Be Transformed by Renewed Thinking, Part 2
January 4, 2026
SLIDE 1 – TITLE SLIDE
One of things that my wife and daughters love to do at home is to bake
sourdough bread.
A first crucial part of making sourdough bread is making the starter.
The ingredients, or the input, are flour, salt and water.
Those ingredients are then mixed together into a rough dough, which is allowed
to sit and ferment.
During that process in which the molecules are interacting with each other,
including microbes feeding on the starches in the flour-
A series of repeated stretch and folds brings about continued transformation and
strengthening in the dough as it gets worked and continues to ferment.
Eventually, the dough is ready to be shaped and baked, often times with slits cut
in the dough for the bread to rise and expand and bake properly as its in the
oven.
The output of these ingredients that have been added, mixed, tended to, folded,
shaped becomes a delight to about every sense that we have.
The bread that is about to emerge out of the oven begins to fill the house with a
smell that can only be described as delightful.
It comes out of the oven with a beautiful, golden crust, and a warm, fluffy inside
that melts in your mouth.
I highly recommend learning to make it!
It even has what look like decorative leaves embossed in it from the slits that are
put into it before baking.
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The point is this – the ingredients started out in one form – they entered a
process by which the baker actively intervened with proper patience, proper
intervention of stretching and folding the dough, baking it at the right temperature
for the right amount of time.
And out comes a beautiful product that brings fulfillment, nourishment, and
enjoyment to those that eat it.
And we’re talking again today about the renewal of our minds, that leads us to
becoming living sacrifices, which is our spiritual worship.
And just like the wonderful output of the bread required an active process by the
baker, so the input that goes into our minds needs an active, intentional process
to produce a holy and edifying output in our actions and words.
Not only do we need to, as much as possible, select the right ingredients to go
into our minds, but we also need a tailored process to form that input into an
appropriate course of action.
SLIDE 2 – ROMANS 12:1-2
We’re looking again at Romans 12:1-2, which reads:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.
Last week, we looked at foundational truths that are to be the power and
motivation behind the way we think:
SLIDE 3 – 3-Point review of last week
1. The Authority of Christ as Lord Over Our Minds
2. Allegiance to Christ as Commanding King in the Mind’s Battlefield
3. Affection for Christ as Our Savior and Friend
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Everything about the way that we think about everything is to be about Jesus and
his authority and Lordship in our lives.
We talked about stopping to think about what we think about. This is called
reflection, or meditation – and it’s an important practice for the Christian.
During the course of life as we have jobs, families, sports, drama, health issues,
budgets - we can fall into patterns in which we come to the end of each day and
simply say, “Whew, I made it through another one”.
And no doubt, there are times when we’ll feel that way. We simply are holding on
for dear life as we keep rolling to and through the next event, meeting, grocery
trip, car repair, you name it.
And just like the sourdough that we spoke of earlier, if we don’t stop and take
intentional action in our minds to stop and think about what we think about – life
will continue to no doubt feel like a roller coaster.
You’ll recall from last week that Paul’s command to the Romans was that they
become transformed by the renewal of their mind-
The word transformed coming from the Greek word “metamorphoo”, which we
get metamorphosis from.
It’s the picture of a crawling caterpillar that only consumes, becoming a beautiful
work of out with wings, that pollenates plants all around it.
That’s the idea Paul seems to be after in this passage.
We undergo this transformation, Paul says, by the renewal of the mind
So this morning we’re going to look at three phases in the renewal of our minds:
1. Input: What input (or ingredients) do we fill our minds with?
2. Processing: How do we handle or work the input that we’ve received?
What do we do with it? And why? What’s the motivation behind the way we
process our thoughts?
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3. Output: What is the result we are after in regards to our thoughts? Or more
importantly, what is the result that GOD is after as a result of our thoughts?
SLIDE 4 – Guard Input Entering the Mind
So our first point today is that we need to guard the input entering our minds.
We need to be picky about what enters our minds.
A fundamental concept in regards to the input that goes into our minds is the
truth that whenever we are being communicated to, we are being led.
When your boss is telling you about work that needs done, you are being led.
When a politician tells you all of your dreams will come true if you elect him, you
are being led.
When a car salesman tells you that you will look great in that sports car, you are
being led.
When a podcaster says that you should take up a certain cause, you’re being
led.
Now it’s understood, that we can’t control all of the input that we receive on a
daily basis.
At the workplace, we don’t full have control over what is said – either to us or to
those around us.
When you’re in line at Kroger or at a ballgame, you can’t totally control what is
said or done around you.
At the same time, we do have many circumstances in which we CAN select the
input that goes into our minds.
