Romans Chapter 12 is critical, it’s vital…an essential chapter in terms of growth and maturity in the Lord.   Essential in terms of joy, power and intimacy with God…because this chapter shows us in a style of practical mastery…the mind of Jesus, man…

You see Paul has laid out doctrine.  The wonder of grace.  The depth of the riches to be found both in the wisdom and the knowledge of God and the unstoppable force of God’s crazy love for you and for me!  And with that foundation firmly in place, Paul now gives us reasonable instruction.  In light of the wonderful truths, the marvelous grace and mercy and love of a holy and a perfect God…in light of our condition apart from grace and now our present posture clothed in the perfection of Jesus…Paul now gives us the answer to the most courageous question anyone could ask…”what am I doing wrong.”

Why is my life not where I want it to be?  Not getting Romans Chapter 12.  Why is my marriage a mess?  Not following Romans Chapter 12.  Why do I not feel close to the Lord?  Why can’t I seem to connect at church?  And why am I so relationally challenged man…let alone church, I can’t seem to connect…at work or even at home…I can’t even seem to get with the Holy Spirit man…I hear of love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self control, goodness, faithfulness and power man but my life is more like…hard…what am I doing wrong?  Chapter 12 has the answer man…and Paul has broken it down for us into a pattern…

You see Chapter 12 is one subject, three objects.  One question answered, three applications.  Three sections if you will.  Progressive in their position.  Section one deals with how faith responds to God Himself.  We looked at this last week.  Paul shows us in verses 1 and 2 precisely the mind of Christ man…the response that will lead to power, maturity and freedom…how we as Christians are to approach God. 

Then verses 3 through 8 lays out how faith responds to the church.  The body of Christ.  The family of God.  Our reasonable response.  The response that will lead to power, maturity and freedom in terms of our service and position to and within the church. 

Finally, verses 9 through 21 shows us how faith responds to the world man.  In response to what God has done, who He is and our relationship with Him.  The down-to-earth, pragmatic, functional, instructional teaching of Paul and really the commands of the Lord laid out for us and put on display here in this chapter…and notice the progressive pattern.

You want to be set free?  You want to be filled with power and purpose and direction and freedom man…then here is your mission.  First, learn doctrine.  Learn Jesus man.  Get to know Him.  Hear of Him, read of Him, talk to Him, seek Him and find Him.  And let Him fill your heart and mind with truth.  Then, respond.  Get right with Him man…your relationship with the church, your relationship with your wife, with your mom, with your friend, with your mailman…will never be right until your relationship with God is right.  That’s why Paul goes there first…

Then, get right in the family man.  Set your house in order.  Not your house with your address, this house!  Your Father’s house man!  Learn how to properly be in the church…you will not know how to handle yourself in the world if you first cannot conduct yourself properly at home…and if you are a child of God, then church is home.  And so Paul presents that second…finally, you’re ready. 

Relationship with God as it should be.  Home life as it should be.  Time to hit the streets.  Pound the pavement.  Put in work man out there as salt and light…Paul gives us action packed, sobering sane and sensible direction in all situations…with God first, the church second and the world third…what are we missing…This chapter…will answer for each of us, “what am I doing wrong?”  I wonder if you have the strength to be taught…

You see, we’ve misdiagnosed the problem.  We’ve questioned God’s faithfulness.  We’ve blamed others…and yet the problem persists.  You ever misdiagnose a problem?  Recently my bike died.  Going down the street, it just turned off…With the help of some friends, I limped it home and then began to trouble-shoot.  I replaced the starter relay.  No dice.  I replaced the starter solenoid…nope.  Time was passing, money was being spent…bike…dead.  Then after about a month I charged the battery and stuck a meter on it…1.6 volts…that could be the problem, ha!

You see I wasted time, I wasted resources, I wasted frustration, I wasted, I wasted, I wasted…fixing the wrong problem man…I’m tired of wasting time.  I’m tired of having an amazing, powerful, fast, and efficient vehicle and letting it sit dead in my garage because I’ve misdiagnosed.  I know what my problem is.  It’s me.  I’m ready to ride man…I’m finished wasting my time…and so was Paul…

