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Begin by reading Hebrews 12:18-29

Today marks our 40th and last day of our Living Sacrifice series. Let me take a moment to say how humbled I am that you have chosen to make this part of your spiritual growth. I’ve been moved by the emails and the encouragement. That means so much to me. So, thank you.

You know, the idea for doing this came to me just before we started our Living Sacrifice sermon series, and I knew it would be a lot of work. I just didn’t know how much work it would be. I thought it was a commitment to provide teaching to our church, but I think God has used it to teach me more than anyone else. It has been an intense 40 days, but I can’t tell you how much it has absolutely blessed me. In fact, it might have been one of the most rewarding spiritual endeavors I’ve ever done. Each day, I disciplined myself to read and study Scripture, reflect on it, write about it, and God really opened His Word to me. He has taught me so much about the church and moved in my heart making me a more godly leader. It has been utterly amazing.

We are about a week into the season of Lent, where many Christians choose to fast something for the forty days leading to Easter. The popular item to fast this year seems to be Facebook. On a lot of friends’ walls, there’s a message that says, “If you need to get a hold of me, email me, as I will be off Facebook until Easter.” I was reflecting on my last forty days, and I realized how much I had given up because I was busy working on these devotionals – time that otherwise I would have spent watching TV, on Facebook, or even more noble projects like washing dishes (I owe a huge thank you to my supportive wife Karlene – dinner dates and pampering to follow, I promise!). A lot of those things I gave up, I didn’t really miss. I can’t say that I wish I watched more TV instead of doing this exercise.

Suddenly, I had a revelation about Lent. You know, whenever we fast, we often think about what we are giving up, but what is it that we’re putting into it or gaining? Sometimes it’s good to fast something to learn not to be reliant on it, but I really liked what one friend said. “I’ve decided to take a break from Facebook in order to spend more time with the Lord and in His Word.” If all we’re doing is giving up something, I’m not sure we’re truly understanding the purpose of fasting.

I think that you’ll find that there may be times when you need to get away from something. Jesus removed Himself on occasion, and He even went into the wilderness fasting for forty days. While He was there to be tested, I imagine that Jesus was also communing with His Heavenly Father. The spiritual journey must have been so rewarding, as it says in Luke 4:14 that he returned in the power of the Spirit. Let me encourage you to make occasional intense spiritual journeys, as these will have a powerful impact on your life.

Have you ever heard the saying, “There are some people that just let life happen and others that make life happen.” I think the same could be said about our Christian lives. Some people just passively live the Christian life – they don’t do a lot of things wrong, they’re good to their family, and they go to church. And there are some that are active in their Christian walks. They’re not content to merely be pursued by God. No they’re the ones on the pursuit. Let me challenge you to be the latter.

Let me challenge you to be the Jacobs who wrestle with God and not let go, the Moses’ who venture up the mountains to find where God is and then bring His Word to an unbelieving generation. Let me dare you to be the Daniels and the Davids, the Enochs and the Elijahs, the prophets who seek the Lord’s voice and the priests who serve God’s people.

To be a living sacrifice, we must be consumed. Just as the fire fell from heaven on the soaked altar, so we must surrender our lives totally to God, and let His holy fire burn within us. In doing so, our actions become sweet aromas to the Lord and food for the Body of Christ. There is something wonderful that happens when we taste of the living water. We drink, are satisfied, and we want more. As A.W. Tozer said, “To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart.”

While this concludes our forty day series, we still have a lifetime to go. Again, thank you for taking the time to join with me. I hope it was a blessing to you. I would love to hear from you about how this series has impacted your life. If you’d like, join our discussion on New Hope Chapel’s Facebook page (some of you may need to wait until after Easter). Just click on the discussion link under our picture and post your comments. If you missed any of our series, you can find both the text and the audio versions at newhopechapel.org. Stay tuned as we’re looking at doing more of this in the future. And if you’d like to join me in writing and podcasting, I would love for you to do so. If your experience is anything like mine has been, let me just say, “prepare to be blessed.”

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Begin by reading Hebrews 11:5-6

Today’s reading is about one of my favorite Biblical characters – Enoch. You know, not much is said about Enoch. In fact, he is talked about more in the New Testament than the Old Testament. I remember when I first read Enoch’s account in Genesis. It says so little, but it’s so profound. I love what one man said about Enoch’s ascension into heaven. It’s as if God said to him, “Enoch, we’ve been walking a long time now, and we’re closer to my house than yours. Why don’t you just come home with me.”

