The Sacrifice of Service

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  August 23, 2026

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Read Romans 12:1 – 8 (NIV)
 
This morning, our New Testament lesson comes from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman church.  Paul originally wrote this letter as a means of introducing himself to the believers in Rome before his arrival.  This letter also included a declaration of Paul’s faith in Jesus and he shared the roadmap to salvation which is still used to this day… perhaps you are more familiar with hearing this plan of salvation referred to as the Romans Road.
 
Now, Paul’s letter to the Romans also provides practical guidelines for how believers ought to live.  These guidelines come complete with reminders to his readers (and to us) that it is not simply enough to know the gospel… in other words, the Good News of Jesus the Christ.  We must allow ourselves to be transformed by the gospel.  We must open ourselves up and let the gospel change us… and that means we must be ready, willing, and available for God to have an impact on every aspect of our lives.
 
And just how do we do that, you might ask…
 
Well, looking at the first verses of our text as they are found in the Message Paraphrase, we find this answer:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.  Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

To put this into context, we can look back at Old Testament times.  It was during that time that animals were presented as sacrificial offerings… for specific purposes… at designated times.  The priests would place these animals on the altar… and they would be killed in strict adherence to the law. 
 
However, as important as these sacrifices were back in those days… the Scriptures tell us that obedience from the heart was even more important than sacrifice (see 1 Samuel 15:22, Psalm 40:6, Amos 5:21 – 24) …which is what Paul highlights in these opening verses of the text.
 
Rather than killing animals… God’s desire is for us to offer ourselves… as living sacrifices… taking our ordinary, everyday lives and living them in such a way that it brings glory and honor to God… which is indeed our reasonable service. 
 
And that is why, as we consider this passage from Romans… I want to suggest that rather than sacrificing animals as they did in Old Testament times… we, as followers of Christ, have been called to make THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.
 
As believers, it is important that we keep our eyes focused, first and foremost, on God and what God is doing in our lives… rather than allowing ourselves to be distracted by the bright, shiny objects that the world dangles in front of us in an attempt to lure us away from following God. 
 
We must be careful and not allow society to entice us away from the path that God has laid out for us… and from doing what God is calling us to do… otherwise, we might miss the mark when it comes to offering THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.
 
We must also be mindful of the fact that the things of this world are not the only cause of us taking our eyes off God.  We can also become so self-absorbed that we lose sight of the fact that our actual identity… our true value… our real worth can only be found in God. 
 
It does not come from anything that we have done or will ever do for ourselves… it comes from God and God alone.
 
So, to be clear… our lives are not a gift that we give to God… on the contrary, our lives are a gift we have received from God.
 
And it is in the book of James that we read, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17)
 
Add to that what verse 3 of the text tells us… again looking at the Message:

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

God loves us so much that He has blessed us with the gift of life.  And that is not something that should ever be taken for granted.  And make no mistake… the gift of liFe that God has given to us is not because we have been so good or because we are so deserving. 
 
The fact of the matter is that God has so graciously blessed us with the gift of life, so that we can in turn use our lives to be a blessing to someone else… by serving God and the people of God.
 
We have been called to dedicate ourselves to THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.
 
And along with the gift of life itself… God has given us other gifts as well to be used in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE for the purpose of building up His church. 
 
Now, according to the commentary found in the Life Application Study Bible, there are several things we must do if we want to use these gifts effectively (LASB, 2005, p. 1902).
 
First, we must acknowledge that all our gifts and abilities come from God… there is nothing that we can do in and of ourselves… we have to stay connected to God.
 
It is back in John 15 (4-5) that we find these words of Jesus:

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Our gifts are the fruit that we bear when we remain connected to the vine.  It is only when we are connected to the Lord that we are able to use our gifts fully in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.
 
Now, the second thing that we must do is understand that not everyone has the same gifts… so, we cannot expect other people to do the exact same things that God has gifted us to do…
 
Which is why we read in Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church that, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them” (1 Corinthians 12:4). 
 
God has given each of us a unique set of skills and talents that we are to use for His glory… which means that we should not expect that others will be able to do what we do… because odds are that they have not been blessed with the same skills and talents that God has blessed us with.
 
And that leads us to the third thing we must do to use our gifts effectively in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE… which is to appreciate who God has created us to be… and to have an attitude of gratitude as we are doing whatever it is that God has gifted us to do.
 
