1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,920 Thank you so much for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,560 Riverbend Church exists to bring people to Jesus, grow 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,280 generations in Jesus, and send disciples for Jesus. 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,320 We hope that you enjoy this message. 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,200 But this morning we're going to be finishing out our series 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,440 Through the Life of Joseph, through the Life of Joseph. 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,760 And I don't know about you, but over the past eight weeks, this 8 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,640 is the 9th week over the past eight weeks, man, this has just 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,520 been so, so good for me personally. 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,120 And there's some, so many things that God has taught me. 11 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,160 And I know just with conversations with many of you 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,920 over the last couple months together, it's just been really 13 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:50,680 cool seeing how God's been working in your life and working 14 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,560 in your family's life as well. But I want to start off just 15 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,000 kind of telling you a quick, quick story. 16 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,680 When I was in second grade, I played started playing Little 17 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,680 League baseball, Little League baseball in second grade. 18 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:10,160 I wasn't very good, but I had a uniform and I was on the team. 19 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,880 So there are three things that always stand out about that 20 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,240 second grade year of playing Little League baseball. 21 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,680 A is my first year of playing Little League baseball and I 22 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:22,680 don't, I don't mean to brag, but I looked good. 23 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,520 I looked good in my uniform. It stayed clean the whole season 24 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,280 #2 we were the Cardinals, we were the Cardinals. 25 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,560 We had a great, we had a great, great team that year. 26 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,280 You know, second graders, we were awesome. 27 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,280 Third thing thing that stood out the most is that entire season I 28 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,000 never got a hit. I never got a hit the entire 29 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:46,960 season. And no, I wasn't injured and no, 30 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,360 I wasn't really sick. So I missed a lot of time. 31 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,480 I never got a hit the entire season. 32 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,520 One of three things always happened. 33 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,320 Either AI got walked because the pitcher failed to throw strikes. 34 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,680 BI got walked because the pitcher hit me with the ball. 35 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,720 My friend Ernie, he was the he was the main perpetrator. 36 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,639 He, Ernie must have hit me like 7 times during that year and I 37 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,040 don't know why I keep calling him a friend, but he hit me 38 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:14,640 every single time I got up to bat. 39 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:16,080 He was on the Cubs. We're the Cardinals. 40 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,920 Like I said, second grade. You know peewee baseball 41 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:21,760 rivalries, right? Third thing, they always stand 42 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,600 out or, or the third, third thing that would happen. 43 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,560 I would either walk because all the balls, no strikes. 44 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,320 I get a walk because I get hit with a ball or I would just 45 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:33,680 strike out. And most of the time when I 46 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,760 struck out, I struck out. Looking at the strike three, I 47 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,520 struck out without swinging the bat and, and here's why. 48 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:44,960 It wasn't because I was, I was scared of the ball. 49 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,040 It wasn't because I didn't know how to swing a bat. 50 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,240 It wasn't because the bat was too big or too heavy. 51 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,560 I didn't swing often because the pitcher didn't throw it where I 52 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,800 wanted him to throw it right. So I was always waiting for that 53 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,280 perfect pitch coming straight down the middle of the plate 54 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,480 about waist high. And then if he pitched that 55 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,160 pitch, then I would swing. I'd probably miss, but I'd at 56 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,480 least swing at it. So I struck out over and over 57 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:13,880 and over. Listen, at the end of the at the 58 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:15,840 end of the games, I got ice cream. 59 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:17,760 At the end of the season I got a trophy. 60 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,640 But in terms of my contribution to the overall team, wasn't much 61 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:24,920 to it at all. I think especially right here at 62 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:27,280 the very end of our series in the life of Joseph. 63 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,560 I think many of us, we live our Christian life the same way that 64 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,360 I played baseball as a second grader. 65 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,760 We, we're waiting for that perfect pitch in life. 66 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,920 In other words, we, we, we think that, hey, once I have 67 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,600 everything lined up and once everything in my life is 68 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,320 healthy, once my relationship with my wife and my kids, once 69 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,320 my, what's my job situation? What's my financial situation? 70 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,280 Once, once my mental health or my emotional health is in the 71 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,880 right place, then God can use me. 72 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,440 Then God can use me to do great things for him. 73 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,520 Then God can, can use me at all. But you know, I'm going to hold 74 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,600 back and I'm going to wait for all these things to be lined up 75 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,840 perfectly for God to use me. Listen, I want to give you 3 76 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:10,640 words of encouragement about that train of thought. 77 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:12,680 Number one, that's a faulty train of thought. 78 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,880 It's a faulty train of thought that waiting for life to line up 79 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:18,959 perfectly in order for God to use you. 80 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,120 That's not how it works #2 if that's how it works, none of us 81 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,560 would ever be used by God. Because you, you and I, we are 82 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,960 gathered here together this morning and online with 83 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,200 everybody online. We are an imperfect people 84 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,320 serving a perfect God. There will always be, and I 85 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,640 don't mean this as a, as a, as a point of discouragement. 86 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,480 I mean it as a point of encouragement. 87 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,160 Encouragement. There will always be part, parts 88 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,920 and points of our lives that have unhealth to them. 89 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,800 There will always be parts and points of our life that will 90 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:56,320 have unhealth to them. But listen, that's not, we don't 91 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:01,600 have to wait on life's perfect pitch to be used by God at all. 92 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:06,640 And, and to show you what what I'm talking about is many times 93 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,720 if we wait, and this is that third element of, of waiting on 94 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,640 life's perfect pitch, that if we feel that life has to be 95 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,120 completely lined up and perfectly lined up for God to 96 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,080 use us, then what we inevitably do is we are people chasing a 97 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,200 carrot on a stick that we'll never catch. 