Sermons

When I married Sean, we made some  vows to each other. “For better or worse, richer or poorer…” you know the drill.

I don’t remember thinking much about those vows on that Saturday afternoon in late May of 1992, but I’ve thought a lot about them since then!

Making those vows was, in a very real way, committing to not allow any “lines” in our relationship with each other. I was vowing to give everything about myself, the good, the bad, and the ugly, to her. There was no compartmentalizing, nothing off-limits, nothing that would be mine-and-not-hers. I was determined to be fully set apart to this woman for as long as we both shall live.

Years later, I’m sure we’ve both struggled to keep from drawing lines around parts of our lives. Times of frustration or disappointment often cause us to want to get out a big black marker and set limits as a way of self-preservation. But that is not what we promised each other… we promised no lines no matter what.

God has given everything to us without regret or reservation. For us to fully experience the joy of being set apart to Him, we must learn to live a life without lines.

Come and join us this Sunday as we learn the key to erasing the lines.

Danny<><

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
(Romans 12:1-2)

Launch Questions:

What’s the riskiest or scariest thing you have ever done?
What made you decide to go “all in” in such a perilous situation?

Exploring Questions:

Read Romans 12:1. I erase the lines when I submit all that I am. The image is clear; we are to be a living sacrifice to the Lord. The image of the Old Testament sacrificial system immediately comes to mind (see Leviticus 1 – 7). However, when God asks for me to sacrifice myself, He doesn’t want a cold, lifeless body. He wants a living sacrifice.

Why is it important to distinguish that God is not solely asking us to sacrifice our desires or stuff but rather our whole selves?
In what ways is being a sacrifice messy and painful?

Read Romans 12:2. I erase the lines when I resist destructive influences. “Do not be conformed to this world.” It seems pretty clear. Yet many followers of Christ struggle with it. Slowly and gradually we allow the philosophy and thinking of the world to influence us, and oſten we don’t even notice.

What causes us to fail to see our own personal conformity to the world?
What is the difference between being conformed to the world and simply living in the world?

I erase the lines when I’m changed by God’s truth. The answer to conformity to the world is renewing our minds by continually checking back to His truth to be renewed in our perspective on life.

How has God’s truth renewed your thinking in the last three months?
Practically, what are some simple ways you continually renew your mind?

Response Questions:

What does a lack of pursuit of God’s Word reveal about a person’s heart?
How serious is it spiritually when a person is not not daily, in God’s Word?
What needs to change for God’s Word to take greater priority in your life?