(# 377) Romans 12 - Present Your Bodies in the Family

Class Outline:

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Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church with worldwide impact based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus Christ has conquered the emotion of fear on our behalf.  Fear is the sin that cuts off thinking.  It is debilitating.  It’s much better to get into action than to be paralyzed by fear.  Second Timothy, Chapter 1, Verse 7 says…

 

SECOND TIMOTHY 1:7

For God the Father has not given us believers in Christ a spirit of fear…instead He has given us a spirit of divine enabling power and unconditional love and self-control.

 

In this life we will face daunting tasks that look like mountains…there is no need to fear…using the Lord’s power turns these apparent mountains into molehills.  Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 15…

 

ROMANS 8:15

For you believers in Christ have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons…

 

It is critical to remind ourselves, when we are afraid, that we are the adopted children of the living God…we have the exact same privileges as a natural born child…and as our parent, the Lord surrounds us with His protection… we have a deep, intimate and personal relationship with our Lord and we are always in His mind, His care, and His concern…in Isaiah, Chapter 41, Verse 10, the Lord encourages us…

 

ISAIAH 41:10

‘Do not fear, for I am with you…do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you…surely I will help you…surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

 

Even when we make foolish decisions, the Lord is there to strengthen, to help and to uphold us.  There is nothing to fear when the Lord is on your side.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Present Your Bodies in the Family

 

While fear fragments the soul, the antidote for fear is unity.  In Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 1 to 6 the apostle Paul introduces the elements of unity…

 

EPHESIANS 4:1

Therefore I (Paul), the prisoner of the Lord, implore you believers in Christ to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called…

 

This is not an invitation to a false sense of power, the kind most Christians have…thinking they have to impress God…instead it is a call to follow the guidance of God the Holy Spirit…a Person…the third Person of the Holy Trinity and the God responsible for our sanctification…when we simply listen to His voice and obey His mentorship, He produces fruit in us…the fruit of the spirit…we reflect the magnificence of the Godhead with our lives…

 

EPHESIANS 4:2

…with all humility (in submission to our God, not pride) and in gentleness (with our emotions under control, not always angry), with patience (waiting and watching as God unfolds our lives), bearing with one another in unconditional love…

 

EPHESIANS 4:3

…being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

EPHESIANS 4:4

There is one body (the body of Christ) and one (God the Holy) Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope (the absolute confidence) of your calling…

 

God does everything in ones…He is clear…He is never confused or confusing…

 

EPHESIANS 4:5

…one Lord (Jesus Christ), one faith (Christianity), one baptism (of the Spirit)…

 

EPHESIANS 4:6

…one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

 

Welcome to a place where you can learn to reject fear, and using God’s enabling power, where you can revel in the power of unity to accomplish all the tasks your God puts in front of you…especially with family…so that you are walking in a manner worthy of Him and His calling of you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

GOOD FIGHT

Unspoken

 

When things seem toughest…when things seem the most overwhelming…

keep the faith…keep fighting the GOOD FIGHT…here’s Unspoken to sing about it.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you placing tribulation in our path…and we compound the tribulation quite often by making mountains out of molehills ourselves…yet we thank you for not abandoning us or failing us or forsaking us during the trials…

 

Remind us, Father, that tribulation is our workout in the spiritual gymnasium…and help us to remember that we are not alone in the midst of tribulation, but that You are there, and You will never fail us or forsake us as we keep fighting the good fight of faith…help us to put down our fears… help us to press on to the mark…help us to respond to your upward call…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...

Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Present Your Bodies in the Family

 

We’re studying Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1…

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore…I (Paul)…urge (beseech) you…brethren (believers in Christ)… as you keep on being persuaded because of the many mercies of God…TO PRESENT YOUR BODIES (by choice, not by command…as) A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE… acceptable to God the Father… which is your spiritual service…worship.

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1 tells us a “DO” in the Christian Way of Living…DO KEEP ON PRESENTING YOUR BODIES AS A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE.  The Holy Spirit has chosen to use the example of marriage in the past several lessons to focus our thoughts concerning the study of PRESENTING OUR BODIES.

