Christians and the Call for Encouragement

    Have you ever been feeling down, and then someone says just the right thing to cheer you up? I feel like this usually happens with people who know you well, because those are the people who tend to know what you need to hear.

    Have you ever been in a tight spot, then someone seems to come out of nowhere and help you out? For a short person, this could be as small an act as a tall person coming into your aisle at the grocery store and reaching the top shelf for you. Or it could be if you're lost on your first day at a new school and a random student notices and helps you find where you're supposed to go. Or perhaps you've tripped and fallen running from zombies in the zombie apocalypse (someone always trips) and a stranger rushes in to help you escape the clutches of the undead.

    How do you feel after these experiences? Relieved? Sure, I know I would be in that last situation. But I think you know the word we're looking for here: encouraged. When someone lifts your spirits, or steps in to help or support you, it encourages you.

    While it is awesome to be on the receiving end of this, as Christians we are called to be an encouragement to others. Encouragement is defined as "the action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope". This can take the form of words, actions, or sometimes just being present. 

    We're going to be looking at the example of a man from the early church who was so known for his encouragement skills that he literally earned the nickname "Son of Encouragement". His birth name is Joseph, and he is a Jewish man from a place called Cyprus.

Acts 4:32-37 - "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet."

    A couple of things are going on here: the early church was made up of wealthy and not-so-wealthy people, but their community was so strong and connected that everyone shared what they had with everyone else. This made it so that no one in the Christian community went hungry or without a place to stay. The apostles, those who were Jesus' disciples during His earthly ministry and had witnessed His resurrection, were testifying to the truth of the gospel, and as they did this they made sure that the shared possessions and money from the people got distributed properly to everyone who had need. Could you imagine a community like this? It sounds like they were a real family, with everyone taking care of the needs of everyone else.

    Joseph, called Barnabas, was one of those wealthier members of the community and he participated in sharing what he had to make sure everyone was taken care of. This is our introduction to this man. It was the apostles who called him a "son of encouragement", which tells us that his generosity and support of other believers was above and beyond most of the others in the community.

Now, in this first example, what did Barnabas say or do to be an encouragement to his fellow believers?

    We aren't told that he said anything, only that he sold a field and gave the money from the sale to the apostles to give to whoever needed it. His actions were an encouragement because he was providing for needs. This could be like if you sold your PS5 to help a friend pay for summer camp, or if you offered to pay for a friend's lunch, or in that early example, if you were the tall person who stepped in to help a short person reach something on the top shelf in the grocery store. It's the idea of stepping in to offer help to someone in need. And Barnabas earned his nickname because he was so good at doing this.

Acts 11:19-24 - "Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord."

    In case you are unfamiliar with the history of the early church, after Jesus rose from the dead He spent about 40 days with His disciples before ascending into Heaven. Shortly after He ascended, He sent the Holy Spirit down to fill His disciples and empower them for ministry, so that they would be able to spread the good news of His resurrection and the salvation He offers to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth. Acts chapter 2 shows the coming of the Holy Spirit and Peter's first sermon - in Jerusalem. Literally thousands of people hear his message and believe in Jesus, and that's when the church really kicked off. Unfortunately, the news about Jesus was offensive to the religious leaders of that time, and they started to persecute the church. It started with imprisonments, but eventually escalated to executions by stoning (a large crowd surrounding someone and throwing big stones at them until they were unalived). Stephen, who is mentioned at the start of the last passage, was the first Christian to get stoned to death, and the persecution of the church got really bad after that.

    The persecution forced Christians to spread out away from Jerusalem, which brought the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the areas around Jerusalem (Judea and Samaria), but as we see above, they were only preaching to other Jews. That is, until some of them decided to start preaching to non-Jews (the Hellenists / Greeks / Gentiles), and those non-Jews GOT SAVED! This is where Jesus' plan for the gospel to reach the ends of the earth gets some traction.

    If you recall, Barnabas is originally from Cyprus, right next to Antioch where this is going down. The church catches wind of these non-Jews coming to faith, and they decide to send Barnabas there to check it out. He shows up, his heart leaps as he sees more and more people coming to faith in the Lord. He was encouraged by what God was doing. Having been encouraged by God, he steps in to encourage the new believers.

