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Refiner's Fire | Week 2 | Bill Bush · Rewind

Rock Point Church

Pastor Bill Bush · Jun 13, 2021

Pastor Bill Bush · Jun 13, 2021 · 76 min watch · 2 min read

Refiner's Fire | Week 2 | Bill Bush

Devotional days

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Scripture in this message

1 Peter 1:13
1 Peter 1:17
1 Peter 1:21
1 Peter 1:22
1 Peter 2:1
Romans 12:1-2

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Quoting the message: We need to be set apart, not set off, end quote. — choosing to live differently for God rather than reacting out of frustration when life or faith gets hard.

First Peter promises real hope even in suffering, because Christ already paid the ultimate price to set us free. That hope is only experienced, though, when we stop trying to force life to work our way and instead choose the discipline of being set apart — loving deeply, watching our words, and craving God's word — trusting His point of view over our own.

Key points

1
1Being holy means being set apart, not achieving sinless perfection
Pastor Bill works through 1 Peter 1:13-17 to show that the call to be holy is a call to live differently, set apart for a different mission, not a demand for flawless behavior. Because Jesus already secured our salvation, holiness becomes a choice to live out an identity already given, like a soldier who has already signed up for a mission.
2
2Suffering as a Christian is not random — it can have a purpose if we let it set us apart instead of setting us off
Pastor Bill explains that 1 Peter is written to Christians facing persecution, and warns that anyone who thinks following Jesus means avoiding all suffering is naive. He uses a military illustration about soldiers who sign up only for the benefits and freak out when war actually breaks out, contrasting them with those mentally prepared to lay down their lives.
3
3We are set apart because of what Christ has already done, not to earn anything
Reading 1 Peter 1:18-20, Pastor Bill stresses that we don't pursue holiness for God's love or grace, we pursue it from it, because Jesus already paid the ransom with His own blood. The choice to be set apart flows out of trusting who Jesus is and His plan for eternity.
4
4Discipline versus drifting: we must choose to live set apart rather than default into comfort
Using a continuum illustration and his own struggle with disciplined exercise but undisciplined eating, Pastor Bill shows how believers compartmentalize discipline, being strong in some areas of life but drifting in their walk with God. He frames this as a discipline already available because we're already saved, not a legalistic requirement.
5
5Discipline with love means choosing sacrificial agape love, not just brotherly affection
Working through 1 Peter 1:22, Pastor Bill contrasts the Greek phileo (brotherly love) with agape (sacrificial love), arguing that church isn't about getting needs met but bearing one another's burdens, serving, and sacrificing time and resources for each other.
6
6Discipline with your mouth exposes what's really happening in your heart
From 1 Peter 2:1, Pastor Bill teaches that deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and unkind speech reveal heart issues that eventually leak out no matter how controlled we try to be. He illustrates this candidly with a story about arguments with his wife, comparing his 'microwave' anger to her 'crockpot' anger that eventually goes nuclear.
7
7Discipline with your desire for God's word is what makes the other disciplines possible
From 1 Peter 2:2-3, Pastor Bill explains that craving Scripture like a baby craves milk means needing it instinctively and frequently, not analyzing it like a supplement. He warns that treating the Bible like a once-a-week vitamin rather than a daily staple leaves believers vulnerable, especially in how they handle time and money.

Application

Pastor Bill frames the whole charge as a choice: be set apart, not set off.

Choose God's point of view over your own
When frustration or suffering hits, resist the urge to force things your way; instead renew your mind by choosing to see circumstances the way God does.
Love deeply, not just like
Move beyond brotherly affection to sacrificial agape love within the church — serve, sit in circles instead of rows, and give your time and resources to bear one another's burdens.
Do a heart check before you speak
When deceit, jealousy, or unkind words come out, recognize they point to a heart issue and take it to God rather than just trying to control your mouth.
Crave God's word daily, not just on weekends
Treat Scripture as your daily staple rather than an occasional supplement — read it so it can read you, and let it shape decisions about time and money.
Trust God first with your money
Examine whether you give God your finances first or last, since Pastor Bill says this area reveals whether you truly trust God at all.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Sign in to ask Rewind about this sermon

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“So what does this mean, to be set apart, not set off? Let's start in First Peter chapter one verse 13. I just wanna read to the verse seventeen first here. He says so this, so prepare your minds for action”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“Let's start in First Peter chapter one verse 13. I just wanna read to the verse seventeen first here. He says so this, so prepare your minds for action and exercise self control”
From the transcript
“I wanna read from the the from verse 21 till chapter two verse three. And I'm gonna go back and point out that this is really laying out three things that we're called to have discipline in”
From the transcript
“You know in verse 22 there where it says to love? It says first love your brothers, but then it says love deeply. Peter actually uses two different Greek words for love in there”
From the transcript
“The second one is the discipline with your mouth. Now that's in chapter two verse one, and it's talking about more than just your mouth, but hear me out”
From the transcript
“So Romans twelve one and two says this, and so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you, like I'm doing right now, to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you”
From the transcript
“I quoted in Timothy. I said, grandma, thanks for being an example. You have fought the good fight. You have finished the race”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Pastor Bill opened with a question that cuts right to the heart: what does it actually mean to be holy? Not sinless perfection — that's not what the text is asking for. Holiness, at its root, means being set apart. Like a soldier who chooses the mission over personal comfort, the set-apart life is a daily, disciplined decision to belong fully to God rather than to whatever is pulling at you in the moment. Peter writes to people who are already suffering, already scattered, already under pressure. And his first word to them is not 'survive' — it's 'prepare your minds for action.' That phrase is striking. It assumes your mind needs work. Suffering, frustration, and unmet desire have a way of setting us off, nudging us down a path away from God without us even noticing. The antidote is not willpower alone — it's a mind that is oriented, on purpose, toward the One who called you. You have already been called. That's the foundation here. Holiness is not how you earn your place with God; it is how you live out a place you've already been given. That changes everything about how the invitation feels — less like a grade to achieve, more like a name to grow into.

