R1099 Well For Christ, PT.1

God has an encouraging word for you today. The Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton and his message Caldwell for Christ. This is The Encouraging Word and Dr. Don Wilton well-known author, pastor, evangelist, simmer a professor is taking us to Romans chapter 12 today as we began a two-part series Caldwell for Christ is reopen God's word together. Another were open to pray with you and for you anytime day or night at 866-899-WORD that number again is 866899673. We also love to connect with you on our website@twonline.org right now. Prayers that avail much wonderful book for grandparents, especially on our website. I hope you'll take a look at it online@tewronline.org will tell you more about that later but now it's open God's word with Dr. Don Wilton, framed by am about to say and share something with you that is very deep in my heart.

I'm not even quite sure where to begin.

I really mean that I'm not quite sure where to begin. You see, many years ago I gave my heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I had spent a long time looking for meaning in life.

Gone through a lot of adventures I grew up in a kind of an adventurous place gets I don't know a lot of people that that grew up in the kind of circumstances that I did. I'm sure they all but I grew up in Africa experienced a lot of different things. Like many of you have but I spent years trying to find fulfillment. I don't know if I'm coming across right but I I had an adventurous life.

I went to boarding school and I was in Africa and I ended up in the Miller tree in in faraway places and the you know I went through loneliness and isolation even suffered my fair share of good old greetings was nearly abused as a little boy he never walls but merely walls and a lot of them around me were sort maybe became a victim of God spared me how you know as a teenager I got into a lot of bad company. I became bad company and I was looking in all the wrong places. I made a girl who changed my life really. I'm still married to her by the way, she's my doctor and she just absolutely the most beautiful person I've ever been around when you combine my parents love for me and the prayers for me and and people who cared about me up. I suppose in many ways as my mother used to say I was a rough diamond you know somewhere hidden in all that roughness there was something good and God wanted me and I gave my life to Christ and I surrendered my heart to him and he became my Lord and my Savior.

Any change and I've spent many years now trying to serve the Lord and the Lord is given me a lot of grace and I guess I've come a long way since those days and I experience a lot of joy out got a beautiful family, but I have always succeeded in in my pursuit of God in trying to please God leading down so many times haven't you. I mean just so many times in one of the hardest things for me to really come to grips with is that God doesn't just want my ability to speak in public he.

He doesn't just want that he wants that.

But not just he doesn't just want my mind not. I've got a you know I bought a reasonable mind you know I've always loved reading and studying. And so unlike I'm sure some of my friends around here. It's not a chore to me so yeah I by removing some people even thought I was an academic now I'm not but I did I do. I love to study and sharpen my mind.

I do, I think I think yeah I think I think a lot actually and I study hard and not try to live the life of the Lord and then up this this horse that are living this body of mine. I wish I could tell you how magnificent I am. My whole life I've battled with my my willingness not. I'm not a sick person.

I've never been sick. I'm not a sickly person. I don't mean I battled with with just being totally will physically my biggest and I love the reasons for our absolutely love food. All of it accepting boiled okra everything and someone told me about eight boiled okra probably wouldn't have struggled with my weight because just go straight through you not, uniting that to that stuff. That's why Donie boiled okra. If you're a good Christian you don't eat balder, you know why Bob Wiebe was back in with my mom, my horse, my body. I guess just the way I made you know so over the years there's been you know I've put on too much weight, and then I lose it I lose at least 7000 pounds a year and a you know why I haven't always been the best physically, it's con up and down I'm not I'm not going overboard because I'm not. I'm not badly. This writer badly. That way I'm not talking about and mostly here in my mind when I get really tired and I'm busy which I am all the time. My mind gets cluttered. Cobwebs so you know when you look at a person when I look at myself as I tried to serve the Lord.

My biggest difficulty is serving the Lord with my whole package. Are you with me Jan, I'm great, sometimes on the spiritual side and then I'm great with the mind and the ability to think and work in Sharon to speak and then I'm real lousy on the body side or I'm just you know I look like Arnold Schwartz is water from California on the body side and you and I'm about to seize the world and pick dirt in someone's face because I'm just the model physique. You know, and my mind is sharp but I'm not living for the Lord on the spiritual side or I'm living for the Lord on the spiritual side. My my my horse is doing okay is it carries my soul but my mind.just letting my mind go to seed. I'm just watching too much junk on TV you on I'm doing mindless stuff for I'm just signing out and I'm not exercising my mind there's a balance I want to share with you a word that God is put on my heart today and I want to ask you if you would like to join with me in presenting everything that we have the Lord the whole package so we gonna start out by going to Romans chapter 12 one of the greatest verses that was ever written.

