PSCC 09-12-2021 Pastor Alexander Rivera" Be A Living Sacrifice"

we uh we have a good word for you today we got good speakers here in the house amen we got good music good musicians so we're sure we we know that the holy spirit is going to show up for sure he's going to bless you in a mighty way you have to believe in him amen amen hallelujah so let's just lift our hands and and uh and pray for the servants amen hallelujah lord jesus we thank you this morning for waking us up this father father we thank you lord for bringing us here to your house we thank you lord for your traveling mercies we pray for those that are still on their way oh lord father god those that are tuning in on facebook live or youtube although father god we actually touch those those those are people in a mighty way as well the lord father god we lift up the worship team onto you oh lord we lift up the guest speaker oh lord father god and we just love your lord we give you each and every praise each and every honor and each and every glory our lord belongs to you father so we thank you lord father god in jesus mighty and precious name we pray amen [Music] [Applause] hallelujah thank you father god we honor you lord [Music] lord god we come here to lift up your name and give you praise lord we thank you for what you did with throughout the week from here the months the seconds and the days lord god there's no one like you father there's no one like you we give glory to you father because without you we can't do nothing we can't move we can't breathe well we need you father we thank you father god i raise a hallelujah in the presence of my enemies i raise a hallelujah louder than the unbelief [Music] my weapon is a melody i raise a hallelujah [Music] heaven comes to fight for me [Music] ashes hope will arise death is defeated the king is with everything inside of me [Music] i raise a hallelujah i will watch the darkness in the middle of the mystery i raise a hallelujah [Music] louder and louder you're gonna hear my praises roar look is i sing a hallelujah hallelujah or we worship you today oh lord hallelujah just worship him hallelujah sing a little [Music] sing louder little louder [Music] sing a little louder [Music] [Music] louder than the [Applause] [Music] take a little louder [Music] is a sing a little louder i'm gonna sing [Music] hope will arise is hope will arise [Music] [Music] i raise a hallelujah [Music] i raise a hallelujah [Music] we praise you lord we worship you lord hallelujah we give you the praise almighty god hallelujah sing a little louder [Music] sing a little louder sing a little louder sing a little louder sing a little louder sing a little louder sing a little louder sing a little louder in the presence of my enemies is sing a little louder [Music] [Music] in the middle of the storm louder and louder you're gonna hear my praises roar up from the ashes hope will arise [Music] [Music] we raise we praise you lord [Music] glory and honesty lord [Music] your name embrace your name oh [Music] every ocean roars to the lord of hope praise praise from the rising of the sun all the nations of the earth [Music] hallelujah [Music] who is like him who is like [Music] every ocean roars [Music] from the rising of the sun to the end of every day [Music] all the nations of the earth [Music] all the nations of the earth [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] from the rising of the sun to the end of every day [Music] till the end of every day praise us all night all the nations of the earth all the nations of the earth [Music] at the throne hallelujah [Music] your majesty [Music] glory to you [Music] glory to you lord we give you glory lord we glorify your name jesus [Music] jesus we lift up your glorified name your wonderful name your beautiful name [Music] jesus no other name shall save us but the name oh jesus glory to your father magnify your lord your holy [Music] let's just spend some time in worship the presence of the lord is here let's give them some reverence let them feel free to roam and just glorify let them be just magnified in this place lift them up however you feel honored to give glory to him within your heart out your mouth just just glorify him he will receive it because he deserves the praise he deserves the praise he deserves the praise we glorify you lord [Music] there's no one like him thank you yes lord thank you father [Music] yes god [Music] so [Music] yes [Music] jesus is in this world here right now here right now making this place i stand holy ground holy ground [Music] [Music] your spirit moving [Music] flowing down flowing down if all of the heavens are singing along with the saints and the elders and glorious song and the praises they sing never seem [Applause] holy holy holy lord [Music] [Music] holy lord [Music] jesus you're guiding me to your will to your will all i have is holy holy [Music] you [Music] holy [Music] glory i run inside your throat before you i bow about the bell is torn and the before you [Music] before you holy holy lord god almighty [Music] holy holy holy holy lord [Music] you were [Music] [Music] slender holy [Music] jesus is in this room here right now here right now making this place i said holy ground holy ground hallelujah we worship you lord [Music] we worship you god this is holy ground this is holy ground yeah yes thank you father thank you lord for your presence in this place thank you lord for what you're going to tell us lord lord god we receive your word and your message god we receive your power lord thank you father thank you lord thank you lord for everything you do thank you father we take it for granted we take you for granted what you do for us every single day lord but lord i'm here to say thank you father what you do for us is not a thing what you sacrifice was not in vain lord god we humble our hearts to you we bow down to you lord we bow down to jesus thank you lord [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah