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MOVE | Week 3 | Daniel Goulding · Rewind

Rock Point Church

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Mar 20, 2022

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Mar 20, 2022 · 73 min watch · 2 min read

MOVE | Week 3 | Daniel Goulding

Devotional days

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Scripture in this message

Luke 10
Romans 12:1
Romans 12:9-21
Romans 12:9
Romans 12:11
Romans 12:12

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Quoting the message: When God moves in you, love is supposed to move through you, end quote..

Because of eleven chapters showing how relentlessly God has loved us, our only reasonable response is to hand over our lives to Him. Out of that surrender, Paul lays out in Romans 12 what genuine, active love for people actually looks like — not a feeling we manufacture, but a supernatural love that flows through us once we grasp how loved we are.

Key points

1
1Christianity boils down to loving God and loving people, and we naturally look for loopholes on the second one.
Pastor Daniel notes that the greatest commandment is to love God and love neighbor, but people get squirrelly on loving others because it's harder than loving an invisible God. He points to the lawyer in Luke 10 who tried to define away his obligation to love his neighbor, prompting Jesus's parable of the good Samaritan, which teaches that everyone we meet, especially people we tend to discount, is our neighbor.
2
2Romans 12 only makes sense on the foundation of the first 11 chapters — we offer ourselves as living sacrifices because of who God is, not to earn anything.
He explains that Paul's 'therefore' in Romans 12:1 draws a conclusion from eleven chapters proving God's faithfulness and love. Our response is to hand over ownership of our lives, like signing over a pink slip, trusting God to transform us from the inside out rather than following a rulebook.
3
3Love is not a feeling — it's a choice followed by action.
Pastor Daniel warns against building faith or relationships on feelings, since feelings change and the Bible calls the heart deceitful. He uses the picture of enlisting in the armed forces and having your head shaved on day one to show what it means to come under new ownership and obey even when we don't feel like it.
4
4Love without hypocrisy means being the same person everywhere, and it starts with hating what is evil and clinging to what is good.
He unpacks the Greek word hypocriteo, tied to actors switching masks between scenes, and says Christians are called to be one consistent person at church, work, and home. He also distinguishes the four Greek words for love, landing on agape — God's unconditional, all-in love — as the love we're now able to extend to others because we've received it first.
5
5The most practical place we love people is at work, because our real boss is the Lord and people are watching.
Paul's instruction to work hard and never be lazy, Pastor Daniel says, is really about integrity — being the same person at the office that we are at church. He points out we spend more waking hours with coworkers than family, so faithful work becomes a mission field, done for a different Master than the one who signs our paycheck.
6
6Confident hope and prayer fuel patience in hard times, because we already know how the story ends.
Using the picture of a farmer who endures backbreaking work because he knows a harvest is coming, he says believers can have peace in a tense world because eternity, not the present moment, is our vantage point. He calls prayer the connection point to the Spirit, like blood to the body, without which everything on the other end slowly dies.
7
7We're called to generosity, blessing our persecutors, and overcoming evil with good rather than revenge.
He walks through Paul's rapid list — being generous stewards rather than owners, praying blessing over people who've hurt us instead of cursing them, and refusing to repay evil with evil because vengeance belongs to God alone. He shares that praying 'God, give them what they deserve' can, over time, soften bitterness into the same mercy we ourselves received.

Application

Find the one or two of these 24 things you're not already living, and ask God to change your heart rather than just trying harder.

Ask God to change your heart, not just your effort
Instead of resolving to try harder, sit with God this week and ask Him to change your heart in the one or two areas of Romans 12 where you fall short.
Bring your whole self to work as worship
Remember your real boss is the Lord, not your manager, and let your diligence and attitude at work be a mission field for the people who watch you five days a week.
Find one practical need to meet
Each morning, ask God to show you a specific person or need in your community you can bless this week, trusting you're a steward of His resources, not an owner.
Pray blessing over someone who hurt you
If bitterness toward someone is in your heart, pray daily, God, would you give them what they deserve, and let that prayer soften into a wish for them to receive the same mercy you were given.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“There's a really famous story in Luke chapter 10 where again ironically it's a lawyer trying to find a loophole out of how to do this. He comes to Jesus and he says, who really even is my neighbor”
From the transcript
“And then in Romans twelve:one, he says, There for. He begins to draw conclusions that should be the obvious assumption we all come to on the premise of seeing 11 chapters of the faithfulness”
From the transcript
“Romans twelve:nine-twenty one, Paul is going to give us the how, the fine print of the contract of how we are called to love, the uniform we as Christians are called to wear”
From the transcript
“And then in Romans twelve:nine he does something unprecedented and he says that as you begin to understand how much God loves you, you and I will begin to not just filet or store gay the people around us”
From the transcript
“Here's how he continues in this verse. He says if we're going to do this don't just pretend to love others, really love them and we have to hate what is wrong. We have to hold tightly to what is good”
From the transcript
“He continues in verse 11 and he says, Never be lazy but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically”
From the transcript
“Here's how he continues in verse 12. He says, Make sure that you rejoice in a confident hope. And as you do that, you will be patient in times of trouble, but remember to keep on praying”
From the transcript
“he goes into a whole another tangent in verse 13. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality”
From the transcript
“In verse 15, he says, we have to be happy with those who are happy and we have to weep with those who weep. We have to live in harmony with each other”
From the transcript
“He says in verse 17, never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see that you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

