The Surrendered Life

Romans 12 - The Surrendered Life
Dave Riddle - 09/15/19

Key Passage: Romans 12:1-2

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you:” - Romans 12:1 (Message)

An Impassioned Plea

• I urge you (Romans 12:1)

  • parakaleō (Greek: παρακαλέω) - to admonish, exhort. to beg, entreat, beseech...

To whom? All the family of God.

• Romans 12:1 - “therefore brothers and sisters...”

On what grounds? God’s mercies.

• Mercies plural

• Not because of anything we’ve done, but because the mercy he shows us again and again.

This call has two facets

• A Living Sacrifice (12:1)

  • Our bodies

    • A shocking statement for Paul’s Roman audience who saw the body as a grave.

  • Our worship

    • Our body is not a tomb, but a tool to worship God in everything we do!

    • Our physical bodies become a spiritual act of worship.

• Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (12:2)

  • Don’t just be like everyone else. (Conformity)

  • Allow yourself to be transformed.

    • Daily and continually, not a one time event.

    • metamorphoō (Greek: μεταμορφόω) - to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure.

  • The world’s standards and God’s will are so far apart that you cannot just take a little bit of each.

Spiritual Formation Pt. 2

Vitals - Spiritual Formation Pt. 2
Dave Riddle - 07/14/19
Key Verses: Philippians 3:10, Galatians 4:19

ginōskō (Greek: γινώσκω) - to know by experience, in contract to an intellectual or intuitive type of knowledge.

• it’s one thing to know what sunburn is, it’s another thing completely to ‘experience’ sunburn.

symmorphizō (Greek: συμμορφίζω) - to receive the same form as; to be conformed to.

• Luke 6:40 - ...everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

• We are being transformed, not by our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual Practices & Rhythms

• Not obligations, but invitations!

Study

• Philippians 4:8 - “...dwell on these things”

• Repetition, conversation, reflection

Meditation

• Psalm 63:6 HCSB): When I think of You as I lie on my bed, I meditate on You during the night watches

• On scripture, on the works of God, on the things we see happening around us.

Prayer

• “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the spiritual disciplines, prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the father.” -R. Foster ‘Celebration of Discipline’

Fasting

• Luke 4:1-2 - Jesus fasted.

• “More than any other discipline fasting reveals the things that control us.” - R. Foster ‘Celebration of Discipline’

• Matthew 6:16 - not a requirement, but it does appear to be an expectation. “when you fast”

Solitude

• Mark 1:35

• Solitude =/= loneliness

• Let him who cannot be alone beware of community... Let him who is not in community beware of being alone... Each by itself has profound perils and pitfalls. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and the one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation and despair.” - Bonhoeffer ‘Life Together’

Simplicity 

• “The central point for the discipline of simplicity is to seek the kingdom of God and righteousness of his kingdom first and then everything necessary will come in it’s proper order.” - R. Foster ‘Celebration of Discipline’

Submission

• To God, to the cross, to scripture, to our family, our neighbors, to the needs of others, to the body of Christ.

Service

• John 13:15 - "For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you. "

Be Bold - Grad Sunday 2019

Be Bold

Phil Woodman - 06/02/19

Key Passage: 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Steps to a bold life that impacts the world for Jesus.

Bold Trust

• You have followed my teaching

  • 2 Timothy 3:10

• Continue on in it

  • 2 Timothy 3:14-15

Consistent Choices

• Conduct - manner of life

  • 2 Timothy 3:10

• Living sacrifice

  • Romans 12:1-2

  • Transformed, not conformed

Embrace our Purpose

• Testify to the gospel of God’s grace

  • Acts 20:24

Expect Opposition

• “All who want to live a godly life will be persecuted”

  • 2 Timothy 3:11-13