For reflection

Where in your daily life do you most feel the pull to let circumstances 'set you off' rather than remain set apart — and what does that reveal about where your mind is anchored?

Pray

Pray for a mind that is genuinely prepared — alert and oriented toward God — rather than just reactive to whatever the day brings.

Day 2

There is a cost behind your calling, and Peter does not let you forget it. He writes that you were ransomed — not with gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The word 'precious' is doing heavy lifting there. It means costly, rare, of incomparable worth. This was not a transaction done on the cheap. Pastor Bill pointed to this as the reason we choose to be set apart. Not obligation, not fear of punishment, but response. When you understand what Jesus actually paid, the question stops being 'how much do I have to give up?' and starts being 'how could I not?' The ransom changes the math entirely. Peter also says to conduct yourselves with fear — not terror, but reverence. A sober awareness that the God you call Father is also the God who judges impartially. That kind of reverence is not crushing; it is clarifying. It helps you stop forcing life to work on your own terms and instead hold your days a little more openly. You are not the one who determines what your life is worth. That was already settled on a cross, long before you arrived.

For reflection

When you think about what Christ paid for your ransom, how does that shift the way you feel about the areas of life you've been holding back from God?

Pray

Pray for a deeper, more personal sense of what the blood of Jesus actually cost — and for a heart that responds with genuine reverence rather than routine.

Day 3

Love one another deeply, from the heart. It sounds simple until you realize Peter is not talking about affection. He is talking about agape — the kind of love that acts regardless of how it feels, that chooses the other person's good even when it's inconvenient, even when they haven't earned it, even when you're tired. Pastor Bill was direct here: the church is the place where this love is supposed to be most visible. That means the people in your church are not just an audience you share a row with — they are the people you are called to love sacrificially, specifically, and consistently. That is a demanding ask. And it is meant to be. What makes this possible, Peter says, is that your soul has already been purified through obedience to the truth. The love flows from something that has already happened on the inside. You are not manufacturing warmth out of nothing; you are drawing from a well that the Spirit has already dug. Still, it requires a choice. Agape is not passive. It shows up. It serves. It speaks honestly. It stays in the room when walking away would be easier. The daily discipline of loving the people around you is one of the clearest signs that the set-apart life is actually taking root.

For reflection

Think of one person in your church community — is there a practical, specific way you could express agape love toward them this week that goes beyond warm feelings?

Pray

Pray for the kind of love that is rooted in obedience rather than emotion — ask God to show you one person who needs it from you right now.

Day 4

Peter gets specific and a little uncomfortable here. He lists the things to rid yourselves of: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and unkind speech. That is not an abstract list. Every item on it is something that comes out of a person's mouth or motivates what they do with their words — and Pastor Bill named it plainly: what comes out of your mouth reveals what is going on inside you. A heart check is not a guilt trip. It is a diagnostic. If you notice that sarcasm comes easily, or that you're quick to shade the truth to protect yourself, or that someone else's good news quietly irritates you — those are not personality quirks to laugh off. They are signals worth paying attention to. Not because they disqualify you from grace, but because they show you where the work is still happening. The set-apart life requires that kind of honest self-examination. Not obsessive introspection, but a willingness to sit with the question: what is this reaction actually about? Often, unkind speech and deceit are rooted in unresolved fear or unmet need. Bringing those things into the light — before God, and sometimes before a trusted person — is part of what it means to live from a purified heart rather than a defended one.

For reflection

What does the pattern of your speech over the past week reveal about what is going on in your heart — and is there anything you need to bring honestly before God?

Pray

Pray for the courage to do an honest heart check — not to condemn yourself, but to invite God into the places where your speech is still ahead of your healing.

Day 5

A newborn does not treat milk as a supplement. It is not something the baby gets to eventually, after other things are taken care of. It is the first, most urgent, most non-negotiable need. That is exactly the image Peter uses for how a believer should crave God's Word — and Pastor Bill held that image up as a rebuke to the idea that Scripture is a weekly resource you check in on when life feels shaky. This is about frequency and priority. Not Bible knowledge as an end in itself — not accumulating information so you can win an argument or feel spiritually credentialed. Peter's point is that the Word shapes how you see everything. It is the thing that forms you from the inside out so that your instincts, your reflexes, your assumptions start to align with God's rather than the world's. The phrase 'if you have tasted that the Lord is good' is tender. It assumes some of you already know what this craving feels like — you've had a season where the Word was alive to you, where it met you exactly where you were. Peter is not introducing a new concept; he is calling you back to something real. Daily craving is not a burden. It is the appetite of someone who has already tasted how good this is.

