Elevation with Steven Furtick - I've Changed My Mind

Episode Date: October 15, 2018

To change our lives, we'll have to change our minds. To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://ele.vc/TI55jRSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. Well, for those of you, I haven't had the chance to meet. My name's Jonathan on the campus pastor here at our Valentine location. And this weekend, Pastor Stevens, giving me the opportunity to share God's word with you. And it's an incredible privilege, but I do want to take a moment to say, well, this is a privilege for me. The real privilege is every week getting to sit in that seat right there. And listen, as Pastor Stephen preaches incredible sermons week after week, because God has used his messages to give me courage when I needed courage, conviction, when I needed to be convicted, perspective, when I needed perspective.

And so if you've been blessed through his messages on any level, would you just help me and take a moment. Thank God for our pastors, Pastor Stephen and Holly. Well, I want to jump into God's word today. Stay standing for just a moment. And I want to look at a scripture that I think will be familiar to a lot of us, but I want to approach it on a level that I think will be really practical for you today. In my heart, I see people who have been circling a roundabout in life, and you've been frustrated and wondering, when am I going to move forward into all that God has for me? And I think his word today is going to bring some clarity and some changes. that we can make in our lives.

So we're going to be looking at Romans chapter 12. This is a scripture that Paul wrote to the church in Rome. And we're going to read just a few verses from there. Romans chapter 12, verse 1. He says, 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. One translation says, this is your reasonable act of worship. And so maybe you came into church today and the person on your row, they don't understand why you worship God, the way you worship God. But in view of God's mercy, if they knew what God had done in your life and what God has brought you out from, they'd understand why you lift your voice,

why you clap your hands the way you do, while you give them praise at the top of your lungs. If you only knew about his mercy, if you only know about the grace that he's given me. In view of God's mercy, we offer our lives up as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing. It's our proper worship. Verse two, he says, 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. For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgment. with the faith, God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function. So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Back to verse two for just a moment. It's our key scripture for today. And he says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. My title for today's

messages, I've changed my mind. And I need you to look at the person next to you, say, neighbor, I wasn't so sure about sitting next to you, but I've changed my mind. Go ahead and grab a seat. Thank you, worship team. You know, as a pastor in the church, one of the privileges I get is every now and then someone will ask me to officiate their wedding. And it's always a lot of fun. I love being able to be a part of that people's moment in their lives. But I take it very seriously as I give God's blessing over this relationship and the two become one. And so one thing I try to do is make sure that I'm setting up the couple for success in the relationship. And now, listen, marriage is a lifelong journey.

There's going to be a lot of things that will have to work out. But when it comes to premarital counseling, one thing I like to do is just, you know, bring up conversations that maybe the couple hasn't had before. because it's always helpful in any relationship just to, you know, clarify some things. And so, you know, there's a session that we'd spend on the things you'd expect, you know, family backgrounds and family dynamics, and that's always tense. And because when you marry the girl, you don't just marry the girl, you marry into a family. Amen? And, you know, then you'll spend a week on financing, going through budgeting, because it's really important that couples are on the same page with spending

because you might like the way that she always looks when you go out on dates, you don't realize that there's a credit card bill on the other side of that outfit. But one thing I like to do, and this seems a little bit basic on the surface, but it's actually really helpful, is we spend a little bit of time going through a list of just basic household responsibilities and having a conversation around who in this relationship is going to be expected to do what. You know, not that you don't always ship in, but just kind of clarifying, you know, who's going to be the one taking out the trash and who's going to be the one.

Who's going to be making the bed? Who's going to do the laundry? Who's going to cook dinner? Who's going to do the dishes? And it seems really simplistic. But it's really important because in her house, her mom always cooked, but dad always did the dishes after. But the way he grew up, mom cooked and did the dishes. And so they can get into the relationship.