ashley if you can put up the words where it says in that song it says the veil is torn if you don't know that this week is the ten days of awe between rosh hashanah and young kippur what does that mean they fest in the new year they prepare themselves through the trumpets to repent on young kippur for in yom kippur the priest the high priest would take the blood and sprinkle it on the mercy seat he would go behind that veil two thousand years ago when jesus was upon the cross the gospel records that the veil was torn there is no more avail that separates us we can come before his mercy we can come and bow down before him we can hand him our pain our hearts our cares everything we can give to him we can have an intimate relationship with god we don't have to walk into a temple we can just be where we are and jesus is there the bible says wherever two or more are gathered there he is in the midst and i see more than two here praise the lord the veil is torn the doors have flinged wide open i see glory as i run inside the throne room before you i bow i bow when we bow we are saying that we aren't dependent upon you o lord that we need you and we need your touch we bow and we worship and we praise him hallelujah glory to god let's just give him the praise and the glory honor that he deserves today hallelujah glory hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you for opening the entrance oh god thank you o god thank you lord that we are washed clean in the blood of the land and our sins don't hold us down anymore that you have broken every chain every shackle you open the eyes of the blind you cleanse the leper you make the lame to walk great is the lord and worthy to be prayed hallelujah glory to god hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah and he will dismiss delta corona and every other devil that comes with it in jesus name hallelujah hallelujah great is the lord holland amen amen amen amen welcome welcome glory to god hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah amen amen welcome welcome to park slope christian center church that cares we welcome you today we want to give everybody a wave say hello hallelujah we're giving a wave they had a wave offering back in the in the jewish time so we got a wave offering to you guys we're wavering our grief greetings praise the lord glory to god glory to god welcome welcome welcome whoo worship team you know what i can say you know when ministry is good when it's made in the prayer closet ministry ain't good when the minister isn't praying these people were praying that's the result of prayer that's the result of worship and seeking the lord when we pray god produces praise the lord thank god thank you worship team awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome okay we got a few announcements i think the children have already been dismissed i don't need to go through that i don't see my son there so that makes that help um volunteers ushers needed to help in greeting and ushering please see assistant danielle mendez to sign up um september 4th we lost the dear brother of the church brother richard newgan um we want to send our sympathies to the to the negan family they have had uh the burial and so forth uh he was a member of for our congregation for over five years and he will definitely be missed um he used to sit in the back usually with mark if you remember he was a rather tall guy richard amen okay i got something here in hebrew oh no cleaning day cleaning day everybody say cleaning day september 10th or is that the 23rd 23rd 25th i'm telling you this is hebrew who wrote this pastor you should have been a doctor you should have been a doctor with that hair right september 25th september 25th cleaning day praise the lord amen amen okay wednesday night prayer this wednesday night at 7 30 pastor alex is leading that means that it will they will meet here at the church everybody say at the church and we will also air it on youtube for those that will not be able to attend um team mini team ministry will meet uh at wednesday on zoom from 6 to 7 30. please invite a team ministry leader christina and david omo okay women yeah okay do you have a purpose okay women with a purpose will be meeting on september 18th for breakfast event from 10 a.m to 12 sign up sheet in the foyer please see my beautiful wife maria smythe for further detail [Applause] i was in a church and they did that so i remembered it men's retreat the men will be going on a retreat to the yearly blue mountain uh in pennsylvania men there is a sign up she please see deacon kenny right there dekey come on wave your hand glory to god um uh maria could you get me one of those papers in my folders one thing i forgot to bring up see i scored points did i say beautiful wife i've been getting viruses on my facebook and you know what the virus says i thank god for my beautiful wife maria somebody's been hacking me but anyway education survey if you've been a member of the congregation or if you're attending and uh you want to learn more about the education that we have we have a survey for you to fill out i'm asking you guys to please fill it out this will help us in guiding you in the way that you can go and it will help those who work in the education team and i thank god for those who i work with if you can please fill it out you can head to me or you can hand it to my sister um judy just went blank okay i'm getting uh i might be getting past alex i went blank forgive me um okay birthdays september 21st uh tina santiago she's living in pennsylvania it's september 11th and grace burgos september 13th glory amen praise god hallelujah happy birthday to you guys awesome now offering we're gonna if you can put that thing up for the orphan that'd be great you know we r we often praise god for the roof over our heads correct but as i was praying and meditating today when i was going to come up here i thought about this that the church