Radical Change Series

INTRODUCTION

- Have you ever come to the realization that something in your life needs to change?

- Maybe something inside of you has told you that you need to change?

- What is stopping you?

- Today, we will continue our mini-series within Core 52, " Beyond Belief.”

- There are many passages in the Bible that Christians struggle with believing and embracing.

- Typically, they are not the passages we would think they are.

- The first of these passages was found in Romans 8:1 when we dealt with the fact that there is no condemnation in Christ.

- Today, we will examine another passage in which we struggle with: the concept of radical change.

- Sometimes, we realize that we need to change, yet even though we know we need to change, we do not think we can.

- Maybe it is something like needing to change our diet for health reasons, or perhaps something even more radical, like knowing that our path is not good.

- I have heard Christians talk about people who need Jesus, thinking there is no way that a lost person can come to Jesus.

- The following story is on page 60 of Samuel Rodriguez's 2013 book The Lamb’s Agenda.

- Politics have taken its toll on us all, and we’ve seen far too much repulsive behavior from those who lead.

- At times, it may seem hopeless, but a little history from equally dark days reminds us of what God can do in anyone’s life.

- After Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace, his “hatchet man” went to prison.

- Chuck Colson (1931-2012) was known as Washington’s most ruthless man and later acknowledged he “would walk over his own grandmother if he had to.”

- His humiliating fall from presidential power to prison was used by God to redeem him.

- The legitimacy of his conversion surfaced during 1973 when the Boston Globe reported, “If Mr. Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody.”

- He went on to facilitate the conversion of thousands through the founding of Prison Fellowship and his best-selling books that exhorted people to embrace Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

- And each year at Christmas we’re reminded of how God transformed Charles Colson when we see the Angel Tree ministry providing gifts for children who have a parent in prison.

- Indeed, there is hope for anyone who turns from their sins and turns to Christ.

- If we do not believe we can change, we will never grow in our walk with Jesus.

- On the other hand, if we do not believe others can change, we will not try to share Jesus with them.

- Today, we will examine the path that will allow you to experience a radical change of who you are.

- Let’s turn to Romans 12:2!

Romans 12:2 (NET 2nd ed.)

2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

SERMON

The path to radical change requires one to:

I. Be a non-conformist.

- Verse 12 begins with the admonition, DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THE PRESENT WORLD.

- I am glad the path to radical change begins with something so simple!

- I want to put verse 1 on the screen for context.

Romans 12:1 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.

- Paul calls us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice that is pleasing to God.

- In light of God’s mercy and Jesus’s work, we are to no longer live our lives in the same manner and patterns of the present world.

- As children of God, we are to no longer live conforming to the pattern of this world.

- The word “conform” means “to shape one’s behavior.”

- Conform denotes both outward actions as well as one’s attitudes, habits, and actions in general.

- The word “world” here means the “world system, practices, and standards of those without God.”

- The verb tense of this command implies that we should STOP conforming to this world.

- When we look at the state of the country, family, and church today, would it be fair to suggest Christians are still struggling with this issue?

- I want to share something interesting about the etymology of the word "conformed" in this verse.

- This will help us understand what Paul is trying to convey to the reader.

- There are three possible stems from which the word CONFORMED could have been built.