(# 368) Romans 12 - A Little Fatherly Advice

 

Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  We open with a few announcements…

 

BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Alex Cramer

June 20, 2017

 

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Cliff Spier

July 5, 2017

 

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Kevin Collins

July 8, 2017

 

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June 25, 2017

2:00PM-3:00PM

 

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NEXT WEEK!

EVENING LESSON

6:00PM to 7:30PM

June 25, 2017

 

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July 2, 2017

 

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The Lord’s Supper Celebration

July 16, 2017

 

The third week of the month instead of the second…

 

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Next Deacon’s Meeting

July 29, 2017

7:30A -9:00A

 

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August 4-5, 2017

COEUR d’ALENE BIBLE CONFERENCE

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

 

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September 15-16, 2017

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Detroit, Michigan

 

From now on, announcements will be recorded separately from the lesson.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

A Little Fatherly Advice

 

Happy Father’s Day!

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1 begins our transition into the action portion of the apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in Christ at first century Rome…he says in opening…

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore, I (Paul) urge you, brethren (believers in Christ), by the mercies

of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God the Father, which is your spiritual service of worship.

 

All biblical study is not cerebral.  God does not expect us only to KNOW His Word… He doesn’t expect us to simply learn the Word of God and then to be content in that knowledge.  He also expects us to use what we learn.  He expects us to LIVE the Word.  We are wise when we use what we learn.  We are even wiser when we pass along what we learn for others to use. 

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1 hit me like a glass of cold water in the face.  It contains three simple requests from God the Father to believers in Christ.  Present your bodies…as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God the Father…and this is your spiritual service called worship.

 

For whatever reason, and of course I’ll blame it on the promptings of God the Holy Spirit, these three simple requests illuminated a word in my mind…DECISIONS.  It seems to me that life is filled with decisions.  What are the ten best decisions you can make in this lifetime? 

 

It seems to me that Father’s Day is a good day for a little fatherly advice.  Rudyard Kipling, an eighteenth century journalist and novelist gave some great fatherly advice to his son in the stoic poem IF…

 

IF

Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can keep your head when all about you  

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you…

 

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting, too…

 

IF

Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or if while being lied about, you don’t deal in lies…

 

 

Or if while being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise…

 

IF

Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master…  

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim…

  

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same…

 

IF

Rudyard Kipling

  

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools…

 

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And if you can stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools…

 

IF

Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss…

 

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss…

 

IF

Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone…

  

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the WILL that says to them, “Hold on!”

 

IF

Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,  

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch…

 

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much…

 

IF

Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds worth of distance run…

  

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,  

And—what is more—you’ll be a Man, my son !

 

Well in today’s lesson…I have some fatherly advice for you about the ten best decisions you can make in your lifetime.  Happy Father’s Day! Welcome to our Father’s Day celebration, as we begin our study of Romans, Chapter 12.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

THIS OLD MAN

Kenny Rankin

 

Now let’s hear a tribute to fathers…Kenny Rankin singing the song, THIS OLD MAN.

 

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 for Fathers!  Thank you for offering us, through our human fathers, a duplication of You…a planner, a protector, and a provider…help us to value them and to appreciate them just as we value and appreciate You…

 

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

Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

A Little Fatherly Advice

 

There is something great about being in the seventh decade of your life.  What’s greatest is that you’ve seen some things.  You’ve experience some successes and you’ve made tons of mistakes. And if it comes to the notice of a sexagenarian, a person in the seventh decade of life, you have had ample time to learn what works and what does not work…what is fulfilling and what is empty.  You have gained wisdom.

 

One of the greatest pursuits a young person can make is to benefit from the wisdom of those who are down the road in life.  As a Pastor, and as an executive coach in business, I have dispensed wisdom to many.  The greatest part of dispensing the wisdom happens when I see young people using the advice to avoid the pitfalls of life I didn’t avoid…the time wasters that have predictable results…no result! 

 

What is a pitfall? 

 

PITFALL

A lightly disguised trap that is easy to fall into…a dangerous entanglement for the unwary and the unsuspecting.

