1 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,200 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 2 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:11,560 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:14,920 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live. 4 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:23,720 Well, good morning again, Riverbend. 5 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,120 So good to see you again. My name's Todd Slade and I have 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,480 the privilege to serve as the executive pastor here, if you 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,400 haven't heard that already. And so I appreciate the 8 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,200 opportunity that you give me to lead here. 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:40,320 Well, this morning, let me say yesterday afternoon about 4:00, 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,640 I got a phone call. Pastor Ben said he had gotten 11 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,400 such overwhelming response from my comment about being the best 12 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,920 looking one on staff that he asked me to preach again today 13 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:54,440 because we need more eye candy on stage at Riverbend Church. 14 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,440 And so that's why he's not here this morning. 15 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:58,920 And so, no, I wish that were the case, but it's not. 16 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,680 Pastor Ben called me yesterday afternoon about 5:00 or 6:00 and 17 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,720 said, hey, man, I've just been diagnosed with the flu. 18 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,240 Do you mind covering for me tomorrow morning? 19 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,840 And I said sure. It's a it's. 20 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:16,360 A light and noble task, so I will handle it with grace, 21 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,360 hopefully. So I'm preaching this morning, 22 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,520 but this is a combination of Ben's notes and mine as well. 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:25,760 So hang with me if you will this morning. 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,400 I think you'll get it. The we're kicking off a brand 25 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,680 new sermon series today called Live Well, and we'll tell you 26 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,000 more about that here in just a second, but. 27 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:38,160 Beginning next Sunday, we have. We're starting our 21 days of of 28 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,960 prayer and fasting, and I really invite you to come along on this 29 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:45,040 journey with us. There's something about setting 30 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,440 aside something. In order to fill that time. 31 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,120 With the Lord, whatever it is, maybe you want to give up 32 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,280 drinking Coke or maybe you want to give up TV, maybe you want to 33 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,080 give up social media. Whatever it is, I encourage you 34 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,360 over the next 21 days. We'll start next Sunday at 6:00 35 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,880 PM and it'll end on December 31st. 36 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,360 I mean December. That would be a long time of 37 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,080 fasting and prayer. Y'all come along with us. 12 38 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,480 months of fasting and prayer. Actually, it'll end on January 39 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:20,200 31st at 6:00 PM that night. And so it's just something that 40 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,960 we love to do here to start off the new year, setting aside time 41 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,680 to just do without so that we can fill that time with the 42 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,520 Lord. And we encourage you to come 43 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,800 along that ride with us next Sunday. 44 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,760 We will have devotional guides that Julie and Pastor Nathan, 45 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,440 Pastor Ben have written. I'll tell you more about that at 46 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:40,760 the end of the service, but you can pick those up next week. 47 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,560 And we encourage you to journey along with us over the next 21 48 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,000 days as we seek the Lord's face together as a. 49 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,880 Church to set us up. For whatever God wants to do 50 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,840 with us in 2026, I can't think of a better way to start off the 51 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,040 new year than really seeking God's face earnestly together as 52 00:02:58,040 --> 00:02:59,920 a church. And so that will begin next 53 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:01,920 Sunday night at 6:00 PM. We'll have a time of worship 54 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,880 together here and then that'll kick off our 20 days of fasting 55 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:06,040 and prayer. So I want to make sure that I 56 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,960 mentioned that this morning, but also today begins a brand new 57 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,280 sermon series. Called Live Well and this new 58 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,240 series called Live Well. If you're brand new to 59 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,320 Riverbend, or perhaps you've been at Riverbend for many, 60 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,760 many, many, many years, I can tell you I know one thing about 61 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,080 you already. No matter if I've never met, you 62 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:27,520 already know something about you. 63 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,440 Your desire is that you want to live. 64 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,480 Well, all of us want to live well. 65 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,840 As a pastor, I've had the privilege, I guess if you want 66 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,200 to call it that, it is a deep, deep honor when somebody asks a 67 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,840 pastor to to to do their funeral. 68 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,400 But talking about end of life, whenever I've gone to meet with 69 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,840 folks who are at the end of their life, they've never once 70 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,360 bragged about having tons and tons of money. 71 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,840 I did a funeral for a guy I don't know, probably two years 72 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,760 ago who was a multi millionaire. He didn't. 73 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,520 He never bragged about his money. 74 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,520 I did a funeral for a lady who didn't have anything probably 7 75 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,560 or 8 years ago. Every funeral I've done, 76 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,280 whenever I've met with whoever is the person who's looking at 77 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:16,360 end of life care, the one thing that they all want to know is 78 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,640 have I lived? Have I lived well, have I 79 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,640 honored God? They don't say, you know, I'm 80 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,880 glad I did whatever some do, but most say I wish I could have 81 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,440 done this different right? Because at the end of the day, 82 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:32,960 we all have a deep down desire to live well. 83 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,040 We want to honor the Lord with our life. 84 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,720 And so man, December 31st, that's a great day on the 85 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,120 calendar. I love December 31st. 86 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,960 This year we had a unique December 31st at my household. 87 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:47,920 My family had the flu over Christmas. 88 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,960 Normally on Christmas Day we would take off and go to Rome to 89 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,720 be with my parents. This year I called my mom and 90 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:56,920 said. Joshua has just been diagnosed 91 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:58,600 with the flu. We're not coming to Rome on 92 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,440 Christmas Day this year. And so we had to change our 93 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,240 plans. We ended up going the week of 94 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:05,040 New Year's. And so it actually ended up 95 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,680 being really, really good. We actually were able to spend a 96 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,480 little bit more time in Rome than we would have had we gone 97 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,720 Christmas Day. And also, my brother-in-law has 98 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,120 more money than he has since. And so he went and bought a ton 99 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:21,080 of fireworks. Like maybe illegal fireworks. 100 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:26,520 And we shot those for like 5 hours on, on New Year's Eve. 101 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:31,520 And so, but December 31st is one of my favorite days of the year. 102 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,200 And the reason why is because there's so much anticipation 103 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:40,360 about something old ending and something new beginning, right. 104 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,760 We look forward to doing maybe New Year's resolution. 105 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:44,560 I don't know who looks forward to New Year's resolutions. 106 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:46,680 Maybe you do. I don't, I don't even do New 107 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:48,760 Year's resolutions. I'm like, look, there's been so 108 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,120 many years in the past that I've made New Year's resolutions and 109 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:52,760 I've failed so miserably on those. 