Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast.
To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church,
connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.
Absolutely love that story about Matt and Betsy and and Jason.
I remember very vividly Jace coming up to me and said he
brought his jar of water that morning of being baptized and,
and, and asked if he could pour it in.
And I was like, absolutely. So if you were baptized the
morning that Jace was baptized, congratulations, you also got
baptized in Jace's Jarred water. Also, if you if, if some of you
husband's out there, if you didn't know why last January,
you your wife wouldn't let you eat sugar now you found out.
So I love that line to where Jace asked Betsy Mom won't miss
Julie let you eat sugar. But you know it was it was
absolutely amazing just to see God work in their lives.
Absolutely amazing to see God work in the lives of, of so many
different ones of us over last year's 21 days of prayer and
fasting. And I hope that you find the
these stories and these testimonies encouraging because
what God has done in, in, in their lives, God wants to do in,
in, in your life and in my life. And that's why we are in this
season of 21 days of prayer and fasting.
If you're if you're new with us this morning, my name is Ben.
If we haven't had the chance to meet yet and get to serve as the
lead pastor and we are in fact in a season to where we call 21
days of prayer and fasting. We started last Sunday and
essentially we are choosing to intentionally go without
something. For some that's that that's
that's food all together. For some that's a meal, for
others that that social media. For others, that that may be a
type of food like sugar. It can be anything, but instead
of concentrating on what we're going without, we are doing
that. We're choosing to intentionally
go without something in order so that we can make more room for
God in our lives to, to replace the time that we spend typically
doing something where there's eating a meal or, or, or
scrolling social media, to intentionally spend that time
with God in prayer and, and reading his word.
So you may be asking if you're new to Riverbend, like why, why,
why go through all of this? Why, Why do that?
You know, why? Why focus so much on a, on an
intentional season of, of prayer?
Why go without food for a certain amount of time or a meal
or, or something that we normally go through?
Why? Why write and print and and and
give away devotionals to, to, to help God during these 21 days?
Why replace Danny's doughnuts with apples and bananas?
If you're new to Riverbend and you didn't know anything about
Danny's doughnuts, man, you don't know.
Come back and come back at the end of this month.
But why are we doing all this? I think it's really important
that we come back to the why, right?
Because my prayer, our prayer, our desire and our hope for you
and, and, and whether you're with us in the room or online,
is that you would be able to look back over this season, over
this specific season of life. You'll be able to look back over
it with, with a fondness and, and, and, and realizing that
over these 21 days that there is a closeness to God that you've
never experienced before. You're experiencing God like
you've never experienced him before that you would be able to
look back over the season and you would absolutely be able to
say, man, I lived well. That was a season of my life in
which I lived well. And those two words live well.
We talked last week about how there's no shortage of opinions
or definitions of what that means, right?
But at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters in
terms of defining what living well really means and what it
looks like is God's. If you have a, if you have your
note sheet with you, I want to show you something.
It's actually serving as the main, the big idea or the main
truth throughout this series. And we believe that it's really
what God's definition of living well actually looks like.
And this is going to be carrying us through the months of January
and then on into next month as well.
To live well is to live God's way.
Firm in faith, steady in trials, and anchored in hope.
Firm in faith, steady and trials, and anchored in hope.
Now for us to discover, for you and I to discover what it means
to live God's way, then we've got to know God's Word.
And throughout the months of January and February, we're
going to be diving in and walking through a book of the
Bible called First Peter. It's called First Peter.
And Peter is going to guide us into the different facets of
what living God's way looks like, whether it's being firm in
faith or steady in trials or, or or anchored in hope.
And if you have a Bible with you, I want to invite you to
find First Peter chapter 1. And this morning we're going to
be starting in verse 13. We're going to be picking it up
in verse 13. If you don't have a Bible with
you, then no worries. The passage that we're going to
be walking through this morning is actually at the top of your
note sheet. And it's going to be on the
screen behind me just so that we can all, we can all be on the
same page here. But as you're making your way
there give you a little bit of important context about the book
of first Peter. The author of first Peter is a
guy by the name of of Peter. Peter, if you didn't know Peter
was one of Jesus closest friends home on this earth.
And if you're curious, right after first Peter comes the book
of second Peter. He also wrote that the second
thing that you need to know about the book of first Peter is
the book that we now have as first Peter was originally
written as a letter and it was originally written to and
circulated by persecuted Christians around 60 AD in Asia
Minor. You see, the Roman Empire was
the was the was the major military force, the major global
power of that day. And there was a great
persecution that came across the church came across Christians.