 

We know that our God has an enemy, Satan.  We know Satan is the master of scheming.  His focus with Christians is to create and to lure us into pitfalls…the traps that rob us of our serenity and slow us from achieving our objectives.

 

As we make the transition into Romans, Chapters 12 to 16, we are transitioning into the wisdom section of Paul’s letter to the Romans.  As an introduction to Romans, Chapter 12, I’d like to introduce you to my version of the ten best decisions you can make in this lifetime.

 

Life is filled with decisions.  Not every one of them is critical.  These ten decisions are life decisions.  Making them and keeping them will not guarantee success in life.  You will still have tribulation and challenges that God allows to shape your character.  But for anyone who does these ten things, preferably simultaneously, I’d take my chances in saying they are going to have a life that is beyond their wildest dreams.

 

If you asked me, I’d give you a little fatherly advice and I’d tell you the ten best decisions you can make in your lifetime.

 

(1)      Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

(2)      Study the Word of God with a person that is teaching the Word from God’s perspective, and do exactly what the Word of God says.

 

(3)      Present Your Body to God as a Living and Holy Sacrifice

 

(4)      Pick a person as a marriage partner only after you have survived two crises with them

 

(5)      If you choose to have children, prepare a twenty–one year life education curriculum for them with your marriage partner before they are born.

 

(6)      Save a minimum of 10% of your income by paying yourself first, and invest the money in an untouchable index fund.

 

(7)      Learn to eat using Barry Sears’ THE ZONE system of nutrition.

 

(8)      Do a minimum of thirty minutes of moderate exercise six times a week.

 

(9)      Schedule your time use to ensure that you are investing your time in the things you value.

 

(10)    Decide what fun is for you and incorporate it into your daily routine.

The inspiration to tell you these things came from Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1…

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore, I (Paul) urge you, brethren (believers in Christ), by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God the Father, which is your spiritual service of worship.

 

Decisions are the things to which you present your bodies.  It occurred to me this week that the reason Satan is so interested in Christians being obsessed with our personal sinning is to take our focus away from what really

matters…obeying God.  Obedience to God is a choice…a decision!  Obedience to God is the expression of our will.  The expression of our will matters, and one thing we can do with our will is present ourselves to God for the spiritual service called worship.

 

Let’s take a look at the wisdom of the ten best decisions in this life…the world according to Pastor Rory…a little fatherly advice.  And by the way, it is NEVER TOO LATE to make these decisions.

 

DECISION ONE

 

          Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

 

If the truth were known, I don’t know whether Jesus Christ is God or not.  The truth is, I’ve never met Him.  Here’s what the bible has to say about Him.  John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…

 

JOHN 14:6

Jesus said to doubting Thomas, “I am the way (to salvation), and (I am) the truth (the Word of God), and (I am) the (resurrection) life (eternal life)…and no one comes to God the Father but through believing in Me.

 

Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

ACTS 16:31

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

 

In John, Chapter 3, Verse 36, the Lord Himself says…

 

JOHN 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life (the resurrection life) right at that moment…but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life, but the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

Faced with these biblical assertions, I had a decision to make, and I made it.  I believe.  Why?  Because as Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, a sports commentator and Las Vegas bookmaker once said, “There is no downside to believing in Jesus Christ.  If you believe in Him, and He isn’t God, then you just live this life and you die.  If you don’t believe in Him, and He is God, you go to the Lake of Fire.  This was an easy decision for me.”  I agree with Jimmy.  This is the single most important decision in life.

 

If the truth were known, I don’t know whether Jesus Christ is God or not.  The truth is, I’ve never met Him.  I have spent my faith in Him being who He says He is…all of my spiritual chips are pushed to the center of the betting table, and my money is on the Lord Jesus Christ.  It’s a bet I don’t think I can lose.

 

DECISION TWO

 

Study the Word of God with a person that is teaching the Word from God’s perspective, and do exactly what the Word of God says.