roof is in need of repair and you said it's going to be cost about 20 000 so i want to kind of sow a seed into that and i'm not doing that to be boastful or to blow a trumpet but what i'm saying is sometimes we have to be purposeful and intentional in our giving and this is one of the ways that we can give is that when we see something we can whenever we see a need we can be helpful in it that shows the chris that shows the christ in us as we give unto the lord and there's been others who have done this but i'm doing this as an offer and i told my wife this time i want to take the offer and make it towards towards the roof and i praise god that we are able to come here and sometimes we come into the building we just take for granted the very things that we see i kind of took for granted my basement until it flooded and then i had to clean it and fix it hey my brother where were you um and you know and but god he saw to it he provided everything that i needed spontaneously i was able to get a garbage truck exactly at the time i needed it that's a miracle especially in new york with traffic and everything so god is good so let's take our offering let's just pray for our orphan right now pass the day but if you would come up and pray for the orphan come all the way up praise the lord let's pray this morning gracious father we thank you lord that we can give out to you the king of glory you gave your life for us lord and we can never repay you for that but we thank you we're able to give lord all that belongs to you and all that we have belongs to you lord so i pray this morning in the name of jesus you bless these tithes and offerings as we give on to you lord as we make a sacrifice oh god we thank you and praise you in jesus name amen amen awesome thank you pastor david remember we could give through the church website online psspscc churchcenter.com or those who are still viewing church service you want to mail in your tithes to park so christian said to prospect park west amen i got another announcement for the uh this one's in english for uh for uh before cleanup day on september 25th kenny wanted me to you to know 9 a.m he wanted you you know that 9 a.m we're going to be doing the clean up and that they will serve breakfast hallelujah if you feed them they will come amen if you feed them they will come lord amen amen okay without further ado let's give you my pastor your pastor pastor alex rivera come on let's greet him thank you so much praise the lord it's good to be in the house of the lord worshiping his name it's so good to see so many different folks that are here today we praise god we see sister kim came to visit us today we're happy to see her as well amen [Applause] god is a good god so just to remind you that this wednesday is not going to be on zoom the prayer it will be here this wednesday here and i really want us to really emphasize uh to pray for our nation the whole situation with afghanistan and my heart is very heavy uh in how that was handled and how americans were left stranded in afghanistan and i i pray two or three times a day every time i think of the terror that those poor americans must be feeling right now being left in afghanistan it's a terrible terrible thing and we need to pray that god we just can't go on with our lives and think everything is good when other people are suffering that's not how it goes and so we need to pray for our nation we need to pray for so many things and i don't think i think god is trying to get our attention and we need to really really pray uh because it's very disheartening of what's happening in our nation in the world and but god but god we really do and so we need to pray for those who uh rule over us amen and uh that we too will not be like the foolish virgins the five foolish virgins who were not ready when jesus came they didn't have enough oil and uh so when you pray you're putting oil in your lamb when you read the word you're putting oil in your lamb when you come to church you're putting oil in in the lamb amen and so that's what we need to do if you have your bible sent with me to the book of romans chapter 12. romans chapter 12. i want to thank kenny for keeping up the sanctuary while i was away and making sure that it was taken care of i thank god for evelyn but who took care of the mail for me and uh there's certain things that have to be done there's a lot of work to be done the uh reverend smythe said 20 000 but that was just one estimate we're going to get a few other estimates and it's not just the roof it's the side of of the building where the exits are there's an exit hall on each floor the whole area there water's coming in because all that tin ceiling is all rotten and old and the water's coming into the stairs into the fellowship hall so it's not a luxury it's a necessity that needs to be done because it's just going to call cause more damage and we're getting the smell of mildew and all that stuff that's taking place so you know we uh we need to take care of god's house amen romans chapter 12 uh and by the way while i was away for two sundays you know i watched on youtube as well and i miss you guys it's good to be back and we are working on strengthening what remains in this ministry our sister nancy montagnes has been talking to the leadership of the church uh interviewing them and we're trying to strengthen the different ministries because we want to be more effective for the kingdom of god amen praise god are you guys comfortable with the temperature okay all right i guess kenny's having hot flashes or something like that right just want to make sure [Laughter] all right all my ministers are jokers now it's the anointing that i carry that begins to flow on the below i have some competition now you know oh father we thank you for this precious moment that we're here together under your name under the banner of jesus christ we asked father god that you would speak to our hearts this morning