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I, Me, Mine | Week 1 | Full Service · Rewind

Rock Point Church

75 min

Pastor Bill Bush · Nov 24, 2025 · 4 min read · 75 min listen

The big idea

Our faith should be He centered, not me centered — when we make it about ourselves, nothing ever really changes.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 6Check your why
Point 2 of 6Get alone and get real

Point 3 of 6Spiritual arrogance and self-loathing are both symptoms of a me-centered faith
Point 4 of 6Peter shows what restoration through love, not performance, looks like
Point 5 of 6Stop performing and start praying
Point 6 of 6A personal story of catching him me-centered motives at a conference
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Matthew 6
Matthew 6:1
Matthew 6:2-4
Matthew 6:5-8

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Bill Bush · Nov 24, 2025 · 75 min watch · 2 min read

I, Me, Mine | Week 1 | Full Service

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Matthew 6
Matthew 6:1
Matthew 6:2-4
Matthew 6:5-8

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Our faith should be He centered, not me centered — when we make it about ourselves, nothing ever really changes.

Real transformation, peace, and life come when our faith is centered on God rather than on ourselves. Jesus, in Matthew 6, exposes how easily religious practice becomes a performance for others or even a transaction with God. Instead, He invites us to check our motives, get honest with Him in private, and trade performing for real, listening prayer — because He already loves us and knows us better than we know ourselves.

Key points

1
1Check your why
Pastor Bill unpacks Matthew 6:1, where Jesus warns against doing good deeds publicly to be admired. The Greek word for 'admired' (theathenai) is related to theater — performing for applause. He notes that even religious motives can be a lie, since some serve God to earn His love rather than out of relationship, and a wrong why turns worship, giving, and service into a burden.
2
2Get alone and get real
Working through Matthew 6:2-4, Pastor Bill explains that Jesus calls people to give and serve in private rather than with trumpet blasts for attention. He teaches that what we bring into public worship is directly connected to what happens in our private time with God during the week, and that a me-centered performance produces only a momentary, 'paid in full' reward, while a He-centered life produces the ongoing reward of real relationship with the Father.
3
3Spiritual arrogance and self-loathing are both symptoms of a me-centered faith
Pastor Bill describes how a performance-based faith swings people between feeling superior when they succeed and filled with shame when they fail, breeding contempt for others rather than love. He applies this to Christians who judge other churches or mix political ideology with the gospel, arguing that the mission of the church was never cultural dominance but salvation through Christ.
4
4Peter shows what restoration through love, not performance, looks like
Pastor Bill retells Peter's denial and Jesus' restoration of him by the shore, noting Jesus never brings up the failure but simply asks, 'Do you love me?' He highlights the Greek wordplay between agape and phileo to show Jesus meeting Peter in his weakness and still calling him back into ministry.
5
5Stop performing and start praying
Turning to Matthew 6:5-8, Pastor Bill contrasts the hypocrites who prayed loudly on street corners and the Gentiles who babbled repetitive chants with real prayer, which is a two-way conversation involving listening as well as talking. He illustrates this with a story about his grandson refusing to listen and only wanting his own way, showing how babbling prayer treats God like a vending machine instead of a Father with a bigger perspective.
6
6A personal story of catching him me-centered motives at a conference
Pastor Bill shares how being billed low on a conference speaker list stung him briefly, and how encouragement from friends before he spoke started to make him anxious in a way that never happens to him. He explains that getting alone and praying revealed the root: he likes to be liked, and left unchecked that desire could shape him into a preacher who says only what people want to hear rather than what God wants said.

Application

Pastor Bill's charge is to check your why, get alone and get real, and stop performing and start praying.

Check your why
Ask yourself honestly why you're serving, giving, worshiping, or showing up at all — a wrong why turns faith into a burden and a right why turns it into a want-to.
Get alone and get real with God
Build a private, inside-out practice with God during the week rather than only performing in public, trusting that He already knows and loves you better than you know yourself.
Stop performing and start praying
Trade rambling, one-way babbling for real conversation with God that includes listening, not just repeating what you want.
Trade contempt for love
Whether you feel spiritually arrogant or defeated by failure, let go of comparing yourself to others and rest in the fact that Jesus already loves and accepts you.