So Peter is writing this letter that we now have as a book, and
it was circulated by these early persecuted Christians.
But the third thing that you need to know about the book of
first Peter is it was not written.
It was not written to people who have their act together.
It was not written to people that everything's just seemingly
falls into place and goes their way.
It was actually written to a group of people that that that
knew what trials were, that knew what hardships were that it was
written. It was written to the to the
broken. It was written to some to to
people that sometimes felt forgotten.
It was written to the embattled. It was written to, it was
written to us. So if you're with us this
morning in the room or online and you're that first group to
where life always seems to fall into place and you got your act
together and man, it just always turns up aces for you.
We invite you back next week. This week isn't for you, but for
the rest of us. For the rest of us.
I want to dive into first Peter Chapter 1 and what we're going
to be doing this morning is we're going to be taking this
passage and we're going to be almost like splitting it into
two. So I want you to check this out
first Peter chapter one, verse 13.
It says, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being
sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be
brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
You see this verse right here, verse 13 is actually going to
serve kind of as the launching pad into 1415 and 16.
And what I mean by that is if you were with us last week, you
know that everything that we talked about kind of boiled down
to that one word, trust. Trust.
Who do I trust to, to, to, to set my attention on?
Because as we talked about last week, where our attention is or,
or where we place our attention, that will inevitably guide our
steps. Who do I trust to put as King of
my life when I I've got to trust God that He knows the ways in
which I need to grow and the ways in which I will grow.
But I also have to trust God that He will allow not an inch
more than is needed in terms of trials that will grow me closer
to Him. Trusting that with God, if I'm a
follower of Jesus, everything that is ahead of me is far
greater than everything that is behind me.
Is that word trust this morning? I think one of the key words
that we need to kind of hone in on, especially as we go into
verses 1415 and 16, is the word definition.
More specifically, right definition.
So if you have a note sheet with you and you're taking notes with
us, I want to walk through four things that we need right
definition for. Here's the first one is Peter is
going to go on to start and say therefore, therefore that word
starting off verse 13. Therefore write this out.
We get to live in what others can only look forward to.
We get to live in what others only could look forward to.
Now, if you ever see the word, therefore in the Bible, it's
really, really important to pay attention to what comes right
before it. And, and, and the thought that
comes right before verse 13 actually starts in first Peter
1, 10. This is what Peter writes
concerning this salvation. The prophets who prophesied
about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired
carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in
them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of
Christ in the subsequent glories, it was revealed to them
that they were serving not themselves, but you in the
things that have now been announced to you through those
who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from
heaven. Check this out things into which
angels long to look. You see what we get to, what we
are living in now is what others could only look forward to.
Let me say that a different way. In your Bible, there's 66 books
of your Bible. You got the Old Testament.
You got the New Testament, 39 books of the Old Testament, 27
books of the New Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, those 39
books of the Old Testament, we're all looking ahead at a
promised Savior. That means that from from Noah
to, to Abraham to to Joseph to Moses and Joshua and Ruth and
David and Solomon to to Esther and Isaiah and Jeremiah and
Daniel, they were all looking ahead at this prophesied at this
upcoming Messiah. They were all their hope was
always looking ahead. These 39 books of the Old
Testament, it's almost like collectively they are screaming
together. When the Savior gets here, He
will rescue us. Now we here in 2026, we who are
living on the other side of the empty tomb, we're living on the
other side of the empty tomb. So we get to live in what they
could only look forward to. And here's what I would say in
terms of why that matters is, isn't it so easy for us to take
for granted what has been done for us and given to us?
And I think it's very important that we come back and we start
this conversation, this message this morning with a reminder of
all that Jesus has done for us and all that Jesus has given us.
It's the therefore that starts off everything.
Second phrase this morning is this therefore preparing your
minds for action. And here's what I would tell you
about preparing your minds for action.
Faith is always active, never passive.
Let me kind of walk you through some distinctive differences
between the two. A passive faith.
A passive faith believes that God can act, but waits without
movement. A passive faith agrees with
truth intellectually, but their behavior remains unsane,
unchanged. So did you know that you can
believe something in your head and it not affects your feet?
It not affects your mouth? A passive faith agrees with
something intellectually, yet remains unchanged in behavior.
A passive faith says God will handle it while avoiding
obedience, risk, and responsibility.
That's a passive faith. Act of faith.