Being a living sacrifice begins with knowing and walking with God. That was the first day’s message, and now we are at day 39, and I’m coming back to this crucial point. Walking with God is precious. It is a craving for your Heavenly Father. It is not coming to Him merely to ask for things. It is coming to Him because He is your Heavenly Father and your Rabbi. When you sit with the Holy Spirit, aware of His presence, knowledgeable of Who this is and what He has and can do, we suddenly tremble with the weight of glory. We get an inkling of what it must have been like for the High Priest to enter the Most Holy Place, or Moses to stand on top of Mount Sinai, or the disciples to watch the transfiguration of Jesus. In other words, we marvel at the Glory of the Eternal God.

Do not be surprised when this habit of being with God causes change in your life. Do not be surprised when your heart’s desire is moved, and the things you once craved for suddenly have little relevance. Do not be surprised when your heart is moved to compassion for others. You are getting a heart transplant. Moses’ face radiated from the presence of God. Your entire life will do the same. It’s a process. Little by little, step by step, day by day, this transformation occurs. Do not be surprised when one day someone will say to you, “You are different. You are changing. You have become more Holy like our Lord.” And then you will know that the discipline and spiritual exercise is having an effect on you, so much so, that even others have taken notice.

As you grow, you will find God asking of you. He may give you a desire to minister in some way (where you had no desire in the past). When you say, “yes” to God, He equips you. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. We all do. What we ought to be afraid of is saying “no” to God and watching whatever opportunity to bear fruit whither before our eyes. Do not be afraid and say, “God, you have not gifted me for the thing you are asking me to do.” Sometimes, we discover what our gifts are only after using them.

I’ve seen this in my own life, especially in the last nine months. When our friend and pastor – Gary Derechinsky left to go to California, I said to God, “I have no interest in doing anymore than I am doing now. Bring someone else to do the work God, and I’ll just support him.” God had different plans, and He totally transformed my heart. I have never loved ministry more than I do now, and all I can say is that it has nothing to do with me; it has everything to do with the Holy Spirit moving in me.

I appreciate what Steve Coleman had to say about this last Sunday in his sermon on the gifts and the church. He said that we can find our gifts by following the prescription of Romans 12:1-8. Walk with God, be committed to being a living sacrifice, be humble, love the church, and do what it is that God is telling you to do.

But the first step is the biggest step. Walk with God. I think we all wish to leave some sort of legacy after we pass away. We want to leave some mark on the world and be remembered by it. If you were to die today, what would people remember about you – a contribution at your work, an act of service, being a good parent?

Consider Enoch’s legacy for a moment. You may not know this, but there is a book in the apocrypha called the Book of Enoch. I realize that many question its authenticity (even though it is quoted from in the Book of Jude), but it is fascinating nonetheless. It basically chronicles Enoch’s life in the context of the fallen angels and the Nephtalim – a time when the earth was violent and depraved. The book is filled with amazing visions of Heaven, conversations that Enoch shares with the fallen angels and with the Lord Himself, and the prophecy he gives concerning the flood. However, I would venture to say not many of us have read that book, and so we don’t know him for this. But what we do know is the little bit mentioned in Genesis 5. “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more because God took Him away.” He is remembered for walking with God, and I think Enoch would be the first to tell you, that is the most fulfilling legacy one could ever desire to have.

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Begin by reading 1 Corinthians 13

I know that this series was meant to focus on living out the first eight verses of Romans 12, but I can’t possibly talk about the importance and functions of the Body of Christ without talking about Romans 12:9 and the importance of love. There are four passages in Scripture that deal with spiritual gifts – 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4, and each time the subject is mentioned, it is always surrounded with teaching on love and unity.

1 Corinthians 13 is often read in weddings and applied to a marriage relationship. However, many forget that the context of this famous chapter is that Paul is writing to a church and teaching about spiritual gifts. His point can be summed up in the first couple of verses: It doesn’t matter if you have all of the spiritual gifts in the world. If you don’t love the people with whom you are sharing your gifts, you have nothing and are accomplishing nothing.

In a world plagued by self-interest, self-righteousness, and selfishness, perhaps this is the greatest lesson that we could possibly learn. Love is like worship. It is a choice, not a feeling. Falling in love and the pitter-patter beating of your heart is not the love I’m talking about. I’m talking about the choice to put someone’s interests above your own. Our society lacks that kind of love. We see it in corporate greed, in the astounding divorce rate, in abortion, and in how many churches operate. Dare I say that few understand how to love because we have misunderstood what love is.

I believe that this misunderstanding of love in the church is directly correlated to a misunderstanding of church. In our business-minded society, we can easily begin thinking of church as an organization rather than an organism. While we have legal requirements to be incorporated by the State and financial obligations, we ought not to think of the church as a business. Businesses think in terms of economics. Economics is only concerned with numbers and statistics, intentionally ignoring actual lives. We must be different. We must love individuals.

