http://www.faith-community-church.org/

Faith Community Church, 1267 Road 18, Ralston, WY (2026)

06/16/2026

https://youtu.be/xRVA-EepWV8
Have you ever been asked whether you'd want your most difficult person to be your neighbor in heaven? Because God freely honored and served us through Jesus — long before we deserved it — we should turn around and do the same for every person He puts in our path.

Pastor Lance's sermon begins at 17:33 min into the video. The music “10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)", "Gratitude", "Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest)", and “May The Words Of My Mouth” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Pastor Lance Green stepped in to continue the "One Anothers" series this week, anchoring his message in Romans 12:9–21. His focus was honoring and serving one another — and he opened with a question that set the tone for everything that followed: why are all 52 "One Anothers" found only in the New Testament?

Why the ”One Anothers” Belong to the Church - The Old Testament addressed a single family — Israel — a people with a shared history, culture, and law. The New Testament is different. Those drawn into the church come from every nation, background, and language, with no common foundation except Jesus. The “One Anothers”, Lance explained, are how this unlikely community learns to live and love together. They are "the badge that we wear as the church, the billboard, the sign of our life that points to, 'I'm a follower of Jesus, and you know that by how I love those around me.'"

Honor: Given, Not Earned - Lance defined honor using the Greek word timē — to regard someone with high esteem, to value them above yourself. Honor is freely given, not earned. He separated it from respect: you may not respect a politician's decisions, but you are still called to honor them — even as Paul wrote this very command while believers were being executed by the Roman government. And service, he said, is how honor is shown. Using a Christmas tree image: love is the trunk, the “One Anothers” are the branches, and every act of service — holding a door, greeting a visitor, making space — is an ornament hung on those branches.

Honor God First - Before talking about honoring others, Lance paused to examine whether our hearts are first honoring God. Are we giving Him our best throughout the whole week, or only when it fits the schedule? "Do I see that I am invited into the throne room of the eternal God? Do I value that time?" He called the room to return to their first love before trying to love anyone else well.

Honoring in the Church, at Home, and Beyond - In the church, Lance challenged everyone to extend "the presidential treatment" — the same honor you'd show the president — to every single person who walks through the doors, because "you are co-heirs with Jesus." He then turned the focus toward home, citing 1 Peter 3:7 and Ephesians 5:25 for husbands, and Exodus 20:12 for children. Even when it's hard: "Don't wait to show honor when you deem them worthy. Show them honor because Christ died for them too."

He also shared the story of Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, who recounted years later being deeply moved when a single Christian at one of his shows handed him a Gideon Bible. Of all the believers at that show, only one honored him enough to act. "Who are the people in your life that you just need to be the word of the Gospel to?"

Receive and Give Impartially - Lance wrapped with two challenges. On receiving honor: don't refuse help out of false humility — "Don't rob other people of the blessing of wanting to honor you." On giving: James 2:1–7 warns sharply against showing partiality to the well-dressed while ignoring the poor. Everyone who walks through those doors — president or homeless man — deserves the same love.

He closed with the story of a difficult patient at Canyon Hand Therapy in Cody, whose demanding behavior exhausted the whole staff — until the Holy Spirit quietly asked, "Would you like this man to be your neighbor in heaven?" The question changed everything. Lance got out a ruler, set the table to the exact right height, and built a full custom playlist called Killing with Kindness. "We don't honor and serve and love for grace — we honor and serve from grace."

Have you ever been asked whether you'd want your most difficult per...

06/08/2026

https://youtu.be/O5mVwnPLaTI
What do you actually do when someone wrongs you — especially someone in your own church family?

In a world where grudges feel justified and silence feels safer —real Christian community is built not on avoiding conflict, but on the courageous, humble choice to speak truth and forgive freely, just as we have been forgiven.

Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 16:56 min into the video. The music “Praise Him Praise Him", " Let Forgiveness Flow", " His Mercy Is More", “Behold Our God”, and “At The Cross” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Pastor Dave continued the "One Anothers" series this week, drawing from Colossians 3:9, Ephesians 4:25, and Matthew 18:15–17. The message focused on two tightly linked One Anothers: speak truthfully to one another, and forgive one another. At the heart of both was a practical challenge every believer faces: when someone wrongs you, what does a follower of Jesus actually do?

