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I want to welcome you to Drive Time Devotions. Hi, this is Pastor Tom Holliday,
and we are looking today, this whole week, at Romans chapter 12. It's one of the
most incredible chapters in all the Bible.

And when you hit Romans chapter 12 in the book, you also arrive at a new section
of the book of Romans. You might remember, as we've been walking through this
book, we've been talking about how it's a history-changing book. It changes the
history of nations, it's changed the history of families, it can change your
personal history.

And we've talked together about how Romans 1, 18 to 3, 20, help us to understand
how change happens. History changes when I understand the truth, the truth about
sin. That's the truth I have to understand for history to change in my own life.

Romans 3, 21 to 5, 21 talk about how I need to understand the truth about
salvation in order for real change to happen, historical change to happen in
nations and in my life. Romans 6 to 8 talks about the truth of sanctification.
When I understand that, things change.

Romans 9 to 11, the chapters we just looked at, talk about understanding the
truth of God's sovereignty, the fact that God is in control. When you see that,
you really understand that God can do things in history, in my life. And now,
Romans chapter 12, this last section of Romans, Romans 12, 1 to 16, 27, talk
about understanding the truth about service.

If I'm going to see change happen in my life and through my life, it happens
when I learn this truth about service, about serving others. Romans 12, as you
might know, has an incredible start to the chapter. The first two verses, you
could spend a lifetime studying.

We're going to spend the next two days looking at these two verses. Let me read
them for you, Romans 12, 1 and 2, "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.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. And then you will be able to test and approve what
God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will. " Notice these verses start
in a very powerful way.

It may not seem powerful at the beginning, but the word "therefore" is powerful.
Because that word "therefore," you might have heard whenever you see a
"therefore" in the Bible, you always ask, "What's it there for? Why is it there?

" It always looks back to all that's been talked about before. Because of all
we've talked about, "Therefore, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as a
living sacrifice. " Everything we've talked about in the book of Romans up to
this point leads to this verse.

You know where you're going because of all that God's done for us. "Therefore,"
he says, "I urge you. " Don't miss that.

Don't skip that, getting to the rest of the verse. This is a deeply felt
conviction. Everything in Romans has built towards this point, and everything in
Paul's heart cries out for us to listen to what he has to say.

We're going to talk as we walk through these two verses the next few days about
real worship. In the middle, he talks about this being your spiritual act of
worship. Spiritual means real, genuine worship.

The kind of worship that connects with God, our spirit connecting with God's
spirit. What makes worship spiritual? What makes it real?

We're going to talk about that the next few days. And I have asked a special
guest to join us. I've asked our pastor of worship at Saddleback, Rick Muchow,
to join us as we talk together about these verses.

He's written a whole book answering the questions that people have about
worship. So it's a topic that he knows something about. I wanted him to discuss
along with me what the Bible has to say about worship here in Romans 12, verses
1 and 2.

Six truths, beginning with this first truth. If I'm going to really understand
worship, I have to understand that phrase in view of God's mercy. I have to
understand what it means to live in view of God's mercy.

So let me just ask you, Rick, first of all, welcome. Thanks for being here. My
pleasure.

Let me ask you, what does that phrase mean to you in view of God's mercy?
Literally the word mercies means the many and varied expressions of the mercy of
God. There are literally hundreds of pictures and expressions of the mercy of
God.

I can see it in the life of my friends and my family. I can see it in my own
life. I view God's mercy in his patience with me.

I can see it most clearly in his forgiveness through Christ. Worship begins with
God's mercy. Without his mercy, I would never be able to worship him.

And that's something I never want to forget. Lamentations 322-23 says, "The
Lord's love never ends. His mercies never stop.

Your love never fails. It rests upon us. They are new every morning.

If new every morning, how often do I need to see? Every morning. " There's a
great quote by John Stott.

It says, "There is no greater incentive to holy living than a contemplation of
the mercies of God. " So if I'm going to live a life of worship, I've got to
live this life in view of God's mercy. And then I've got to do the second thing
that this verse talks about.

I have to offer my body as a living sacrifice. I have to sacrifice. Worship and
sacrifice are closely tied together.

Now in the Old Testament, the sacrifices happened at a temple and they were
animals and there was blood involved. They're very different sacrifices in New
Testament days. Jesus has already finished the blood sacrifice for us.

And so now it's a different kind of sacrifice. Two words show us how different
it is in this verse. Offer your bodies, not some animal, but your bodies, as a
living sacrifice.

Bodies and living. Bodies. Christianity is a very, it's a very material faith.

It's not materialistic. It's not about things, but it's material in the sense
that it's real. It's about giving God your body, not just some spiritual
sensitivity of what's going to happen in eternity, but right here, right now,
your body.

