Greetings! Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, issues a challenge to his early readers and us:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2).

Paul does something that I think is very thought-provoking. In the original language, the word transformed is metamorphoo, which is the process of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly. Metamorphosis. The root word morphoo means “form” or “nature.”

When you take the root idea and add the Greek prefix meta to it, then it means “to change the essential nature of something or someone.” This is the work that takes place on the inside, in our hearts and souls, but is exhibited by how we live.

As we begin this new series and the stewardship season, I think we all need to answer a simple question: How is God at work transforming you and me?

You see, I believe we are called to be a transformed people through God’s own powerful, mysterious, uncontrollable grace. I also think that this same God is at work in the church, our church, to transform East Fort Bend. After all, the church is, first and foremost, in the transformation business.

Our God is a God who never stays still, but pushes and moves, creating and re-creating, forming and re-forming us each day. This same God is at work in the church: comforting us, challenging us, surrounding us in our weakness and calling us to share the gifts God has given us with the world. But here is the catch, we can’t be a church in the transformation business if we haven’t first been transformed ourselves.

Transformation happens to us when we choose to live our lives by a different set of rules than most of the rest of the world.

We live transformed lives when we decide to:

9/29 – Do No Harm
10/6 – Do Good
10/13 – Stay in Love with God
10/20 – Give All We Can

I love how Richard Rohr puts it: “Transformed People Transform People.” I hope you will join us in becoming transformed people.