 

Obedience is a wonderful decision.  You are always being obedient, either to God or to God’s enemy.  There are really only two decisions to make regarding how you “present your body.”  Romans, Chapter 6, Verses 12 to 14 highlight the two ways…

 

ROMANS 6:12

Therefore do not (will to) let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts…

 

ROMANS 6:13

…and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness…instead present yourselves to God as if you are one of those who are spiritually alive from the spiritually dead, and present your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

 

ROMANS 6:14

For sin shall not be master over you believers in Christ…for you are not under law but you are under grace.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the captain of my life’s ship…His Word, His exact thinking, is the rudder of my ship.  A rudder is that part of a ship which controls its direction.  What better decision than to let the Lord’s thoughts control your direction?

 

DECISION THREE

 

Present Your Body to God as a Living and Holy Sacrifice

 

What God wants from us is simple.  ALL.  Mark, Chapter 12, Verse 30…

 

MARK 12:30

“…and you shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, and with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind, and with ALL your strength.’”

 

Are you all in for God?  Are you aware of what He wants you to do with your life?  Are you doing it?  God doesn’t want us sitting around on our arses.  He wants us up and at ‘em and in the game of life.  I’ve always thought like the third little pig.  While everyone else is building their houses of straw and of twigs like the first two pigs, I was busy building my house of bricks.  I was busy building a foundation that produces an amazing amount of fruit at the proper time.  I have been willing to delay gratification.

 

DECISION FOUR

 

Pick a person as a marriage partner only after you have survived two crises with them

 

I’m actually appalled at how fast people make the decision to marry someone, without checking them out…especially in light of Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 24…

 

GENESIS 2:24

For this reason (marriage) a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife…and they shall become one flesh.

 

We are one flesh with the person we marry.  It is a union “until death do us part.”  It has always been my thought that this selection is not a romantic one…it is a practical one, answering the question, “Who would make a great partner?”  It is not as if I have practiced what I preach in this regard, but I certainly have learned the wisdom of my rational thoughts about marriage from my own “romantic, in love” mistakes.  Until you have had two crises with another person, I don’t think you really know them.  I don’t think you really have a glimpse into their true character.  At the first sign of crisis, do they run or do they stick?  Are they on your side only when it is convenient to be?  Are they on your side only when it is popular to be?

 

DECISION FIVE

 

 

If you choose to have children, prepare a life education curriculum for them with your marriage partner before they are born

 

Proverbs, Chapter 22, Verse 6…

 

PROVERBS 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not

depart from it.

 

Uh, yeah!  No.  We don’t do this.  We treat one of the hardest things in this

life as if it is something we can do “on the fly.”  And then we seem

surprised when the results of “on the fly” parenting produce children who

are ill-equipped mentally to compete in the world.  There is a young lady in

our congregation who is one of thirteen children.  Any set of parents who

has thirteen children should get automatic admission to heaven.  I can’t

imagine anything that is harder to do than to raise thirteen children.  One or

two is hard enough!

 

The Hebrew word translated “train” really means dedicate.  We are to

dedicate our children to God.  When we are doing that, we are sending them

in the direction they should go.  In effect, parents are the rudders of

children.  How are you doing in directing them?  What is your objective with

your kids?  What is your strategy with your kids?  How much time do you

set aside with your spouse to think about what you want to do with your

kids?  It’s easy to see why this is a task you would want to do before the

little Cretans get here.  Once they get here, making the time for thinking is

pretty hard.

 

Let’s take a music break…and when we come back we’ll hear the final five best decisions of your lifetime.

 

MUSIC BREAK

MY TRIBUTE

Andrae Crouch

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

A Little Fatherly Advice

 

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

 

ROMANS 11:33

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

A Little Fatherly Advice

 

Happy Father’s Day!

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1 begins our transition into the action portion of the apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in Christ at first century Rome…he says in opening the chapter…

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore, I (Paul) urge you, brethren (believers in Christ), by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God the Father, which is your spiritual service of worship.

 

It’s a great day to pass along a few “fatherly” recommendations concerning the ten most critical decisions you can make in this life as you present your bodies to God... 

 

DECISION SIX

 

Save a minimum of 10% of your income by paying yourself first every time you get a check, and then invest the money in an untouchable index fund

 

God expects us to be good stewards of His financial blessings.  Luke, Chapter 16, Verses 1 and 2…

 

LUKE 16:1

Now the Lord Jesus Christ was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to the rich man as one who was squandering the rich man’s possessions.”

