Our text this morning is Romans chapter 12. We're going to be in the section, really the second section of this chapter. It's verses 3 through 8. And I'm going to go ahead and read it for us right here off the bat. For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment. each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, in proportion to our faith. If service, in our serving. The one who teaches, in his teaching. the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. Our Father, we need you as we always do whenever we approach your word. Lord, we tend to be a stubborn people. I tend to be a stubborn person. I tend to have my will and my desires, Lord, and I pray that you will incline my will this morning to your will, to your will clearly revealed here in your word. And Lord, change is difficult. Change in practice is difficult. Change in mindset is incredibly difficult. So I pray that you will humble us this morning. I pray that we will have submissive hearts to you and to your word. We thank you for your word. It is in the name of Jesus Christ, your son, that we pray these things this morning. Amen. Two Sundays ago, we began looking at this remarkable chapter, Romans chapter 12. It's the essence of Christian living. All scripture is valuable. There's no question about it. It claims to be so. But there are some passages that stand out as exceptionally foundational, and this is one of those passages. The book of Romans, back in chapter 1, begins really with a look at the world, and the way the world thinks, and what the world worships. People who worshipped themselves instead of the Creator. People given over by God to their own lusts. People given over by God to a debased mind to live out lives filled with evil of all kinds and to all kinds of degrees. These were condemned people. This was us. We were Romans chapter 1. These are people who maybe even tried to keep some of the law, but they could never change their helpless condition. So beginning in chapter 3, Paul begins to unfold the glorious truths of the gospel. The gospel that every person needs. All of us were hopelessly lost. All of us were completely devoid of any true righteousness, so sinless Jesus came to remedy that situation. He died to take our eternal punishment. He lived a life of righteousness so that we might have His righteousness so that we could be reconciled to a Holy Father. He is continuously and progressively making us more like His Son until the day that we awake glorified in His presence. And this truth caused the Apostle Paul to launch forth into praise at the end of chapter 11, and it also entailed a major paradigm shift at the beginning of chapter 12, based upon the mercies of God that are contained in the book of Romans we are to go from self-worship to God-worship. That's a huge paradigm shift. The people in Romans chapter one worship themselves. But the only kind of rational worship that we could possibly give forth as people who have been gloriously redeemed, regenerated by the mercy of God, is that we present ourselves, everything about us, as living, holy, and acceptable sacrifices before the Lord, not being conformed to the world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds, that through testing we might be able to discern the good, perfect, and well-pleasing will of God. It is no longer my will that I am interested in, it is His will." That's a huge paradigm shift. The people of Romans 1 cared about one thing and one thing only, and it was their own pleasure following their own will. But now that we have been redeemed, Now that we have been converted, there's a huge paradigm shift that goes on. It's no longer self-worship, now it is God-worship. So the question that comes out of those first two verses is, who or what do I worship? And that's what we talked about a couple of weeks ago. And of course, so many Christians, so many people who have been in church for a long time, the answer to that, to them, is very simple. Well, God, of course. I mean, of course I worship God. Well, the rest of the book of Romans, from chapter 12, 3 on, reveals whether or not that claim is true. Is it really God who you worship? It's easy to say, I worship God. It's easy to come to church on a Sunday and sing praises and say, I worship God, but it's a lot more than just what we do on Sunday morning in a church service. And so the rest of Romans begins to lay out what this transformed life looks like. It begins to lay out, have we really presented ourselves as living, holy, and well-pleasing sacrifices to God? We died and we continue to die daily. Is that your mindset about life? After exhorting all believers to present themselves as living sacrifices, to not be being conformed to this world, but rather be being transformed by the renewing of their minds, Paul now has an empty canvas in front of him to paint the picture of what that life really looks like. Have you ever thought about that? I mean, he has a blank canvas and he can do anything he wants with it to show us what it looks like to be conformed to this world, to show us what it looks like to really be transformed by the renewing of our minds. What does that look like in real life? Do you find it interesting, surprising even that with the first stroke of his brush, he writes what he does in our passage for this morning? What does it look like to not be conformed to this world? What does it look like to be being transformed by the renewing of our minds that we might know what this perfect and wonderful and good and well-pleasing will of God is? Well, he begins to show us right here. I mean, if you had this canvas to put down whatever you think Is a life conformed to this world? What would you paint? What would you write? Well, there are many who would go immediately to a list of cultural things, cultural taboos. They