Thrill Sequence, by Pastor Rob Ketterling
Well, thanks for being a part of our Thrill Sequence launch here this week at River Valley Church. For those of you that don't know, we did this two years ago as a multiple part series, and from that a publisher heard about it and turned it into a book. I am relaunching again, and it is going nationwide. It is kind of exciting that what we did as a church is being able to affect the body of Christ around the world. So I love the creativity of our team, our staff, and everybody that uses their gifts and talents. Some of our kids' ministry material is starting to go nationwide, and this book is no different; it is going nationwide.
I want to let you know that it all started with an observation. Okay, it just started with an observation. I was noticing that people were chasing after thrills, and it seemed like we were just becoming a Red Bull, 5 hour ENERGY world, chase after thrills. And it felt like social media was putting it on steroids, if you will, and saying, "Let's chase after thrills, let's go for it, let's run and get all we can out of it." And it looked like there was a competition going on.
Then we got together as a staff, and we were saying, "It looks like people are chasing after all the wrong things." How many think about that? People are chasing after all the wrong things. We said, "They are chasing after all the wrong things. It's like they are caught in this trap, this vicious cycle. It's like they are stuck in a thrill sequence." And in that moment we're like, "That's it! That's it! They are stuck in a thrill sequence." And we came up with the term "thrill sequence," and we made it up, and I'm hoping that it catches on in culture.
But if I can just define it, it is saying people are addicted to thrills. People are addicted to chasing after stuff that doesn't matter. They are bored. How many know people that are bored? They have so much, and they are bored. These people are bored, they are chasing after thrills, they are going after it. And so we said they are chasing after thrills, they are bored, and they want to then go after more, go after more. And then they use social media to go around and share. If you are using your social media, you might use Facebook, or you might use Twitter, or you might use Instagram, or you might need to use Periscope. How many know about Periscope? Go ahead, raise your hand here and at all of our campuses if you know about Periscope. Okay, that's the latest thing. All right, get with it. All right, now get with it. You notice all the teenagers, like, "Yeah, I'm familiar with that."
So you might use that social media. So we said people are bored, they are chasing the thrill. And then they put it out on social media and they want to say, "I was there. I did this. I've been there." And that becomes the currency to get the rush and the feeling of I did it, you didn't, and here it is. And then after a while, how many know that just gets old? Like, it just wears off, so you need a bigger thrill, a bigger thing, a higher thing to jump from, a bigger buzz.
And so people are starting to get addicted to adrenaline and this affirmation and this currency of people saying, "Oh, that's so cool. You did that! Oh, that was so cool. That's so amazing. Oh, you are really going for it!" And you are doing all this stuff, and so people just get stuck in this never ending cycle, this thrill sequence of chasing after these things.
So we came up with the term, and then we did the sermon series, and then it became a book. And I just was super excited to see it. It had a picture of that guy flyboarding on the cover. You know, they wanted to do a roller coaster on the front, and I was like, man, the flyboard guy is way more exiting. How many are glad there is a flyboard guy on there? Yeah! We need to do that as a Lifegroup. Somebody start that one and I'll join it.
So it's actually my second book. And for those of you that don't know, I did a first book, and it's kind of horrible to even show this. But I was way heavier before, and I did a book called Change Before You Have To, and I think they have the fat picture and my skinny picture there for you to be able to see. Yeah, that was me. Fat guy and now skinnier guy. I was an XL shirt and now I'm a medium, and I feel so much better.
But that first book, the thing I loved about it was a couple of things. I loved changed lives that were happening from it. You don't know what it is like to go out to a restaurant and somebody comes over and goes, "Hey, I want to let you know I got your book, Change Before You Have To, and my whole life changed." You know, "I restored my marriage."
And I was golfing once. This guy came up to me, and he said, "You won't believe this. I had a guy I was going to fire, but I gave him your book instead, and he's now our number one employee, he is sober, he restored his marriage, he gave his life to Jesus, and he now commutes to your church." And he's like, "Thank God for writing the book."