    How does he do it this time? This time he's not using money. This time he uses his words. The word used above is "exhort", which means to "strongly encourage or urge (someone) to do something". So Barnabas strongly encouraged the new believers to remain faithful to the Lord. Likely, he taught them more about Jesus and how to live by the Spirit, and his encouragement served to point them toward the next step in their relationship with Jesus through faith. For us this might be talking to a friend about their faith, what they believe and why they believe it. It might be urging them to trust in God when they're feeling persecuted or down. Or it might be as simple as sharing a Bible verse with someone who just seems a little off. The goal is to lift their spirits and point them to Jesus.

Acts 14:19-23 - "But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed."

    We haven't talked about Paul yet in this post, but I'm sure you know at least a little bit about him. He has written almost half of the New Testament, and he is a major player in the book of Acts. In this passage he and Barnabas are traveling together on their first missionary journey, spreading the gospel to as many cities as they can. Unfortunately, that persecution we were talking about before was still happening, and we see that Paul gets stoned for his preaching. Unlike Stephen, however, he survived the stoning, and we are told that he gets up and goes back into the city.

    If I were to get surrounded by a crowd of people and stoned half to death, I don't think I would have the guts to go back into the same city and keep preaching. If I did, that would have to be the power of God at work within me. And I think that is what Paul had going for him here. The Holy Spirit empowered Paul to keep going.

    Then we are told that he and Barnabas moved on to the next city and continued to preach the gospel, making many disciples, and then returned to the places where people had just tried to stone them to the death. The passage says that they returned, "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith". We know that there was teaching and words being shared here, but I think there is a more important element at play in their encouragement to the disciples. It was their presence and their perseverance in the face of persecution.

    Paul and Barnabas were unphased by the stoning. They didn't let it stop them from spreading the gospel and they didn't let it affect their faith in the Lord. They set an example for the other believers to see and follow. And then they urged them to remain faithful in the Lord, and appointed leaders in the churches to make sure they would have the leadership they needed to persevere in the face of persecution.

    Words and actions can go a long way to encourage someone, but sometimes all you need is to be present with them. When someone is sad, perhaps mourning the loss of a pet or a family member, sitting with them can mean much more than anything you could say or do. Just being there is the encouragement, so they know they are not alone.

    Spoiler alert if you haven't seen "A Bug's Life", but there is a scene toward the end where Flik stands up to Hopper. He gets beaten down and tossed around, but he refuses to back down. He challenges Hopper, and in so doing inspires the other ants to follow his lead. He realizes that together, the ants are actually stronger than the grasshoppers (because of their numbers). In the scene, it's a combination of his words, his actions, and his presence that encourages the other ants.

Hebrews 10:24-25 - "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."

    Encouragement isn't just for some Christians. Barnabas may have been known for his encouragement, but he was not the only Christian offering encouragement to others. We are all called to be encouragers, and particularly toward each other. With the way our culture is leaning, it is going to become tougher to be a Christian in America than it was even a few years ago. We will face more persecution and more rejection, and that can really take a toll on our faith. Now more than ever we need to encourage each other in the faith, spurring each other on to love and good works.

We can do this through our words, sharing God's Word and what He has done in our lives with others.

We can do this through our actions, stepping in to help when others need it and doing our best to meet the needs of others.

We can do this through our presence, just being there for people when they need support.

You are called to encourage.

So, is there someone in your life right now who needs to make the next step in their faith?

What could you do to meet their needs and move them closer to Jesus?

What Are the Wages of Sin?

    I used to work as a facilities assistant at a bio-analytical company. It sounds fancy, but really I just managed a stockroom of chemical supplies and moved chemicals around. Due to the potentially dangerous nature of the work (some of those chemicals were quite dangerous) I got paid well. At the time I was working part-time there and part-time at the church, but my real passion was the church. So, when they offered to hire me full-time I had to say no. I stayed on as a contract worker for about a year and a half, which meant that I got paid by the hour. If I worked a lot of hours, I got paid a lot, and if I worked only a few hours, I got paid less. If I wanted to get paid, I had to earn it - that's what we call a wage. A wage is a fixed, regular payment that is made to compensate someone for their work.

    The focus of this post is addressing the "wages of sin". Well, we now know what wages are, but what is sin?

    Literally translated, "sin" is "missing the mark". If you think in terms of archery, sin is when I miss the bullseye. I have not hit the mark I was aiming for, so I have sinned. In the Bible, this word is always used to describe disobedience or rebellion against God. You see, God has set the "mark" for us. What we are aiming for is perfection according to His Law and what He says is right. Anytime we miss that mark, anytime we fall short of perfection, we are sinning against God. It is anything we think, say, or do that goes against God.

