Live In Love | Live Well (Part Seven)

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Good morning Riverbend Church, how you doing man?

It's so good to be able to worship with you this morning.

I know that in the in the pre service announcements and it's

also in your bulletin. I know that we've been throwing

it out there. Just an invitation for you to

join us on mission throughout this year to come in 2026.

This past week Todd and and Nathan spent some time with a

local church planner up in Boston.

Show you few of those pictures actually going to be in outside

of Boston in Plymouth, MA helping this church planner.

I know that that looks like our streets from a couple weeks ago,

but if you're interested in the Boston mission trip, there's

going to be an informational meeting on February, I believe

25th at 8:00. It's that Wednesday night.

And then this past week I got back from Guatemala, spent a few

days down in Guatemala kind of looking at that, scoping out

that mission trip. Incredible, incredible time down

there. Really looking forward to, to

going back down and, and serving alongside of you.

If you're interested in finding out more about Guatemala,

there's going to be an informational meeting tomorrow

night at 6:00 here at the church.

That's going to be followed up by an informational meeting to

Uganda. We're going to be taking a

mission trip to Uganda in November, November 10th through

the 21st. If you're interested in either

Guatemala or Uganda. Sorry I didn't have time to go

to Uganda this past week. I'll show you pictures from

there, but if you're interested in either one of those,

Guatemala or Uganda, we're having an informational meeting

tomorrow night. Guatemala is at six, Uganda is

at 7. You can come for both, but

really excited about just the opportunities just to serve,

serve the Kingdom of God, grow, expand the Kingdom of God, be

able to serve alongside of one another.

So really, really exciting things going on in the life of

Riverbend. So glad to be able to walk this

journey with you. Also, just to acknowledge,

yesterday was Valentine's Day. Husbands, if you're wondering

why your wife hasn't spoken to you, may need to go back and go.

Oh yeah, yesterday was Valentine's Day.

But as a church, if you're new to Riverbend, you should know

something that we do. If you call Riverbend home, you

already know this. As a church, we celebrate

certain holidays with Reese's, and these are Reese's hearts.

None of that fun size stuff. These are like the real deal.

I probably should tell you to to pay attention.

So I don't give concussions. Good catch by the way.

But if you are new to Riverbend, if you are new to Riverbend,

welcome. My name is Ben.

If we haven't had the chance to meet yet, we'd love to

personally thank you for choosing to be with us this

morning. We would love to connect with

you. Easiest way, most efficient way,

probably the best Ave. for that connection is through that

connect card that you received on your way in with a bulletin.

That's just our opportunity to get to know a little bit about

you so we know how to connect you with some people maybe

similar age or stage, just because we understand just how

important relationships and community really are.

So also that connect card if you're new to Riverbend.

It lets us know where to ship a small thank you gift out into

the mail to you. So thank you in advance for

filling that out if you're joining us online and this is

your first time with us online. Just drop a comment that says

new here and then just send send us a send us a private message

with your contact info and we look forward to connecting with

you as well. But we are in week seven of a

series that we started all the way back at the very beginning

of 2026, first Sunday, January 4th, all the way back at the

beginning of of this year called Live Well.

And one of the things that this series has been reminding us of

is God actually does want and desire for you and I to live

well. Here's the disconnect though.

A lot of times we wrongly assume that to live well means that God

kind of clears the way of all hardships and all heartbreak and

gives us everything that we want, when in reality God loves

us far. Too much to do that.

He loves us far too much to to clear the way of all hardship

and and and and and heartbreak and give us everything that we

want, because he knows that the best way to which he can mold us

and shape us into the man or the woman that he.

Created us to be so that we can truly live well.

Is actually kind of in that laboratory of life that involves

shaping us and molding us in the midst of hardships and

heartbreak and and and and not giving us everything that we

want, but giving us everything that he knows that we that we

need. And if you're new to the series,

I want to introduce you to to a main truth or what we call the

big idea throughout this series just to make sure that we're all

on the same page here it is to live well is to live God's way

firm in faith, steady and trials and anchored in hope.

The reason that this is the main truth or the big idea is every

single one of us, regardless if you're new to Riverbend, you

come to Riverbend every week. If you're the oldest person in

the room, if you're the youngest person in the room, every single

one of us is in some type of setting or context that requires

us to be firm in our faith, to be steady in trials, and to be

anchored in hope. You see a presence of of doubt

or presence of hardship or a presence of grief.