110 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:54,240 I just don't even do it anymore, right? 111 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,480 But you know, new life, new, new opportunities will say as the 112 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:04,080 calendar flips from December 31st to January 1st, a new 113 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,840 calendar, new plans, new intentions for new habits and 114 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:09,840 disciplines. We always like to say new Year, 115 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:12,200 new me. It's almost like an opportunity 116 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,320 to start over as we flip the calendar. 117 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,560 But if you're anything like me, New Year's Day was on Thursday, 118 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:21,320 Friday morning. You're like, yeah, I'll start 119 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,760 that new year, new, new me thing on Friday morning, right? 120 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,360 Or Saturday morning, right. And before you notice the end of 121 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,720 January and you're like, all right, Lord, those those 122 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,520 promises that we made, can we? Can we work on that in February, 123 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:34,920 maybe? You know, if you're anything 124 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,280 like me, it's hard to keep those New Year's resolutions. 125 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,920 And often times we feel like a failure. 126 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,840 I mean, if we're, if we're being honest with ourselves, we make 127 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:48,960 those New Year's resolutions and then when we don't keep them, we 128 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:53,680 get so upset about it, right? We, we fail more times than we 129 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,560 get it right. It's a good reminder that a new 130 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,720 year doesn't fix old patterns. It just reveals them. 131 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:01,960 You see if. We keep on doing what we've 132 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,960 always done, then we'll keep on getting the same results. 133 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:06,960 You know, I think it was Einstein that says. 134 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:09,960 When you do the same thing yet expecting different results, 135 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,560 that's the definition of insanity. 136 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,160 I think that was Einstein who said that, right? 137 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,880 We have to do something different. 138 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,000 And I happen to believe that God wants so much more from you and 139 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:26,960 from me in 2026. He wants so much more from us. 140 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,280 I think the Lord wants more from us than we even desire from 141 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,600 ourselves. I think God wants so much for 142 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:35,840 us. And in order to make that 143 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,200 happen, it's going to require that all of us have a strong, 144 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,360 strong faith. Now, if you've been at River 145 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,920 Mend for any amount of time, you've probably heard us define 146 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,560 faith this way. And it's not on your note sheet 147 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:48,640 this morning. So if you'll take your note 148 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,760 sheet out, if you'll write it in the margins or wherever, you can 149 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:53,280 write this down. We're going to. 150 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,760 Come back to this, I'm sure during the sermon Series A good 151 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:57,520 bit. So I want you to go ahead and 152 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:58,680 write this down if you don't mind. 153 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,120 The definition of faith that we hold here at Riverbend Church is 154 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,040 choosing to believe God is who he says He is and that God will 155 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,280 do what he says He will do even when my circumstances or 156 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,560 feelings may say otherwise. All right, let me say that one 157 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,760 more time. The definition of faith, 158 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:22,160 choosing to believe God is who He says He is and will do what 159 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:27,320 He says He will do, even when my circumstances and my feelings 160 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,560 may say otherwise. I don't think this will be 161 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,480 breaking news to you this morning, but if it is, I'm 162 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,120 sorry, but your feelings are a liar. 163 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,840 You know, one of the things I hate about our culture is our 164 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,240 culture tells us all the time, chase your heart, chase your 165 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:49,400 heart, do whatever makes you happy. 166 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:51,160 And I want to scream at the top of my lungs. 167 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,560 No, the Bible tells us that our hearts are wicked, that our 168 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:57,840 hearts are evil, our feelings are liars. 169 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:00,600 So don't trust your feelings, right? 170 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:04,320 We need to trust God. Choosing to believe God is who 171 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:09,160 he says He is and what he says He is over our feelings. 172 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,120 That's the definition of faith. And so I pray that through this 173 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,000 next sermon series that we're going through live well, that 174 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,760 our faith will be grown, that our faith will be challenged, 175 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,440 but our faith will be grown as we believe that God is who he 176 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:28,240 says He is and that he will do exactly what he says he will do. 177 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:30,760 Throughout this new series. We're going to be walking 178 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,760 through a small book towards the end of your Bible. 179 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:36,680 That book is first Peter. However, before we jump into 180 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:39,480 first Peter this morning, we're going to look at the at this man 181 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:40,840 who wrote first and second Peter. 182 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,400 His name was Simon Peter. You've probably heard of him if 183 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:45,720 you're familiar with church at all. 184 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,240 He was one of Jesus 12 disciples. 185 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,440 And so you may be familiar with who Simon Peter is. 186 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,440 We're going to look at his life this morning and see that Simon 187 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,640 Peter didn't always have it together. 188 00:09:57,680 --> 00:09:59,840 Peter really, in all honesty, he was a mess. 189 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:04,160 And you know, I, I, I tend to say that I'm a little bit like 190 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,000 Peter. He sees an opportunity and he's 191 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,600 like, oh, me, me, me. And then he. 192 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:09,400 Goes like what? What? 193 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,800 What do we have to do? You know, like. 194 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,280 You want me to walk on water? Like what? 195 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:16,880 He jumps out of the boat, you know, and that dude's walking on 196 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:17,920 water. And then he looks around. 197 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,680 He's like. I'm walking on water. 198 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,840 And then he starts to worry because he's not equipped to 199 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,320 walk on water. And he takes his eyes off the 200 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:28,440 Lord and he starts looking at a circumstance that Peter begins 201 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,960 to sink, right? Because Peter was a man who he 202 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,240 had a, he had a shoe shaped mouth. 203 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,400 He always kept his foot in his mouth, but he was always getting 204 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,680 ahead of himself, right? And so we'll see an example of 205 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:44,280 that here in just a few minutes. But at the end of Peter's life, 206 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,800 there was no one more devoted to the Lord than Simon Peter. 207 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:52,120 If you have your Bibles with you, I want to invite you to 208 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,240 Luke chapter 22. We're going to camp out there 209 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,600 this morning. We're going to begin in verse 210 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:57,640 31. We'll get there in just a 211 00:10:57,640 --> 00:10:59,760 second. Before we jump into our passage, 212 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,240 though, let me give you a little bit of context about what's 213 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,080 going on here in Luke chapter 22. 