Romans 12

Why can't we just do it the way I see it? Phil Ware continues the series on values and leadership, especially conflict in the leadership because they cannot discern operational, personal, strategic, theoretical, shared, and other types of values.

"Dear Disciple, In the first part of Paul's letter to the Roman believers, he gave his great explanation of how all people have sinned and fallen..."

Can we build a culture of honor in a world that has a different set of values? Phil Ware begins a series on building a culture of honor using Romans 12 as the basis and foundation of the study.

"Dear Father, empowering God, Let my love be genuine for everyone in heaven and on earth. Help me hate what is evil at all times and everywhere. Help...."

"Dear Father, God of the lowly, Help me live in harmony with others - without haughtiness, without conceit, willing to associate with the lowly. Help...."

"Dear Father, who wills our interdependence, Help me not to think more highly of myself than I ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,..."

"Dear Father, who wills our interdependence, Having gifts that differ, let us use them appropriately according to your will. If prophesy, in..."

How do we get past our dislike? Alan Smith reminds us that we can overcome the problems of dislike and proximity, uncomfortability and familiarity through love in very practical steps.

Will technology be the difference? David Capes uses The Voice translation to drive home the point that technology is not going to save us from ourselves, but only gracious trust that Jesus is Lord and our following Jesus into the world of forgiveness.

It's the best way to eliminate an enemy When we forgive our enemies, we make our lives happier and make the world a better place.

Why are you here? What is your purpose? Can you know? Tom Norvell reminds us that God made us uniquely to be us and the best thing we can be is to be who we were born and re-born to be.

What do you do when things fracture between you and someone important to you? Phil Ware talks about what to do when relationships are shattered and how it feels easier to trade in those relationships for new ones, but asks if this is really smartest and if it honors Christ and our walk with God.

"My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you, but wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: ‘I will punish those who....."

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving,..."

Why is it so hard to not be the one recognized? Russ Lawson describes why it is hard and important to be willing to play second fiddle in the Lord's orchestra.

How do we handle our values with integrity in the life of our congregation? Greg Anderson reminds us why values are so important and how we must live out of our values with integrity.

What have you done with all those gifts? Phil Ware continues his just one series and focuses on using our spiritual gift and the principles involved.

"Dear Father, dweller of my temple, Please give me the mind of Christ and make my body a temple of the spirit of holiness which is his. Make me holy....."

"Dear Father, all worthy God, I present my body to you, O Lord, as a living sacrifice. May it be holy and pleasing to you. Let this be my spiritual..."

"Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and..."

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy..."

"Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying."

"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...."

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with....."

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each..."

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each..."

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:17-18 -- Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:4-5 -- Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

God's high standards are certainly upside down to how we often feel and how the world usually functions. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in an online, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to open our hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit to love our neighbor and not bear grudges and seek revenge.

How do you find your part? Alan Smith talks about a junior high music teacher whose students didn't play.

We can change our world for the better rather than having our values eroded by our circumstances! James Nored and Phil Ware remind us of Joseph's story and how God works in our lives to bless people if we are faithful, have character, and share compassion no matter our circumstance.

"Dear Beloved, Paul spent the first two-thirds of his letter to the Roman Christians explaining the principle of salvation by grace through faith. In...."

"Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in..."

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

"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."

"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..."

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. "

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn."

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn."

"Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited."

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's..."

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's..."

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

"By the grace given me I say to everyone of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in..."

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."

"If a Christian can by possibility be saved while he conforms to this world, at any rate it must be so as by fire. Such a bare salvation is almost as....."

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:16 -- Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:10 -- 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:15 -- 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. - Revelation 21:6

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:11 -- Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:1 -- 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.

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:21 -- Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:10 -- Be devoted to one another in love, honor one another above yourself.

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:9 --Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Inspirational illustration of Romans 12:3 -- By the grace given me I say to everyone of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. - Romans 12:2

How are you doing in your struggle to be pure? Men have a real struggle to live pure lives, but a small group that holds us accountable and confession can help.

My response is to recognize God’s greatness and grace in using me as an instrument and with confidence move into this pure, unspotted new chapter. Jackie Halstead challenges us to take advantage of the New Year to begin writing a new chapter in our lives that brings grace to a world struggling with evil.

Can we segment our lives into secular and sacred? All space must be reclaimed as sacred space.

Prayer changes something much more important than our circumstances! Phil Ware continues his series on building a culture of honor focusing this week on prayer, especially prayer as a redemptive tool of offering forgiveness and blessing to those who are our enemies and who mistreat us.

Are you allowing life to shape you into it's mold? Rubel Shelly reminds us to not settle for cramped spaces, especially cramped spaces in our minds!

Instead of a well-manicured life, and perfectly organized and aesthetic home, my heart is yearning for more connection with love... His love... and, to be part of His loving presence. Melissa Troyer comes to us again through the ordinariness of daily life and reminds us to listen for Jesus' presence and look for ways to be conduits of God's love.