from your word and that you would encourage us and challenge us to continue to grow in knowing you and experiencing you lord because it's not about religion father it's about our relationship with you and so bless this word that i'm gonna share with you in jesus name amen one thing this probably will be one of the the last topical messages that i'll be preaching because i feel the lord has been leading me to preach more expository preaching so you know i'm asking the lord for directions on what book he would want me to take or tackle in the church and be able to just preach verse by verse chapter by chapter and you'd be surprised how you cover so many themes and so many topics when you preach ex expository preaching and you just you're hearing the word it's not just a man-made outline but it's from the word of god amen all right let's read romans chapter 12 i'm just going to share a short thought with you therefore chapter 12 verses 1 and 2. it says therefore i'm reading from the international version therefore urge you brothers in the view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto you excuse me um praise god to offer your bodies as a living sacrifices of sacrifices holy and pleasing to god this is your spiritual act of worship do not be conformed to this world or do not be conformed any longer to the patterns of this word verse two um the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may be able to test and approve what god's will is his good and pleasing and perfect will may the lord have blessing to the reading of his word today i want to talk about the subject of being a living sacrifice being a living sacrifice many who are here today have had an encounter with god you've been attending this church long enough to know that we're not into religion we're not into uh you know tradition and all kinds of stuff that maybe we came from either from the roman catholic church or from other uh churches that we came from until the gospel of jesus christ was preached to us see the book of romans from chapter 1 through verse 11 paul really expounds on the gospel of jesus christ and what god has done for us the book of romans it's really a miniature bible of explaining what the good news the gospel of jesus christ is and a few moments after the sermon we're going to take communion because communion is a constant reminder that god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son jesus that we while we were still yet sinners while we were lost while we were caught up in the in in in this world and we were totally helpless the bible says that god sent his son jesus to redeem us to save us and draw us closer back to god we who were aliens we were separated from god but because of the blood of jesus and as heroin smite said that the curtain has been broken the veil has been broken so that we can draw near to to god because of the sacrifice of jesus christ never let that go old or grow old and so paul in writing to this epistle he says therefore then i used to tell you i had an old past my first pastor used to tell me when you see the word therefore find out what the therefore is there for right because as i said paul says because of these these uh of course the bible is not broken up in chapters and verses man put that there this was an epistle that was written to the church of rome and yet paul begins to uh uh share uh the revelations of god uh through this this tremendous uh uh theologian uh and begins to explain to us our salvation and so he concludes to the ending of that letter he says therefore because of what god has done for us because of his sacrifice because of what jesus the work on the cross of calvary because he loved us because we're saved by grace and not by works because of god's mercy that we didn't get what we deserved he says therefore he says let's put the verse up there if you don't mind therefore i urge you now notice he doesn't say i command you he says i plead with you do you know you get better results when you ask nicely than when you demand something so paul doesn't say i command you to give yourself up he says i uh urge you i i uh the word there in word is i appeal to you because he was a smart man and so he understood how to challenge people remember he would go to the synagogues and and share the word of the lord with those of religious people of those days so he says i want uh i want to appeal to you i want to urge you you see because of the mercies of god because of the fact that god has been merciful god has been good to us one of the things that we need to constantly be reminded i think that's why jesus really commanded us to take the communion in the daily manner on a regular matter as often as you eat as often as you drink because he wanted that to be a constant reminder of what it took to redeem us and to save us the gospel of good news that jesus would become sin who knew no sin that we would become the righteousness of god he took our blame he took our punishment and paul says and when you when you consider all that i beseech you i plead with you i appeal to you to therefore uh uh brethren because of god's mercy because of god's love that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice now i know many times i've been we talk about our heart we talk about our mind we talk about our spirit but very rarely do we talk about our bodies and as i was thinking about it i really felt convicted because a lot of people i worship god in spirit i don't do to go to church i'll be in the spirit it'd be kind of hard and i had to do that last year to preach an empty church tell it's kind of hard i like people i enjoy people i like to look at people's faces i can read people i'm an overseer [Laughter] god gives me discernment your face is a billboard and so he says i want you to give your bodies and many times we focus on the heart we focus on the spirit we focus but we don't focus on the body see we think of this body many times as a part