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.
That was a video, just a snapshot of what our student and
student, students and student ministry have gone through this
past weekend. Got to experience through United
Weekend. If you were a part of United
Weekend, whether it's a student, a host, home transportation,
helping with some of our serve teams, food teams, if you would
just slip it, slip up your hand really quick.
A lot of them are downstairs. Thank you so much on behalf of
the rest of us. We are tired.
On behalf of you, thank you again so much for serving.
Right now our students are downstairs eating breakfast.
Our host homes are probably getting a quick nap in.
Small group leaders are probably still running on adrenaline.
But we can't wait just to hear about everything that God has
done in and through our students and our families out of this
weekend. So always an awesome privilege
of being a part of a church that gathers along with gathers
alongside other churches in our community, in our area, just to
come together and just lift Jesus high, proclaim his word
and just lead students into into a word of encouragement into a
deeper relationship with God. So we'll be hearing more about
United Weekend. Couple things that I do want to
kind of put on your radar is believe it or not, Easter is
actually rapidly approaching. I want to kind of put on your
radar. There's some things that are
coming up to get you to go ahead and pencil in on your calendars
for Easter week, Easter week, Easter Riverbend.
We're going to have a Good Friday service on Friday, April
3rd at 5:30 in this room. Just a really powerful time to
where we come together and just really take a look at everything
that Jesus went through for us. If you're here with us last year
and we went, we did a Good Friday service.
You know what a powerful time and a powerful experience that
was. So that's going to be that
Friday. Also on Saturday, the following
day, April 4th at 5:30, we're doing a special volunteer Easter
service back in this room. We're going to be doing the
exact same thing on Saturday night as we're going to be doing
on the following morning that Easter morning.
The reason that we're doing this is because we need help serving
our community, serving all the people that are going to be
coming onto our campus for Easter.
We need help in volunteers in our various ministry areas.
And you're going to be here more about that next week.
But we want to provide a special Easter service for you, the
volunteers, and that's going to be on Saturday, April 4th from
at 5:30. We're going to have child care
from birth to to three-year olds for that service.
And then of course, on Easter Sunday morning, that's going to
be on April 5th where it falls on the calendar.
We'll have our 9:30 and our 11th service with overflow in our
both of our Little River and river kids environments.
We'll be open and really looking forward to being able to pour
into pour into your kids. So really excited about
everything that that God has teed up for us.
Also next week we're going to be starting a brand new series
called Borrowed, Borrowed. And here's the gist of the
series. In Scripture, we see Jesus
borrowing 5 things. He borrowed a boat, He borrowed
some bread, He borrowed a donkey.
He borrowed a room, and he borrowed a tomb.
And we're going to come back together next week and we're
going to find out the significance of not only why he
borrowed those things, but what it actually means to you and I.
That's going to lead us through through this Easter season.
But as excited as I am about that series starting, I'm really
excited about being able to close out the series that we've
been in kicking since the very beginning of 2026, our Live Well
series. So if you were with us
throughout this series, it's been a non week journey.
It's a series that took us through our 21 days of prayer
and fasting. If there's any part of the
series that that you weren't able to pick up or maybe you're
just new to Riverbend, we would highly encourage you to go back
and kind of listen through where we've been.
You can access that through the Riverbend Church app or our
website or our YouTube channel or wherever you may listen to
podcasts. But it's, I hope that it's
really been a time to where you've been encouraged through
God's word that you, that you may have received a challenge to
grow deeper and experience God in a, in a, in a more real way
in your life. Maybe, maybe for you, it's been
a it's been really a series about the hope that can only
come through Jesus. As you know, if you've been with
us throughout this series, we've been allowing a small book
that's at the end of your Bible book called first Peter to be
our God throughout this Bible. And even though it's a small
book in size, it's absolutely just jam packed with some
incredible, applicable and awesome truth that God has for
us. So if you're, if you're new to
Riverbend, you're new to this series, I want to introduce you
to the main truth or what we've been calling the big idea
throughout the series. If you've been with us, this
would be one last time to walk through this big idea.
And it's to live well. It's to live God's way, firm in
faith, steady in trials, and anchored in hope to live well.
And, and this is the overall premise or the gist of the
series. God actually created you.