Is revenge really so great, or is it just a way to sink deeper? Revenge always brings us down to a lower level and often gets us in worse trouble.

Why keep doing what you're doing? Alan Smith uses a story by Elie Wiesel to help make the point that sometimes we have to do things that seem even futile because we don't want to be changed into something we don't want to be.

Are you are spiritual person? Spirituality is about who you are on a daily basis.

Can you let go of your brick or do you still want to throw it? Rubel Shelly deals with the growing problem of rage in our world today and examines ways to let go of it.

Have you lost the source of absolute standards in your life? When we lose the Bible as our moral compass, then we are left without a good understanding of right and wrong and sin.

"Dear Follower, Wake up. It's nearly dawn. Put on your clothes. It's time for living in the daylight. Paul chose powerful images for today's passage...."

"Dear Member of My Body, At the beginning of the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul is about to address the chaos that had resulted from...."

Why is there so much fussing and fighting over spiritual gifts? Phil Ware continues his series on the Holy Spirit called SpiritFire and focuses on the issue of spiritual gifts.

Here's something you don't want to forget at the table of thanks today! Rick Brown reminds us to be thankful for God's mercies.

What really is a spiritual life? All of life should be lived as spiritual.

How do we get our minds in the right place? Rubel Shelly reminds us that God's redemption isn't just about the future, but about living fully human lives now!

The New Year is our opportunity to seek after God's ways in our lives and find the wisdom to live for him in our challenging times. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to call us to recognize God's greatness and our need to obey him if we want to gain a heart of wisdom.

God brings me to my knees, both in honesty and in choosing joy, as I pick up a careless mess made by the precious, but oblivious little stampede that lives within my walls. Melissa Troyer shares the worship in stooping to clean up the messes that are part of a mom's everyday experience with little children she is trying to mold into followers of Jesus.

Where do you worship? Worhip is more than what happens on Sunday in our holy box.

Some negative descriptions actually may be good! Russ Lawson takes a gag gift he received from his kids and reminds us that it is OK to be an old coot if this means being different from the world.

Member of a body or member of a club? Being a member of the body of Christ means forming part of a living organism. It's not like being a member of a club or member of an insurance plan.

Why worry about this smaller thing? Phil Ware talks about our need to go deeper into the will of Jesus by getting with a group with whom we can grow and follow Jesus.

What value does your faith really have? All of life is our worship, our love for God expressed heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Who is alive in you? Phil Ware continues his series on SpiritFire focusing on our bodies being the Temple of God in which God lives by His Holy Spirit.

Have you stopped lately to share the journey with another? Russ Lawson reminds us to share the journey with others whether they are rejoicing or crying, we can help in many ways, sometimes by just being with them.

Why in the world would anyone want to go to such an effort? Serving may be hard work, but like good exercise, it develops us into a healthier people.

The power of grace, the gift of life in marriage. Phil Ware continues his series called 50 shades of grace that focuses on the intimacy between a husband and wife in marriage.

Could we be so gracious in this awful situation? The horrible death of one daughter and the coma of another and the confusion between the two leads the Ceraks and Van Ryns on the ultimate challenge of Christian faith.

Will you live all of life as worship, or just a few hours per wek? Phil Ware asks what we should wear to worship God and challenges us to see all of life as sacred space!

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Phil Ware challenges us to look beyond the cosmetic image we see in the mirror and view ourselves as God does.

We are gathered to honor and praise God and to be reshaped by his Spirit so we can do the work of Jesus in the world. Phil Ware and Demetrius Collins invite us to worship God and celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit as we are transformed to be more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

What do you have growing in your path? We need to keep our thought life free of weeds.

What can one person do at such a painful time? Kelly Breece shares the important lesson about friendship and helping a grieving friend by just being present.

Who said it and why do we think it is true? Men can cry and should show genuine emotions.

Who do we celebrate? Just as birthdays should be about moms, so our very lives should be about the One who gave us life

How in the world do we know what God wants? Max Lucado reminds us of the most important thing as we seek to know God's will for our lives.

How can we be thankful without doing something significant? Patrick Odum talks about gratitude and thankfulness for the grace we have received and all the blessings we have in Christ and in life.

Why is it so hard to call it what it really is? Rubel Shelly reminds us that some people and some things are simply evil and no other term is appropriate or speaks the truth about the situation.

So is it really about me? Rubel Shelly shares a story from post World War II at Yankee Stadium and helps us understand that self-centeredness may be okay for little kids, but not for us!

When's the last time you held a neighbor's hand? One of the kindness things we can do is simply hold a friends hand and listen to his or her pain and problems.

What is the greatest blessing that we have in Christ? While there are many miracles in the Bible, the greatest miracle of all is a changed life!

When is worship more than just religious stuff in a box? We've got to re-think and re-do the way we worship in the church today and get back to our mission of being Jesus to the world around us.

Can we keep the bad stuff in our day from leaking out? We are called to not let our bad stuff from work spill over on our families and neighbors.