of the sinful nature of sinful nature but guess what god wants your body i want you to to present to give your bodies and what a conviction i felt as i read the scripture how am i using my body am i honoring god with my body now we know that we are first a spirit god created us he blew into us life his spirit in us and then we have a soul that deals with our mind our emotions and our will and then we have a body the temple that god has allowed us this tent and we know this tent gets old and one day we'll we'll we'll die but then our our spirit goes to the presence of the lord but yet we have a body now you can't see my spirit can you see my spirit can you see my heart you can only see my body i better work out more you know your body my question to you are you offering your body to god the bible says you are the temple of the holy spirit and that you do not belong to yourself so god is concerned not only with your heart he's not only concerned with your spirit he's concerned about your body what are you doing with your body see what kind of food do you eat what are you drinking are you exercising are you taking care of your body let me tell you one of the things i i have a dear friend i have many friends thank god from all ages male female there's only male and female by the way regardless of what the government tells you see i've used the slogan you know i identify as a vaccine person hallelujah i don't you didn't get that joke a little different male and female and so um god wants your body and this see like i said i have many friends and i have a dear friend that i call her almost every day almost every day every other day she's 86 years old 86 her her kidneys are failing her she's losing weight she's not doing that well so he has good days and bad days and then she'll say to me you know i'm a little depressed and let me tell you when your body goes on you it's so easy to get depressed when you lose your health it's so easy to get depressed and that's why we have to take care of our bodies because our bodies belong to god and the bible says whatever you do in drinking or eating do it all for the glory of god so therefore i want you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice now i want you to see i'm on i'm not going to be long today you'll be out very soon you know when you you have to check your spirit all the time do you fall into the category of religion and getting caught up with religious activity or do you get caught up with relationship how is your relationship with god we all have to constantly review where we are with the lord because if you think about the reason why we we should give ourselves to god completely 100 is because he is so loving he is so kind he is so gracious he is so merciful he is so gracious to us when i think it's the goodness of the lord that leader to repentance the bible says when i think of what the lord has done for me i can't have it but thank him and we need to see that in relationship if you husbands you treat your wife correctly if you treat your wife the way christ loves the church if you husbands treat you your wives as you take care of yourselves as paul says love your wife as christ loved the church i mean that and alone is it's incredible he gave his life he sacrificed he does whatever he can for for his church how much our husbands are to love their wives as christ loved the church and then he says just in case you didn't get it and you're supposed to love your wife as you love yourself one woman would not do anything for a husband who has her best interest in mind one wife would not submit herself to her husband and try to please her husband because she knows she has a man that has her back that concerns her is concerned about her and loves her and cares for her you want to have a great marriage love your wife love your wife and you outdo yourself there's no woman forget about women's lib that's all baloney the woman live outside the house but in the house that a woman lives anymore they want to be loved they want to be taken care of they want a man's attention because that's how god created us you love your wife the way christ loved the church and you love your wife the way god you love yourself there's nothing that that woman will do for you nothing i'm telling you right now and so that's how it is with god when you see what god has done for you you can't help it but to love him when i think of what the lord has done how he has been faithful throughout the years my lord have mercy he's been good to me even when i didn't deserve it he's been good so he says give yourself as a because of god's mercy present your bodies as a living sacrifice let's turn to some verses that you'll see in the bible concerning sacrifices because when i think of sacrifice i think of the old testament i think how they would bring animals like bulls and and sheep and and pigeons you know it's interesting you say why sheets and bulls and pigeons and you know what because some people couldn't afford a sheep or they couldn't afford a ball so god said for those who are low income you can bring a pigeon isn't it how god is so great he provides a way for everyone to be participant in his sacrifice unto the lord and they would bring these animals and they would cut them up and it was bloody it was they had to be animals that were without spot or wrinkle you couldn't come and bring a defected uh animal see that people were slick god knew what was up there and they would do things and they would give god the the sheep that was that was defected god was insulted we have to give god our best and so there will be sacrifices but even then in the old testament and they would give you like i said sheeps and and bulls and and pigeons as sacrifices to god because it was because of sin because sin demands punishment and this was just a topology a typology of what christ will eventually do for us in dying on the cross but those animals were just a a a a a type of