We spoke last week of how for the Christian, we fully belong to Christ. And that
includes the the way we handle and process our thoughts.
Our minds are His doman as His redeemed children.
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Paul even goes so far to say that we now have the mind of the Christ in 1
Corinthians.
And what we put into our minds goes a long way in the process of renewing
them.
You may have heard the phrase “garbage in, garbage out”.
This is probably used in many industries, and I remember it being used when I
was in the printing industry.
At Donnelleys, there used to be a scanning department, where each page of a
copybook would be scanned in to create digital files, if we for some reason did
not have or couldn’t get ahold of the digital files to print from.
And that point in time, the scanning department used the phrase “garbage in,
garbage out”, because the final reprinting of those copybooks would only be as
good as the scans that were received.
This can certainly be true of us. The output of our lives will be greatly affected by
what we choose to put into our minds.
The music we listen to, the entertainment we watch, the books we read, the news
we follow, the social media feeds that flow in front of us, even the friends that we
keep-
These are all example of areas of our lives in which we have complete control
over what we put into our minds.
Remember – whatever is being communicated to us is leading us.
We also live in a state of distraction, ALL the time. We’ve got to stop and think
about what we think about.
We live in a “cliff notes” society in our day and age.
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Do you remember “cliff notes”? These were the best friends of every student from
age 13 all the way up through college.
Especially for literature classes, cliff notes were summaries of longer books that
condensed the story line and main points of the longer books into a book a
fraction of the size.
The intended purpose was the skip the laborious reading, and get to the meat of
the book that would allow you to simply learn enough to get a passing grade on a
test.
You’d get a basic summary, but you wouldn’t fully know the depth of the story.
You’d learn about the characters, but wouldn’t really get to KNOW them.
You might learn that a character went a journey, but you didn’t go on the journey
WITH them through the book.
You’d know that Frodo had to take the ring to Mordor, but you wouldn’t appreciate
the length, the hardship, the decisions that took place on the journey.
We took a shortcut, and didn’t fully grasp the fullness or depth of the story, and
probably didn’t even come close.
And many of us are going through life this way, without stopping to think about
what we think about.
We go to ChatGPT or Grok, and say give me this outline or this summary, or
make a picture of this or that, or whatever the case may be.
You might encourage your boss to forego the hour long meeting and send you an
email with four bullet points.
We want our food microwaved.
We think we know everything going on in world affairs after we read a few 10
word headlines or a few short articles.
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Ballgames have 8 minute video summaries with highlights on YouTube.
So much of life is a rush to simply finish this thing and then get to the next.
We might have a flip calendar with a verse on it for each day, which we read in
15 seconds, and then call our time with the Lord good for the day.
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We have a treasure chest of God’s word all around us – on our nightstands, on
our phones, in our cars-
And many times we go for the cliff notes instead of the full treasure available to
us.
SLIDE 5 – Point 2 – Process Input by the Word of God and Prayer
That brings us to our second point today:
In the Renewal of our Minds, we Process Input by the Word of God and Prayer.
We Process input by the Word of God, and by prayer.
And the Word of God and prayer requires two things of us:
Time.
Focus.
Two things that are hard to come by in a cliff notes world.
Time and focus - both of which are decisions that we make in our minds.
Stopping to think about what we think about.
Now is it bad thing to read a verse on a daily flip calendar? Of course not, that’s a
good thing.
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But God has left us his Word in a format that allows us to go on a journey with
him. Just like the cliff notes we used in Literature class, we’re missing out on
much of the heart of the story-
Not to mention, we’re more prone to false theology, constantly reading Scripture
apart from context.
If we only give God’s word a few quick glances through the week, the mind will
continue to be led by all other factors around it taking up our time and attention.
We learned last week from Paul, as he in several places refers to the battle we
face as Christians as warfare – warfare in which we are to take decisive action.
Warfare that demands that we put on the full armor of God, and prepare
ourselves for battle.
In our microwave culture that is rushing here and there, it’s critical that we as
Christians rediscover the art of meditation.
The art of meditation.
Now if you’re like me, that word makes you nervous because of our cultural
connotation with it.
I’m not talking about a weird sort of new age meditation where you sit on the floor
Indian style with your eyes closed and hum looking up at the sky.
I’m speaking of dwelling on God’s Word in it’s true sense, as we read the writer
doing in Psalm 1:
SLIDE 6 – Psalm 1:1-3
As it’s arranged, the very first words of the Psalms:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the
way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of
the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
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Now why would I want to do that? It’s important to understand why we take the
time to do this. What is the result?
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
The person that meditates on God’s word during his or her waking hours, and
delights in his law is a person that will not be shaken.
That person will withstand the storms because they’re planted by the stream and
has dug deep roots.