He loves you, and he desires his ultimate good for you.
For every single one of us. He desires that we live well.
And the disconnect between God's definition of of living well and
our definition of living well is often our definition involves
God giving us everything that we want.
Yet, however, when we look at God's word, we discover that God
actually loves us way too much to do that to us.
He wants he he knows that our best definition of living well
is for you and I to live out to become the man or woman that he
created us to be. So life is going to be a
constant refining and a dependence on him and, and, and
a growing in relationship with him and, and, and out of that
growing in relationship, there is a love and a peace and a
patience and, and, and a mercy and A and a gentleness and a
kindness that can only come from an experience with him, from a
relationship with him. Like I said, we've been going
through the book of First Peter, and this morning we're going to
end that journey in First Peter with a passage that I would tell
you that if there's one passage in the entire book that I would
encourage you to highlight, underline, memorize, and dig
deeper into is the passage that we're going to walk through this
morning. It's found in First Peter
chapter 5. So if you have a Bible and just
invite you to make your way there.
If you don't have a Bible, then no worries, it's on the top of
your note sheet. Whether it's the hard copy note
sheet that you were handing on your way in or maybe you're
taking notes with us on the on the Riverbend Church app, it's
there as well and it's going to be on the screen.
So with that said, here's what I want to do.
Let's go ahead and read it together.
Humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God so
that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your
anxieties on him because he cares for you.
Be sober minded. Be your adversary.
The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour. Peter goes on.
Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of
suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout
the world. And after you have suffered a
little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his
eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm,
strengthen, and establish you to Him.
Be the dominion forever and ever.
A So here's what I want to do. I want to jump straight in and I
want us to look at. There are three distinct
promises that God gives us in this passage of Scripture.
If you're taking notes with us, here's the first one.
The more I humble myself before God, the more He can do through
me. The more I humble myself before
God, the more He can do through me.
Now here's the thing about humility.
Humility is always a journey. It's never really a destination.
And what I mean by that is there will never be a point in time to
where we can look at ourselves in the mirror and honestly be
able to say, hey, after all this time and after all this hard
work, I'm finally humble. That's just a complete oxymoron.
There'll never be a point in time to where we say, listen, I
have arrived. I am humble is not how humility
humility works right? Here's the thing about humility
though. Humility is not walking around
with a lesser than type of attitude.
It's walking around with and it's living with a all the cause
of God type of attitude. Humility is this intentional
daily commitment to empty myself of self so that I can make more
room for God to fill me and for God to use me.
You see, the more I am emptied of self and the more that I am
filled with God, then I begin to understand that I am an
instrument in God's hand and you're an instrument in God's
hand. And that means that God can use
you however He wants to use you where he wants to use and when
He wants to use you. You see, if you really want to
be used by God, if you really want to be able to look back
over your life and go listen, there were a lot of UPS, there
were a lot of downs. There were a lot of failings
there. There were a lot of mistakes in
my life. But I can say that I was used by
God. If you really want to be used by
God, it has got to start with an attitude of humility.
It's got to start with the intentional emptying yourself of
self so that you may be filled more with Him.
Second promise that Peter gives us in this The more I cast my
anxieties on God, the more I rest in His care for me.
The more I cast my anxieties on God, the more I can rest on His
care for me. I want you to check out what
Peter says very commonly used or known verse casting all your
anxieties or or stresses or cares.
Many translations say cares casting all your cares or
anxieties on him because he because God cares for you,
because God cares for you. There's 2 words that we cannot
casually skip over the first one.
If you're taking notes on our note sheet, I'd encourage you to
circle the word casting. Circle that word casting.
The reason I want you to circle that word casting is we know
that the Greek or that the Bible, the New Testament was
written in the Greek language. The Greek word that Peter uses.
There is a word that's called aparrypto.
Aparrypto literally means to heave upon or to hurl and it
signifies like an actual throwing, forceful throwing act.
This word aparipto casting is used only twice in the in the
New Testament. It's used only twice in the
entire Bible. The first one is found in Luke
chapter 19, and it describes someone throwing a heavy blanket
on the back of a donkey. And the second one is used here
in first Peter 57. You may say, OK, Ben, what's the
big deal? Here's the big deal.