98 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,400 And I don't know about you, but the thought of living life just 99 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:27,440 chasing a carrot on a stick that we'll never catch. 100 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,640 That's exhausting. And believe me, when I tell you 101 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,320 and I don't, I don't have to remind many of us because we 102 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:37,080 know it to be true. Exhaustion is the point right 103 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:39,960 before the breaking. You ever been just completely 104 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,720 exhausted? And exhaustion is that point 105 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,000 right before the breaking. And if we've learned anything 106 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,240 over these last eight weeks in the life of Joseph, we've been 107 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,440 encouraged by this truth, by this principle that we've been 108 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,440 riding on the entire series. That served as a big idea. 109 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,000 And if you're taking notes with us, you may want to jot it down 110 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:03,400 one last time. It says, what can easily break 111 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:04,960 you, God turns in to breakthrough. 112 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,320 What can easily break you, God turns in to breakthrough. 113 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:10,680 So here's the question before us this morning. 114 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,880 If waiting on life's perfect pitch in order to be used by 115 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:16,760 God. If that's not correct and that's 116 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:22,280 not the right train of thought, then how can we be used by God 117 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:26,800 exactly where we are right now? How can we be used by God 118 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:31,960 exactly where we are right now and exactly how we are right 119 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:33,960 now? To give us some insight into 120 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,600 answering that question, I want to invite you to find Genesis 121 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,560 chapter 41 with me, Genesis chapter 41 and we're going to be 122 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:46,120 picking it up in verse 50. Genesis 41, We're going to be 123 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:51,840 picking it up in verse 50. It says before the year famine 124 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:55,240 came, two sons were born to Joseph as an Ath. 125 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:58,160 The daughter of Potiphar, a priest of own, bore them to him. 126 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,000 Joseph called the name of the first born Manasseh. 127 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:05,680 We talked about Manasseh last week for he said God has made me 128 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,200 forget all my hardship and all my father's house. 129 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,320 The name of the second. This is where we're going to 130 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:11,240 land. This is where we're going to 131 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,200 close out the series. This morning. 132 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:18,560 He called Ephraim for God has made me fruitful in the land of 133 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:22,360 my affliction. So like we've done last eight 134 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,840 weeks, we're going to look at this passage, we're going to 135 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,600 look at these 3 verses, and we're going to really ask three 136 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,640 main questions. What does this tell me about 137 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:31,200 Joseph? What does it tell me about God? 138 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,080 What does it tell me about me? If you're taking notes with us, 139 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,760 let's look at what Joseph name of his son Ephraim, what that 140 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,120 tells us about Joseph. The reason that we want to know 141 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,320 what it tells us about Joseph is because Joseph was a man just 142 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,880 like me and you. He wasn't a character in the in 143 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,280 in in a in a Bible story. He wasn't a fictitious man. 144 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,920 He was a real man that went through real life with real 145 00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:00,400 hurts, pains, and trauma. So what does Joseph naming his 146 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:02,840 sons Manasseh and Ephraim? What does it tell us about 147 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,880 Joseph #1 Joseph's faithfulness was consistent in every place 148 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:09,560 and in every season. It was He was. 149 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,840 It was consistent in every place in every season. 150 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,160 Now, if you were with us last week, we talked about and just 151 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,560 kind of as a review and if you're new to Riverbend, just 152 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:19,160 kind of make sure that we're all on the same page. 153 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,200 And Joseph's Day, it was very, very popular and it was a very, 154 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:27,760 very well known thing for parents to name their kids a 155 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,920 name that corresponded with what the parents may have been going 156 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,919 through at that given point in time when the kid was born. 157 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,159 So for example, we talked last week about how Joseph's dad, his 158 00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:41,960 name was Jacob. Jacob already had ten sons. 10 159 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:44,080 finds out that Joseph is on the way. 160 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,240 Joseph's born. Jacob names Joseph, Joseph 161 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,400 because Joseph literally means increaser or God will add. 162 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:53,480 In other words, hey, I got 10 boys. 163 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:58,240 He's increased it one more or he's added one more 2 to the 164 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:00,760 litter. Like now I got 11 boys. 165 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,320 We talked about how last week Joseph named his first born 166 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:11,200 Manasseh, because Manasseh means to forget or God causes me to 167 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,920 forget or to let go of something. 168 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:16,760 If you weren't here with us last week, I would highly, highly 169 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,200 encourage you go back either through Facebook or YouTube or 170 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,240 wherever you listen to podcast and listen why that was so 171 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,240 important to Joseph, but even more importantly, why that's so 172 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,920 important for us. What does it mean that God can 173 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,720 actually cause us to forget? Because that word forget is used 174 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,840 in a way that we don't often use it, but there's so much blessing 175 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,240 in that. But then Joseph has a second son 176 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,920 and he names his second son Ephraim. 177 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:47,920 He names his second son Ephraim. And Ephraim literally means 178 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:52,440 fruitful in my affliction, fruitful in my affliction. 179 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,600 And and I've got to wonder like when Ephraim grows up and he's 180 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,320 just starting to learn how to how to read and he finds out 181 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,360 what his name means, he probably goes up to his dad and he's 182 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,560 like, hey, daddy, why'd, why'd you name me? 183 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:08,200 Why'd you name me fruitful in my affliction? 