2015.12.13 礼拝

2015.12.13 礼拝

2015.12.13　Romans 12:1-2 [Putting your love of God into practice－2]

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

What would be the kind of change that may occur when we accept God’s love? The answer is that we would want to love God (Jesus).

Furthermore, when we love God, we would obey Jesus’ commands and be led to love our neighbors. If such changes have not taken place, then we may have either refused to accept God’s love or have held back ourselves from entrusting to his love.

If such is the case, it would help to recall the messages in November and strive to entrust in God’s love seriously.

Then, what does “to love God” mean specifically? The first is to “worship.” God’s demand for worship has remained the same throughout the Bible starting from Genesis into the last book of Revelation.

What is “worship?” For us Japanese who are much influenced by other religions, it might be necessary to give up our preconceived idea about worship to understand the real idea of worship as taught in the Bible. Paul teaches us specifically what worship is in today’s message,

1) Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice (worship)
Romans 12:1 Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

Does our weekly worship reflect this word in action? The essentials of worship is “offering to God” rather than “receiving.”

2) Put God (Jesus) first
Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Matthew 10:37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

“To love God” is to put God first. If you were to worship something other than the first, you would be worshipping an idol.　Is to love and worship God our top priority in life? Our life and faith will lack stability if we are unable to hold on to this basic point.

3) Believe in the blessings you will have when you love God
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Have we made “to love and worship God” the top priority in our life or missed the promised blessings we would have otherwise received? Do you really believe that God who loves you will keep his promise?

There’s a saying that “if you run after two hares, you will catch neither.” If you try to manage both “work and church (life of faith)” at the same time, both will see unsatisfactory results.

Jesus tells us if we first do things that need to be done first, then he promises that there is no need to worry about things to follow. If we truly love Jesus, is it not necessary for us to keep our part of the promise?