would say primarily that worldliness depends upon how you practically apply biblical principle. and specifically things not clearly delineated in the scriptures, areas of conscience before God, they would say that worldliness depends on how you live there, how you interpret that. That's worldliness. If you come to the same conclusions that they or their group come to on how not to live in the prevailing culture or how to live in the prevailing culture, then you are not worldly. But if you come to differing conclusions with them or with their group, you are worldly. That's how many people will describe worldliness. Well, Paul most certainly does address these areas of conscience. He does. It's in Romans chapter 14 and 15, and it tells us to welcome and love and accept one another and not to judge or look condescendingly upon others who differ on these matters of conscience. So he does deal with it, but that's his conclusion. Instead, Paul begins to show us what really constitutes worldliness. He shows us here, begins to show us what it really means to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And it is here that we find the second great paradigm shift for every believer. We not only have to wrestle with the fact that we have gone from being worshipers of self to worshipers of God. There's another paradigm shift that happens here in Romans chapter 12. It is from self-service and self-centeredness to being members one of another. That is a huge paradigm shift. That's a completely different way to think. that many believers, many believers who have been saved, who have been in churches for decades, have never really learned what it means to exist as members one of another, to go from this individual self-service to, you know what, what I do impacts a body. It's a huge paradigm shift. We started looking at some of the ramifications of this radical mindset last Sunday evening as we touched on Romans 12, 9 through 13. Understanding that we are now members one of another. Our love for one another is genuine and not hypocritical, is affectionate and not heartless, it is diligent and not hesitant. Our love for one another goes way beyond just the acts of service that we Give to one another, all those things are very important. It impacts really the way that we live the rest of our lives. We should always be asking ourselves, in what ways does the way I am living impact others in the body? Do we think that way? And that is this radical new paradigm shift, this radical new mindset that we find in the book of Romans and throughout the New Testament. And it begins with proper self-evaluation. That's what we find in our text for this morning. The Romans one person is filled with haughtiness and arrogance. We saw those two things listed in their litany of sins. They have a lofty view of themselves. They think too highly of themselves. But all of that is to change for the one who's experienced the rich mercies of God in the gospel. So we see in verse 3, for I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. Don't think too highly of yourself. Don't have an overinflated view of yourself. Now, this is a battle for all of us. Do we not naturally tend to think too highly of ourselves? We think too highly of our opinions. We think too highly of our accomplishments. We think too highly of our wills. We think too highly of our importance. We think too highly of our abilities. You know, the greatest detriment to church unity is thinking too highly of yourself. We tend to be self-absorbed, self-dependent, self-centered, and self-important. At least I do. I'm not saying that you automatically do. I have a hunch. The way y'all are looking at me right now is kind of like... Okay, I do. I'm self-centered. I'm self-absorbed. I think too highly of my own will and my own opinions. I do. This is a battle for me. And my guess is that if everybody had to take some truth serum, you'd probably admit the exact same thing. This is truly being conformed to the world. That's what it is. This is what it means to be truly conformed to the world. Instead of having an overinflated view of ourselves, Paul begins to lay out how we should think, how our minds should be renewed in the way that we think about ourselves. Do not think too highly of yourselves, but think correctly. Think with sober judgment to be in one's right mind. It's what it means. Sober judgment. Be in your right mind. Don't think too highly of yourselves. Be in your right mind. In other words, if I'm thinking too highly of myself, I'm flirting with insanity. That's exactly what Paul is saying here. If you think too highly of yourself, you're borderline or all the way insane. You're not thinking correctly. You're not thinking sanely. The opposite of thinking too highly of ourselves is not thinking too lowly of ourselves. It's thinking correctly about ourselves. That's what it is. Do you think correctly about yourself? So exactly what does that mean? What is the correct way to think about ourselves? Well, I think Paul gives us a clue in the very next phrase. To think each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. What exactly does Paul mean by this statement? I wrestled with it. I've wrestled with this statement before. It is a difficult phrase to interpret. But I believe that what Paul is saying in the context of this passage is that to think correctly about ourselves means coming to the realization that all we have in Christ is given to us solely by His grace. God, by His grace, has assigned to each of His people faith. Have you ever just sat and thought about this phrase, the measure of faith that God has assigned to you, that he has gifted to you, that he has given to you? It was a gift from him. I mean, the preaching of the cross is true. But without faith, it is offensive to some and foolishness to others. That's