Now, if you have your Bible, we're gonna look at Roman chapter 12. We're actually gonna be looking at quite a bit of verses, I think. Well, at least more than what I would normally do. But, you know, I really believe that God has put something on my heart. And to be honest with you, I'll be honest with you guys. Every lesson that God gives me, it is always for me. It really is. But I pray and hope There's somebody here, I pray that everybody here have an open heart and open mind and I pray that you guys can take this lesson and take it out to the world. Because let me tell you something church, that's what we need to start doing. We need to start taking the word of God and take it into the world. People need to hear what God has to say and people need to realize what God has done for them. Because it's more than just Christmas guys, it's the sun, Our Heavenly Father's Son that cometh down to the earth to do what? To die for us. Romans chapter 12 and we're going to be looking at verse 1. Now, the title of my lesson, I'm excited. Commit to a lifestyle of worship and holy action. Now, the reason why I think God has given me this, because I got a lot of time, you know, I think one of the things that we always have a problem as Christians is that when we accept the blood of Jesus Christ, it is very easy for us to go back to the worldly things. And I think the reason why it is, because I think, and this is all churches up and down the road, I honestly believe that as a church, we do not do a good job of helping young Christians, and even older Christians, of how to live in this world. Honestly, church. And I was thinking to myself, I was thinking about, you know, when I accept Jesus Christ in my life, I'm going to be honest with you guys. The first five to, I don't know, ten years, I never really gave God my all. I never really gave God everything that I could to him. What it was, what happened was, I would give God my time at church, but then when I go out to the world, I would put God in the back burner. And then I would wonder, well, how come nothing's happening? How come I don't hear nothing? How come, you know, I'm not receiving any blessing? How come I'm not, you know, doing this or that? And then finally, I don't even know how it came to me, but it just came to me one day, I realized that you have to become a living sacrifice for Jesus Christ. Now we're going to get into that. I've got a couple of points I want to get into, and I'm going to get you out of here. So, Romans chapter 12, verse 1. The first thing is this, become a living sacrifice. Now this is Paul writing to the Romans, I precede you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that ye present your body a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. So what happened is Paul is commanding us. He's encouraged us to present our body as a living sacrifice. Why? So we can be available, guys. When we present ourselves and deliver sacrifices to God, that gives us the thing to be available to what God wants us to do. Now, we all know what sacrifice is. In the Old Testament, that's when the priest would sacrifice the lamb to God to forgive people's sin. So what they would do during those sacrifices, they would kill the animal. Okay? So what we have to do is that we have to, guys, This is the most important part. We have got to kill our own nature. We have got to get rid of our old past. We cannot let the things in the past hold us down, and we cannot keep going back to the past. We have to kill it, just like the priest did with the lamb. They would kill the lamb for sacrifice. And when you're killing something, guess what? You're getting rid of it. You're completely, it's not yours no more. is no longer yours. And when you give, when you live your life as a living sacrifice, what happens is God will become more available to us. And we will see what God wants us to do. We'll be able to see what God needs us to do. We'll be able to be obedient because we are living for God. Let's go to Roman chapter six. Roman chapter six, verse 13 says this. Give me a second. Roman chapter 6 verse 13 says and set up full witness, which says, this man cannot speak but a word against the holy place. Live a holy lifestyle. Why? So when you go out in this world, when people see you, they see Jesus Christ. To me, that is one of the most important things. Let me tell you something, church. I have been out in this world, and let me tell you something, I have shown people Listen, I have shown people the style that I would be too embarrassed to show. I have shown people the style that Jesus Christ would not be proud of. I have shown people, you know, what I want to be and not what Jesus wants me to be. And let me tell you something, church, that one of the things that I learned from this is that when you do that, you can turn people away from Jesus Christ. People are gonna be looking at you going, wait a minute, if you're calling yourself a Christian, how come you talk this way? How come you think this way? How come you do this, the thing that you do? Listen, guys, to live a life with Jesus Christ, we have got to get rid of our old, and we have to become a mirror for Jesus Christ. The second thing is this, for the glory of God, okay? We're gonna live for the glory of God. Let's go to Galatians. Colossians 3. Verse 17. Give me a second. Colossians 3. Verse 17 says this, whatsoever ye do in the world or deed, do all the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." Everything we do, it must reflect Jesus Christ. The way we talk, it must reflect Jesus Christ. The thing that we listen to must reflect Jesus Christ. And let me tell you something kids, not kids, I'm sorry, I'm so used to talking to a youth group. Let me tell y'all this. You know, seeing those kids going to Walmart this evening, listen, they're not representing New Vision Baptist Church. They're representing God. At least I hope they are. I'm not over there with them. But the thing is, church, they are over there representing God. And let me tell you something, church, it's more than just gifts. We have to let people know the real reason why we are here on this earth, and it's because of a man named Jesus Christ, a perfect man that walked on this earth and never committed one sin. He is the one that we have to start living for, okay? So when we walk in this world, we have to reflect Jesus Christ. Now, let's go to 1 Corinthians 10. First Corinthians chapter 10 says this. Listen, I know I got you guys everywhere. Just