1. True Love Waits “I Wish” Video (You tube)
2. Romans 12:1-2
3. God does not make us live for Him, we wants us to do it willingly
a. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (v.1)
b. Living in our culture, we are constantly surrounded by so many things that can prevent us from living the victorious Christian life. Satan would like nothing more than prevent God’s followers from “blowing it”. The mercy of God was loving us in while we were still sinners. The cross is God’s love for us and gives us the opportunity to having a relationship with Him.
c. When we received Jesus Christ by faith, we did not give up freewill, the choice to do right or wrong. That is still intact and as such can be a burden as well as a blessing. If I made my children love me, it wouldn’t be love. Jesus said in John 14:15 that “if we love Him, we should keep His commandments.” One of the greatest opportunities for a Christian witness is that they obey God in whatever he wants us to do whether we are in a crowd or alone.
d. So many of our teenagers today are bombarded with messages of giving in to sexual temptation, whether it be MTV, the Internet, School, Magazines even cell phones have become a weapon of the enemy through “sexting”. Staying pure is not easy but it is possible. God gives us the ability to turn away from sin by giving us a way out of temptation. The problem is that for some, the need to give in to temptation is so much easier than saying no.
e. Peer pressure for a young person is a beast, no one wants to stand out or be made fun of. Offering your body as a living sacrifice means that you recognize that once you received Jesus Christ by faith, the Holy Spirit took up residence.
f. When that happens, our bodies become His home. It would be detrimental to my health by my wife if I decided to come home one day and trash the house. I’m not talking leaving things out, I mean driving holes in the wall, spray painting whatever I want on the living room or furniture, painting the kitchen splotched purple. I would be destroying that which I have been blessed with. Yet, everyday teenagers do this when they allow their bodies to be abused by sex. It trashes not only the home where God takes up residence but the gift God has given to your future spouse.
g. Offering your body as a living sacrifice means saying no to that boy when he pressures you, saying no to the guys when they want you to be like them, saying no to a culture that says you’re a freak when everyone else is doing it. Allow your body to be holy and pleasing to God and no one else.
4. God does not want you to be normal, He wants you different.
a. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
b. Culture says that to be normal, you need to abandon God’s values. You should be fitting in, going with the crowd, accept what TV says is normal. When did living the life for God become taboo? When did doing the right thing become intolerant? When did being righteous become classified as obsolete?
c. It started when Jesus began sending out His disciples. Listen to what he said In Matthew 10 when He spoke with His disciples: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. 21 Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
d. Living the Christian life is defined by how we are not like everyone else. Being holy means being set apart, different. Yet too often our picture of an American Christian life is limited to saying a prayer and being baptized…everything else beyond this point is up to me.
e. God’s call for me and you, to be transformed, means that we will be going against the grain. If we are not being made fun of or as the Bible would say, persecuted, we’re either not living the life God wants us to live or we were never saved to begin with. We live behind enemy lines. As such living the transformed life means being different from everyone else and will lead to problems with the world around us.
f. When we come to the end of our life and we stand before God, it’s not our friends and colleagues that will be there, it will be the creator of the universe who gave us eternal life. In that moment, wouldn’t you want to say you lived for Him rather than acceptance from your friends?
g. To do this, we need to put safeguards in place that lay out boundaries for our lives. It starts with deciding in your mind “how far is too far?” Ladies, you need to lay out for that boy what your limit is, from the beginning, that way there is no misunderstanding. Men, you need to determine what you will put in place to prevent you from going past the point of no return. If the one you are with cannot abide by these limits…DUMP EM! If they can’t respect you now, what in the world makes you think they will do it later?
5. God does not want excuses, He wants proof.
a. …that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (v.2)
b. Isn’t it funny how every time we get in to trouble, we want to come up with the best excuse possible? “I didn’t know”, “It wasn’t my fault”, “Where did that come from”. When I was a kid growing up, I loved the Sunday comics…still do. One of the comics was called Family Circus. One of the running comics every now and then was where the parents would ask who did something…all the kids would say “not me”. Then there would be a ghost like figure running around with the title “not me” on the front.
c. Proof of living the Christian life is defined by giving our all to God, this includes living a life of sexual purity. Our lives tell a story to the world about what Jesus means to us by how we live. If we choose to live a life that is promiscuous and running around living like the world, we reflect to a lost world that living for Jesus is nothing more than having to wake up early on a Sunday morning. What does it say about Jesus? What does it say about us?
d. The proof of living the victorious Christian life means doing the good will of God, being acceptable to the will of God and living for the perfect will of God. Ladies and gentlemen, God’s will for us is to be set apart, to be different than looking like everyone else and to be a living testimony to the grace and love he has bestowed on us.
e. I wish living for Jesus was easy, but it’s not. We are faced with problems and temptations everyday that make it difficult living in this world. But the payoff is AWESOME!
f. Here in a moment, we are asking you teenagers to make a commitment to God, your parents, this Church and your future spouse that you will be sexually pure until the day you enter into a lifelong relationship with your spouse. You will be putting on a ring that is an outward expression of your commitment.
g. Do you realize what a glorious day that will be when you say “I DO” to your future mate and take this ring off and exchange it for a wedding ring. You can look them in the eye and say “In 2013 I made a commitment to God and to you that I would stay pure until this day, as I take off this ring and put on my wedding ring, it is proof that I did what God wanted me to do.”
h. To be able to look at your parents and say “Here is the ring which you gave me, I have kept my promise, and now I give it back to you as proof of my commitment.”
i. To be able to say to God “I promised you that I would do what I could to be different, to be set apart and to offer my body as a living sacrifice, your temple, your dwelling place. It has not been easy but with your help I did it. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” At which time, in God’s way, He will say well done!
j. Staying a virgin is not easy, especially when you are bombarded with messages of sex. But God, in His mercy, will guide you and lead you on the path that will keep you pure.
6. Parents and students who are participating in the ring ceremony, please come forward.
