Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world

Paul's challenge to the Romans is his challenge to us:
(Brothers and sisters) do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For Paul, the world means the crowd.
Not a crowd in the neutral sense of people together, but in the sense of people moving mindlessly in the same direction, busy, preoccupied, never stopping to consider if they are moving in the right direction.

Yet this is exactly what happens, says Paul, if you just keep going. This is what happens if, by not listening to God's voice, you resist being transformed. For you will be conformed, he says, if you do not let yourself be transformed. You will be brought down to a lower level if you do not allow yourself to be lifted up to a high level.

Paul tells us how, beginning with chapter 12 and the important words: I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Ancient people would present an animal as a living sacrifice, a token of their livelihood, a token of what was most valuable to them. But the apostle goes further: present yourselves, he says.
Turn toward God with your whole selves.
Let no part of who you are, let no part of what your faith community is about, be turned in any direction other than toward God.

We hear the words present your bodies as a living sacrifice and wonder if we are being asked to give up everything, to leave everything and everybody, to make a lonely pilgrimage into the desert.

But that is not at all what Paul is saying.
Being transformed doesn't mean being transported.

• Stay where you are!
• Live where you are!
• Be who you are!
• Allow your mind the opportunity to be on a pilgrimage.
• Allow your mind the opportunity to be shaped by the grace of God.

Don't be afraid; allow yourself the opportunity to be made more whole, more in the image of the one who formed you, who created you for good. We all build barriers during the week - to protect ourselves; to defend ourselves; to make our world just a bit smaller, narrower, more comprehensible, a bit easier to make sense of. Building barriers happens, we all do it, we do it unconsciously every time we turn our eyes away from God, when we turn our ears away from God's still small voice.

Most of us did it this week.

Paul doesn't urge us to analyze, to point fingers. Ethics begins with repentance, he says, with letting the barriers down.
Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, says the apostle, meaning we must present our entire self to God, surrendering our self, the good and the bad to God, only then do we listen for what God has to say to our community, to our world

Do not be conformed, but be transformed.
Ethics for the Christian, right living, always begins with God. Not with our works, not with how good or faithful or well grounded we are, but rather with how needy we are.

The fact is we can't take a step forward until we take a step back.
Unless we begin with the renewal of our own minds, we're ahead of ourselves. Christian ethics, how well we live what we believe, starts with surrender, with repentance.

Do you believe that Christian life is a Challenge?
Yes I do believe, It is a real challenge. what is the major force that challenges? Can some one tell me? MEDIA. The Media is contradictory to Christian thoughts & values. Do we have the right to dismiss the wrong to make smarter choices for our Christian living ? Yes .

Can someone tell me what are the tools that the Media use?

• Movies
• Music
• Television
• Magazines
• Internet

Which is your favourite channel? MTV, STAR TV , AXN…..

Are there good channels? Yes Discovery, Animal planet…..

I would like to begin with the story of a Frog.
Place a frog in boiling water and it will jump immediately because of the hostile circumstance. Place a frog in a kettle with water at room temperature, it will stay there. Slowly very slowly increase the temperature. This time the frog does not leap out , It stays there, unaware of the enviroment changing, Continue to turn the burner until the water is boiling. Our poor frog is boiled quite content nevertheless dead.

Luke 21:34-36 “ Be ready at all times”
Sometimes we are Like the frog who is content with whatever is happening around us. We refuse to make the right choices in Christ due to pressure from society. Usually the last talk given at our services is repentance but as youth we sometimes need to know which areas we really face a problem. By the way Repentance does not mean we are sorry, but actually it comes from the Greek word Metanoia : CHANGE OF HEART.

So I hope today as I share the word you make be able to make the right choices.

There are 3 areas where Media affects are life the most.
Mind (thoughts & Actions)
The Movies today are a feeder of lust , a school of crime, the betrayer of innocence, pictures of murder as entertainment, exalts nakedness & indecency as beauty. It shows drunkenness, divorce, gambling, fornication as proper & legitimate. It inflames lust & hardens the hearts of the wicked. In all it glorifies sin.

Music: Especially Heavy metal & rock Music
Magazines:
Internet.
Because what you see you tend to believe.

Contrary to the world you will find a teaching in the Gospel of
Mathew 6.5-15 : Our father
6:16 –18: concerning Fasting
6:19-21: Concerning treasures
6:22-23: The sound eye
6:25-34: Do not worry.

2. Speech
Let us go to the book of James(3-1-12)

My mother used to tell me I do not have a bone in my tongue. Of course, none of us have bones but I used my tongue the way I felt like at one time. Or I have heard words like Keep your Tongue between your teeth or one day you will be answerable to God for every word you have spoken. The Bible too has several descriptions many kinds of Tongues. I m not talking of the Charismatic gift of tongues, but the human tongue.

• A flattering tongue (Ps 5:9)
• A proud tongue (Ps12:3, 73:9)
• A lying tongue ( Ps 109:2, Pr 6:17)
• A deceitful tongue (Ps 120:2)
• A perverted tongue (Pr 10:31, 17:20)
• Our speech is also affected when we make a choice to watch the wrong movies or the magazines.

3. Dress.
Dress is one of the worst affected due to media. Today with the sixties look coming back our clothes sometimes do not glorify God at all. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

How do we overcome so many things? We can only do it through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to see clearly right from wrong. Also to make a decision. To Live Life bitter or better the choice is ours.

To do it 1). A Christian should always have this question Instead of saying “ What harm is there in ? I should ask “What good is there in it ?

Words have to be used to teach, inspire, affirm, forgive, bless & encourage. May your words & mine have the power to do so. While we are never able to tame our tongue completely we can learn to bridle it. There is a beautiful prayer in the bible that I used daily for quite some time. It is from Sir 22:27
I WISH THAT A GUARD COULD BE PLACED ON MY MOUTH THAT LIPS WOULD BE WISELY SEALED. IT WOULD KEEP ME FROM MAKING MISTAKES & PREVENT ME FROM DESTROYING MYSELF WITH MYSELF WITH MY OWN TONGUE.
Here there is 2 fold principle involved:
a) No persons words/Media can effect our lives as much as our own.
b) Our future cannot be blessed until I let go of my past & habits.

How do we over come the Media?
1.SPEAK GOD’S LANGUAGE
2.PRAISE & BE RAISED.
3.FASTING FROM FOOD –FAST FROM THE USE OF WRONG WORDS