 

We present our bodies voluntarily to marriage. 

 

The Lord gives us relationships, like marriage, so that we will GROW.  Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 18 says…

 

SECOND PETER 3:18

…GROW within the sphere of grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

There is nothing that helps us grow faster than relationships like marriage.

Are you growing in your life?  That’s a serious question that deserves your serious consideration.  God built us to grow.  Satan wants us to stay the same.  The Romans had an expression…QUI NON PROFICIT DEFICIT… he who does not advance, recedes…he who does not move forward is moving backward.  Are you growing?  If not…you are not standing still as you might want to deceive yourself into believing…you are moving backward.

 

Relationships start when you “PRESENT YOUR BODIES AS A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE.”  As we have considered the marriage relationship, for those who are in it, and for those who are thinking about it, we know such a complex relationship cannot be sustained with lighter fluid love…the attraction phase love that springs up when we meet someone and then burns out just as fast.  Marriage is a daunting task that requires a tremendous sacrifice.  What is sacrifice?

 

SACRIFICE
The surrender or the complete destruction of something you value (like self) for the sake of something that has a higher value (the team).

 

Marriage rewards intent.  What is intent?

 

INTENT

The state of a person’s mind that directs thoughts toward specific actions.

 

It’s almost mind boggling to contemplate the complexity of the marriage relationship.  When we do it’s easy to see why six in ten first marriages end in divorce…why seven in ten second marriages end in divorce…why eight in ten third marriages end in divorce.  If we are not growing in the knowledge of how to handle the complexity of marriage as we fail at them… if we continue to pursue the fantasy of lighter fluid love…we never equip ourselves to handle the challenges of marriage…and when we don’t handle the challenges of marriage, it chews us up and spits us out.

 

Marriage has a TIME component…marriage has a SPIRITUAL component…marriage has a HEALTH component…marriage has a FINANCIAL component…marriage has an INDIVIDUALITY component, the need for a concern for a genuine concern for SELF.  All of these components are true aspects of marriage…things that never go away.  You care for them intentionally or you don’t.  A key thought as we look at these aspects of “PRESENTING OUR BODIES AS A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE” is the word INTENTIONAL.  It’s not news to you that these things are in play in the marriage relationship…in fact they are in play in every relationship…but the question is, are you handling these things INTENTIONALLY?  Are you making intentional choices, mutually agreed upon, concerning how you will handle these things?  Then are you living the agreements?  In Matthew, Chapter 12, Verse 25, the Lord Jesus Christ said to the Pharisees…

 

MATTHEW 12:25

“Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste…and any city or any house divided against itself will not stand.”

 

As I reflect on two failed marriages I can tell you that an awareness of the elements that are in play in marriage is not enough.  If you as individuals are not interested in growing…if you as individuals are not willing to step up to the challenges that the marriage relationship presents…marriage will eat you.  The other person cannot, over the long run, do the work of two people and hope the marriage will succeed.  Your relationship will die.  And the time to address marriage maladies in structure is NOW… INTENTIONALLY…and to come to agreements, rather than engaging in blame.  When the two become one flesh, there is no one to blame.  If you blame the other person, you are blaming yourself.  Blame has no place in relationships.

 

So let’s tackle the FAMILY component of marriage.

 

God has given us the gift of family.  I want to laugh as I say that, but I won’t.  And you know why I want to laugh.  You and your spouse have a relationship with your relatives, both kids if you have them and the nuclear family.  It can be anything but a gift.

 

You-Them Diagram with the word FAMILY in the box>

 

What does the Lord Himself have to say about family?  Mark, Chapter 6, Verses 1 to 6…

 

MARK 6:1

Jesus went out from there (Capernaum [kfer-Nahum…the town of Nahum]) and came into His hometown (Nazareth)…and His disciples followed Him.

 

This is the Lord’s homecoming…

 

MARK 6:2

When the Sabbath came, Jesus began to teach in the synagogue…and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and what are such miracles as these performed by His hands?

 

This seems like an “Oh wow!” but it is really a “Who does He think He is?  He ain’t all that!”  Mark, Chapter 6, Verse 3…

 

MARK 6:3

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him (they were repelled by Him).

