worship problem that you’re not trusting God, and you’re waiting for him to get on your page. [38:04] When he’s saying, repent of that, and get on my page.

[38:09] Oftentimes, we sacrifice our faith in Jesus, rather than sacrificing because of our faith in Jesus.

[38:21] See, to worship him and follow him, he’s going to call each and every one of you into sacrifice of something in your life.

[38:29] And the question is, are you going to sacrifice those things, or are you going to sacrifice your faith? [38:35] Your actions will determine it. [38:40] Finally, this morning, God is worshiped through change. [38:48] You see, in being worshiped, when you hand your life over into him, what happens is, is that he comes in, he sets up shop, and then he changes you. [38:59] And that’s how God is worshiped. [39:01] Note, that when you try to worship God, you have to understand that the entire point of faith and action is the drastic changes that God brings into our lives.

[39:13] Note this, we go from separated from God, to united with God. [39:18] We’re in conflict with God, and then we’re reconciled with God. [39:24] We go from dead in our sin, to alive in Jesus. [39:28] Christianity is defined by change.

[39:33] That’s the life that God calls us into. [39:36] He doesn’t call us to stay the same. [39:39] He calls us to continually change. [39:42] And in doing that, we begin a movement in our lives with and for God that causes great repentance.

[39:51] J.I. Packer puts it this way. [39:53] He says, as you learn more of who God is, in light of that, you learn more of what a sinner you are. [40:04] And when you learn that, you begin to change things in your life, in light of who God is. [40:12] And as you grow in your relationship, you bring your life more into conformity with who he is. [40:19] And as you grow, it just continues. [40:21] Many of us think that repentance is a one-time event that happens at the beginning of our walk with Jesus.

[40:29] If you only had to do it once, you ain’t walking with Jesus.

[40:34] Because day in and day out, I learn more and more what a sinner I am. [40:40] And faith tells me, I need to move with God. [40:45] If I don’t change, if I don’t invite the change that the Holy Spirit wants to do in my life, [40:51] then I can’t be with the God who loves me and with the God who I love. [40:57] Look in verse 2 to see more of this, where he says, [41:00] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

[41:06] that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [41:12] Note that it begins with worship in the mind. [41:16] The mind is where everything starts. [41:19] Every action that I do, every movement that I have, starts in my brain, [41:24] and my brain tells the rest of me what to do. [41:28] You know, trust starts in the mind as well.

[41:32] What you trust is what you choose to trust. [41:35] Where you give your life is where you decide to give your life. [41:39] And God is starting with saying, to be transformed by what? [41:43] By the renewal of your mind, by the renewal of what you believe, [41:48] by the renewal of where you want to put your faith, by the renewal of who you are. [41:54] In 1 Peter chapter 1, I think Peter puts it so well when he writes,

[41:59] As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. [42:07] He puts it so easily for me because I’m a pretty ignorant person, [42:09] and I understand ignorance. [42:12] Where he says, at one time you did not know God. [42:16] At one time you did not believe in the gospel. [42:20] At one time you did not have faith in Jesus.

[42:23] But now you’ve been enlightened as to the plan of God for His glory, [42:28] for all ages, through redemption in Jesus Christ. [42:31] So don’t live as though you’re still ignorant of that. [42:36] Because you’re not. [42:38] You know the truth. [42:40] And it wants to transform your life by what you believe.

[42:46] Faith is always the starting point of a life of change.

[42:52] When we believe it, we will live it. [42:56] This is the change that God brings in the how of how He was worshipped. [43:01] We stoke our affection for God by growing in our knowledge of His grace and His being. [43:08] We grow in what we saw Paul write about in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 a few weeks ago, [43:13] in our awe of Jesus by continuously following Him, [43:18] by continuously staying with Him,

[43:20] by continuously growing with Him. [43:22] And then what we do is, is we look to God for our identity, [43:26] we look to God for our value, [43:28] we look to God for our purpose, [43:30] and we grow and want to be more like God. [43:33] That’s why Christian means a follower of Christ, or one becoming like Christ.

[43:38] And when we become more like God, it changes our whole being.

[43:46] And we begin to act like Him. [43:49] By loving the way He does. [43:52] We go from people who have been redeemed to people who are redeeming. [43:57] And it begins in us with redeeming different aspects of my life for the glory of God. [44:02] And then it goes out of me and goes into the lives of others around me. [44:05] I go from someone that’s changed to someone that wants to change lives.

[44:11] Because that’s what God’s mission is. [44:13] So that becomes my mission. [44:15] I begin to pour myself into giving others the good news of Jesus Christ, [44:19] because God found a sinner like me, [44:21] so He can find other sinners too, and He wants to use me for that. [44:25] That’s the identity that He wants to give me.

[44:27] It’s living His mission in this world. [44:29] The mission of Jesus is now my mission. [44:32] And so I go from changed to changing lives. [44:35] Because I believe God places values in certain places, [44:38] and I then must follow suit by placing my value in that place. [44:42] And that is how He is worshiped.

[44:46] As we move in Him and for Him, [44:49] we realize more and more the calling that Jesus is putting on each and every one of our lives. [44:58] That we have a life to live. [45:00] And He wants to change that life that we live. [45:02] Day in and day out. [45:05] And the glory of God is shown in how He changes us.