Pastor Daniel opened with a simple but searching question: are you the same person at church that you are at work, at home, and everywhere in between? Romans 12:9 begins the whole portrait with this word — 'Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them.' The Greek word behind 'love' here is agape, the same self-giving, others-centered love that God poured out toward us. It is not a feeling you manufacture. It is not a social skill you polish. It is something that has to come from somewhere deeper than willpower. Hypocrisy in love is exhausting, and most of us know it firsthand. We smile at someone and then vent about them on the drive home. We volunteer for the right reasons on the outside and complicated reasons on the inside. Paul is not pointing a finger — he is describing a gap that every honest person recognizes. The good news is that the passage does not say 'try harder to be genuine.' It assumes that real love is possible precisely because of what God has already done. The transformation described in Romans 12:1-2 — the renewed mind, the living sacrifice — is the soil this kind of love grows in. Authenticity is not the starting point; it is the fruit of a heart that has been met by grace.

For reflection

Where in your daily life is the gap between the love you perform and the love you actually feel the widest right now?

Pray

Pray for an honest, unhurried look at the places where your love has become more of a habit than a heartbeat — and ask God to meet you there.

Day 2

Related passageRomans 12:9b

The second half of Romans 12:9 is easy to read past: 'Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.' It sounds simple until you sit with it. Pastor Daniel pointed out that genuine love is not neutral. It takes a side. It aligns itself with what God loves and pulls away from what God calls evil — not in a self-righteous, culture-war kind of way, but in a deep, interior orientation of the heart. We live in a time when tolerance is often mistaken for love, and strong conviction is mistaken for hatred. But the Scriptures hold both together without apology. You can love a person deeply and still believe some things are genuinely harmful to them. In fact, that is exactly what real love does. A good parent does not pretend that everything their child reaches for is fine. They protect, redirect, and hold the line — not out of control, but out of care. For most of us, the challenge is not hating evil in the abstract. It is hating it in the specific places we have quietly made peace with it — the compromise we have stopped noticing, the pattern we have renamed as a personality quirk. Pastor Daniel's invitation was not to a guilt spiral but to honesty. Loving well starts with being clear-eyed about what we are actually clinging to.

For reflection

Is there something you have slowly grown comfortable with that, if you are honest, you know does not align with what God calls good?

Pray

Pray for the courage to name one area where your heart has drifted — and for the grace to let God realign it without shame.

Day 3

Pastor Daniel made a point that probably surprised some people in the room: your workplace is one of the greatest mission fields you have. Romans 12:11 says, 'Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.' That is not a productivity tip — it is a theology of presence. The way you show up at work, the integrity you bring, the effort you give even when no one is watching — all of it is an act of love and a form of witness. Think about the people in your office, on your crew, in your classroom. Many of them will never walk into a church building. You may be the closest thing to the gospel they encounter this week. That is not a pressure to perform — it is an invitation to be genuinely present. Working with excellence and honesty because you are ultimately serving God, not just your employer, creates a life that makes people curious. The word 'enthusiastically' in verse 11 carries the idea of a spirit that is fervently alive. It is the opposite of going through the motions. And it is worth noting that Paul places it right in the middle of a passage about love — because showing up fully for the people around you, even in ordinary work, is one of the most concrete ways love takes form in daily life.

For reflection

How would the people you work with or study alongside describe the quality and character of your presence there?

Pray

Pray for a fresh sense of purpose about the specific place you work or spend your weekdays — and for eyes to see the people there the way Jesus sees them.

Day 4

Romans 12:12 gives us what Pastor Daniel called the practical fuel for loving others well: 'Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.' These three habits are not optional extras for the especially spiritual. They are the interior engine that keeps love from running dry. Confident hope is not optimism about circumstances — it is a settled trust in where this story is heading. When you know that God is working all things together and that the outcome is already secured in Him, you do not have to hoard, retaliate, or self-protect. You are free to be generous with your energy, your time, and your kindness because you are not running on a finite tank. Patience in trouble is closely related. The word Paul uses suggests a staying power, an ability to remain under pressure without collapsing or lashing out. That kind of endurance is not gritted-teeth stoicism — it grows out of hope. And prayer ties it all together. Consistent, honest prayer keeps your heart soft and oriented toward God rather than hardened by the friction of daily life. You cannot genuinely love the people around you while running on empty. These three practices are how you stay filled.

For reflection

Which of these three — hope, patience, or prayer — feels most depleted in your life right now, and what might that be costing the people around you?

Pray

Pray for the specific area — hope, patience, or consistency in prayer — where you feel most worn thin, and ask God to renew you from the inside.

