Together in Christ
Series: in Christ
Speaker: Chris Edwards
Date: 16th August 2026
Passage: Romans 12:1-13
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 If you've got Romans 12 open, that will help you and it will help me.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 Let me pray and we'll have a look at it together.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:15 Dear Father, we thank you that your word has been preserved so that we can look at it together.
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 We can learn from it together.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:24 And that your spirit will speak to us through it.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:29 So I pray that this morning I'll be able to get out of the way as you speak into our hearts.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:30 Amen.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:39 I do confirmations pretty much every week, but that doesn't stop them from being special.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:45 Every time I lead a service where I meet people who've decided they want to stand up
00:00:45 --> 00:00:51 and declare to all their friends and family, their church that they belong to,
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 that they want to follow Jesus for the rest of their life, it's exciting.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:55 It's really encouraging.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 It is the best part of my job.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:58 There's no question about that.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:04 But I kind of, as I do it, I keep thinking, I wonder if people have thought about it.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 What does a Christian look like?
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 I mean, we know where they're going to stand up in a minute.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:13 We're going to look at them.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:21 But what does a saved Christian person, someone who's saved from their sins, what do they look like?
00:01:21 --> 00:01:22 What does a saved person look like?
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 So I thought I'd get some photos.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 I don't know whether they're on the PowerPoint or they should be.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 I've got some pictures here of saved people.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:33 Can we have the first one?
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 That's not it.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:39 That's transformed.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:40 Oh, there we are.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 Which person in this picture do you think is saved?
00:01:45 --> 00:01:46 I'll give you the clue.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 It's the old guy with his mouth open.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:49 Tony Bullimore.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:50 Do you remember him?
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 Anybody remember Tony Bullimore?
00:01:52 --> 00:01:53 Come on, please help me.
00:01:54 --> 00:01:54 Yeah.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:55 Thank you.
00:01:55 --> 00:02:05 Tony Bullimore was sailing around the world in a solo yacht race and he was doing pretty well but not in front and he wanted to win.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:19 He worked out that if he left the south of Africa and cut across the southern ocean, really close to Antarctica, he could get to the bottom of South America quicker than the others in the race.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:31 The risk is that the seas down there are massive and they were and they not only smashed his mast, they took the keel off his yacht.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:39 If you have a boat in the southern ocean without a keel and without a mast, you are basically doomed and he thought he was.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:40 He thought he was going to die.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:54 He let off his emergency beacon and the RAAF and the Royal Australian Navy put a mission together where they found him in the southern ocean bobbing around in his yacht.
00:02:54 --> 00:02:58 It was basically like being on a cork in the ocean.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 They found him and they rescued him.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:05 He met the guy who was flying the helicopter and he hugged him and kissed him.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:06 Next photo.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:11 Which person in this shot do you think has just been saved?
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 You know, the guy coming out of the cage.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 Do you remember the Beaconsfield mine?
00:03:18 --> 00:03:18 Yeah.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:19 Remember that?
00:03:20 --> 00:03:27 They had been cramped and trapped in a mine in Tasmania for nine days.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 They could hardly walk.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:44 But when he came up in the lift, having been rescued, and he saw his wife, he threw his arms in the hair and he raced over and burst into tears and hugged her.
00:03:44 --> 00:03:45 What a surprise, right?
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 No surprise, really.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:48 Well, this next picture.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:55 More recently, only a few weeks ago, this man was in a cave mining.
00:03:55 --> 00:04:04 Mining is dangerous, but they usually have mines, particularly in Australia, have engineers that tell you how the mine can be built.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 In Laos, they're mining in caves.
00:04:08 --> 00:04:08 No engineering.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:14 The cave flooded and they were trapped.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:23 But through the heroic rescue work of people, doctors and swimmers and cave dwellers, I don't know what they...
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 They rescued this man.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:25 He came racing out.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:31 He'd been down there without food, water, or anything and ran straight to his family.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:35 There was no guessing which person had been saved.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:42 So I want to ask you in the question again, what does a baptised, confirmed, saved person look like?
00:04:42 --> 00:04:49 It's pretty easy in those photos to work out who's been saved because of their response.
00:04:49 --> 00:04:54 They jump, they scream, they cry, they hug, they are affectionate and they let everybody know.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:56 They let everybody know.
00:04:57 --> 00:05:01 But what does a baptised, confirmed and saved person look like?