184 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:10,400 That's kind of that's kind of weird. 185 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,160 And I can't help but think that Joseph probably sits his son 186 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,800 down on his knee. And he was like, Ephraim, let me 187 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,040 let me tell you about Daddy's affliction. 188 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:20,960 Let me tell you about what Daddy went through. 189 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:25,480 You see, Daddy, when he was 17 years old, he was he was beaten 190 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,360 and he was betrayed and thrown into a pit and sold as a slave 191 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,240 by his own brothers. And then he goes on to list 192 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,480 like, hey, remember, you know, Uncle Zebulun? 193 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,280 Yeah, he was there, too. And you can just imagine that 194 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,960 Ephraim's like, was, was Uncle Natalie, did he beat you, too? 195 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,040 And Joseph's like, absolutely, he beat me. 196 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,360 And you know, Ephraim, it, it really hurt. 197 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,840 And he sold me. They sold my own brother, sold 198 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:54,040 me as a slave. But you know, once I got to 199 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,960 Egypt, I started working for this man named Potiphar. 200 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,640 And, and Potiphar's wife accused daddy of doing something that he 201 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,200 never did. And Potiphar believed his wife 202 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,800 and, and not me. And because of that, I was, I 203 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:10,360 was thrown into the prison and I was, I was, I spent years in the 204 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,880 prison and I thought I was forgotten about in the prison. 205 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,080 You see, Joseph could go on and on and on and he could talk 206 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,720 about, he could talk about his affliction. 207 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,480 He could talk about to Ephraim like how he was afflicted. 208 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,600 But you know what, as inconsistent as Joseph's life 209 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:34,840 was, and if you've been with us over the last eight weeks, you 210 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,040 know those ups and downs, Joseph's life was so 211 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,080 inconsistent. And I think that a lot of us 212 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,840 here this morning and online, we can sit there and go, man, I 213 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,600 resonate with that. My life feels so inconsistent. 214 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,840 You know what stood out in stark contrast to Joseph's life's 215 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,160 inconsistencies? Joseph's consistent faithfulness 216 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,040 to his God. You see, through all the ups and 217 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,640 downs, through all the places and all the seasons, Joseph 218 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,680 never wavered in his faithfulness to his God. 219 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:04,800 He was. And here's the keyword for us 220 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,400 this morning, consistent. He was consistent. 221 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,480 And because Joseph was consistent, it leads us to the 222 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,920 second thing that we know about Joseph from this passage. 223 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,400 Check this out. Joseph chose fruitfulness over 224 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:21,720 vindication. He chose fruitfulness over 225 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,520 vindication. Again, go back in time, 226 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,320 especially if you've been with us over the last several weeks 227 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,200 and you know how the how the story of Joseph plays out. 228 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:36,400 If Joseph was to sit down and make a list of who to take 229 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:41,880 retribution on, imagine if, if you will, as you know, probably 230 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,120 mid to late 30 year old sitting down making a list. 231 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:48,680 They just sit there and go, OK, my top 10 would be my brothers. 232 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:54,960 And then after that that woman, Potiphar's wife that lied about 233 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,160 me. And you know what, while I'm 234 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,160 there, I'm going to write down Potiphar too because he believed 235 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:05,400 her over me. And while I'm at it, because he 236 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,960 believed her over me, I was thrown into the Egyptian 237 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:10,560 supermax prison and I was all but forgotten. 238 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:16,040 And there there were two guys, there was a royal royal Baker 239 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,320 and a royal cupbearer. The Baker, he got executed by 240 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:20,680 Pharaoh. So I can't really take 241 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,960 retribution on him, him. But the cupbearer, I interpreted 242 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,080 that guy's dreams for him. And three days later he, he got, 243 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,280 he got reinstated to his royal position in Pharaoh's palace. 244 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,680 And the only thing that I asked was that he for he, he, he 245 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:37,440 Remember Me. And instead of remembering me, 246 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,720 he forgot about me. And I spent two more years, you 247 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,080 know what, Royal cupbearer? You're on that list. 248 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,040 You know, Joseph could have spent his entire life chasing 249 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,480 vindication. But you know something about 250 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:56,720 vindication, Vindication, vindication. 251 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,720 If Joseph spent his entire life pursuing vindication and 252 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:05,480 retribution, he wouldn't have been able to save an entire 253 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,440 region of the world from starvation and an even more 254 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,880 personal retribution and vindication make very, very poor 255 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,640 substitutes for a husband and a father. 256 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,120 You see, Joseph understood something that's so very 257 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:25,080 important for us to understand. Joseph could have chosen to 258 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,360 pursue God's purposes, or he could have chosen to pursue 259 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,120 payback. He couldn't choose to do both. 260 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:34,960 He could choose God's purpose. I'm going to pursue God's 261 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,640 purposes or I'm going to pursue payback. 262 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,520 He couldn't do both. And Joseph comes to a point to 263 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:46,360 where he goes, God, I choose to live my life, to bear fruit for 264 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,760 you, and I'm going to leave the vindication to you. 265 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,840 So Speaking of God, what does this passage, what does all this 266 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,800 tell us about our God? First one is God often defines 267 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,800 fruitfulness differently than I do. 268 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,520 God often defines fruitfulness differently than I do. 269 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:08,720 Out to the side, you may want to jot this word down. 270 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,400 Let's give fruitfulness because that may sound a little churchy 271 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,960 for us, but it's, it's an important word to use for, for 272 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:17,160 matters that we'll get into in just a moment. 273 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,240 But out to the side you can, you can substitute the word 274 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,360 fruitfulness for success. You can write the word success. 