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BE TRANSFORMED: PURSUING GOD’S HEART

BE TRANSFORMED: PURSUING GOD’S HEART. AVRIL VAVROSKY L.Th, M.A. OMF INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY. SESSION ONE TRANSFORMATION REQUIRES COMMITMENT. INTRODUCTION. I. FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES.

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BE TRANSFORMED: PURSUING GOD’S HEART

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  1. BE TRANSFORMED: PURSUING GOD’S HEART AVRIL VAVROSKY L.Th, M.A. OMF INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY

  2. SESSION ONETRANSFORMATION REQUIRES COMMITMENT INTRODUCTION

  3. I. FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. (Rom. 12:1) • EXEGESIS 1. I urge you. The Greek behind the NIV “urge” is parakaleo. It is stronger than ask, weaker than command.

  4. Exegesis: Offer your bodies 2.Offer your bodies. Rom. 6:13, 16, 19; 1 Cor. 6:20. You are making a decisive dedication of your body to God. Sacrifice has three ideas: consecration (set apart for God’s use), expiation (covering of sin) and propitiation (satisfaction of divine pleasure). Ancient Judaism often used sacrifice figuratively for praise or for a lifestyle of worship, so Paul’s readers would have readily understood what he meant.

  5. Exegesis: Living sacrifice 3.Living sacrifice just means that it is an ongoing sacrificial lifestyle. We need to continually crucify our flesh, deny what our flesh naturally wants because “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”. (Gal. 5:24)

  6. Exegesis: Living Sacrifice Jesus offered his body as a sacrifice thus opening the way for complete forgiveness, reconciliation and sanctification. Therefore, as we offer our bodies back to God, it too opens the way for complete forgiveness, reconciliation and sanctification.

  7. Exegesis 4. Your spiritual act of worship or your reasonable service The word service alludes to the work of priests in the temple and the word reasonable refers to the proper way to think.

  8. B. APPLICATION • II Tim. 2:19-22, 26 Paul gives a succinct statement on human responsibility and very clearly defines how we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. Why does Paul urge us, and not command us, to make our bodies a living sacrifice to God? Why does he stop short of a command?

  9. John 10:17-18 The answer lies in Jesus’ attitude: 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." Paul wants us to do the same, willing to die to self. We are to have the mind of Christ.

  10. Application . Robert Boyd Munger, an author, highlighted this truth: Jesus Christ, through the Spirit, makes the body of each believer his home. As the presence of the Lord once filled the temple in Jerusalem, so he now dwells in the hearts of all who belong to him.

  11. Application 4. Basically when we offer our bodies it is for His service. It is to live a life of holiness, separating ourselves from the world and drawing near to God. We must offer our bodies as dead to sin and the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 6:15, 19)

  12. II. TRANSFORMATION BUSTERS • FLESHLY SINS THAT NEED TO BE CRUCIFIED PLEASE REFER TO YOUR HANDOUT Circle the ones that are a hindrance to your transformation. Keep it for the end of this session and also for the end of the third session.

  13. B. EXPERIENCES THAT NEGATIVELY AFFECT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD • Experiencing abuse as a child will cause one to view God as far away and not as Father God. Our first reaction is to blame God: why didn’t He protect me? Some people have turned to atheism and homosexuality as a result of abuse. In their minds, God wasn’t there for them. Some became Christians but never could break through to God, always remaining on the outside looking in. This of course is connected to rejection.

  14. Negative Experiences 2. Experiencing some type of trauma like accidents or near death experiences. Here people wonder where God was and how come He didn’t stop the trauma or prevent it. They wonder too if God is more than able or whether He really cares about them.

  15. Negative Experiences 3. Rejection of any kind. This wound is even more agonizing than shame. Usually this stems from some form of broken relationship. In its earliest form, it is caused by parents who reject their own children. It takes the form of harsh punishment, verbal abuse, physical abuse or anything that is expressed in a harsh, negative way.

  16. Or it takes the form of abandonment, failure to show love or acceptance. Divorce is another form of rejection. Jesus understands our rejection because He endured rejection in its most agonizing form: rejection by a father. At least one quarter of adults in America today suffer from shame and rejection. Indications are that it is rising.