So seeing people's life change, that was like part one. Then part two was giving to Kingdom Builders. And with my first book and now the second book, all the money that comes from the book sales at River Valley will go to Kingdom Builders. Okay, so this weekend if you buy it, or next weekend, if you buy it for $10 it's normally 15 but if you buy it for $10, all the money goes to Kingdom Builders. And I just want to say how cool that is that apart from pastoring and tithing and giving like I do, it feels like I kind of started a book business, if you will, unintentionally, and I can give this money to Kingdom Builders. And if we sell all the books that we have on hand at River Valley Church, we can make 20 to 30 thousand dollars for Kingdom Builders. And I thank God for that opportunity. So if you get one for yourself, you get one to give away, this really is a modern day purpose driven life book for those people that like adrenaline, all right? I think it could be used to change a lot of lives and raise some money for Kingdom Builders. And I'm super, super excited for that. And it is just an honor that you would even buy that book, and I am so blessed by it. If you want some social media and stuff, if you want to give it a shout out to have it gain traction around the world, thrillsequence.com has all sorts of social media stuff that you can get there.
So we came up with the term, we did the series, it turned into a book, and now we are back again. But it was more than just a term, more than just an observation. You can learn a lot by observing and watching people, and I love to people watch. You can observe, you can watch this, but you can learn a lot by taking what you look at in life and then looking at the Word of God and saying, "God, is there an answer? Is there an answer? Is there something there? Is there something that can help define what I'm thinking?"
And for me, this scripture this jumped off the page. Proverbs 21:17 said this: You're addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied. How many think that that almost sounds like thrill sequence scripture right there? You're addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied. Now, it just jumped out at me. It just jumped out at me because chasing after thrills, it never satisfies.
But it didn't end there. As I'm reading the Word, Proverbs 15:21 jumps out. It says, The empty headed treat life as a play thing; the perceptive grasp its meaning and make a go of it. They make a go of it. They understand what life is about and you really go for it, you live it up to the potential. And I believe this, life is not a play thing. I believe eternity is waiting. I believe life is amazing; it can be fun, there can be pain involved. But life is not a play thing. It is an amazing thing and it's never frivolous. I think if we can break out of the thrill sequence that the world is stuck in, we can just say, "God, we want to live for something more." I want to live for something more.
So people are wondering, they're wondering, you know, "What's missing? What's missing? What exactly is the more? What is it that I'm looking for?" Because each of us is looking for something. And they keep trying that thrill sequence, and the problem is the thrill sequence says more, but it never says well done. How many know that? God is going to say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." You did it, you did the right thing. But the thrill sequence always says more, more, more. It never says well done. It just keeps pushing you to what's next and what's next and what's next.
Proverbs 27:20 says, Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes. We should learn. The Word of God is telling us right there. It's that your eyes are never going to be satisfied if you're like, "What about one more car? What about one more thrill? What about one more dollar? What about one more?" It will never be satisfied. We'll keep looking and pushing and pushing and pushing.
And the thing I realized is that some day all of us are going to have to give account for what we did with our life. We are all going to have to give account for what we did. We're going to stand before God, and he's going to be like, "I gave you your life. I gave you the opportunity to find me. I gave you the opportunity to live for something meaningful. Did you do it?"
And it seems like the world is struck in this thrill sequence, chasing after these things, cramming in thrills, cramming in, saying, "I want to be busy. I want to make money. I want to have success. I want to have education. I have wanderlust. I have sexual lust. I have a bucket list. I have fame. I have adrenaline. I have amusement. I'm going to try to pack it all in." Never really getting the real meaning.
The Bible says in Proverbs 14:12, There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. And I'll say this, if you travel in the thrill sequence, it may seem right. It may seem like it's got to be right. Everybody else is chasing after this stuff. It's got to be right. It has to be right. But in the end, it leads to death. And is you think it will satisfy, you need to get smart.