275 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:29,040 God often defines success differently than I do. 276 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,600 All right, if you're new with us, I'm going to ask that you do 277 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:34,880 something. It's going to seem really weird 278 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:36,600 if you call Riverbend home. I'm going to ask you to do 279 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:38,200 something, and it's going to seem really weird. 280 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,200 If you're new to us, I promise we're not a cult. 281 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,160 And I am well aware of the fact that that's exactly what a cult 282 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:48,000 leader would say. All right, but we're not a cult, 283 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,720 I promise. Which I know that's what a cult 284 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:52,320 leader would say, but just bear with me. 285 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,800 Here's what I want to ask that you do cross the room. 286 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:58,880 I just want to ask that you just close your eyes for just a 287 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:04,280 second. Just close your eyes and and as 288 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:10,160 you as you have your eyes closed, I want to get you to 289 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,840 think about something. How do you define success? 290 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:22,240 How do you define success? What are the things that are 291 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,600 that are present in a successful life? 292 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:30,600 I'll give you a further prompt to think about. 293 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,080 Not to sound morbid, but just to get us to 0 in on this point. 294 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:41,640 What would you like to be truthfully said about you at 295 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:47,240 your funeral? What would you like to be 296 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,400 truthfully said about you at your funeral? 297 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:56,200 Now let's get a little bit more real. 298 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:03,200 We know that every single person in the room, outside of the room 299 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,200 online in church this morning, outside of the church, near to 300 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:11,400 God, far from God, every single person will one day die and will 301 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,040 stand before God and give an account of of his or her life. 302 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:21,079 What do you think God will look at you and say? 303 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:23,599 Well done, my good and faithful servant. 304 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,560 What are the things that are present that are to be present 305 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:32,760 in our lives now that God will look at when we give an account 306 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,400 of our life? Then that he will say, well 307 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,920 done, my good and faithful servant. 308 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:42,360 All right, you can open your eyes. 309 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:48,560 Here's my guess. My guess is none of us thought 310 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,720 anything wrong or thought anything evil or thought 311 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,000 anything bad. My guess is we probably all 312 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,000 thought things that were good, right? 313 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:06,760 We, we, we may have thought he was a family man and she 314 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,960 nurtured her family. We, we may have thought he left 315 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:16,720 such a legacy of leadership in his company or she left such a 316 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:18,880 legacy of leadership in her company. 317 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:27,080 She was a great friend. He was a great neighbor, man. 318 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:31,360 They were successful because they earned so much money. 319 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:37,560 They lived in such a nice house, drove nice cars, had nice kids. 320 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:43,520 Listen, none of those things are bad. 321 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:47,160 But can I tell you this? None of those things will in and 322 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,120 of themselves will make an eternal impact. 323 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,120 Here's what I mean. Mom, dad, grandmother, 324 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:57,360 grandfather. Listen, our our one of the 325 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:01,480 things that we should be aiming at is raising and loving our 326 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:04,520 kids and our grandkids. But the main way that we raise 327 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,200 and love them is by pointing them to Jesus. 328 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,240 Listen, we should, as followers of Jesus, we should have a 329 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,320 strong work ethic. But the reason that we want to 330 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,280 have a strong work ethic is because we realize that as 331 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,840 followers of Jesus, as sons and daughters of God, we represent 332 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,480 God to all people at all times, in all places. 333 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:32,040 You know, being a good friend to someone is, is being there and, 334 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,320 and, and laughing with the laughter and weeping with the 335 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,280 crying, but then also understanding. 336 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,720 Hey, listen, I know what it's like to go through what you're 337 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:42,960 going through. Can I tell you how God has 338 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,200 brought me through this? Can I tell you how God has has 339 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,880 filled in those, those unknown blanks or those empty blanks in 340 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:52,360 my minds? Because I have a lot of 341 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:53,920 questions and I have a lot of doubts. 342 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:58,280 But man, His presence in my life has given me so much peace. 343 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:04,400 Listen, God does not define success based off of how much 344 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,640 you know about him. God defines success by how much 345 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:09,600 you made him known to the people around you. 346 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,480 God does not define success by how much money you may have 347 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,320 saved or earned. God defines success. 348 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:21,320 As what you did with what He entrusted you with the eternal 349 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,200 impact. If you want to know how God 350 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:28,800 truly defines success, it is living a life that is about 351 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:34,040 making earth better and heaven bigger, earth better and heaven 352 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,440 bigger. It is about producing fruit, 353 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:43,000 spiritual fruit, eternal fruit, the things that will last for 354 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,520 all of eternity. Which brings us to the second 355 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:48,920 thing that we know about God. And this passage teaches us 356 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,760 about God. God knows where I where I will 357 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:57,280 be most fruitful. God knows where I will be most 358 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:01,560 fruitful. Let's go back to Joseph for just 359 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:03,680 a second. So if you've been with us over 360 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,200 the series, you know all the UPS, all the downs, all the in 361 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:13,880 betweens, all the feelings, all the emotions before Joseph got 362 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,520 elevated to the palace. What do you think of Joseph? 