Living Holy | Living Well (Part Three)

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.

Absolutely love that story about Matt and Betsy and and Jason.

I remember very vividly Jace coming up to me and said he

brought his jar of water that morning of being baptized and,

and, and asked if he could pour it in.

And I was like, absolutely. So if you were baptized the

morning that Jace was baptized, congratulations, you also got

baptized in Jace's Jarred water. Also, if you if, if some of you

husband's out there, if you didn't know why last January,

you your wife wouldn't let you eat sugar now you found out.

So I love that line to where Jace asked Betsy Mom won't miss

Julie let you eat sugar. But you know it was it was

absolutely amazing just to see God work in their lives.

Absolutely amazing to see God work in the lives of, of so many

different ones of us over last year's 21 days of prayer and

fasting. And I hope that you find the

these stories and these testimonies encouraging because

what God has done in, in, in their lives, God wants to do in,

in, in your life and in my life. And that's why we are in this

season of 21 days of prayer and fasting.

If you're if you're new with us this morning, my name is Ben.

If we haven't had the chance to meet yet and get to serve as the

lead pastor and we are in fact in a season to where we call 21

days of prayer and fasting. We started last Sunday and

essentially we are choosing to intentionally go without

something. For some that's that that's

that's food all together. For some that's a meal, for

others that that social media. For others, that that may be a

type of food like sugar. It can be anything, but instead

of concentrating on what we're going without, we are doing

that. We're choosing to intentionally

go without something in order so that we can make more room for

God in our lives to, to replace the time that we spend typically

doing something where there's eating a meal or, or, or

scrolling social media, to intentionally spend that time

with God in prayer and, and reading his word.

So you may be asking if you're new to Riverbend, like why, why,

why go through all of this? Why, Why do that?

You know, why? Why focus so much on a, on an

intentional season of, of prayer?

Why go without food for a certain amount of time or a meal

or, or something that we normally go through?

Why? Why write and print and and and

give away devotionals to, to, to help God during these 21 days?

Why replace Danny's doughnuts with apples and bananas?

If you're new to Riverbend and you didn't know anything about

Danny's doughnuts, man, you don't know.

Come back and come back at the end of this month.

But why are we doing all this? I think it's really important

that we come back to the why, right?

Because my prayer, our prayer, our desire and our hope for you

and, and, and whether you're with us in the room or online,

is that you would be able to look back over this season, over

this specific season of life. You'll be able to look back over

it with, with a fondness and, and, and, and realizing that

over these 21 days that there is a closeness to God that you've

never experienced before. You're experiencing God like

you've never experienced him before that you would be able to

look back over the season and you would absolutely be able to

say, man, I lived well. That was a season of my life in

which I lived well. And those two words live well.

We talked last week about how there's no shortage of opinions

or definitions of what that means, right?

But at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters in

terms of defining what living well really means and what it

looks like is God's. If you have a, if you have your

note sheet with you, I want to show you something.

It's actually serving as the main, the big idea or the main

truth throughout this series. And we believe that it's really

what God's definition of living well actually looks like.

And this is going to be carrying us through the months of January

and then on into next month as well.

To live well is to live God's way.

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

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

Now for us to discover, for you and I to discover what it means

to live God's way, then we've got to know God's Word.

And throughout the months of January and February, we're

going to be diving in and walking through a book of the

Bible called First Peter. It's called First Peter.

And Peter is going to guide us into the different facets of

what living God's way looks like, whether it's being firm in

faith or steady in trials or, or or anchored in hope.

And if you have a Bible with you, I want to invite you to

find First Peter chapter 1. And this morning we're going to

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

be starting in verse 13. We're going to be picking it up

in verse 13. If you don't have a Bible with

you, then no worries. The passage that we're going to

be walking through this morning is actually at the top of your

note sheet. And it's going to be on the

screen behind me just so that we can all, we can all be on the

same page here. But as you're making your way

there give you a little bit of important context about the book

of first Peter. The author of first Peter is a

guy by the name of of Peter. Peter, if you didn't know Peter

was one of Jesus closest friends home on this earth.

And if you're curious, right after first Peter comes the book

of second Peter. He also wrote that the second

thing that you need to know about the book of first Peter is

the book that we now have as first Peter was originally

written as a letter and it was originally written to and

circulated by persecuted Christians around 60 AD in Asia

Minor. You see, the Roman Empire was

the was the was the major military force, the major global

power of that day. And there was a great

persecution that came across the church came across Christians.