Romans chapter 12 and I'm going to speak to you today on the subject from God's word entitled well for Christ well for Christ's is what Paul said in Romans chapter 2 therefore I urge you, I urge you, by the way, I just wanted tell you that that would be is very strong in the Greek text. In other words that were there is not doesn't come across as a suggestion you you you might even want to put in the word they I more of you.

And he's gonna tell us why are you in view of God's mercy. Now let's just let's just stop there for a second because I want you to get a hold of something Paul says the monde of you, I urge you, I beg of you with everything at my disposal.

In light of God's mercy. That's kind of put this back to front.

Okay because God is God, I beg you, because Jesus Christ has forgiven you for your sin.

Paul says I beg because God has done something for you that not your money, not your position. Not true physique not your power.

Nothing can do for you what God has done for you because of God's mercy, not what is God's mercy God's mercy is God's grace. So the question is this my friends what you are not due. If God had not given to us, the Lord Jesus Christ. What would we do, we would be lost. We would be dead in our trespasses and sins, we would have no hope we would have no joy and we certainly would have no eternal life.

We have nowhere to go when we die accepting into the pit of hell. I just look at that opening salvo day.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters. Those of you who have received the grace of God in Christ Jesus, I urge you to do what look at it, to offer your body as living sacrifices.

The operative word being is living now. What is a sacrifice, a sacrifice in God's economy is a willingness to offer something living today in the half of the one to whom you offered Jesus Christ as our best example, God loved the world so much that he gave Jesus to die on the cross, the living Christ offered himself today in the half of those that you love so now here's a Paul is saying, I beg of you in fact I the monde of you. I'm going to tell you something that if you have received God's grace, I beg of you to offer your body a living sacrifice so here I am in many years ago I gave my heart and life to Jesus in the Lord Jesus came into my heart and I said, Lord, here I am.

So what does God want from me what is he one for me. What is what is God want from you what you suppose God wants from you your money, your ability to sing your willingness to go somewhere. What is God want from you everything because if you're willing to sacrifice yourself as a living sacrifice. It means you willing to give up your life.

Everything I watched and ceases.

I urge you in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God because this is your spiritual act of worship.

That's a very stinging phrase there.

Your spiritual act of worship. What Paul is saying here is because this is what God expects of those who have been changed and transformed by the power of the spirit of the living God. It is expected of you. As you all act of worship that you be willing to offer your self, your living being to God.

Everything that folks watch me here today I want to say this with all the love in my heart your and my big problem is we are not giving God everything you are holding back God and not accept that. Please forgive the interruption will be back in just a moment with the rest of today's message from Dr. Don Wilton on well for Christ. But as I mentioned earlier we have a number of great resources on our website. Right now it's TW online.org in particular prayers that avail with much standing in the gap. It's a remarkable opportunity to see how God calls us to do something that we sometimes think is the last resort when in doubt, is the first and that's the power of prayer. Here's a list with all the details about how you can have this resource in your hands.

In just a few days now are your green screen ordering how online screening in young people promises were stronger than anything your doctor will along with the prayers that avail.

Mintzberg, Bible-based resource younger generation wine that's just one of the many great resources on our website TW online.org why you're there you can listen to and watch many of these right side of just click on the tab you have a copy sent to you for free every day's devotion. You can sign up online every single morning from Dr. Don Wilton on our website TW online.org now back today's great teaching from Dr. Wilson tried out with your wife sometime. I've tried it out once or twice which is why have seven false teeth not meet with the couple this past week you are going to be married a beautiful couple about to be married in in April and can you imagine if I turned them in my counseling with them and I said to them that you love each other right getting married night all years fact they hardly listening to me. I'm just asking the question and then I say to them. Let me tell you how to make a marriage work you turn to your bride-to-be and you tell her that you are going to love her 99% but with 1%. She can forget that some day to submit to you folks. One of the problems we have in marriage is will not totally devoted to one another. Right. I'm not talking about Olivia Newton John and John Travolta in Greece either they should've put me in that part. I would've done pretty good by the biggest problems in marriages, folks.

Let's just be honest with each other as we got husbands and wives and the total devotion is lacking total love. The goal of every Christian person must be to prove God's pleasing and perfect will.