Day 5

Romans 12:13 says, 'When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.' Pastor Daniel connected this directly to the sermon's larger theme: generosity is not a financial discipline so much as a spiritual one. It flows naturally when you genuinely believe that what you have has been entrusted to you, not earned by you. The word 'eager' here is striking. It does not say 'be willing' or 'be open.' It says lean toward it. Look for it. Pastor Daniel offered a practical handle: start each morning by asking God to show you a need you can meet that day. It does not have to be large. A meal, a ride, a text that says you are thinking of someone. The practice of asking that question regularly reshapes how you move through a day — you start noticing people instead of walking past them. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to answer the question 'Who is my neighbor?' The answer was not a category of people — it was whoever is in front of you and hurting. Generosity, in that frame, is not about a giving plan. It is about the orientation of your attention. You love what you look at, and you look for what you love.

For reflection

What would change about your average day if you started it by genuinely asking God to show you a need you could meet?

Pray

Pray for eyes to see one specific need around you this week — and for the willingness to act on what God shows you.

Day 6

This may be the hardest verse in the passage. Romans 12:14 says, 'Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them; pray for them.' Pastor Daniel did not soften this. He acknowledged that some of us are carrying real wounds — not imagined slights but genuine harm done by real people. And into that honest reality, Paul does not say 'get over it.' He says 'bless them and pray for them.' The reason this is possible — not easy, but possible — is the same reason the whole passage works. God has already secured the outcome. You do not have to protect your own case. You do not have to keep the ledger. When you release the need for the other person to suffer what they deserve, you are not letting them off the hook — you are letting yourself off the hook. Bitterness, as the saying goes, is drinking poison and waiting for the other person to get sick. Praying for someone who has hurt you does not mean pretending it did not happen or that it was fine. It means bringing the wound and the person both before God and asking Him to work in the situation in ways only He can. Pastor Daniel suggested starting haltingly — even a single honest sentence is a beginning. The goal is not a polished prayer but a heart that is slowly freed.

For reflection

Is there a person you find yourself cursing — even quietly in your thoughts — whom Jesus is inviting you to begin praying for instead?

Pray

Pray — even just a few honest words — for someone who has hurt you, and ask God to begin loosening whatever bitterness may have taken root.

Day 7

Pastor Daniel closed with a clarifying word: Romans 12:9-21 is not a checklist. It is a portrait. Taken together, these verses describe what a life looks like when it is genuinely shaped by the agape love of God — not performed for an audience but lived from the inside out. The 24 commands in this passage are not hurdles to clear; they are the natural texture of a heart that has been transformed. His closing challenge was both honest and generous: most of us are already living out the majority of these. The question is not whether we are doing well enough — it is whether we have the honesty and humility to identify the one or two places where we have settled. Where love has become habit. Where we are going through the motions and know it. That self-awareness is not condemnation — it is an invitation to sit before God and ask Him to do what only He can do. The vision behind all of it is simple and stunning: a life so genuinely changed by love that the people in your workplace, your neighborhood, and your circle of relationships actually encounter Jesus through you. Not through your arguments or your performance, but through the quality of your presence. That is the portrait. That is what grace makes possible.

For reflection

Looking back over the week, which one or two areas from this passage is God most clearly inviting you to bring before Him — not to try harder, but to ask Him to change your heart?

Pray

Pray for the one specific area where you sense God's invitation this week — and ask Him to do the work in you that you cannot do for yourself.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Romans 12:9-21 lists more than 20 commands in quick succession — which raises an obvious question: what makes love like this actually possible? That's the heart of what Pastor Daniel unpacked in this message.

Discussion questions

1
Romans 12:9 opens with 'Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them.' What do you think Paul means by the difference between pretending and really loving — and what might that distinction look like in an ordinary day?
2
Pastor Daniel described the workplace as one of the greatest mission fields we have, and connected working with integrity and diligence to Romans 12:11. What does it look like, practically, for how we work to become an expression of love rather than just a professional obligation?
3
Romans 12:14 calls believers to bless and pray for people who have hurt or persecuted them. What do you think makes that kind of response possible — and what gets in the way of it for most people?
4
Pastor Daniel argued that because God has already secured the outcome, we are freed from needing to take revenge or protect ourselves — and Romans 12:17-21 frames conquering evil by doing good instead. How does trusting God with outcomes change the way we might respond when we've been wronged?
5
Pastor Daniel challenged us to consider whether we have settled for going through the motions in one or two of the areas in this passage, rather than inviting God to change our hearts from the inside out. What's the difference between trying harder and what he was actually inviting us toward?
6
Pastor Daniel suggested beginning each morning by asking God to show you a need you can meet that day. As a group, what might that kind of prayer actually open our eyes to notice in the people around us — at work, in neighborhoods, in our circles?

Pray together

Hearts genuinely transformed by God's love — not just changed behavior, but the kind of love that lets the people around us encounter Jesus

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Topics

Genuine Love Living Generously Loving Your Enemies Transformed Heart Workplace Witness

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