00:05:02 --> 00:05:05 Because I've got to tell you, I do confirmations every week.
00:05:06 --> 00:05:11 And most times they're the people who timidly, shyly, quietly stand on stage in front of everybody going,
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 can I sit down?
00:05:14 --> 00:05:15 But what about you?
00:05:15 --> 00:05:16 Are you a saved person?
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 What do you look like?
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 Do you look exactly the same as your neighbours?
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 Do you live the same way as everybody else?
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 Because you see, Romans chapter 12 is where Paul says,
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 actually, if you're a saved person,
00:05:33 --> 00:05:37 you can't live like everybody else.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 Let me take you again to those first couple of verses.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 I want to urge you, says Paul,
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 in view of God's mercies.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:50 If you've got your own Bible there and it says mercy, singular,
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 I can tell you now with all the authority of a bishop,
00:05:54 --> 00:05:55 you can cross that out and put in mercies.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:56 It's plural.
00:05:57 --> 00:05:58 I don't know why the translators put it as singular.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 In view of all the things that God has done,
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 the incredible actions that he has taken,
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 in view of all of God's mercies,
00:06:09 --> 00:06:14 I appeal to you to live differently.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 Your worship, your life,
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 holy and pleasing to God.
00:06:22 --> 00:06:23 And then he goes on.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:23 See in verse 2?
00:06:23 --> 00:06:31 Don't conform any longer to the pattern of this world.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:33 Be different.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:34 Don't look the same.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:36 So I want to ask you again,
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 what does a saved person look like?
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 What does a rescued person do?
00:06:45 --> 00:06:46 It's different.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:47 We live differently.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 And I want to say to all of you people who are standing up to be confirmed,
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 I want to encourage you to live differently,
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 to be different.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 But to really get an understanding of what Paul's doing here,
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 I want to go all the way back to chapter 1.
00:07:02 --> 00:07:02 You're thinking,
00:07:03 --> 00:07:04 how long are we going to be here?
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 We've only just got into two verses of chapter 12,
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 and already he's taken us all the way back to chapter 1.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 It's because I want you to understand why Paul says,
00:07:14 --> 00:07:15 you need to be different.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 It's because of what God has done.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 And back in chapter 1,
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 we see what we are by nature.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 By nature, we ignore God.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:27 By nature,
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 we don't give him any time at all.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:35 And in chapters 1 and chapter 2 and chapter 3 of Romans,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:36 Paul lays that out.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:37 He says,
00:07:37 --> 00:07:37 by nature,
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 what you'll do is you'll go and make idols.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:46 You'll go and make other things that will fill the place that belongs to me,
00:07:47 --> 00:07:47 says God.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 And you can see that in the world.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:50 People,
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 they've literally done it in terms of carving timbers and woods
00:07:53 --> 00:07:59 or making statues out of all kinds of metals or stone,
00:07:59 --> 00:08:00 and then they worship it.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:05 I've travelled around the world and seen it in temples and in buildings,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 in India or in Asia.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 I've even seen it in restaurants around here.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:12 People have got little idols.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 But you know what?
00:08:16 --> 00:08:20 We don't even need those to have idols.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 We can make an idol out of anything.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:26 Because an idol is anything that takes God's place.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:28 And by nature,
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 we will do that.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 We will put things in God's place and we ignore him.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 And the evidence of that is often seen
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 when people only think of God either at Christmas and Easter,
00:08:39 --> 00:08:40 maybe.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 Quite often at funerals,
00:08:42 --> 00:08:42 I've discovered.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:44 Otherwise,
00:08:44 --> 00:08:45 he doesn't figure in their life at all.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 He has no place,
00:08:48 --> 00:08:49 no time.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 But by the time Paul gets to chapter 5,
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 there's an incredible change that's happened.
00:08:58 --> 00:08:59 By nature,
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 we've pushed God out,
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 either by putting somebody else deliberately in its place,
00:09:04 --> 00:09:05 rock,
00:09:05 --> 00:09:05 stone,
00:09:05 --> 00:09:06 gold,
00:09:06 --> 00:09:06 whatever,
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 or ignoring him entirely.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:10 But in chapter 5,
00:09:11 --> 00:09:16 we discover that God doesn't ignore us.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 It's really clear in chapter 5,
00:09:19 --> 00:09:20 Paul says,
00:09:20 --> 00:09:20 by nature,
00:09:21 --> 00:09:22 we ignore God.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:24 And by doing that,
00:09:24 --> 00:09:25 we become his enemies.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:33 But God doesn't treat us like enemies.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:35 He shows us mercy.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:36 Now,
00:09:36 --> 00:09:37 I've said that before at churches,
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 and some people have been really offended.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:40 They've said to me,
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 look,
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 I think you're overstating it a bit.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 People may ignore God,
00:09:45 --> 00:09:46 but they don't make,
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 it's not an enemy situation.