Romans Chapter 12 Verse 3

• Paul knows all about thinking of himself more highly than he ought.  Immediately our minds go to Saul of Tarsus, right?.  The Pharisee of Pharisees.  The leader.  The elite!  But I’m not sure that’s where his mind is as he writes this.  Especially in light of verses 1 to 2.  I think he’s writing this, and we need to read this, in light of those verses.  Body given over to God.  Mind given over to the Lord.  Yet pride can still mess you up man…
• We see it today in churches, mega churches and mini churches alike.  Pastors and leaders who sincerely think that they are something more than the people.  Some say it, all live it…those that have fallen into pride’s pitfall…Even Paul.  Remember his sermon in Athens?  Acts Chapter 17 where he was provoked, heart-broken over all of the false gods and he makes an attempt to preach at the Romans…telling them of the “unknown god” rather than giving them the simple Gospel…
• No matter what God shows you, no matter how far He brings you, remember…you haven’t come this far because you are God’s gift to the world…Jesus was…and so quit getting high off of pride man…that’s what Paul is saying here…think soberly…you’re vision can get cloudy, your mind can get murky…why?  When?  When you lose sight of the fact that each one of us…nothing more than a rescued orphan man…
• Think of it this way…take Jesus and what He has done in your life away and what are you?  Lost, dirty, homeless, hopeless, weak, blind, hungry, hurting, lonely, harmful, angry…right?  That is fact…and so we see our true form.  The only difference today, Jesus man…the simple and pure and powerful gospel of salvation…grace…through faith…so don’t get cloudy man…don’t let pride promote you.  Remember, the branch does not support the root Paul would say…
• Do this, keep sight of this, and God can puzzle piece us together into a powerful force man…rather than a group of cancers…doing our own thing, thinking we’re something…

Romans Chapter 12 Verses 4 – 5

• This is so clear and so feasible yet so hard to digest!  The church cannot function with all pastors.  With all deacons.  With all children’s ministry workers.  With all coffee makers, or all worship leaders…no we need all of that don’t we?  Of course we do, man…so what’s your function?
• Well I don’t know, you might say.  Ok, let me help you Paul would say.  Verse 5.  Your function in the church, your ministry is first to Christ, growing close to Him and setting your mind on Him and loving Him and serving Him and then second, to one another!  It’s right there.  Plain sight…yet missed and even if not missed…what do we think so often?  That’s not enough!
• My heart breaks for folks that say they don’t do enough, they don’t know what God is calling them to…why?  Because blessing and power is in their grip man but they’ve been lied to by the enemy…he’s whispered into their ear that service to Jesus and service to others is not enough.  Hogwash man!  We’re all after the title because that is what the world says is important but God says that love is important! 
• All of the servants here…the deacons the ministry leaders the staff, they all are simply this…one body in Christ and individually members of one another!  You see the first and primary communal ministry of every Christian and every church member and every church leader is right here.  This is why we are slow to raise folks up into formal positions here…because have you got this right?  If not, a title will eat you alive man!  Go right to your head and hurt you…not to mention others!
• No.  Understand something this morning.  There is no greater title then lover of God.  Follower of Jesus.  Child of the King.  So why desire any other?  Serve out your ministry…your reasonable response and if you don’t know practically what that means then look around…find someone who is active in ministry, formal or informal and serve them.  Talk to them.  Invest in them. 
• There’s a battle a foot and if you don’t know where you should attack, then bear the arms of one who is…make sense?  You want to be in children’s ministry?  That begins with you serving those who are in it now.  You want to be a deacon here…serve the deacons…you want to be a youth leader then serve the youth leaders…got it?  God will do the rest and let me tell you, you are needed man…you fit…God has called you, and your ministry is waiting for you…just sitting in the garage, waiting for a new battery…