The presence of grief does not negate the possibility of us

being. Able to live well.

We can actually live well in the presence or in the context of

those things as we've been kind of going through and exploring

through kind of what's been guiding us throughout this

series. And that's the book of First

Peter. And if you're with us this

morning and you have a Bible with us this morning, I want to

invite you to find First Peter Chapter 4 with me, First Peter

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention 1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. And we're going to be doing a

little bit of reading this morning.

And if you don't have a Bible, then the passage is going to be

on the screen in front of you. And it's also on the note sheet.

It's also on the note sheet. Here's what I'm going to ask

that you do before we get ready to read this.

I need you. Whether you're in the room with

us or online, I need you to lean in a little.

Extra close this morning because what we're going to be talking

about this morning, it is almost like a compare and contrast.

It is going to serve as a as as a diagnostic tool.

And what I mean by that is we're going to look at how God's word

lays out for us. You know, these things are to be

present in the life of a true follower of Jesus because I

don't know if you know this or not.

Did you know that there are people that truly love Jesus and

then there are people that just kind of like Jesus?

And a lot of times, especially in the South, especially in the

United States, we so often get the two confused.

So what it what are the distinctive differences between

someone that truly loves Jesus and is actually following Jesus

and someone that's just playing a religious game?

You like Jesus, you're just not going to sew into your life to

him. You like what Jesus can do for

you. You're just not going to follow

Jesus and adhere to his work. What are the distinctive

characteristics that are to be present in the life of a true

follower of Jesus? So let's go ahead and dive in.

First Peter, chapter 4. Let's start in verse one.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

It says since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm

yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whom ever whoever

has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.

We're going to. We're going to.

Kind of walk through what that means in just a moment so as to

live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human

passions, but for the will of God for the time that is past

suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do.

The Gentiles there is is used kind of as a.

As a? As a.

Catch all description of anyone and everyone that's not a

follower of Jesus and First Peter.

For the time that has passed, suffice is for doing what the

Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions,

drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties and lawless idolatry.

With respect. To this they are surprised when

you do not join them in the same flooded debauchery, and they

malign you. But they will give an account to

him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

For This is why the gospel was preached, even to those who are

dead. That though judged in the flesh

the way people are, they might live in the Spirit the way God

does now, I think that we would all agree.

In this room, it's not really light reading, is it?

It's not really light reading. But what what Peter here is

doing is he's he's drawing a distinction of who we once were,

if we're really a follower of Jesus, who we once were and what

we were once all about pre Jesus and who we now are and what we

are to now be about as a follower of Jesus.

And the first thing that Peter gives us here is if you're truly

a follower of Jesus, if you're a real follower of Jesus, you

really love Jesus, you actually have the Holy Spirit of God

living in your life, then God will give us a new view of sin.

He's going to give us a new view of sin.

If you're taking notes with us, let me kind of unpack that.

A new view of sin is going to start with this understanding.

Everyone has a master. Everyone has a master.

It's either sin or it's Jesus. Everyone has a master.

Let me kind of go back to kind of a.

Confusing. It can be very confusing what

Peter's writing here. He says, Since therefore Christ

suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of

thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased

from sin. What Peter's saying here is, if

you're truly a follower of Jesus, that doesn't mean that

you'll never sin and it doesn't mean that you'll never struggle

with sin. It actually goes back to a

foundational understanding and truth that everyone serves a

master. It's either sin or it's Jesus.

It's either sin or it's Jesus. And you may be with us in the

room or online and sit there and go then I don't know what you're

talking about. I don't serve a master.

I'm my own man. I'm my own woman.

I, I call the shots. Nobody's my boss.

And I'll go ahead and tell you, as a pastor, I get that.

I get how it's easy to think that.

Here's why it's easy to think that.

Because it feels good to think that.

Because if I think, hey, I'm my own man, I call my own shots.

Nobody's in control of me. Nothing is in control of me.

It gives me the sense of being in control.

But as good as that may sound, and as good as that may feel to

make you. Think that you're in control.

It's a deception and you've been blinded to the truth.

Here's where I would tell you sin.

Doesn't just influence you, it commands you.

Sin doesn't just influence you, it commands you.

Sin is what commands you to chase after what you want to

chase after. Sin commands you to do what you

want to do, and sin commands you.

And how to respond to others and, and how to best protect

yourself. That's sin.

