Amy, welcome home! We are glad you are part of the family at Reveal. We are thankful you are learning and growing in Christ. Soon we will be having a new to Reveal meeting, please call the office to sign up. God Bless You Amy
Thanks for addressing this issue instead of hiding from it like so many churches have. One thingbI would like to say, however. Reflecting on God's mercies will not necessarily bring us closer to the Spirit of God so that we can hear His call on our lives. The second half of Romans 12:1 is much more important, that is to give yourself up as a living sacrifice. Time in His Word, time in prayer, time in Spirit directed reflection is what will help us hear Him.
I got something very different from that part of the sermon. I don’t see Romans12:1a less important than the second part of the verse. For example: The sacrifice of mercy displayed by The Son at the cross moved The Father to provide power for The resurrection for newness of life. One is not more important than the other. The latter is an overflow from the former. When we by faith receive the mercy found in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, by grace we receive the power to live in newness of life. This is the progressive process of us working out our salvation with fear and trembling. As a Christian, we can have time in the word and prayer without being in the spirit. I have personally fell for this form of legalism to many times. “Cart before the horse”. However, one cannot truly “veiw” the mercy of the cross in faith, and not be compelled to offer themselves in true worship through devotion of every part of their being. By grace alone.
@bensmith5488 I appreciate how God's mercy can lead us closer to Him. However, I personal have, and I have seen many other Christians, struggled with the idea that my sin is insurmountable and I just fall upon the mercy of God to saveme...and I believe He will. That is not God's desire formy life, or Christians in general. He wants us to overcome our sin. I only point to that because it demonstrates how God's mercy towards us can be misused. The primary point that led to the pastor going to Romans 12 was to explain how we can be more in touch with the Holy Spirit so that He can direct our thoughts and actions when approaching people who support sinful lifestyles, and I would say that giving our lives to God is how we grow closer to the Spirit of God, not just acknowledging His mercy. We must make a sacrifice to grow our relationship with God.