Act of faith believes that God will act.
And because will God will act, I'm going to step forward in
obedience and in trust. Act of faith aligns belief with
obedience and moves even when the outcome isn't guaranteed.
And an act of faith says because I trust God, I'm going to act.
Because I trust God, I'm going to act.
This isn't your notes, but it'd be good to jot down out beside
this note. Passive faith watches, act of
faith walks. Passive faith watches, act of
faith walks. So if you want to know whether
or not you're, I think all of our default is passive faith,
but our reality that you're living out an act of faith or a
passive faith, then that's a pretty good litmus test to kind
of apply to your life. Am I watching or am I walking?
There's a huge difference. Am I watching or am I walking?
I think it's important for us to notice that when Peter says
prepare your minds for what for action, he doesn't stop there.
Third definition that we need is when Peter says being sober
minded. That means seeing clearly and
living intentionally. That means seeing clearly and
living intentionally. I think every single one of us,
whether you're new to church, whether you're a veteran of
church, whether you're looking around for a church or you've
called Riverbend home for for years or maybe even decades.
Whether you're young or whether you're old, whether you've read
the Bible cover to cover multiple times or or or or
whether like maybe this is your first time going into the Bible.
I think we would all agree that the stakes of every day are so
high, aren't they? The the stakes are so high every
single day. And, and here's here's what I
mean. The stakes of like, maybe, maybe
it's just like a peaceful heart. Maybe maybe it is a maybe it is
a healthy mind. The the stakes.
And, and when we talk about stakes, I'm talking about not
just the the well-being here and now, but but the eternity of our
spouse or our family or our kids.
The stakes are so, so high every single day, yet it is so easy.
And maybe I'm the only one. I don't think I am, but maybe
I'm the only one. It is so easy for us to numb
out, dumb out and be distracted by lesser things.
And what Peter is telling us here when he says be sober
minded. And it is basically, hey, you
need to realize, we need to realize that every single day
the stakes are so high that we have got to live with
intentionality, which means that I've got to intentionally remove
the things that numb me, dumb me, and distract me so that I
can see clearly, so that I can hear God clearly, and so that I
can lead in the direction that the Holy Spirit is calling me to
lead. Being sober minded.
And then there's a fourth definition that we need to get
up underneath our belt and or to dive into the whole issue of
being holy is set your hope fully write this out to the
side. That means no safety Nets.
That means no backup plans. That means no safety Nets.
That means no backup plans. Simply put, this is a burn.
The ships not going back, no turning back all in type of
faith. One of the things that that I
know that I'm guilty of and I I see people all all over the
place that are very guilty of is we want to see God do all in
miracles while we live by a halfway in type of faith.
And when Peter says setting your hope fully, it means that,
listen, I'm not turning back because I'm not going back type
of resolve. That means that if I find out,
if we find out that Jesus was not who he says that he was and
did not do what the Bible tells us that he did, we're not just a
saddened person looking to like kind of reshuffle the deck in
our life. We are absolutely a devastated
people with no source of hope whatsoever.
No source of hope. So with these 4 definitions in
mind that I understand that I am living in a time of history on
this side of the empty tomb of a falling and the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. That understanding that I'm
called to live an active type of faith and and I'm resolved to
see clearly and intentionally removing the distractions out of
my life because I realized that the stakes are so high and
living in a no turning back type of faith that gives us context
for what comes next. That gives us context to
obedience. That gives us context to the
rest of what Peter's going to walk us through in verses 1415
and 16. Check this out.
Peter writes this in verse 14. As obedient children, as we keep
everything that we just talked about kind of at the forefront
of our mind, those right definitions.
So as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of
your former ignorance, but as he who called you as holy, you also
be holy in all your conduct since it is written, you shall
be holy, for I am holy. Now do not, do not, do not gloss
over those first few words. As a matter of fact, you may
want to circle those or underline those on your note
sheet, maybe even highlight them, circle them, underline
them in your Bible. Those first 3 words as obedient
children. Those are huge.
Did you know that if you've if
you've asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins and.
Asked him to take control of your life and you committed to
following him for the rest of your life.
Did you know that that God doesn't look at you as a as a
stranger or an outsider? God doesn't even greet you
necessarily as a as a friend. God views you as a son or a
daughter, as children and as children.
It means that you are loved by God.
It means that you are accepted by God.
It means that you are welcomed by God as obedient children.
Now, a lot of times we start to bristle up at that whole notion
of obedience because I think that we may have things a little
bit twisted in the way that we understand our obedience to God.