And all of a sudden, they're arguing about who's supposed to do what. But I think for any relationship to be healthy, it's important that we clarify whose responsibility is what. And I'm going somewhere with this because I think. think in our relationship with God, it's really important that we have a clear understanding of what is God's role and what is my role? Because God has immeasurably more, exceedingly abundantly more planned for us. He says, I've got plans to prosper you, not to harm you. But in this life that we live with Christ, as we're following him, there is a part that only God can do, and there is a responsibility that we carry as Christians. And so I love the grace and mercy.

of God because when it comes to our relationship with him, there are things that God does that are purely out of his good nature. In fact, the Bible says whether you believe in God or not, he says he'll never leave you nor forsake you. David said, if I go to the heavens, there he is, if I go to the depths of hell, I can't escape the presence of God. That's something only he can do. He gives us his presence. But all through the book of Romans in chapters 1, all the way through 11, Paul spends a significant amount of time helping this Roman church understand God's part as they come into this new covenant with him. And it's one of the most comprehensive breakdowns of the new covenant we have in Christ in all of Scripture. Romans 1 through 11, I mean Paul covers everything. He covers how through Adam, through one man, sin entered the world, but through one man, humanity has been justified through the person of Christ.

He talks about how God has grafted us in to the promise and covenant that he gave to 8.000. Abraham and how now we can be children of faith and justified and declared righteous through faith. He talks about how we are no longer slaves to our sin, but we have been given the spirit of God. Come on, I'm preaching already. We have been given the spirit of God so that we can live a holy life that's pleasing to him. He talks about the future glory that awaits us. And for 11 chapters of this book, and it's worth taking time this week to read it and acquaint yourself with all the things that God has done for you in this relationship. For 11 chapters of the book, he shares about all the things that God can do for us

and all the things that only God can do. And then in verse 12, he makes this shift. He says, in view of all that grace, and in view of all that mercy, here's what I want you to do. And he'll spend the rest of the book sharing with the believers what it looks like for them to live a life that's holy and pleasing. in response to the mercy of God. So even the order in which Paul writes this book is a revelation.

Because religion would put it the other way around. Religion would say, if you live this way, and if you do all these things, then God will accept you and love you. But Paul writes it the other way around. He says, no, God has already declared you righteous. And God has already said you are his son. And God has already accepted you just as you are. So I don't need to change for God to love me, but in response to his mercy and grace.

My God. And he wants us to understand that in this relationship, when it comes to the transformation that God wants to occur in our lives, there is a part that he does and there is a part that we do. And in Romans chapter 12, he lets us know that changing our hearts is God's job. But it's up to us to change our minds. in the changes that God wants to make in your life and all that he wants to bring you into, God will change your heart. He says that in his grace, he changes our inclination from rebellion towards him, and he actually shows us his goodness. It's his kindness that leads us to repentance.

And he says, therefore in view of God's mercy, offer yourselves as living sacrifices. But before he goes into all the behaviors and the ways that we should live as believers, he says, we need to renew our minds because I cannot really change my behavior without first addressing my thinking. And so in these verses that I read to you today, I think there is a few things that Paul is calling us to change in our minds to help us live a life that is an alignment with all that God has for us and his intent for us. And the first one I want to share with you is in verse two. It's a little bit under the surface. But the first thing that Paul calls us to change is our motives. Now in verse two he writes, do not be conformed to the pattern of this world.

And I always heard that preach like it was all about the external things, you know, like how you dress and what music you listen to and what movies you watch. And I'm not saying you can't have a personal standard for those things, but when Paul uses this phrase, the pattern of this world, it's actually one word in Greek that refers to the aims and aspirations of this current age. Paul is talking about something much deeper than what we do on the surface. And he's saying we need to change the way we think about our motivations as followers of Christ. We have to evaluate our reasons for doing what we do.

