Series: Reboot
Sermon: Resolve
Scripture: 1 Peter 4
ICE BREAKER: If you could only have one meal, every day, for the rest of your life - what would it be?
REVIEW:
This week we looked at an essential skillset to living a Rebooted life - RESOLVE.
Resolve is the grit and determination see things through. You must have Resolve to experience a Reboot!
Pastor Clayton used the analogy of a road trip to talk help this make sense. The point of the road trip is the Destination, the pain of the road trip is the Drive Time in-between. That is often how we view life. We measure ourselves based on the destinations we desire. However, the painful path in-between those destinations are where our journey are where we make it, or break it!
Destinations are things like:
Significant Bdays - 1, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 40, etc…
Educational Milestones - graduations, homecomings, college acceptances
Relational Milestones - first dates, first kisses, meeting the parents, proposals, weddings, children
Career - first job, first promotion, becoming manager, big raises, retirements
What are some Destinations you are currently on the path towards?
What are some Destinations that you have already reached in life?
The time, energy, frustration, and heartache along the way to our goals in life require RESOLVE to get through. This week, we looked at 1 Peter chapter 4 to get a new perspective on how to navigate the Drive Time in life.
1 Peter 4
"12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised..."
The first lesson we learned is that Suffering is a natural part of life AND a natural result in following Jesus. Suffering well is how we produce endurance. Endurance is another word for Resolve and scripture says that it leads to a life of purpose and hope.
THE REWARD OF THE DESTINATION
IS DETERMINED
BY THE RESOLVE OF THE DRIVE
How we manage the Drive, the painful path in-between, determines how we handle the Destination once we arrive. Will we thrive at the new destination? Will it actually be rewarding? Will meeting our goal in life benefit the world around us in any way?
All of these questions are determined by the Resolve you showed in the suffering along the way. Did you take shortcuts to get there? Did you sacrifice integrity for expediency?
Peter went on to tell us that we can even "rejoice" in our suffering because it will create joy on the other side of this life. This is THE KEY to instilling Resolve. We must have a higher purpose!
Peter, and the other apostles who wrote the Christian scriptures, were all convinced that they were citizens of a different world. They were not living for the world today, they were living for God's kingdom on the other side of this life!
Your DESTINATIONS
are not
Your DESTINY
APPLY:
Life is full of pain! We do not always meet our goals in life, and even when we do they are not always what we imagined them to be! Jesus calls us to a grander goal, the bigger picture on life. If Eternity is our destiny, then even our earthly destinations are actually part of the Drive Time. All of life is, in a sense, the painful path between now and Heaven!
How we navigate our time on earth will play a role in how we experience meeting Jesus on the other side. Scripture tells us that together with Jesus we will review our lives. Whether we lived with Resolve and used all opportunities for His glory, or whether we gave in, gave up, and settled for the cheap alternatives the world offers.
HERE IS YOUR APPLICATION QUESTION FOR THE WEEK:
Where is ONE AREA of your life that you are lacking Resolve, and what is ONE WAY you will seek to increase RESOLVE in that area?
However you choose to apply these truths this week, it will require you to attempt to see your life today in light of Eternity.
PRAY:
Because Resolve requires an expanded perspective, pray for that very thing. Ask God to keep eternity at the forefront of your mind. Spend some time in silence, meditating on the reality of where all of this is headed. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see things the way that God sees them.