I wrote this in your notes. Check this out.
Our obedience to God as our heavenly Father flows from a
relationship not out of fear and not out of performance.
Not out of fear, not out of performance.
Think about this. Our earthly parents, if you had
a, if you had a, a great relationship with your earthly
parents. I, I've been very fortunate.
I've been very, very blessed to be raised in the home and raised
in the family that I've been raised in.
If you don't know this, my dad, he he goes by his middle name,
which is which is Wayne and but his first name is actually John.
So my dad's first and middle name is literally John Wayne.
How cool is that? Did my granny and Paw paw know
who John Wayne was? Absolutely not.
But they ended up giving my dad a really cool name, right?
John Wayne Wallace. I will always be the son of John
Wayne Wallace, always be the son of John Wayne Wallace.
There's nothing that I can do that changes that identity.
I don't, I don't look to please my dad because I'm, I'm afraid
of him and I don't look to please my dad because I want to
try to earn something. I want, I want to try to earn
his love or his favour. I, I want to please my dad
because it comes out of relationship.
And the same thing's true for you and I.
You see, the most definitely is to be a sense of awe and wonder
when we approach God. He is wholly other than us,
right? He is majestic, His grandeur.
It is greater than we can possibly imagine.
But that doesn't mean that we approach him with a timid fear.
And, and certainly we are to be obedient to Him and live in
obedience and live by his words and his will and his ways for
us, but not in a way in which we're trying to perform for Him
and try to earn that love. So with that in mind, what is
Peter telling us to be obedient to God in?
He's saying, listen as obedient children, be holy, be holy.
Well, what does that mean? What does it mean?
And what does it look like for you and I to be holy?
For us to discover that there are three things that I want us
to walk through this morning. Here's the first one.
It means that because of Jesus we are different, so we're
called to be different. Because of Jesus we are
different. We are different, so we're
called to be different. This means like we talked about
last week, giving asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins,
asking the Holy Spirit of God to come into your life to help take
control of your life and guide your life, and committing to
following God with your whole life for the rest of your life.
The Bible uses a term called born again.
Born again. It means that you are, if that
is something that you've already done, like we we were talking
about or Matt and Betsy were talking about with Jace, he did.
If that's the step in obedience that you've taken, it means that
you've been born again. You're a new creation.
Now being a new creation, of course, doesn't mean that you
have a new identity. You have a new Social Security
card that your, that your credit history is automatically like,
you know, erased that bad credit history.
It it means that you are becoming a new person.
It means that it means with the Holy Spirit living in you, that
the Holy Spirit of God is transforming you from the inside
out. And as the Holy Spirit begins to
transform you from the inside out, it means the things that
were, that, that, that were, that were flashy and appealing
and, and, and, and drawing your attention and, and your
affection and your devotion before Jesus, They, they kind of
lose that luster. You're, you're, you're a new
person because of Jesus. And if you're a new person
because of Jesus, then we're called not to go back to our
former ways of, of, of living. You see, you and I, we have been
made new. So we don't, we don't return to
the former ways of doing life. In your notes I gave you, I gave
you 2 words. The first one, first one is a
Greek word. The reason I gave you this Greek
word is because we know that the New Testament was written in the
Greek language. Here's that Greek word hagios.
Hagios, It literally means to be set apart.
So when Peter is writing in first Peter 114 and then on into
verses 15 and 16, this is the word that he is using to be set
apart. Now what does it mean for you
and I? What does it look like for you
and I to be set apart? It means that there was or there
is a way in which seems right. There was a way in which we were
once driven by our opinions and our perspectives and maybe
cultural norms, by what looked good and seemed good and felt
good before Jesus and, and, and that way of doing life.
A, a way that is centered around personal perspectives and
opinions and cultural norms. A way that is centered around
what looks good and seems good and feels good to people.
That that is the norm by which people live life that are
unbelievers, that that have not surrendered their lives to
Jesus. And what Peter's telling us
here, what Peter's telling us here is we are to be set apart
from the normal standard of life, from an unbelieving world
and culture, from an unbelieving world and culture.
Here's why. It's because if we have been
made new, then we are to live new.
If we've been made different, then we are to live different.
And it's all because we now have.