of what god would demand from his son jesus christ but even then in the old testament god understood that god was not interested in the sacrifices of animals and in first samuel 15 [Music] 22 it says but samuel replied does the lord delight in burn offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience in obedience the voice of god to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams in other words even then before the sacrifice of christ god would say listen you want to bring all these sacrifices but i'm here to tell you that that you know do i really delight in that stuff so so that's what religion does religion does the what it's supposed to do but then the person acts another way so i go to church and i i pray but then i curse out my neighbor i pay my tithes but then i spend my money foolishly that's not what god wants he says i don't delight in your burnt offerings and your sacrifice as much in obeying the lord to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams let's go to uh psalm 40 verse 6 again in the psalmist he begins to tell us how god delights uh not in sacrifice and offerings thus thou not desire my ears have not thou will be open burn offerings and sin offerings as that have not required and you see the heart of david he understood it wasn't about sacrifice it was about the heart jesus said something very interesting he said the men worship me with their lips but their heart is far from me you know how many times we can go through the motions and not really do it from the heart we can worship god and while we're worshiping god your worship oh god this week i have to go to work rebuke that in the name of jesus you're worshiping the lord oh god oh god my kids are giving me a headache no no that's not worship they worship me with their lips but their heart is far from me and i have to always keep myself in check to make sure that whatever i do whatever i say i'm doing with the right motive not to mean an obligation let's go to uh amos chapter 5. verse 21 chapter 5 21-24 i hate this is god speaking i hate and i despise your religious feast i cannot stand your assembly can you believe that god saying that to us i can't stand your assembly your festivals even though you bring burnt offerings and grain offerings i will not accept them though you bring the choice fellowship offerings i will have no regards for them away with the noise of your songs i will not listen to the music of your heart but let justice roll on like a river righteousness like a never failing stream you see god means business he doesn't want to he in other words what he's saying here my dear brother he doesn't want lip service see he doesn't want lip service and that's why we we lose leadership we lose uh uh leadership in our own country in politics because all we hear is words and we don't see no action god is tired of lip service he wants us to go back to verse 12 verse one god desires so as we look at this verse and i gotta get moving here is that god is urging worship god is urging worship that true worship is giving ourselves totally to god you know one thing that i'm challenged that sometimes we don't see the results of the gospel is because we're not preaching the gospel we wonder why people haven't changed because we're not preaching the gospel we're not giving the message of repentance and really crying out to god and so god says if we're gonna see god's result we must do what god says so he says that we're to give ourselves our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable in other words give our bodies as a form of worship to god when we give ourselves to god we're saying lord let my hands be your hands let my voice be your voice how am i using my body you are the temple of the holy spirit and his sacrifice that god desires is for us to be holy he says which means we separate ourselves from the world holy means i am totally dedicated to god see i'm separated unto god and i separate myself from anything that can contaminate me anything that can affect my service to god and i'm called to be holy god said you ought to be holy as i am holy we don't hear that today anymore holiness unto the lord sanctification is what god does in us when we come to jesus he sanctifies us he calls us he makes us righteous but there is a work of sanctification that the holy spirit begins to work in your life as you begin to surrender your life to god he begins to change things in the inside hallelujah he begins to create a new thing in us and those things that we used to do we don't want to do anymore the things that used to be attracted to me i don't want to do anymore because god is working we wonder why the church doesn't really see any difference in us because we look like the world we act like the world we speak like the world there's no difference but god has called us to be holy to be separated unto him that's our sacrifice of worship to the lord see some people i'm waiting to get old before i serve the lord when i'm young i'm going to go sin and do my thing and have my parties then when i get old i'll serve god you see but you don't know when time is going to come death has no respect of persons it takes the young the old the ugly the beautiful takes everybody there's nothing like serving the lord be holy unto god to live a life that is pleasing unto him let the holy spirit work in your life and release it to the lord the reason why we don't have the peace and the joy and what we need to the abundant life that jesus speaks about is because we're holding on to part of our agenda but when we surrender all to god he has promised to meet all of our needs so let's read on holy and then pleasing to god in other words so i'm holy i'm separated unto god my question is am i pleasing god am i pleasing god some of us are more busy pleasing man than we're pleasing god we fear man more than we fear god we fear offending people then we're afraid of offending god may god help us to realize