[Mike Greider] All right, well, I wanted to start the message today by turning to a section of Scripture that records an interaction that Christ had with his disciples. And it's back in Mark 10. If you want to head back there Mark 10, we're going to pick up the thread there in Mark 10 and we're going to start in verse 13.

Mark 10:13 It says, “Then they…” and this is talking about this large group of people at large here, this audience that was always around Jesus Christ. Says, “Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.”

Now, we do need to just stop and get a little bit of the context here. The disciples, of course, weren't being monsters here, nor were they trying to work overtime to kind of prevent any of the little children sneaking up to Christ, it wasn't like that at all. We have to put ourselves in their shoes just a little bit and understand what life must have been like for Jesus Christ. Surely, he had to be one of the most sought-after individuals in the whole region. And people were constantly trying to get to him, to talk to him, to be healed by him, to debate with him, you name it.

I remember there was an interview one time with Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player, and they asked him the pros and cons to fame. And he said the pros were he gets paid a lot of money to play a game he loves and that he would do for free. The cons are, he can't walk down the street. He can't take his kids to a playground. He was so famous that that fame kind of kept him trapped as a prisoner. He couldn't live his life as he wanted to.

And some similarities are here as well. Everyone wanted to get at Jesus Christ. Well, remember that the woman that came up and touched the hem of His garment, and Christ asked, “Who touched me?” And the disciples, like, “Are you kidding me? Like everyone is trying to touch you. You're surrounded by people they're trying to touch you.” Or the example where the people literally tore in through the roof, so that they could get someone down in there to be touched by Christ and healed. It had to be nearly constant and the disciples, I believe, didn't have any nefarious plots in mind and they were just acting as the gatekeepers. And honestly, why would these children have the opportunity to go to Jesus? Surely there were all sorts of kinds of important people that wanted to have a turn. So why would these random kids have a chance?

Mark 10:14-16 “But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them.’” Why not? “For such is the kingdom of God. And assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.”

Now, I think this is a really interesting sliver into the mindset of Jesus Christ. And, of course, it was a teaching opportunity to shed light on a vital part of what being a Christian is all about. In our Christian walk, we are to grow, we are to change. We are to evolve as human beings as Christians called into a Church. And certainly, we aren't here to stay stagnant, we aren't supposed to bunker down in any way or isolate ourselves. People should look at us and see meaningful change in our character, and how we live our lives. And change is a core part of being a Christian, a transformation from a carnal-minded physical being into a Christ-like spirit being as part of the family of God is the goal of why we are here.

But it can be very easy to get caught up in all the other things in life, frankly, just living your life. And when that happens, we can allow changes that just kind of come at us, and so to speak, changes that happened just naturally as you get older, etc. But changes that are not proactive. And that's not the type of changes that are the most important in our Christian lives. Jesus Christ used this wonderful example to hammer home that sometimes we can get lost in the weeds and forget what it's all about, what meaningful change is for, and why it's important. And it is such a great reminder that while change is inevitable, it should not be mindless. Especially, in our Christian lives and how we craft our character, we do have to be proactive in what changes are made, why the changes are made, and what the end goal is for.

Jesus Christ points out that there is something wonderful about the mindset of a child. And we have to proactively change our own way of thinking, if we want to be part of his family, it doesn't come naturally, or without effort. And I'm thinking about this scripture, I started to think about changes and transformations. So much of the Bible deals with both of these topics, changes, and transformations, changes both positive and negative, and transformations that God has performed in the past, and has promised for the future. And I'd like to dive into that topic today and discuss both of these aspects. Because as Christians, we should both be changed and transformed but what does that mean? What are the changes and the transformations? Who does the changes? Who does the transformations?