Let’s be honest. Sometimes, it’s hard to love everyone at church, or at least it’s hard to like them. There may be people with whom we have nothing in common. Certain personalities may annoy us. We may disagree with someone’s point of view or way they go about doing something. It’s important to remember that love is not a feeling born out of convenience, rather it is a choice, born out of self-sacrifice. I do not say this because I am an expert at sacrificial love. I confess my failures and my shortcomings. Perhaps this forty day exercise is more for me than anyone else, and the Lord has used these days of study and reflection to make me see the necessity and priority of love in church leadership.

Let me close with this thought. One of the gifts I have often longed for is the gift of healing. In college, I was enamored by the stories of missionaries healing people – raising people to life, limbs growing back, and vision and hearing restored. I wanted to be that person that could go around healing people. I’m not sure God will ever give me that gift, but I do remember Him telling me, “Healing people should not be born out of a desire to use the gift but motivated because you deeply love the stricken person and are moved to see them whole.”

Perhaps the lack of the gift of miraculous healing in America is correlated with the lack of love in American churches. May we be different. May we grow in our love for church because we grow in our love for the people that are the church. May we be like Jesus who looked beyond outside appearances into the soul of each person. He was so motivated by love that He couldn’t help but heal the sick. He was so motivated by love that He gave up His life for us. That’s love. Hopefully, we will choose to love each other like Christ chose to love us.

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Begin by reading Philippians 2:1-11

The Bible talks about a number of mystical unions. Genesis 2:24 teaches us that a man and woman who marry become one flesh. The Trinity – that God is One yet three Persons is another mystical union. The church is another. While a number of words are used in the New Testament to describe the church, the Greek word for body – soma, used in Romans 12:5 – offers a number of illustrations we can draw from.

Paul talks about this mystic union when he says in 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body.” Regarding this mystical union, we would do well as a church to mimic the Trinity. This is the most holy and majestic of all mystic unions and undefiled by sin. There is a sweet submissiveness that we see in Jesus as He says in Luke 22:42, “Not my will but thine be done.” Jesus’ teaching in John 5 emphasizes a beautiful and mysterious relationship. It is a relationship of trusting, empowering, and glorifying the other members. While they are literally One, they are so in-sync and intertwined, that each One can be seen in the others. Jesus told His disciples in John 14:9, “If you’ve seen me, then you’ve seen the Father.”

Secondly, when considering the analogy of the church to the body, we should note that the body parts are attached. The Trinity was not a long distance relationship. Jesus existed with the Father, and on earth, we see times where Jesus removes Himself from the crowds in order to connect with Him. Churches where interactions only occur on Sunday mornings will never achieve true unity. Unfortunately, in suburban America, where we are spread out, we miss out on the tight community aspect on which the early church thrived.

Your office may use the phrase, “keep relationships professional” or “maintain a professional distance.” This should not be applied to church. Our church relationships are not supposed to be professional; they are supposed to be personal. Fellowship is key to building relationships. Relationships are key to building unity.

Third, because the body parts are attached, one movement affects the entire body. For example, consider what happens when you get embarrassed. First, your ears send a signal to your brain, then there’s a tingly sensation that makes its way through your body, followed by your cheeks and ears getting red, and then you start sweating. One sensation and movement affects the others. While we could talk in depth about the consequences of sin on the Body of Christ, let me focus on the positive effects this has.

Since September, I have been working out, nearly five days a week. It has had a tremendous effect on my body. My muscles have gotten larger, fat has burned off, I have more stamina and energy, and I’ve been less prone to illness. Did you know that when you work out, you may tone one area of the body, but you burn fat all over your body, not just in the area that is getting exercise? When you spiritually exercise (walk with God, pray, study, train, and use your spiritual gifts), you are toning yourself as a member of the body of Christ. However, you will influence and impact the entire body. If you’re active in the church, your personal walk with God will affect the ministry you’re involved in as well as the people you minister to.

While entire books have been written about unity in the Body of Christ, let me leave you with this thought. You can’t force unity. Like the movement of a body, it’s natural. However, muscles need to be exercised in order to develop and grow. First, we need to be personal living sacrifices and walk with God. Secondly, we need to spend time with each other and let those relationships grow. That doesn’t mean more church activities per se. It might just mean hanging out. Let me encourage you to invite a church family over or out for dinner once every week or two. As we build those relationships, we will be desirous to look out for the best interests of each other. At that point, unity is inevitable.

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