If you've surrendered your life to Jesus, we now have a new
standard of living. And the standard of living is a
biblical standard. Or another way of saying that is
we now have a biblical ethic. It means that what my thoughts
about sexuality and identity and, and, and marriage and
relationships and finances and, and, and integrity, they're all
anchored in a biblical ethic. What God's word says, not
necessarily what my culture says, not necessarily what my
family may say, not necessarily what may seem good, feel good,
none of that. We are called to live different
because we are different. Now here's the catch.
Many times it's very easy for Christians to take that whole
issue of being holy and to veer off course.
And the best way that I can show you that it's easy for us to
veer off course is that second word that I gave you in your
notes sheet. And it's actually a Hebrew word,
parash. Parash.
This comes from directly from the Old Testament.
Parash means to literally separate.
Now at first glance, to be set apart and to separate look
pretty similar, don't they? But the more we dive into it,
the more we see that they're actually completely different.
You see, to separate often means that we withdraw.
To be set apart means that we live in the midst of.
To separate focuses in more on what we are not a part of.
To be set apart focuses more in on who we belong to.
The reason that that's so important is because if we focus
so much on to separate, guess what happens?
We become judge mental, We become legalistic, we become
Pharisaical, we become little Pharisees.
For that reason, it is no wonder that parash is actually the
Hebrew word in which Pharisee comes from.
You see, there's a Hebrew word for holiness, Kadesh or kadosh.
And in kadosh Peter is going to cite when he says for the Lord
who is called for God, who has called you holy, has said be
holy for I am holy. Back in first Peter 116, he's
citing Leviticus 1144. In Leviticus 1144 the word
kadosh is there holy. Be holy, for I am holy kadosh.
But over time, it became very, very easy for the people to
begin to veer off course from a kadosh to a Paresh.
And what I would tell you, church is in our pursuit of
holiness, that pursuit cannot veer off course into becoming
legalistic and becoming judgmental and becoming weird
for weird's sake. It is actually living on
purpose. It is actually living on
mission. Like I said, a Paresh or to live
separate from focuses much more in on what we are not a part of.
Whereas A Hagios, a holy aspect to be set apart that focuses
much more in on who we belong to or set another way.
Here's the second thing in your notes is holiness is not just
about our distance from an unbelieving world and culture.
It's more about our closeness to our to our holy God.
Holiness is not just about our distance from an unbelieving
world and culture, it's more about our closeness to a holy
God. For this reason, did you know
that you can separate yourself from all things unholy and still
not live holy? Now make no mistake about it, as
followers of Jesus, there are most definitely things that we
should have no part of. There are most definitely things
that we should have no part of. We should have no part of
pornography. We should have no part of sex
outside of marriage. We should have no part of
identity confusion. We should have no part of
holding on to grudges and unforgiveness.
We should have no part of celebrating somebody else's
downfall. We should have no part of
vulgarity. And we should we We could go on
and on and on about the things that we should have no part of.
But we should have no part of those things, not because we are
superior or holier in thou, but because they are no longer
compatible with who God has now made us to be.
So how do we live this new life? How do we grow in this new
identity of who God has made us to be?
It all goes back to relationship.
It all goes back to the more time realizing that, the more
time that I spend time with God in prayer, reading His Word, and
actually allowing Him to guide my choices and decisions each
and every day. Guess what?
I'm not only grow closer to Him, but His character begins to rub
off on me. And the things that I once were
drawn to, I'm no longer drawn to because I'm drawn to the things
of God, not the things of this world.
You see, holiness is not just about the distance from an
unbelieving world or culture. And one of the things that you
know as well as I do, this isn't breaking news.
Most of the time, Christians are known more for what they are
against rather than what they are for.
I think a lot of times it's because we exchange the to be
set apart from the for the to separate.
But you cannot underestimate the fact that to grow in holiness,
It's not so much about a distance from an unbelieving
world and culture. It's actually about more more
closeness to our holy God. As we turn a corner and head
down the final stretch this morning, there's one last thing
that I want to spend a little bit of time walking through and
it is huge. It's huge.
And this may my, my hope is is this last part that we're about
to talk about. It frees you up, it encourages
you and it propels you. Here it is.
Holiness is not a goal to be achieved.
It's a life to step into. It's not a goal to achieve.
It's a life to step into. Set another way.
There will never be a point in time to where you and I or any
of us can ever look in our mirror and go, man finally made
it. I am holy.
If you do know that you now struggle with pride and lying,
therefore you're not holy. There will never be a point in
time to where you or or or me or any of us will ever be able to
look in the mirror and go, man, I have finally made it.