I want to start by reading a physical change in Exodus 7. You could turn back there in Exodus 7. We know that the Bible very often gives us physical examples and lessons and principles that then we can turn around and apply spiritually. And in Exodus 7 and 8 we see a fantastic example of physical changes and transformations. Now, we'll remember the story of when Moses first goes to Pharaoh back in chapter 5, to start the process of freeing the slaves. And Pharaoh basically says, “Well, why do we have to listen to you, who gave you the authority?” And then he just kind of comes and brings the thunder back down on the Israelite slaves, he makes them work harder he takes away their resources. It was a disaster.

And in chapter 7 and we're going to pick it up in verse 8. Moses then takes another approach. This time, God is setting it up to show that it isn't Moses that's asking for this but it was a course of action that God had put into motion. And notice how God uses signs and wonders through the usage of changes and transformations. Exodus 7, and we'll pick it up in verse 8.

Exodus 7:8-10 Says, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'When Pharaoh speaks to you saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves.’’” In other words, what are your credentials here? By what authority are you asking for these things? “‘Then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your rod cast before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ So Moses and Aaron went into Pharaoh and did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before the servants, and it became a serpent.”

Now, that in and of itself is pretty remarkable, right? That is a transformation from one object to a completely different object. But there's more. Let's drop down to verse 17.

Exodus 7:17-20 “Thus says the Lord, ‘By this, you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with a rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, the Egyptians will loath to drink the water of the river.’” Verse 19. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over the streams, over the rivers, over the ponds, over all the pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood, pictures of stone, everywhere.’ And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, and in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.”

Now, we do know that God worked through these series of miracles and plagues with Egypt, and he did so to demonstrate his ultimate power and authority over all of the so-called Gods in Egypt. And God used those great signs and wonders, both for Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but also, of course, the Israelites as well. And that highlights how God works through changes and transformations to accomplish His will. They're both core elements in the physical world as signs and wonders, but more importantly, they are a template of spiritual changes and transformations that will last for all eternity. And this section of scripture, I think, is a good bridge example because it helps us to understand that spiritual concept as we visualize the physical changes. But let's bring the focus a little bit closer to home.

It goes without saying that there'll be physical changes in our lives but those are less important than the spiritual changes. That's why we're here today. But what does it mean to grow and change spiritually? Let's see the inverse of that, a stagnant Christian, one that maybe has learned the truth but doesn't really act upon it stays in the same place without moving the ball forward. Matthew 7:21-23. Let's turn back there, Matthew 7:21-23 I think it really hammers this point home.

Matthew 7:21 It says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

Now, this is kind of a startling comment made by Jesus Christ here. It's hard to really fathom how that landed when he said it originally. But we know that even today, there are whole Churches where their mission is to just put up signs and billboards that have the name Jesus on it. Thinking if you just drive by you say the name Jesus, or even if you just say it in your mind, that's good enough, there's nothing more that you need to do. Let's continue on here

Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’” Okay, they're doing things. They're taking actions, pretty awesome actions, actually. But have they changed their lives spiritually? Verse 23. “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Now, we are required to change and to be transformed. We can't just read the scriptures say we believe in Jesus and call it a day, we have to move our character away from lawlessness and become different. Well, again, what does that mean for us spiritually? What should we focus on changing? What are the areas that God will transform? And how do they fit together in our complete walk with God?

Well, for the balance of this message, I have broken it down into two different categories. The first focus is the changes that we are required to make. And the second is transformations that only God can perform. Now, they go hand in hand. Absolutely so. And as they do, they complete our journey from a physical human being to a spirit being in God's family for all eternity. Neither of these will be fully comprehensive but hopefully, it will be a starting point that we can use in our sermon chat this afternoon. But first, I have an experiment right here.

All right, before I jump into kind of the meat of the message here, I do have this experiment. I like having props. Something about the excitement of something going wrong in front of a live audience keeps things fresh, I think. But I wanted to try to visualize the difference between a change and a transformation. I know a lot of you when you're getting ready for Church today you thought, “I sure hope there's a science lesson here at Church,” and I'm not going to disappoint. The first one here is all about a change. The second is going to be a transformation. But in both cases, we'll end up with something different than what we started out with. And again, the first is a change and we can see how one part will act as a catalyst to modify the other, we're going to see a slow change in colors. And then although the end result is different than the starting point, I think we're going to see how we got from point A to point B.

