← ArchiveWhen in RomansWhen in Romans -By grace we think, and by grace we serve (Romans 12:3-8)DateSeptember 29, 2024SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextRomans 12:3–8Passages in this sermonRomans 120:51TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00This is a production of the U.S. Department of Technology and the U.S. Department of Technology and the U.S. Department of Technology, Department of Technology and Health Department of Technology. This is a production of U.S. Department of Technology and the U.S. Department of Technology. This is a production of U.S. Department of Technology and the U.S. Department of Technology. This is a production of U.S. Department of Technology and the U.S. Department of Technology.0:19Hey, my name is Josh Burnham, lead pastor here at Bethel.0:48And today I get the joy of bringing you the Word of God from Romans chapter 12. And as we always do, we welcome our new guest. And today things look a little bit different. I would argue they look a little bit better. So today is our fifth Sunday of the month. And here at Bethel, we believe there are times where it is beneficial for little eyes, young eyes to see adults worship in spirit and in truth.1:10So every fifth Sunday of a month, everyone in the building is here under the same roof, which means a couple of things. There are going to be noises that you're not used to. And kids, it's okay. Adults make funny noises. But that's a good thing. So we're going to welcome each other in two different ways.1:39I'm going to ask our adults to welcome our children with a hallelujah. I'm going to ask our children to welcome our adults with a hallelujah. Whoever wins receives a crown in heaven. So for this purpose, for our welcome, our teenagers, you are adults. You are fully mature from this day forward for the next 30 minutes. So you're in the adult category. Tyler, if you want, you can, I'll let you choose.2:07You can, you can go either way. We also have some of our senior adults are welcoming in our overflow room. And so we want to welcome them and just say, thank you guys for worshiping with us. They are, they, they, they don't stand, but they sing with us and they read the word. They are watching right now. And so for everyone watching online, thank you for worshiping with us. So adults, you're going first. On the count of three, you're going to welcome in the name of the Lord, all of our young, young adults.2:32On the count of three, hallelujah. On the count of three, we got it. One, two, three. Hallelujah. Okay. Our children. Can you beat them? Okay. For all of our children, this is your night to shine. On the count of three, the biggest hallelujah in the history of heaven's hallelujahs.2:58Ready? One, two, three. In my mind, I have a winner, but I'm not going to let you know. We are all winners today. So today's message in the book of Romans will take a collaborative effort.3:24So before you and behind me, there should be a picture. Throughout the service today, we are going to put this puzzle together. Together. Together. Because this is exactly what the word of God is reminding us to do. That in our worship, there is a unique and needed part of the Lord's church in each and every one of you.3:50So, puzzle piece number one, if you can go ahead and put your piece of the puzzle together. And I pray that by the end of our gathered worship, that the individual members of our puzzle will end up in a beautiful gospel picture of God's grace.4:05Let's read the word of the Lord. Romans 12, beginning in verse 3, reading until verse 8. Hear the word of the Lord. For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should.4:34Instead, think sensibly. As God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Now, as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function. In the same way, we who are many are one body in Christ.5:02And every individual member of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts. If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one's faith. If service, use it in service. If teaching, in teaching. If exhorting, in exhortation. Giving with generosity. Leading with diligence.5:31Showing mercy with cheerfulness. Today's message is simply called by grace we think and by grace we serve. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that we are unique in Jesus Christ, but we are fit together into one beautiful puzzle you call the church. Lord, as we have already sung, to know you is to love you.5:54Father, what a joy it is to get to love you. Because you loved us first. Help us today never grow weary of our salvation. May we never become a graduate of grace. And may today, once again, we be dependent upon your spirit. Lord, today, we confess to you it is grace.6:22And by grace we think. And it is by grace we serve you. Lord, this is our holy petition. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen and amen. So, it is by grace that we think. Over and over again, the Bible describes us as confessional people. But the confession of Christ leads to the consecration in Christ.6:48Meaning, if you say that Jesus is your savior, then it causes you to do something. To live out the testimony that you have confessed. And here in Romans, very clearly, after confession, part of the Holy Spirit's work in your life is that he is constantly conforming you into the mind of Jesus Christ. Verse 3, four times, Paul says about the mind.7:16I tell everyone not to think of himself more highly than he should. Instead, think sensibly with a right mind. So, do not think of yourselves more highly than he should ought to think. Instead of think with a sound mind. Four times, the word of God is reminding you and me that it is the Holy Spirit's work7:42to conform your mind into the image of the Lord. Now, I have a graph that I created. It's a reminder, the more you think of yourself, the less you think of God. And the more you think of yourself, the less you serve the Lord. There's an inverse relationship between what you think of yourself and what you think of God. Now, we're going to see that thinking poorly of yourself is not the answer.8:10You are to think great things about the majesty and the beauty of Jesus Christ himself. For Christ followers, we are not to super think or hyper think of ourselves. John Stott urges the person to avoid having too high a view of ourselves, lest we refuse to serve the Lord or to have a too low estimate of ourselves.8:31And here's the reason why. If you think too highly of yourself, then there will be times in your life where you think the service of God and the confession of God is beneath you.8:52Oh, I could never do that. It's below my station. As if any service in the kingdom of God is beneath a servant of the Lord. And so then we can overcorrect. We can think too low of ourselves. So if you think too highly of yourself, you run into the sin of thinking that the service of the Lord and the worship of the Lord is beneath you.9:20And so we say, well, let me think less of myself. But if you think too lowly of the estimation of God's gift in your life, then you think that service in the kingdom of heaven is above you. And we still refuse to do kingdom work. On the other hand, if you think of yourself as no regard, you think and believe the lie of Satan that you are no use to God.9:47Instead of being self-minded or hyper thoughtful of ourselves, simply be savior minded. Because I've learned if you think much of Jesus Christ, it puts the auto correct on your life in right place in right proportion. Think of God much and he will recorrect your vision of who you are.10:13I don't know who has puzzle piece number two. But if right mindedness is part of the puzzle of our life, if you would put the second piece of our puzzle together. By grace, church, we think. By grace, we think. But that's not alone. Paul says, now that you're thinking correctly, we should start seeing ourselves correctly.10:39Verse four. Now, as we have many parts in one body and all the parts do not have the same function. So now we have an anatomy lesson. The first is psychology. The second is anatomy. And I know, parents, listen. That's as far as I'm going to go on the anatomy illustration. Let not your heart be troubled today.11:08I decided to use a puzzle. Not anatomy 101 for the illustration. In the same way, we who are many are one body in Christ. You see, one of the Father's beautiful gifts in your life, in my life, is that there is diversity among the people of God. There's diversity. And it doesn't take my words for you to look around and see that not all of us look the same.11:33Among us today, there are some in sports coats and some in t-shirts. There are some in dress shoes and some of you are wearing Jordans. Which means you're cooler than me. But one day, I will be cooler than you. Because I'm going to wear my t-shirt for the 5K. And he said, well, shouldn't we all look the same?12:01And should we not all speak the same? We are one in Christ. But there is beautiful diversity in the people of God. Actually, the church is the original university. You and I, meaning one. Versity comes from diversity, meaning many and one. And it's not coincidence that that is the gift of God to the church. Because the Trinity models this image of the university.12:28Speaking of the Trinity, we know that the eternal triune God reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons, one nature. One meaning you and I. Three meaning diversity. That God himself, the Godhead, is three in one. There is beautiful diversity of persons and beautiful diversity and unity of nature.12:55So, church, you and I are to be what God is. So, for us to conform ourselves to speak the same and look the same is not to be what God says we are to be. Because if we are fighting over the same giftedness, we're fighting not over God's beautiful diversity. We're fighting over Satan's lie.13:24And if it is by grace we think, it is then by grace we are one. And when the Holy Spirit is free to work in a church, there is a diversity of people and spiritual gifts at work. And the world to this will look and say, well, church, the only thing you have in common is Jesus. What's wrong with your people? And we say to the world, we don't know.13:53But the only thing common we need is Jesus. And if we have Jesus, that's enough. You see, in a world that is longing for inclusion, they are longing for the church. The world is longing for what only the grace of Jesus can bring in our lives. It is by grace we are one.14:20But not just one living organism. Paul presses this further upon us. He says, okay, I'm going to serve. I get it. We are one church. But Paul says clearly, not only are we one ontologically, theologically, in the same way, we who are many, in verse 5, are one body in Christ.14:35He said, I get that, Pastor. Individually. We are members of one another. So not only do you and I belong to Christ, and we're normally comfortable with that.14:58The Bible says now in Christ, we not only belong to Christ, but in Christ and by his grace, we belong to one another. And there is