Have you ever thought as your job as your primary place of worship? Ron Rose reminds us that work is sacred and we should not divide our lives into sacred and secular boxes.

How can we move forward and not just repeat the same old things? Jackie Halstead shares with us the process of Examen as she reviews 2013 and looks ahead to 2014 and dedicates her life to God.

How is the church like manure? Rubel Shelly reminds us that the church is sent, scattered, meant to infiltrate and penetrate the world and make a difference.

"Dear Disciple, While involving yourself in Christian assembly and gathering together with believers for encouragement, exhortation and worship are..."

What's the ultimate loss of control? Paul Faulkner reminds us that we have to give God control now, even though we fear it, because death comes and sooner or later we're going to have to yield control to him, now.

You mean I am an important tool in God's ministry toolset? Phil Ware reminds us that God longs to fashion us into a vital tool in The Master's SIGnature Toolset to be used for Kingdom and church ministry.

Do you look like your Father? For those of us who claim to follow Jesus, there should be a family resemblance between each of us and God and Jesus. We should not look like the people around us, but we should be uniquely different and by our look we should be part of God's family.

And if you aren't you, we won't ever get you. The world misses out. You offer a gift to society that no one else brings. Max Lucado wants us to know there is only one of each of us and each of us needs to be who we are to honor God, bless others, and bless ourselves.

There is more to salvation than forgiveness! Conversion is more than just a one time forgiveness, it is about learning a new way of life.

What are we members of? The church isn't an organization; it's an organism. Membership isn't optional. If we are in Christ, in a saving relationship with him, then we are necessarily members of his body. Christians don't choose to belong to the church; if they belong to Christ,

What is the snare we must avoid? It's living in fear of what others may think of us or do to us because we follow Jesus. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to fortify our commitment to not live in fear of what others may think of us or do to us, but to trust in God who is with us.

Why do we put so much emphasis on worship in the box and not in our everyday lives? Phil Ware finishes his series on What is Core by talking about worship and the importance of meeting together in big and small groups, but also living out the life God has called us to lead, being a reflection of the righteous character and gracious compa

Why is it so easy to draw this line? Phil Ware reminds us that there should be no line between sacred and secular for followers of Jesus.

Do you sound familiar? Marsha Jordan reminds us that folks need to know that we care and really are not looking for us to pour out our advice and give them all of our solutions.

Why are we so afraid to do what God makes clear is our next step? Phil Ware completes his two article series on being strong and courageous and being ready to see God do great things among us.

God is worthy of all our praise — more than our finite minds and inadequate vocabulary can muster. So, how can we praise God appropriately? Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in virtual worship through words and music using YouTube videos encouraging us to worship God with all that we are and have and say.

How do you reach the tipping point? Mike Barres gets stumped on moving a stump but keeps on going and reaches the tipping point and comes through because he doesn't give up.

When I was a teenager When I was a teenager some friends and I would frequently get together on a weekend night to go camping.

Can we really take worship with us outside our religious boxes? Worship has to be part of our everyday real life world where we work, play, do sports, have recreation, and watch our kids play.

Is grace a gift or does it come with conditions? Phil Ware reminds us that people make up their own definitions of what grace means all the time, but Jesus defines grace, exemplifies it, and pours it out upon us and he should be our example and definition of grace.

It's not a Sunday morning deal we make with God! Brian McCutchen talks about worship and how it must be a daily part of our lives or it is not real worship like the early Christians shared and lived.

Jesus talked about a haunted house? Don't simply get rid of evil, but fill your life with goodness!

What do we do in the face of evil and meanness? Phil Ware continues his series of messages related to "The Story" curriculum, using Abraham's call to be a blessing to be a reminder to us as well.

Are you dead enough to catch on fire? Mike Barres challenges us to die to self so we can catch fire with the Spirit of the Lord.

Christmas isn't over; it has only just begun if we recognize that it is our job, together, to be Jesus to the world! Phil Ware reminds us that Christmas isn't over, but now our role is to be Jesus' people, his presence, in our world.

Living in a civilian world after being in service can be a tough transition, but with support from their community and friends like you, a service member's life can be much easier to navigate. Rhonda Underhill shares simple ways to help active service members and veterans with their adjustments to civilian life and provides many good links to services and resources that are helpful.

How are we doing at welcoming in those not everyone else likes? We must welcome those other reject and leave out because that is what Jesus did.

When Luke summarized the heart of the early church, he chose to highlight one particular word — Phil Ware continues his series on prayer this week, focused on the early church's devotion to prayer that they learned from Jesus.

Now aren't you nice!? Patrick Odum shares about the compliment guys and how they bless people and how we can, too.

Which should we hold on to during this season? Bill Sherrill reminds us to not let go of our friends who are depressed nor of our joy in the season.

Are you letting this Garment set your style? Max Lucado reminds us that when we are baptized, we are clothed with Christ, so what people see in us they attribute to Jesus!