Two Kinds of Offenses - Pastor Dave opened with a moment of honest self-assessment: "I said to Pastor Lance this morning — I'm an opportunity for people to practice long suffering." And he asked, isn't that true of all of us? He drew a clear distinction between two categories of offense. Minor offenses — small irritants, quirks, and personality clashes — are those we need to absorb, release, and extend grace toward. He illustrated it warmly with the example of the last peanut butter cookie at the fellowship table, then added with a grin: "Now, if you steal the last peanut butter cookie every single time — now we'll have a conversation. That's a pattern." Serious offenses are different — those wrongful, harmful, deliberately sinful actions toward one another. The Scripture doesn't say to just forbear those things. It says address them.

Speak Truth - The first step in addressing a serious offense, Pastor Dave said, is speaking truth — beginning with yourself. "Be honest with yourself about why you're upset. If I can just stop for a moment and say, why is this bothering me? Then I can address it a lot easier." Then speak truth to the other person: honestly and directly, without misleading, without going around them, and without rehearsing the grievance to five others first.

The Matthew 18 Pattern - Jesus gives a clear blueprint in Matthew 18:15–17: go to the person privately first; if they won't hear you, bring one or two witnesses; if still unresolved, involve church leadership. Pastor Dave was direct: "If you're not willing to go and talk to them about it, then you need to be able to let it go." He also noted that many people don't even realize how much they've hurt someone — they're simply unaware. Keeping things private protects both parties and gives the relationship its best chance.

Forgive as Christ Forgave - The closing section was the most personal. Pastor Dave shared the story of a man who erupted at him years ago at a men's breakfast, and for years afterward — whether in a grocery store or a parking lot — responded to every peace offering with profanity and what Pastor Dave called "the California howdy," a one-finger wave. Yet Pastor Dave kept forgiving in his heart and kept extending the hand of peace. Eventually, outside a pawn shop in Powell, something had softened. "This man is not a hugger. Not a hugger at all." Yet there on the sidewalk, they embraced and both shed tears. Reconciled — not best friends, but no longer at odds.

The point was unmistakable: forgiveness must come before reconciliation is even possible. "Forgiveness is a poison that I drink, hoping somebody else is going to die. It never works that way." Forgiveness means freely canceling the debt, just as Christ forgave us. "He doesn't bring it back up. It's in the sea of forgiveness without bottom or shore."

Pastor Dave closed with a short congregational prayer, inviting everyone to ask God for the strength to forgive others as they themselves had been forgiven — freely, fully, and forever.

What do you actually do when someone wrongs you — especially someon...

05/31/2026

https://youtu.be/ev022L_nSMk
What does it really look like to live humbly with the people around you — especially when they drive you a little crazy?

Pastor Dave Seratt's sermon begins at 19:36 min into the video. The music “To God Be The Glory", " Softly and Tenderly", " In the Garden", “I Saw The Light”, “Victory In Jesus”, “I'll Fly away”, and “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Pastor Dave opened this fifth-Sunday Gospel message from Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3, and 1 Peter 5, weaving together a theme that is simple to state but genuinely hard to live: if we are ever going to practice all the "one anothers" of Scripture, we have to deal with our pride first. This message is the fourth in an ongoing series on the one-anothers of the New Testament — roughly fifty commands that shape how believers relate to each other — and it zeroes in on humility and patience as the twin foundations everything else is built on.

1. Pride: The Root We Don't Like to See - Pastor Dave spent the first part of the message doing something most of us resist — holding a mirror up to pride. He walked through the biblical vocabulary: vainglory, puffed up, arrogant, self-satisfied, superior. Then he traced it all the way back to Lucifer's fall in Isaiah 14, where every declaration begins with "I will." As Pastor Dave put it plainly, "We're most like our adversary when we are prideful."

What landed hardest was his observation about impatience. "When I'm impatient with others, it's because their actions are interrupting my plan — they're taking my time." He said the same is true of unforgiveness: every statement that drives it — "I didn't deserve that," "I want justice," "I'm not letting go of my hurt" — begins with "I." Pride, he argued, is the root of both.

He was refreshingly honest: "I'm preaching to me as much as I'm preaching to you — probably even more to me."

2. Humility: Put It On Intentionally - Drawing from 1 Peter 5:5 and Ephesians 4:1–2, Pastor Dave described humility as two things held together: a modest appraisal of your own importance, and a ready acknowledgment of your dependence on God. He reminded the congregation of Jesus' words — "Without Me, you can do nothing" — and noted how easily we forget them.

