VICTORY:CONSECRATE

Happy Mother’s Day!  We hope you have an opportunity to celebrate the gift of motherhood in our lives.  Also, we hope you are filled with the warm memories of your mother and how she cared for you.  We are struggling with birth rates in American society.  It is currently estimated that our birthrate is 1.5 to 1.6, well below the 2.1 needed to keep our population simply stable.  This is not just a societal indicator for the future of our country, but it may also be a spiritual indicator for our lives.  It could mean that we prefer convenience over commitment, self-centeredness over sacrifice, and entitlement over engagement.  In our series Victory, we are realizing that the resurrecting power of God can transform our hearts, spirits, and even our social trends.  This week, the sermon is Consecrate.  This word means to “dedicate an object or ourselves to God’s use.”  The only reason we can dedicate ourselves to God’s use is that God in Jesus Christ has redeemed us, sanctified us, and filled us with his Spirit. While this seems like a great idea, how does it work out practically for our lives?  We turn to Hebrews 13:5-16.  These words move the idea of consecration from “pie in the sky” to a practical reality that can give us courage, confidence, commitment, and continued strength.  Despite the hardships these believers were enduring, they could choose to consecrate their hearts and souls, which would transform their fear and uncertainty!  As you read Hebrews 13:5-16, we pray you will be filled with such assurance of the living God in Jesus Christ that you can confidently say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid!” 

Hebrews 13:5-16: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” ⁶ So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” ⁷ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. ¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹ The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³ Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴ For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. ¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise– the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. ¹⁶ And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (NIV)