00:09:49 --> 00:09:50 Well,
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 let me say,
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 with the greatest respect,
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 I'm only repeating what Paul said,
00:09:58 --> 00:09:58 and actually,
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 who said you could be the judge of
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 what is the enemy or not?
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 It's a bit like my grandfather
00:10:05 --> 00:10:06 was in World War I,
00:10:06 --> 00:10:07 right?
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 My grandfather was in World War I.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 He was fighting on the Western Front
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 in northern France
00:10:13 --> 00:10:13 and in Belgium.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:15 He was in trench warfare,
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 and they would go from one trench
00:10:16 --> 00:10:17 to the other.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 And there was one moment
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 where he was carrying a machine gun.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:22 He was in the Vickers,
00:10:22 --> 00:10:23 Machine Gunners,
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 and he was going over the top,
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 carrying the machine gun with his,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 there was two of them who carried it,
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 jumped into the next trench,
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 right on top of a German soldier.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 And the guy was there
00:10:34 --> 00:10:35 and just threw his hands in the air.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 And in the clearest English said,
00:10:38 --> 00:10:39 I surrender.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:39 In fact,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:40 he had a British accent,
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 but he was wearing a German uniform.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:44 And my grandfather,
00:10:44 --> 00:10:45 who had a machine gun,
00:10:45 --> 00:10:46 but no sidearms,
00:10:47 --> 00:10:47 just said,
00:10:47 --> 00:10:47 well,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:48 you're captured.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:50 And so he said,
00:10:50 --> 00:10:51 yeah,
00:10:51 --> 00:10:51 I give in.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 And they started chatting to him.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:54 They said,
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 your English is very good.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:56 He said,
00:10:56 --> 00:10:57 I studied at Cambridge,
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 but I was born in Germany
00:10:59 --> 00:11:00 and grew up there.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:01 And so,
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 although I was educated in Cambridge,
00:11:03 --> 00:11:04 I've gone back to Germany
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 and I'm a cook.
00:11:07 --> 00:11:07 They said,
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 a cook?
00:11:09 --> 00:11:09 No,
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 the Australians didn't have a cook.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:12 They used to eat terrible food.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:13 So they thought,
00:11:13 --> 00:11:14 a cook?
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 So they got him to take his jacket off
00:11:16 --> 00:11:17 and they put an Australian jacket on him
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 and they included him in their group.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 He was harmless.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 He was a nice guy.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:22 In fact,
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 they called him Smitty.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:29 When their British officer came around
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 and did a head count,
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 he noticed the numbers had gone up,
00:11:33 --> 00:11:34 which is unusual in war.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 And he was trying to work out
00:11:39 --> 00:11:40 what was going on
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 and they came to name off
00:11:43 --> 00:11:43 and they said,
00:11:43 --> 00:11:44 oh, no, Smitty,
00:11:44 --> 00:11:44 he's been,
00:11:44 --> 00:11:45 no, Smitty,
00:11:45 --> 00:11:46 he's a great bloke.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:47 He's been with us for ages.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:48 No, he's a good bloke,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:48 good bloke,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:49 good bloke.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 When the officer discovered
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 he was an enemy,
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 he treated him as an enemy.
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 He was arrested and taken off
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 because he was an enemy.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 It's not up to my grandfather to decide.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 It's not up to me to decide.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 God says the way we ignore him
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 makes us his enemy.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 Now, what can we do about that?
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 Well, Smitty could cook,
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 but even his good deeds
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 didn't make him an Australian.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:18 What could make him?
00:12:20 --> 00:12:21 The only way that could happen
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 is a declaration from the king
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 and that's what Paul says happens for us.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 There's a declaration made
00:12:28 --> 00:12:29 by the king of kings
00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 and the lord of lords
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 that you can stop being my enemy
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 and become my friend.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:36 No, no, actually,
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 it's more than that.