214 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,840 So by the time we get to Luke 22, Jesus, Jesus is at the end 215 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,040 of his life. So matter of fact, this 216 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,880 conversation that we're about to read between Simon Peter and 217 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:17,400 Jesus, this happens. Really. 218 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,840 On the last night of Jesus life. Jesus and the disciples are in 219 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:23,400 the upper room. They've experienced the Last 220 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:24,800 Supper. They've done all these different 221 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,040 things. And then Jesus has this 222 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:31,160 conversation with Peter. If you know anything about Jesus 223 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,920 final hours, you'll remember that the last meal that Jesus 224 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,640 had with his followers was when the was in the upper room. 225 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:39,160 Jesus had gathered the 12 together. 226 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:43,320 He had washed their feet. He had he had give them given 227 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:45,920 them bread to eat. He had broken the bread and he 228 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,680 said, hey, listen, this is my body, which will be broken for 229 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:51,720 you. I'm going to bleed to death. 230 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,400 And I want you guys to know the blood that I'm bleeding is for 231 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,160 your forgiveness of sins. And of course, all of them are 232 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:58,480 sitting there going, yeah, we got it, man. 233 00:11:58,480 --> 00:11:59,840 We love that. That's a great thing. 234 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:01,600 Jesus, give me that bread and give me that juice. 235 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:04,480 No, that's not at all what was happening. 236 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,760 Those guys were like, man, what is this dude talking about? 237 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:12,040 This bread represents his body that's going to be broken for 238 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,800 me. This blood that he's about to 239 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:16,520 pour out, he wants us to drink, man. 240 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,920 Who is this dude right now? They weren't that severe. 241 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:23,920 I got it, but they didn't fully understand what was about to 242 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,720 take place. And funny enough, or not funny 243 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,040 enough, interestingly enough, this is the third time that 244 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,760 Jesus had told them that he his body was going to be broken and 245 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:33,840 his blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins. 246 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,600 They didn't get it this night, but they would soon get it when 247 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:42,360 Jesus did go go to the cross. So by the time Luke 2231 gets 248 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,240 here, the Last Supper has already come and gone. 249 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,360 One of the 12 Judas Iscariot has left. 250 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:50,000 He's gone to do his bidding for Jesus. 251 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,800 Remember, it was 30 pieces of silver that he sold Jesus for. 252 00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:57,480 But an interesting thing that has taken place here is I want 253 00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:58,960 you to think with me for just a moment. 254 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,520 It's hard for us to imagine. This I got it. 255 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,640 We know the end of the story, so it's hard for us to insert 256 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,440 ourselves in the middle of the story and to really kind of go 257 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:08,440 back. But if you would. 258 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,120 Imagine with me for a moment. I don't know if you've ever been 259 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,760 a part of a foot washing ceremony. 260 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,600 I have. I had a pastor of mine when I 261 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:21,840 was doing some when I first got into ministry, I wasn't on full 262 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,120 on staff. I was just teaching in a in a in 263 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:29,680 a volunteer position. I was teaching Sunday school and 264 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:33,520 the pastor that was over my particular area, he got a bunch 265 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,960 of us leaders together and he said I want to do something 266 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,680 really unique. He said I want to wash your 267 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:40,200 feet. I want to. 268 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,800 Serve you in this way. And so we sat down and man, I 269 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,360 was embarrassed. I mean like I was embarrassed. 270 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:49,360 I keep my feet covered for a reason. 271 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:53,360 And most of all? Because I was embarrassed by my 272 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,080 the smell of my feet if you get catch what I'm saying. 273 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,000 But anyway, dude made me take my shoes off. 274 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:02,680 Sits us down on the table and he grabs a basin of water and a 275 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:06,160 towel and begins going around the room washing our feet. 276 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,120 And I'm an emotional guy, just. I have always. 277 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,400 Been emotional, but there wasn't a dry eye in the room. 278 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,480 It was a very emotional moment as Jared went around the room 279 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:19,720 and prayed over us and washed our feet. 280 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:24,880 Very, very humbling experience. Jesus in the upper room with the 281 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,480 12 disciples, and he's washing their feet. 282 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,920 As he's washing their feet, he's praying over them. 283 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,800 Lord, I pray that you would use these men to change the world. 284 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:37,480 Jesus knew what was coming. He knew that he was going to 285 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,080 take his final breath and I in just a matter of hours. 286 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,520 And he knew that it was going to be up to these 12 men to go 287 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,600 forth and to change the world, to take this message of 288 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:50,480 reconciliation, this message of freedom, this message of, of 289 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,480 forgiveness of sins. Take this message to the entire 290 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,320 world. Jesus knew what was on the line. 291 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,920 And so a very emotional moment with the 12 disciples. 292 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,560 And as Jesus is washing their feet, he finishes and they have 293 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,480 the Lord's Supper together. And then right after that, these 294 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:08,880 12 disciples start arguing about who's going to be the greatest 295 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,240 in the Kingdom of heaven. It's like, man, what are you 296 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,360 doing, right? Jesus just had this very moving 297 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:17,160 moment with you. And all you can think about is, 298 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,360 hey, man, make sure that I'm in the right place. 299 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:21,080 Make sure that I'm at the right hand of the Father. 300 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:25,200 Make sure that I'm good, right? Lord, man, I'm, I'm, you know, 301 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,480 I've done all these things for you and I've been with you the 302 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,800 longest and I was the first one that you called. 303 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,400 These guys are arguing about who's going to be the first in 304 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:36,520 the Kingdom of heaven, man. They just didn't get it. 305 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,440 And that's when we see Luke chapter 22, verse 31. 306 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:42,160 It's on the screen. If you don't have your, your 307 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,880 Bible with you this morning, you can look up here and read her. 308 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:46,920 It's at the top of your note. She just says this, Simon, 309 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,440 Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you 310 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,760 like wheat. But I have prayed for you and 311 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:55,760 your faith that your faith may not fail. 312 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,600 And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. 313 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,720 Peter said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to 314 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,880 prison and to death. Jesus said, Oh, Peters, I tell 315 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,840 you before the rooster, the rooster will not crow this day 316 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,800 until you deny me three times that you know me. 317 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,160 Father, I pray that you would use your word today, Lord, that 318 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,000 you would use your word to encourage our hearts. 