363 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:23,360 If God gave Joseph one wish, one request that God would grant on 364 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:24,800 the spot, What do you think that would have been? 365 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:27,800 Let's put ourselves in the shoes of Joe. 366 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,680 I mean, what would it be for you if you got like sold into 367 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,880 slavery, carted off over 300 miles away to a foreign country, 368 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:39,360 foreign culture, and as a slave, and not just a slave, but as a 369 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:42,160 prisoner. I mean, from the pit to the to 370 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:43,960 Potiphar's house, as a slave to the prison. 371 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,760 What do you think Joseph's main wish would be? 372 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:51,280 I think it would be just to go back home, don't you? 373 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:57,520 I think Joseph's main wish probably while he's on the cart 374 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,080 being driven 300 miles away from home. 375 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,240 I think that Joseph yearned just to be home. 376 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:06,800 I think that Joseph probably went to sleep at night thinking 377 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,280 maybe tomorrow when I wake up, this nightmare ends and it was 378 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,600 just all the bad dream, but he wakes up and he's still behind 379 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,240 bars. I think when Joseph, that first 380 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,200 night when he was sold as a slave to Potiphar and he's a, 381 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,360 he's a slave in Potiphar's house, I think that Joseph 382 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:25,760 thought, I wonder if I'll ever be back home. 383 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,680 I wonder what my dad's doing. I wonder what my friends are 384 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,080 doing. Why? 385 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:33,000 Why He's being forgotten about in a prison. 386 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,800 You know that Joseph's probably sitting there, probably crying 387 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:40,160 himself to sleep at night, going I'll, I'll never be back home. 388 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,880 I think that Joseph's number one desire was to be back home with 389 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,400 his dad and with, with his friends, probably not so much as 390 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,080 brothers, but to be back in his own bed. 391 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,680 Don't you? Can I tell you something to 392 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:58,160 remind you something? Joseph couldn't save an entire 393 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:00,600 region of the world from starvation from his bedroom in 394 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,280 Canaan. Let me say that again. 395 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,280 Joseph could not save an entire region of the world from 396 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,400 starvation from his bedroom in Canaan. 397 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,280 God knew that Joseph would be most fruitful and most used and 398 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:19,880 most successful not in his bedroom in Canaan, but in Egypt. 399 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,880 You see, I'm 1000% convinced that in this room with us 400 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,920 online, there's some of us that man, we want to be somewhere 401 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,320 else doing something else with somebody else. 402 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,720 We want that so bad. And we're frustrated because we 403 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,480 just feel that God's not answering our prayers because 404 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,040 that's a dream. That's a deep desire of ours. 405 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:46,200 If that's you, can I throw out a possibility to you? 406 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:52,200 Maybe God's not so much blocking your dreams and desires as much 407 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:56,280 as he is about blocking less fruit in your life. 408 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:02,440 You see, when it comes to being used by God, God's pause is 409 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,440 never about less. God's pause is always about 410 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,640 more. You may say, well, Ben, I don't 411 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,560 like where I am right now. I don't like what I'm doing. 412 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,600 And to be honest with you, I don't really like the people 413 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:19,240 around me. Yet here you are. 414 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,880 And maybe God knows that that's exactly where you're going to be 415 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,800 the most fruitful, where you're going to be most fruitful. 416 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:33,440 You see, God has a way when he defines fruit, the way that is 417 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,400 going to have an eternal impact and eternal significance. 418 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:40,000 He knows where we're going to be most fruitful. 419 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:45,880 So if we're going to be most fruitful for God then, and He 420 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:47,800 knows where we're going to be most fruitful, what does that 421 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,480 require of us? Again, taking notes with us. 422 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,680 Let's look at what all this means about me, what all this 423 00:24:54,680 --> 00:25:00,240 tells me about me #1 I can never underestimate the importance of 424 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,800 being consistent in my faithfulness to God, of being 425 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:05,520 consistent, my faithfulness to God. 426 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,840 I grew up in a generation. I grew up in a generation that 427 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:17,320 highly, highly emphasized, big, audacious, huge things for God. 428 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:22,560 The bigger the idea, the crazier the idea, the more audacious the 429 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,840 goal, then obviously the more Godly it was. 430 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:31,360 Listen, I'm not knocking that. However, what I would tell you 431 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,360 is like through the rise of the Internet and blogs and 432 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,880 conferences, what ended up happening is we were showcasing 433 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:46,120 all these big, bold, huge, audacious things for God that we 434 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:52,720 inadvertently downplayed the day in, day out consistency with 435 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,560 God. We we listen. 436 00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:00,040 I thank God for the men and the women that take the gospel of 437 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,720 Jesus to all over the world, to people that have never heard of 438 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,880 the name of Jesus before. I thank God for those men and 439 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,880 women. But I also thank God for the 440 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:14,040 stay at home mom that leans into Jesus and makes it a point to 441 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,640 teach her kids about Jesus and his love for them. 442 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,160 I thank God for for for the men and the women that that that are 443 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,440 doing these massive college campus crusades. 444 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,640 And I thank God for them, and we need them, but I also thank God. 445 00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:37,200 I also thank God for the student that is intentionally living his 446 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,840 or her life as a light, living his or her life as a light to 447 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,960 the gospel in a Dark World that understands that they're 448 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:48,880 stepping into a classroom and the person on their left, the 449 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:52,440 right in front of them, behind them need the hope of Jesus in 450 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,040 their life. I thank God for the men and the 451 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,760 women that are standing on stages and preaching the gospel 452 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,720 to hundreds and thousands and 10's and hundreds of thousands 453 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:03,360 of people. I thank God for them, but I also 454 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,320 thank God for the man that goes to work every single day 455 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,920 understanding that hit one of his coworkers is going through a 456 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,400 very, very difficult time and he has a pretty good idea that that 457 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,240 man or that woman doesn't have a relationship with Jesus. 