Paul in his customary fashion switches in chapter twelve from discussing theological issues to giving practical advice on Christian conduct. The change in emphasis is evident in verse one where the apostle writes: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices.

In the previous chapters of Romans Paul has dealt with God's mercy. (Mercy is not receiving what we deserve whereas grace is getting what we don't deserve.) Paul has shown that God does not treat Gentile or Jew as their sin's deserve. He affirmed: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Condemnation is what we deserve but God will pardon our sins if we believe in his son.

Paul urges the Christians in Rome to show their appreciation of God's mercy by the way they live.

Sadly, this does not always happen. It doesn't happen outside the church. Petty criminals are dealt with leniently but go on to commit more crimes. School pupils are given one chance after another but remain disruptive and disobedient. Parents who bail their children out over and over again are taken advantage of.

Jesus tells a story about a servant who owes his master a huge sum. The master shows mercy and writes the debt off. The servant then accosts a fellow-servant who owes him a paltry sum and has him thrown in prison until he can pay his debt. When the master discovers what has happened he hands the unmerciful servant over to jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. Mt18v34. Jesus concludes his parable by saying: "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Mt18v35.

Jesus expects his servants to show by their conduct how much they appreciate his mercy. Paul describes five ways we can do that:

(1) By the way we worship. Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. v1.

(a) A new slant.

Paul rather surprisingly writes: Offer your bodies .... . Many people think worship is about thoughts, mood and feelings. So, worship might be sitting in a wonderful English cathedral, watching the candles flickering, listening to the choir singing and feeling at peace. Or, as one of my fellow hockey players once said, it is walking down a Devon lane in spring with the banks full of primroses, the hawthorn coming into leaf, the blackbird singing - such beauty, such joy.

Paul considers that we can worship God by offering to him anything that the body accomplishes. A great variety of crafts were needed to build the tabernacle: bronze, silver and goldsmiths, carpenters, engravers, spinners and weavers. Each and every craftsman could worship God through the work they did.

A great deal of practical work is needed to keep a local church functioning effectively. We can worship God by cutting a hedge, sweeping up leaves, playing the organ, changing a plug, mowing the grass, making cakes for a chapel tea, washing up, cleaning and so on.

When I served at Pioneer Camp all sorts of practical jobs needed doing: buying provisions, cooking, serving the food, moving tables, tent erection, litter collection, first aid, latrine duty and organising games. All could be offered to God and count as worship.

Martin Luther once wrote: The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God as much as the monk who prays - not because she may sing a Christians hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.

(b) A living sacrifice.

What we offer in worship should be a living sacrifice. This is a challenge. A sacrifice had to be without spot or blemish. An animal presented for sacrifice needed to be in perfect condition. The Israelites were instructed to give the firstfruits of their crops, the choicest sample, to God.

If I just consider my own small fellowship at Brockley I can think of some living sacrifices:

• I always put hours and hours of preparation into my sermons regardless of the size of the congregation.

• When Ken and Gwen cut the graveyard grass they did it immaculately.

• Roger installed new kitchen units absolutely meticulously.

• Our chapel is always decorated skilfully and colourfully for our Harvest Thanksgiving services. Many churches no longer bother!!!

• The cakes made for our chapel teas are delicious. Denis' cream horns could not be bettered!

• Recently we had two lecterns made. The Christian carpenters made a brilliant job of them.

I think Paul's new slant on worship can be summarised by an old children's chorus:

Two little eyes to look to God,
Two little ears to hear his word,
Two little feet to walk in his ways,
Two little lips to sing his praise,
Two little hands to do his will,
And one little heart to love him still.

This verse teaches that:

(a) Our lives should not be shaped by worldly values.

Wordly values include:

• Getting on. Jesus' brothers were very keen for him to make a name for himself. See Jn7v3to5. The Saviour rejected their advice!

  Many Christians spend so much time pursuing earthly advancement that they have no time left over to fulfil responsibilities to their church.

• Winning at all costs - an unattractive trait all to evident in professional football, politics and business.

  Peter hated Jesus talking about his death. He considered his master was being defeatist and told him so. See Mt16v21to23. No one likes to be associated with failure. That is why Christians leave small declining churches to attend larger growing ones.

• What you earn you keep. Some who earn the most somehow manage to pay the least in tax.