And oh, by the way, every single person on planet earth, their

default master is sin. We've been born with a sin

nature. We've said this so many times

and we'll keep coming back saying this.

You do not have to teach. If you're a young parent,

correct me if I'm wrong. You do not have to teach your

kid, your toddler, your preschooler how to sin, right?

You don't have to teach them how to throw a temper tantrum.

You don't have to teach them how to have a bad attitude.

You don't have to teach them how to be selfish.

And and we've said this before and we're still kind of like

workshop in it. It's still percolating up here.

We may rename our preschool environment from Little River to

Little Sinners, right? And some of you young parents

are like, Amen, my kid is in the right place.

Listen, why is that? It's because sin is our default.

We are all born with a sin nature.

And if sin is our default, then sin is our master.

And a lot of times we live with this mentality, hey, I don't

want to be mastered by anything. And what I would tell you is

listen. As good as that sounds and as

good as that may feel to make you make that declaration, it

doesn't mean that it's true. You are going to be mastered by

something or someone. Every single one of us, we are

either mastered by sin or we're mastered by Jesus.

Sin is our master or Jesus is our master.

And listen, submitting your life and truly following Jesus is not

about working harder. It is about changing masters.

It's about changing masters. So it is possible to tip your

hat and give a nod to God and go, hey Jesus, I love it if you,

I would love it if you would just sprinkle a little blessing

over here on what I want to do without truly being a follower

of Jesus. It is very possible to still be

mastered by sin without surrendering your life to Jesus

and still give credence to Jesus on a Sunday morning.

That's what we call religion. So every single person is

mastered either by sin or by Jesus.

It's a new view of sin. And and once we have this new

view of sin, if you're a true follower of Jesus, we begin to

pray and ask God to open our eyes, to see everything and

everyone through those lenses. We sit there and go, you know

what? That person is walking in

godliness. Not because they try harder,

because they're extra holy or because they have a more Direct

Line to God than I do. It's because Jesus is their

Master, or that person is walking in such blonde deception

and wickedness because their master is sin, and sin is a

cruel master. Sin always promises things that

it can never deliver. And if we're really to get

honest with ourselves about ourselves, many of us could tell

stories about how we chase after sinful things with false

promises of significance and fulfilment.

And we found that it just LED us in this spiral to where we were

far worse off than we ever were before.

Why? Because sin is a cruel master

and sin is a liar. Every single person serves a

master, either sin or Jesus. The second way that the Holy

Spirit of God will give us a new view of sin is this.

Before Jesus, I lack truth to guide me and power to change.

Me. Before Jesus, I lack truth to

guide me and power to change me. Let me kind of unpack that.

Before Jesus, I lack truth to guide me.

That doesn't mean that we didn't have access to the Bible.

I mean, we live in the Bible Belt for crying out loud, right?

I mean, you, you walk this campus for about 13 minutes,

you'll probably find a spare Bible or two.

I mean, the Bible app, the free Bible app just celebrated its

one billionth download. Worldwide at the end of 2025,

and its creators are anticipating celebrating 2

billion downloads by the year 2030.

Access to the Bible is not our problem, but just because we had

access to it doesn't mean that we cared about it.

Do you know that you can have a Bible and you can even like tip

your hat to the Bible and go, hey, that's the Bible.

I'm going to treat it with special care and still not allow

the truth of the Bible to permeate your soul and to really

make a difference in your life. You see, when when sin is your

master, let me tell you what you're guided by.

The truth that you're the truth that you're guided by is what

feels good, what looks good, and what culture says is good.

Here's the problem with that. All those lead to dead end roads

and all of those are shifting sands.

What you and I need the most is we need something that we know

is timeless. It's applicable and it's

authoritative and that's the Word of God.

Did you know the Word of God, the Bible, even though it was

written pretty much between 1500 and 2000 years ago, The New

Testament, even though it was written over span of 1500 years,

but over 40 different human authors in three different

languages on three different continents with no contradiction

whatsoever, and it's 66 books. Did you know that it is just as

as applicable to us here today as it was to the original

audience? Why is that?

It's because it's God's truth. It's God's word to us and it's

his truth for us. You see, there's something that

happens. There's something that happens

when we truly surrender our lives to Jesus.

