God's Word for Me Today
Sunday, September 30, 2001
Focus: Our Mission: One Person at a Time
A note about online study
Introduction to God's Word for Me Today
My Prayer Today
Gracious God, our Heavenly Father, today is a day of worship! Today I will gather with brothers and sisters in Your Son, Jesus Christ, to offer you praise and thanksgiving. I ask you to inhabit the praises of Your people today, to abide with us, to make Your presence known in our worship. Give me the opportunity to share Your Good News with one other person this day by my words and actions. In all that I am, fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may live in Your love and power! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God's Word for Me Today: Romans 12:1-8
1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
3As God’s messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you. 4Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
6God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. 7If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. 8If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Questions for Reflection
What is the greatest sacrifice anyone has ever made for you?
How does God measure the value of a person?
What adjective would you use to fill in the blank in the following sentence? “I am a _________________ Christian.”
Questions for Exploration
What is the means God uses to change us into new people according to the Apostle Paul? (12:1-2)
How do we know God’s will? (12:1-3)
In addition to telling us what the spiritual gifts are that God gives to believers, Paul exhorts the bearer of each gift to use them in a certain way. For example, Paul says, “If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well.” What is the purpose of each of these modifiers in this explanation? (12:6-8)
Questions for Understanding
What will the world seek to do to Christians, if they don’t allow God to work His transforming power in our lives?
How does a person “be honest” in his or her estimate of himself or herself?
Are you using your spiritual gift(s) with the fervor to which Paul exhorts us? If not, what will change that?
Questions for Application
What one thing will you do to renew your mind today?
Pray again committing to God to use your gifts and abilities extravagantly in His service throughout the coming week!
Pray for ONE person you know who needs to know Jesus. Ask God to give you the opportunity to share the Good News with that person this week by your words and actions!
Which ONE Person Does God Want Me To Reach?
How do we know exactly which person we ought to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with next in our daily lives? If we are going to share the new life of Jesus Christ with the world—one person at a time, then which ONE is our starting point? The first response to that question is, “Ask God.” God knows who it is that He is preparing for you to be the agent (or ambassador!) through whom the Good News of Jesus will be shared. All too often Christians understand that we are to share the Good News “in general,” that as a principle it’s a good thing to tell others about Jesus, but we never get around to telling any specific person about Him. The reality is no one gets to know Jesus “in general.” Salvation doesn’t come to people “in general.” Salvation comes to us one person at a time, because God’s love for us IS real and PERSONAL.
A helpful discipline for each of us is to consider who we know that hasn’t made a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Then write down the people’s names. Some will be relatives. Others will be classmates or co-workers. Some will be friends or acquaintances. Once you’ve written the list. Pray through that list with God. Ask God to open opportunities for you to share. Ask God to show you which person or people to share with first. When you see one of the people on your list, pray for the person even before you say anything to them. Don’t worry about asking how they think the Steelers are going to do this weekend, or how their children are doing until you have first prayed and committed the encounter to God. We will only be used by God to lead others to Jesus when that becomes a priority in our lives, when we realize that the most important news we have to share with that person is the GOOD NEWS of Jesus’ love and salvation! Get started on that list NOW. Write down one or two names and get together with God about the folks! The joy of leading one person to Jesus is so great for them and us, and it starts parties all over heaven!
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