"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" (1 Peter 5:5)

The image of clothing was his anchor point. We know what someone wore to church because they put it on deliberately. "When it says to put on humility, be intentional to adopt the attitude of humility. Let it be on display in our lives."

3. Patience: Bear With One Another - From Colossians 3 and Ephesians 4:2, Pastor Dave unpacked "longsuffering" — long-tempered, the ability to endure difficult circumstances or difficult people without becoming angry, agitated, or upset. He was quick to admit he doesn't always pass that test.

He told two stories that had the congregation laughing and nodding at the same time. The first was the Cracker Barrel pork chop incident — arguing with a waitress over the plural "chops" on the menu while wearing a New Life Christian Fellowship hat with a cross on it. His wife Pam's quiet correction: "Don't forget what's on your hat." The second was the chicken story — cooking a whole chicken for a woman in need, only to be told not to put barbecue sauce on it because "the cats won't eat it." He drove away agitated, until he sensed the Spirit say, "I led you to give her a chicken. What she does with it is none of your business."

He closed this section with a quote from a revival speaker he heard years ago that he said he didn't like — but never forgot: "The next time someone rubs you the wrong way, just think of them as God's sandpaper smoothing off one of your rough edges."

Pastor Dave closed with a reminder that forgiveness — the third element on the outline — will be covered next week, and invited the congregation to stand and pray together. The closing prayer was honest and direct:

Heavenly Father, as I walk the path of relationships, I ask for the gift of patience and understanding, helping to listen with an open heart, communicate with kindness, forgive with compassion. May my relationships be built on the foundation of love and respect, and may I always seek to understand the perspective of others. Thank you for the blessings of connection and the opportunity to grow through love. In Jesus' name, Amen. (Strength in prayers.com)

What does it really look like to live humbly with the people around...

05/24/2026

https://youtu.be/Xek6edGfzck
Do you have someone in your life who speaks truth into you — and someone you're doing the same for?

Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 19:12 min into the video. The music “Jesus Messiah", "His Mercy Is More", "Holy, Holy, Holy!", and “Goodness of God” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Pastor Dave continued his series on the ‘One Anothers’ of Scripture this week, drawing from Colossians 3:12–17 and 1 Thessalonians 5:11. The message was a warm but direct challenge: followers of Jesus are not meant to do life alone. We are called to community — and that means deliberately teaching, admonishing, and encouraging the people around us.

1. Start with the Character of Christ - Before anyone can teach or correct someone else, Pastor Dave said, we need to check our own heart first. He pointed to Colossians 3:12–14, which calls believers to put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering. That phrase "put on," he explained, is intentional — it means to be as deliberate about developing those character qualities as you are when you get dressed in the morning. He had us chuckling when he added, "Some of you men, I know, stood at the closet thinking, 'I don't have anything to wear.'"

He got personal by recalling his mother's well-meaning but sometimes sharp tongue: "You know, Mama, the problem is I don't feel much love. I'm not denying you're saying the truth. I just don't feel much love in that." He's met plenty of people with deep theological knowledge who don't have much care for people, and he was direct: "You can be really right about your theology and still be really wrong in your activity with others."

2. Let the Word Dwell in You Richly - The foundation for all of it, Pastor Dave said, is Colossians 3:16 — "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." That means letting the message of Christ fully take up residence in your thinking, emotions, and daily choices. When the Word is genuinely living in you, it will overflow naturally into the lives of others.

He encouraged everyone to watch for what he calls "nuggets" — those light-bulb moments when a truth suddenly clicks during a sermon or personal reading. "Have you ever thought that nugget quite possibly was given to you so that you can share it with someone else?" Sharing that moment over coffee with a coworker, he said, is teaching one another in its simplest form — no pulpit required.

3. Encourage, Comfort, and Build Up - Moving to 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Pastor Dave unpacked the call to encourage one another. The Greek root behind "encouragement," he noted, is the same word as Paraclete — the name for the Holy Spirit, the Comforter who comes alongside. "When you and I encourage one another, we are being the hands and feet of Jesus literally." He walked through a list of powerful phrases — "I believe in you," "You're making a difference," "I see Jesus in you" — and followed with practical actions: show up, listen, pray with someone in the moment, and give the one thing no one can manufacture more of. "When you give somebody time," he said quietly, "you're giving them the one precious commodity you can't replace."