what it is. I mean, somebody could have shown me the mercies of God, clearly explained to them, and every one of them could be true, but without the faith that God gave to me, I would have never believed them. Everything I have. Paul knew this very well. In fact, he said it at the very beginning of verse three. For by the grace given to me, I say, even though Paul had been granted the position of apostle, he did not think too highly of himself. How is that? How did he not do that? How can I think too highly of myself and Paul, who's an apostle, not think too highly of himself? Well, he knew that not only his salvation, but his apostleship was all a gift of God. Even the faith that I have, the very building block, the very foundation of faith was a gift to me. It was assigned to me by God. I have no room to boast. Every good spiritual thing was given to me by God. And Paul understood this. To think correctly about ourselves is to think humbly about ourselves. He is the one, God is the one, who because of that faith brought me into his family. He brought me into the church. Which brings up another aspect of thinking correctly about ourselves. Not only do we think very humbly, that any good that I have, any good that I bring to the table, in any spiritual ability that I have, we're gonna get into gifts here in just a moment, any spiritual gift that I have is completely by God's grace. Those are things that have been assigned to me. not because of my goodness or my greatness, but simply because of His grace, so I have no room to boast. I cannot think too highly of myself. But there's another aspect of thinking correctly about ourselves, and it's found in the very next phrase. For as in one body we have many members, And the members do not all have the same function. So we though many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another. Here's the essence of the major paradigm shift. While we are individuals, we are individually members one of another. We are to think of ourselves in the context of those who exist in the same local church. While I find it hard to ignore the universal church aspect of this passage, there is a sense in which we are all one body. I am part of that body, the church, with people on the other side of the world I've never met and I'll never get an opportunity to serve. It is especially true, though, of those who exist together in the same local church. We are diverse members who are mutually dependent on one another. Do you believe that? Do we think this way? I've spoken to many professing believers who belong to no body of believers. They don't go to church. They claim that their faith is a private faith. Listen, I know that sounds so spiritual. It's just not biblical. It's not biblical. I know there are some, I've spoken with families, who although there are several gospel preaching churches in their area, just have church at home with their families. I know that sounds spiritual. I know it sounds safe. It's just not biblical. It's not the clearly revealed will of God. God intended for us to live in community. God calls all of us to love, serve, encourage, and edify one another in the local church setting. There is no way, I do not believe that you can read the New Testament without coming to that conclusion. This is important. And it should be important to every believer. We are called to love one another and serve one another in the church. Verses four and five here in Romans 12 reveal the wonderful diversity and unity of the body of Christ. In one sense, Paul says that we are many. In another sense, we are all one. And the same dynamic, of course, is found in our own physical bodies. Our bodies are made up of many parts, yet all of them have an organic connection. In this organic connection, the church is a result of every believer being in Christ. And this is a simple yet powerful picture of a church. F.F. Bruce wrote, diversity, not uniformity, is the mark of God's handiwork. It is so in nature, it is so in grace too, and nowhere more than in the Christian community. Here are many men and women with the most diverse kinds of parentage, environment, temperament, capacity, Not only so, but since they became Christians, they have been endowed by God with a great variety of spiritual gifts as well. Yet because and by means of that diversity, all can cooperate for the good of the whole." I mean, what an intimate statement that Paul makes here regarding our relationship together. We are members one of another. I mean, we just need to grapple with this truth. This is not one of those truths you get in three minutes and, okay, I've got this all figured out. This has so many layers that I hope that you will go from this place and that you will actually grapple with what this means, wrestle with it. What does it mean that we are all members one of another? Think how different our church may look like if we all believed this statement and lived it. We are mutually exclusive members. We each have something different that we're bringing to the table. We have different ideas, sometimes even doctrinally. We have different gifts and abilities and functions. We come from different places. We come from different social tiers. We are mutually exclusive members, but we are mutually exclusive members in a mutually inclusive relationship. We being many are one body in Christ. and individually members one of another. You no longer live self-absorbed lives. You are members one of another. This is who we are. This is what made the divisions within the Corinthian congregation so abominable. Paul writes, as it is, there are many parts yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. Nor again can the head say to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts is treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together." I mean, do we believe this? Is this the way that we think and live? Do you realize the ramifications of a statement like this? You are not, I am not just members one of another only with those in my little circle. You are members together. You are members one of another with everyone in this body. And you say, There are certain people in this body I don't want to be members one another with. Well, I go back to Paul's own words, stop thinking too highly of yourselves. We are members one of another. Paul then goes on in the text to begin to touch on what being members one of another calls from each and every one of us people. And this is difficult for some. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. Simple enough. If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. A couple of things before we get into this list of gifts. First of all, we really do not have the time, just in case you were concerned about this, we do not have the time this morning to delve into the intricacies of each of the gifts listed. Okay? I'm not going to do a full makeup of every gift and what it entails and what it looks like and how it's used. There are seven listed. There are other places in the scripture where others are added to this or taken away, you know, they're listed as well. I don't think this was meant to be an exhaustive list. I want to put the emphasis this morning on what I believe Paul puts the emphasis here in this text. Second of all, this passage, remember, is about not thinking too highly of ourselves, and that includes the use of spiritual gifts, the gifts that God has given to you. in order to be used in a body of believers. God has granted to each of his children gifts. If you have been saved, if you have been converted, if you are a new creation in Christ, you have at least one gift to be used in the body. I believe that is the clear teaching of Scripture. But as Paul alludes to, we can think too highly of ourselves in the use of them. How do we do that? Well, I think there are several ways we can do that. A couple of them are mentioned in 1 Corinthians. I'll mention three. One way is to boast about the gift or gifts that God has given to us and look condescendingly upon others that do not have the same gift or who are not as gifted in that gift as we are. I think we can all say that's just arrogance. That's what that is, pure and simple. So don't do it. Paul says, don't look at somebody else and say, I don't need you. I'm the head, you're the foot. Right? I'm the eye, you're the toe. We don't need you. Okay? That's arrogance. That's thinking too highly of ourselves. There is nothing that we have received of our own doing. Any gift that we have been given is pure grace. Another way to look, another way to really be thinking too highly of ourselves as we consider spiritual gifts is to look with longing at the gifts that others have and feel like we are not as useful to this body because we don't have their gifting and why did God give us the gifts or the level of gifts that he gave to us and he gave that person a lot more gifts than he gave to me or to a greater degree? That's just thinking too highly of ourselves. We're to be thankful for the gifts that God has given to us and searching for ways to use those gifts in the body. The third problem or way I think that's very clear that we think too highly of ourselves when it comes to spiritual gifts is the one that Paul deals with here in Romans chapter 12. We just simply fail to use them or maybe more egregiously, we refuse to use them. That's thinking too highly of yourself. That's not considering that you are members one of another with other people in this body. It's haughtiness. Paul's words here are very clear. Having differing gifts according to the grace of God, let us use them. So in verse 7, Paul says, if serving is your gift, serve. If teaching is your gift, Teach. If exhorting is your gift, then exhort. Use your gift. Find a place of need and get busy. Find people who are in need and get busy. Find ways that you can pour yourself into the lives of others in this body and get busy. You are members one of another. You know, there are constantly needs that we hear about. in places like the children's ministry. In a church our size, with as many spiritual gifts as we have in this body, the problem should never be in our children's ministry, we need more people to help. It should be, how in the world are we gonna use all these people? I mean, do you realize you get to disciple the next generation of leaders? I mean, do we realize that we get to pour ourselves into children and we get to not only exhibit the gospel for them, but share the gospel with them? I mean, why would we not be knocking the doors down to serve in a ministry like that? It's an unbelievable opportunity to serve a disciple. I am so thankful for the people who have poured into my children over their lifetimes. Find the need. Help meet that need. Build relationships out of your got-for-and-don't-need-no-more groups. Right? I'll serve my friends. Build other relationships outside of that. Why don't you go outside of your comfort zone and build relationships with people who are a lot different than you are? Why don't you reach out into their lives? Why don't you enjoy the diversity instead of abhor the diversity? It's represented here in our church. I don't want everybody to be like me. serve one another. Paul moves from a general idea here. In those three gifts, you'll see in those three gifts, it's just, hey, if serving is your gift, then serve. If teaching is your gift, then teach. If exhorting is your gift, then exhort. He gives some general idea there, just, hey, if you've got it, use it. If you've got it, use it. But then he starts going into some specific guidelines, if you will, in some of the other gifts that he mentions. It's an interesting