    Now that we understand these two terms, let's get into the answer for the question. What are the wages of sin?

Paul makes it very clear in the first part of Romans 6:23:

"For the wages of sin is death..."

    When we sin, we earn death. Death is our fixed, regular payment for our sin. Before Adam and Eve had ever sinned, God warned them that this would be the result.

Genesis 2:17 - "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

    He set a simple mark for them - just don't eat the fruit of one particular tree. As we know, they missed that mark. For those of you who know the story, they didn't die immediately - the fruit wasn't poisoned or anything. But because of their sin death entered into the world. Paul explains this very quickly in Romans 5:12:

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned..."

    If Adam and Eve had not sinned by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then death would not have entered the world. They would have been able to stay in the Garden of Eden, eaten the fruit of the Tree of Life (which was not off-limits) and lived forever.

But they did sin. And as a result death entered the world and now everyone deserves death.

Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."

    Everyone has earned death for themselves. You, me, our friends, our families, our neighbors, our coworkers (if we have any), everyone. For Adam and Eve, the immediate consequence was separation from God, removal from the Garden of Eden and a loss of access to the Tree of Life. We are currently living in those consequences, with death in our future. What happens when someone dies while separated from God?

    There are several names used in the Bible to describe the destination of sinners: Hell, Hades, Sheol, Gehenna... and according to Revelation all these will eventually be cast into the Lake of Fire (or as Jesus sometimes describes it, the fiery furnace or outer darkness). In His teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives us a consistent picture of what the Lake of Fire will be like for sinners who go there:

Matthew 8:12 - "While the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 13:42 - "And throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 13:50 - "And throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 22:13 - "Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

Matthew 24:51 - "And will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 25:30 - "And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 25:41 - "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'"

Matthew 25:46 - "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

    In each of the passages above, those who are cast out are those who are against God. They are those who do not belong to Jesus, who are disconnected from Him, and who have set themselves up against Him. Those who do not belong to God, who remain separated from Him, are cast out into this place described as an eternal fire or punishment, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

    The idea of weeping seems pretty straightforward. In some translations, the word "wailing" is used. From this we can understand that there will be great and overwhelming sorrow, anguish, despair, and hopelessness.

    "Gnashing of teeth" is a phrase used to show either intense pain, or anger and disrespect, or both. If you imagine being filled with rage at someone, you might grind your teeth together at them. It is an expression of hate, anger, disrespect, and usually results from experiencing great pain.

    When you put these together, you get a picture of desperation, hopelessness, pain, and anger. These are the feelings and experiences that characterize the Lake of Fire. What makes it worse is that it is eternal - it will last forever. There is no end to it. Imagine being constantly overwhelmed by hopelessness, despair, pain and anger forever and not being able to do anything about it. That's Hell. That's the Lake of Fire.

Hell is not some kind of "afterparty" where sinners all gather and continue in their sin. It is a dark place of loneliness, hopelessness, anguish, bitterness, sorrow and anger that lasts forever.

    Because of sin, this is the default destination for everyone. We have all earned death which leads to the Lake of Fire for all eternity. It is where we belong, it is where we deserve to go because we have all rebelled against the one and only Holy God.

BUT - yes, there is a but! Let's read the rest of Romans 6:23:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

    I used to be headed for Hell. That's where I deserved to go. But then I put my faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross.

Romans 5:8 - "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

    When Jesus died on the cross over 2,000 years ago, He took on all the sins of the world and paid the penalty for our sin. The death that we earned - He took it on Himself. And He did it out of love for us, so that we could be reunited with God and have life everlasting.

The best part is - IT'S FREE!

    While we earned death, life is a free gift from God through Jesus Christ. We don't deserve it at all, but by His grace He offers it to us freely, should we choose to accept it. When I put my faith in Jesus Christ and accepted this free gift, my sins were forgiven and I was made right with God. He no longer holds my sin against me because the penalty has been paid by Jesus! He turned me around so that I no longer belong in Hell, but rather I am welcomed into His Presence and will spend eternity with Him!

    We know that this hope is real because Jesus didn't stay dead. He did something that we could never have done. He took death in our place on the cross, and then 3 days later He rose from the dead. He demonstrated that He has power even over death, and it is proof that what He did on the cross was sufficient to save us from our sin. This is the God we worship and we will get to raise Him forever!

    Those of us who have believed in Jesus are no longer destined for Hell. We belong to Jesus and we have the hope of of living with Him forever. God saved us.