Romans Chapter 12 Verses 6 – 8

• Paul now walks us through the gifts of grace…and really what he’s talking about, because it’s evident in the Greek, is our passion man…what we desire…the Greek word is charisma.  Literally that’s it.  What jazzes you up.  What gets your motor running.  What do you like to do…guess who gave that to you?  Your Father.  According to His grace.
• What does that mean?  Imagine that you didn’t like to do anything.  Nothing ever seemed to be enjoyable to you…how horrible would that be?  You see, the things you enjoy, those are gifts man…because they bring what?  Joy!  And so Paul says here that God has wired you up, hooked you up man and given you passion so use it!  And he walks us through the seven roots…there are lots of branches…lots of fruit…lots of leaves…lots of ways these manifest and play out, you’ll find them in 1 Corinthians 12 (spirituals) and Ephesians 4 (positions)…but here are the seven roots…
• A friend of mine calls these super powers!  And I like that!  Ability that has been downloaded into you from on high and everyone in here is included.  Let’s take a look…
• First though, one second, Paul says different gifts according to the grace given…He doesn’t say different grace.  God does not show partiality…He has not favored one person over another…the person next to you hasn’t been given more grace than you…they may have received more…but that’s an entire different teaching…
• And so Paul mentions prophecy first.  This is not the ability to tell the future…this is simply the speaking of truth.  Hearing the matter, seeing the circumstance, observing the thing…and seeing what’s really going on…not just what’s going on on the surface, but the real issue.  Discerning the truth you see.  And the Bible actually tells us how we can grow in this area, how we can develop this super power…simply grow in your knowledge of Jesus.
• It’s Revelation 19, the angel says that the Spirit of prophecy is within those who testify of Jesus Christ.  Therefore you want to grow in your understanding of reality?  Grow in your understanding of Jesus.
• Next is ministry.  Simply service man.  Ministry takes so many forms but its only service when all it is-is action…it becomes ministry when your fuel is worship.  When what you do is because of what has been done for you, not by them, by the Lord.  Ministry manifests.  Prophecy declares truth, ministry depicts truth.  And again, the Bible tells us how we can grow and develop this gift…John 12:26 Jesus says if anyone desires to serve Me, let Him follow Me…
• Teaching is mentioned next.  So prophecy declares truth, ministry depicts truth now teaching defines truth…breaks it down…bite size chunks, meets people where they’re at and takes them on a trip…shows them the sites you see…and again, I’m seeing a theme here, the Bible tells us how to develop this gift.  2 Timothy 2 tells us that the hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops…in other words, before one can teach, they must first be taught…and Jesus tells us in John 14 our teacher is the Holy Spirit man…so again, grow in the Lord, grow in this gift.
• Next, exhortation which is simply encouragement…there are those that are just encouragers man…folks that come alongside you and say, “keep going, you’re going to make it, you’re doing well…let’s run together!”  And Paul tells us later in 2 Cor 1 that we receive encouragement from the Lord so that we may encourage others and so again…to develop this gift, you gotta get close to Jesus, man.
• Paul lists giving next.  And he says give with liberality which can also be translated simply.  It is more blessed to give than to receive Jesus taught us but to give with a grudge is a curse man…give with simplicity.  Just simply give man.  And truly some have a passion for giving.  A gift.  They just give man and certainly we know that the closer we are to the Lord, the more eternally minded we are, the more we live in the reality of forever, giving just flows naturally.
• I like the next one.  Leadership.  Awesome.  Not management.  The world will teach you management.  Manage your bills, manage your time, manage your portfolio…blah blah blah, this is leadership man.  To cut the path, smooth the way, body check the threats and defend the defenseless!  To bear the load man for those that you love and are called to serve!  Ok so I’m a little passionate about this one…but this was and is precisely how the Lord is, isn’t He?  Several passages on leadership throughout the Bible, several wonderful stories of leaders, we just don’t have time to get into it but they all boil down to this…you want to develop this gift in you…seek the Lord.  The Leader of all leaders, the King of kings man…and notice what Paul says here, he ties diligence to this gift…
• Diligence man.  You are no leader if you have not consistency.  If you do not purpose to hold fast to what others need of you.  To your commitments, to what matters to others, not just to you…leaders serve and serve with diligence…
• Finally mercy, the gift to just love on folks man…the desire, the passion for comforting…the burning need to forgive…to just get to peace…such a constant characteristic of God throughout the scripture…
• So which gift do you have?  All of them.  If you have received the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit within you, given your life to the Lord…I just described you.  “Oh no, not me.”  Cop out.  You’re just undeveloped man.  Your function may be different than mine, your position, your calling, your most fervent passion and your most developed gift, but the same Spirit we share man…
• We are on the same level in terms of grace man…God has given us both the same amount…He’s given us His Son…if someone appears more spiritual it’s not because they’re God’s favorite, it may be because they are just more developed…but I tell you this, your passions are different and your ability to develop in one or more of these areas surpasses anyone you know, for sure…
• So how do you do it?  Simply grow in the Lord man…and the whole body grows…one member gets healthy, the body gets more healthy…seek the Lord, grow in Him…and be used mightily…and precisely how you want to be used…great joy will come man…press in.
• So we’ve seen the faithful response to God, the faithful response to the family of God, next week we’ll look at our reasonable response to the world…