I think that a lot of times when we think about casting all of
our care, casting all of our anxiety on God, it's almost this
like soft, like gentle, like offering up to God.
God, you know that this is what I'm going through.
Would you please take it from me?
And what Peter's telling us is, no, no, no, it's not this like
soft, gentle offering to God. It is a hurling.
It is a heaving. There is a deep emotional, even
guttural sense of desperation. God, this is what I'm dealing
with. You know that I'm dealing with
it. I can't do anything with it but
you can. You take it?
And it is a throwing what is on your mind and on your heart own
to God. That is not only the invitation
of God, that is the instruction of God.
It is not just this peaceful like God.
You take it, it, it this is not going to make some like it's not
going to be like some Pinterest post with like a waterfall in
the background and A and a butterfly gently landing on a
flower type of imagery. This is deep guttural.
You take it, take it. God throwing it at God, that is
casting all your cares, all your anxieties.
Second word, I want you to underline or to circle.
Is that second word all? All?
You're going to be like, Ben, are we going to do this for
every word? No, I think it's really
important that we do it for these first 2 words though.
All is the Greek word Pisan. The sun is used all throughout
the Bible. She used all throughout the New
Testament. It means every, all, the whole,
and it signifies leaving nothing behind.
Here's why it's so important that we don't casually Passover.
The word all is if it is big enough.
If your stress, your care, your anxiety is big enough to weigh
on your heart, to weigh on your mind, it's big enough to hurl on
God. There's nothing too small.
There's nothing too minute for our Heavenly Father.
He wants you to give it all to Him.
All the whole, every. Leaving nothing behind
designates that. Listen.
Not only is humility emptying our self of self, but this whole
issue of casting all your anxieties, all your cares on him
because he cares for you is leave nothing behind.
Give it all to him. Empty yourself of that stress.
Cast it all on him because he cares for you.
This comes back to that second key point.
The degree to which I cast, I throw, I hurl.
All that it makes me anxious, all that weighs on my heart, on
my mind. The things that wake me up in
the middle of the night, the things that keep me up at night,
the things that start my day off in the morning, that are
constantly on my mind and weighing on my heart.
Those things, the degree to which I cast, I hurl.
Those things to God is the same degree to which I will be able
to experience rest all the cause of God.
I will be able to experience peace all the cause of God.
So the second promise that Peter has for us is the degree that I
cast all my cares on him, my anxieties on him is the is the
same degree to which I will be able to able to experience peace
from God. Third, promise that he has for
us. The more I can live wide awake,
the more I can resist my enemy's attacks.
The more I can live wide awake, the more I can resist my enemy's
attacks. I want you to look back.
Look back with me first, Peter, chapter 5, starting in verse 8.
Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary of the devil
prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of
suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout
the world. This passage that that's
probably one of the like I said, verses 6 through 11, probably
with the most the most key verses, the most key passage in
the entire book of first Peter. Here's why this is so important
for us to remember. Living Wide awake is
understanding that you and I, that we are under attack, that
we face spiritual attack every day.
And here's what I see as your pastor, and you probably see
this too, You've probably experienced this here.
Kind of the two trappings that I see happening when we challenge
people to kind of live wide awake is either a, we fall into
the trap of downplaying the spiritual attacks in our lives.
And when we downplay it, maybe we're just ignoring it or, or
maybe we just choose not to acknowledge that there's
spiritual attacks. Maybe maybe you're new to
church, maybe you're with us in the room or with us online and
you're new to, to, to coming to church and you're new to the
things of God and to, to Scripture.
You're, you're truly just seeking truth.
So when you hear me say that, listen, we are under spiritual
attack, there may be a little bit of skepticism that's going
on in your mind or your heart right now.
And if there's skepticism and you're, you're downplaying
spiritual attack. Here's what ends up happening.
Here's what ends up happening is we get stuck, we get stuck out
of ignorance, we get stuck out of ignorance in this spiritual
attack. And if we're stuck out of
ignorance, the the, the problem with us downplaying or getting
stuck out of ignorance is it's really difficult to defeat an
enemy that we refuse to acknowledge.
The second trapping that I see happening all the time is not
just a a downplaying, but it's actually the other extreme.
