Romans 12:1-2
Worship is the way
God’s will is knowable, and Romans 12:1-2 shows how we discern it: through worship. Rooted in God’s mercy, we offer our whole lives as living sacrifices and are transformed by the renewing of our minds. God’s will is found less in a sudden download and more in a surrendered life, and most of us struggle less with hearing God than with surrendering to him.
Message notes
In the middle of the church’s 21 days of prayer and fasting, Pastor Pat leads the room in reading Romans 12:1-2 and asks a new-year question: how do you know God’s will? Some people pick a word for the year, others fill out planners. Pat says Christians make an audacious claim, that the will of the infinite God is knowable, and the big idea is that God’s will is discerned through worship. Worship means Jesus at the center of every part of life. “If Jesus isn’t the point, something else is.”
He lays out what the passage says about God’s will. It is knowable and good. It is sovereign, so a grumpy fasting morning or yelling at someone on H-1 doesn’t throw it off. And it is participatory: we already know to love God, do justice, forgive, be generous and love difficult people, and we can filter thousands of other decisions through whether they look like Jesus.
First, God’s will is rooted in his mercy. Paul writes eleven chapters on what God has done before he says “therefore.” The bad news is that without God we are lost, and the good news is Romans 5:8: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Before God shows us where to go, he shows us who he is.
Second, God’s will is revealed through a surrendered life. Paul talks about bodies, not just beliefs, because beliefs have to live somewhere. A living sacrifice climbs onto the altar every day. Pat pictures Jesus refusing to stay in the living room, knocking on the guest room, the basement and the attic, wanting all of it.
Third, God’s will is discerned through a renewed heart and mind. A soft heart leads to new thoughts, beliefs, behavior and habits. Pat believes in prophetic words and gifts of the Spirit, but he warns against wanting God to download answers without the process. “Divination doesn’t lead to transformation. Only discernment does.”
He gives examples from his own life: moving to LA to finish Bible college, deciding with his wife to start a family sooner than planned, and choosing Fuller Seminary after a friend accidentally called him three times while he was looking at the website. At Fuller he met the pastor who invited him to Hawaii.
He closes with a challenge: identify what isn’t on the altar, practice daily surrender, use the fast to remove distractions and pray Scripture out loud.
From the message
If Jesus isn’t the point, something else is. And if he isn’t everything, then he’s nothing.
Before God shows us what to do or where to go, he usually shows us who he is.
Divination doesn’t lead to transformation. Only discernment does.
Many of us don’t struggle with hearing God. We struggle with surrendering to him.
Life Group discussion guide
Worship is the way, Romans 12:1-2. January 11, 2026.
Start here
Are you a “word for the year” person, a planner person or neither? How do you usually make big decisions?
Read Romans 12:1-2
Open your Bibles and read it out loud together before you start.
What does it say?
In Romans 12:1, what does Paul urge us to offer, and on what basis does he urge it?
According to verse 2, what are we not to do, what are we to do instead, and what will we then be able to test and approve?
What three words does verse 2 use to describe God’s will?
What does it mean?
Pastor Pat pointed out that Romans 12 begins with “therefore” after eleven chapters about God’s mercy. Why does knowing God’s will start with his mercy and not with our effort?
Old Testament sacrifices were killed on the altar. What is different about a living sacrifice, and why does Paul call it worship?
Ephesians 4:18 links a darkened understanding to hardened hearts. How might the condition of our hearts affect how clearly we think and decide?
What do we do with it?
If someone audited your time and energy this week, what would it say about where God ranks, at work, at home and with your money?
Pastor Pat filtered decisions with questions like: Does it look like Jesus? Is it selfish or selfless? Is it leading me toward forgiveness? Which decision in front of you needs that filter right now?
What is one thing you are keeping off the altar, whether your job, your control, your money or your plans? What would surrendering it look like this week?
Pray
Thank God for his mercy that came first. Name the one thing you have kept off the altar, offer it to him, and ask him to renew your mind so you can recognize his good, pleasing and perfect will.
New Hope Hawaii Kai. Watch the message and read the notes at newhopehk.org/sermons/worship-is-the-way/