Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

Other Romans Pathways from Chapters 1-12

• I am not ashamed of the Gospel . . . it is the power of God (1:16)
• God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (5:8)
• What benefit was I getting when I was doing the things I’m now ashamed of? Those things bring death. (6:21)
• There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! (8:1)
• I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. (8:18)
• As we inwardly groan, with the rest of creation, we wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies. (8:23)
• The Spirit helps us in our weakness. (8:26)
• God works all things for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (8:28)
• If God is for us, who can be against us? (8:31)
• In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us! (8:37)
• Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (8:38-39)
• He is the Potter. I am the clay. (9:20-21)
• My heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (10:1)
• How will they believe if they have never heard? (10:14)
• My love is sincere. (12:9)
• I honor others above myself. (12:10)
• I am joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. (12:12)
• I share with the Lord’s people who are in need and practice hospitality. (12:13)
• I rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (12:15)
• To the extent that it depends on me, I live at peace with others. (12:18)
• I am not overcome by evil. I overcome evil with good. (12:21)

Books on Sabbath: (recommended by Dr. Joel Lawrence, pastor-theologian and ECC member):

• • The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel — In this book, Heschel, a Jewish Rabbi, explores the “architecture” of sabbath, reflecting on how the concept of sabbath formed the Jewish vision of God and the universe, and how the Jewish tradition was deeply rooted in this sabbath worldview. A classic!
  • Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now, Walter Brueggemann — In this book Brueggemann, an expert on the Old Testament, reflects on how adopting the practices of sabbath will challenge the culture of our time. He especially reflects on how sabbath can challenge and encourage us to resist the economic habits of our time. 
  • Sabbath, Dan Allender — Allender, a well-regarded Christian therapist, explores the way that sabbath is seen in the Scriptures as a day of delight and an experience of God and his goodness. This book pushes against a legalistic vision of sabbath and calls us to see how God’s good intent for our souls is expressed through the practice of sabbath. 
  • The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time, Judith Shulevitz — This book is part memoir, part religious history, and philosophy. Shulevitz reflects on her own upbringing in the Jewish tradition and how her struggle to maintain sabbath has helped her reflect on the past and the present.
  • Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting, Marva J. Dawn — Dawn’s book is a call to stop seeing the sabbath as one day a week and instead to see how our whole lives are to be ordered by God’s sabbath rule in the world. This book helps us to see how sabbath can be central to our life with God and with our neighbor. 
  • Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World, A.J. Swoboda — The importance of this book is in helping us see that keeping sabbath is not simply about ourselves and our own spirituality, but about the community in which we live. Swoboda calls us to see sabbath as a communal practice that shapes the church’s presence in the world.