Because the pattern of this world has a habit of setting up idols that we run after. And so often as Christians, we get caught up in chasing after the same things that the world is chasing after. Success, significance, meaning joy. in all the wrong places. And what Paul understands is that God has given us a mandate as the church to change the world. But I cannot change to what I'm conforming to. And so I can't spend my life chasing after what the world is chasing after. And again, this is less about what you do for a job or where you choose to go to school. Paul is trying to get us to dig down and say, what is my reason for doing what I do? And I think so often as Christians, we spend a lot of

thinking about, God, what should I do? What should I do? And I've come to realize that God is far less concerned with what we're doing and so much more concerned with why we're doing it. In Proverbs, it says that a man's ways seem pure to him, but only the Lord can weigh the motives of the heart. In other words, I can be doing the right thing, but for all the wrong reasons. And maybe today the reason that you are frustrated and discouraged in your situation, asking God to change all these external things. Maybe it's nothing wrong with what you're doing yet, but I wonder, have you taken the time to think about why am I doing this in the first place? Am I trying to prove something to someone who disrespected me 10 years ago, who isn't even paying attention to my life anymore? Why am I posting

this? To impress people who follow me on social media that don't even really know me, what is my reason for doing what I'm doing? And can I be honest with you? The hardest part I'm preparing a sermon to preach to you is not figuring out what to say. God's word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. So I could get up here and share any scripture with you and it would be a blessing. The hardest part for me, as I get ready to prepare a message, is going through the process of getting before God and saying, God, help me eliminate all these impure motivations that are clouding my mind. Because if I get up here and in my mind and in my heart and in my mind, I have motives to improve. you, then I limit what God can do in and through my life. And so my intention cannot be to impress you. I have to have the intention of being a blessing to you.

And I'm not saying any of us ever have 100% pure motives, but I think so often we go through life and we never really evaluate them. So I can be standing up here doing a good thing. But miss out on what God has for me, the reward that he has for me, because I'm doing it for the wrong reasons. Paul saw that when he said that there are these preachers who were preaching the gospel because they saw what they could get out of it. He said that they preach only out of selfish ambition and vain conceit, but he said, the important thing, though, is that the gospel is being preached. No matter what my motives are, the word of God is being preached and you can receive something from him today.

But if my motives aren't pure, it limits the reward that God can give me because do you remember when, in Matthew, when Jesus was talking about the hypocrites who when they give to the poor, they do. it in such a showy way because their motive is to be honored by men and he said surely they have received their reward in full. If my motive is to impress people, if my motive is to get people to think that I'm awesome or I'm anointed, then that's the limit to the reward that God can give me. And so as a follower of Christ, I've got to live for something greater than impressing people. My motivation is not to get them to honor me, but to stand before my father in heaven one day and hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant. I'm not living for the glory of me.

I'm living for the glory of my father in heaven, who is worthy of all adoration and worthy of all praise. And so Paul is saying, don't conform to the pattern of this world, but in view of all that God has done for you, Don't you think he's worthy of you living your life for his honor? I've got to think about my motives. And so Paul begins to really deal with the dialogue in our minds when it comes to the way we think about why we do what we do. But then in the next verse, he begins to address our identity in verse three. Look at this. He says, do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourselves with sober.

judgment. In other words, as you go through life, make sure that they're actually waving at you before you start waving back and realize they're looking at the person behind you. Realize that life is not all about you. Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought. But I always took it to say, as Paul is calling us to this life of humility, that Paul is calling us to lowly thinking. He says, don't think of yourselves too highly. But that's actually not what he says. He didn't say, don't think of yourselves too highly. He said, don't think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgment. In other words, the opposite of humility is not arrogance, but ignorance. He says, when you think about yourself in your mind, I need you

to think of yourselves with sober judgment. So humility is not self-deprivation, but self-awareness. And I think so often we go between two extremes so quickly. One moment we're thinking too highly of ourselves, thinking that the world revolves around us, thinking that we got to where we are today because of our own hard work and our own intelligence, thinking that everything's okay with us and the problem is with them, always casting blame. One minute we're thinking too highly of ourselves. But the next moment, as Christians, I think we can be thinking too lowly of ourselves. this internal dialogue that leaves us in this cycle of condemnation.

And so we're praying for a change and we're asking God to bring us into something new. But at the same time, we are talking ourselves out of what God is bringing us into. And we find ourselves like Moses when God says, I need you to go deliver my people. And we start making excuses like, but I'm slow to speak and I'm unworthy. And how can God use someone like me? But Paul says when you think of yourselves, I need you to think of yourselves with sober judgment, not living in the extremes of too high or too low, but in view of God's mercy, in view of his grace, I got to think of myself in a way that is accurate with what he declares about me.

