Offer Yourselves: A Reasonable Response

In one paragraph

Carl filled in for Ray, who was out of town, and preached from Romans 12:1-2. He walked through three questions he said the passage answers for any believer: what God is calling us to do, why we should do it, and how it actually happens. Carl opened by framing where Romans 12 sits in the whole letter. Chapters 1 through 11, he said, are about what to believe, doctrine and theology. Chapter 12...

Read together

1. Romans 12:1-2 the central text of the sermon, read aloud and repeated as a closing benediction
2. Romans 6:13 cited as the best definition of offering ourselves as living sacrifices, quoted as 'give yourselves completely to God... use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God'
3. Romans 3 referenced as the turning point in Romans where Paul says 'but now God has shown us a way to be right with him'
4. Psalm 23 referenced in connection with Dot's memorial, specifically 'and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever'
5. Proverbs 9 cited in the opening prayer: 'to fear you is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of you is understanding'
6. 1 John 4:19 quoted as a family verse: 'we love because he first loved us'

Talk about it

1. Carl described Romans 1-11 as 'what to believe' and Romans 12 onward as 'how to behave.' How have you seen that pattern play out in your own faith, where what you believe actually changed how you acted?
2. Carl read through a long list of God's mercies from Romans and asked, not 'why should we offer ourselves to God?' but 'why shouldn't we?' Which of those mercies from Romans hit you the hardest, and why?
3. Carl said God is not coercing us but compelling us, winning us over so that we offer ourselves voluntarily. What is the difference between those two things in practice, and which one better describes where you are right now?
4. Carl used the phrase 'you are not a sponge' from a story Diane shared, and quoted the idea that information without application is an abomination. Where in your life are you taking in more than you are living out?
5. Carl said that when we offer ourselves fully to God first, the bigger questions in life begin to fall into place. Do you find that order easy or hard to believe, and what has your experience been with it?