That's what he tells us when we get down the end of verse two he tells us when you are totally different when you are well. For Christ, you are able to prove what is good and pleasing and perfect. According to God's standards. So let's consider just our church for a minute I we we we want as a people in a church at First Baptist Church in Spartanburg and I know you will want to do this in your church. We want to be a church where all of us are trying to help one another to be complete to be fulfilled to behold to be to be everything God wants us to be right.

That's what we do for one another. So we have a strategy here at First Baptist Church in our strategy is designed to help all of us achieve this goal. I'm not going to camp on this. So what is our strategy here what we believe we need to do as believers, what all believers need to do number one all of us must worship together in the fellowship of God's presence. We believe all of us must worship together. We've covered that we will keep talking about I congratulate you because you have gathered together to worship.

Can you worship God out there not been in this place. Of course you can. But the Bible says we must come together forsake not the assembling of yourself number two strategy number two all of us must prepare ourselves to meet the challenges of life.

That's why we have life groups I want every person within the sound of my voice to be part of a life group here at first Baptist Sunday morning, Sunday school life groups, Bible study groups Tuesday morning by the ladies Bible study discipleship groups merge life you must be in that small group because that strategy is designed to help you to meet the challenges of life that you got a study that's where you going to have the greatest calls for evangelism.

That's where you going to cultivate to a M frame people that you can call on at 2 o'clock in the morning and I'll be there for you just like that that's what it means to prepare number three all of us must serve our fellow man.

All of us. All of us. We believe that folks everybody we must all serve our fellow man. And here in our church. We have got hundreds of opportunity for every person who has received the grace of God to serve fellow man, Sunday school teachers and discipleship leaders and singing in the choir actions and part of the welcoming committee's and and and in so many capacities from driving buses to participating to standing in doorways to being part of security teams to you name it. There their scores and scores and scores in our goal really folks is that as a church that we are facilitating well for Christ in all of us must worship together in the fellowship of God's presence in all of us must prepare ourselves to meet the challenges of life and all of us must serve our fellow man, and number four of us must engage the gospel in the world in which we live. All of us worship prepare serve and engage last week I lost our people. If you would be willing to tell at least one person a month about Jesus all. If that is problematic, and all would you be willing to invite at least one person to come to church with you where we will tell them in folks do you know there were a lot of people who didn't even have those cards. A lot of people didn't even have an opportunity to sign a lot of people don't have blackberries not you couldn't text 77577 and say I will but evidently a lot of people did over 700 people did at some type in Gideon's guide, God only use 300 to conquer an insurmountable enemy to declare that God is King over 700 people in this fellowship said I can do folks they lots of other ways that people engage thereof. Bible studies at all hours of the day.

There are people walking and serving in helping ministry center. There are people who are part of feeding the homeless in clothing that the cold and the needy. There are people doing things every day. There are people engaging. It's not just limited to doing one or two things there is an engagement taking place everywhere. If you want to be well for Christ. You must worship at least once a week.

You must prepare and be in a life group at least one you must serve in at least one capacity where all you doing is giving to somebody else and you must engage in at least one zone of your life outside of the church and in and through the church.

So what is Paul saying in this passage about willful Christ buddies urging two things he's urging us to consider God's mercy. He's urging us to consider God's mercy and he's urging us to yield our body and how must we yield our bodies. He tells us how to yield our bodies we use our bodies number one is living sacrifices we you bodies number two as holy vessels we you bodies number three as pleasing to God. And this is how reasonable the bonded act of worship. Now here's the question you're ready for. If we have to yield our bodies as living sacrifices, what are our bodies. Dr. Wilton talks to us about what it is to yield our bodies as living sacrifices will discover more as we continue in this Bible study. Over the next day at this moment we think about that decision to sometimes we think yielding his weakness yielding to Jesus Christ is the greatest strength plugging us into the greatest power we could ever know you been listening to Dr. Don Wilton and he's been teaching and preaching now as he steps in the studio. Open your heart what he wants to share next are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now they are gone. I know that on the center and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross today, I repent of my sins and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus name, my friend.

I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting news. Perhaps moments ago praying along with Dr. Don Wilton to give your life to Christ dedicate just know that in this moment, we believe God is doing something for natural and we would love to not only pray and celebrate with you, pray for you as a matter fact put some free resources in your hands. Dr. Wilton has prepared if you've given your life to Christ dedicate your life you want to have these resources if you call us at 866899 word just the number stored in your cell 866-899-9673. We love to connect with those resources that will help you grow in your faith and perhaps today is not the day your first step that you realize there needs to be a change course correction adjustment.

One of the best things we spending more time