This isn't just a book with words on its pages that we that

we read. There's something supernatural

that happens if you're a true follower of Jesus and you sit

down to read the Word of God. There's something amazing that

starts to happen. The Word of God begins to read

you. When you sit down to read the

Word of God, the Word of God begins to read you.

What do I mean by that? It means that that the Word of

God is relevant and applicable to everything that I will ever

face in the day ahead. It makes sense of my past behind

me. It gives me hope for the future

ahead of me. It is living.

It is active. If you don't have the presence

of the Holy Spirit in your life, man, it's just going to be words

on a page. Here's the thing though.

It's not just a truth to guide us.

We know that if we've been following Jesus for any amount

of time that when we read the Word of God and the Word of God

reads us, we find ourselves so inadequate to really do what

it's commanding us to do. That's because we lack the

power. Who gives us the power to live

in obedience to the Word of God? That's the Holy Spirit of God.

You see, when the whole, when you surrender your life to

Jesus, at that moment of surrender, the Holy Spirit of

God comes and lives in you and he begins to enlighten and he

begins to bring to life his word to us.

And he begins to empower us to live in obedience and to live in

holiness and to live in godliness.

It's not about trying harder, It's not about doing better.

It's not about any of that. It's about allowing the Holy

Spirit's power in US and being dependent on the Holy Spirit.

And what that means is when I come up on a passage or a

scripture. In the Bible that I don't like,

then I need to spend time with God and say, God, I need you to

go to the parts of me that don't like what your word just said

and I need you to fix me. When I come to a passage that

that honestly, it kind of offends me because you know, if

you were with us like last week and we started off where it says

likewise, wives, submit to your own husbands.

Not really a popular statement 2026, is it?

Then we need to go back to God and we say, God, I need you to

go into the deep places of me that disagree with that and kind

of bristle up at that, and I need you, your Holy Spirit.

To work in that area of my life. You.

See, that's truth to guide me and that's power to grow me.

That's a new that's that's a new view of sin that before Jesus we

didn't have either. We didn't have either.

But there's a third thing that the Holy Spirit will give us

This new view of sin following Jesus will always lead to real

transformation. It will always lead to real

transformation. I want to read to you.

A statement. I love this guy by the name of

Shane Pruitt. He's currently the National Next

Gen. Director for the North American

Mission Board. I wrote this in my journal

probably 4 years ago. A Christianity that gets you

into heaven while allowing you to continue living however you

want to here on earth is a Christianity that is completely

foreign to the New Testament. The real gospel changes who you

are, and then it changes what you do.

It changes your identity, and then it changes your activity.

In short, it is impossible. Listen to me.

It is impossible for someone to surrender their life to Jesus

and to remain the same. It's impossible if you say that

I've surrendered my life to Jesus and I've remained the

same. You may have like followed a

religious protocol. You may have gotten caught up in

a religious, an emotional hype moment.

It is impossible. You will never find an example

of of a life in the Bible or in history that gave their life to.

Jesus and still remained the same.

Let me show you let me kind of take you back to to first Peter

and this is starting in in verse three, he says for the time that

is passed. In other words, this is pre

Jesus. If you're a true follower of

Jesus, this is pre Jesus. The time that is passed suffices

for doing what the Gentiles want to do.

Let me kind of like put that in modern day, like Wallace Ease in

your past, you did whatever you wanted to do and that was cool

with you and that was cool with everybody around you.

And he's going to give us some examples living in sensuality,

passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties and lawless

idolatry with respect to this. They are surprised we're going

to come back to the day in in a moment.

They are surprised when you do not join them in the same

flooded debauchery and they malign you.

Peter goes on. But they will give an account to

him, talking about Jesus who is ready to judge the living and

the dead. For This is why the gospel was

preached even to those who are dead, spiritually dead, that

though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live

in the spirit the way that God does.

So in this passage, Peter's going to cite several examples

of pre Jesus behaviors. And I believe, I firmly believe

that the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit of God truly lives

in you and truly lives in me, truly lives in us, then he's

going to change at least three major.

Aspects of our laws if you taking notes with us, here's the

first one. He will change my appetites.

He will change my appetites and by appetites what I mean by that

is the Holy Spirit of God, if He's truly living in me and he's

doing His work in and through me.

And by the way, the work of the Holy Spirit is always about

transforming me from the inside out to help mold and shape me to

become more Christ like in that. Process the Holy Spirit will.

Change my appetites? He'll change what?

Really. Appeals to me.

