Faith Talk – June 30, 2024
Sunday: June 30, 2024
Series: Legacy Milestones
Sermon: Milestone 5: Pursuing Holiness
Series: Legacy Milestones
Sermon: Milestone 5: Pursuing Holiness
Scripture
Romans 12:1-2 – Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Summary
Today, we focused on our Legacy Milestone path and our Faith@Home emphasis as we take what we do at church and transfer it into the home to be lived out in our everyday lives. We know from biblical instruction and practical experience the most effective way to produce fully committed lifelong followers of Jesus is by 1) regular participation in church and 2) living out and passing on faith at home. This applies to parents and families as much as any and every adult following Jesus.
Today, we celebrated Milestone 5: Pursuing Holiness–leading your teenager to live a lifetime of biblical purity. We saw a holistic approach to holiness as biblical purity speaks to every aspect of our lives at every age. The example set by our eighth graders and their families is one every believer should follow in their pursuit of holiness.
Pastor Brian pointed out from Romans 12:1-2 that we worship God most by the way we live our lives. Holiness literally means “to be separate or to be set apart.” We are to live our lives separate from the world and set apart for Christ. This happens by the renewing of our minds as we learn God uses the Holy Bible to renew a holy mind and produce holy living.
This is also important in our parenting. Many parents in the world parent to please their child's flesh (whatever makes them happy in the moment) rather than to please the Lord (what will make them holy for a lifetime). Our parenting must be separate from the world and set apart to Christ if we are going to produce fully committed lifelong followers of Jesus.
In the end, we all made the commitment: Instead of pursuing worldly happiness, we will pursue the pleasure of divine holiness.
Today, we celebrated Milestone 5: Pursuing Holiness–leading your teenager to live a lifetime of biblical purity. We saw a holistic approach to holiness as biblical purity speaks to every aspect of our lives at every age. The example set by our eighth graders and their families is one every believer should follow in their pursuit of holiness.
Pastor Brian pointed out from Romans 12:1-2 that we worship God most by the way we live our lives. Holiness literally means “to be separate or to be set apart.” We are to live our lives separate from the world and set apart for Christ. This happens by the renewing of our minds as we learn God uses the Holy Bible to renew a holy mind and produce holy living.
This is also important in our parenting. Many parents in the world parent to please their child's flesh (whatever makes them happy in the moment) rather than to please the Lord (what will make them holy for a lifetime). Our parenting must be separate from the world and set apart to Christ if we are going to produce fully committed lifelong followers of Jesus.
In the end, we all made the commitment: Instead of pursuing worldly happiness, we will pursue the pleasure of divine holiness.
Discussion
- What does it look like in your life to present your body as a living sacrifice of true worship to God?
- What temptations hinder your true worship? Maybe it's food, gluttony, speech, lust, laziness, over drinking, addiction, etc.
- What temptations hinder your true worship? Maybe it's food, gluttony, speech, lust, laziness, over drinking, addiction, etc.
- What challenges do you see Christians facing in the world today when it comes to pursuing holiness and a lifetime of biblical purity?
- Share how you have faced some of these challenges and ways you have been transformed by the Word rather than conforming to the world.
- Share how you have faced some of these challenges and ways you have been transformed by the Word rather than conforming to the world.
- The world offers goodness and pleasure if we will only leave biblical thinking (the will of God) and conform to their way of thinking.
- Share how you have experienced this false promise, and you found the will of God to be the best, most pleasing, and perfect experience in this world.
- Share how you have experienced this false promise, and you found the will of God to be the best, most pleasing, and perfect experience in this world.
- Tomorrow, Monday, is the day we practice Fasting on the First. How will you and your home participate? What food will you abstain from?
- Share your experience with fasting and why you will fast on the first.
Pray Together
Father, thank You for Your mercy and love to us. We don't deserve Your will or blessing in our lives. We don't deserve Your goodness or pleasure. I ask Your forgiveness in the ways I have not offered my body as a sacrifice of true worship to You. We commit to transform our thinking by learning and applying the Word of God. We repent of worldly thinking and commit to biblical truth. Lead us in the good, pleasing, and perfect will You have for our good and Your glory. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Posted in Faith Talk