• Avoid making a commitment. Keep your options open. Cherish and protect personal freedom at all costs. So in Britain fewer and fewer get married. Sports clubs fold because administrative posts cannot be filled. Churches cannot get members to take responsibility.

• Keeping up appearances. People are obsessed with image, looking young and beautiful and moving with the times. The last thing we want to be accused of is being old fasioned.

• Stand up for your rights. Someone else is always to blame. Sue when you have half a chance.

(b) Our minds need to change.

Christians should have a new mindset. Paul was able to say when writing to the Corinthians: We have the mind of Christ. 1Cor2v16. In other words, believers should think as Jesus thought.

Perhaps, one of the clearest statements of the mind of Christ is found in Phil2v6tol8. This passage teaches:

• Jesus accepted a huge drop in status to serve the needs of humanity. Many have followed suit like C.T.Studd and David Shephard. My brother Paul gave up a well paid job as a probation officer to become an impoverished Grace Baptist pastor. There are plenty of others who have followed the same route! Absolutely no one becomes a Grace Baptist minister to be financially better off!

  But what about Christians who are not called to the ministry? How many pass up a promotion so that they can spend more time serving their church? How many really take Jesus seriously when he says: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God." The church suffers when Christians expend so much time and effort on secular work that they have no energy left over for anything else. Christians, for example, who habitually get back so late from work that they can never attend a prayer meeting, need to re-examine their priorities.

• Jesus shed his glory to become a very ordinary man. Isaiah wrote: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Is53v2. Jesus never kept up appearances! There was nothing regal about him. Pilate was in absolutely no doubt that Jesus offered no threat to Caesar.

  Christians should stop being concerned about how things look. Too many of us are inhibited and buttoned up. King David sets us a good example in expressing his joy by dancing before the ark as it was taken to Jerusalem. His wife, Michal, thought he was making an exhibition of himself prancing about half-naked and giving the slave girls something to titter about. David told her: "I will celebrate before the Lord. 2Sam6v21. Nor did he think his dancing did his reputation among the slave girls any harm!

  I have to say that I am not impressed by the way some church leaders dress up. Is it really appropriate for Church of England Bishops to be adorned in robes like Medieval princes. Perhaps, they should follow the example of Jesus who wore nothing that marked him out as special or his apostle, Paul, who went around in rags!!

• Jesus humbled himself. He was content to serve others. He said to his disciples who argued about who should be first: But I am among you as one who serves. Lk22v27.

  We need the mindset of a servant. As Christians we should not be thinking all the time of what the church can give us but about how we can serve others. What can we do for our fellow Christians? There are lots of practical ways we can help our brothers and sisters in Christ.

• Jesus was obedient. He didn't please himself but pleased his Father in heaven. Even when he faced his greatest ordeal, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Not my will but yours be done."

  Our minds should be fixed on obeying God even if we suffer for it. He is the one we should consult before every major decision. We are obliged to obey God rather than please ourselves.

I have just finished re-reading James Herriot's book, 'All things wise and wonderful' which deals in part with his experience of the R.A.F. during the last World War. His flying instructor was a real martinet. He did not enjoy the experience at all. Herriot was shouted at, nagged, bullied and cajoled - given no words of encouragement! But he found out the merit of doing his instructor's will - he learned how to fly.

Jesus discovered that doing God's will, unpalatable as it was, brought great rewards. He sees the travail of his soul and is satisfied. More than that, Paul writes: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name. Phil2v9.

I don't regret doing what God wants. I may not have served in the way I would have chosen but my time has not been wasted. I am content to have done, at least in some small measure, God's good, pleasing and perfect will.

(3) By accurate self-appraisal. Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. v3.

(a) We shouldn't think of ourselves more highly than we ought.

Many of us have a tendency to do this. There are several examples in the Scriptures. The Pharisees had a habit of selecting for themselves the best seats at feasts. The church members at Corinth thought they were super-spiritual, theological wizards. See 1Cor4v8. Paul called them infants in Christ. In John's third epistle the apostle describes the church leader, Diotrephes, as one who loves to be first. 3Jnv9.