Go here, these two clear liquids, one is blue. I'm going to slowly pour this in here. I’ve got to say that's not the most earth-shattering experiment that you've ever seen before. But we can see a clear change taking place that we can see the results happen right in front of our eyes. Now, the color did not turn from blue to green all magically by itself, it required an action on my part, it required me to do something to initiate that change. And hopefully, that helps to highlight focus number one, there are changes that we are required to make. Let's dive into that one first. Focus number one are changes that we are required to make. The end result here, of course, is a new color to start out as one color. Then over time, we can see that it changed to another. This is a physical change and a physical attribute, but hopefully, we can see the spiritual connotations. We start with one mindset. We start with one type of character, one way of thinking one behavior, and through God's Holy Spirit, we change into something different.

Now, I want to get back to James 1. James 1, we're not going to dive too deep into specific areas that we have to change in our lives. Those are obviously highly dependent on each and every one of us. There are I'm sure areas in my life that I struggle with, that would be no big deal to some of you out there. Maybe a spiritual characteristic that you long since conquered. And the reverse is probably true as well. Each of us through introspection and self-evaluation understand areas that could be sharpened and enhanced and maybe aren't quite up to the standards that we know they can be. And James 1 comes to mind here, we're going to start in verse 19. James 1:19, leading up to this verse here we have the conversation about trials, about humility. In verse 12, the focus starts about loving God through trials where temptations come from, where good gifts come from, keeping kind of our lived experiences in perspective. Then we get to verse 19.

James 1:19-24 It says, “So then…” That's with all of that stuff in mind. “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Well, why? Why do we do that? “For the wrath of man does not produce righteousness of God. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Okay, how do we do this? What actions do we take in this regard? Verse 22, “But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, well, he's like a man observing his natural face in the mirror. For he observes himself, he goes away, and then immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”

Now, this is where changing our character comes into play. And we can have all the self-introspection in the world but if nothing happens, it's worthless. God can give us incredible insight into our character. He can bear the soul so that we can see the truth of our very lives. He can give us examples to draw upon. He can give us congregations to strengthen and encourage but if nothing happens, then what was the point?

James 1:25-26 “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it.” Works in it, strives in it, changes to fit within it. “It is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.”

Well, I think I can speak for all of us and say that we've put a lot of time, a lot of energy, and effort into our religion, and I don't want it to ever be considered useless. This is kind of a devastating thought to consider. But it shows that for our religion to be meaningful, it needs to change us, change our actions, our deeds, our speech, our thoughts. Now, maybe we were able to see that the starting color was blue, but unless something happened, it would have always stayed blue. No amount of wishing or hoping would have changed the color. Instead, we had to make changes for that to happen.

Another perspective is found in 2 Peter 3, you could turn back there, 2 Peter 3. Now, lots of scriptures in the Bible are dealing with the same thought process but here in chapter 3, the apostle Peter is talking about God's promises. And how it's easy to get very complacent with those promises to kind of sit back, coast a little bit, maybe put the car of life on cruise control, and let your mind just wander a little bit. But Peter is reiterating that Christ is coming back, that he is going to return, and that you better take the time you have now to make sure you are ready and prepared. What does that mean?

2 Peter 3:11-13 It says, “Therefore since all these things will be dissolved.” That is to say all these physical things, all these physical concerns, physical bodies, everything physical. It says, “All these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the day or the coming of the day of God. Because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will meld with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for the new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

A little perspective here is what Peter is saying, these physical things are going away. The only thing that matters is the character that you would have developed, the changes you have made with the resources you've been given, and the progress you therefore made.

