By the Mercies of God, Present Yourself

In one paragraph

This message was the next step in the Romans series, picking up where Carl's sermon left off on Romans 12:1-2 and moving into the specific list of spiritual gifts in Romans 12. Pastor Ray worked from the general call to present ourselves as living sacrifices toward the practical question of what that actually looks like for the people sitting in the room right now. Carl's sermon the week before...

Read together

1. Romans 1:16 quoted during worship as the basis for 'not ashamed of the gospel'
2. Romans 12:1 urging believers to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, their reasonable service
3. Romans 12:2 do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
4. Romans 12:3 do not think of yourself more highly than you ought but with sober judgment according to the faith God has distributed
5. Romans 12:4-5 body analogy, many members one body, each member belongs to all the others
6. Romans 12:6-8 different gifts according to grace: prophecy, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leading, mercy
7. Romans 6:19 referenced as prior use of 'present,' yield your members as slaves to righteousness resulting in sanctification
8. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 body analogy, one body many parts, all baptized by one Spirit
9. 1 Corinthians 12 listed gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, discernment, tongues, interpretation, apostleship, helps, administration
10. Ephesians 4 listed gifts: evangelism, pastor-teacher, apostleship
11. 1 Peter 4:10-11 each should use whatever gift received to serve others, speaking and serving gifts, so God may be praised
12. James 3:1 not many should become teachers because teachers will be judged more strictly
13. Amos 7 Amos told Amaziah he was neither prophet nor son of a prophet but the Lord called him from tending flock to prophesy to Israel
14. Romans 12:9 love must be sincere, hate what is evil, cling to what is good
15. Romans 12:10 be devoted to one another in love, honor one another above yourselves

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray walked through the difference between mercy and grace, saying mercy is not getting something bad you deserve, and grace is getting something good you don't deserve. How has experiencing one or both of those shaped the way you relate to God and to other people?
2. Pastor Ray said that not conforming to the pattern of this world is a daily, ongoing thing, not a one-time decision, and that the stream of society will carry you along if you let it. Where in your own life do you feel that current pulling hardest right now?
3. Pastor Ray described the moment God told Amos to leave his flock and his sycamore fig trees and go prophesy, and Amos yielded immediately. He also said that when we quash the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we miss the blessing of having done what God called us to do. Has there been a time when you either yielded to that kind of prompting, or held back? What happened?
4. Pastor Ray said that a part of the body that only consumes resources but has no outflow or purpose is, in the body analogy, cancer. That is a strong word. How does that land with you, and what does it look like practically to move from consuming to contributing in a church community?
5. Pastor Ray named serving and giving as the two areas where he feels this congregation could do better right now, and he got specific, mentioning the nursery, an idea for an automotive clinic, and the church being behind on its general giving for the year. What would it take for you personally to act on one of those specific needs?