 

In the Jewish culture, a man is never described as His mother’s son…this is a blatant insult…even the people of Nazareth couldn’t believe that anything good could come out of Nazareth.

 

MARK 6:4

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.”

 

The gift of family?  The truth is our families seldom value us. 

 

MARK 6:5

And Jesus could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.

 

The Lord refused to do miracles in the presence of unbelief…which means miracles have no effect on unbelief!

 

MARK 6:6

And Jesus wondered at their unbelief.

 

In Matthew, Chapter 10, Verses 34 to 36, the Lord said about families…

 

MATTHEW 10:34

“Do not think that I (the Lord Jesus Christ) came to bring peace on the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

 

The Lord divides…the people in a family who are believers in Christ and who are students of the Word of God will be hated…

 

MATTHEW 10:35

“For I (the Lord Jesus Christ) came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law…”

 

MATTHEW 10:36

“…and a man’s ENEMIES will be the members of his household.

 

The gift of family!  A man’s enemies will be the members of His own household.  People in your family will treat you poorly and will take you for granted.  It is not mandatory, but most often it is what happens.  John, Chapter 4, Verse 44…

 

JOHN 4:44

For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

 

It’s sad but true…family is a tremendous challenge.  Well human history was created because of a divorce…a divorce between the Lord Jesus Christ and His enemy…Satan.  Let’s take a quick music break…and when we come back we’ll take the offering and then we’ll see what happened in the first family.

 

MUSIC BREAK

FEARLESS

Jasmine Murray

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Present Your Bodies in the Family

 

Let’s begin the next portion of our lesson by giving you a chance to make an offering…we need and we value your financial support to continue the work of this ministry…please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

EPHESIANS 5:15-16

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,// making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Present Your Bodies in the Family

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1…

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore…I (Paul)…urge (beseech) you…brethren (believers in Christ)… as you keep on being persuaded because of the many mercies of God…TO PRESENT YOUR BODIES (by choice, not by command…as) A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE…acceptable to God the Father…which is your spiritual service…worship.

 

What happened in the first family?  Ezekiel, Chapter 28, Verses 11 to 19…

 

EZEKIEL 28:11

Again the word of the Lord came to me saying…

 

EZEKIEL 28:12

“Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You (Satan) had the seal of perfection…you were full of wisdom and you were perfect in beauty.”

 

EZEKIEL 28:13

“You were in Eden, the garden of God…every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz and the diamond…the beryl, the onyx and the jasper…the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald…and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you.  On the day that you were created they were prepared.”

 

EZEKIEL 28:14

“You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I (the Lord) placed you there.  You were on the holy mountain of God (the third heaven)…you walked in the midst of the stones of fire (the throne room of heaven).”

 

EZEKIEL 28:15

“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness (the sin of independence…the sin of disunity) was found in you.”

 

EZEKIEL 28:16

“By the abundance of your trade (the trafficking of slander) you were internally filled with violence (jealousy), and you sinned…therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God (kicked you out of the third heaven)…and I have destroyed you (removed you), O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”

 

EZEKIEL 28:17

“Your heart was lifted up (in arrogance) because of your beauty…you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.  I cast you to planet earth…I put you before kings, that they may see you.”

 

EZEKIEL 28:18

“By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade

(the trafficking of slander) you profaned your sanctuaries.  Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you…it has consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the eyes of all who see you.”

 

EZEKIEL 28:19

“All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you…you have become terrified and you will cease to be forever.’”

 

Satan ruined the first family, the angelic family, by creating division, and he seeks to ruin your family with division.  And he’s pretty good at it.  He convinced all the angels to turn on the Lord.  He has a lot of willing accomplices in families who turn on their own family members.

 

So what happens in families?  Division.  On the inside of families…parents are in charge.  The parents are to be one…in unity…on one page.  Yet this is seldom the case.  To do so would have to be INTENTIONAL.  The marriage preceded the family, yet when kids come to a union, it typically divides.  Parents forget that the marriage is the reason a family is possible.  The kids eventually become pawns in a power game.  Each parent seeks to win a child’s loyalty so that it can be used against the other parent…division.  Then, the trafficking of slander against the other parent begins, mimicking the very sin of Satan in angelic history.