2 Peter 3:14 “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent, to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”

2 Peter 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, now and forever. Amen.”

Now, there is a term I don't know if many of you have heard it before, called the hedonic treadmill or the hedonic adaption is another way of talking about it. And I thought about this a lot in a business context because it's the psychology behind why people tend to revert to a baseline of happiness. And I'll kind of give an example of this. When I was first starting out my career a long time ago, I was very underpaid. And the first time I got a raise, I was ecstatic. But you know what, that feeling doesn't hang on forever, you know, goes away after a while. And then the next year, I got another raise and although I was thankful, it didn't have that same type of impact that the first one did. And you can see this all around, that people tend to live their lives, and there's little bumps of happinesses along the way, but you've kind of reverted back to this baseline. That's why it's called running...that's why it's called a treadmill because it feels like you're just kind of running and running and running, and you never really get anywhere.

And you can see this play out in big and small ways all around us. It's why they say the fourth bite of ice cream is not as pleasurable as the first bite of the ice cream. Every time you do an action, the same action, the amount of pleasure or satisfaction that you get is just a little bit less impactful than it was the previous time. And eventually, you revert back to your baseline. And where this can also come into play in our spiritual lives is when sometimes when you first come into the Church, you have very big things that you need to change. Maybe you have to stop celebrating Christmas, that's a big one. Maybe you have to give up your favorite pork dinner or something like that. And while there are these initial changes and they're very hard, and they're very difficult, they give you a great sense of satisfaction after you accomplish them.

But as you continue on your Christian lives, those problems tend to get a little bit more nuanced, a little bit more layered. And that same level of satisfaction about rooting out a major problem just isn't there or maybe it's just not the same. And as a result, it can be discouraging, and make you feel like you just aren't making the progress that you once did, or that you would like. Or it can even be discouraging enough to make you think you don't need to put in the same amount of effort as you once did. But we really do have to fight against that pool. And that is one of the reasons why we are gathered together as a congregation to strengthen and encourage one another. It's also a great reminder for each and every one of us to recognize when other members are making changes and growing to make sure that you acknowledge it. And you help reinforce it with positive comments because change is hard. Sustained change can sometimes feel like it's impossible. But with God's help, with His Holy Spirit, a supportive congregation, it's amazing how much more realistic it can become.

Colossians 3, let's turn back there. This whole chapter is about areas of change that are required in our lives. Big, huge swaths of positive activity and actions to incorporate, and negative ones to fight against but I do want to notice how meaningful change in our lives works within a team setting. Colossians 3, we're going to pick it up in verse 12.

Colossians 3:12 It says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering.”

All of these things do not necessarily come naturally, especially all of them together. But these are the characteristics that we must incorporate in our lives by changing our natural tendency.

Colossians 3:13-17 “Bearing with one another, forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, for which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts, to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Well, we need to continue to work on these positive proactive changes. We want the water to turn from blue to green, and therefore, we have to take the action. But what about transformation? Like a change, a transformation also modifies or converts one thing to another. So I have one more experiment for that. This one is the coolest one. Okay, got this one up here. I was practicing at home and these are two clear liquids, but they do have some chemicals in it, and Sarah said, "Is this safe to do?" And so I thought I just re-encouraged those are in the splash row that it's probably safe. I wouldn't breathe too deeply while we're doing it though, that's for sure. Okay, so the first time we saw a gradual change in colors, let's see what happens about this one.

That's like a best reaction I was hoping for right there, honestly. Now, it is really hard to figure out how to give an example of a transformation here in the physical world, that's a little bit hard. But I think you can see this one here. The end, of course, is very different than the beginning. It's a completely different color. But I don't think he would have been able to guess that at the beginning of the test. At the end result, it's completely transformed, you can't see the progression from one to the other instead, it looks like a totally different substance. But again, this is just a physical example of a spiritual principle, which is our second focus.