    But I know that many of your friends, your families, your coworkers, your teachers, and others in your life have not believed in Jesus. They either have not heard or have not accepted God's free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. That means they are still destined for Hell. They have sinned, and they have earned death.

YOU HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THEY NEED.

    You have the good news they need to hear about Jesus. You know about the free gift that God has offered to all people. Don't leave them on their path to Hell when you have what they need to hear! Go tell them about Jesus!

    When I worked at that bio-analytical company, one of the highlights of the day was when someone brought in donuts or pizza and left it in the breakroom for anyone to come and take. One of my coworkers was always on the lookout for these, and whenever someone would bring something in, he made sure to tell me about it. The free food was there, but if I didn't know about it I couldn't get it. Someone had to tell me.

    God's free gift of salvation is there for everyone. He has commanded those of us who know about it to share the news with others. He has put you where you are so you can tell the people in your life about Jesus. Tell them about this free gift that God has offered them. Let them know about the life they can have with God forever, and don't leave them on their path to Hell. You know what they need, so tell them about it. Get the conversation started. Invite them to church or youth group. Bring a friend with you and start talking about Jesus. You could save their life.

His gift is there for anyone to accept, but someone has to tell them about it. Let that "someone" be you. Amen.

What Does It Mean to "Take Up Your Cross"?

 We had the great fortune of hearing from one of our volunteer leaders for the message last night as we looked at what it means to "take up your cross and follow [Jesus]".

    Before we dive into the passage, let's look at some context. In the chapters leading up to our passage for today, Jesus is seen feeding a crowd of 5,000 men (plus women and children), walking on water, healing a demon-possessed girl, and feeding another crowd of 4,000 men (plus women and children). His disciples are with Him the entire time and witness all of these things firsthand. Each of these miracles by themselves are incredible, and when linked together they are a powerful display of Jesus' authority over creation. This brings us to the first part of our passage:

Matthew 16:13-20 - "When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?'

They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'

'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?'

Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.'

Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.' Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah."

    Following those amazing miracles Jesus sits down for a conversation with His disciples and He asks about the rumors that are going around about Him. "What are the people saying about me?" And the disciples tell him - the people recognize that He is someone of great importance, like a prophet of old. The crowds have seen His miracles and they have heard His teachings and they can see that He is someone sent from God. And they are partially right - Jesus was sent by God.

    But then He takes the question and makes it personal: "What about you? You have been with me and heard my teaching and seen my power - who do you say that I am?" After everything they have seen and heard, He wants to know if they understand who He really is yet. And Peter replies, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." "Messiah", also known as the "Christ", means "anointed one". That's right, "Christ" is not Jesus' last name. It is a title. Peter calls Jesus the anointed one from God, the one promised in the Old Testament who would come and bring salvation and liberation to the world. And, even more importantly, Peter calls Him the "Son of the living God." Essentially, Peter calls Jesus God.

    And how does Jesus respond? "You're right." He gives Peter high praise for understanding who Jesus really is, and then blesses him by saying that He will establish the church and give Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven. A quick side note here: "Peter" means "little rock", and the word used for "rock" when Jesus says "on this rock I will build my church" means more of a "big rock". So He is saying here that Peter will be part of the foundation of the church, but ultimately it will be built on Jesus Himself as the "chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:19-20).

    This is very high praise for Peter, and he must have felt awesome after hearing it. Unfortunately, that awesome feeling didn't last very long.

Matthew 16:21-23 - "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!'

Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.'"

    He goes from being a part of the foundation of the church and holding the keys of the kingdom of heaven to being called "Satan" (which means "adversary" or "one who resists"). He went from being a key player in the establishment of the church to an adversary of Jesus. Why? Because his mind was set on human concerns rather than Godly concerns.

    We know that Jesus' death and resurrection payed the penalty for our sin and bought us from the power of sin and death into eternal life. If Peter had been right, or had convinced Jesus not to go down that path, then we would not have access to eternal life or a relationship with God. Without Jesus' death and resurrection, the Christian faith would mean nothing. Jesus' concern was for our redemption, even though it meant His death. I think Peter stopped listening after he heard Jesus say He was going to die. "But Jesus, if you die, then how are we going to establish the church? How is this kingdom thing going to work if you're not around?" It was a human concern, thinking only about this life and what was happening here. Jesus warned Peter that his thinking needed to change. He needed to get on board with Jesus' death, or he was only going to be a stumbling block in Jesus' mission.