In the book I talk about it, in this sermon I want to talk about it, the guy by the name of Solomon. I won't spend a lot of time on it. If you want to learn more about him, you can you look at the other sermon series that we did. It is online. But Solomon just said, "I've done it all. I have been the ultimate thrill sequence guy." As a matter of fact, I love the way The Message translation calls him, like, he's trying to say, "I'm the man." You know, like, "I've chased all the thrills." And The Message translation of the Bible says, "I am the quester." "I am the quester." And he said, "I've done it. I've done it all. If you think you can top this, you can't. I have done it all." I mean, you think about it. He's like, "I have had wives upon wives upon wives. I have servants. I have had race cars." Well, he had race donkeys, race camels, you know, and horses. He said, "I've had vineyards. I have had fame. I've had it all."
I mean, I thought about this. Who was he and what could he be compared to in our modern day? He was Trump, Cuban, Beckham, Fallon and Jay Z all rolled into one. Okay? I know a lot of you are, like, "I wonder what the hair would like?" No, no, don't go there. Think about what he lived like! He had it all. He had it all.
He's like, "I have chased every thrill, every level, every department, every category. I've chased it all. Guess what? It doesn't satisfy." Ecclesiastes 2:1, I said to myself, let's go for it, experiment with pleasure, have a good time! But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke. Here's the thing, you can't squeeze the joy you are looking for out of this life because it's not there. You can't. You can just squeeze it, squeeze it, there's got to be more, make me another dollar, another thing. It's not there! You can't make the joy you are looking for chasing the thrills of this world!
Thomas Aquinas realized this when he said, "Man cannot live without joy, therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joy, it is necessary that he becomes addicted to carnal pleasures." This guy figured it out. He said, "You need joy. There is something in you saying like, 'I was created for more. I was created to experience life. There was something in me that would give me meaning and purpose. And If I can't find joy, I'll get addicted to carnal things because maybe those things will give me joy.'" But that just leads to death. And so we chase and chase and chase. We try to see if we can outdo Solomon, and you can't. It's empty. It's meaningless.
I feel this way, I just want to say this so strong: Don't waste your life in the thrill sequence and be filled to empty. Don't waste your life in the thrill sequence and be filled to empty. You're full of stuff that doesn't matter, and your life still feels empty. You can only be filled by God. You can only be filled by God. Period. Amen. Yeah, all right. I know at all the other campuses you all said amen. All right. That's it! That's it!
Matthew 6:33 says, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. He's first, he thrills, and the rest is simply this: as well. He doesn't say you can't enjoy flyboarding and these other things, doesn't mean you can't have a nice car, doesn't mean you can't. But it says that's just the "as well" of your life. You are really made to know God, to be known by God, to bring him glory, to bring him out. And if you seek him first, he'll add all the other. Don't worry. He'll take care of you. You will be okay. You will live with a purpose. But we chase after the "as well" like it's the end all be all. It's just the "as well." Don't get caught up in the "as well."
I wrote this down in my notes. It's kind of a tongue twister. You know that saying, All's well that ends well? And I was like, "As well" isn't well. You know, it's like, the "as well" isn't well. That doesn't make all right, we will move on. All right.
The Westminster catechism said the chief aim for man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. I believe that. I believe that. I believe we are made to know God. I believe we are made to enjoy God. I believe when I read the Bible and I look at every page, it's dripping with God saying, "I want to be in relationship with you. It started in relationship. The relationship was broken. I made the step towards you. I sent my son to die for you. It's about restoring right relationship. I want to be in relationship with you forever and ever in eternity. And while you are here, I'm not just leaving you here to take up space. I've got a purpose and a plan for you. And all those things that are in you, we are going to put those to good use." You are here to know God and be known by God.
And I believe this, I believe it's our job as the church to show the world that there is something bigger to live for. I believe it's our job as the church to say there is something, there is a real thrill sequence you can live for. It's pretty amazing. You can live for this and it will change your life. It's God! It's God! It's God! You were meant to know God! You were meant to get in on grace! You were meant to know and have your relationship with God restored.
And I apologize to anybody that thinks the church has done a poor job representing the best thrill on the planet. How many know sometimes we come off as not very thrilled? You know, "Going to church." "All right." [Rolls eyes] "Christian?" "Yeah, of course." Seriously! Who's buying that? Nobody is buying that!
