In these two chapters Paul explains that the life of a Christian is fairly simple – love God and love others.
Romans 12: A Living Sacrifice
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Gifts of Grace
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Marks of the True Christian
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour.
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
20 To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 13: Submission to the Authorities
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself."
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarrelling and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Things to think about…
1. Do you want to be known as someone who is led by the Spirit? Paul says present your bodies as a living sacrifice, Rom 12:1. What does this look like? He tells us in vs 2, transform your mind and reform your life as a result. Then you will know God’s perfect will for your life. Sounds easy and it is if this formula is followed.
2. We are all called in Christ, but we all have different gifts, Rom 12:3-8. What is your gift? If you don’t know three things need to be evident. 1. You generally have a desire in the area. 2. You are good at it. 3. It is confirmed by others and affirmed in the word of God for your life. If all of these match up – that’s your gift. If they don’t, it’s not.
3. Do you want to know if you are displaying the fruit of a Christian? Have a look at Paul’s list of qualifications in Rom 12:9-21. Ask someone else who knows and loves you to help you if you really want an honest answer. We can be talented and even have a gift from the Lord in a certain area of our lives, but if it is not complimented by a Christ centred character, our hypocrisy tends to have the greater witness and influence.
4. Paul outlines the role and requirements in our submission to the government, Rom 13:1-7. Is Paul having a joke with his readers? You do remember who was on the throne at the time of Paul’s writing? That’s right, Nero – the violent man who killed family members including his own mother and lost his mind – likely because of syphilis (or lead or arsenic poisoning). Paul says here that God appointed Nero and as such we as those who are submissive to God need to submit even when we are under the evil rule of such a man. When should we act in civil disobedience and take Peter’s advice when he disobeyed the ruling authorities in Acts 4:19, 20? This is a line that constantly needs to be discerned. The current freedom marches around Australia and even the world against forced segregation of vaccinated and unvaccinated are a good example of when to express such resistance.
5. Paul’s best advice is given in Rom 13:8, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” There is no difficult theology to understand here.
6. Why should we honour God and turn away from immoral living? There are a number of reasons given in scripture, but Paul gives one of the reasons here in Rom 13:8-14; because we haven’t got time for it, vss 11, 12. Let’s encourage each other to “make no provision for the flesh”, because the time is short and we and others will soon be before the judgement seat of God.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon title was ““A life of slavery”” - from Rom 6:15-23
1. Have you ever been enslaved to anything? Eg a car loan or house mortgage, maybe a toxic relationship in your past. What did/does it feel like to be enslaved to debt? Did you get your freedom?
2. Paul says that we were once slaves to sin, and therefore free in regard to righteousness, Rom 6:20. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, vs 22. What do these verses mean?
3. Pray as we lead up to Christmas after another year of Covid that Carols and messages would centre on Christ the healer.
Prayer Points
1. Freedoms would extend and continue and that our country would be united together again. Pray the church would lead in the healing.
2. Mark Torrington (Zac’s dad) peacefully passed away last Tuesday night. Please uphold his wife Sharon, Tessa, Zac, Bec and the family in your prayers. Their peace is in Christ.
3. Christmas season – joy and unity promoted in Christ.
4. Growth in our kids and youth ministries
5. Pray for testimonies that people will be giving. Please consider when you would like to give yours.
6. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
7. Witness over the Christmas season.
8. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Josh and Nafisah had a wonderful wedding on Saturday. We are all tired but joyful!
2. Thankyou Doug (preaching), Suzy (worship leading), Zac, Jean, Rin, Melinda (worship team terrific!). Great job guys.
3. Churches have been recognised as essential services and will be allowed to operate without restriction after new vaccination restrictions come in.
4. People encouraged by Sunday’s message.
5. More visitors and spirit of joy on Sunday.
Announcements
1. Members meeting next Sun 28th Nov after the service.
2. Country Carols, monster trucks, fire works – Sat 11th Dec. Must book online to get tickets. Go to the Tivoli drive in website. Feel free to park at CBC if required.
3. Kids@church back. Please check your rosters
4. Recharge Youth – back on Friday 6:30pm at church all high schoolers.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
