Romans 12:1-2 KJVS
[1] I beseech also therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Allow me to lay some groundwork for today’s main thought before I get to it. The word transformed in this passage comes from the Greek word metamorphoō. Here are a few of its meanings: change, alter, convert, remodel, reconstruct, rearrange, renew, overhaul, stir up, turn upside down.
The main part of the verb transform and the noun transformation is form. That root word means to shape, to establish, to create. The prefix in the words is trans, which means across and indicates change or movement. If we put those meanings together, to transform something means to change the shape of something, to move the place something is established, to change from one type of created thing into a different type of creation.
In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul talks about being transformed as followers of Christ. He says our minds are to be renewed. We are remade into a new type of creation because of the cross of Jesus Christ. We are to become so different from our former lives that we no longer to think, talk or act like we used to before we were forgiven. We are to change who we are by growing in our knowledge of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Something in nature that grows is in a constant state of change. We plant a seed, the seed changes by breaking open, and then it is reshaped into a plant with a stem, leaves and some sort of fruit that will produce more seeds to continue the cycle of life for that plant.
That same concept holds true for our spiritual lives. We are reborn spiritually when the Holy Spirit draws us to repentance and we seek forgiveness from God. Our lives then become based in the grace and mercy of God’s eternal spiritual principles, instead of the world’s evil temporary principles. In order for us to grow and produce fruit spiritually, we must change how we think about ourselves and reshape our existence so it resembles Jesus and His holiness. We have to change, be transformed, so we can grow as individual followers of Christ.
Our focus for the coming year is on the new banner—Be Transformed. We are going to take a close look at the process of transforming our lives to be more like Jesus. We all are at various stages in our spiritual walk with Christ. There’s not a single person under the sound of my voice in this room or online who has become completely like Jesus yet. We all can benefit from renewing our lives so they reflect our Lord and Savior more.
It’s my prayer that, by the time the Holy Spirit leads us into a new area of focus, we all will be walking, talking, thinking and acting more like Jesus. It’s my prayer that, when people see you outside the confines of these four walls, they see someone who is a great example of a disciple of Jesus. It’s my prayer that we all can be transformed more into the image of Jesus.
As we grow in Christ as individuals this year, it is also my prayer that the ministry of this whole congregation, this local assembly of believers, will also be transformed to become more like the early church. We already know that the gospel about Jesus was shared by individuals who had encountered His saving power as they interacted with other people they knew. They spread the good news about forgiveness and the love of God wherever they went to new people with whom they had developed some sort of relationship.
This year I challenge you to expand your circles of contact to include more new people with whom you have not been close in the past. I challenge you to join me in focusing on three specific groups of people in this community and the surrounding areas.
We’re in the town of Westville and close to Ponce de Leon and Caryville. Let’s become involved in Westville by connecting with the Town Council as a whole and with its individual members. Let’s attend council meetings and lend our support to the people on the council. If we can help the town of Westville in any manner, let’s do it. By doing this, we can develop relationships with new people. By the way, there’s a Council meeting this Tuesday at 7 PM.
You already know we send food packs home with children at Head Start on Fridays. Let’s strengthen our relationship there by connecting with the staff and with the children as much as we are allowed to interact with them. The staff and families that have children at Head Start are just like us. They have dreams and struggles, too. If we can reach out to them and support them every way possible by doing simple things like praying for them, fixing a meal for the staff, or sending them Valentine’s treats or cards in February, let’s do it.
We’re working on developing our Children’s and Youth Center. One of our main reasons for doing that is to give area young people a safe place to gather with friends and just be together. It’s time we start doing that by having a Youth Night on a regular basis.
Let’s start in February on the second Friday night. That’s two weeks away. Invite everyone you know who has children or teenagers at home to come join in for a night of food, games, conversations around a bonfire, and clean music playing in the background. My recommendation is to open The Landing for these families from 8-11pm, and let’s see what we are able to accomplish.
Please notice something about these three areas of connecting with new people in our community. Two of the three involve our getting out of this building and going to where the new people are. The gospel was spread throughout the world by people who went outside their place of worship to other locations. Our efforts to share Jesus with people must be transformed so we are taking our faith to folks outside this building. By helping people outside find the love of God and forgiveness, we can help them to be transformed, too.