458 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,200 So he prays for him or her by name each today. 459 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:26,120 It is that day in, day out consistency you can never, you 460 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:31,960 can never underestimate the day in, day out consistency. 461 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,080 You see, it's not just about making headlines for the gospel. 462 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,480 It's about living a life that is fully devoted. 463 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,280 It is a consistency of spending time with God in prayer and a 464 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:46,880 consistency of, of reading God's word, and a consistency of, of, 465 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:51,880 of pouring worship music in you and over you throughout your day 466 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:57,240 as a consistency of, of seeking God and seeking His guidance in 467 00:27:57,360 --> 00:27:59,720 whatever comes next in your life. 468 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,240 It is a consistency of God. I know that it seems that life's 469 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:06,280 storms are like blowing against me, but I'm going to hold on to 470 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,360 you because you have always been faithful to me. 471 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,280 It is a consistency to not break because I realize that what 472 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:19,600 often breaks me God can use as a breakthrough in me. 473 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:24,120 It is that day in that day out consistency. 474 00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:31,280 And when I start to look at that consistency, then I start to, I 475 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:36,640 start to, I start to my, my, my goals start to change. 476 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,480 God begins to change my goals because my, my, my vocation is 477 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:44,200 not my identity. My vocation is my vehicle. 478 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:49,000 You follow me, my vocation is not my identity, my vocation is 479 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,240 my vehicle and this is what God begins to change my goals to 480 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,240 check this out. These are my new goals. 481 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,960 Second thing that this tells me about me is wherever I am, 482 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,280 whatever I face, whoever I'm with, my goal is fruit, more 483 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:07,120 fruit and much fruit and I gave out in parentheses John 15. 484 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:11,920 Here's one in John 15, Jesus is talking to the disciples. 485 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:15,480 He one of one of his most masterful teaching sessions. 486 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,360 And there's a phrase that he continues to use in John 15 and 487 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,920 it's the phrase abide in me. And essentially that phrase 488 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:25,520 abide in me means stay plugged into me. 489 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,480 If you stay plugged into me, then you'll bear fruit, you'll 490 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,240 bear more fruit and you'll bear much fruit. 491 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,280 There's a progression all through John 15 that progression 492 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:38,000 bear fruit, bear more fruit, bear much fruit. 493 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:44,320 And the goal's still the same is to make him known to the people 494 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:48,680 around us. It is to it is getting to heaven 495 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:54,280 and realizing like, listen by your grace and by your mercy, O 496 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:59,200 God, I am here. But I was faithful in what you 497 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,640 entrusted to me. So guess what? 498 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,800 Through your grace, through your mercy, and through using me, I 499 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,240 brought these other people with me. 500 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:09,800 I brought these other people with me. 501 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:12,680 Bear fruit, bear more fruit, bear much fruit. 502 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:18,520 Riverbend, if you want to know what my prayer over this church 503 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:22,760 is and over every single one of us is over this next year, well, 504 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,480 it's first and foremost. It's always same. 505 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:30,040 Prayer is everywhere that Riverbend touches, everywhere 506 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,360 that Riverbend Church touches physical campus, whether it's 507 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:38,360 meeting here on Sundays, online or virtual or virtual arena or 508 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:41,080 going out in our community. Things like Mule Camp, things 509 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,560 like serving our schools and our teachers in the name of Jesus. 510 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,720 One of my main goals and one of our goals is always going to be 511 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,680 this is that everywhere Riverbend touches that people 512 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,880 give their lives to Jesus. That people not because we're 513 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:57,080 something great, but because we serve a great Savior. 514 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,320 But the two really specific prayers over 2026 that I'm 515 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,280 praying through and I'm praying over this church is that number 516 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:09,320 one, that we would live in a culture of connectivity. 517 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,440 And here's what I mean by that is we are connected. 518 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:15,760 We are a diverse group of people, right? 519 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,680 What connects us is the gospel of Jesus. 520 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:21,760 And, and one of the things I love about Riverbend, I was 521 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:23,800 talking to somebody this past week about this. 522 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,120 So many different things over the past five years could have 523 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,640 split us, could have, could have splintered us, could have 524 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,600 fragmented us. But it's God's hand of 525 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:35,840 protection and his hand of blessing on Riverbend Church 526 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,120 that he's never allowed any of those things to become the main 527 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:41,240 thing. So the main thing's always the 528 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,600 gospel, right? So we are connected together by 529 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,000 the gospel of Jesus. And here's what I know. 530 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,320 Just practically speaking, a culture of connectivity means 531 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,760 that we are connected together by the gospel, but we are 532 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,600 connected together by the gospel even more effectively when we're 533 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,280 connected to one another, when we're connected to one another. 534 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:01,880 So it's a culture of connectivity. 535 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:06,440 But my second prayer over this church over this next year is 536 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,760 that we live out a culture of calling. 537 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:13,800 And a culture of calling means that you and I, we begin to 538 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:18,680 realize that because God knows where we will produce the most 539 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,880 fruit in our lives, He has strategically placed us where we 540 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,320 are when we are doing what we're doing around who we're doing it 541 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:30,320 with. Calling is not just for pastors, 542 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,760 by the way. So you could be pouring concrete 543 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:35,800 or you could be pushing carts at Kroger. 544 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:38,800 You could be a barista, or you could be a banker. 545 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,080 You can be a farmer or a pharmacist. 