For reflection

Honestly, is God's Word functioning as your primary diet right now, or more like a supplement you reach for when things get hard — and what would it look like to shift that?

Pray

Pray for a genuine, daily appetite for Scripture — not discipline that feels like grinding, but a real hunger that comes from having tasted that God is good.

Day 6

Pastor Bill brought in Romans 12 to press on a particular idea: renewing the mind is not the same as accumulating biblical information. Transformation happens when you actually adopt God's point of view — when you start thinking with the end in mind, measuring your days by what will last rather than what feels urgent right now. Paul calls this a living sacrifice — and the military image Pastor Bill used lands here too. A soldier does not weigh the cost of the mission every morning and decide whether to show up. The commitment was made at enlistment. Every day after that is living into a decision that has already been settled. That is what 'present your bodies as a living sacrifice' means in practice: not a dramatic one-time moment, but a daily orientation. The pattern of this world — the way money, time, status, and comfort are usually ordered — is real, and it pulls. Renewing your mind means deliberately replacing that default order with God's. Not by force, but by repeatedly returning to His Word, His community, and the truth of what He has already done. Over time, what felt like discipline starts to feel like home. That is transformation. That is the set-apart life, fully lived.

For reflection

In the area where you feel the most pressure from the 'pattern of this world' right now, what would it look like to choose God's point of view instead of defaulting to your own?

Pray

Pray for genuine transformation — not just information — asking God to renew the way you actually think about the things competing most for your attention and trust.

Day 7

Related passage1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Coming back to the whole passage, you can see the shape of what Pastor Bill was pointing to all week. It is not a checklist — it is a life. A mind prepared and alert. A heart moved by what Christ paid. Love that acts. Speech that reveals and heals rather than hides and wounds. An appetite for God's Word that never really goes away. And underneath it all, a point of view that belongs to God rather than to whatever circumstance is loudest right now. The test of whether any of this is real, Pastor Bill said, shows up most clearly in how you spend your time and your money. Not because those things are the whole story, but because they are the places where our actual priorities become undeniable. How you use what God has given you is the most honest measure of where your trust actually lives. The set-apart life is not a performance for God's approval. You already have His approval in Christ. This is what living from that approval looks like — moving through suffering, frustration, and the ordinary grind with a peace that doesn't make sense from the outside. Like a tank in the Spirit, Pastor Bill said. Steady, purposeful, not easily stopped. That is the hope this passage is pointing toward — and it is real.

For reflection

Looking back over this week, which of the three disciplines — loving with agape, guarding your speech, or craving God's Word — most needs your attention going forward, and what is one concrete step you can take?

Pray

Pray for the grace to live the set-apart life not as a burden but as a response to what Jesus has already done — and ask for the Spirit's help in the specific area where you feel most called to grow.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message sits with a question most of us feel but rarely name: what does it actually look like to live as someone set apart — not just in a church building, but on an ordinary Tuesday?

Discussion questions

1
In 1 Peter 1:13–16, Peter calls believers to 'be holy in everything you do.' Pastor Bill pointed out that holiness doesn't mean sinless perfection — it means being 'set apart.' What difference does that definition make for how we understand what God is actually asking of us?
2
Peter anchors his call to holy living in what Christ already did — paying for our ransom with His own blood (1 Peter 1:18–20). Why do you think Peter leads with that before giving any instructions? What does that order tell us about the relationship between what God has done and how we respond?
3
In 1 Peter 1:22, Peter calls believers to love one another with agape — a sacrificial, action-based love rather than just a warm feeling. What might it look like in a community like ours to practice that kind of love, especially when relationships are difficult or people are hard to like?
4
First Peter 2:1 lists deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and unkind speech as things to 'get rid of.' Pastor Bill suggested these behaviors reveal what is already going on inside a person rather than being the root problem themselves. How does that framing change the way we might approach those habits — in ourselves or in how we walk alongside others?
5
Peter uses a striking image in 1 Peter 2:2–3 — craving God's Word the way a newborn craves milk: urgently, frequently, and as a primary diet. What tends to get in the way of that kind of consistent hunger, and what might it look like for people in a season of life like ours to build that kind of daily rhythm?
6
Pastor Bill challenged us that how we spend our time and money is one of the clearest indicators of whether we are truly adopting God's point of view or our own. Without getting into personal specifics, what do you think makes that area of obedience so easy to set aside — and how might taking it seriously connect back to the hope Peter is pointing us toward throughout this passage?

Pray together

Ask God for the grace to choose being set apart — in love, in speech, and in daily hunger for His Word — not to earn His favor, but as a response to what Jesus has already done

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Topics

God's Word Holiness Sacrificial Love Set Apart for God Spiritual Discipline Suffering and Hope

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