It is a being overwhelmed by all the attacks that we see going on
around us by by by by the destruction that we see by the
results of sin that we see. Maybe for you over these over
the past day or so, you've just been overwhelmed by, by the news
of, of, you know, we're on the verge or not on the verge, but
we've committed to another war in, in, in Iran and, and what is
that going to mean? And, you know, we're, we're kind
of glued to, to our TV's and we're glued to, to YouTube.
And we want to know kind of what, what the experts are
saying about that. And on top of all that, we're,
we're navigating maybe some brokenness in, in, in, in, in
some relationships, maybe some friendships that we have that
that sin has taken a toll on those relationships.
Maybe we have somebody that's really close to us that that is
enslaved or in, chained in chains through, through
addiction. And we just everywhere we look,
we see the catastrophe, we see the shrapnel of sin and
destruction and spiritual attack.
And we we sit there and go, God, what in the world can we do?
And we become stuck because we're paralysed by fear.
And here's the problem with being stuck because we're
paralysed by fear. It's hard to live victoriously
in a battle that you are aren't convinced isn't already lost.
It's hard to live victoriously when you look at the world
around you and all you see is is lost.
So whether or not we're paralysed out of ignorance or
we're paralysed out of overwhelm, stuck is stuck.
And stuck makes us a sitting target for our enemy.
But here's the thing. Living wide awake, that's
incredibly important. Awareness, alertness, all
incredibly important. But that's not where it ends.
I want to get you to look at your note sheet with me.
There are two names. There are two names on your note
sheet, George Eliot Junior and Joseph Lockhart, George Elliott
Junior and Joseph Locker. My guess is you have no idea who
they are or who they, who they were.
Let me kind of tell you their story.
These two guys, they, they were US servicemen.
They were stationed together and and their their post was kind of
a kind of a mundane it, it was kind of an easy post.
It wasn't kind of out in the field marching, but they were
stationed at a, at a, at a radar.
Their post was a radar station. So their job on their shift was
just very mundane. You would even say pretty
boring. They were just looking at a
radar screen all day during during their shift.
They were looking at a radar screen day in, day out, just
looking at this screen. One morning, however, right
before their shift ended, these two guys, they started noticing
what they described as a strange quote UN quote blip on their
screen. So following protocol, they
reported this strange massive blip that that came across their
radar screen. They reported up the chain of
command and their superior officer.
He kind of chalked that strange massive blip up to, oh, those
just must be US planes flying in the vicinity of of our of our
base. Unfortunately for him and
everyone around him, that officer could not have been more
dead wrong. You see, what ensued over the
next few minutes was one of the greatest attacks on US, on U.S.
forces in our hit in our nation's history.
You see the time of the morning that these two guys detected
this blip on the radar screen. It was 7:55 AM.
The date was December 7th, 1941, and the location was Pearl
Harbor. The 2 numbers that you see out
beside those two guys names, over 2400 US servicemen died in
that attack and well over 1000 US servicemen they were.
They were injured in that attack.
Why? Because there wasn't an
awareness or there wasn't an alertness?
No, there's awareness and there was an alertness.
There just was no action. Listen to me very closely.
It is not enough for us to acknowledge that we are facing
attack. There also has to be action.
There has to be a plan of action that goes along with that
attack. Here's what, here's what we
know. We know that Satan and the
forces of hell has the same strategy or has the same goal
for every single person. And it's a 2 fold goal number
one, to keep every single person from a from a relationship, a
personal relationship with Jesus.
If if they fail at that mission, if they fail at that mission,
then they go into phase two. Phase two of the strategy is it
goes something like this. Make sin look normal and make
righteousness look weird. Do you see that playing out in
our culture? Make sin look normal and make
righteousness look weird. Even though that's the same
strategy for every single one of us in the room and online, the
individual tactics will look differently for each and every
one of us. You see, every single one of us,
we are facing spiritual attack, but that doesn't mean that we
have to be vulnerable to that spiritual attack.
Here's what I want to encourage us to do.
I want to, I want to just take a moment to where we kind of just
tune out everything else around us, everyone else around us, and
just take a moment just between US and God.
And when we talk about these spiritual attacks and we're,
we're about to walk through three major questions that every
single one of us in the room and online that we have to answer if
we don't want to be bait. I think it's very important that
we're not only honest, but then we also are very attuned to the
voice of the Holy Spirit and helping us to formulate a plan
of action, an action plan against these attacks.
