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Sermons with Homework

Romans 12:9-21 (Matthew 16:21-28)

If you were in church last week, you were given a homework assignment. If you weren’t, you’re getting it now. In opening the 12th chapter of the letter to the Romans, Paul encourages his readers to be “living sacrifices” by not conforming to this age. There are two questions to ponder: how have you (perhaps almost unnoticeably) become conformed to the world and in what ways might you want to be what Martin Luther King Jr. called “transformed nonconformists.”

Paul gives us some hints in the closing verses of chapter 12: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” I don’t think any of us would argue that those are not admirable qualities. But look at the world around you and ask yourself if they are what the world is striving for. Imagine if Paul’s words were the ground rules for Presidential candidates or for that matter, homeowners association meeting.

And if you decided to not conform to this age, how might you become an instrument of personal and community transformation? What did Jesus mean when he said, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it”?

The prayer this week comes from Psalm 51, and should be familiar to you:

Create in me a clean heart O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

--Pastor Steve Hammer, August 25, 2011

Sermon August 21, 2011