00:12:37 --> 00:12:38 Chapter five
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 and into chapter eight,
00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 you don't just become God's friend,
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 you become a member
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 of the royal family.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:49 Can you imagine that?
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 Being taken from being an enemy
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 and given the status
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 of the family
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 of the king of kings.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 Wow.
00:13:02 --> 00:13:03 But that's the promise
00:13:03 --> 00:13:04 that Romans chapter eight,
00:13:04 --> 00:13:05 verse one has.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 If you are in Christ,
00:13:08 --> 00:13:09 there is no longer
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 any condemnation for you.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 So believe in Jesus.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 What an incredible mercy.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:18 And Paul in chapter nine
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 makes it abundantly clear
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 that that change in status
00:13:24 --> 00:13:25 from being an enemy
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 to being a family member
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 doesn't happen
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 because of anything
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 we have done.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:32 In fact,
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 chapter nine,
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 verse 16
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 makes it abundantly clear
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 that it's through God's mercy,
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 not our desire
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 or by our effort.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 And if you've never noticed
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 that verse,
00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 I reckon it's one of the greatest
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 verses in scriptures.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 So if you've got your Bible
00:13:50 --> 00:13:50 there again,
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 open to chapter nine
00:13:51 --> 00:13:52 and underline it.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 Highlight it.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:56 Tell somebody about it
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 this week.
00:13:58 --> 00:13:58 I've discovered
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 the test of a sermon
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 is really by Wednesday.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:02 If on Wednesday
00:14:02 --> 00:14:03 you can remember
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 something that I said,
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 then we've both done pretty well.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 Probably you better than me.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 But I reckon
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 if you can remember
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 by Wednesday
00:14:14 --> 00:14:14 to remind someone
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 of Romans 9.16,
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 it's not by my effort,
00:14:19 --> 00:14:20 my desires,
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 but by God's mercy
00:14:21 --> 00:14:22 that I'm saved.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:23 What a good thing
00:14:23 --> 00:14:24 to say to someone.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:26 Try it by Wednesday.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 There's your homework.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 There's a challenge.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:30 See how you go with that.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 And it's that mercy
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 that transforms everything.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 There's the rescue
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 that's taken place.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 And that's why
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 Paul starts chapter 12
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 and says,
00:14:45 --> 00:14:46 in verse 1,
00:14:46 --> 00:14:59 in view of God's love
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 that has been lavished upon you,
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 in view of all of that,
00:15:02 --> 00:15:03 don't stay the same.
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 Don't live like everybody else.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:07 Don't be like your neighbours.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:08 Be different.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 So what does being different
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 look like?
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 What does it look like?
00:15:15 --> 00:15:16 And that's where,
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 if you move in
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 to verses 3 to 8,
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 you'll see
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 what it is
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 to look differently.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 Paul says,
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 by the grace given to me,
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 I say to every one of you,
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 don't think of yourself
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 more highly than you should.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:31 Guess what?
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 That's not the message
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 that you hear
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 on podcasts,
00:15:37 --> 00:15:38 in the media,
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 and in literature today.
00:15:40 --> 00:15:41 It's actually,
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42 you should think
00:15:42 --> 00:15:43 well of yourself.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 It's very bad
00:15:45 --> 00:15:46 for your mental health
00:15:46 --> 00:15:46 if you don't.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 So is Paul saying something
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 to damage your mental health?
00:15:50 --> 00:15:50 No,
00:15:50 --> 00:15:51 what he's saying is,
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 don't put yourself first.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:55 That's a fundamental error.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 It is the mistake
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 that the world makes.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 Look after number one.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 But God is number one.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 Look after others.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 consider others
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 better than you.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:11 It's not to think
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 that you're the worst.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 That's not what Paul is saying.
00:16:17 --> 00:16:17 It's actually,
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 he even goes on to say,
00:16:19 --> 00:16:20 have sober judgment.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 Think of yourself
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 in the right way.
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 C.S. Lewis put it brilliantly.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 He said,
00:16:25 --> 00:16:28 it's not that you think
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 less of yourself,
00:16:31 --> 00:16:32 but you think of yourself
00:16:32 --> 00:16:33 less.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 That's clever, isn't it?
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 It's not that you think
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 less of yourself,
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 but you think about yourself
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 less.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:44 Because you're thinking
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 of others before yourself.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 You're thinking of others' needs,
00:16:47 --> 00:16:47 others' concerns,
00:16:48 --> 00:16:48 others' cares.