George Thomas the former speaker of the House of Commons included some revealing anecdotes in his autobiography. The organising committee of the Great Peace Rally in 1954 needed to elect a chairman. Lord Beveridge proposed himself. He said, "My wife has said that in view of my status and position, I should be chairman of this meeting." Thomas and others opposed the proposal. Lord Beveridge phoned his wife and promptly resigned from the committee and went home. This led John Collins, the Canon of St Paul's, to announce, "Well now Lord Beveridge has gone, I think that I should be chairman." Several objected to this and so Canon Collins also left. Eventually Donald Soper was elected chairman. Now it is obvious that Beveridge and Collins thought more highly of themselves than was warranted.

Worldly wisdom advocates following the example of Canon Collins and Lord Beveridge and promoting oneself. It has been proved that applicants for jobs who are super-confident and talk the talk are quite likely to be appointed to jobs that they cannot do. Many individuals are over promoted because their confidence and self-belief exceeds by far their actual ability.

(b) The need to exercise sound judgment.

We are to exercise sound judgment when we assess ourselves. It is wrong to push for unwarranted recognition of abilities that we don't have. False modesty is equally bad and is often a ploy for wriggling out of what we are well capable of doing.

So, how do we exercise sound judgment? Paul suggests it is achieved in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. What does this mean?

It might help to look at an incident in the life of young David. He pays a visit to his brothers serving in the Jewish army during a standoff between the Israelites and Philistines. He hears Goliath mouthing off and challenging anyone in the Israelite army to a fight. David asks: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" This does not go down well with his brother Eliab who puts him in his place with: "I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is." 1Sam17v28.

So was David just a cocky little twerp? When Saul questions his ability to fight Goliath on account of his youth and inexperience, David replies: "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." 1Sam17v37. In other words David assessed his ability on what he had already accomplished BY FAITH in God.

Paul was absolutely convinced of his God given role as the apostle to the Gentiles because he had ventured forth in faith and founded many churches. He defends his ministry in no uncertain terms in his second letter to the Corinthians. See 2Cor3v1and2 and 2Cor6v4to10.

I am confident of my ability to communicate Christian truths to young people after many years of conducting school assemblies and witnessing the reaction of children to them. I have always spoken in faith that the Holy Spirit would provided all needed help. I started this website in faith and as the years have passed I am in no doubt of my ability to explain the Scripture in writing. If I had not ventured in faith and not written a word it would be presumptuous of me to boast that I could do it.

There is a lot of truth in the words of Ahab, king of Israel, to the boastful Ben-Hadad, king of Aram: "Tell him: 'One who puts on his armour should not boast like one who takes it off.'" 1Kings20v11.

(4) By practising diversity in unity. Just as each of us has one body with many members and these member do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. v4and5.

(a) Christian unity.

Paul teaches that Christians are united as the different organs of the body are united.

The organs work together for the benefit of the body as a whole. If any organ stops working the whole body suffers. The body will soon sicken and die if the kidneys, heart, lungs or liver stop working! Similarly if individual Christians fail to use their gifts in the service of the church, the whole church suffers. Many local churches decline and close because through the years the members have not pulled their weight.

The organs need to know their place and not be over active. If the heart, thyroid gland, pancreas, brain or nerves over do things the body soon suffers. So in the local church a person with one particular gift should not look to dominate the others. I am afraid that there are preachers who think that the sermon is the only thing that matters during Sunday worship. Sometimes the musicians are too full of themselves and the congregation has to endure 20 minutes of repetitive chorus singing or the organist plays so loudly that no one can hear themselves sing. There are even Christians who think the upkeep of the building and graveyard is the pre-eminent function of the church.

(b) Christian diversity.

Christians have different functions within the church body. We are not all called upon to display the same gifts. The lungs do not try to do the work of the heart!

Christians have different and distinct gifts from God. It is best to concentrate on using your gifts and not hanker after the gifts that you do not possess. There are many gifts that I don't have. I couldn't play the organ very well even if I practised. I wouldn't be any good at fitting a new church kitchen. My flower arrangements would display my lack of artistic ability. I am not a good leader or very enthusiastic administrator. Unlike David if I danced before the Lord it would not excite any slave girls!

I need to concentrate on what I can do best; teaching and writing.

All of us should make generous use of the gifts God has graciously imparted to us.

(5) By contributing to the well-being of the church.

Paul mentions a selection of God's gifts to individual Christians which if used will undoubtedly benefit the church. They are:

(a) Prophecy.