  17. Negative Experiences 4. “Jung nan ching nyu”: regard boys more highly than girls. This one makes you feel worthless, like a second-class citizen. Many women experience low self-esteem, self-hatred and self-rejection as a result. This is a South East Asian problem. Muslim women suffer the same fate. This feeling causes you to hide from God, unable to accept His love.

  18. Negative Circumstances 5. Circumstances can have a negative effect on my relationship with God. EXAMPLE: Norma and Mother Theresa. Circumstances are there to mold you into the image of Christ, not to cause you to fall apart.

  19. C. SPIRITUAL PROBLEMS 1. Striving • Our relationship with God should not be one of striving, but should flow naturally. • Striving indicates that something is amiss in your relationship with God. • This often comes from a family background where parents put pressure on the child to perform, to become great, to bring honor to the family. They take this pressure into their relationship with God, always trying to prove their love to God. • Striving comes out of conditional love. Unconditional love is not something that they can understand. • They have to prove something to themselves and to those around them.

  20. Spiritual Problems 2. Spiritual immaturity • You cannot substitute a fake spirituality for sanctification • Spiritual burnout results when you go around trying to be pious, trying to be holy. • It is one thing to want to live a godly life, but it's another to actually master our habits and behaviors! Human willpower isn't sufficient on its own to tame our natural impulse toward sin--we need the help of God's grace.

  21. Spiritual Immaturity • Self-control doesn’t work • Living under the law, man-made rules and tradition. • Having a form of godliness only. (II. Tim. 3:5)

  22. Spiritual Problems 3. Wordly living vs. godly living • refusal of believers to separate themselves from evil will inevitably result in the loss of fellowship with God (2 Cor. 6:16), of acceptance by the Father (6:17) and of our rights as children (6:18; cf. Rom. 8:15-16). • Amusements and worldly pleasure » A proof of spiritual death (1 Timothy 5:6) • Friendship with the world. “You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

  23. III. ACTION STEPS 1. Matt. 5:27-30Jesus is not teaching us to self-mutilate! The principle here is that we should deal drastically with sin. 2. James 4:7-10 7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee fromyou.” Actually verses 7-10 are a series of ten commands on how to eliminate pride in one’s life. 3. Paul certainly understood the struggle in Rom. 7:21-23. Get some professional help.

  24. IV. CONFESSION Right now we are going to do some confession. Take out your sheets. Keep the sheet; don’t throw it away as we will need it for the last lecture. No one will see the sheet of paper.

  25. V. QUESTIONS TO PONDER • Group Questions • What TV shows or movies could corrupt our minds? What video games, online games, magazines or websites would not glorify Christ? What about music? Think of some current examples and discuss the danger of their content in relation to a Christian’s walk with God. • What does the church consider to be worldly pleasures that are in direct defiance of God’s Word? • How far should we go in chasing fashion? How far is too far?

  26. Is it a sin to wear name-brand apparel? To own name-brand goods? When does it become problematic? • I want to be a living sacrifice for Christ, but my reality is that I have Chinese parents who have expectations for me. Where is the happy medium for me?

  27. What constitutes “friendship with the world”? • What should be the Christian’s relationship to the world? • How does offering my body as a living sacrifice demonstrate righteousness? • How does the enemy use our bodies to alienate us from God? • What tools has God given us to protect us from the enemy’s attacks?

  28. PRIVATE QUESTIONS • How do I pursue God through commitment? How have I lacked in my commitment to Christ? • What issues are hindering me right now from spiritual growth? • What issues has the Holy Spirit convicted me of tonight?

  29. Private Questions • What does it mean for me to be a living sacrifice? • Where has my feet taken me that I would not take Christ to? What have my hands done that is harmful, shameful or even dangerous? What has my eyes seen that would grieve the Holy Spirit of God? What things have I heard or listened to that makes me uncomfortable when I think of Christ? • Conversely, what has my feet, hands and eyes done to extend the kingdom of God on earth?

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