546 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:45,960 It's realizing that God has specifically tapped you on the 547 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:50,440 shoulder and said, you, I need you to fill this outpost to make 548 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:54,000 me known to the people that you will encounter in this line of 549 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,440 work. That is a culture of calling. 550 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,600 That is a culture of calling. Let me get it. 551 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,440 Get you to think of it this way, when we lived in Jacksonville 552 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:09,000 Beach, I became the I became the senior pastor when I was 27 553 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,320 years old. If you want to know my my take 554 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,840 on that, it's a really bad idea for a pastor to hire a 27 year 555 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,600 old pastor. A really bad idea for a church 556 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:22,760 to hire a 27 year old pastor. I can't tell you how many times 557 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,120 that I was asked this question over our ten years there. 558 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,120 So when did you feel called to become a senior pastor? 559 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,520 When did you feel called to become a senior pastor pastor? 560 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:33,960 When do you feel called to be a senior pastor? 561 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:36,720 I never really knew how to answer that. 562 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,120 And then one day I remember, I remember talking to a, to a 563 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:43,800 buddy of mine that he was wrestling through this whole 564 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:46,040 issue of calling and I and I told him, I said, you know, 565 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:49,320 Robbie, I don't know if I could tell you that I was called to be 566 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,160 a senior pastor. And he looked at me really weird 567 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,360 because that's a weird thing for the senior pastor of a church to 568 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:57,080 say. And I said, but what I can tell 569 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,320 you is I feel called to be the be the senior pastor of First 570 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,880 Baptist Jack's Beach. Do you see the difference there? 571 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,120 You see, when we transitioned away from that church and we 572 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,000 found ourselves at Bethlehem Christian Academy writing 573 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,159 curriculum and teaching, I felt no more, no less called there to 574 00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:18,480 do that then I was when I was a pastor, lead pastor in 575 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:23,360 Jacksonville Beach. You know, when we were at Prince 576 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:27,960 Ave. and doing what I was doing there, I felt no more no less 577 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,239 called to become the executive pastor of River Bend Church. 578 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,480 I felt no more no less called to become the lead pastor of River 579 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:36,880 Bend Church than I did when I was the executive pastor of 580 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:41,040 River Bend Church. Calling is living in obedience 581 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:46,000 to what God has directly placed in front of you and using where 582 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,280 you are when you are around who you're around to reach the 583 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:50,679 people around you with the gospel. 584 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:58,960 So stay at home, Mom live called blue collar dad live called, 585 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:07,120 student live called, coach live called everywhere in between 586 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,560 live called. So to help us put some feet on 587 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:15,720 what it looks like for us to live called this week, I want to 588 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:17,640 walk us through three three key questions. 589 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:21,080 Here's the first one. What is my greatest enemy to my 590 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:24,760 consistency? What is my greatest enemy to my 591 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:29,640 consistency and what we're talking about like spending 592 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:34,840 consistent time in prayer, spending consistent time in the 593 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,000 Word, spending consistent time being consistent and being a 594 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,120 part of the church, coming to church, worshipping together. 595 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:44,440 What is the greatest enemy to my consistency? 596 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,320 I think that that answer is going to be different for 597 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,600 different people, different ages, different stages. 598 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:53,640 I think that we probably all have one in common. 599 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,800 You ever sat down to pray or to to read the Bible and you start 600 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:02,880 getting a lot of notifications? That's not by accident. 601 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:11,480 You ever sit down to pray and your mind just goes off like 602 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:14,520 1,000,000 miles away to all the stresses from yesterday and all 603 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,680 the stresses of today. It's not by accident. 604 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,840 I think it's really important that we identify though, what is 605 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:22,880 my greatest enemy to my consistency. 606 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:27,480 Second one, how have I measured fruitfulness differently than 607 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:30,960 God does? How have I measured fruitfulness 608 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:35,280 differently than God does? In other words, if we are living 609 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:39,960 for standing before God to hear him say, well done, my good and 610 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:45,680 faithful servant, what parts of our life will he point to and 611 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:47,880 what parts of our life will he be shot? 612 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:51,760 Will we be shot that that he won't point to? 613 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,520 You see all the things that have to do with us leading people to 614 00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:00,760 him and showing him and his grace and his mercy and his 615 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:04,560 goodness and his hope and his salvation and his invitation to 616 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:08,240 take us just as we are without us having to clean up ourselves. 617 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:14,080 Those things last all other pursuits and they'll just burn 618 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:18,720 away. Third question in this season 619 00:37:18,720 --> 00:37:23,600 and in this place, how can God bear fruit through me in this 620 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:25,440 season? What season are you in right 621 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,680 now? What place are you in right now? 622 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,400 I'll go ahead and tell you when we start talking about season 623 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:35,000 and place, we could probably spend all day talking about like 624 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,400 the hardships that we're going through, the different seasons 625 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:39,320 that we're going through. Man, I'm so tired. 626 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:43,720 I'm so, I'm so this, I'm so that, you know, a lot of times 627 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:47,000 when we, when we think about like serving in the church and 628 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,800 as the church, we often fall into this trap. 629 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:55,240 My life is chaotic. I can't serve right now and 630 00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:58,040 we're just waiting on life to not be chaotic anymore. 631 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,320 Can I tell you something? Life's always going to be pretty 632 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:02,280 chaotic. There's always going to be a 633 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:04,000 measure of unhealth in our lives. 