319 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,880 Father, that you would use your word to equip us, Lord, the most 320 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:26,560 of all, that you would use your word to deepen our faith 'cause 321 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:31,040 our faith to be stronger. Lord, use your word this 322 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,920 morning. Send the Holy Spirit to provide 323 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,840 understanding and Lord, most of all, to illuminate our minds so 324 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:41,000 that we can understand what Scripture teaches. 325 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:43,440 Father, use your word this morning. 326 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:50,480 We pray in Christ's name, Amen. Well, first of all, imagine that 327 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,200 you're Simon Peter and you're sitting there and Jesus looks 328 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:56,840 over as you're arguing with your 11 brothers. 329 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,120 Juice is scary and is gone. So 11 of them are sitting there 330 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,240 and they're arguing about who's the 1st in the Kingdom of 331 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:04,000 heaven. Jesus looks over and he says 332 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,240 Simon, Simon. Now here's the thing about 333 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,520 Simon. Whenever you read the word Simon 334 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,000 in Scripture and Jesus is saying it, this is not Jesus looking at 335 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,280 Simon and said, hey, good job Simon, you're the man way to go, 336 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,440 Simon. No, when Jesus is encouraging 337 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:21,400 Simon or Peter, he uses the word Peter. 338 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,480 When Jesus is condemning Simon or when Jesus is trying to get 339 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,320 his attention for condemning him or to to instruct him, he uses 340 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,320 the word Simon. So not only did he say Simon one 341 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,640 time, but he said Simon, Simon. Now listen, that would. 342 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:39,640 Be like the equivalent of me when I was younger. 343 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,000 And my mom saying Christopher Todd Slade, get you behind in 344 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,480 here, right? Or my dad just saying, boy, get 345 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:50,160 you behind in here, right? I knew one of two things was. 346 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:54,280 About to happen #1 Daddy had a belt in his hand already ready 347 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,680 to go, and he was fixing to swing it right. 348 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,520 Or it was he was going to start counting and whatever number he 349 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,040 got to was how many licks I got. So boy, come here, man, you 350 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,160 don't sit on the couch and wait and a few seconds now your feet 351 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,480 are on the floor and you're moving right now. 352 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,760 My dad didn't beat me, just to make that clear, but he didn't 353 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:14,200 spoil the rod, I promise you that. 354 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,640 Or spare the rod, He. Spoiled the rod. 355 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,120 I got whooped when I was a kid. How about that? 356 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,280 Well, the same thing here. Jesus saying Simon, Simon, he's 357 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:28,400 getting his attention and he's about to correct him. 358 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:33,360 He's about to instruct him. But here's the question. 359 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:39,040 Here's the question for us. Why, Peter, when, when you read 360 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:43,200 Scripture, does your mind ask questions like when you read 361 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,120 Scripture, can you do you try to like insert yourself into that 362 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:50,200 situation? So like when I, when I read 363 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,280 Scripture, my mind, the way that my mind works is I start asking 364 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,120 questions and I, I like, start trying to figure out what's 365 00:18:57,120 --> 00:19:00,320 going on. So when I see that there's 366 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:03,400 eleven men in the room, but Jesus looks across the room and 367 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:07,000 he says, Simon, Simon, why didn't he say Andrew? 368 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:13,080 Why didn't he say, Hey, Matthew, Why didn't he ask any of the 369 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:14,920 other guys? He didn't do that. 370 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:20,640 Hey, John, he didn't do that. He looks and he says Simon, 371 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,000 Simon. And the reason why I believe is 372 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,280 because Jesus had special plans for Peter. 373 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,200 He had special plans for Peter that would require a special 374 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:36,480 kind of faith. He had plans for Peter to preach 375 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:38,680 the gospel to those inside of Jerusalem. 376 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,800 Remember now I talked about this a little bit last week. 377 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,240 If you weren't here, you can go back and watch it on our our 378 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,280 podcast or you can watch it on our website. 379 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,400 You can actually watch it on on our app as well if you've 380 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:50,640 downloaded. The Riverbend app. 381 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,080 But I encourage you to go back and listen to that message from 382 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:55,760 last week. A good way to end the year and 383 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:57,880 then today is a good way to begin the new year. 384 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,800 But I talked a little bit about faith was reserved for the 385 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,920 nation of Israel. You see, in old times, before 386 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,640 Christ came, the only ones who were worthy of salvation, the 387 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:13,680 only ones who were able to have or receive salvation was the 388 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,040 nation of Israel and only a select few Gentiles. 389 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:18,120 Well. That's some bad news for you 390 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:20,120 this morning. Most of us, if not all of us in 391 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:22,520 the room this morning, all of us watching online, we're all, 392 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:27,400 we're all gentiles unless you're a, a, a Jew by birth, we're, 393 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,920 we're all Gentiles, right? And so that was a time, and 394 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,240 we're told in in the New Testament that we were without 395 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,640 hope because we didn't have an opportunity to receive Christ. 396 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,720 And so Paul took the message of salvation to the Gentiles and 397 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:44,360 grafted them in. When Jesus died, when he, when 398 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,040 he rose from the dead. You read about the curtain in 399 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:50,840 the temple being torn in two. Now we can all enter the Holy of 400 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:51,680 Holies. That's what that's 401 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,720 representative of right now. Salvation is there for 402 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:56,440 everybody, Jew and Gentile alike. 403 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,400 There's neither Jew nor Greek nor slave nor free. 404 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,320 We're all able now to receive salvation. 405 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,400 And so Peter is the one, if you remember in the book of Acts, 406 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:12,080 Peter is the one who first has the vision about clean meat and, 407 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:16,120 and unclean meat, right? And in his vision, Peter is 408 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:18,440 told, he's told to take and eat well. 409 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,160 What that is representative of is salvation being for all 410 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,280 people, and so not only is Peter going to be responsible for 411 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,760 taking the salvation to the Israelites, but Peter is also 412 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,880 going to be responsible for ushering in salvation to the 413 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,520 Gentiles. God had a very special plan for 414 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,720 Peter's life. Not only did God plan for Peter 415 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,280 to take salvation to those inside Jerusalem and outside of 416 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,520 Jerusalem, but God also had a plan for Peter to write 2 books 417 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,960 of the New Testament. And we have those books. 418 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:51,840 We're going to be walking through one in great detail over 419 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,280 the next few weeks and months in First Peter. 420 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,280 And I'm excited about the the plans to jump into First Peter. 421 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,440 But here's the thing, just like Paul, just like God had a unique 422 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,480 plan for Peter, I believe that God has a unique plan for each 423 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,320 of us. God has a unique plan for me. 424 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:15,240 God has a unique plan for you. God wants you to do things that 425 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,840 are outside of your imagination. That's what I was talking about 426 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,960 while ago when I said God has plans for you, that we don't 427 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,480 even have plans for ourselves. God wants so much more from us 428 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:28,560 than we even want from ourselves. 