Our second focus is transformations are actions that God promises to perform. Transformations are actions that God promises to perform. Well, the main difference that I want to bring out today between a change and a transformation is that a change is something that we are expected to do that we must do, and we work on that ourselves. But a transformation is truly a miracle that only God has the power and the authority to do. That kind of transformation is not possible through human means, regardless of how hard we might try. Now, I want to notice a couple of examples of transformations that God has promised. The first one's back in Ezekiel chapter...Ezekiel 36, rather, you can head back there, Ezekiel 36. We're going to pick up the thread in verse 22 but I'll start in verse 1 here just for context.

Ezekiel 36:1 Says, “And you, son of man, prophesied to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘O mountain of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.’”

Then comes along prophecy concerning the nation of Israel, the renewal of Israel, and the time. But, of course, we understand that part of this prophecy ultimately applies to all mankind in that day, as they are offered it opportunities to be part of Israel in a spiritual sense.

Ezekiel 36:22 “Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy namesake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.’”

What is to be transformed here is not because it's what the people deserved. That's what saying is not something that they earned it's a transformation that God promises to them freely for his namesake.

Ezekiel 36:23-27 “‘And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst, and the nation shall know that I am, the Lord,’ says, the Lord God, ‘When I'm hallowed in you before their eyes. And I will bring you from among the nations gather you out of the countries, bring you into your own land, and then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. And I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols.’” And notice this next section here, verse 26, “‘And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take out the heart of stone, out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them.’”

Now, a companion section of scripture is in Ezekiel 11, it says a similar thing. Our transformation or a transformation that God has promised is to transform our human heart of stone into a softer heart of flesh. Our UCG Bible Commentary makes this comment, “It says it will happen when Satan and his demons and their corrupt society are no longer present to harden man's heart. The powerful presence of Jesus Christ will put the humble fear of God in people's hearts as well. After that and once people learn the truth of God's plan of salvation, most will eventually repent of their sins, trust in Jesus Christ to be their Savior, receive the water baptism whereupon God will fulfill this wonderful promise that I will put my Spirit within you.”

Now, we have an understanding of how this transformation can take place when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives at baptism. And this transformation cannot happen on its own, it is a conversion that only God can perform. But that's not all, of course not. One of the biggest transformations is a highlight of the Feast of Trumpets. Let's turn back to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, and again, no amount of introspection can perform this transformation. We can read all the self-help books in the world, and not be able to accomplish what God has promised here. 1 Corinthians 15, and we'll start in verse 50.

 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 It says, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, transformed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Thats an incredible transformation. “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ O, Death, where is your sting? O, Hades, where is your victory?"

The transformation from temporary physical bodies to eternal spiritual bodies is a transformation unlike anything that has ever been thought of before. It is a remarkable promise that only God can deliver. And when God promises a transformation that change is so significant for that object that was transformed, the previous identity no longer fits. It's not just the same thing anymore, it needs a new name a new identity. And if we think about maybe a physical transformation, the same thing is true. When a caterpillar transforms so drastically, we don't call it like a flying beautiful bug, right? We call it a brand-new thing. It's a butterfly because the end result is so different than the starting point. It's a totally different thing.

Now, spiritually, our transformation is the same thing. That's why in Revelation 2:17, we're not going to turn there. But God designs that for those that overcome those that work hard to change and become more like Jesus Christ, those that persevere. Well, they will be given a new name, a name no one knows except him who receives it. And we will need new names because we'll be transformed into something far better than what we were previously. And as a result, hopefully, our old names just won't fit anymore, we'll need something new.

Well, there's a series of fantasy books that I enjoy reading, it's from a very prolific author, and he does a really remarkable job of doing “World Building.” I don't know if you've ever heard that term before. That he has all these different worlds and different universes, and they have their own rules and their own laws of nature and laws of physics. And in one of those books, there's a world that has two competing forces. One is the force of preservation, which means it wants everything to stay exactly the same, nothing grows, nothing dies, nothing changes, everything is exactly the same. And the other force is the force of ruin, which wants to break everything down. And it made me think a little bit about our Christian walk, and also really about life itself. There is a constant balance between wanting things to change and grow. And oftentimes that's counterbalanced with a strong desire for some things to never change.