He'll change the things that that I really used to, to crave,

the things that I really thought were going to bring fulfilment.

He's going to change those things that I was blinded to and

deceived by that. I thought that they would

actually bring true and lasting fulfilment.

I thought that they would bring like true and lasting love and,

and and peace into my life. He's going to change those

appetites and, and by the way, sometimes the Holy Spirit will

change those appetites overnight.

Other times, and I would even say most times, the Holy Spirit

of God will gradually, slowly but surely begin to change those

appetites. In that case, when the Holy

Spirit is beginning to change those appetites slowly but

surely, guess what? You now have the power of the

Holy Spirit living in you. To override those appetites.

We're not driven. We're not a people if you're, if

you're a true follower of Jesus, we are not a people driven by

our appetites. We're actually driven by our

mission. When we say that the Holy Spirit

will change our appetites, here's really the question we're

asking. Since Jesus, since I've

surrendered my life to Jesus, what has changed in my life?

What has changed in my life? And it's not just our appetites,

it's also our affiliations. Remember how Peter talked about

the they? You know, they do not understand

why you will not join them in this flooded debauchery.

They will malign you. Who who is The Who is the they?

It's the group of people that were closest to you in your pre

Jesus. Days can I be really open and

real and honest not everyone in your life if you surrender your

life to Jesus, not everyone in your life is going to celebrate

that applaud that and even like that.

Now here's the tension as a follower of Jesus you may say

well Ben aren't we called to reach the people around us with

the gospel of Jesus 1000% yes. We are always called to love the

people around us and to look to reach the people around us with

the gospel of Jesus, even the they in our lives.

However, not every person deserves to sit in the high

place of honor of having a primary voice in your life.

That's where you need to be very discerning.

That's where you need to pray. That's where you need a a

community, a body of believers, a church, a small.

Group that is about the same mission.

It's that iron sharpening iron, not iron being dulled over time.

It's being sharpening. You see, when we're talking

about the Holy Spirit of God changing our alliances or our

affiliations, here's the simple question we're asking Since

Jesus, since I've surrendered my life to Jesus, what does it cost

me? What does it cost?

Me, the Holy Spirit does not just change our appetites or our

affiliations. The Holy Spirit, third, also

changes our attitude. It changes our attitude.

Have you experienced that time like now that you're getting

older? Or maybe you're you, you just

walked a few more miles with Jesus to where you start to get

bothered by some things that used to not bother you.

They they used to just kind of like slide up underneath the

radar. I'm not just talking about like

people being annoying or nuances or, you know, kind of getting

into that old man get off my lawn face.

I'm talking about like, have you noticed over time, the longer

you walk with Jesus, you become more bothered by sin that used

to just fly under the radar. It's really interesting The the

apostle Paul, greatest missionary to have ever lived.

It was at the very end of his life that said that he

referenced himself as the chief among sinners.

You realize that in large part it's due to the Apostle Paul's

influence that you and I are sitting here today, right?

He was the apostle to the Gentiles.

He was the first one to take the gospel of Jesus outside of the

Jewish culture and the Jewish people.

He is responsible for preaching the gospel.

On three continents he's responsible.

He's the first one to take the gospel into what we now know is

modern day Europe. Many scholars believe that he

took it as far West as modern day Spain or Portugal, and yet

at the end of his life he referenced himself as I Paul,

the chief among sinners. How?

In the world. Could he honestly refer to

himself as the chief among sinners?

It's because the longer he walked with Jesus, the more in

tune and the more sensitive he was to the things in his life

and the things about him and his heart and in his mind that we're

no longer compatible with the new person that God had created

him to be. Same thing is true for us.

So when we're asking the Holy Spirit in us, we'll change our

convictions. And when we talk about the Holy

Spirit changing our, our, our, our attitudes, we're asking the

question, what since following Jesus, what now convicts me?

It's not about becoming legalistic.

It's not becoming about becoming a grumpy old man.

It's about, hey, there is a new sensitivity within me to the

things of God and to the things that are not of God.

And I want to be about the things that are of God, and I

want to keep far away from the things that are not of God.

So what now convicts me that I used to just let fly under the

radar? Before we go any.

Further, I think this really, really important for us just to

kind of like sit on this for a second.

Can I ask you a question? Did you struggle to answer any

of those 3 questions since following Jesus?

What has changed in my life? What does it cost me?

What now convicts me? If you struggle to answer those

three questions or you sit there and go, I don't know.