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 You're thinking of other people.
00:16:50 --> 00:16:50 Why?
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 Because that's exactly
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 what God does with us.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 God did not
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 hesitate
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 to send Jesus
00:17:01 --> 00:17:01 into the world.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 Jesus did not hesitate.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 In fact,
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 he didn't cling on
00:17:07 --> 00:17:08 to what was rightfully his,
00:17:09 --> 00:17:09 but instead,
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 he put us first.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 Have a look at Philippians 2.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 It puts it beautifully.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 What else does it look like
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 to be a rescued person?
00:17:20 --> 00:17:20 Well,
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 he goes on
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 and he says,
00:17:23 --> 00:17:23 serve.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:25 You've been involved
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 in this new family.
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 you've become a member
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 of a new body.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:32 And he says,
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 let me use that
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 as an illustration.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 And being in a body
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 means you've got
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 a role to play.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39 Is there one part
00:17:39 --> 00:17:39 of the body
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 that's more important
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41 than the other?
00:17:41 --> 00:17:41 No.
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 We all fit together.
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 We all work together.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 We have different roles
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 to do.
00:17:46 --> 00:17:46 Absolutely.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:48 But
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 we belong together.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 I want to say
00:17:52 --> 00:17:52 that people
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 who are standing up
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 to be confirmed
00:17:54 --> 00:17:54 this morning,
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 find your place
00:17:56 --> 00:17:56 in the body.
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 Work out where to serve.
00:17:58 --> 00:17:58 You've probably already
00:17:58 --> 00:17:59 started doing it.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:00 Let me encourage you
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 to continue to do it
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 and to continue
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 to find new places
00:18:04 --> 00:18:04 to do it.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:05 There will be seasons
00:18:05 --> 00:18:06 where you're good
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 at one thing
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 and then another thing
00:18:08 --> 00:18:08 will come along.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 The thing to continue
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 to do is to see
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 where God wants you
00:18:12 --> 00:18:12 to serve.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 And usually
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 it will be by seeing
00:18:15 --> 00:18:16 where there's a gap.
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 Where can I help?
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 Where can I fill in?
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 What can I do
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 to be useful
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 in this body?
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26 But again,
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 that's different
00:18:27 --> 00:18:27 to the way
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 the world sees things
00:18:28 --> 00:18:29 because to do
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 that sort of thing
00:18:30 --> 00:18:30 usually you get
00:18:30 --> 00:18:31 a reward,
00:18:31 --> 00:18:32 a payment.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 Well,
00:18:33 --> 00:18:33 this is not
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 to get a payment.
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 This is not
00:18:35 --> 00:18:35 to get a reward.
00:18:35 --> 00:18:36 In fact,
00:18:36 --> 00:18:36 it's because
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37 you've been given
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 something that is
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 incredibly precious,
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 a place in God's family,
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 that you take part
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 in this body,
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 in this life.
00:18:47 --> 00:18:47 In fact,
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 work out what it is
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 that you do
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 and do it.
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 So what does it
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 look like
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 to be a saved person?
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 It means
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 to live differently,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 speak differently,
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 be motivated
00:19:02 --> 00:19:02 by different things,
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 to be motivated
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 by what God has done.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 How can you do that?
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 How can you know
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 what is good
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 that we should cling to
00:19:14 --> 00:19:14 and pursue?
00:19:15 --> 00:19:16 How do you know
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 what God likes?
00:19:18 --> 00:19:18 Well,
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 let me say,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 I think
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 there are a number
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 of things you can do,
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 but the foundational,
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 most significant one
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 is to read your Bible.
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 I encourage you
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 to read your Bible
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 every day.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 When I was about 15,
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 I went to a conference
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 and the speaker
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 at the conference
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 was really challenging us
00:19:41 --> 00:19:42 to read our Bibles
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 every day.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:44 And he said,
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 I'm going to call
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 on everybody here
00:19:46 --> 00:19:46 to make a covenant
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 between themselves
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 and the Lord.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:49 And this is the covenant.
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 No Bible,
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 no breakfast.
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 Stand where you are
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 and covenant now
00:19:56 --> 00:19:56 Lord
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 that if you don't
00:19:58 --> 00:19:58 read your Bible,
00:19:59 --> 00:19:59 you will not
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 eat breakfast.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 I couldn't do it.
