SUMMER IN THE SPIRIT: SIMMERING IN THE SPIRIT

We continue our series, Summer in the Spirit.  How are we to understand gifts of the Spirit?  Last week, we looked at the Corinthian church and their confusion about the gifts of the Spirit.  They were using the gifts of the Spirit to elevate themselves above one another.  Paul did not want them to be uninformed about the working of the Spirit through each of our lives.  Unfortunately, this is often a difficult area for us to find clarity, even with our knowledge of psychology and sociology.  It is easy for us to forget that the gifts of the Spirit are not about ownership, they are about offering ourselves to God.  God can inspire us, empower us, and enable us, if we willingly offer our heart and strength to God.  In the sermon for this week, Simmering in the Spirit, we turn to Romans 12:1-12.  (Maybe with the heat of the summer the title should be “sizzling” with the Spirit!) A singular sentence seems to challenge and confront us: Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (Romans 12:11, NIV) How do we keep up that kind of energy?  Literally the verse could read, “Be eager not timid, simmering with the Spirit serving the Lord!” (JOT) We struggle to keep our spiritual life hot; the natural inclination is to grow colder.  Paul reminds these Roman believers that growing colder is not where we will find joy, or hope, or love.  Instead, if we listen closely to these words, they will help us to find the power of grace to ignite a dynamic faith that will overcome the darkness of despair and the delusion of doubt! We pray that you will experience the power of God’s Spirit reenergizing your heart and renewing your mind as you read Romans 12:1-12. 

Romans 12:1-12 

​​​¹ 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. ² 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. ³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.