429 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:33,200 Not in a not in a thumb, you know, heavy on you, but in a, in 430 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,680 a great opportunity that that, that, that we have to live for 431 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,000 the Lord. He wants to use us for his honor 432 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,560 and for his glory. That blows my mind. 433 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,520 Why would God use me? God can use the rocks, he can 434 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:47,280 use the trees. Why would He use me? 435 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:51,160 But the truth is, I get to participate in this thing called 436 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,840 Christianity and I want, I desire for God to use me, and He 437 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,160 wants to use me more than I even desire for Him to use me, if 438 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,400 that makes sense. 2 very important truths for what's 439 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,280 ahead for you. Your future isn't going to 440 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,000 involve writing additional books in the Bible. 441 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:11,320 If you plan to write additional books for the Bible, I've got 442 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:16,080 some bad news for you. The Bible is finished, we call 443 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,160 it the Canon, and the Canon is closed. 444 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,240 So no more additions to the Bible. 445 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,000 But I do believe that God has unique plans and opportunities 446 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:26,320 for you. Your future isn't going into 447 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,240 while your future isn't going involve try that again. 448 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:34,200 While your future isn't going to involve you writing new books of 449 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:38,400 the Bible, your future that God is leading you into will involve 450 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,880 God using your time, your hunger, and your thirst to 451 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:44,960 experience Him like never before. 452 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:51,680 God wants to use your talents, your abilities, wherever you 453 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,400 work. God wants to use you to bring 454 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:59,960 great glory and honour to Him. God wants to use you and involve 455 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:02,920 you to reach and teach the people around you about His 456 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,040 goodness. Some of you in the room this 457 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,320 morning, you. You're a brand new Christian. 458 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,280 You've only been saved for maybe a year, maybe not even that 459 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,360 long, and God has incredible plans for you to take this new 460 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:19,880 life that you've experienced, to take it to those who you know 461 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:24,880 that may not know Christ. God's plans for you are huge. 462 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,360 And I can promise you, for all of us in the room, God's plans 463 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:31,360 are for us each to share the gospel with the lost. 464 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,440 You may say, hey, wait a minute, I don't have the gift of 465 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,000 evangelism. I don't either. 466 00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:39,600 But I do know that God commands me to go share the gospel, so I 467 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,120 try. To do that wherever I go. 468 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:44,000 I try to take little opportunities pumping gas. 469 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:46,320 I try to speak to the person who's next to me. 470 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:47,800 Often times they say, man, who are you? 471 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,880 Shut up, leave me alone, right? I'm like, man, I got to tell you 472 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,600 about Jesus, right? God didn't put you on the other 473 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,240 side of this gas pump by accident. 474 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,040 God put you on the other side of this gas pump for a reason. 475 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,640 And you're a captive audience. So I'm going to tell you about 476 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,400 Jesus, right? God wants to use us to do 477 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,400 amazing things. However, the strength and the 478 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:08,960 depth. Of your faith that brought you 479 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:13,280 out of 20252025. Is not going to be nearly enough 480 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,280 to carry us through 2026. So God wants to strengthen God 481 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,560 wants to deepen our faith together as a congregation so 482 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,840 that he can have his will and his way in and through US. 483 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:26,000 This brings us to the second point. 484 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,560 A faith that isn't tested isn't a faith or is a faith that isn't 485 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:30,920 worth much. Let me say it again. 486 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:34,880 A faith that isn't tested is a faith that isn't worth much. 487 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:41,040 Let's go back to Luke 22. Jesus says this, Simon, Simon, 488 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,560 behold, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to have you that he 489 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:50,240 might shift you like wheat. In the ancient world, wheat was 490 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:55,120 sifted by shaking it violently. And as the, the shifting or the 491 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,480 the, the shaking violently of wheat, it would separate the 492 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,680 wheat from the husk. And that's how you got the 493 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,840 wheat. It would have to be shaken 494 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,840 violently. So you can imagine, as Simon is 495 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,520 hearing this, Satan has asked my permission to intentionally and 496 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,280 radically shake up your life. I'm sure Simon Peter was looking 497 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,440 at Jesus going and you told him no. 498 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,120 Like I hope that you told him no, because I understand the 499 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:28,760 process of of sifting wheat. Surely you told him no. 500 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:35,320 If it's all the same to you, Jesus, can you just leave my 501 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,640 name out of conversations that you're having with Satan, right? 502 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,680 I mean, don't involve me in those conversations because I 503 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:45,040 think I'm good, right? But that's not what Jesus said. 504 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,880 Jesus granted Satan his request. And here's why. 505 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,960 Jesus didn't hate Peter. Jesus wasn't intentionally 506 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:59,440 trying to pick on Peter. Jesus wasn't doing anything 507 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:04,240 other than Peter than to try to grow his faith because Jesus 508 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,040 knew something that Peter didn't know. 509 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,240 Jesus knew that the plans that God had for Peter far outweighed 510 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:14,600 the plans that Peter had for himself. 511 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:20,440 And can I just encourage you this morning when life begins to 512 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:25,680 come at us, when life begins to happen and things begin to 513 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:31,360 seemingly fall apart, just just try to with everything you have. 514 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:33,000 I realized, look, I've, I've been there. 515 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:38,200 Some could say I'm there Now. It's important for us to 516 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:39,800 remember what happened right here. 517 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,880 Jesus knew the plans that God had for Peter far outweighed and 518 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,440 far surpassed the plans that Peter had for himself. 519 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:54,160 Perhaps in your life this morning, the shaking violently 520 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:58,360 that you feel in your life, the sifting that you feel going on 521 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:02,720 in your life right now is God reminding you, hey, the plans 522 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,960 that I have for you far outweigh, far surpass the plans 523 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,560 that you have for yourself. Jesus knew that faith only grows 524 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,400 when it is tested and a faith that isn't tested is really only 525 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:20,920 religious sounding lip service. Let me tell the story real 526 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:22,480 quickly. Most of you know if you don't 527 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:24,920 know, my wife and I are one of those people. 528 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,480 We have five children. I don't get it. 529 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,880 We, I don't know, anyway, we didn't set out to have five 530 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,320 children, but the Lord blessed us with five children. 