Straight-line Depreciation

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:21 Foolish Heart – Are you sitting down?  You might want to.  As we approach the end of this year (according to the pagan calendar),…

Delightful Direction

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God Romans 12:1 For the next few days we will examine the teaching of Paul in Romans 12.  Sometimes we will have to look at the same verse several time, but rest assured, there…

The Wrong Stuff

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God Romans 12:1 Living – In order for a sacrifice to be “living,” something had to go wrong.  You see, in the sacrificial system of Israel, an animal was destroyed when offered to God. …

Temple Duties

present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship  Romans 12:1 Spiritual Service – Most of us have never witnessed an animal sacrifice, but we can imagine one.  The blade slices across the throat of the animal, producing a geyser of blood.  The animal attempts to…

Prayer and Consequences

because having known God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful   Romans 1:21 Glorify – Thankful – Some ancient Jewish scholars translate Genesis 2:7 about the creation of Man with the words, “and Man became a speaking being”, rather than our common, “and Man became a living being.”  If Paul was…

Spiritual Service

“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”  Romans 12:1 Spiritual service – What images come to mind when you read these two words?  Do you get a pang of guilt because you passed…

Sacrifice

“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”  Romans 12:1 Sacrifice – It’s all about blood.  I know that most of us are squeamish about blood.  When we see blood we think “Pain!”  Blood…

Present

“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”  Romans 12:1 Present – When I was a child in elementary school, every morning the teacher took attendance.  This was not an informal process of simply…