And what I mean by action plan is specifics, passages or verses
of the Bible that can be wielded against the attacks that we face
or, or or maybe for, for for you, maybe it is being able to
pray specific prayers to God against these attacks, rather
than just the canned bless the gift and the giver type of
prayers. So if you're taking notes with
us, there's a section on your note sheet that says under
attack. And I want to walk you through
three questions that every single one of us that we need to
really answer. And it's really A2 fold thing.
It's an acknowledgement and an action plan.
Here's the first question we've got to ask.
How am I being attacked? How am I specifically?
You've got to start, we've got to start with a personal how am
I being attacked? I want to read for you several
attacks that are coming against us and I, I just want to see
we're not going to like, I'm not asking that you raise your hand
or, or shout out or certainly don't point at the person next
to you. But I just want to see if, if,
if one of these attacks, if you would sit there and go, then
that's, that's how I'm being attacked.
And, and if it is just to jot that out beside and, and if I
don't mention how you're being attacked, but you know how
you're being attacked, just jot that out to the side.
Here's the first one. How am I being attacked?
It could be isolation, a sense that you're all alone
comparison, discontentment. Maybe for maybe for you, the
attack is coming from the realm of like sexual sin, and that
applies for men and women. Maybe there's a self
centeredness that you feel that it that it that is set in.
Maybe there's a sense of entitlement.
Maybe there's a pervasive fear. Maybe for you, it's, it's an,
it's an addiction. It's an addiction either to a
substance or maybe even addiction to your, to your
phone. Maybe there's been a deep seated
bitterness that has set in. How, how am I being attacked?
Is it is one of the things that we just mentioned that I just
walked through, is that a, is that how you're being attacked?
I think it's really important that we acknowledge how we're
attacked. And then only when we're
truthful about the acknowledgement that then can we
form a plan of action. Here's the second question.
How's my family being attacked? How's my family being attacked?
It could be anxiety or busyness, maybe for your family, maybe
it's the the temptation to make an idol out of your kids.
And what I mean by that it's it's making your world revolve
around them. Maybe all that comes with with
addiction to to our phones or electronics.
Maybe your family's being attacked with feelings of not
being enough. Maybe there's an over ambition
of of career path to where family is always getting
shortchanged. Maybe it's materialism.
How about mental illness? Is your family being attacked
through mental illness or apathy towards the future?
Is the attack coming in the realm of of finances?
Again, I think it's really important that we acknowledge
where the attack is coming. What is the attack that's coming
against my family? And then I can formulate a plan
of action. And then there's a third
question I think that we need to ask.
How is my culture being attacked?
When you look around you and you, you see, you see our world
or our culture kind of doing its thing and and living its life.
What are what are the attacks that are that are most evident
to you? Maybe it's a it's an erosion of
absolute truth. Maybe it's this mindset of Hey,
my truth, your truth. There's no really absolute
concrete truth. Maybe it's a promotion or an
over promotion of self or personal feelings and
experiences being ultimate gods for people.
Hey if I feels a certain way or I feel strong enough about it
then that must be my ultimate truth or I've experienced this
therefore it must be true. Our culture is also facing
attack with a bigger is better type of mentality.
There's also, I don't know if you see this, but there's also a
pervasive anger and, and, and sense of offence.
Maybe for you, when you look at our culture, maybe you see the
attacks of, of racism or greed, loneliness that can come from a
detachment from real life interactions, just overall
confusion. Maybe you see culturally, you
see one of our primary attacks being the outsourcing of
parenting or just this overall cynicism and innate mistrust of,
of all authority. Where, where do you see when,
when, when, when I say, how is my culture being attacked?
Where do you see? Like what do you jot down beside
that? You see, we've got to
acknowledge where the attack is coming from.
So then we can formulate a plan of action.
It is so, so important and pertinent that we have a plan of
action in place and it starts in this order because check this.
If we do not, if we ignore these attacks, then guess what's going
to happen? The way that my culture is being
attacked will eventually be the way my family is attacked.
And that will eventually become the way that I am attacked.
Do you see? Do you see how it's almost
cyclical there? We've got to break that cycle.