I want to tell you something very much in love this May.

Very well be the. Reason that God brought you here

this morning. If you can't answer these three

questions, there is great, there is great calls for pause, for

you to really become honest with yourself about yourself and for

you to really ask. Have I really surrendered my

life to Jesus? Have I really surrendered my

life to Jesus? Or have I just been playing a

religious game? Have I really surrendered my

life to Jesus? Or do I really just like Jesus,

what He can do for me? And I got to tell you the

greatest decision that you can possibly make is to to switch

over to change masters from sin to Jesus to where following

Jesus is not about, you know, knowing the rules of religious

game. It's about walking in

relationship. Man, how incredible would it be

for you to walk out of here this morning being filled and

empowered by the. Presence of the Holy Spirit of

God in you. But you've got to really be

honest with yourself about yourself.

Is there a difference between the pre Jesus you and the post

Jesus you? Is there a because of Jesus dot

dot dot story in your life? If not, there's a very, very

good. Chance.

A much higher likelihood than not chance that you've just been

following a religion and you haven't really surrendered your

life to Jesus. But here's the good news.

This morning you can, this morning you can.

And we'll come back to that in just a moment.

You see, the Holy Spirit of God does not just give us a new view

of sin. It actually gives us a new yes.

It gives us a new, yes, a little bit of time that we have this

morning. I want to walk you through kind

of what I mean by that. Look back with me first Peter

chapter. 4 starting in verse 7. Peter turns the corner from this

new view of sin to this new yes, and he writes the end of all

things is at hand. Therefore be self controlled and

sober minded for the sake of your prayers.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly.

Since love covers a multitude of sin.

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling as each has

received a gift to use it to serve one another as good

stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks

oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the

strength that God supplies in order both of those, in order

that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To him belong glory and dominion, forever and ever.

Amen. This new yes that God gives the

true follower of Jesus is going to start with this.

I no longer look to numb out, dumb out, or live distracted.

I now. Have a higher calling.

Correct me if I'm wrong. The vast majority of people, the

vast majority of us, we're just looking to make it through

another day. Listen, as a pastor, I am not

dumb to the reality that like towards the end of a message,

we're typically thinking of what's laying ahead of us

throughout the rest of the day and what's ahead of us at the

beginning of the week, right? Most of the time, most people,

they wake up, they do what they can do just to get it through

another day. Maybe they prepare for the day

to come. And by the time we get off work

and by the time we finish running errands and by the time

we finish cleaning up and we kind of get the the house set

and ready for the next day ahead, we're just done.

And by done, we choose to numb out and dumb out.

Just kind of let our minds. Rest a little bit and.

Then we do it all over again and all over again and all over

again. Listen, Jesus has given us a

higher calling. A higher calling.

Let me ask you a question. Do you, do you really believe

that Jesus is coming back again? Do you really believe?

It do you believe that, that that Jesus is coming back again?

Like as a matter of fact, let me kind of give you the most

elementary dust statement. Don't, don't write this down

because if somebody sees your notes be like, man, that pastor

is an idiot. That's the most common sense

thing. Here's the thing, Jesus, here's

the statement. Jesus is closer to coming back

today than he was yesterday. Can't disagree with that, right?

Do we really believe that Jesus is coming back?

Do we really believe? Do we really believe that if a

person dies before surrendering his or her life to Jesus, that

person will be separated for all eternity in a literal hell?

Do we really believe that if Jesus comes back before a person

surrenders their life to Jesus, there's not a second chance and

that person will be eternally separated from God in a literal

hell? I think that we would go

theologically, yes, we agree with that and I would agree

theologically we agree with all of that.

Yet practically we don't. We live dumbed out, numbed out

and distracted lives. And one of the things that we

need to open our eyes to is we have been given a higher calling

by God himself. We do not have time or bandwidth

to invest our lives in lesser things.

And this is the this is the calling, the higher calling that

God has placed on every single life of a follower of Jesus.

I want you. I have strategically and

intentionally placed you where you are around the people that

you're around to point them to Jesus.

That's the higher calling. That's the first yes, the second

yes, that the Holy Spirit of God gives us.

I no longer react in offense. I now respond in love.

Do you know one of the greatest exhibitions and one of the ways

that that higher calling is made most evident.

It's by the way that I respond to people.

It's by the way that I love people, especially that I love

the people of God and look to bring about godly unity.