 

LUKE 16:2

“And the rich man called the manager and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you?  Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’”

 

There is always too much month at the end of the money.  If you wait to save until after you have paid your bills, then you won’t have any money to save.  Most of us squander our money.  This recommendation by a friend to “pay myself first” made no logical sense to at first…until I started doing it.  I just wish I had saved 30% instead of 10%.  And I wish I had known about index funds when I was thirty instead of investing the money in stocks and losing it all three times.

The other day, I figured out that if you could accumulate three million dollars by the time you are forty…and believe me LOTS of people have done this…and if you invested that three million dollars in an index fund…in just thirty-six years, without adding a penny to the three million dollars, your three million dollars would become million dollars at age 76.  That million dollars would kick off .6 million dollars a year forever.

 

The truth is most people wouldn’t make the sacrifice to build a fortune like that.  But let’s say you had 0K by age 40.  It would turn into .4 million in thirty-six years, kicking off 0K a year.  That would be an amazing retirement fund.  Of course the time to get started on this is NOW!

 

It’s funny what happens when you make a simple decision like this…everything you do starts to support it.

 

DECISION SEVEN

Learn to eat using Barry Sears’ THE ZONE system of nutrition

 

The diet industry is about a nine billion dollar industry filled with misinformation.  God wants us to learn how to eat right.  First Timothy, Chapter 5, Verse 23 says…

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 5:23

No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

 

Barry Sears would tell you to learn how to keep your body out of an insulin state…a state that encourages the body to hold on to its fat reserves.  His nutrition program is called a “fad diet” in Wikipedia, and it is anything but that.  It is the way to eat in such a way as to promote good health for a really long time.  It’s easy to learn and easy to execute if you are committed to it.  It’s worth your time to read the book “Mastering the Zone” and to follow its principles.

 

DECISION EIGHT

 

Do a minimum of thirty minutes of moderate exercise six times a week

Paul is talking about the spiritual life in First Corinthians, Chapter 9, Verses

25 to 27…but there is good advice here for the physical body as well…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 9:25

Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.

They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable wreath.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 9:26

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim…I box in such a way, as

not beating the air…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 9:27

…but I discipline my body and make it my slave…

 

It’s a great idea to set aside time to do moderate exercise every day. 

Walking is a phenomenal exercise.  It is strenuous enough to give you

benefit and it is easy enough to keep you from injuring yourself.

 

DECISION NINE

 

Schedule your time use to ensure that you are investing your time in the things you value

 

Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verses 15 and 16 say…

 

EPHESIANS 5:15

Therefore be careful how you walk (your lifestyle), not walking as unwise

men would walk, but walking as wise men would walk…

 

EPHESIANS 5:16

…making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

 

You can’t manage your time; you can only use it.  Schedule your time use. 

If you’re going to do it, schedule it.  If you don’t schedule it, don’t do it.

 

DECISION TEN

Decide what fun is for you and incorporate it into your daily routine

 

Philippians, Chapter 4, Verses 11 to 13…

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:11

Not that I (Paul) speak from want, for I HAVE LEARNED to be content (happy) in whatever circumstances I am.

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:12

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity…in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:13

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

 

Always make time for play.  If you don’t you’ll regret it.  All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!  And it makes Jane a dull girl!

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1 hit me like a glass of cold water in the face.  It contains three simple requests from God the Father to believers in Christ.  Present your bodies…as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God the Father…and this is your spiritual service called worship.  To do this, you have to make decisions.  You have to express your will.

 

It’s my pleasure to offer you some advice from down the road.  As you look at the advice, don’t look at it from an “I agree-I disagree” point of view.  Look at it as if you can’t fail if you do these things.  Then tell me what your life is like ten years from now after doing these things.

 

Make the decisions that edify you!

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked (Paul and Silas), “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

 

ACTS 16:31

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

 

ROMANS 10:10

…for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

 

SECOND PETER 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of, but instead He is patient toward you unbelievers, not wishing for any to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

LUKE 19:10

“For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

CLOSING SONG

FATHER, I’M YOURS

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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