"We Minister And Belong To One Another”

“We minister and belong to one another” (Romans 12:1-10)

I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members,[e] and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,[f] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

As I start the sermon, I want us to briefly review Romans 12:1-2. We learned Christian worship is:

* Thanksgiving in response to God’s mercies in Christ. (Did you notice, it’s not God’s mercy but God’s mercies, plural? We are talking about a multitude of mercies: our being forgiven, being declared righteous, being reconciled with God, being united with Christ, being from condemnation, being a child of God, being a citizen of heaven, eternal life, His grace, the peace with God, Hope, Power, future resurrection, inheritance in heaven, and the Holy Spirit who resides in us. Jesus paid them all. John 14:6 So we give thanks to God as we count all the mercies He has given; that is worship.)

* Offering ourselves as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God in every aspect of our lives. (not just church life but, family, workplace, school, social life. )

Christian Worship is offering ourselves as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God

How to live holy? By not conforming to this world, but by being transformed by the renewal of our mind.

How to be pleasing to God? By being able to discern the will of God by the renewal of our mind.

(The key is the “renewal of our minds.” Our worship will depend on whether we renew our minds or the world controls our minds.)

How to renew our minds? By learning the mind of Jesus.

So We worship God as we learn the mind of Jesus and obey Him in order to be transformed like Him because His life is the best example of worship. (The Holy Spirit and the Scripture help us learn the mind of Jesus v.)

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Now Paul introduced Church life as an application of the living sacrifice. And the church life has two essential aspects: v. 4 "For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function." Paul talks about that each member has a different role to play, the ministry. (We minister to one another.) Then v. 5 "so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Paul talks about the church as one body, each of whose members belongs to one another, the relationship. (We belong to one another. So verses 4 and 5 talk about the ministry of the church and the relationship of the church.)

Then, before Paul talks about the ministry and relationship of each member, he talked that each member has to have a humble attitude: v. 3 "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."

Why is it essential for us to think of ourselves no more highly than we ought? You would probably already know that many churches were damaged or even destroyed because of the church leaders who overrated themselves and took responsibilities they couldn't or shouldn't handle.