passage. The first one is found in verse six. He takes the gift of prophecy and shows it the gift. He doesn't just say, hey, listen, if you got the gift of prophecy, then prophesy. He adds something else to that. If prophecy is your gift, then it must be used in proportion to our faith. What does Paul mean? Well, this is another difficult little statement in this passage to interpret. What exactly does that mean? Well, there are actually a handful of possibilities, but here's the one that I believe best fits the context of this passage. The gift of prophecy is the gift of clearly revealing the truth and will of God from His Word. Those who have it are to do so in a proportion to our faith. You know, the first time Paul mentions faith in this passage, back up in verse 3, it's very much an individual thing, as each of you have been given assigned faith by God. But this one has more of a corporate touch. This time it's referred to as our faith. The idea is in accordance with our faith, the doctrine and tenets of the Christian faith. The one who speaks for God has boundaries, in other words. He has boundaries. What he says must be in accordance with the word of God. It's not about opinion. It's not about personal belief. It's about what does God say? In other words, it's life by the book. Exactly what we've been talking about for years and decades here, living life by the Bible. Do we do that? There are boundaries when I am telling people what the clearly revealed will of God is for their life. And I stay within those boundaries. If I prophesy, it's in proportion to our faith. So our gifts are to be used within the boundaries that God has provided. In verse 8, Paul moves from simply exhorting us to use our individual gifts to touching on the manner in which we use our gifts. If you contribute, you see he adds something here. It's not just, hey, if you contribute, if your gift is contributing, giving, then give. He adds something. If you contribute, if you have the gift of giving resources, time, energy, do so generously. Don't just give, give liberally. If that's your gift, use it well. If your gift is leadership, then do it with diligence, with zeal, with purpose. Pour yourself into leading others. If your gift is mercy, then do so with cheerfulness, no matter what it may cost you. Folks, mercy costs us something. Do it with cheerfulness. Don't use your gift begrudgingly. Use it freely. Use it sacrificially. That's what he's saying here. Don't just use your gift. Use it with all your energy. How can we be like Christ if we do not sacrificially serve as people? How? When the disciples were thinking too highly of themselves, which we can track several different occasions in the Gospels where they were thinking too highly of it. They were arguing over which one of them were the greatest. Jesus comes back with, you know what? I didn't come here to be served. I came here to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. When he wanted to teach on the last night before his crucifixion, one of the first things, the first big lessons that he taught his disciples was he took a towel and he bent down and with a thousand reasons not to. He began to wash the disciples' feet. And then what did He say? As I have done to you, so you are to do to one another. You can't be like Christ and not serve His people. We can't be like Christ and not sacrifice for His people. I mean, this sounds like a lot. This is a lot of work. This is a lot of sacrifice. Yes, it is. Part of presenting our lives to God as a living sacrifice, a holy, well-pleasing sacrifice, is to sacrifice for His people. When was the last time that in using your gift you really felt like it was sacrifice. Not I've got an hour open in my schedule, therefore I'll do something as long as it's not too hard. When was the last time it cost you something to serve people? If we're living like members one of another, it's gonna call for us to sacrifice. It will. This is the paradigm shift. It's no longer about me. It's about God. And it's about His people. John MacArthur wrote, this passage utterly destroys the notion that a Christian can be committed to Christ but be inactive in His service. that he can love the Lord, but not obey the Lord, that he can be surrendered to the Lord, but not minister for the Lord. True worship cannot be divorced from service. Unfortunately, the church has always had members who piously claim closeness and devotion to the Lord, but whose lives exhibit no service for him. It has also always had those who are busily active in the work of the church, but who exhibit little personal depth of devotion to the Lord, the Lord of the church. both are a shame to the Lord and are a hindrance to His work, because they thwart the spiritual maturity of the saved and the evangelism of the lost." So how do we apply this passage? What does this call from us? Well, perhaps there are some here this morning who are not using your spiritual gift or gifts to minister to other Christians in the local body to which you belong. And maybe that's because you honestly did not know that was the will of God for you. Maybe you're a new believer. Maybe you've just recently gotten saved and now you're coming in and you're exploring what Christianity is all about. And maybe this is something you've never heard before. Maybe you had no idea what your spiritual gift is to be used in the church. Maybe you don't know. I think it would be interesting to find out. How many of us really struggle with, what is my spiritual gift? I mean, what is it? But like we said, if you are truly a child of God, you have, by God's grace, been given at least one gift to be used. I encourage you to find help in discerning what that gift is, if you don't already know. I encourage you to do that. There are ways to do that. We hope in the coming months to