This brings us to our final piece of the passage:

Matthew 16:24-28 - "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Truly I tell you, some of you who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.'"

    This is one of Jesus' hardest teachings. What do you think it means to deny yourself? Well, this one is pretty straightforward - rather than go after what we want, we instead go after what Jesus wants. Whatever my heart's desires, wants, or future goals may be, my priority as a disciple of Jesus Christ is to pursue His desires, wants, and future goals, even if it costs me my life. This is where the next part comes in. Today, a "cross" is symbol for the church of what Jesus did for us when He died. It is a symbol of hope for us. But in His day, the cross was a symbol of humiliation, submission, and execution.

    The Romans used crucifixion (death on a cross) as way of executing the worst of criminals in the most painful and humiliating way possible. If you look forward in the gospel of Matthew (27:27-37), you will see that it was normal for the Romans to force the prisoner to carry the beam of wood that would be his cross up to the place of his execution. This was both humiliating for the prisoner as well as a forced symbol of his submission to the Romans. Jesus had been so brutally beaten and tortured before this point, however, that they had to get someone else to carry it for him. This is where we get the phrase "my cross to bear".

    So, when Jesus says that those who want to be His disciples must "take up their cross and follow me", He is saying that those who want to be His disciples will have to bear humiliation and death. In Luke's gospel, he adds that this is something they have to do daily. So every day Christians are called to carry death and humiliation as they follow Jesus.

    If that's the whole sales pitch - "Follow me and die" - which of you is taking Jesus up on His offer? "Follow me to death" is not the end of the discipleship under Jesus, however. This is the cost. This is what it will take to follow Jesus. You have to be willing to give up your own desires and wants, and even your life, to follow Jesus as His disciple. If you are unwilling to give up your life, or as He puts it, "whoever wants to save his life", then you are not fit to be His disciple. That's why this is such a hard teaching.

    Praise be to God that death is not the end! Jesus says, "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it". The reason why we deny ourselves, and take up our cross and follow Jesus is that through Him we have everlasting life and salvation for our souls!

    There have been times where I have gone to a restaurant and think, "oh, that looks really good maybe I'll get that". Then I see the price and think, "Nevermind, that's not worth it". Many people look at what Jesus calls His disciples to do - deny themselves and take up their cross - and they think its not worth it. They have their minds set on earthly things; they want all the things this world has to offer like sex, money, success and power and they want those things more than they want life eternal with God. But Jesus says, "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"

    When we have our minds set on human concerns, like Peter did, we lose sight of what's truly important and what is ultimately going to be for our good. It is absolutely worth it to give up what I want out of this life in order to obtain eternal life with Jesus. The reward is worth the cost.

Some questions for you to think about:

1. Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you recognized Him, as Peter did, as the anointed Son of God?

2. What desires, wants, or aspirations are you holding onto or refusing to deny? Jesus didn't say "Deny bits and pieces of yourself". He has called you to surrender everything.

3. Are you willing to take up death on a daily basis, offering your very life in submission to Jesus? Paul phrases it like this in Romans 12:1 - "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship". Have you offered your life as a living sacrifice to God? In other words:

Are you living for God or yourself?

Do Not Conform to the Pattern of the World

     Take a moment and think about a few of your favorite TV shows. If you don't watch much television, what about movies? Even your favorite music.

    What did you come up with? Some of my favorite TV shows are The Walking Dead (questionable, I know), Scrubs, and Parenthood. Add your favorites to my list, then answer this: what do all these shows/movies/music have in common?

    There are a couple of answers, but the one I want to focus on today is that they all have a message. Sometimes it's obvious, like in the show "The Resident" they consistently and blatantly call out corruption in the medical industry. Sometimes the dialogue is just commentary on the state of the current medical industry in America. Sometimes it is not so obvious, or even purposefully hidden. Almost every modern TV show has some level of endorsement (or promotion) of the LGBTQ+ agenda (representation, typically in a positive light), sexual freedom (normalized outside of a marriage relationship), and even a distortion of the role of marriage in the family unit.

    Without realizing it, many of us have probably internalized these ideas into the way we think about life and what is right or true. Even though the above things directly conflict with what God says is right and true, those ideas have become so entangled in our minds that it can be hard to figure out what's really true and what's not.