And it starts with an overall awareness, an alertness, but
also a plan of action, a plan of action and helping, helping us
come together to formulate that plan of action.
In large part, that's what the church is for, is for us to bear
one another, one another's burdens, and for us to pray for
one another and for us to really talk with one another and go,
hey, listen, this is where I'm being attacked.
And this is where my family's being attacked and been.
My heart and my mind and my soul are so heavy with the attacks
that that Satan and the forces of hell are waging against our
culture. Like, what are some verses?
What are some passages? How can I combat these attacks?
But I'll also tell you this, and I'm not telling you something
that you don't already know. This constant awareness and this
constant planning, this action planning, it can be exhausting.
Can it? And if you've been walking with
Jesus for years and you've been faithfully obedient for years,
you know, you know how rewarding it is, but you also know how
exhausting it is. And I want to give us a massive,
massive word of hope. A massive word of hope.
Let me show you. Let's go back to first Peter
chapter 5. Let me show you what I mean in
verse 10, Peter, this is towards the end of his letter.
He says after you have suffered a little while, comparative to
eternity, after you've suffered a little while, the God of all
grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will
himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you to
Him be the dominion forever and ever.
Amen. Here is probably one of the
greatest words of encouragement that I can give us this morning,
and it actually serving as our last heading of our notes.
Here it is. Suffering has an expiration
date. Your trials, the attacks that
are coming against us, they all have an expiration date.
After that expiration date, God promises to do 4 things.
Number one, God will restore you.
What does that mean? It means that He will repair
what has been broken in the in the midst of all these attacks,
in the midst of all this suffering, in the midst of the
trials that you and I go through as a result of wanting to walk
faithfully and obedient to the words and the will and the ways
of God, there will be things within us over the course of our
lifetime that will be broken. And what does God promise to do?
I will restore what has been broken within you to any of you,
any of you ever gone through a time to where you just feel so
heavy and almost through tears you just this sense of like I am
so broken. What is wrong with me?
I'm so broken. Here's hope, that sense, that
emotion that has an expiration date.
And after that expiration date, God promises that He will repair
what has been broken. He doesn't stop there.
Number two, He tells us that He will confirm you.
He'll confirm us. That means that He'll stabilize
what's been wavering throughout the course of a lifetime.
And an attack after attack after attack coming from the left and
the right and up and down and all over, there will inevitably
be places within our own lives that have that have been
wavering. And what does God promise to do?
He promises to stabilize what has been wavering #3 He promises
to strengthen us. Suffering has an expiration
date. After that He will strengthen
you. He will toughen what has been
weakened. Again, this constant pelting of
attack after attack after attack, there will inevitably be
a weakening. He promises to strengthen or to
toughen up what has been weakened, and then #4 he will
establish you. That means that he'll firmly
plant what has been shaken. He'll firmly plant what has been
shaken. Here's how we want to end this
or how I want to end this series this morning.
I want to end this series just with a time of just giving you
some time and space just to interact with the Holy Spirit.
One of the things that I love that we often do is we sing
songs to God, and many of those songs are invitations of the
Holy Spirit to come and move among us.
And I firmly believe that we do not pray to, we do not sing to,
we do not worship a God that is distant, but we sing to, we pray
to and we worship a God who is here with us.
Now, if you're with us online and you're, you're a believer,
then God is with you. The Holy Spirit of God is with
you wherever you may be right now.
But I think that we would be very remiss if we didn't just
take some time to spend with the Holy Spirit of God.
And for that time, I want to get you to really ask yourself, and
I really want you to interact with God during this time.
And, and all that means is that we just spend a little bit of
time in prayer. This morning.
I want to get you to ask the Holy Spirit 4 questions.
Holy Spirit of God that knows me better than I know myself.
In what ways do I need to humble myself before God?
In what ways do I need to empty myself of self to make more room
for you to fill me and to use me how you like, where you like,
and when you like? Second question, Holy Spirit of
God, what anxieties do I need to cast on God?
If if you're new to church, I know that there's a temptation.
I know that there, I know there's this like way of
thinking that you're sitting in a room with, with people that we
all have our act together. And you know, everybody's
marriages are going great and everybody's personal lives are
going great and our finances are great and, and, and you're the
only one that's kind of messed up.