So when I think about myself, I can't do it in isolation of what my past says or what my current circumstances say. I need to do it in view of Romans 1 through 11. where I see the love that God has for me when he gave up his one and only son, that while I was still a sinner, he gave his life for me so that I could be made righteous. Come on, give God a praise if you're thankful for the way he sees you. And so often we stay stuck in these cycles in our minds because we fail to see ourselves the way God sees us. And I guarantee if you took time to take inventory of the thoughts that you have about yourself that go through your mind, you would find more often than not you're living in those extremes. But what does it look like to fill

our hearts with the word of God that remind us about who we are in him? That's the source of my confidence. That's the source of my joy. That's the source of my peace. That's the source of the miracle that I'm praying for is knowing who I am in Christ. That's why David said, I have hidden your word in my heart. I've got to know who God says I am. You are his child. You're more than a conqueror. You are the righteousness of God in Christ. He's given you the hope of glory on the inside of you. So as you live your life for God, you can't just try to modify your behavior, Paul says, without really addressing your identity. But it's interesting because as Paul is talking about the changes that we need to make in our mind, he's really hitting on some internal things like our motives and our identity.

but then in verse 5 he begins to share about something external that actually impacts the way we think and he begins to talk about our network. He says in verse 5, so in Christ we, though many, form one body and each member belongs to one another. Touch your neighbors say, I need you. No, touch your neighbor say I need you. You said it like you don't really know him like you're not really sure. We belong to one another. And get this, the way the parts of our brain are connected is through neural pathways that form a network. And those neural pathways are formed through new thoughts and new experiences. So when it comes to our brains, which is different than our minds, the network is established through our thoughts.

But when it comes to our mind, Paul wants us to understand that the opposite is true, that the network we have, is what influences our thoughts. And so one of the ways to change your thinking is through changing your network. Who are the relationships in your life? Because if I am still hanging out with Eric and Eric is always cynical and Eric is always bitter, no wonder I'm still always thinking cynical thoughts and bitter thoughts. And I'm wondering why I'm still hopeless, but I'm still hanging out with Sally and she's always discouraging me. I need to change my network.

And some of you are stuck in cycles. And maybe what God is calling you to do today is to upgrade your network. Because if I can expose myself to new people, I can expose myself to new ways of thinking. I can get around some people who instead of pulling me down into old thought patterns and the patterns of this world, they can lift me up into something higher. And that's why when we gather together at the end of our worship experiences, when we give people the opportunity to place their faith in Christ, it's so important to me that as the church,

we take initiative to introduce ourselves to them and help them get connected because only God can change their heart. But for them to really see some significant transformation in their life, it requires that they get connected and that they get a new network. And so we've got to get them surrounded around some believers who can begin to speak life over them and let them know who they are in Christ. We need a new network.

And one of the greatest blessings that God ever gave me in my life was on the second day of high school when I sat down next to a kid named Sean Hume. Because up until that moment in my life, the wrong pathways were leading me down the wrong path. But on that second day of high school, I met a guy who actually lived out what I confessed to believe. and I really think that God spared me from a lot of mistakes in high school because he allowed me to meet someone that started taking me to his youth group. And I met some new friends and I met a new network. And what could have been one of the most destructive seasons in my life became one of the most fruitful. When God began to show me about my purpose and my calling and transform my heart, but the way God changed my thinking was through a new network. And I'm not saying you need to delete your entire content.

contact list today. But I wonder, I wonder, maybe there are some new people that God needs to bring into your life to help shape the way you're thinking. And that's why the author of Hebrews says, do not forsake gathering together, because he understands that this life that God is calling us to is more than just sermons and worship music. It's about community. We belong to one another. This is a network. We make up a body together. And I get discouraged when I hear people say, yeah, I'm a Christian, but I'd just like to listen to the podcast. God's plan for your life is more than just good content. He wants you to have community, people who can help you grow.