that we're called to please him and only him alone and if i go back to the analogy that i talked about a husband uh being loving to his wife and giving to his wife guess what if you please your wife someone said happy wife happy life is that what that's saying right you have a happy wife have a happy life when you please god you'll have a wonderful life that's what i'm doing is it pleasing god do i am i pleasing god by the way i talk by the way i act is god please with me does god love you yes he does there's nothing that you could ever do that god will stop god loving you nothing it will be nothing i don't care how many times you fail how many times you sin god will always love you that's the beauty but to please him it's a delight in him i don't know about you when i love people i like to please them i do sometimes i have to be careful not to be a people pleaser but i love making people happy i like that and it's not because i'm trying to get the approval see i like feeding people you know you used to wonder why you know you would go to an italian home and and the mother they want to feed you go to puerto rico at home your mother wanted to feed you that was her way of of expressing her concern and her love for you so are we pleasing god this is not about religion you know what you have a spirit in you right and you know if you're pleasing god or not why this is your spiritual act of worship see when we worship god we do as the scripture says to love god with all your heart your mind soul and strength everything that we do and i'm coming to a close should be an act of worship worship is not just what we did this morning we sing a bunch of songs we raise our hands and if you're religious you met your obligation but what do you do when you leave this church is your life an act of worship is all that you do and say and the way you conduct yourself is really an act of worship so even though you want to sometimes give people you know you want to tell them off how many ever felt that about some people yes i appreciate your honesty you're driving the road and someone cuts you off road rage i just saw a movie that my friend wanted me to see it's called unhinge man that guy i was like i had to close my eyes a couple of times he got cut off he got the horn beat boy and he went crazy and so we have to look at ourselves and say am i am i pleasing to god is my life is my life an act of worship that what i do what i say how i conduct my everyday life how i treat my wife my husband my children how i act in the job is that an act of worship let's turn to romans chapter six and i have two more verses then i close romans chapter 6 11 through 15 that really talks more specifically about the body about the body for those who don't understand so romans chapter 6 verse 11 it says in the same way count yourself dead indeed unto sin but alive to god in other words for you to to to live you have to die you have to die to your sins but alive unto god unto god through jesus christ our lord look he goes on more specifically he goes on to say therefore do not let sin don't let sin rule in your what mortal bodies these bodies don't let sin rule reign in your mortal bodies in other words their sins that are committed by the body they are not committed by the soul or the spirit god said don't let sin don't let certain acts that are dubbed by your body rule in your body therefore this vessel is not being used by god it's getting quiet in here therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires your evil desire do not let do not offer the parts of your bodies to sin as an instrument of wickedness but rather but rather offer yourself to god as those who have been brought from death to life and offer parts of your bodies to him as instruments of righteousness for sin shall not be your master because you are not under the law but under the grace of god there are certain actions there's certain activities there's certain lifestyles that are committed in this flesh that is sin and not obedient to god now i'm not here to i like the way it ended it says because we're not under the law but we're under grace let me tell you i know there's things that i struggle with the things that i struggle with in this body okay that that when i first came to the lord there were a lot of things that i struggled with but god by his grace working through me and cooperating with the power of the holy spirit to live a life that is holy to the lord so i can't say i'm not going to do that anymore because many times i've said i'm not going to do it and guess what i'm not going to do that hold on i'm sorry i did that and then we end up doing it again so i'm helpless i need god i need god to help me and as i release myself to him and under his grace i know he will give me the power there are times i tell people if you're struggling with certain things that are hurting your body then tell god help me god take the taste away take the habit of take away every desire god deal with my heart give me your heart after you god help me to this to this be not satisfied with what i'm doing and let me tell you if you mean that prayer god will deliver because our bodies belong to him hallelujah one last thing first peter i don't know if i gave you that verse did i give you uh first peter uh 2 5. did i give you that verse ashley no first peter chapter 2 verse 5. you see this thing about serving god is a serious thing you know what being religious is easy being religious you can just go through the motions and go through and and you know what it means nothing and just but yet god knows our heart i can fool you but i can't fool him you see and sometimes when you look at churches and look at really it's there's so much formality and ritual and that's why the bible says they have a form of godliness but they deny the power of god what does that mean you can act religious you can have the robes on you could have you know sometimes i wear my suit sometimes