There's a couple things that I want you to look at.

If you're if, if you have a Bible, I want you to to look

back at at first Peter 48, if you, if you have it just on your

note sheet, I want you to look back at something.

Look at those two words to where he says above all, above all,

continue loving one another. Earnestly.

A couple things, a few things that we should pay attention to.

First of all, whenever the Bible says above all, pay.

Attention to that. That's really important.

What Peter's doing here is he's elevating love in the way that

we view people and treat people as a top priority because it is

the greatest exhibition of the higher calling that he's given.

US. Where he says continue loving

one another earnestly. He goes on to to to explain and

what what that means is that it is hard to love people.

Don't give up on people, don't give up on people.

But then he makes a peculiar statement because love covers a

multitude of sins. When Peter writes love covers a

multitude of sins, he doesn't mean that like love is a is a

cover up or it just berries or piles dirt on things.

It can actually mean one of two things.

It can mean either a. That there is an intentional

effort on our part not to point out publicly the failings and

the flaws of the people around us.

That in love, we want to build that person up.

And we go to them in private and say, Hey, listen, I care for you

so much. And God really just laid this on

my heart. Can, can, can we sit down and

can we discuss something that's really weighing on me?

That's the first application of love.

Covering a multitude of sin is the second one.

And this is really hard is going to require some Christian

maturity is we intentionally and strategically just allow some

things that are hurtful and offensive to us to roll off of

our backs and just allow the Holy Spirit of God to do his

thing. Either way, I want to speak to a

small group of people. I believe that there are some

people here with us in the room and with us online that you have

been praying for a person for years.

You have been for that person and with that person for years.

And it's so hard and you're so tempted just to give up.

Here's my encouragement to you. Don't.

Don't give up praying for them. Don't give up pursuing them.

Don't give up loving them. God certainly hasn't.

Don't give up. What a tragedy it would be to

stand before God and realize that we gave up right before His

planned breakthrough in someone's life.

That third and final yes that He gives us is this is.

I no longer ask what benefits me, I now serve to point people

to Jesus. Every single one of us has been

given talents, gifts, and abilities by God.

You're good at some things that I'm not.

I may be good at some things that you're not as good at.

That's just the way that God has designed us.

I love how Peter writes, being good stewards of God's varied

grace. I love that.

Here's one of the here's one of the just head scratching things

that I see. It is so easy for people to

separate their lives into different buckets.

This is what I do for work, this is what I am good at, this is

what I enjoy doing in my free time, and then this is how I can

see that I can serve God. We have these different buckets.

Can I tell you this? If you're a true follower of

Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God wants to break down those

barriers and those compartments in your life.

Your, your, your life is not meant to be lived in various

buckets. Your life is meant to be lived

from the same bucket because you have the same purpose and the

same mission. Let me kind of put some feet on

that. Let me get you to do a quick

exercise, mental exercise in terms of vocation, in terms of

job. What do you do?

What's your job? What do you do at your job?

Think about that for a moment. And then once you have that

answer in your mind, then start asking yourself, how can I use

what I do at work to point the people around me to Jesus?

Get you to think for a moment, What are you good at?

Maybe maybe you're fortunate and blessed enough to be able your

career or your job involves actually what you're good at.

Sometimes the two just don't always line up.

Sometimes there's there's kind of like a hidden talent OR

there's something that you're doing kind of as a side hustle

that that's kind of where your heart's at.

But what are you? What are you good?

At and then ask yourself, how can I take the talent that God

has given me in this area to point people to Jesus?

What? What did?

What do you? Enjoy doing like in in your free

time. And if you're a young parent, I

know that you're sitting there going, ah, I remember free time.

But what, what do you, what do you enjoy doing in your free

time? And then ask yourself.

Hey, how can I? Take what I just really enjoy

and how can I use that to point the people around me to Jesus?

You see that that is living on mission.

That is the new yes that the Holy Spirit of God has given us

here's what we want to do as we as we draw to A to a close this

morning. I want to give us just kind of a

time of of reflection and A and a time of really just an

opportunity to respond and to kind of help us.

God got us in that reflection and response.

We want to walk us through four key questions.

Here's the first one. Is there evidence of Jesus true

transformation of my life. Let me kind of just summarize

that even further down. Do you know?

That you have truly surrendered your life to Jesus.