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

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“For the next few weeks, we're gonna be in Matthew chapter six in this series called I, Me, Mine, because that's really the theme of what Jesus is talking about”
From the transcript
“That's what he says in verse one when he's First, he's talking about in this Jewish culture, like I said, public righteousness raises their status”
From the transcript
“That's when he starts verses two through four. He starts to say, okay. What do do? If you're not gonna be admired, if you're not gonna put on the show, then what do we need to do when it comes to our”
From the transcript
“that leads to this last part, verse five through eight is what now he starts talking about praying. And he's saying, so then what you do at that point is stop performing and start praying”

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

Jesus opens this part of the Sermon on the Mount with a quiet but surgical question: who are you doing this for? Not whether you are giving, praying, or fasting — but for whose eyes. Pastor Bill called this 'motive surgery,' and that phrase is worth sitting with. Surgery isn't punishment; it's care. A good surgeon cuts to heal, not to harm. In the same way, Jesus isn't exposing our motives to shame us. He's exposing them because He knows that a faith built on other people's approval — or even on earning a gold star from God — will eventually hollow out. It can't hold weight. Performance-based faith produces anxiety, not transformation, because the audience is always shifting and the standard is always moving. The invitation here isn't to feel bad about where you are. It's to get honest. Most of us have mixed motives most of the time, and Jesus knows that. The fact that He addresses it so plainly is itself a form of grace — He isn't surprised, and He isn't walking away. He's leaning in, asking you to look at the 'why' underneath the 'what.' That examination, as uncomfortable as it can feel, is actually the beginning of real, lasting faith.

For reflection

When you think about your most consistent spiritual habit right now — attending church, reading the Bible, serving, giving — what honest answer comes up when you ask yourself why you do it?

Pray

Pray for the courage to let Jesus examine your motives without flinching or defending yourself.

Day 2

Jesus uses the word 'hypocrites' not as a slur but as a stage direction — the Greek word literally means 'actor.' The people He's describing aren't necessarily bad people; they're people who have learned to perform faith so well that the performance has replaced the real thing. Pastor Bill made the point that our reasons for serving or worshiping are often lies that take us down the wrong road. That's a striking way to put it. When we serve because we need to feel needed, or give because we want to be seen as generous, we're not just doing the right thing for the wrong reason — we're actually shaping our picture of God around ourselves. The reward Jesus mentions — 'they have received their reward in full' — isn't a threat. It's a description. Applause is a reward. It just happens to be a very small, very temporary one. The contrast Jesus draws is between the reward of human recognition and the reward of the Father who sees in secret. That second reward isn't about earning; it's about relationship. Being seen by a God who already knows everything and still calls you His own — that's not a transaction. That's love. And it's available to anyone willing to stop performing long enough to receive it.

For reflection

Is there a place in your life where the fear of what others think has quietly become a bigger motivator than love for God? What would it look like to loosen that grip?

Pray

Pray for freedom from the need for human approval in your spiritual life.

Day 3

One phrase from Pastor Bill's message is worth returning to today: public worship is directly shaped by private practice. What we do when no one is watching — or when we think God isn't especially paying attention — tells the truth about where our faith actually lives. Jesus points to the Father 'who sees what is done in secret' not as a surveillance warning but as an anchor. You don't need an audience because you already have one — the most important one there is, and He is entirely for you. Getting alone with God isn't a spiritual discipline reserved for monks or pastors. It's the basic, everyday practice of bringing your real self — tired, confused, grateful, distracted, whatever — into an honest moment with a Father who already knows all of it. Inside-out transformation, as the sermon described it, doesn't begin with behavior change. It begins with letting God into the parts of your life that aren't cleaned up for company. That might mean a few quiet minutes before the day gets loud. It might mean a walk, a drive, or five minutes sitting still with your phone face-down. The format matters far less than the honesty. Small, consistent, private moments with God are where the deepest change tends to start.

For reflection

What does your private spiritual life actually look like right now — and is there a gap between that and how your faith appears on the outside?

Pray

Pray for a growing desire to spend real, unhurried time alone with God this week.

Day 4

Jesus pivots from giving to prayer in this passage, and the target stays the same: performance. The person praying loudly on the street corner isn't necessarily a villain — they may genuinely believe they are being devout. But Jesus identifies the problem plainly: they have already received their reward. The words went up, the audience applauded, and that's where the transaction ended. Pastor Bill described the spiritual arrogance and self-loathing that a me-centered faith produces, and both of those tendencies show up in prayer. Arrogance says, 'I have prayed more, longer, or better than others, and God must be impressed.' Self-loathing says, 'My prayers are probably not good enough anyway, so why bother?' Both postures are actually about the self — one inflated, one deflated — and both keep us from the simple, direct access to God that Jesus is pointing toward. He-centered prayer starts not with how it sounds or how long it runs, but with who you're actually talking to. The Father isn't grading your vocabulary or your volume. He's listening for a real voice. Wherever you land on the spectrum between arrogance and shame today, the door into honest prayer is open — and the Father is on the other side of it.

For reflection

Do you tend more toward spiritual pride or spiritual self-doubt in your prayer life? How does either one make prayer feel more like a performance than a conversation?

Pray

Pray for honesty about where pride or shame might be shaping the way you approach God.