We belong to one another. I think about Joyce. She serves on our greeter team here, and she also leads an e-group. She gave her life to Christ here at Elevation five years ago on Easter. And when she came here, she was struggling with an alcohol addiction. And through this ministry and through some choices that she made, God really set her free. But she knew that there would be other people.

people who would come to this church and sit in these seats who would be in the same position that she found herself in. So she started an e-group for other women who are struggling with substance abuse. And so many of these women, God has transformed their lives and she's on a mission to see them all get baptized. And one of those ladies and Joyce's e-group is Kelly. If you came in this door today, you saw Kelly at the door. I got to baptize Kelly not too long ago. Here's a picture of Kelly up on the screen. Came to our church addicted. an alcoholic, and she got connected to Joyce, and through new friends in a new network, God began to renew her mind.

God set her free from what was holding her back in her sin and her dysfunction. And she said, it can't stop with me. Now Kelly's leading a knee group with seven other women in it who are getting free. And so even if you're so arrogant to think that you don't need anybody else, I want to challenge you. Did you ever wonder, maybe someone else in your row needs you? Maybe there is someone in your road today who is where you used to be and God brought you out through his grace. But how selfish when we keep it to ourselves?

Because that's what the Bible says. It says that they overcame by the blood of the lamb. That's what only God can do and the word of their testimony. That's saying I'm going to take everything that God has done in my life. And I'm going to declare his goodness and his faithfulness. And I'm not going to keep it to myself. but I'm going to share what God has done in me so that someone else can experience the freedom that I have in Christ. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Paul says you've got to change the way you think about your reason for doing things. You've got to change the way you see yourself. And maybe God is calling you to surround yourself with some new people. But in all these things, it all comes together in the little decisions that you and I make every single day. That's why he says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. then you will be able to test and approve what God's good and perfect will is. The way we know the will of God is not some voice that we hear coming from the clouds, but it's when we renew our mind and we align our thinking with the mind of Christ.

And so I've got to be transformed in my motives, in my identity, in my network, and in my decisions. And every day I've got to make choices that align my life with what God has designed for me. I need to change my mind. And I've always wanted to spell something with my sermon points. So as we live our lives to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy pleasing to God, he says it only happens when we renew our minds.

And here's the thing. When he uses that word renew, it's not talking about just a subtle change or a little tweak. But the word actually means a renovation. It's taking out the old and bringing in the new. And God can change your heart today, but it's up to you to change your mind. But here's what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2. He says, we have been given the mind of Christ.

And for some of us in this place today, God has changed your heart through his grace, through the blood of his son, Jesus. But he wants to change your mind today. He wants to renew your mind to align it with the mind of your Savior, Jesus Christ, so that you can know his thoughts, towards you, his feelings, his intentions for your life, and so that you can make decisions in accordance with his good and perfect will. And so I want to pray for someone today who has been trapped in a cycle. And I want to pray for you that God would help you renew your mind so that he can transform

you and so that you can live a life that is a worthy sacrifice to him in response to what he's done. Would you stand to your feet? So, Father, that's our prayer today. Not only in your grace would you change our hearts, but we ask God that you would give us the mind of Christ an impartation of the thoughts and attitudes of your son Jesus because we want to be like him. And our response to what you've done in our life is to offer ourselves up to you. Not just partially, God, but we want to give you our whole lives. And it's not because we think we need to earn your love. it's because you already demonstrated your love for us.

And so our reasonable response is to give you everything that we are, to lay our lives down at the altar, God, to be consumed with your grace, to be consumed with your mercy, and to be alight unto this world so that you can send us into this earth to change it, God. So renew our minds, change our thinking, align our motivations with your intentions, God. Help us see ourselves the way you see us, Lord. And God, I pray that you would use us to edify your body because we belong to one another.

Lift your hands in his presence. Well, I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. If you did, there are just a couple things I'd love for you to do. Number one, subscribe to our show. That way, the most recent episode will always be in your feed, waiting for you, ready when you are. And secondly, if this ministry has impacted you, and you'd like to help us continue to reach others, You can click the link in the description and you can give now. And I'll see you next time on the Elevation Podcast.

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