i dress down some of these haven't been but sometimes i wear a a a a a robe something for baby dedication i wear my robe someone had bought me a beautiful staff one of them when i walk down with a nice staff with my robe but all that having a form of godliness but denying god's power what does that mean you're not allowing god to reign in your life you're denying his power in your life all right ye also are lively stones see we're a building we're the church of god and i promise i close with this i have some visitors judy bring out some visitors and i want them to come back again if i if i'm too long they won't come back again but we're a church but we're not a church of buildings it's not a roof and and floors and and bricks we are lively stones notice he said i want you to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice lively stones build up in a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god by jesus christ when you offer your mouth to god that's a spiritual sacrifice when you offer your body unto god that's a spiritual sacrifice when you walk in holiness and i give in to the lust of the flesh you are pleasing god you are a living sacrifice because the reality is you do not belong to yourselves now in saying this will be verse 2 of romans chapter 12. do not be conformed to this world or do not be conformed any longer to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the ruining of your mind some of you are hearing me you're like pastor's getting a little legalistic there if that's what you're hearing you're hearing the voice of the devil because there's a difference between condemnation and conviction see i'm not here to condemn anybody but i hope through the power if you can put verse 2 of chapter 12 the conviction of the holy spirit because it's the conviction of the holy spirit that will bring change in your life it will be changed glory to god it will bring change to your life so you may feel like this but listen if you feel that it's because you're too much into the world because do not be conformed or don't fit in the patterns that the world fits into but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that's why you got to be in the word that's why you have to constantly be in the word because if you're not in the word if you're so busy watching movies and tvs and music and all that stuff you're filling your mind with the wrong things you need to fill your mind with the word of god you need to fill your mind with the preaching of god's word you need to fill your mind with music that is pleasing to the lord don't allow the world to put you in its mold that's what it's saying be not conformed to this world don't allow the worldly system to tell you what's right or wrong [Music] because you see where the world is going so much craziness but be transformed by the running of your mind that you may prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of god a lot of people don't know what the will of god is and the reason why they don't know what god's will is because they don't read the word the word of god tells you how we should live we are to conduct ourselves we're not allow allow ourselves to be like the world would you stand with me take your communion cup are you willing to give yourself as a living sacrifice this morning thank you when you hold in your hand the symbol of the broken body of jesus christ and you hold your hand uh the cup the blood look at what this represents charles that jesus gave it all are we willing to give our all to jesus the bible says he did not spare his very own son but gave himself to us will he not give us all things freely i can tell you that god loves you today can i encourage you to give your life to him to say lord i need to surrender certain things in my life i need to give up certain things in my life i need to stop doing certain things in my life i need to draw closer to him because he's been so good to me he sacrificed it all and gave himself he was whipped he was beaten and he was nailing the cross just like that old man of ours needs to be put on the cross let's take the bread in the same manner he shed his blood the bible says that life is in the blood and christ poured out his blood for us his blood that cleanses us from our sins that protects us and keeps us thank god for his blood would you bow your heads with me if you're here today and you don't know jesus or you're watching me on youtube eventually on facebook if you haven't received jesus christ into your life i'm here to tell you the best thing you can do is to recognize that you're a sinner and that you need a savior all of us have sinned for the apostle calls he says he is the chief sinner only by grace can we stand and today christ invites you into your life to come in to his life and say lord come into my life and all you got to do is pray this prayer jesus come into my life i believe that you die on the cross for my sins i believe that you are god's sacrifice for me and today i accept the gift of salvation and i believe that christ died and he rose again for my sins and today i receive him as my lord and savior to the christians i say to you today as you examine your walk with the lord are you a living sacrifice this week are you living a life of holiness are you living a life that is pleasing to god are you using your body as instruments of righteousness if not would you say right now in your own head god i give myself to you as that song says lord prepare me to be a sanctuary pure and holy helpless lord starting with me starting with pastor alex purify my heart cleanse my soul and let my body be used for you as instruments of righteousness for your honor and glory and god's people say amen god bless you and god bless you [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Park Slope Christian Center

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Length: 89min 18sec (5358 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021