bear with me. First Corinthians chapter 10 says this. Hang on a second. First 10, no chapter 10, I'm sorry. First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 31. So we're living for God. We're living for a sacrifice, becoming a living sacrifice. We're living for the glory of God. This is what it says in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. It says, whether therefore ye eat or drink, whether ye do, do all to the what? To the glory of God. God is watching us. God watches every move that we make. And God wants us to be a mirror. So when people see us, they see Him. We need to praise Him. We need to worship Him. We need to do everything that God wants to do. We need to be obedient to Him. The thing that we do, the thing that we say, people are going to be watching, people are going to be listening. And let me tell you something, church. The other day, doing Thanksgiving morning, I was watching the Thanksgiving parade. Let me tell y'all something. I love watching the Thanksgiving parade. And I got to think about this because there were some things that were shown that I disagreed with, OK? Things that were wrong, that I did not like. And then during this parade, they had all these people, they were singing all these songs, they were hit or whatever. And this guy came on. And he came on, he started singing a song that got me and my wife just looking at each other going, what is this old man saying? He kept saying, Shake your money maker. And me and my wife were like, what are we watching? And we were talking about it. And guess what? I looked at Jovi. She was dancing. And I thought, oh, Lord. I thought if anybody sees this, they're not going to see God. I mean, I was panicking. I was like, oh, no. Thank goodness the church family didn't see her dancing to this song. But when we go into this world listening, guys, people know what we're listening to. When you're in your truck or your car, people know the music that you're listening to. And let me tell you all something. I love music. I love music. You can ask my wife. I was listening to Sammy Kershaw before I came here. My wife can't stand that guy. But I would listen to him. I love music. But when you really get down to it and you listen to the lyrics, you go, not really Sammy, but of other people, you listen to the music and the lyrics, you go, oh, I shouldn't be listening to this. If the youth group kids heard me listen to this, they would go, brother Asa, what are you listening to? That's why it's so important that when we go in this world that we, the thing that we watch, the thing that we listen to, that it reflects Jesus Christ. And here's another thing that I've learned is that if you put yourself too much into that world, what happens is you start thinking like that. You start talking like that. You start doing what you see and what you hear. And let me tell you something, church, we cannot put that in front of God, okay? We cannot put ourselves in a position where we might stand against Him. The third thing is this, no vile thing, vile, F-I-L-E. The definition of that is evil, wicked, sinful. Let's go to Psalm chapter 101. Psalm chapter 101. And the reason why I wanted to read all these strips is because, listen guys, they back up everything that I have. Everything that Jesus gives me, it backs it up. And I think it's so important that we can see it written in the Word of God. So know by your things. It says right here, it says, This is David talking. So what David is saying here, he's saying, hey, I am no longer going to put anything Front of God and let me tell you something church. That's something I think as Christian I think we struggle with we want to put our our wealth in front of God we want to put our Idols in front of God the thing that we think that are important on this earth We want to put it before God and let me tell you something church if you want to live a life is to walk with Jesus closest as as close as you can you have got to get those things out of the way and let me tell you something church do not tempt the devil Do not put yourself in a position where you might sin, because I'm gonna tell you this right now. You're going to sin. Why? Because you're human. You're not perfect. If you walk into this world and you walk closer to the devil, listen, you're going to sin. And listen, I know we're not perfect, but listen church, we have got to get ourselves in a position where we say, you know what, this is too close to sin. I know that if I walk through these doors, or if I open up this, or if I think this, or listen to this, I will commit sin. We cannot keep putting ourselves in a position, and I'll be honest with you church, that's something that I struggle with. That's something that I struggle with, but I just feel like I go back, and I go back, and I go back. And one day I thought, why am I going back? Well, it's because I'm committing my life to the worldly things. And really, church, what we need to do, we need to commit our life to God. And I promise you, God will protect you. He would do everything that he can to protect you. But the thing is, at the end of the day, this is your decision. Every move you make, that's your decision. Okay, guys? You know, I heard someone say this. I don't know if it was a preacher or something. He said, when you accept the blood of Jesus Christ, that is like receiving a diploma. And what he meant by that was, when you were in high school and you received that diploma, or your GED, or whatever, when you graduate, that's like receiving the blood of Jesus Christ because after you receive that diploma, everything is on you. Right? When you graduate from high school, everything's on you. Do you go to college? Yes or no? Am I going to go straight to work? Am I going to work here or there? That's the same with Christianity. When we accept the blood of Jesus Christ, it's like receiving a diploma. And after that, everything we do, we have to be the one to make the decision. And that's why it's so important that when we go out into this world, our decision is always towards God and not the worldly things. When it's towards God, God will show you what He wants you to see. God will open up doors for you. He will, you know, He will bless you. He will do so many things for you. But the problem is, as a Christian, when we accept the blood of Jesus Christ, we go, you know what? I'm going to go back to the worldly things. I'm going to go back to what I used to do. I'm going to go and hang out with my friends that might be the reason why I keep falling short from God. Or maybe I'll go back to my old past. And let me tell you something, guys. I have done that for many, many years. And let me tell you something, church. I was miserable. And it was all because I would not just commit and give it all to God. OK? So the fourth thing is this, no idol. Let's go to Exodus real quick. Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32 verse 20. You know what, let's look at Exodus chapter 32 verse 15. Let's start back up there. Because this is during a moment when Moses was up in the mountain and God had written the 10th commandment on that tablet. And this is the moment when Moses comes down to see what the Israelite was doing. So let's look at verse 15. It says, And Moses turned and went down from the mountain. And the two table of a testimony were in his hand. The table were written on both side, and on one side, on one side and on the other were they written. And the table were the work of God, which is so amazing to think about that. The written, were the written of God graven upon the table. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, which he's talking about the Israelite, he said to Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp. Verse 18, he said, it is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that I sing do I hear. Verse 19, and it came to pass, as soon as he came down to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing and Moses angry, wet, anger, wet, hot, and they cast the table out of his hand and he break. Then beneath the mount, verse 20, this is the part I want to focus on, So what happened was the Israelites, listen, They made this calf and they started worshiping. They started dancing. And Moses, he got rid of this calf. And what's amazing, when he got rid of it, guess what happened? It did not give him a chance to worship it. Whatever we have to do in our life, anything that is an idol to us, guys, we have got to get rid of it. Just like when Moses got rid of the golden calf, he got rid of it. And let me tell you something, Church, there are so many things in this world that it can be an idol to us. And I tell you what, Church, we have got to start finding a way to get rid of the thing that might be, it could be someone that, it could be a person that we look up to, it could be someone that we love, it could be sports, it could be, you know, my goodness, it could be Facebook, from what I'm seeing. My poor wife, she's like, hey, look at all these voters. I'm like, you know, I always tell her, she knows this. I go, honey, I don't care. But for some people, that's all they care about. They care about that social media world. They care about policy. Those become idols. And let me tell you something, church, when you have idols, those idols will become in front of God. And when that happens, we have got to get rid of it. We have to destroy it. We have to get rid of it. And the last thing I want to say is this, is that you've got to make a commitment. I think that's one of the hardest things to do, honestly, is making a commitment. And I don't know why it's so hard, but I just feel like it's so hard. But let me tell you something, church, all you got to do is just give God a little bit of your time. And I promise you that little bit of time will become more, and it will become more. That's something that I've realized. Listen, I've realized that if I put my phone down, I put the music down, I put down the things I like to do down, and give God just a little bit of my time, church, would I realize that the thing you know, I'll be in a basement reading the Bible for a lot longer than what I plan on. Church, we have got to start giving God our time. We have got to be committed to God. And let me tell you something, if you're here this evening and you're struggling, let's say you're like, you know what, Asa? I'm having a hard time walking the line. I'm having a hard time being close to God. The question I want you to ask yourself this evening is, am I giving it all to Him? Or am I giving it all to my work? Am I giving it all to him? Or am I giving it all to the world? Or am I giving it all to my family? Or to my friends? Or to the, you know, whatever you guys do. You gotta start asking yourself that question. Who am I giving this all to? Okay? And I'm gonna tell you this right now, guys, so listen. The moment that I, listen, and I'm not perfect, I'm not bragging on stage, but there had to be, there was a time Now, just a couple years ago, well, I had to flip the switch. I go, you know what? My way is not working no more. It was not working. I was miserable. I mean, I'm thinking, you know, I accepted you, Jesus Christ, but, you know, I'm still miserable. Nothing is working in my life. Even though, really, on the outside, things felt perfect. Things looked good. But the one thing I was missing was that relationship with Jesus Christ. And I believe with all my heart that that relationship with Jesus Christ is so important. I believe that's the reason why people always fall out of their faith, because they don't make that commitment. They don't try to make time for Jesus Christ. So that's why it's so important that when we live with Jesus Christ, we walk as a living sacrifice. We have no idols. We put things, we get things, we live things that might get in the way with God. And let me tell you something, church, it's not going to be easy. But I promise you one thing, if you just give it to God, boy he will take you all the way to the end. So that's the end of my little lesson. I pray and hope that y'all got something out of that. I know I did, because let me tell you something, it doesn't matter how hard You work, and you study, and you get into the Word of God. Let me tell you, there's always more when it comes to Jesus Christ. And I'm so thankful for the things Jesus Christ has done for us, for me. I am so thankful that He died on the cross on the sin for me. I'm so thankful that He picked me. My goodness, church. It's just, I can't get enough of it. But like I said, one of the hardest things for me was making that commitment. Like I said, if you're here this evening and you're struggling with that, listen, I want you to know I'm praying for you. I don't know who you are, but I'm praying for you. And I know that there's going to be people in this church praying for you. So like I said, all you got to do is just give God a little bit of time and he will take you to the end. I promise that.