531 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,800 I love my children. I am so thankful for the 532 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:41,320 children that God gave me. Wouldn't have it any other way. 533 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,440 And so the story I'm about to tell might make it sound like 534 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:48,040 that, but it doesn't. Jeremiah 16. 535 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:51,480 So 16 years ago, I must have prayed a prayer, something like 536 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,600 this. And if you're newly married in 537 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:55,440 the room, it's OK to pray this prayer. 538 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,080 God may or may not give you 5 kids. 539 00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:59,040 But anyway, good luck if he doesn't. 540 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,800 I'm just kidding. So I must have prayed a prayer 541 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,080 like Lord, please, I want to love you more. 542 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,280 I want to serve you more. Can you, can you deepen my 543 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:12,240 patience? Lord, my patience is not real, 544 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,040 Not real. Can you, can you grow my 545 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,360 patience? Because 16 years later we have 5 546 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:22,440 kids and their ages are 16 to 6. And so every day is a lessons 547 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,280 and patience for me, right? There's things that will happen 548 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,520 and I'll be like. I thought I was finished 549 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:33,560 learning that lesson of patience and the Lord's like the plans 550 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,400 that I have for you are far surpassed. 551 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:36,760 Any plans that you have, you know, whatever. 552 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,920 So if you're a parent, though, you'll get this, you'll 553 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,880 understand this. I want to be a good dad. 554 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:47,360 I want to raise my children the nurture and admonition of the 555 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,920 Lord. I want my kids to know Jesus and 556 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,400 to know him intimately. I want my kids to know Jesus so 557 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:58,600 that if the Lord calls them into ministry, there's not a question 558 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,080 of maybe it's the OK Lord, here I am, send me. 559 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:07,200 I want my kids to know Jesus in such a way that Jesus is who 560 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,720 steers and controls their life, not their daddy and not their 561 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,560 Mama and not their worldly selfish ambitions. 562 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:15,080 I want my children to know Jesus. 563 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,720 Now, saying all that, let me say this. 564 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,640 All of your parents get it. There was a night not too long 565 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:23,560 ago. This has happened to me several 566 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:25,760 times and I'm embarrassed to even tell the story, but I'm 567 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,000 going to tell it. One of my kids had done 568 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:33,320 something really, really dumb. We all do it. 569 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,520 So I did it when I was a kid. My parents, my parents loved me 570 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:38,920 through it, and I'm trying to love my parents. 571 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,480 You know, they say you get what you gave your parents times 10. 572 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:47,120 I must have been a terrible kid. But anyway, I'm teasing. 573 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:55,000 I, I, I, I yelled at one of my children in such a way that it 574 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:03,320 was belittling to his character. And as my child went to bed, I 575 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,040 sat down on the couch with Jennifer. 576 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:07,280 And she and I didn't say anything. 577 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:12,400 I didn't pick up my Bible. I didn't start listening to a 578 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,760 religious podcast, None of that. But the Holy Spirit fell on me 579 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,920 like mad. And he said, what are you doing? 580 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:24,960 That's my child, that's my creation. 581 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:27,360 And you're, you're treating him like that. 582 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,840 And I wanted to get up off the couch and go pick my child up 583 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,280 and to just hold them and to love them until tomorrow when I 584 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:39,400 knew I'd probably mess up again. My point this morning is to tell 585 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,520 you that we're all failures at some point in our. 586 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,560 Life. Our faith is going to be tested. 587 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,240 Our faith is going to be tested because God has plans that are 588 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:52,400 bigger than ours. And a faith that is not tested 589 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,960 is a faith that's not worth anything at all. 590 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,880 And life can be extremely, extremely difficult sometimes. 591 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,720 But I want you to remember, and I want to encourage you, just 592 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,920 remember what Jesus told Peter here. 593 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,680 I'm allowing that sifting to take place because my plans for 594 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,480 you far surpass the plans that you have for yourself. 595 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,200 Our faith grows by applying God's presence and God's 596 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,720 promises to our situations, our circumstances, our decisions, 597 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,560 and our choices. And here's the thing, often 598 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,520 times just reading the Bible is not enough. 599 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:30,520 Reading the Bible is incredibly important. 600 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:31,840 Don't hear me say that. It's not. 601 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,040 And we've got to be reading the Bible in order to grow closer in 602 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,760 our relationship with the Lord. But sometimes it just takes a 603 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:39,240 mindset. I was having a conversation with 604 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,840 the gentleman this week. He was asking me about something 605 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:43,760 that he's going on and that's going on in his life. 606 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,920 And I said, hey man, sometimes it's just mind over matter. 607 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:49,800 Sometimes we just have to convince ourselves that our 608 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:54,320 feelings aren't true and that God is true and the things that 609 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,560 he tells us are what we need to go on when our feelings are 610 00:32:57,560 --> 00:32:59,720 telling us not to. And I like to say it this way. 611 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,920 Whenever I talk to somebody who's experiencing the sifting 612 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,680 of their faith, I like to tell them, hey man, look, I know it's 613 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:11,120 hard, man. Run to Jesus, run to your faith. 614 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,160 Don't run to your fear because I don't care who you are in the 615 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:19,200 room this morning, you're programmed to run to your fear. 616 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,280 All of us are. If you're not that way, I'd love 617 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:24,560 to talk to you because I'd like to know how you're not that way. 618 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,880 So it will help me because anytime something happens, my 619 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:29,600 first thing is to run to my fear. 620 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,320 I want to run to my faith because that's the truth, not my 621 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,800 fear. Run to your faith, not to your 622 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,840 fear. Do I place my trust and 623 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,120 confidence in what I can see and what I can feel, or do I place 624 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,720 my trust and confidence in God's presence, in God's promises? 625 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:51,600 This is why James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote Be doers 626 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:53,240 of the Word and not hearers only. 627 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:59,920 Deceiving yourselves in James 122, Luke 22 again, Simon, 628 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:03,040 Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to have you that he 629 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,360 might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that 630 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,440 your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, 631 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,840 strengthen your brothers again. Put yourself in Simon's position 632 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,719 here. Jesus told you that he 633 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,560 specifically, that your name specifically was brought up in a 634 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:17,840 conversation between you and Satan. 