I am now holy. Listen, I, I, there's a part of
me that that wishes that we could, we could kind of end our
time with a, with a 10 step program for holiness.
But that's not what Holiness is. Holiness is not about a ten step
program. Holiness is actually about a
daily pursuit. And if we're really to get real
and honest with ourselves, it's not just a daily pursuit.
It is a moment by moment pursuit.
Holiness is not a goal to achieve.
It is a life to step into. It is basically waking up, even
though we'll never be able to wake up.
Look ourselves in the mirror and go, man, I finally made it
today. I'm holy.
I'll check that box. I hope everybody notices.
I am now holy. We'll never achieve that because
holiness is not a goal to achieve.
But what we can do is we can wake up each morning with a
simple prayer and go, God, I want to pursue holiness today.
God, would you? Would you guide me in making
decisions and choices that align with Your Word and Your will and
Your ways? God, Would you?
Would you open my eyes and open my my ears and open, open my
mind to God? There may be some things that
I'm involved with right now that are not compatible with who You
have made me. Now that I am born again, God,
would you reveal those things to me so that I can take those
things off? And when I take those things
off, God, I can pick up your way for me.
God, would you? Would you help me to see people
and to hear people and to treat people the way that you see and
hear and treat people? God, I want to dedicate this day
to you. That's the pursuit of holiness.
That is a life to step into.
And here's the great news church, that step can happen.
It can start this morning. It can start this morning to
kind of prime the pump of maybe some things that we need to to
hand over to God. I want to walk you through two
key questions this morning. Number one, what does obedience
look like for me today? What does obedience look like
for me today? You know, I'm, I'm more and more
convinced that the vast majority of us, whether we're in the room
or join us online, we come into this morning, we come into the
service having a pretty good idea of what God wants us to do.
We're just very hesitant and fearful to do it.
So what does obedience look like for you today?
Here's the second one. Where is God inviting me to walk
differently today? Again, we are to live different,
not just to be weird. We are to live different because
we now are different. You, you know, this, this
process of God transforming us from the inside out.
It's, it's, it's revealing the things in our lives that are no
longer compatible with this new life.
And it's also revealing the things that are that are missing
in our lives that that aren't compatible with this new life.
So here's the question, where is God inviting me to walk
differently today? In just a moment, we're going to
pray and we'll stand and we'll sing again.
And I just want to give you the opportunity to respond.
Remember how I said that holiness is, is really a life to
step into. And that life to step into can
start today. It always, always, always,
always. It always starts with surrender,
and surrender is simply this. As God, I'm going to bow my knee
to you and I acknowledge you as God, and I acknowledge that you
can do things in and through me that no one else can.
God, you love me like no one else does.
God, you desire good for me like no one else does.
God, would you show me the parts of me that don't match up with
you? It, it, it starts with bowing
the knee. And when we bow the knee there,
there's a there's a moment, there's a time of confession and
confession basically is just saying, God, you go to the
deepest parts of me to do your deepest work in me.
And God, if you show me anything in my life that's not compatible
with you, God, I want to, I want to confess that before you as
sin and then after confession. So it's surrender and then it's
confession and then it's God. Would you guide me?
And we're going to give you the opportunity to do that in just a
moment. So we do that by we're going to,
in just a moment, pray and stand and sing and open up this front.
If you want to come and talk and pray with a pastor, that's what
we're here for. If you want to just come and
kneel and pray here to where you say, hey, right here, January
18th, 2026. I'm not looking to achieve
holiness, but I'm looking to step into a life of pursuing
holiness starting now. Then we encourage you to come
and pray. And do that business with God.
Pray with me. God, we love you and we thank
you for your word and for your love.
God, you desire good for us. God, when you call us to be holy
God, I pray that you would help us to understand that the basis
of our obedience is is relationship with you.
God, we don't do it because we're afraid of you or we're
trying to earn your favor or your love.
God, we do it because we acknowledge you as our heavenly
Father. God, I pray that if there's
anyone in here this morning that God, that there's some things
that you're working in our lives.
God, there's a step of faith that you have called us to
actively take. God, I pray that we would be
obedient to take that that step. God, if there's anything in our
lives that is incompatible with the new US that you created all
the calls of Jesus, God, I pray that you would allow that to
rise to the top of our minds. And God, that we would hand that
over to you. We would confess that as sin and
ask that you forgive that sin. God, I pray that you would work
and that you would move in freedom and empower during this
time. And it's in Jesus name that we
pray. Amen.
Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast.
To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church,
connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.