He shares names of people who encouraged him at key moments in his life and proves that a few well-chosen words can change someone's trajectory forever.

Pastor Dave ended by asking everyone to reflect on five personal questions from the bulletin outline (see YouTube description) and to find someone this week to teach, encourage, and build up.

Do you have someone in your life who speaks truth into you — and someone you're doing the same for?Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 19:12 min into the video. T...

05/17/2026

https://youtu.be/nSOopPfhyHA
What if your job, your hobby, or your motorcycle is actually your ministry?

Pastor Ron's sermon begins at 30:04 min into the video. The music “My Jesus", " Great Are You Lord", " Great Is Thy Faithfulness", “A Thousand Hallelujahs”, “Thank You Jesus For The Blood”, and “White As Snow” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Pastor Ron Vining took us through Colossians 1:28-29 this week in what turned out to be a divine appointment. Called at 5:15 that morning to fill in for Pastor Dave, he opened his file cabinet, prayed for direction, and felt impressed to share a message titled "Fulfilling My Life's Purpose." The timing was perfect—the first worship song was "Let Me Tell You About My Jesus," which became the heart of his message.

My Mission: Tell Others About Jesus - Pastor Ron made it clear from the start: as followers of Jesus, our most important mission is to tell others about Him. He referenced Acts 20:24, which says, "But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others the good news about the wonderful grace of God." Before we became believers, our life's mission was totally different, but now everything has changed. As Pastor Ron put it, "My mission in life is to share Jesus with as many people as I can, and take as many people to heaven with me that I can."

My Message: Good News - The message we carry is great news—Jesus died on the cross, rose from the dead, took our sin upon Himself, and offers eternal life to all who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart. Pastor Ron reminded us, "The good news is you do not have to spend all eternity in hell separated from God."

My Motive: Love - Pastor Ron emphasized that our motive must be genuine love—love for God and love for people. He quoted Steve Camp's song: "Don't tell them Jesus loves them till you're ready to love them too." He explained, "It's got to be a motive of love, love for God and love for people. And when you have those two things, people recognize it and they'll listen."

My Method: Show It and Share It - The method is simple but requires action: live it out and talk about it. Pastor Ron shared his personal motto, which his wife would confirm: "If it's not illegal, immoral, or unethical, he'll try it in order to win people to Jesus." He illustrated this with powerful stories—buying a boat that led to 26 kids coming to Christ in two years, lifting weights at 5:00 a.m. for six months with an unbeliever named Steve who eventually gave his heart to Christ, and riding a Harley to reach people at Sturgis by shining boots and offering prayer.

He referenced The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus, explaining how Christians have become "domesticated" when we should be bold and creative in reaching the lost. One of his most moving examples was about a tattoo artist he witnessed to for two years while getting a resurrection-themed sleeve. The artist eventually showed up at church and gave his life to Jesus.

Pastor Ron closed with two letters—one from a man whose life was eternally changed through Pastor Ron's ministry, and another to his wife from a hospital client thanking her for showing Christ's love. His final challenge was simple: "Just showing it by our love and then sharing it with our mouth. And our mission and our purpose in life, if you're a follower of Jesus, is tell them about your Jesus."

What if your job, your hobby, or your motorcycle is actually your ministry?Pastor Ron's sermon begins at 30:04 min into the video. The music “My Jesus", " Gr...

05/11/2026

https://youtu.be/jCux79F47ys
Discover how love, community, and the call to serve one another can transform your faith and redefine what it truly means to be a disciple.

Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 18:49 min into the video. The music “I will worship (I will worship)", "Good Good Father", "The Love Of Christ", “My Jesus I Love Thee”, “Word Of God Speak”, and “They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Pastor Dave opened this Mother's Day message from John 15:12–17 with a simple but weighty theme: love one another is not a suggestion — it's a commandment, and it's the foundation on which every other "one another" in Scripture is built. This message launched a new series exploring the fifty-plus "one anothers" found throughout the New Testament.

No Lone Rangers - Pastor Dave set the stage by reminding the congregation that there are no Lone Ranger Christians. We're called to community — committed to one another like family and connected to one another like a body. He drew a laugh when he noted that you can't choose your family, then added with a grin, "If you don't have anybody in your family you'd rather not have, you might be the one everybody else is pointing at." He reflected warmly on thirty-eight years of pastoral ministry and said plainly, "The faith community is unique and special because of the people that God has here."