635 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:22,679 That would be enough, right? But then Jesus tells you that 636 00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:26,520 Satan hasn't has requested to intentionally and radically sift 637 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,239 you like wheat to disrupt your life and expose your life. 638 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,239 All right, there's another level of concern. 639 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:33,920 Well, there's a third level of concern. 640 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:37,159 Jesus goes on to say that he himself has personally prayed 641 00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:39,800 for you that your faith would not fail. 642 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:44,280 All right, that makes me wonder, OK, Lord, since you're praying 643 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,679 for me that my faith not fail, something really, really, really 644 00:34:46,679 --> 00:34:50,239 bad is going to happen, right? But then this last statement 645 00:34:50,679 --> 00:34:53,480 that Jesus says to Peter, this would top it all. 646 00:34:54,719 --> 00:35:01,360 He says this, and when you have turned again, strengthen your 647 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:05,360 brothers. Jesus says when you have turned 648 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:13,280 again, that's not encouraging. That would have told Peter, hey, 649 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:16,480 look, you're going to fail. Not only are you going to fail 650 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,240 just a little man, you're going to fail miserably. 651 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:24,600 And when you turn again, when you come back to me, strengthen 652 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,960 your brothers. If I'm Simon Peter right now, 653 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,960 I'm, I'm, I'm dying like I'm, I'm, I'm literally all right. 654 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,600 Lord, what in the world are you telling me is about to happen? 655 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,320 And here's the final point for this section. 656 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,200 The real question isn't if I will fail. 657 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:44,200 The question is how I will respond after I fail. 658 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,160 Remember, in just a few short hours, Peter's gone from the 659 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:50,040 upper room, having his feet washed, being part of the Lord's 660 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:55,040 Supper to go into the Garden of Gethsemane and praying with 661 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:56,560 Jesus. Actually, Peter didn't pray. 662 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,320 He slept. Jesus prayed. 663 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,800 Sweat, drops of blood. All of these things have 664 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:02,520 happened in just a matter of minutes. 665 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,880 And then we see Peter around the campfire to this girl who he 666 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:09,120 didn't even know. This girl who really didn't even 667 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,960 matter. She asked him if he knew Jesus, 668 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,320 and Peter had no reason to tell her that he didn't. 669 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:20,080 But for whatever reason, Peter denied knowing Jesus not only 670 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,800 once, not twice, but three times. 671 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,760 He failed, and he failed big time. 672 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,200 Here's the thing though. Jesus forgave Peter and he 673 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:31,640 restored him. Remember, Jesus knew that Peter 674 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,560 was going to fail the test. He had already told him he was 675 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,200 going to fail the test. Peter could have chosen to to 676 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:41,200 wallow in his failure. But instead of that, Peter 677 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:45,560 allowed Jesus to to redeem him. And because Peter didn't let his 678 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:47,680 failures define him, he did in fact going to preach. 679 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,600 The message hit the teachings, the salvation of Jesus to the 680 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:53,080 people inside Jerusalem and outside of Jerusalem. 681 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:55,960 Peter wrote two books of the New Testament. 682 00:36:56,520 --> 00:36:59,000 Peter's failure became his personal journey, a personal 683 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,880 story of Jesus's forgiveness. And I hate. 684 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:06,960 To sound pessimistic this morning, but let me just say I'm 685 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:10,360 most definitely not trying to give you a license to live 686 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:12,320 however you want to. Please know that as well. 687 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,200 But you and I are going to fail at some point. 688 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,320 It's what we do in our failure that matters. 689 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:23,000 Whether we allow God to redeem us and restore us, that's what 690 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,080 matters. And real quick one more point, 691 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:30,080 emotion and devotion are two very different things. 692 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,280 Remember at the end of Luke 22, Luke verse 33, Peter says to 693 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:39,120 Jesus, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to 694 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:41,600 death. So Peter was all emotional after 695 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:45,200 having his feet washed by Jesus. He was so emotional that Peter 696 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:48,440 says, man, I'm willing to go to prison with you, even die with 697 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:51,880 you. And then less than probably 6 698 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:57,120 hours later, an unknown slave girl asked Peter if he knew 699 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:05,080 Jesus and Peter said, Nope. Emotion and devotion are two 700 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,200 very different things. A lot of times we live on 701 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:12,040 emotion when we should really live on devotion because our 702 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,160 devotion is what's going to get us from day-to-day. 703 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,960 Our emotion is going to fail us. And so emotion and devotion are 704 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,440 two very big things. And as we draw our time together 705 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:22,600 this morning, let's put some action to this plan. 706 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,320 Let me give you the big idea that's going to serve for the 707 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:28,720 remainder of this sermon series together. 708 00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:30,600 Here's your big idea for the next few weeks. 709 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:35,000 To live well is to live God's way, firm in faith, steady in 710 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:39,800 trials, anchored in hope. Again, one more time. 711 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,000 To live well is to live God's ways, firm in faith, steady in 712 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:48,520 trials, anchored in hope. And for that to become reality, 713 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:52,880 there are 4 musts for each one of these in each one of us. 714 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:56,520 Number one, we must identify the source of my faith. 715 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:00,040 Ultimately, this is about what authority is in your life. 716 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:04,040 If you have, if your source of your faith is your bank account, 717 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:06,520 guess what? At the end of the day, your bank 718 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:07,600 account is going to let you down. 719 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,800 If your source of faith is your work, guess what? 720 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:14,080 There's going to come a day when when your boss is going to come 721 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,720 in and say, hey look, we no longer need you. 722 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,080 If your source of faith is anything other than God, then 723 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:22,160 your source of faith is placed in the wrong thing. 724 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:25,480 Your source of faith is ultimately about what you have 725 00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:28,520 put your faith in. Identify the source of your 726 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,000 faith. This is really about who? 727 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:33,120 What has ultimate authority in your life? 728 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,280 Am I placing my faith in my bank account? 729 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,320 In my new vehicle, my house, my spouse? 730 00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:40,560 All of these will fail. The only one that will never 731 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,400 fail is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 732 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,480 Secondly, talk openly and honestly to Him. 733 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:50,840 This is all about prayer. It's like a loving father who 734 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:52,800 just wants to communicate with their children. 735 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:54,560 You know, we weren't, we were in Rome. 736 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:57,200 We went to see my parents. We don't see them very often. 737 00:39:57,200 --> 00:39:58,960 We see them maybe four or five times a year. 738 00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:03,000 My mom is one who she just loves to hear from us. 739 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:06,320 And so, you know, I try to call my especially Judah. 