08.16.26 | Sunday Morning | Ps. Joe Cormier

What does it truly mean to be transformed? Not just changed on the surface, but genuinely renewed from the inside out? That is the question at the heart of this powerful message drawn from Romans 12. Paul opens with one of the most significant words in all of Scripture: therefore. It is a hinge word, a turning point. Everything that comes before it in Romans 1 through 11 builds the case that we were all sinners, that Christ died for us, and that through faith in His resurrection we are made right with God. And because of all of that, Paul says, now live differently. The call is not to clean ourselves up so that God will accept us. It is the opposite. Because God has already accepted us through the blood of Jesus, we now offer ourselves back to Him as living sacrifices. Transformation begins with surrender, and surrender begins with understanding the magnitude of what has already been done for us. We are invited to stop letting the world press us into its mold and instead allow the renewing of our minds to reshape how we think, how we speak, how we spend our time, and who we walk with. This is not a passive process. It is intentional, daily, and deeply personal. If we want to see our lives change, we have to change what we feed our minds, what we confess with our mouths, and who we allow to speak into our lives. The Word of God is not just meant to be read quietly. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Let that sink in as we consider how seriously we are taking the renewing of our minds.