Day 5

The instruction is almost disarmingly simple: go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. No crowd, no script, no stage. Just you and God. Pastor Bill's application pointed here too — slow down, get alone, and get real. That 'get real' part is where many of us quietly stall out. It's easier to stay busy with religious activity than to sit still long enough to let God ask us honest questions. But this verse is one of the most hopeful in the entire passage. Jesus doesn't call the private room a discipline or a duty — He describes it as where your Father is. He is already there. You're not summoning His attention; you're stepping into a conversation He's been ready to have. The reward Jesus promises — 'your Father, who sees everything, will reward you' — isn't a spiritual paycheck. In context, the reward is the relationship itself. Knowing and being known by a good Father. That phrase from the sermon lands here: when our faith is truly centered on God rather than ourselves, we discover the continual, life-giving reward of knowing and being known. That reward doesn't start in eternity. It starts in the closed room, today.

For reflection

What would it take — practically — for you to build even a small amount of regular, private, unhurried time with God into your week?

Pray

Pray for the willingness to go to that quiet place and stay there long enough to actually listen.

Day 6

Jesus names a second prayer trap here: 'babbling like the pagans.' The word He uses describes empty, repetitive speech — not sincere repetition, but the kind of rambling that assumes God is persuaded by volume or word count. Pastor Bill described real prayer as a two-way conversation, not a transaction where we hand God a list. That contrast matters. A transaction has conditions: I give You this, You give me that. A conversation has trust. Jesus' reasoning is striking — 'your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.' That sentence alone could stop us cold. If He already knows, why pray? Because prayer isn't primarily an information transfer. It's relational alignment. Bringing your needs, fears, and hopes before a Father who already knows them is an act of trust. It's choosing dependence over self-sufficiency. It's saying, out loud or in the silence of a closed room, 'I believe You see me, I believe You care, and I am choosing to lean on You instead of figuring this out alone.' That kind of prayer doesn't require the right words. It just requires showing up honestly. The Father who already knows your need is not waiting to be impressed. He is waiting to be trusted.

For reflection

Does your prayer life tend to feel more like a list handed to God or a genuine conversation with Him? What would one small shift toward conversation look like?

Pray

Pray for a shift from presenting demands to practicing trust — telling God what's on your heart and then leaving room to listen.

Day 7

Looking back across this week, a single thread runs through every verse: Jesus is not trying to make you a better religious performer. He is trying to set you free from performance entirely. The whole passage is motive surgery — careful, loving, precise — aimed at getting to the real thing underneath. Pastor Bill closed the sermon by saying that when our faith is truly centered on God, 'I have to' becomes 'I get to.' That shift doesn't come from trying harder. It comes from being honestly known by a Father who loves you not because of what you've done, but because of who He is. That love is not fragile. It is not conditional on your prayer streak or your serving record or whether your motives have been perfectly pure this week. It is steady and it is available — right now, in secret, in the closed room, in the ordinary moments of a regular day. The invitation Jesus extends across Matthew 6 is not to a higher standard of religious performance. It's to a real relationship. One that starts with honesty, grows through trust, and produces — from the inside out — the kind of transformation no amount of public religion ever could. You don't have to earn your way in. You're already known. Start there.

For reflection

Looking back at this week's reflections, where has the most honest examination of your 'why' landed — and what one thing do you want to carry forward?

Pray

Pray for a growing, settled confidence in the Father's love as the foundation everything else in your faith is built on.

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 from Matthew 6 centers on a question Jesus keeps pressing: not what we're doing in our faith lives, but why. Before we jump in, take a second to think of one word that describes how prayer has felt to you lately — no explanation needed, just a word.

Discussion questions

1
In Matthew 6:1, Jesus warns His followers about doing righteous acts 'to be seen by others.' What do you think He means by that warning — and why would being seen by others be a problem if the act itself is good?
2
Pastor Bill described a 'me-centered faith' as one that swings between spiritual arrogance and self-loathing. Looking at Matthew 6:2–4, what is it about doing religious things for public approval — or to earn God's favor — that would produce that kind of inner instability?
3
Jesus draws a contrast in Matthew 6:4–6 between public performance and getting alone with God. What do you think He's trying to teach about the relationship between private practice and what happens outwardly in someone's faith?
4
In Matthew 6:7–8, Jesus says the Father already knows what we need before we ask. How does that change what prayer is actually for — and what might it look like for a community of people to pray from that starting point rather than from a list of demands?
5
Pastor Bill suggested that if prayer feels like a one-way demand, or worship feels like an obligation, those are indicator lights pointing to a misunderstanding of God's love. What shift in how people understand God would need to happen for 'I have to' to genuinely become 'I get to'?
6
Pastor Bill's practical next step was simply: slow down, get alone, and get real with God — sitting in His Word and actually listening. What might that look like in everyday life, and what tends to make it harder than it sounds?

Pray together

A Father who already knows what we need and loves us not for our performance but because of who He is — ask Him to examine your motives and make your faith genuinely He-centered

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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I, Me, Mine

Week 1 · 4 messages

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