[45:12] The moment of redemption is not the end. [45:16] It’s just the beginning.

[45:20] Our core values here at Village Church represent the point A to point B of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. [45:27] And if we’re following Jesus, we will always find ourselves somewhere on that journey. [45:32] The fear and terror must come when we’re not anywhere on that journey. [45:37] We don’t see any redemption taking root in our lives. [45:40] We don’t see any passion. [45:42] We don’t see any mission.

[45:44] We don’t see any community. [45:45] We don’t see any culture being formed in us for the glory of God. [45:49] We don’t see any of that. [45:51] We know that we’re not on the same page as God. [45:53] And we need to grow in faith. [45:55] Or we need to begin to have faith by becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.

[46:00] Many believe that they’re a follower of Jesus and they just simply are not. [46:05] Because they don’t have faith. [46:06] Nothing has changed.

[46:10] Friends, our God is a God who calls us to radical change. [46:13] Calls us to radical lives. [46:15] Calls us to live for His glory above absolutely everything else.

[46:21] He wants to change our entire being. [46:25] The beauty of the cycle of our core values is, if you’ll notice, the last one, the fourth one, [46:34] it’s not the end. [46:36] It connects back up to the core value of redemption. [46:40] Because when we’re living lives of faith-filled worship, [46:45] what happens in our lives is that it always goes out into the lives of other people

[46:51] and the cycle of redemption mission, community, and culture starts in someone else [46:55] because that’s the mission that we’re on. [46:59] To close, I just want to ask you a few questions. [47:03] I just want to ask you, [47:05] where is it that God is changing you right now?

[47:10] What is it that you’ve learned of God, that you’ve known about Him through your relationship in Him [47:16] that is calling you into a place of change right now in your life? [47:20] Where is it that He’s calling you to have faith? [47:22] Where is it that He’s calling you to action? [47:25] And are you listening?

[47:28] Are you exercising your faith? [47:30] Are you presenting your body as a spiritual act of worship? [47:35] As your reasonable service? [47:37] Are you being conformed to the value system of this world? [47:41] Are you throwing your time, your money, into the value system of this world? [47:45] Or are you exercising faith?

[47:46] And saying, my action will go for the mission of Jesus. [47:51] My change will be defined by the mission of Jesus. [47:54] Do you have faith?

[48:00] If you’re not changing, [48:03] and if you’re not growing,

[48:06] then what is faith doing in your life?

[48:09] And how will God use you to change someone else’s life [48:14] if He’s not currently changing yours at all?

[48:19] When we live this cycle, we cannot help but to constantly be changed by the Gospel [48:24] as we give more and more of ourselves to Him. [48:28] Our wills simply begin to come more and more into unity with His will. [48:35] And we know what He wants because we love the Gospel.

[48:42] See, when it says that you’ll be able to discern what is the will of God [48:46] and what’s good and acceptable to Him, [48:49] He knows that when you present your body to God, [48:53] you’ll know His will is the Gospel.

[48:57] As the band comes up, [48:59] I just want to go into a time of reflecting really on just this great change [49:04] and this great worship of God, [49:06] and then want to worship Him through song. [49:10] But before we do that, [49:11] I want to invite you into something that we do every single week here,

[49:15] and that is communion or what’s called the Lord’s Supper. [49:18] It’s something that Jesus gave us before He left earth [49:21] that’s been reflected on for thousands of years [49:24] that represents the promises of God [49:26] that He’s going to work on our behalf. [49:30] And to do that, He invites us to a meal together.

[49:33] And through partaking of this meal, [49:35] we proclaim to each and every person around us [49:38] that we believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, [49:41] that we have trusted in Jesus, [49:43] that we have faith in Him, [49:44] that we’re struggling along in our faith to have action,

[49:48] we’re seeking to change.

[49:52] The bread represents His broken body, [49:54] and the cup represents His shed blood. [49:58] It’s what He did for our sin. [50:00] He gave Himself over. [50:02] But we don’t do it in mourning. [50:06] We do it in celebration.

[50:08] You say, what a strange thing to celebrate. [50:10] The reason we celebrate it is because He didn’t stay dead. [50:13] You can’t mourn someone who’s alive.

[50:17] We celebrate the life of Jesus Christ for us. [50:21] And we know that because He’s alive, [50:23] that He has life to give. [50:26] And when you take this cup and this bread into you, [50:29] what it represents as a metaphor [50:31] is the life of Jesus entering into your life.

[50:35] Because that’s what He wants. [50:38] He wants you to give Him your life [50:40] so that He can give you His life. [50:43] If you’re not a follower of Jesus Christ, [50:46] and what I’ve said today has maybe stoked some questions, [50:49] maybe it’s brought about an understanding

[50:51] that you don’t have faith, [50:53] you don’t have any action, you don’t have any change. [50:56] I want to tell you today, friend, [50:57] you can know Him today, you can trust Him today. [51:00] You can turn from all that you’re trusting in in this world [51:03] and you can give your heart and your life completely over to God

[51:07] and He will redeem you today.

[51:11] If that’s you, I’ll be right. [51:12] I’d love to talk to you. [51:13] There will be some in the foyer.

[51:17] But if you’re a follower of Jesus this morning, [51:19] there are six stations throughout this room. [51:22] Come, worship.