Surrendered to God
Giving God what He wants the most
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Jesus taught about surrendering to God in John 12:20-26:
Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip *came and *told Andrew; Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. 23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
Jesus is using hyperbole when he says “hates his life”.
What does he mean by losing life to gain life?
What does Jesus mean by serving and following Him?
Jesus not only taught about surrendering to God, He showed us how to do it by doing it Himself.
Philippians 2:5-11 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What did it mean to Jesus to empty Himself? To humble Himself?
Hebrews 12:1-2 Talks about the joy that awaited Jesus on the other side of the cross. Listen carefully:
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
What was the joy referred to here?
What joy can we experience by surrendering to God?
What are the biggest barriers that keep us from surrendering completely to God?
Do you want to surrender completely? Do you want to hold on to part of your life and not give it to God?
Spend a few moments in prayer and quiet consideration on this matter.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Romans 12 Week 1
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
What is true spirituality?
That is the topic we are going to talk about this morning. Jane Fonda (self professed Christian) …I needed to move back into the reverence of metaphor, the language of the soul. That is where I know my faith wants to reside. From time to time, there have been the awakened ones, conduits of perception, who, by fully embodying Spirit, have shown us the way—Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, Allah, and others. Their messages have invariably been bare-bone-simple, remarkably similar and often embedded in metaphor, stories, and poems—all forms of art. Why? Because the non-linear, non-cerebral forms that are Art speak on a different frequency, they by-pass thinking, penetrate our defenses and jolt us open to consciousness. Over time, and, I feel, because I stepped outside of established religion, I was able to rekindle the spiritual experience that I’d been seeking. Some will say that because of all this I am not a true Christian. So be it. I feel like a Christian, I believe in the teachings of Jesus and try to practice them in my life. I have found Christians all over this country who feel as I do. They may not have been ‘saved’ yet they hum with divine spirit.
What are some popular ideas and definitions of spirituality? What are some ways that we try to identify spiritual people (Christians)? Answer and Discussion… Jesus had a discussion with some Pharisees who were struggling to understand spirituality as well. They viewed man’s relationship with God through the lens of the Law, so when they heard Jesus teaching like an expert, they asked him about what is the greatest commandment of the Law.
Matthew 22:36-39 - 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
What were the two things Jesus focused on? Relationship to God and to Man.
God us a Spiritual Being and Spirituality begins with a relationship to God. That Relationship begins with Salvation. I remember when this happened in my life (Testimony) Other Testimonies?
Romans 5:8 tells us that God loved us so that "when we were in our sin Christ Jesus came to die for us." Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 10:9-10 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
That is the topic we are going to talk about this morning. Jane Fonda (self professed Christian) …I needed to move back into the reverence of metaphor, the language of the soul. That is where I know my faith wants to reside. From time to time, there have been the awakened ones, conduits of perception, who, by fully embodying Spirit, have shown us the way—Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, Allah, and others. Their messages have invariably been bare-bone-simple, remarkably similar and often embedded in metaphor, stories, and poems—all forms of art. Why? Because the non-linear, non-cerebral forms that are Art speak on a different frequency, they by-pass thinking, penetrate our defenses and jolt us open to consciousness. Over time, and, I feel, because I stepped outside of established religion, I was able to rekindle the spiritual experience that I’d been seeking. Some will say that because of all this I am not a true Christian. So be it. I feel like a Christian, I believe in the teachings of Jesus and try to practice them in my life. I have found Christians all over this country who feel as I do. They may not have been ‘saved’ yet they hum with divine spirit.
What are some popular ideas and definitions of spirituality? What are some ways that we try to identify spiritual people (Christians)? Answer and Discussion… Jesus had a discussion with some Pharisees who were struggling to understand spirituality as well. They viewed man’s relationship with God through the lens of the Law, so when they heard Jesus teaching like an expert, they asked him about what is the greatest commandment of the Law.
Matthew 22:36-39 - 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
What were the two things Jesus focused on? Relationship to God and to Man.
God us a Spiritual Being and Spirituality begins with a relationship to God. That Relationship begins with Salvation. I remember when this happened in my life (Testimony) Other Testimonies?
Romans 5:8 tells us that God loved us so that "when we were in our sin Christ Jesus came to die for us." Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 10:9-10 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
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