This gift is exercised by people who are given a message from God to the church. It usually pertains to a specific problem or situation. Paul certainly had this gift and he exercised it when he dealt with the host of problems that had arisen in the Corinthian church.

I can recall chairing a particular church meeting where a difficult issue was resolved by the casting vote of the chairman. I then addressed the church members and told them how important it was to accept the decision and put the matter behind us. I hadn't prepared my message. I prophesied under the direction of the Holy Spirit. I know that because the members took to heart what I said.

(b) Practical service.

This involves providing practical assistance - not just to maintain the church but to help out brothers and sisters in Christ. In a sense every church needs a good DIY man - or woman. One of my cousins was married to Mick. He never talked about his faith but he would do all sorts of little jobs for the old ladies who attended his church.

It is good when a large church sends out a squad of volunteers abroad to do maintenance on a Christian orphanage, old people's home, school or hospital. This involves people with practical gifts who may well be undervalued in prosperous Britain.

(c) Teaching.

It is important to explain to Christians what a passage of Scripture meant for the age in which it was written and then how it is relevant for our own day and age. See, for example, my exposition on Luke20v20to26.

(d) Encouragement.

This is a very important gift. Some might argue that anyone can give encouragement - which is true. But in reality, some are much, much better at it than others. My old friend Ian Brown is a great encourager. I don't know whether he considers this one of the gifts of the Spirit to him - but both my brother and I do!

I discovered the power of encouragement as a teacher. Paul was for a long time a very indifferent scholar to say the least. He spent most of his Geography lessons sprawling, flopping, sighing and yawning. One day after he had presented a better than usual homework I gave him an A-. It wasn't worth an A- but I thought Paul deserved some encouragement. When he saw his grade he perked up wonderfully - especially when he discovered it was higher than some of the stars achieved. From that moment - that very moment - he improved!

There are one or two people in our small congregation who believe in encouraging our visiting speakers. The wife of one of them told me that she could alway tell when her husband had preached at Brockley - he always returned home happy!

I am always spurred on when someone bothers to write and thank me for an exposition on this website that they have found helpful.

I can do no better than to leave the last word to the great football manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, "For a player - and for any human being - there is nothing better than hearing 'well done'. Those are the two best words ever invented in sport."

(e) Giving generously.

This too is a gift of the Spirit. There is no doubt that some, like Priscilla and Aquilla, excel at showing hospitality. My sister-in-law, Ruth, kept open house when my brother was pastor of a church in Clapham. Every Sunday Arthur and Gill, who attend a little fellowship in Barton Mills, provide tea in their home for anyone who likes to stay.

Many young Christian students, living far from home, have been greatly helped during a time when they are in some spiritual danger by the hospitality of warm-hearted, caring believers.

(f) Leadership.

A church needs many leaders - not just a pastor or minister. Leaders are required for work among children, teenagers, women, young wives and toddlers. Men and women are needed to lead house groups, prayer groups, outreach initiatives and to chair various committees.

A shortage of leaders greatly weakens the life of a church. Leadership should be undertaken with enthusiasm and not be thought of as a chore. Strong, reliable, faithful, gracious leadership will bear much fruit.

(g) Showing mercy.

This is probably a gift overlooked by some of us! But a large church needs people who do not treat the erring brother or sister as they deserve - but with forgiveness, sympathy and understanding. We all need from time to time a big-hearted friend who will overlook our weaknesses and failures and love us 'just the same'.

Many years ago now I was organising sports and games for a Christian camp. One of the campers was a boy I called, Mad Mitch. He caused one problem after another. On one occasion he got in a terrible mood and let his bell tent down on top of him. There he lay covered in canvas. Now, my attitude was not sympathetic. I was of the opinion he could lay there as long as he liked and it was up to him to put his tent back up again.

But soft old Albert went along and coaxed him out and then proceeded to erect his tent for him. I can remember feeling quite cross with Albert. I thought Mad Mitch should get the treatment he deserved.

Albert exercised his gift! He showed mercy. We would be in a bad way if God treated us as we deserved! Albert followed in the footsteps of his Master.

Well this is a splendid selection of gifts and no mistake. How strong and healthy the church would be for the consistent, dedicated exercise of these gifts. What a tragedy when Christians do not use the gifts they receive from Holy Spirit - and let God down.