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 I couldn't stand up
00:20:03 --> 00:20:03 and say that
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 because I love breakfast
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 and I know
00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 how hopeless I am.
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 Sometimes I get up,
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 I've slept in,
00:20:09 --> 00:20:09 I'm running late,
00:20:10 --> 00:20:10 have breakfast,
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 get out and go.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 I can catch up.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:13 I can read it late.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 So I didn't stand up.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:15 There was about
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 500 people there
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 and I reckon
00:20:17 --> 00:20:17 there's only about
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 four or five of us
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 that didn't stand up.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 I felt so guilty
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 after that
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 that every morning
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 when I was going
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 to have breakfast
00:20:26 --> 00:20:26 I had to go
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 and read my Bible.
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 And you know what?
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 Reading my Bible
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34 every day
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 has been so helpful.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 When I was very little,
00:20:40 --> 00:20:40 the Sunday school
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 I went to,
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 which is led by my mum,
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 we learned
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 memory verses
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 so that we could
00:20:47 --> 00:20:47 remember
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 what the Bible said.
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 Anybody here
00:20:50 --> 00:20:50 do memory verses?
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 We did it with
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 one for every letter
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 of the alphabet.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:55 A,
00:20:56 --> 00:20:56 all of sin
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 and fall short
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 of the glory of God.
00:20:58 --> 00:20:58 Romans 3.23.
00:20:59 --> 00:20:59 B,
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 believe in the Lord
00:21:00 --> 00:21:00 Jesus Christ
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 and you'll be saved,
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 you and your household.
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 Acts 16.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:03 C,
00:21:03 --> 00:21:04 come to me
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 all you who labour
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 and are heavy laden
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 and I'll give you rest.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 Matthew 11.28.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 I can go through
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 the alphabet still.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:10 I learned that
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 when I was about six.
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 I went to theological college.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 Cramming my head
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 full of theologians
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 and commentaries
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 and books
00:21:20 --> 00:21:20 and lecturers
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 sitting in an exam.
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 I went straight back
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 to my memory verses
00:21:25 --> 00:21:25 from when I was six.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 How good it is
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 to know the word of God
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 to understand
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 what pleases him.
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 Because another thing
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 my dear mum said to me
00:21:35 --> 00:21:35 was,
00:21:35 --> 00:21:35 Christopher,
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 garbage in,
00:21:37 --> 00:21:37 garbage out.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 If you fill your time
00:21:40 --> 00:21:40 with television,
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 guess what you're going to know?
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 And to my shame,
00:21:44 --> 00:21:46 I can sing to you
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 word perfect
00:21:47 --> 00:21:50 the beginning of
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 Gilligan's Island,
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 the Beverly Hillbillies.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 All those years
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 of watching television
00:21:57 --> 00:21:57 have got in.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 Do not think
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 that spending time
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 with television,
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 podcasts,
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 media
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 will not influence you.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 It will.
00:22:08 --> 00:22:10 So counter that
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 by being in the word
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 of God regularly.
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 Daily.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 Daily.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:15 Daily.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:15 Daily.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 Daily.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:16 Daily.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 Daily.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 Daily.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 Daily.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 Daily.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:20 I didn't give the emphasis
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21 to you,
00:22:21 --> 00:22:21 Sauron,
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 just because I'm picking on you.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:27 But because it's so important
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 to look at God's word
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 every day.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 To know his will
00:22:32 --> 00:22:32 for you.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 So with all that,
00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 we're going to call
00:22:37 --> 00:22:37 these people up
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 to see if they look
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 any different.
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 And let me say right now,
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 they won't.
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 Not on the outside.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 But the way that they live,
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 I pray for you
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 that you will
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 live differently
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 and you won't conform
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 any longer
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 to the patterns
00:22:54 --> 00:22:55 of this world.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:55 Let me pray for them.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:56 Heavenly Father,
00:22:57 --> 00:22:57 we do thank you
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 for your word,
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 for the assurance
00:23:00 --> 00:23:00 that we can
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03 trust in the work
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 that Jesus has done
00:23:04 --> 00:23:04 to take us
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 from being
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 an enemy of yours
00:23:07 --> 00:23:07 to being
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09 not only a friend
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 but in your family.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 We thank you
00:23:11 --> 00:23:12 for that good news.
00:23:13 --> 00:23:13 And I pray
00:23:13 --> 00:23:14 that in view
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 of that good news,
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16 we would never
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 stay the same.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 Amen.