Love Is a Commandment — Not Optional - Working through four passages, Pastor Dave made the case that loving one another is repeated at least fifteen times in the New Testament — and he had a theory about why. "If it came natural to us to love one another, it wouldn't even have to be mentioned. I believe it's mentioned fifteen times because it doesn't come natural to us." From John 15, he noted that Jesus uses the word "command" four times in just a few verses. He offered a softer way to hear it: "It's God's authoritative prescription for living. If you want to please God, here's your prescription — love others."

How Jesus Loved — and How We Should - The standard Jesus sets in John 15 isn't "love others like they love you" or even "love others as yourself." It's higher: love others as Jesus loved you — sacrificially, unconditionally, and in action. Pastor Dave brought it down to earth: "Husbands, it's an act of love when you take the trash out for your wife. Just saying." Laying down your life, he explained, is most often figurative — giving your time, your energy, your inconvenience for someone else.

Sincere, Fervent, and Pure - From 1 Peter 1:22, Pastor Dave unpacked two qualities of love: sincerity and fervency. "Don't be a phony," he said simply. "Be genuine." Fervency, he explained, is like a runner stretching for the finish line — full effort, nothing held back. He shared that a friend of his always signs off with "I love you deeply," and said that phrase has stuck with him. "That's the kind of love we're called to." For those who struggle to love a difficult person, he offered a practical prayer: "Lord, help me to love them like You do."

Love Fulfills the Law — No Loopholes - Closing with Romans 13:8–10, Pastor Dave pointed out that all the commandments — don't steal, don't lie, don't commit adultery — are summed up in one: love your neighbor. The obligation to love, he said, is a debt that never gets paid off. "We're never going to love so much that God says, 'Okay, you've loved enough.'" He closed with a challenge: we all have that one person who's hard to love. A well-known speaker's wife recently admitted that God had been showing her she might be that person to someone else. "Have you ever thought that you might be that person to somebody? Therefore it says to all of us — love one another. There are no loopholes."

Pastor Dave closed with four practical applications: serve the needs of others, speak words of encouragement, take a genuine interest in people's well-being, and bear with one another patiently. The congregation then sang "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love" together before receiving a closing blessing from 1 Thessalonians 3:11–13.

Discover how love, community, and the call to serve one another can transform your faith and redefine what it truly means to be a disciple.{music copyright i...

05/03/2026

https://youtu.be/_NgPDzpLvFw
What does it actually mean to worship God with your whole life — not just on Sunday?

Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 24:52 min into the video. The music “Every Praise", "Here I Am To Worship", "Jesus Name Above All Names", “We Bow Down”, “The Power Of Your Love”, “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”, and “Amazing Grace” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Wrapping up a four-week series on worship, Pastor Dave returned to Romans 12:1–2 — this time landing on verse 2 — to unpack what it really means to live a life fully surrendered to God. The heartbeat of the message: genuine worship isn't just what happens on Sunday morning; it's a daily transformation from the inside out, as God reshapes who we are at our core.

1. Don't Be Conformed — The World Is Pressing In: Pastor Dave opened by reminding us that the word "conformed" in Romans 12:2 is actually the root of our word "schematic" — a detailed blueprint. To be conformed to this world means to be pressed into its mold, shaped by its patterns. And he didn't sugarcoat it: "Our culture is not getting more godly — it's getting less godly." Money, relationships, marriage, sexuality, government, radio, television, the internet — Pastor Dave walked through each one, showing how sin has warped what God intended to be good. The pressure to think and live like the unredeemed world around us is constant, and it creeps in quietly if we're not paying attention.

2. Be Transformed — From the Inside Out: The flip side of "don't be conformed" is "be transformed" — and Pastor Dave made sure we understood the difference between changing our conduct and changing our character. He put it plainly: "Too often, when people get around church, they get religious. They change their conduct without changing their character, and that's legalism." The word for "transformed" is the same Greek root as "transfigured" — the moment Jesus' glory shone on the mountaintop — and it's the same word behind "metamorphosis." A caterpillar to a butterfly. Complete change. He grinned and added, "Some of us are still in the worm stage — and that's okay. If spiritual life is there, He'll get you there."