 

Parents…what is your one page?  That is NOT a concept.  It is an actual set of INTENTIONAL agreements concerning how you will handle the family, recorded on a single page, and then executed.  We talk about being on the same page, but do you actually have a page?  Or do you expect others to “divine” what you want and to give it to you as if their ideas don’t matter?

 

What is the worst expression that ever came from a parent? 

 

“I want my kids to have it better than I did.” 

 

God doesn’t think that way.  Why?  Because it is a prescription for the development of assholes.  God allows us the freedom to make choices and to live with the consequences of the choices.  I ask you…why do your kids have to have it better than you?  Did they ask for that?  What’s the benefit if they have it better than you?  God thinks tribulation is what develops our character.  If that is the way the Sovereign God of the Universe parents… doesn’t it stand to reason that allowing your kids to experience tribulation is the way to grow them?  To let them experience want…to make them earn it…to encourage and to reward effort…this is the essence of parenting.  To teach them how to be adults so they can launch is the mission of parenting.

 

If your kids are living with you after the age of twenty-one, and there isn’t some amazingly extenuating circumstance, you might want to take a look at that.  Kids were built to launch.  And if they don’t want to launch, there is something severely defective in their souls.  Usually that defect is caused by one or more parents who don’t realize how much they are destroying their kids souls by enabling them not to launch.  Parents who don’t have lives themselves keep on parenting beyond when parenting is called for.

 

There are many parents who don’t realize that parenting is a finite job.  It ends.  Adults don’t NEED to be parented.  Real adults resent parenting.  Yet you’ll hear the stupid mantra of parents who don’t stop parenting…I’ll always be your mom…I’ll always be your dad…yep…and you’ll wonder why they want to put you in a nursing home.

 

Another worst expression from parents? 

 

“I’ll just let them make their own decision about God.”  They’re going to do that anyway…they have to do that.  So are you now off the hook for evangelizing to your children?  Will you leave that task up to others?  If you fail at every other parenting task, don’t fail at evangelism.  Expose your kids to the gospel message incessantly, from you and from others.  Help them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  It has eternal consequences.

 

As it relates to the family situation from the outside, tell your nuclear family members to butt out.  For example, are you neglecting your own family by providing financial support to your nuclear family?  In other words, is your nuclear family more important than the family you have been gifted with by God?  Yes…we can enable our parents as well.

 

So what is your parenting program?  What do you want to accomplish?  Are you ready to accomplish it in light of the fact that your program will be rejected, especially during the teen years?  Proverbs 22, Verse 6…

 

PROVERBS 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go (the narrow the path to adulthood), and even when he is old he will not depart from it.

If you do this, there is no guarantee the child will adhere to your direction, but it is your job to provide the direction anyway.  It’s the same with God.  He points the way, yet often we don’t follow it at all.

 

Family is a system…family is designed to be a unit…yet often it is the most challenging of the tasks we face…to bring together a group of disparate individuals as a team…to be on each others side and to value each other.

 

Family is a gift from God…perhaps one of the most powerful gifts, and certainly the most illuminating on where you really stand as a human being.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

In First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 to 9, the apostle Paul delivers the essence of the gospel…the good news concerning The Christ…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3

For I (Paul) delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4

…and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:5

…and that He appeared to Cephas (Simon Peter the Apostle), then to the twelve (minus Judas Iscariot).

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:6

After that the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain (alive) until now, but some have fallen asleep (physical death)…

 

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:7

…then He appeared to James (the Lord’s half brother), then (the Lord appeared) to all the apostles…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:8

…and last of all, as if to one untimely born, the Lord appeared to me also.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:9

For I (Paul) am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

 

Luke, Chapter 19, Verse 10 says…

 

LUKE 19:10

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

ACTS 16:31

And Paul and Silas said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

CLOSING SONG

FEAR NOT

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

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Thanks for listening!

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