740 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,360 Everybody knows Judah, my youngest son, he'll come crawl 741 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,640 up in my lap and he'll just say Mimi, Mimi. 742 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:13,120 He wants to FaceTime with my mom. 743 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,240 And of course, my mom loves that. 744 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:18,320 If you have children that don't live close to you, I'm sure you 745 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:20,920 love that as well. They just want you just want to 746 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,360 communicate with them. Hey, listen, that's our heavenly 747 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:26,280 Father. Perhaps you're new to faith this 748 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:28,440 morning and you're like, man, I don't know what prayer is all 749 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:30,040 about. Prayer is just having a 750 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:32,600 conversation with the Lord. It's all it is man. 751 00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:34,880 He wants to hear from you. He wants to hear your heart and 752 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:37,320 authentic prayer. You know, it's not one of these. 753 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,880 When we go to the Lord and we say, OK, Lord, thank you for the 754 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:42,240 birds, thank you for the trees, thank you for the grass. 755 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:45,320 No, man, look, be honest and open with the Lord. 756 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:47,320 Lord, I don't know why you're doing this. 757 00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,280 Man, this stinks. Why are you allowing this to 758 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:52,520 happen in my life? God, I don't get it. 759 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,640 Tell me, show me why. Why are you doing this? 760 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:57,720 Why did this happen? Why did that happen? 761 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,560 Why? God is big enough to handle 762 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:05,400 those questions and so it's OK. Be authentic and honest with the 763 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,840 Lord when you pray to him. Third, learn about who he is and 764 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:10,520 what he wants. And we do this by studying the 765 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:13,800 Bible. Look, God has given us his word 766 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:16,400 so we can know Him, so that we can know His character, so we 767 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,360 can know His desires. And the more time that you and I 768 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:22,840 spend reading the Bible, the more that we'll figure out the 769 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:25,480 Bible is actually reading us, right? 770 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:29,120 So here's the thing. When we read the Bible, we want 771 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,880 to study who God is. We want to get to know the Lord. 772 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:34,880 But often times you'll read a passage, You'll read a passage 773 00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:36,520 today, you'll come back to it six months later. 774 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:38,800 That passage will mean something completely different to you 775 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,880 because you're in a, in a different point of life at that 776 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,040 point. And it's like, man, this the 777 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:46,400 Bible is really living and active. 778 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:49,840 And then finally #4 intentionally make room for him. 779 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:53,520 And we're going to do this over the next 21 days as we fast and 780 00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:56,200 pray. We intentionally choose to do 781 00:41:56,200 --> 00:42:00,160 without something over a specific amount of time so that 782 00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:04,400 we can replace that something with prayer and Bible study, 783 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,800 just trying to get to know the Lord better. 784 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:10,080 So two key questions as we end our time together this morning. 785 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:13,120 We always like to end with a time of application, with a time 786 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:18,000 of introspection for you just to try to apply this to your life. 787 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:20,520 It would be awful if we left from here hearing a new sermon, 788 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:23,800 another sermon, and didn't really do anything with it. 789 00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:26,440 We need to apply this to our life. 790 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:31,960 So #1 what am I fasting from? Starting next Sunday, we'll have 791 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:34,000 an opportunity to fast for the next 21 days. 792 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,680 I encourage you to write down what are you fasting from? 793 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:40,960 Look, it's great to have a plan, but if you don't have a written 794 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,240 plan, I encourage you to do that. 795 00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:46,360 Write down what you're fasting from so that you can come back 796 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:50,520 to that at a later date and see what God did as you were fasting 797 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:52,520 from something specific. And then secondly, what are you 798 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,640 fasting for going into the season, this next season, 21 799 00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:00,520 days of prayer and fasting, what will be your primary focus? 800 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:03,720 What, what do you want the Lord to do to you? 801 00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:05,920 And so you can set these two things side by side. 802 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:09,720 What am I fasting from? What am I fasting for? 803 00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:13,200 And February 1st, it's my prayer that you'll be able to come back 804 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,520 to that list and you'll see how the Lord has blessed you with 805 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:20,600 not missing the thing that you're fasting from, but taking 806 00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:23,880 you and leading you straight toward the thing that you're 807 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:27,400 fasting for. We come back together next 808 00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:29,200 Sunday. We'll have our 21 Days of Prayer 809 00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:31,080 booklets that you can take home with you. 810 00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:34,560 And I encourage you to jump in with both feet as we seek and 811 00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:37,760 search the Lord together. We're going to have a time of 812 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:39,720 invitation this morning. And here's the thing. 813 00:43:39,720 --> 00:43:42,720 Look, maybe you want to come down front this morning and, and 814 00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:44,720 maybe you just want to leave something on the altar. 815 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:48,280 Brand new year, right? You've been dealing with 816 00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:50,320 something and you just want the Lord to take that off your 817 00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:52,960 shoulders. So just leave that somewhere as 818 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,840 a as a kind of like a, a nail and a sure place, if you will, 819 00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,840 man, I left that at the altar so that the next time that Satan 820 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:02,120 brings that to your mind, you can say, Nope, I left that right 821 00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:04,600 there at Riverbend Church. I'm not dealing with that 822 00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:06,080 anymore. That's in my past. 823 00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:08,640 I'm leaving it right there. Look, this altar is open for 824 00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:10,720 you. Perhaps you're here this 825 00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:11,960 morning. It's your first time here and 826 00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:15,760 you've never given your life to Jesus in a relationship with 827 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:16,720 him. I want to encourage you this 828 00:44:16,720 --> 00:44:18,800 morning. Come down front, talk to one of 829 00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:22,240 the pastors, and let us show you how to begin a relationship with 830 00:44:22,240 --> 00:44:24,800 Jesus Christ. I promise you, your life will be 831 00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:26,640 different in the best way possible. 832 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:30,520 So my prayer for you, and it was this morning before we started, 833 00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:33,360 is that God would have His will and His way in this place this 834 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:35,200 morning. That He would do immeasurably 835 00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:39,840 great things in 2026 with each and every one of us today as we 836 00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:41,720 just give our hearts fully to Him. 837 00:44:41,720 --> 00:44:44,000 Father, I pray that you would have your way and Your will in 838 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,640 this place this morning. Lord, I pray that you would move 839 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:49,440 and work in only ways in which you can, Lord, and our worship 840 00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:51,600 team's going to come back out here and lead us in one more 841 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:53,960 song. Lord, I pray that you would help 842 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:55,560 us to do business with you today. 843 00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:59,120 All for your honor, for your glory. 844 00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:01,480 In Christ's name we pray. Amen. 845 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:09,280 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 846 00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:12,680 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 847 00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:16,040 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.