So Peter is writing this letter that we now have as a book, and

it was circulated by these early persecuted Christians.

But the third thing that you need to know about the book of

first Peter is it was not written.

It was not written to people who have their act together.

It was not written to people that everything's just seemingly

falls into place and goes their way.

It was actually written to a group of people that that that

knew what trials were, that knew what hardships were that it was

written. It was written to the to the

broken. It was written to some to to

people that sometimes felt forgotten.

It was written to the embattled. It was written to, it was

written to us. So if you're with us this

morning in the room or online and you're that first group to

where life always seems to fall into place and you got your act

together and man, it just always turns up aces for you.

We invite you back next week. This week isn't for you, but for

the rest of us. For the rest of us.

I want to dive into first Peter Chapter 1 and what we're going

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

to be doing this morning is we're going to be taking this

passage and we're going to be almost like splitting it into

two. So I want you to check this out

first Peter chapter one, verse 13.

It says, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being

sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be

brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

You see this verse right here, verse 13 is actually going to

serve kind of as the launching pad into 1415 and 16.

And what I mean by that is if you were with us last week, you

know that everything that we talked about kind of boiled down

to that one word, trust. Trust.

Who do I trust to, to, to, to set my attention on?

Because as we talked about last week, where our attention is or,

or where we place our attention, that will inevitably guide our

steps. Who do I trust to put as King of

my life when I I've got to trust God that He knows the ways in

which I need to grow and the ways in which I will grow.

But I also have to trust God that He will allow not an inch

more than is needed in terms of trials that will grow me closer

to Him. Trusting that with God, if I'm a

follower of Jesus, everything that is ahead of me is far

greater than everything that is behind me.

Is that word trust this morning? I think one of the key words

that we need to kind of hone in on, especially as we go into

verses 1415 and 16, is the word definition.

More specifically, right definition.

So if you have a note sheet with you and you're taking notes with

us, I want to walk through four things that we need right

definition for. Here's the first one is Peter is

going to go on to start and say therefore, therefore that word

starting off verse 13. Therefore write this out.

We get to live in what others can only look forward to.

We get to live in what others only could look forward to.

Now, if you ever see the word, therefore in the Bible, it's

really, really important to pay attention to what comes right

before it. And, and, and the thought that

comes right before verse 13 actually starts in first Peter

1, 10. This is what Peter writes

concerning this salvation. The prophets who prophesied

about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired

carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in

them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of

Christ in the subsequent glories, it was revealed to them

that they were serving not themselves, but you in the

things that have now been announced to you through those

who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from

heaven. Check this out things into which

angels long to look. You see what we get to, what we

are living in now is what others could only look forward to.

Let me say that a different way. In your Bible, there's 66 books

of your Bible. You got the Old Testament.

You got the New Testament, 39 books of the Old Testament, 27

books of the New Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, those 39

books of the Old Testament, we're all looking ahead at a

promised Savior. That means that from from Noah

to, to Abraham to to Joseph to Moses and Joshua and Ruth and

David and Solomon to to Esther and Isaiah and Jeremiah and

Daniel, they were all looking ahead at this prophesied at this

upcoming Messiah. They were all their hope was

always looking ahead. These 39 books of the Old

Testament, it's almost like collectively they are screaming

together. When the Savior gets here, He

will rescue us. Now we here in 2026, we who are

living on the other side of the empty tomb, we're living on the

other side of the empty tomb. So we get to live in what they

could only look forward to. And here's what I would say in

terms of why that matters is, isn't it so easy for us to take

for granted what has been done for us and given to us?

And I think it's very important that we come back and we start

this conversation, this message this morning with a reminder of

all that Jesus has done for us and all that Jesus has given us.

It's the therefore that starts off everything.

Second phrase this morning is this therefore preparing your

minds for action. And here's what I would tell you

about preparing your minds for action.

Faith is always active, never passive.

Faith is always active, never passive.

Let me kind of walk you through some distinctive differences

between the two. A passive faith.

A passive faith believes that God can act, but waits without

movement. A passive faith agrees with

truth intellectually, but their behavior remains unsane,

unchanged. So did you know that you can

believe something in your head and it not affects your feet?

It not affects your mouth? A passive faith agrees with

something intellectually, yet remains unchanged in behavior.

A passive faith says God will handle it while avoiding

obedience, risk, and responsibility.

That's a passive faith. Act of faith.

Act of faith believes that God will act.