    I'm going to teach you a new word for this post: Extricate. According to Merriam-Webster, to extricate is "to free or remove from an entanglement or difficulty". The idea is disentangling. Imagine you're fishing and you go to use a net to pull the fish you've caught out of the water and into the boat. Only, it turns out to not be a fish, but an eel. I've done this, and it's gross. The eel writhes in the nets and becomes completely entangled, to the point where it's easier to just cut the net than try to get it out. Well, if you want to keep the net, you're going to have extricate the eel from the net. You have to untangle it and remove it from the net.

    So, how do we extricate ourselves from the messages we're receiving from the world? Well, in the example above, the truth is the eel, and the world is the net we're trying to extricate ourselves from. We have to identify the truth (which is found in God's Word) and separate it from the lies of the world.

Romans 12:1-2 - "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform 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 will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

    Paul, the author of Romans, urges us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice - that means we surrender everything over to God, including our minds. He says this is true and proper worship. And if we have offered our bodies as a living sacrifice, then we have to stop conforming to the pattern of the world. Conforming means that we change ourselves (our beliefs, our behaviors, etc.) to fit in with the way of the world. Conforming to the patter of the world means we are allowing our beliefs to be molded by the world. And Paul says STOP! STOP doing this! You have received God's mercy! You have been made new in Christ, with a new identity and a new mind! Stop letting it get molded to fit in with the world!

    INSTEAD, let it be transformed and renewed so you can see and follow the will of God. Conforming means you change/mold something to fit in. Transforming means it becomes something else entirely. Rather than twist ourselves to fit in with the world, Paul says we need to be completely changed to be with God. How we go about doing this is simple:

Romans 8:5 - "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."

Colossians 3:1-4 - "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Philippians 4:4-9 - "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about such things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

    Did you notice a pattern throughout? Paul wrote all of these, and the message is clear: set your minds on the things of God. If you want to have a transformed and renewed mind, you have to set it on the things of God. You have to think about those things, meditate on those things (go read Psalm 1), and live out those things. It all comes to down to focus. The people of the world are going to have their minds set on worldly things: pleasures, gratification, wealth, health, success ,power, etc. That's the pattern of the world, and all their ideas and worldviews are going to center around the pursuit of those things.

    Paul says we are not to conform to that pattern. We have to think differently. Those who are in Christ are called to think like Christ. How do we do that? By setting our minds on the things that are above. By setting our minds on the things of God.

Paul even gives a little summary of the kinds of things we should be setting our minds on. Things that are:

True

Honorable

Just

Pure

Lovely

Commendable

Excellent

Praiseworthy

    All of these are to be understood within the context of the Bible. The Bible is where we find God's established and enduring truth. He sets the standard here, which is why in all things we have to set our minds on Him.

    And Paul doesn't stop at thinking about these things. He says we should practice them. If we know what's true, we should speak it and live by it. If we know what is honorable, we should do it. If we know what is just, we should uphold it. If we know what is pure, we should seek it. If we know what is lovely, we should admire and protect it. If we know what is commendable, we should go and do likewise. If we know what is excellent, we should strive for it in everything we do. If we know what is praiseworthy, or rather, who is praiseworthy, we should should praise Him.

    It's not enough to come to youth group or go to church on a Sunday and hear a message from the Word. It's not even enough to read the Bible at home or in a quiet time. It's not enough to join a Bible study or talk about the Bible in Family groups. If you are reading the Bible, or hearing messages from it, but not living it out as a result, then you've missed the point. God doesn't want you to just have some head knowledge about Him, He wants you to offer your life as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him. He wants you to live according to His Word.

    In Romans 12:1-2 Paul gives us the reason why we should have our minds be transformed and renewed: so that we will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will. What is the point of knowing God's will if we are not going to follow it. As we take in more and more of the truth of God's Word, it should completely and radically change the way we live and approach the world. As we focus on the things of God, the things that don't match up will become more and more obvious to us.

If you want to extricate yourself from the lies of the world, you need to focus on the truth.

    The world throws its ideas and agendas at you every day through the media, TV, movies, social media, music, and even school curriculum. You are being bombarded on a daily basis with the pattern of the world. The only way to be extricated and safeguard against this bombardment is by setting your mind on the things above. Read the Word of God, focus on the truth, and live by it. Allow God to transform and renew your mind so that you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.

    A good exercise for you would be to observe the next TV show you watch (or movie, or the next song you listen to, etc.). Ask yourself, "What is this show/movie/song trying to say? And is it true?"

    Sometimes it will be obvious, but most of the time it won't be. Practice discernment - identifying what is true and what is not - and allow God to transform you.

Questions? Post them in the comments below.