Can I tell you this? You're in a room full of messed
up people. One of the things I love about
Riverbend Church is we all acknowledge we are a we are a
group of messed up people, but we turn to the same savior.
Let me ask you a question. Coming in here this morning,
coming into this time, this place, this space, what's going
on in your life, this keeping you up at night, waking you up
in the middle of the night. And the first thing on your mind
when you wake up, What stresses, what worries, what cares, what
anxieties? Listen here, here's the
temptation. Here's the temptation for for,
for church people is we all know what the answer to that
question, that second question is.
But when we pull up in the parking lot, we kind of like
just stuff that back in the car and just close the door really
fast. And then it's so we can walk in
without having to worry about it.
Here's the problem with that is as soon as we walk out of here,
we open that car door and it all just comes boiling out.
This is a place to where we invite you to bring your
stresses, your cares, your anxiety, your baggage, because
you're bringing it to the only one that can do something about
it. Don't keep it in the parking
lot. Don't keep it in your car.
Bring it before God. Third question, Holy Spirit of
God, what attacks do I need to acknowledge and what action
plans do I need to put into place?
Where am I being attacked? Where's my family being
attacked? Where's my culture being
attacked? What do, what attacks do I need
to acknowledge? And then what action plans do I
need to put into place? And then 4th is this, what word
of encouragement do I need to give me strength for the battle
ahead? Holy Spirit of God, of the
promises that you give me, that suffering has an expiration
date, which one of those promises that you will restore
me, that you'll confirm me, that you'll strengthen me, or that
you'll establish me? Which one of those promises do I
need to hold on to for it to resonate within me far after I
leave this service and far after I leave this campus this
morning? So here's what I want to do.
I just want to invite you just wherever you're at, just to bow
your heads and to to close your eyes.
And we don't do this because it's some light religious
posture. We really do it just to tune out
all the distractions going on around us.
I would just also say that in this time, understanding that
people are really spending time with God, I would say if at all
possible that that we not that we not move around during this
time so that we're not distracting to the people around
us, but just wherever you're at this morning, I just want you to
to pray God based off of your word, based off of your word,
what do you want me to do? Based off of your word, what do
you want me to do? Do you want me to do I need to
humble myself before you? The things that are on my mind,
do I need to throw those at you, hurl those at you, Holy Spirit
of God, like is there a tact that I've been like ignoring or
that I'm not aware of God? Would you reveal that to me?
An attack against me, an attack against my family, and an attack
against my culture. God, of your 4 promises at the
end of First Peter, whether it's to restore me, confirm me,
strengthen me, or establish me, God, which of those promises do
you want to use to instill a sense of hope and strengthen me
for the battle ahead? So as you spend some time in
prayer, just talking to God, I want to pray over us.
And after I pray over us, we're going to invite you to, to
stand. And if what God's telling you to
do is hey, just stand and sing, worship me, then that's what you
should do. If God's calling you to come
down and and pray, maybe it's a maybe it's a prayer for for, for
the Holy Spirit to work more powerfully in you.
Maybe it's a prayer for your family.
Maybe it's a prayer for for friends or the way that you see
our culture being attacked. Maybe it's a prayer for the
protection of of innocent lives. It's a prayer that God that you
would bring a righteous justice to evil doers, but in the middle
of it, God, you will protect innocent lives.
Maybe it's a prayer to where you hold on to one of those 4 words
and you ask God for them to take root in your heart and in your
life. So I'm going to pray.
We're going to give you an opportunity to respond.
However, the Holy Spirit's calling you to respond this
morning. God, we love you and we thank
you for the fact that you are here with us.
God, we thank you for Lord your your inspiration to Peter over
2000 years ago to pen a letter that we now know is the book of
first Peter. God the the alertness and the
challenge for us to live wide awake, the alertness to our
enemy and his attacks. God, you do not give us that
information to scare us or to paralyze us.
God, you give us that information so that we can be
prepared. And God, our only preparedness,
our only move in this battle, in this spiritual battle that every
single one of us are facing in different ways is to turn to
you. So God, whatever that may look
like across this room and for those that are joining online,
God, I pray that we would move in obedience to your Holy
Spirit. God, that we would move in
freedom to how you call us to move.
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.