And because will God will act, I'm going to step forward in

obedience and in trust. Act of faith aligns belief with

obedience and moves even when the outcome isn't guaranteed.

And an act of faith says because I trust God, I'm going to act.

Because I trust God, I'm going to act.

This isn't your notes, but it'd be good to jot down out beside

this note. Passive faith watches, act of

faith walks. Passive faith watches, act of

faith walks. So if you want to know whether

or not you're, I think all of our default is passive faith,

but our reality that you're living out an act of faith or a

passive faith, then that's a pretty good litmus test to kind

of apply to your life. Am I watching or am I walking?

There's a huge difference. Am I watching or am I walking?

I think it's important for us to notice that when Peter says

prepare your minds for what for action, he doesn't stop there.

Third definition that we need is when Peter says being sober

minded. That means seeing clearly and

living intentionally. That means seeing clearly and

living intentionally. I think every single one of us,

whether you're new to church, whether you're a veteran of

church, whether you're looking around for a church or you've

called Riverbend home for for years or maybe even decades.

Whether you're young or whether you're old, whether you've read

the Bible cover to cover multiple times or or or or

whether like maybe this is your first time going into the Bible.

I think we would all agree that the stakes of every day are so

high, aren't they? The the stakes are so high every

single day. And, and here's here's what I

mean. The stakes of like, maybe, maybe

it's just like a peaceful heart. Maybe maybe it is a maybe it is

a healthy mind. The the stakes.

And, and when we talk about stakes, I'm talking about not

just the the well-being here and now, but but the eternity of our

spouse or our family or our kids.

The stakes are so, so high every single day, yet it is so easy.

And maybe I'm the only one. I don't think I am, but maybe

I'm the only one. It is so easy for us to numb

out, dumb out and be distracted by lesser things.

And what Peter is telling us here when he says be sober

minded. And it is basically, hey, you

need to realize, we need to realize that every single day

the stakes are so high that we have got to live with

intentionality, which means that I've got to intentionally remove

the things that numb me, dumb me, and distract me so that I

can see clearly, so that I can hear God clearly, and so that I

can lead in the direction that the Holy Spirit is calling me to

lead. Being sober minded.

And then there's a fourth definition that we need to get

up underneath our belt and or to dive into the whole issue of

being holy is set your hope fully write this out to the

side. That means no safety Nets.

That means no backup plans. That means no safety Nets.

That means no backup plans. Simply put, this is a burn.

The ships not going back, no turning back all in type of

faith. One of the things that that I

know that I'm guilty of and I I see people all all over the

place that are very guilty of is we want to see God do all in

miracles while we live by a halfway in type of faith.

And when Peter says setting your hope fully, it means that,

listen, I'm not turning back because I'm not going back type

of resolve. That means that if I find out,

if we find out that Jesus was not who he says that he was and

did not do what the Bible tells us that he did, we're not just a

saddened person looking to like kind of reshuffle the deck in

our life. We are absolutely a devastated

people with no source of hope whatsoever.

No source of hope. So with these 4 definitions in

mind that I understand that I am living in a time of history on

this side of the empty tomb of a falling and the indwelling of

the Holy Spirit. That understanding that I'm

called to live an active type of faith and and I'm resolved to

see clearly and intentionally removing the distractions out of

my life because I realized that the stakes are so high and

living in a no turning back type of faith that gives us context

for what comes next. That gives us context to

obedience. That gives us context to the

rest of what Peter's going to walk us through in verses 1415

and 16. Check this out.

Peter writes this in verse 14. As obedient children, as we keep

everything that we just talked about kind of at the forefront

of our mind, those right definitions.

So as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of

your former ignorance, but as he who called you as holy, you also

be holy in all your conduct since it is written, you shall

be holy, for I am holy. Now do not, do not, do not gloss

over those first few words. As a matter of fact, you may

want to circle those or underline those on your note

sheet, maybe even highlight them, circle them, underline

them in your Bible. Those first 3 words as obedient

children. Those are huge.

Those are huge. Did you know that if you've if

you've asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins and.

Asked him to take control of your life and you committed to

following him for the rest of your life.

Did you know that that God doesn't look at you as a as a

stranger or an outsider? God doesn't even greet you

necessarily as a as a friend. God views you as a son or a

daughter, as children and as children.

It means that you are loved by God.

It means that you are accepted by God.

It means that you are welcomed by God as obedient children.