634 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,800 But I also tell you this, God is faithful and redeeming our time. 635 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:13,440 But where in this place, where in the season of your life right 636 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:20,880 now, can God bear fruit? You are not in some spiritual 637 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,880 purgatory to where God doesn't want to use you. 638 00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:28,760 Because before God can use you, you've got to get everything 639 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:32,360 straightened out. God wants to use you exactly 640 00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:35,560 where you are and exactly what you're going through right now 641 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:38,840 for your own good and for His glory. 642 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:44,000 But you've got to ask yourself this question in this place and 643 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,480 in this season, how can God bear fruit through me? 644 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:51,480 Do not waste this place. Do not waste this season. 645 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:56,400 It is incredibly strategic for you and for the people around 646 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,760 you. In just a moment, I'm going to 647 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:02,280 pray and we're going to end not just today, but we're going to 648 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:06,120 end this series with a song that maybe a few of you know, but 649 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:09,520 probably most of you don't. It's a song called Manasseh. 650 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:14,120 And it's, it's of course, after Joseph's first born son. 651 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,880 And we're going to invite you to to stay and we're going to 652 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:23,080 invite you to sing. But here's The thing is, I just 653 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:26,800 want Hannah and Connor in a lot of ways just to sing this over 654 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:30,000 you. Because as we close this series 655 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:35,520 of the life of Joseph out, we can thank God for every season 656 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:38,000 that we're in and we can look back and we can go, you know 657 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:41,080 what? I was in affliction, but God, 658 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:42,960 you made me fruitful in that affliction. 659 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,520 God, I went through some really hard times, but you made me 660 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:51,360 forget the pain behind me in light of the blessings in front 661 00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:54,840 of me. So in just a moment, as we pray, 662 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,120 we're going to invite you to stand and you can sing with us. 663 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:58,960 You can not sing with us. You can come down and pray if 664 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:00,840 you want to pray, you can come down and talk to one of our 665 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:02,800 pastors if you want to talk to one of our pastors. 666 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:06,640 But I pray that this speaks over you, man. 667 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:09,680 This life, the series of the life of Joe's been so, so good. 668 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,080 And it doesn't have to end this morning. 669 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:17,840 Where does God want to bear fruit in my life here and now? 670 00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:21,000 God, we love you and we thank you for your word. 671 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:23,280 God, we love you and we thank you for your presence. 672 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,280 God is a presence that is faithful to us even when we're 673 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:31,520 not faithful to you. God that is always aware of us, 674 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:33,040 even when we're not aware of you. 675 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,480 God is a presence that you as our perfect, loving heavenly 676 00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:41,760 Father. We are always on your mind, even 677 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:45,120 when we allow our minds and our thoughts to get cluttered by 678 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:50,600 other things and lesser things. God, I pray that this morning, 679 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:54,280 God, you remind us of your faithfulness to us. 680 00:40:55,520 --> 00:41:00,600 God, in whatever season, in whatever place we may find 681 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:04,640 ourselves this morning, God, you have been faithful, you are 682 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:06,840 faithful, You will continue to be faithful. 683 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:12,920 So God, as we get ready to close out this morning, got to pray 684 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:15,880 that your Holy Spirit would move in and through us this morning. 685 00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:19,160 And it's in Jesus name that we pray, Amen. 686 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:22,160 Stand if you want to stand, sing if you want to sing, come pray. 687 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:24,440 If God is calling you to come, pray with His church. 688 00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:47,040 You redeem the innocence that stolen you return the years that 689 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,160 thou were taken. You. 690 00:41:56,280 --> 00:42:01,400 Every broken home inside my heart. 691 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:05,200 And you made. It all better. 692 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:12,320 This is my manasa. You've caused me to forget. 693 00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:19,640 Your goodness washes over all the pain of my past. 694 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:28,960 This is my Manasa. You've caused me to forgive in 695 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:34,000 all my broken places. You'll rewrite in what's been 696 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:38,880 written. Thank you for Manassa. 697 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:57,720 Thank you for Manassa. You fulfilled every facet of my 698 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:06,720 purpose in the waiting when this islands felt so useless. 699 00:43:06,720 --> 00:43:11,840 You changed me. You traded on my trauma. 700 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:16,040 For. Vintages of grace. 701 00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:25,000 I can see it all now that this is my Manasseh, You've caused me 702 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:30,480 to forgive. Your goodness washes over the 703 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:39,000 world the pain of my past. This is my Manasseh you've 704 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:43,320 caused me to forgive. In all my. 705 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:47,560 Broken places you're rewriting what's? 706 00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:58,760 Be written thank you for. Vanessa, I'm so grateful for 707 00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:07,640 Vanessa. 'Cause it's a new season, 708 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:15,480 there's a new freedom. All I thought was lost. 709 00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:23,840 You felt it made it. Better glory to glory. 710 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:29,680 Joyful my morning. There is nothing wasted. 711 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,800 You work. It all together. 712 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:40,200 The new season, there's a new freedom. 713 00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:45,920 All I thought was love. You found. 714 00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:50,720 And made it better. Glory. 715 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:55,120 To. Glory, joy for my money. 716 00:44:57,240 --> 00:45:00,640 There is nothing wasting. You. 717 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:16,040 Work it all together. And this is Marmosa, this is 718 00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:27,920 Marmosa 'cause this is Marmosa, you've caused me to forget. 719 00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:33,360 Your goodness rushes over all the. 720 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:41,040 Pain of my past. This is my manasseh you've 721 00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:46,240 caused me to. Forgive and all my broken. 722 00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:50,440 Places you're. Rewriting what spirit? 723 00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:55,320 Thank you. For Manasseh. 724 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:03,880 Riverbend, thank you so much for worshipping with us today. 725 00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:11,960 Have a great week. Thank you for listening to 726 00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:15,320 Riverbend Church's podcast. To find out more about this 727 00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:18,880 message or Riverbend Church, connect with us online at 728 00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:20,560 Riverbend Church dot live.