And it’s not just so that we can do a time of study and devotion to the Lord and
say, “I’m so glad to have spent this time with the Lord, I feel so much better!”
That may very well happen, but it doesn’t stop there.
The person that loves and digests God word bears fruit, to the blessing of others.
It is not only enjoyed inwardly, but it blesses others by the fruit we bear for others.
The Hebrew word that is used for the word meditate has a robust meaning:
imagine, speak, utter, study, ponder…
In a sense, there is time taken to think, to have an inner dialogue, to imagine the
possibilities of what is being read.
It’s being pondered, it’s being enjoyed, it’s giving an opportunity for God’s word to
deeply challenge a decision you might make.
It’s giving God’s word time to be digest in your soul as you take it in, and to be
nourished with the bread of life and the living water.
Let me ask you, brother and sister, do you take regular time during the week to
allow God’s word to nourish your soul? Do you take time to enjoy the treasure
that comes from it?
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Do you enjoy the journey of listening to the Lord as you read His word?
Do we recognize the power of God’s word – like we learned last week, that it is
living and active, dividing even the deepest parts of our heart and mind.
Or like God described his own word in Jeremiah, that His word is a hammer that
destroys false idols and a fire that burns up impurity.
SLIDE 7 – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says:
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be
complete, equipped for every good work.
Do you see what’s happening in this verse? Paul is telling Timothy that the
Scriptures are able, in a sense, to bring a completion of sorts in a man’s life.
A level of completion that would not otherwise be there.
You might hear folks talk about FOMO (fear of missing out) with social media.
Who cares about social media, you’re not going to miss anything. You’ll be
blessed by the absence of it most likely.
The real FOMO that is legitimate is that of God’s word.
Paul is telling us there’s a sense of completion in us in regards to the battle that
we face as we ingest and meditate on the word.
I heard one prominent pastor a few years ago ask the question to a group of
people, “do you want to be a sharp tool in God’s hand, or a dull one?”
One of the most powerful ways we can interact with God’s word is to talk it over
with the author. Pray his word back to him.
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SLIDE 8 – Psalms passages
David says in Psalm 86:11:
11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth;
He said in Psalm 139:
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
I believe this is a crucial aspects of meditating on God’s word – not only having
an inner dialogue about it, but having a dialogue with him.
Ask the Holy Spirit to clarify specifically what obedience to his commands looks
like in your life.
God, what does it mean for me to love my wife as Christ loved the church? What
does that look like as I communicate with her? When she voices a concern?
God, what does it actually look like for me to forgive this person?
Lord, what should my work look like according to your word?
Also, Praying God’s word to him can renew our hearts by making us thankful.
God, thank you that no matter what is going on in my life, I know your Son gave
his life for me that I would be your child for eternity.
Lord, thank you for securing me in your kingdom.
Lord, thank you for promising to always be with me, and for the presence of your
Holy Spirit to strengthen me.
Lord, thank you for providing for my needs.
Lord, thank you that I can trust you because you are unchanging.
Gratitude plays a crucial role in a renewed mind. Gratitude crowds out a lot of
negative things in our minds – anxiety, bitterness, worry.
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When we come to him and meditate on his word with him in prayer, we become
grateful that he is there with us.
We begin to look at hopeless situations as opportunities for God’s power to shine
through.
Our lives become fueled by love of our Savior and Friend.
And ultimately – that’s what this is all about. It’s not about thinking this or not
thinking that, just for the sake of thinking something right, or not thinking
something wrong.
It’s for the sake and love of our Lord, King, Savior and Friend, who laid his life
down for us.
It’s because his desire for us is that we become like Him – holy and pure. Loving
and faithful.
This is what we’re made for.
It’s so that we learn to love what is good. It’s so that our desires change from
being inward focused, to being outward focused.
It’s because we belong to Him, and we’ve been united to Him.
Peter says this 1 Peter 1:18-19:
18 … you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not
with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of
Christ…
We are literally bought and paid for, ransomed from eternal destruction. Our
minds belong to him.
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And so as the relationship between us and God is built, and we meditate on his
word with Him, stronger and deeper layers of truth begin to act as filters for our
minds.
As we gain insight from God’s word, new layers of filters build up in our minds
that purify and renew our thoughts.
SLIDE 9 – Filter Picture
We talked about this with the youth group a few years ago. We took some water
out of Indian Creek that was quite muddy.
And we have a very crude filter set up with pebbles, sand, charcoal, and cotton
balls inside of a plastic water bottle. The bottle had the end cut off of the wide
end, the the narrow end facing down.
We’d pour the dirty water into the opening that had been cut, and watch the
water slowly make it’s way through all the layers of the filter.
