Fellowship Church Middlebrook

Romans 12:17-21

Romans 12:17-18

Romans 12:14-16

Greg teaches this week on Romans 12:9-10, the marks. Through the text, he shows us that your heart and your mind have to be transformed when you become a Believer because they are where God is at work in you. Our hearts in Christ have been converted, Greg says, so we will know it when our hearts desire sin because we will feel as if we are at war with our flesh. Greg goes on to explain that brotherly love is the union of the church. He spends time highlighting this, and showing how the text teaches that we have to serve, love, and honor our brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what.

Rick spends time sharing about the week of prayer coming up, and the day of fasting. He speaks strongly from his heart in his sermon, and offers some vision for Fellowship.

RD preaches on Romans 12:3-5, the body. He first looks at Leviticus 1:1-5, 9, to show what a sin burnt offering is. RD conveys that we are to offer up our whole life to God, not so that God will love us or save us, but in thanksgiving for what He’s already done. He stresses that it’s a living sacrifice, meaning it’s ongoing and constant. RD transitions into talking about God’s vision for how we should flourish is for us to be together and use our spiritual gifts; God is not looking for casual spectators in His Kingdom, RD says, instead we are called to use our gifts to further the Kingdom. RD explains that we all have different spiritual gifts that make up the whole body, and we need all the parts and gifts. RD then takes time to go through the different gifts, and reminds us that we cannot live on the fruit of someone else’s vine. He ends by expressing that being a living sacrifice will cost you something, but not nearly as much as it cost Christ.

Greg teaches on Romans 12:1-2, living sacrifices. He shows how Paul shifts his tone in this chapter in order to appeal for Believers to become living sacrifices. Greg explains that we cannot lose our salvation once we accept Christ, but how we live after trusting in Him is up to us, with the Holy Spirit's guidance. Greg also shares that while God's standard is perfection, He tells us He knows we won't be perfect, which is why Jesus lived a perfect life, then died for us. But, Greg expresses that God still wants to see our hearts growing and changing to be more like Him.

After the sermon bumper, Rick and RD take some time for a video teaching before they are joined live by Stacie and JC for a conversational teaching. During the video teaching, Rick looks at Acts 17 and shows how Paul took the time to learn the culture around him so that he could point them back to Jesus. The human condition is to make our own gods, Rick says, so we have to fight against that and champion Jesus as the way, not champion ourselves. With RD’s portion, he talks about listening to the Holy Spirit through the parable of the sower. We have to listen as sheep dependent on the voice of the shepherd, RD explains. He goes on to share that Satan’s goal is to get in between us and God so we can’t hear God, but the Bible and prayer are how we turn down Satan talking to us. RD reminds us that we have to create margin in our lives to hear from God. During the conversational teaching, the group continue on these topics, and share how important it is to learn the experiences of the people around us, and how they react to their experiences. But, the group reminds us that this takes time and patience. We don’t have the ability to fix or save anyone, they emphasize, but we can listen and point back to Jesus.

To kick off the Vision Series, there is a video teaching from Rick, followed by Rick, Stacie, and JC having a conversation-style teaching. During these two teachings, Rick, Stacie, and JC talk about conversations, and how to speak into things with hope. Rick reminds us that we have to remember the bigger story; it's not about us, it's about God calling us to life, and then us sharing that hope that we've received to bring about His glory. JC emphasizes that the culture has no king, but they still want all the virtue of the Kingdom, so we have to watch the alliance of our own hearts in order to not let dread consume us, and in order to lead both ourselves and others to Jesus.

Greg teaches this week on Romans 9:30-10:4. He also references John 15 in his text. Greg reminds us that Paul’s thesis statement for Romans is “I am not ashamed of the Gospel” to help the people of Israel see that their salvation is by faith only; they cannot save themselves. Greg explains that when we first believe in the Gospel, God will immediately display His mercy by showing us how sinful we really are so we truly see our need for Him. Greg emphasizes that because we received mercy ourselves, we are called to extend mercy and grace to each other, no matter our stance on the subject at hand. But, we can’t be all grace and no truth, we are also called to speak truth into each other’s lives.