Now, a lot of times we start to bristle up at that whole notion

of obedience because I think that we may have things a little

bit twisted in the way that we understand our obedience to God.

I wrote this in your notes. Check this out.

Our obedience to God as our heavenly Father flows from a

relationship not out of fear and not out of performance.

Not out of fear, not out of performance.

Think about this. Our earthly parents, if you had

a, if you had a, a great relationship with your earthly

parents. I, I've been very fortunate.

I've been very, very blessed to be raised in the home and raised

in the family that I've been raised in.

If you don't know this, my dad, he he goes by his middle name,

which is which is Wayne and but his first name is actually John.

So my dad's first and middle name is literally John Wayne.

How cool is that? Did my granny and Paw paw know

who John Wayne was? Absolutely not.

But they ended up giving my dad a really cool name, right?

John Wayne Wallace. I will always be the son of John

Wayne Wallace, always be the son of John Wayne Wallace.

There's nothing that I can do that changes that identity.

I don't, I don't look to please my dad because I'm, I'm afraid

of him and I don't look to please my dad because I want to

try to earn something. I want, I want to try to earn

his love or his favour. I, I want to please my dad

because it comes out of relationship.

And the same thing's true for you and I.

You see, the most definitely is to be a sense of awe and wonder

when we approach God. He is wholly other than us,

right? He is majestic, His grandeur.

It is greater than we can possibly imagine.

But that doesn't mean that we approach him with a timid fear.

And, and certainly we are to be obedient to Him and live in

obedience and live by his words and his will and his ways for

us, but not in a way in which we're trying to perform for Him

and try to earn that love. So with that in mind, what is

Peter telling us to be obedient to God in?

He's saying, listen as obedient children, be holy, be holy.

Well, what does that mean? What does it mean?

And what does it look like for you and I to be holy?

For us to discover that there are three things that I want us

to walk through this morning. Here's the first one.

It means that because of Jesus we are different, so we're

called to be different. Because of Jesus we are

different. We are different, so we're

called to be different. This means like we talked about

last week, giving asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins,

asking the Holy Spirit of God to come into your life to help take

control of your life and guide your life, and committing to

following God with your whole life for the rest of your life.

The Bible uses a term called born again.

Born again. It means that you are, if that

is something that you've already done, like we we were talking

about or Matt and Betsy were talking about with Jace, he did.

If that's the step in obedience that you've taken, it means that

you've been born again. You're a new creation.

Now being a new creation, of course, doesn't mean that you

have a new identity. You have a new Social Security

card that your, that your credit history is automatically like,

you know, erased that bad credit history.

It it means that you are becoming a new person.

It means that it means with the Holy Spirit living in you, that

the Holy Spirit of God is transforming you from the inside

out. And as the Holy Spirit begins to

transform you from the inside out, it means the things that

were, that, that, that were, that were flashy and appealing

and, and, and, and drawing your attention and, and your

affection and your devotion before Jesus, They, they kind of

lose that luster. You're, you're, you're a new

person because of Jesus. And if you're a new person

because of Jesus, then we're called not to go back to our

former ways of, of, of living. You see, you and I, we have been

made new. So we don't, we don't return to

the former ways of doing life. In your notes I gave you, I gave

you 2 words. The first one, first one is a

Greek word. The reason I gave you this Greek

word is because we know that the New Testament was written in the

Greek language. Here's that Greek word hagios.

Hagios, It literally means to be set apart.

So when Peter is writing in first Peter 114 and then on into

verses 15 and 16, this is the word that he is using to be set

apart. Now what does it mean for you

and I? What does it look like for you

and I to be set apart? It means that there was or there

is a way in which seems right. There was a way in which we were

once driven by our opinions and our perspectives and maybe

cultural norms, by what looked good and seemed good and felt

good before Jesus and, and, and that way of doing life.

A, a way that is centered around personal perspectives and

opinions and cultural norms. A way that is centered around

what looks good and seems good and feels good to people.

That that is the norm by which people live life that are

unbelievers, that that have not surrendered their lives to

Jesus. And what Peter's telling us

here, what Peter's telling us here is we are to be set apart

from the normal standard of life, from an unbelieving world

and culture, from an unbelieving world and culture.

Here's why. It's because if we have been

made new, then we are to live new.

If we've been made different, then we are to live different.

And it's all because we now have.