the rub. Because often, we want to come to Christ individually, and then we want to grow in Christ individually.15:17But Paul says, no, we come to faith individually, but we grow in faith corporately. Which means, church, by grace we are one, and we are members of one another, that you can never declare as a Christian, hi-ho silver away.15:35Now, for some of you, that went right over your heads. Let me explain. There was a show many years ago called The Lone Ranger. And one thing that the Lone Ranger would say about his horse would be, hi-ho silver away.16:00So the metaphor means there are no Lone Ranger Christians. And for you who still say, well, pastor, what does that mean? A Lone Ranger is a person who says, I can do it all by myself. When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, you forever lose the ability to say to the Holy Spirit, I can do it all by myself.16:27It is by grace we think, and by grace we are one. We are one in Christ, and we are one together, which means your sin is my problem, my sin is your problem, but your sanctification is my joy, and my sanctification is your joy. So when I see Christ working in your life, I get to celebrate that.16:54And now we get to the crux of the matter. We see that it is by grace we now serve. It is by grace we now serve. Do we have piece number three of our puzzle? I have no clue who has piece number three. I don't remember who has what piece, by the way.17:22So I'm praying you are more diligent and attentive than I ever imagined. It is by grace we are in one. In the Lord's economy, a right mindset on the ways of Jesus Christ leads to hands that will serve and do the will of Jesus Christ. So how do we serve? Scripture in verse 6 says we serve according to the grace given to us.17:49Which means if you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, if you have the grace of God working in your life, you have a desire to serve according to the grace of God living in your life. And the word gift here, we serve according to the grace of God, by the giftedness of God, it's the word charismata. Which means if you have been saved and you have the Spirit of God living in your life, every Christian is actually a charismatic.18:16Because the word charismata is giftedness of God in your life. And so, pastor, that makes me a little uncomfortable. Good. Because no one can actually box in the Holy Spirit. There are things about the Holy Spirit that make me uncomfortable because the Holy Spirit is outside the boundaries that Josh puts on the Holy Spirit.18:37But I would rather one day walking according to the Spirit than a thousand days elsewhere. We serve according to God's grace and according to His giftedness. And this is what we know about God. He gives good gifts through His grace. No one can give you gifts like the Holy Spirit.19:04And secondly, the use of God's gifts in God's church is how you faithfully express your devotion to the Lord. Which means if you are refusing to be in the church of Jesus Christ, you cannot use spiritual gifts outside the church. Because they're inherently designed to use among God's people. So what are God's gracious gifts as we look at these?19:31There are seven. Now these gifts are not exhaustive. Meaning if you say, "Well, I don't have one of these seven." Well, you have a gift if you are a follower of Jesus Christ. But the gifts of God are not a Myers-Briggs Christianese version. And it's not a DISC discovery. So if you have a gift in this list, you can't say, "Well, this is my label. I'm an exhorter. That's what I will do. I don't serve in any other way. I exhort.19:59I exhort. I prophesy." No. God can give you different gifts and multiple gifts. But whatever gift God has given you, use that gift for the glory of God. And again, I would remind you before you label the Holy Spirit, just know that the Holy Spirit is greater than our earthly labels. Serve in the spirit of the living God. First up, the giftedness of God.20:26In Romans, he says, "If you have the gift of prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one's faith." So whoever has puzzle piece number four, if you would come, put your piece there. Prophecy is one of God's beautiful gifts to the church. Prophecy here means speaking under divine inspiration. It's the first gift mentioned. It's not foretelling, predicting the future as much.20:54It is foretelling. "Thus saith the Lord." Now, I do not believe in this passage that this is modern-day version of Christian preaching. No, I think in Romans, God is giving a unique gift to someone in the congregation, and they are saying to the congregation, "This is what the Lord has said to me." And someone else is standing up, and they are interpreting that prophecy, and we're making sure that it sits in right accord with the word of God.21:18And if you say, "Well, pastor, that makes me super uncomfortable." That's okay. Because if it is God's prophecy, then it will line up with God's revealed words. And if you have the gift of prophecy, Paul says, "Use that beautiful gift in the local church." Because without that, there's a piece missing.21:46If prophecy, prophesy according to the measure of faith. But that's not the only gift given. We have the gift of service. If you have piece number five, if you put your puzzle piece together. The gift of service is the same word used for deacon, diakonos. It means to serve and to wait on tables. And service actually includes all activities meant to build up the Christian community.22:15It means you can open a door and welcome someone in, in