Olivia just had her 11th birthday, and I would be perfectly fine if we just held on to that for a few more years. Every time I play hockey at midnight, and I get up for work the next day, I realized there has been a lot of change that's happened over the years. But so many of these changes just kind of come upon us. They're not planned. They're not proactive. It's just the march of time. And all too often we can be tied up in our day-to-day lives that we're not all that proactive about the types of character changes that we do really want to focus on. And there is a term that we use a lot in my business, in developing software, and it's called OBE, which means overtaken by events. And that means when a request comes in some time ago, that something's changed either the environments changed, or the customer requests has changed, wherever it was, that they don't need the thing anymore because it's just kind of been overtaken by other stuff.

And also, that can happen in our spiritual lives as well, can't it? Oftentimes, we can really be diligent about focusing on something at first, and then just kind of be overtaken by events, and not necessarily get back to it. God decided to build this entire physical universe with planets and stars and trees and plants and fish, silly little physical human beings. It's all temporary, all for just a short period of time. Because change is built into this experience, as an illustration of what is fleeting, and what will be permanent. Spiritual changes and transformations are at the heart of God's plan for us temporary human beings made from flesh, we can't stay still, we can't stay the same, at least not for very long. We must use the tools that have been given to us to make meaningful changes and grow our spiritual character. The apostle Paul, I think, put it in some wonderful context in Romans 12, you can turn back there. Romans 12. The apostle Paul often has that ability to take complex ideas and kind of distill them down into the roots and I think he does here. Romans 12, we're going to start in verse 1.

Romans 12:1, it says, “I beseech you,” or I urge you, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world.” Do not be in lockstep with this world. Do not merge yourself in this world. Don't stay stagnant. “But be transformed be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Well, why? “That you may prove what is good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

Now, the word that is translated transformed here, it's only used in three other passages in the Bible, this particular word. And two of them are in the transfiguration chapter when Christ gives them a little bit of a visual of what that would be to transform into glory. So I think it really impresses upon what that word means here in this context in transforming the renewing of our mind. And in the next few chapters, it goes on and kind of fills in the details, serving with spiritual gifts, behaving like a Christian, submitting to a government authority, loving your neighbors, etc. There are lots of areas in our lives to focus on but at the end of the day, we need changes and we need transformations.

Well, in conclusion, one last scripture Philippians 3. I think this is a great summary from the Apostle Paul. And he himself, I don't think we've forgotten this, but he went through a tremendous amount of change in his life, from a murderer persecuting God's Church to leading the way as one of his biggest supporters. Philippians 3, we will start in verse 1 here.

Philippians 3:1 Says, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.” He then goes on to give a recap of his backstory, you know that he was an Israelite, a Pharisee, full of zeal, etc.

Philippians 3:7-14 “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” Well, why? Why were those previous things counted as a loss? It's because of the changes that were to come after. Verse 8, “Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish. That I may gain Christ and be found by Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God, by faith. That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means, I may obtain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained.” Nope. “Nor am I already perfected.” Not a chance. “But I press on, that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.”

That wonderful transformation that is to come. Dropping down to verse 20.

Philippians 3:7 “For our citizenship is in heaven, for which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

Well, brethren, let us focus on the changes that we continually need to press upon in our own lives. It's easy to stagnate, it's easy to just tread water without swimming in any real direction. It's easy to get overtaken by events without moving our Christian lives forward. But change, we must, and change we can. If we are diligent to work on those positive character changes, then God is offering us a transformation. And in the end, after this transformation, we will be entirely different than where we started. And that's kind of the whole point. We need changes. We need transformations. God willing, we can work on those positive changes in our lives and eagerly await the promised transformations to come.