Are you truly following Jesus or you just really like what Jesus

can do for you? Is the Holy Spirit, do you know

that there is a time to where you surrender your life to Jesus

where the Holy Spirit of God now lives in you and based off of

those questions that we walked through earlier.

Use that kind of as a self diagnostic and you may be

sitting here thinking Ben I. Cannot point to the ways in

which I've been Jesus changed me, or what now convicts me, or

what it's cost me. Then would you pray?

Would you? Pray that I want to know that I

have a relationship with Jesus, a new relationship with Jesus

and a real relationship with Jesus.

And I don't want to be playing a religious game.

If that's you, in just a moment, I'm going to invite you to do

something kind of bold. We'll, we'll all be standing and

there'll be other people coming down to pray, but I just want

you to step out. I'll be over here and one of our

other pastors will be over here. I just want you to step out, go

to the closest pastor and say, hey, would you pray for me?

I want to know that I am a true follower of Jesus.

Second question, if you only if you have that first question

nailed down, can you go to the next question?

But if you have that answer nailed down here, here it is.

What is my personal higher calling?

What is my personal higher calling?

Look at where. God has placed you how He has

wired you, how He has gifted you and the people these placed

around you. Look at your.

Sphere of influence and how you can point those people to Jesus.

Third question, what does love require of me?

Says love covers a multitude of sins.

You know what sometimes love requires That we pray to God and

say God. What that person said or did was

really hurtful, harmful, and offensive.

I need you to give me the discernment of whether or not I

need to pray. That You would soften my heart

to a degree to where I can then go approach that person out of

love and out of my desire. That you grow them and

godliness, not out of vengeance or hurt or offense.

Or, Holy Spirit, I need you to give me the sermon.

Is this something that I should just kind of let roll off my

back and for me to kind of dust the dirt off my sandals and move

on and just let you do your? Thing in that person's life.

By the way, love also sometimes involves lovingly correcting

somebody, not because we are holier than thou or want to be

smarter or superior, but because we want them to grow in

godliness. What does love require of me?

Maybe love requires for you a renewed commitment.

I'm not going to give up on that person.

I'm not going to give up pray, and I'm not going to give up

showing them Jesus through my actions and through my words.

Fourth question is this, in what ways am I serving to point

people to Jesus? I love how Peter here in first

Peter 4 he kind of divides gifts, giftedness into two broad

categories. Where he says, hey, listen, if

if you're gifted in speaking, speak with the authority and

boldness that God gives you. Speak as if speaking oracles

from God. But if you're not good at.

Speaking if you're not good at speaking.

Or or or or or teaching then God has gifted you in more of a

hands on type of servant mentality and if that's the

case, serve as if serving with the strength.

Of God. Here's my question to you.

How are you serving to point people to Jesus in just a

moment? Here's what we're going to do.

I'm going to pray over us. And then after I pray, we're

going to stand. We're going to we're going to

sing and give you a chance to respond.

Again, if you were with us last week, we talked about the power

of living in relationships. So here's what I would tell you,

if there's areas that we've just covered that you know that you

need to respond to this morning by coming down and pray, I would

just encourage you, if you're married, bring your spouse with

you. Come pray.

Pray for him, Pray for her. If you need.

The assurance of knowing that you have a true relationship

with Jesus. We would love to pray with you.

My hope, my desire, my prayer is that you would simply be

obedient to what God is calling you to do and to step out in

boldness and come pray with us. Let's pray.

God, we love you, and we thank you for who you are, for your

word, for your truth to us. God for your Holy Spirit power

in US. God, for your invitation for

those that are far from you to come to you.

God, I pray that you would help if anyone's struggling with

knowing whether or not he or she is truly following you and has

given their life to you. God, if they're struggling with

that, if they're on the fence and not sure, God, I pray that

you would give them the boldness to God that you would give them

the burning. Desire to step out to come talk

to a pastor. God that they would not leave

this place without having that nailed down and being sure God,

for those that are sure, God, I pray that you would refocus our

hearts and our minds to that higher calling that you've given

us. God help us to understand that

our lives are not about us. They're about making you known.

So God in the ways. In which we need to surrender.

The parts of us. That continue need to be formed

and shaped and molded and hewn to be in compatibility with your

heart and your desire and your mission for us.

God, we want to come and we want to lay that.

Down got to pray that you would move in freedom and move with

power and it's in Jesus name that we pray, Amen.

Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast.

To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church,

connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.