If you've surrendered your life to Jesus, we now have a new

standard of living. And the standard of living is a

biblical standard. Or another way of saying that is

we now have a biblical ethic. It means that what my thoughts

about sexuality and identity and, and, and marriage and

relationships and finances and, and, and integrity, they're all

anchored in a biblical ethic. What God's word says, not

necessarily what my culture says, not necessarily what my

family may say, not necessarily what may seem good, feel good,

none of that. We are called to live different

because we are different. Now here's the catch.

Many times it's very easy for Christians to take that whole

issue of being holy and to veer off course.

And the best way that I can show you that it's easy for us to

veer off course is that second word that I gave you in your

notes sheet. And it's actually a Hebrew word,

parash. Parash.

This comes from directly from the Old Testament.

Parash means to literally separate.

Now at first glance, to be set apart and to separate look

pretty similar, don't they? But the more we dive into it,

the more we see that they're actually completely different.

You see, to separate often means that we withdraw.

To be set apart means that we live in the midst of.

To separate focuses in more on what we are not a part of.

To be set apart focuses more in on who we belong to.

The reason that that's so important is because if we focus

so much on to separate, guess what happens?

We become judge mental, We become legalistic, we become

Pharisaical, we become little Pharisees.

For that reason, it is no wonder that parash is actually the

Hebrew word in which Pharisee comes from.

You see, there's a Hebrew word for holiness, Kadesh or kadosh.

And in kadosh Peter is going to cite when he says for the Lord

who is called for God, who has called you holy, has said be

holy for I am holy. Back in first Peter 116, he's

citing Leviticus 1144. In Leviticus 1144 the word

kadosh is there holy. Be holy, for I am holy kadosh.

But over time, it became very, very easy for the people to

begin to veer off course from a kadosh to a Paresh.

And what I would tell you, church is in our pursuit of

holiness, that pursuit cannot veer off course into becoming

legalistic and becoming judgmental and becoming weird

for weird's sake. It is actually living on

purpose. It is actually living on

mission. Like I said, a Paresh or to live

separate from focuses much more in on what we are not a part of.

Whereas A Hagios, a holy aspect to be set apart that focuses

much more in on who we belong to or set another way.

Here's the second thing in your notes is holiness is not just

about our distance from an unbelieving world and culture.

It's more about our closeness to our to our holy God.

Holiness is not just about our distance from an unbelieving

world and culture, it's more about our closeness to a holy

God. For this reason, did you know

that you can separate yourself from all things unholy and still

not live holy? Now make no mistake about it, as

followers of Jesus, there are most definitely things that we

should have no part of. There are most definitely things

that we should have no part of. We should have no part of

pornography. We should have no part of sex

outside of marriage. We should have no part of

identity confusion. We should have no part of

holding on to grudges and unforgiveness.

We should have no part of celebrating somebody else's

downfall. We should have no part of

vulgarity. And we should we We could go on

and on and on about the things that we should have no part of.

But we should have no part of those things, not because we are

superior or holier in thou, but because they are no longer

compatible with who God has now made us to be.

So how do we live this new life? How do we grow in this new

identity of who God has made us to be?

It all goes back to relationship.

It all goes back to the more time realizing that, the more

time that I spend time with God in prayer, reading His Word, and

actually allowing Him to guide my choices and decisions each

and every day. Guess what?

I'm not only grow closer to Him, but His character begins to rub

off on me. And the things that I once were

drawn to, I'm no longer drawn to because I'm drawn to the things

of God, not the things of this world.

You see, holiness is not just about the distance from an

unbelieving world or culture. And one of the things that you

know as well as I do, this isn't breaking news.

Most of the time, Christians are known more for what they are

against rather than what they are for.

I think a lot of times it's because we exchange the to be

set apart from the for the to separate.

But you cannot underestimate the fact that to grow in holiness,

It's not so much about a distance from an unbelieving

world and culture. It's actually about more more

closeness to our holy God. As we turn a corner and head

down the final stretch this morning, there's one last thing

that I want to spend a little bit of time walking through and

it is huge. It's huge.

And this may my, my hope is is this last part that we're about

to talk about. It frees you up, it encourages

you and it propels you. Here it is.

Holiness is not a goal to be achieved.

It's a life to step into. It's not a goal to achieve.

It's a life to step into. Set another way.

There will never be a point in time to where you and I or any

of us can ever look in our mirror and go, man finally made

it. I am holy.

If you do know that you now struggle with pride and lying,

therefore you're not holy. There will never be a point in

time to where you or or or me or any of us will ever be able to

look in the mirror and go, man, I have finally made it.