the name of the Lord. It means you can change a diaper in the name of the Lord. Really, that means by the power of the Holy Spirit, there is nothing that you do in the service of the Lord that is not seen and is not valuable. God has gifted some of you with tremendous beautiful gifts of service.22:43Last weekend, I was at a father-son camp out with about 30 other fathers and sons. And one of the fathers, after the camp out, asked his toddler, hey, what was your favorite thing that we did this weekend? That's what parents do. We just ask, you know, did you enjoy church? Did you enjoy school? And this little boy looked at his dad and said, my favorite thing, I made big fire with Pastor Josh.23:09Look, one of my spiritual gifts is making big fire. Listen, if you were to ask me what was my favorite thing about the weekend, I would not even, that would not have registered on my list. But it's the reminder that there is nothing that you do in the power of the Holy Spirit that is not seen and is not impactful.23:32Listen, if God has given you the spiritual gift of making big fire, to that little boy, to make big fire with the pastor, man, was weekend changing. Church, there is nothing that you do not, there's nothing that you do in the kingdom of God that is not seen and felt and impactful. Whatever gift God has given you, do big things for the Lord with the giftedness of his service.24:00Use it in service. We also have the gift of teaching. If we have piece number six. Teaching is the spiritual giftedness of sharing the word of God in a way that is understandable. Understandable to the hearer and understandable to the heart of the hearer.24:29You know, it's one thing to say, do this. It's another thing for someone to hear that and to do. And we have tremendous gifted teachers in this congregation that I know about. I think we have tremendous gifted teachers that I don't know about. And God is calling you today, stirring your heart to say, I want to use my gifts for the glory of the Lord. The gift of teaching is to teach in a way that is understandable and hearable to the mind and the heart.24:57It's the gift of having an unquenchable fire for the things of the Lord. And every teacher I know will say this. And when they prepare to teach and David Hoyle, I'm gonna call him out because he's looking at me. He didn't, he doesn't know I'm saying this. But David and I, he always says this and I always echo what he says. David always says, when I teach, I get so much more out of it than I give.25:25And the heart of a teacher is, God, give me an unquenchable thirst for your glory. I don't care if anyone hears, but God, I want to know you more and more and more. Teachers, you are part of God's beautiful gift to the church when you teach. We have the gift of teaching.25:52Now we have the gift of exhortation. If we have piece number seven in the house, if you put that in the puzzle. Exhortation is the spiritual manifestation of exhorting those. I love what John Wesley said. They have the peculiar business of urging Christians to duty and comforting them in trials. You know, exhortation is peculiar.26:20And praise God for his peculiar gifts. I call them cup fillers, right? Cup fillers are someone that when you are around them, your cup is more full than when you left. Many of you know that my father-in-law is going through a difficult time medically and he's in the hospital several times the last couple of weeks and received a card from someone in this church. And I'm not going to say who it is. I'm okay calling out David, but I'm not going to call out the other people.26:49And it was just a card with his name on it, J-O-H-N, if I can spell correctly. And with every letter, there was an encouragement in the words. That's the gift of encouragement and action. That's what it looks like to be a cup filler. And some of you have that gift. And you say, well, no one knows. Well, that's not true. God knows. And the one you encourage knows.27:18If you are in the house and you have the peculiar gift of exhortation, may you use that with peculiar giftedness. Be the cup filler God has designed you to be. And when you encourage, the Spirit uses you to transform the world for Jesus Christ. We also have the gift of giving. If we have piece number eight here. The gift of giving.27:48The Bible says, if giving, give then with generosity. With generosity. The giving suggests a person who has financial means. And they have the spiritual compunction to meet the needs of others. The spiritual gift of giving is the soul who has great means that says, God, this is not mine. This is yours. I want to use it for your glory. It's not only the gift of earning wealth.28:17It's also the gift of giving that away. It's the gift of seeing the needs of other people. Randy Alcorn said it this way. He said, the heart of generosity comes from a heart transformed by the gospel. It is the recognition that all we have belong to the Lord. It's the one who has great wealth and says, God, this is not mine. Lord, everything I have is yours. And if you have that gift, which is a piece of the charismatic grace God has given to his church.28:46Give for the glory of the Lord. We also have the gift of leading. Piece number nine, if you are here today. The one who leads is someone with the spiritual giftedness of rallying the troops. It's the one who says, hey, don't forget the goal. When we gather, we're not here for you. Get off your high horse.29:15Quit thinking of yourself more than you should. You're not above serving the Lord. And it's the