So there's none of this, "He has my soul," but you really can't see it on the
outside what's going on. If you've sacrificed your body, if you've given
yourself, you can see it. It's interesting, in Paul's day, the Greeks saw the
body as an encumbrance, something that was in the way of worship.

Paul, instead here, reminds us that our bodies are a means of worship. We offer
ourselves to him. Jesus, Jesus had to take on a body to accomplish God's will.

And we have to give God our bodies if he's to accomplish his will through us.
It's our bodies, and it's also a living sacrifice. I'm sure you're glad to hear
that if you're thinking you had to somehow martyr yourself in order to truly
worship.

No, he says it's a living sacrifice. Now what does it look like to practically
live that out, a living sacrifice? This is about something that happens every
tick of the second hand on your watch.

There's two choices that every one of us has throughout the day, every day. I
can choose selfishness, or I can choose sacrifice. And the truth of the matter
is I've found, at least personally, there's no middle ground.

It's either one or the other. In any one moment, I'm either acting out of
selfishness-- nobody else may notice it, but I know it-- or I'm acting out of
sacrifice. There's a lot of people I know that are feeling like they're unable
to make a sacrifice because they see it only as dying or only as loss.

I love this word living. It means I can offer myself to God whatever I'm doing.
I can be living out that sacrifice, whether I'm at work or I'm playing with my
kids or I'm loving my spouse.

In any situation, I can be a living sacrifice. And the words living and
sacrifice go together. It's only as we're offering our lives back to him that
we're really living.

So it's about God's mercies, and it's about sacrifice. And Rick, teach us a
little bit. It's about a third thing.

Well, Romans 12, 1 and 2 says we need to live in view of God's mercy, live a
life of sacrifice. And then it says that we need to trust God's acceptance.
That's hard for a lot of people to do, and it's really not a natural thing.

But we learn to do it as we keep doing it, and we know how faithful God is to
us. I have to trust God's acceptance for me. I have to trust God's acceptance of
me.

Worship isn't proving yourself acceptable to God. It's having trust in the truth
that you are acceptable because of your faith in what Jesus has done for you.
Two words help us see-- holy.

That means being set apart. And then pleasing-- we're God's delight. Right now,
why don't you say quietly to yourself, I am holy and pleasing to the Lord.

Say it again. I am holy and pleasing to the Lord. You might find that very
difficult to say.

Inside, you're thinking, I'd like to be holy and pleasing to God, but I am
something else. It is a statement of faith. I am not only forgiven because of
Jesus, but my sacrifices to God are pleasing and holy.

In fact, Rick and I want to say to you together as you're listening, you might
see each of these as sort of a hurdle that you have to get over on the way to
worship. And for you, this one of trusting God's acceptance, it might be a big
one. You might have been staring at this hurdle of trusting in God's acceptance
of you for a long time.

It might seem like it's a mile high. It might be your religious background that
makes you feel like I'm really unacceptable to God. It might be your family
background.

But something inside of you is telling you, God would never really accept my
sacrifice. In quiet moments, the truth is you just don't feel very good about
yourself. Our answer sometimes is not a spiritual answer.

Our answer sometimes is a purely physical answer. We go to the gym. We go on a
diet.

We get a facelift. Now, I'm not knocking taking care of your body. You should
take care of your body.

But that's never the road to truly feeling better about yourself. You do
something different with your body. You offer it as a living sacrifice.

The answer to feeling crummy about yourself is not more time for yourself, but a
better understanding of God's acceptance of you. So here's your homework for
today. Some of you might even do this, as silly as it sounds.

Take the word "holy" and "acceptable" and write them on two separate pieces of
paper. And then paste those on either side of the gauge on your scale. So when
you get on the scale each morning, you see the weight there.

You also see on either side how God weighs you. And that's the important thing.
Remember, these two words tell you how God weighs your heart.

You are holy. You're acceptable. Rick, thanks for joining us today.

Would you lead us together in prayer as we close this look at Romans 12, 1, and
2? Thanks, Tom. Lord, thank you for your presence in our life.

And thank you for your word that encourages us and shows us your way. Lord, I
pray that you would help all of us to remember your mercy and that we'd live
with heaven in view, that we're not always going to be on this earth. But Lord,
we're going to be with you one day and to live our life as if it really matters.

Help us to be people that are willing to sacrifice. We remember your sacrifice,
what you've done for us, and that nothing we could do. Never compare to what you
did for us.

And Lord, that we'd be a living sacrifice, that we'd live our life for an
audience of one. And Lord, thank you that you accept us. Thanks for your healing
grace.

And many times, the hard lessons that we learn have been a part of shaping us to
be what you want us to be. We're grateful. Lord, we worship you today.

In Jesus' name, amen. Join us tomorrow. We're going to continue our look at
Romans 12, 1, and 2.

Rick and I will both be back looking at how genuine worship can transform our
lives.