Eventually on the other end the water came out clean and clear.
Now a few of the students wanted to try to drink it, and I said let’s not go that far
with the illustration, I think you get it.
But that is a picture of how input that goes into our minds – hopefully that input
doesn’t need filtered, but if it does-
God’s word is stored up and ready to refine and filter that input for us, so that
what comes out on the other end in the form of our actions and words is pure and
glorifying to God.
So we return to Romans 12:1-2.
What is the end result of the renewed mind? It’s that we display true spiritual
worship as a living sacrifice.
SLIDE 10 – Output True Spiritual Worship
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This is our third point:
After the processing of the word through prayer, we are to output true spiritual
worship as a living sacrifice.
In other words, a mind renewed by prayer and the word will produce obedient
living.
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.”
Obedient living – no matter the cost. Living sacrifice.
As we grow in God’s word, we can filter any input or questions through the truths
of God’s word, that will guide us into obedience.
Let’s look at a few examples:
Ok, so what do I do about internet usage with my kids or grandkids?
Let’s run through some filters in Scripture to help us out…
1. In general, the outcome needs to glorify God (always a good starting
point)
2. I know Proverbs 4:23 says to guard your heart above all else
3. I know Ephesians 6:4 says that for me as a father to bring my children
up in training and instruction of the Lord
a. Is the stream of information going to be beneficial for my child in
that regard – to building them up in the Lord
This has led us to make the decision at home that any web surfing needs to be
met with our approval, specific purpose, in our care and guidance.
Never alone in their bedrooms with it.
A lot of families would look at that and say, “Wow, pretty restrictive – I don’t know
many families that do things that way”.
Ok, understood, but respectfully, what others family do isn’t one of the filters of
God’s word.
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In our judgment, it meets the test of God’s purifying word.
Let’s look at another scenario to run through the filter of God’s word:
What about my own evil thought that has just popped up in my mind?
Maybe it was hateful, bitter, lustful…
Ok so let’s run through God’s purifying filter:
1. Is this thought glorifying God? According to the example, that’s a clear
no.
2. Ok, when we have a thought that is contrary to what God desires, what
did we learn last week that we are to do? Pauls says in 2 Corinthians to
CAPTURE, and make it obedient to Christ.
That means capturing it, calling it evil for what it is.
We make a declaration of war that this thought is not welcome in our
minds.
We replace with the appropriate Scripture for that issue. This would call
for memorizing Scripture.
Jesus says to pray for our enemies, so we replace the hatred for our
brother with prayer for him.
Another example with something that is having and will have a huge impact on
our minds:
What do I do with AI? Do I use it, How do I use it?
So let’s run through God’s filter:
1. Does this glorify God?
2. I’m supposed to think about what is true.
3. So what is AI:
a. It’s a machine, with no conscience, with information loaded into it
by humans
b. It has no soul, it’s not a person
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c. Simply the passing of digital material
4. As we look around and see the explosive growth and power of AI, and
the temptation for it to be a god made in our own image, we can run this
through the very first of the 10 commandments:
a. You shall have no other gods before me
i. It’s a very real temptation, because someone could totally
abandon God and his word because they have all the
information they need on their phone or laptop
(supposedly)
Think of the temptation that a young person would be faced with as they grow up
with Grok, ChatGPT, etc.
Particularly, if they do not have the foundation of God’s word.
They come to these chatbots and begin thinking, “I don’t need anything else”. I’ve
got all the knowledge in the world at my disposal right here.
They begin thinking AI is a god that serves them.
As John Lennox puts it - a god of sorts made in the image of man.
And the one true God says, “You shall have no other gods before me”.
AI is machines, not a person, not a god.
A machine that directs digital information, and created by who?
Fallen humanity.
And beware – as Dr. John Lennox appropriately points out –
The technological development is moving faster than the ethical foundation its
being built on.
And as some experts have pointed out – some AI coding is created to spin
answers to you in a fashion that you will like.
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We live in an age of deception, and the power of image and video creation and
manipulation is getting to the point that soon, even now, we can’t hardly trust
anything we see that we don’t know of personally.
SLIDE 11 – Title Slide
So test everything, just like Scripture tells us to do.
Jesus, when asked by his disciples about the end of the age in Matthew 24, he
started off in very interesting fashion:
“See that no one leads you astray”, some translations “Do not be deceived”.
So as we close here, talking about the renewal of the mind.
We have the great privilege of looking not a god made in our own image for
immortality, for meaning, for truth.
And as Dr. Lennox points out again, we have the privilege of looking to the one
true God, who became a man, specifically to come and die for us, that we would
ultimately have his life.
To be able to have a renewed mind, by the Spirit of God, to honor him with.