I am now holy. Listen, I, I, there's a part of

me that that wishes that we could, we could kind of end our

time with a, with a 10 step program for holiness.

But that's not what Holiness is. Holiness is not about a ten step

program. Holiness is actually about a

daily pursuit. And if we're really to get real

and honest with ourselves, it's not just a daily pursuit.

It is a moment by moment pursuit.

Holiness is not a goal to achieve.

It is a life to step into. It is basically waking up, even

though we'll never be able to wake up.

Look ourselves in the mirror and go, man, I finally made it

today. I'm holy.

I'll check that box. I hope everybody notices.

I am now holy. We'll never achieve that because

holiness is not a goal to achieve.

But what we can do is we can wake up each morning with a

simple prayer and go, God, I want to pursue holiness today.

God, would you? Would you guide me in making

decisions and choices that align with Your Word and Your will and

Your ways? God, Would you?

Would you open my eyes and open my my ears and open, open my

mind to God? There may be some things that

I'm involved with right now that are not compatible with who You

have made me. Now that I am born again, God,

would you reveal those things to me so that I can take those

things off? And when I take those things

off, God, I can pick up your way for me.

God, would you? Would you help me to see people

and to hear people and to treat people the way that you see and

hear and treat people? God, I want to dedicate this day

to you. That's the pursuit of holiness.

That's the pursuit of holiness. That is a life to step into.

And here's the great news church, that step can happen.

It can start this morning. It can start this morning to

kind of prime the pump of maybe some things that we need to to

hand over to God. I want to walk you through two

key questions this morning. Number one, what does obedience

look like for me today? What does obedience look like

for me today? You know, I'm, I'm more and more

convinced that the vast majority of us, whether we're in the room

or join us online, we come into this morning, we come into the

service having a pretty good idea of what God wants us to do.

We're just very hesitant and fearful to do it.

So what does obedience look like for you today?

Here's the second one. Where is God inviting me to walk

differently today? Again, we are to live different,

not just to be weird. We are to live different because

we now are different. You, you know, this, this

process of God transforming us from the inside out.

It's, it's, it's revealing the things in our lives that are no

longer compatible with this new life.

And it's also revealing the things that are that are missing

in our lives that that aren't compatible with this new life.

So here's the question, where is God inviting me to walk

differently today? In just a moment, we're going to

pray and we'll stand and we'll sing again.

And I just want to give you the opportunity to respond.

Remember how I said that holiness is, is really a life to

step into. And that life to step into can

start today. It always, always, always,

always. It always starts with surrender,

and surrender is simply this. As God, I'm going to bow my knee

to you and I acknowledge you as God, and I acknowledge that you

can do things in and through me that no one else can.

God, you love me like no one else does.

God, you desire good for me like no one else does.

God, would you show me the parts of me that don't match up with

you? It, it, it starts with bowing

the knee. And when we bow the knee there,

there's a there's a moment, there's a time of confession and

confession basically is just saying, God, you go to the

deepest parts of me to do your deepest work in me.

And God, if you show me anything in my life that's not compatible

with you, God, I want to, I want to confess that before you as

sin and then after confession. So it's surrender and then it's

confession and then it's God. Would you guide me?

And we're going to give you the opportunity to do that in just a

moment. So we do that by we're going to,

in just a moment, pray and stand and sing and open up this front.

If you want to come and talk and pray with a pastor, that's what

we're here for. If you want to just come and

kneel and pray here to where you say, hey, right here, January

18th, 2026. I'm not looking to achieve

holiness, but I'm looking to step into a life of pursuing

holiness starting now. Then we encourage you to come

and pray. And do that business with God.

Pray with me. God, we love you and we thank

you for your word and for your love.

God, you desire good for us. God, when you call us to be holy

God, I pray that you would help us to understand that the basis

of our obedience is is relationship with you.

God, we don't do it because we're afraid of you or we're

trying to earn your favor or your love.

God, we do it because we acknowledge you as our heavenly

Father. God, I pray that if there's

anyone in here this morning that God, that there's some things

that you're working in our lives.

God, there's a step of faith that you have called us to

actively take. God, I pray that we would be

obedient to take that that step. God, if there's anything in our

lives that is incompatible with the new US that you created all

the calls of Jesus, God, I pray that you would allow that to

rise to the top of our minds. And God, that we would hand that

over to you. We would confess that as sin and

ask that you forgive that sin. God, I pray that you would work

and that you would move in freedom and empower during this

time. 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.