Sermons

Be Amazed: Come and Renew
January 4^th, 2026

Introduction: Resolutions vs. Renewal

It’s the first Sunday of 2026, and I can’t help but notice how quickly New Year’s resolutions tend to fall apart. They often begin with good intentions, but most of them lean almost entirely on willpower. We try to do things differently without addressing the deeper issue of being different. That’s why, as I’ve been praying about the year ahead, I haven’t only been asking, “What should we do in 2026?” I’ve been asking, “Lord, do you have a word for us as a church family?” The word that kept coming back to me is a word from Romans 12: RENEW. Paul says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This is not a willpower project; it’s a transformation project. Resolutions are usually something I do by sheer force of will. But renewal—especially spiritual renewal—is something God does in me and through me, and then in us together. It goes deeper than trying harder. It’s a new way of thinking that produces a new way of living. So as we begin 2026, here’s the question I want to hold before us: Where might God be at work renewing us—renewing you, renewing me, renewing us—so that we are transformed? Romans 12:1–2 gives us a clear picture of what renewal looks like when God’s work takes hold.

1) SURRENDER

Worship isn’t only a one-hour experience on Sunday morning with a particular style of music. Paul calls us to a whole-life understanding of worship: “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice… this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). When Paul says “body,” he isn’t asking me to offer God a “carcass,” as if my physical body is simply replacing Old Testament animal sacrifices. He’s calling me to offer my whole, integrated self—my life as it is actually lived: my thoughts, my habits, my relationships, my work, my worries, my money, my time, my speech, my obedience. The prophets warned Israel that worship can become hollow if it stays external—if something is on the altar, but the worshipper is still holding back. That’s why Paul uses a paradox: a living sacrifice. In other words, don’t bring God an offering instead of you. Bring God you. The Magi show us the difference between merely admiring Jesus and truly worshipping him. Matthew says they “bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures…” (Matthew 2:11). Renewal begins with surrender: true worship is whole-life worship—my whole self, offered to God.

2) NON-CONFORMITY

Paul moves from worship to formation: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.” A “pattern” is a mould. It’s a default script—something I can step into without even realizing it, and if I stay there long enough, it starts shaping me. The world we live in has a formative effect on us. There are patterns that feel normal, but they are often contrary to the values of the kingdom of God. Paul hints at what those patterns produce later in Romans 12: repaying evil for evil, getting trapped in cycles of resentment, being overcome by evil rather than overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:17–21). If I’m not careful, those reflexes become “normal.” And Matthew 2 shows me what this looks like in Herod. He feels threatened by Jesus, so he grasps for control. He cannot worship Jesus because he cannot surrender. His life is driven by fear. That is what the pattern of this world looks like: fear, grasping, control, and self-protection. Renewal requires non-conformity because the world is always pressing me into a mould.

3) RENEWAL

Then Paul gives the heart of it: “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This is not a minor adjustment; it’s a deep change—metamorphosis. And the way Paul phrases it matters: it’s ongoing (“keep on being transformed”), and it’s something God does (“be transformed”—not “transform yourself”). Renewal is not me trying to build a new life on top of the same old instincts and cravings. It is God reshaping my mind over time, and that renewed mind produces a renewed life. Paul attaches a promise to this renewal: “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). Renewal isn’t meant to stay in the clouds. When God renews my mind, I begin to recognize God’s will as something I can actually walk in—one faithful step at a time.

Law and Gospel: Self-Improvement vs. Christian Renewal

Here’s one of the clarifying differences between trying to change my habits and allowing God to transform me:  self-improvement runs on pressure, guilt, and willpower, whereas Christian renewal is a work of the Spirit of God. Paul’s whole appeal begins “in view of God’s mercy” (Romans 12:1). That means everything rests on grace. I’m not transformed by shame, or by proving myself, or by trying harder. I’m transformed as I see what God has done for me in Christ. The law says: “Change, and then you’ll be accepted.” But the gospel says: “You are accepted by mercy—now be changed.” The Magi didn’t go home by another route because they were scolded into better behaviour. They went home changed because they encountered a new King, and everything looked different after that.

Application: Where do I need renewal, and where do we need renewal?

Even though we don’t live in first-century Rome, we still live among powerful moulds that shape us more than we realize. Two of them are especially common:

1. The consumer script: “I am what I have.”
   This age trains me to grasp for more—more comfort, more upgrades, more experiences—as if life is found in what I can accumulate. But a renewed mind learns open hands: simplicity, gratitude, contentment, generosity.
2. The image script: “I am what people think of me.”
   This age trains me to curate myself—manage appearances, avoid weakness, protect reputation, control the narrative. But renewed minds learn to live before God: integrity, humility, truthfulness, and freedom from needing to be impressive.

So here’s where I’m starting this year, by praying one sentence—“Lord, renew my mind today.”  and asking: “What would being a living sacrifice look like for us as a church family—offering our time, attention, and resources for the sake of others?”

• What would non-conformity look like for us—refusing consumer and image scripts in our shared life, especially in how we treat one another when we disagree?
• What would renewal look like for our mission—becoming a community where outsiders are welcomed, drawn by the light of Christ, and helped to take a next step toward Jesus?

Conclusion: A vision for renewal in 2026

That’s what I’m asking for in 2026: not a church that simply tries harder in its own strength, but a church that is being changed by God’s mercy—renewed and transformed, individually and collectively, more and more into the image of Christ.