provide some of those resources to the folks here at HPBC to at least get us started on finding out what our spiritual gift is. But the best way to discern your spiritual gift is obviously prayer that God reveals it, but then it's to get in and get busy. And the people of God begin to confirm for you what that spiritual gift is. So don't sit in your easy chair at home saying, I wonder what my spiritual gift is. Start serving God. And I believe that it will be revealed to you, you will see it. Serve where you have an interest, serve where there's a need, serve other individuals, but serve. Maybe you're not currently using your spiritual gift to serve the local body because your physical body will just not allow you to do the things you used to do. There's probably a lot of people like that. There may be people watching live stream today who just simply can't leave their home to be here with us today. They would love to be here, but they can't. Maybe you're a young mother with several small children, and I mean, you are worn out. Well, first of all, you discipling those children is great benefit to the body. Great benefit. You are serving the body by discipling your children. You are. But maybe it's hard for some people just because of the condition of life or season of life that they are in. First of all, thank you for your years of service, those who have served a long time but can't serve like they used to. Second of all, I want to encourage you to get a little creative. Maybe you're watching online this morning, maybe you're hearing yourself, I can't do the things that I used to do. Could you pray for this body? Could you get a directory and every single day pour over that and pray? Could you write letters of encouragement? Could you maybe even get together with somebody who is younger than you are and pour yourself into them? I know you may not have a lot of time. I know that you may not have the resources. I know that you may not have the energy, but can we try and get a little creative and just seek to find even simple ways, simple ways to serve one another in this body? For those who are refusing to serve the body because you may not like the direction of the church or the culture of the church or its leadership or even others in the body. Maybe you simply do not have time nor are you planning to make time to spend serving others in the body. I implore you, I love you. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. I implore you to repent. If you are refusing to serve God in this body, you are sinning against God. And you are sinning against His people. And you are thinking too highly of yourself. God is merciful. When we go to Him and we repent, He forgives. And I implore you to do that. Maybe you're here and you're using your spiritual gift, but certainly not to the capacity that it could be used. You may be giving, but you're certainly not doing that. If that's your gift, but you're not doing it liberally. You're going through the motions, maybe, with any of these gifts. It's evident that our heart is not in it. Let's be reminded of Paul's words here in Romans 12. We no longer live for ourself. We are members one of another. We live for God and his people. We belong to God, and we are members one of another. Be renewed in your thinking regarding this. This is what this passage is all about. Perhaps you're here and you're seeking. You have questions about God. You have questions about church. I invite you to come and get those questions answered. Perhaps you don't have time today. Would you consider making an appointment with one of the pastors this week? Would you consider that? We would love to answer any questions you have. So once again, we come to the end of the section and we're forced to ask ourselves, just like the other passages in Romans chapter 12, who or what do we worship? Do I show by my mindset toward God's people that I truly worship God? That I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind? You know, as a church planner in two locations over 14 years, I watched as people came and they went. Sometimes they came and they didn't like a little something about our church and so they left. Maybe they moved out of the area. Maybe they went to go help somebody else start a church. There were good reasons and there were definitely bad reasons. One of the interesting things that I observed in my own personal experience was that many Many of these people spoke constantly of worldly mindedness and worldly people and worldly practices in the church. When many of them left, not all of them, but when many of them left, one thing almost always happened. It was an interesting dynamic. We did not have to spend one moment scrambling around to fill their positions of service in the body. not one. They left no holes that had to be filled. In fact, they were really not missed by many because they spent so little time pouring themselves into others. According to this passage, they were the ones that were conformed to this world. I encourage you to rethink. This is a tough passage, but I encourage you to ask yourself, am I serving in this body and am I doing so biblically? Father, we thank you for your love for us. You are a great God and what a gracious God to give us gifts to serve others, to be used in the ministry here at Hampton Park Baptist Church. Father, I pray that you'll help all of us to examine our own hearts, to invite you to examine our hearts as to how we are ministering here at Hampton Park Baptist Church. If we really think with this mindset that Paul lays out here for us, that we are members one of another. Thank you for this church body. Thank you for placing me in this church body. I'm so thankful for it. So thankful for these people that I get to serve alongside of them. It's in the name of your son that we pray these things. Amen.