gift of looking at someone who has a low estimation of their life. And we say, quit thinking less of your life than you should. But don't forget that Jesus Christ is the main things. Keep the main things the main things and the plain things the plain things. Those who have the gift of leadership said, hey, follow me as we follow Jesus together. What a beautiful gift that is to the church. We all need people who see the fire and says, hey, I'm going to run into it.29:45Let's go. That's what they say in Bulgaria, let we go. And our brothers and sisters in Bulgaria and Romania understand that the church needs each other to make a kingdom difference in a world that is dark and hot. If that is your giftedness gift, use well for the glory of God and leadership is a beautiful gift to the church.30:07And then lastly, we have the 10th and final gift. Here, the seventh gift of the 10th piece of our puzzle. So if you are in the house, a piece number 10 would come forward. And I think this is the final piece. It's the gift of mercy.30:33It might be the last gift, but it's not the least gift. The gift of mercy is simply to see someone in need. Someone defined it this way. Mercy is the hand that reaches out. It's the heart that feels deeply and it's the spirit that uplifts the broken.30:56And if that is your gift, be merciful for the glory of God. And ultimately what the Bible says is there is no gift in the house. That is not part of God's beautiful puzzle to the world. How do we live this out?31:25With each gift, we see that God is right and he is holy. See, it's the reminder that the world needs to see God's spirit work among God's people. The world needs to see that God is working in his church and the world needs to look at this church and every church and ask, what is wrong with you people? You have nothing in common but Jesus.31:55And we would say, well, that's what's wrong with us. We have nothing in common but Jesus. But if we have Jesus in common and world, listen up. We have everything we need. This is the giftedness of God's church. The world needs to see God's glory among us. Church, you and I need to see God's glory among us.32:23To see that God is by grace we think and by grace we are one vertically but one horizontally. Some of you are sitting on the sidelines not using your gift and you are drying up spiritually. Because God has given you a beautiful gift to use and you're not using that and your spiritual muscles have atrophied. And you're withering up. And today I pray that you would begin to exercise that once again.32:51That you would say, God, I'm tired of doing nothing. You have given me a great gift to use. I want to use it for your glory. If that is you, may today be the last day that you never use your gift. But may you say in your heart, your mind, and your soul, God, today is the last day I do nothing for you. I will be merciful. I will give with generosity.33:19I will lead. I will teach. I will prophesy. God, I will do these things in your name. And I believe there are some of us today that you're not using the gift of God because you don't have a gift. And you say, well, pastor, I thought you said everyone had a gift. Everyone who has given their life to Jesus Christ has a spiritual gift. Maybe for the first day you need to hear what John says to the woman at the well.33:50Jesus answered her and says, if you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, give me a drink, you would ask him and he would give you living water. If today you've never given your life to Jesus Christ. I know we have a lot of children here. Some of you have never confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That's why you're here today.34:18You're here because the Holy Spirit is drawing you and convicting you. And would you receive the beautiful gift that is Jesus who will give you living water. The Bible calls us to turn from our sins by conviction and turn to Jesus Christ. And if we confess him as Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. But that's not only a child's message. We have adults here today and you have never confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.34:48You've been in church your whole life. And yet you don't have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Would today be the first day and the best day that you say, God, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I believe that Jesus died on the cross. I believe he rose from the dead. And I confess today that you are my Savior and you are my Lord.35:13And you say to me, Pastor, well, I can't do that. What will people think? It doesn't matter what people think. It matters what God knows about you. Would you run to Jesus? We're going to have pastors down front. You can come to us and we will invite you to come to Jesus Christ. But listen, if you run to me and say, Pastor, how can I be saved? I'm going to run to Jesus with you.35:41Because I can't save you. But Jesus can. If so, I don't want to come up before people. Listen, it's not about what other people think. Spend time with the Lord today. In a moment, we're going to bow our heads. We're going to pray. Spend some time with the Lord.36:09In Christ, you are a piece of God's puzzle to his church. And may we serve and live and think with the glory of Jesus in our minds, in our hearts, and upon our hands. Let's pray.← Previous in When in RomansWhen in Romans – Gracious Gifts and Irrevocable Grace (Romans 11:1 and 11:11)Next in When in Romans →When in Romans – Church and State (Romans 13:1-7)More sermons on Romans →