And last, but certainly not least, we must always be prepared to use our gifts to bring glory to God… not to ourselves.  That means we must be willing to use those gifts wholeheartedly… giving it our all… not holding anything back from serving God… doing our very best for the One who deserves nothing less.
 
Without a doubt, the call to live our lives in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE has been issued to each one of us… and it is up to all of us to answer the call to serve for the glory of God.
 
Now, as we look further at our text for the morning, we find Paul’s description of believers being formed to fit together like the parts of the body so we can function together as a whole. 
 
Throughout his letters to the churches, Paul uses the image of the human body as a metaphor for how we… as followers of Christ… are called to operate together under the direction of Christ who is the Head of the church.
 
It is for this reason that the church is frequently referred to as the body of believers (see 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, Colossians 3). 
 
Collectively each one of us has been brought together so that we can become the church… not a building made up of brick and mortar… but brothers and sisters in Christ… bound together in love and unity… working together for God’s glory.
 
And just as the parts of a body come together to function as one… we are called to bring all our gifts together to function as a whole in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.
 
Each of us has been uniquely gifted to serve in a variety of ways.  My gifts are not the same as your gifts and your gifts are not the same as mine. 
 
The key is in recognizing what each of us brings to the table… and then putting it all together as though we are creating a meal that is fit for the King… in other words, ultimately bringing everything together for THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.
 
That means we have to continually remind ourselves why we are using our gifts in the first place… remembering the ultimate reason behind what we are doing with our gifts.
 
Is it simply so we can receive tributes and accolades?  Or are we using our gifts in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE so God will be glorified in all that we say and do?
 
This reminds me of a conversation I had with my godfather many years ago about a scholarship fund that he and his wife had established in their names.  In fact, we had the conversation on more than one occasion.
 
And each time we would have the conversation, my godfather would express his frustration over what he saw as an apparent lack of appreciation from the recipients of their scholarship.  He explained that in the past, he and his wife would receive thank you notes or letters for the scholarships, but it had become a rare occurrence. 
 
As we spoke, I would ask him why they had established the scholarship fund in the first place.  Was it so they could assist students who were in need?  Or was it so they could receive letters and cards of acknowledgement for the gift?
 
The point I was trying to make was that, if it was to assist students in need, he had already succeeded, and that should be enough.  But if it was simply to receive some expression of gratitude (which I knew was not the reason why they gave the scholarships) then perhaps he should stop giving.  And of course, they never stopped giving out the scholarships.
 
And so, as we think about our own reasons for giving and serving, as long as we are doing it to be a blessing to someone else and to glorify God in using the gifts we have been given… that should be reason enough for us to keep doing our part by doing whatever we have been gifted to do.
 
Now, in the closing verses of the text this morning, Paul presents a list of gifts that some have received to use in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE… but it is important to keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list. 
 
And it is also important to note that the gifts that we have been given as individuals are not sufficient for any one of us to do the work of the church alone. 
 
We have been called to we work together in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE for the purpose of building Christ’s church.  And that means we should be thankful for, not envious of, the people whose gifts are different than ours. 
 
For example, I am extremely grateful that Ruth is so truly gifted in playing the piano for the glory of God… because if it were up to me… the melodies would not be so sweet.
 
Now, rather than go through the litany of the gifts that each of you possess… let me just say I am filled to overflowing with thanksgiving for what each of you bring to our Ledgewood family… because without each one of you and the gifts you so willingly share… we would not be the church that we are today.
 
And I am even more grateful for the ways that everyone shares their gifts without hesitation or reservation.  Everyone is willing to pitch in and help whenever and wherever they can.
 
And that reminds me of a story that I came across a while ago.  I have no idea if it actually occurred, but it was on the Internet so it must be true (right?):

During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. their leader was shouting instructions but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, "Sir, I am a corporal!" The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." It was none other than George Washington.  (Today in the Word, March 6, 1991, as retrieved from http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/service.htm)

The reality is that we all have something we can contribute to the success of the whole.  That is why we must never forget, no matter our rank, status, or title (or lack thereof), we all have a role to play in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.
 
So, let us purpose in our hearts to live out our lives in THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE so that one day we will all hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21)
 
And if that is your desire today… I want to invite you to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: O Jesus, I Have Promised #612.

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