Wholly Devoted Mind Series

Introduction:

A. The story is told of a patient's family who gathered to hear what the doctor had to say about their dad’s prognosis.

1. The doctor said, “Things don't look good for your dad. The only chance he has is to have a brain transplant. This is an experimental procedure, and because it is experimental you will have to pay the cost out of pocket. Unfortunately, brains are very expensive.”

2. The patient’s daughter asked, “Well, how much does a brain cost?”

3. The doctor answered, “Well, for a male brain it is $500,000 and for a female brain, $200,000.”

4. The daughter’s husband nodded as if he understood and tried to hide his smirk.

5. The patient's daughter inquired, “Why the difference in price between male and female brains?”

6. The doctor replied, “It’s standard pricing practice. Women's brains have to be marked down because they have been used.”

7. Because I’m a man, I think I can get away with making us guys the brunt of that joke.

B. The truth of the matter is that the human brain is an amazing creation of God.

1. No matter whether we have high IQ or not so high IQ, our brain is an amazing machine and is always at work.

2. Each of us carry around a three-pound mass of wrinkly material in our head that controls every single thing we will ever do.

a. From enabling us to think, learn, create, and feel emotions to controlling every blink, every breath, and every heartbeat—this fantastic control center is our brain.

b. It is a structure so amazing that a famous scientist once called it “the most complex thing we have yet discovered in our universe.”

3. Did you know that your brain has more information stored in it than the Library of Congress with all of its’ 17 million volumes?

4. As amazing as the modern computer is, it is still nothing compared with the human brain.

5. It is estimated that each person has about 10,000 thoughts a day.

C. So much about our brains is still a mystery to scientists and psychologists.

1. But one thing that is not a mystery about our brains is the way our brains influence our lives.

2. How we think and what we think makes all the difference in the world.

3. Our minds have the power to do great good or great evil.

4. Someone has said, “If you never learn to control your thoughts, you will never be able to control your life.” There is a lot of truth in that statement.

5. As you might expect, the Bible has a lot to say about the mind that I want us to consider today.

D. But before we talk more specifically about a “Wholly Devoted Mind,” let me say a few words of introduction about our new sermon series.

1. This summer I gave thought and prayer to what things we should address this Fall.

2. God put it on my heart that we should consider how we can each better live out the greatest commandment.

3. You will remember that when Jesus was asked, “Of all God’s commands, which is the greatest?” He replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

4. So I began to give thought to what it means to love God with all we are and have.

5. I have titled this series “Wholly Devoted – Serving God with All We Are and Have.”

E. So what does it mean to be “Wholly Devoted”?

1. The word “wholly” means: to the full or entire extent, completely; and to the exclusion of other things, solely, singularly.

2. The word “devoted” means: the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal.

3. So when we talk about learning to be “wholly devoted” to God, we want to be fully and completely dedicated and loyal to God.

4. But what does that mean and look like in everyday life?

5. What I hope to do in this series is break this amazing commitment “being wholly devoted to God” down into simple and practical components.

a. We will do this by allowing the parts of our body to represent ourselves and our lives.

b. We will give consideration to what it means to be wholly devoted to God in mind and heart.

c. We will wrestle with how to wholly devote our eyes and ears and tongues to God.

d. We will even get into how to wholly devote our hands, knees and feet to the Lord.

6. Will you join me in learning how to serve God with all we are and all we have?

F. Now that we have introduced the series, let’s return to a discussion about a wholly devoted mind.