3. Renewing the Mind — Three Practical Handles: Pastor Dave tied transformation directly to repentance — which at its core simply means changing your mind. He described three things Scripture shows us that renew the mind: God's Word, prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He shared a story about a man who couldn't recall a single sermon after 25 years of church — but whose wife had been cooking for him just as long. As Pastor Dave put it, "He said, 'I can't remember one meal completely — but every one of those meals has sustained me, nourished me, and fed me.'" That's how God's Word works in us — not always in one dramatic moment, but little by little, meal by meal.

4. Proving the Will of God: The goal of a renewed mind, the passage says, is to "prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Pastor Dave reassured us that God's will isn't a mystery to be paralyzed over. Scripture states it clearly in at least three places: that people come to faith in Christ (2 Pet. 3:9), that we give thanks in all things (1 Thess. 5:18), and that we live in sexual purity (1 Thess. 4:3). He defined sexual impurity simply and directly: "Any sexual activity outside of a covenanted marriage relationship. Period." He noticed a few heads nodding and moved on with a smile.

Pastor Dave closed by inviting the congregation to stand and pray together from the bottom of the bulletin outline.

"Father, I offer myself holy to You. Take my thoughts, actions, and desires, and use them to fulfill Your purpose. In Jesus' name we pray, amen."

It was a fitting close to a series that kept returning to the same truth: every act of obedience is a declaration that God is worthy of it all. That's worship — not just a Sunday moment, but a surrendered life.

We are Here to Worship God! - Part 4 - 05/03/2026

04/26/2026

https://youtu.be/fYkhbRFZ8QQ
Thanksgiving is good, Thanks-living is better! That is, "Worship is a Lifestyle."

Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 18:20 min into the video. The music “Crown Him With Many Crowns ", "I will worship (I will worship)", "Be Unto Your Name", “What a Beautiful Name”, and “Refiner's Fire” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Romans 12:1–2 anchors this message, and the theme is straightforward: worship is not something we do for an hour on Sunday morning — it is a God-honoring life, lived daily in relationship with Him. Pastor Dave opened the third week of a post-Easter series asking the congregation to think carefully about why we gather and what worship actually means.

1. In View of His Mercy - Pastor Dave walked through several passages from Romans that Paul had already laid before his readers before arriving at chapter 12: justification and peace (Romans 5:1), ongoing safety in salvation (Romans 5:10), being made alive to God (Romans 6), no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1), and nothing separating us from God's love (Romans 8:38–39). The point was cumulative — before Paul says do this, he reminds us of everything God has already done. As Pastor Dave put it, "People who don't worship God are people who don't acknowledge that God has been good to them." Awareness of God's mercy is what fuels a worshipful life.

2. Present Yourself — An Act of the Will - The language of Romans 12:1 is deliberately sacrificial, but with a twist. In the Old Testament, the lamb had no say in the matter. Pastor Dave noted with a grin, "I guarantee you there were no lambs lined up saying, 'Pick me today.'" But Paul calls us to something different — a willing, ongoing surrender. "It's not forced, it's not coerced, it's not manipulated. It's something you make a conscious choice to do." This is not a one-time event but a continual, daily dedication of our whole selves to God.

3. Holy Means Set Apart, Not Rule-Keeping - Pastor Dave was careful to reframe the word holy. It is not a checklist of dos and don'ts — it is a life set apart for God's purposes. He used the illustration of a room in a home so nicely furnished that guests weren't even allowed to step on the carpet. "That's what the word holy means. It means set apart to some service." He applied the same idea to the church building itself: it's not a barn, not a garage, not a bar — it's dedicated to a specific purpose. Our lives, he said, are meant to be dedicated the same way.

4. Whatever You Do — All of It - Weaving together Colossians 3:23–24, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17, Matthew 5:16, and 1 Corinthians 6:20, Pastor Dave built a case that worship covers every corner of life — speech, work, eating, relationships, sexuality, money. He closed this section with a quote he'd found: "The Lord has many fine farms from which He receives little rent. Thanksgiving is good, but thanks-living is better."

Conclusion - Pastor Dave closed with a quiet moment of personal prayer and dedication, inviting the congregation to use the printed prayer on their outline as a surrender of their will to God. The challenge was simple and weighty: in view of everything God has done for you, the least — and the most logical — response is to offer your whole life back to Him. That, he said, is worship.

We are Here to Worship God! - Part 3 - 04/26/2026

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