First of all, that is not the way to live the life with God. The ultimate thrill sequence is with God because we are created for something to find joy, and when you find it in Christ, you've got true joy. How many know that we can go out in the world and represent true joy to the world by just talking about the presence of God. I mean, that can keep you going for years and years talking about the presence of God and how you feel the presence of God, you never feel alone, he is there with you through the hard times, the good times. You can talk about feeling the presence of God to the point that you cry or fall to your knees or you feel the supernatural presence of God. That right there is like, people are like, "Wait, wait, hold on. Wait a minute? What is that? What are you talking about right there?"
Here is the thing that I think. I think rich people are intrigued by the presence of God, because they can buy everything else. And then when they get around the presence of God, they are like, "Whoa, whoa? What is that? I had no whoa, whoa, whoa, how's that?" Everybody is longing for it, but there is sometimes you think, "I don't know," they are wondering. But I tell you what, I believe Jay Z, I believe Trump, I believe all those people would be overwhelmed by the presence of God. That's the real thrill sequence. It's bigger than anything they can buy. And we get the presence of God because we are his children.
We have the power of God to talk about. How many know you can talk about the miracles and the healings and the supernatural things that God has done? That's thrill sequence stuff.
How many know we have the pleasure of God, the fact that you feel satisfied after you do something for God. You go and you help the least of these, and all of a sudden you feel the pleasure of God on you, that he's smiling, saying, "Well done, good job." That's something that thrill sequence never gives them.
You can feel the praise of God. When you are praising God, how many know when you are in worship and praising God, you are close to God. You can talk to the world about that and represent the thrill sequence of what really matters.
You have the peace of God. And of course I'm a preacher, so all these had to be with Ps. How many notice that trend right there?
You know, we have the proclamation of God. Yeah, I'm just being creative there. We can go out and share who Jesus is. How many know that going on a Global Team and share with someone faith in Jesus Christ for the very first time, that's spectacular! How many know that when you actually share your faith with someone and they come into the salvation grace of Jesus, that's a thrill sequence! We have such an amazing thrill sequence to live for God that we ought to be the happiest people on the planet. We ought to be so happy they ought to be wondering what we are doing. All right? That's what I'm saying. We ought to be so full.
Because here is the thing, even in our struggles we have the peace of God that's there. And people are like, "How do you live like that?"
"Man, I'm living at a level of thrill sequence you have no idea. I have the peace of God in the midst of the storm. I have the peace of God in the midst of this tragedy. I have the peace of God. I am living." That's how we should live as followers of Jesus Christ: living the thrill sequence! It's a spiritual thrill sequence with God.
The early church, they were thrilled with the message of grace, and then they went and changed the world. The early church, they were just thrilled with, like, "God is going to give us grace! We don't have to earn our way to God. Let's go change the world with that message. Jesus died, he rose again! God wants to forgive you. You don't have to do anything for it. He loves you and he wants to forgive you. Ask for forgiveness." I mean, they went and changed the world with that.
We can do the same right now today. Here's the deal. In our walk with God, he's to be center of our lives. He is not a "value ad" or the "as well." He's the center of it. He's the center of it. So we've got people trapped in the thrill sequence. We have us that should be living a real spiritual thrill sequence out there sharing with the world, here's what it's all about.
And then as we do this, like, how do we live in God's thrill sequence? I just gave you a whole bunch of things that talk about the benefits of being in it and ways to share about it. But I believe that you can be living in the thrill sequence of God, making him smile. I love what Rick Warren says. Pastor Rick Warren, he said, "The smile of God is the goal of your life."
Think of that. "God, I want to make you smile, so I'm going to do things that make you smile. I'm going to use my adrenaline and I'm going to use my life. I'm going to use every breath you give me to make you smile. What do you want me to do?" I mean, it's very practical. I want us to just feel like the psalmist in Psalm 40:8 where he says, I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart. I take joy in doing this. I want to do this. I want to bring a smile to you.
So I put this in the book, and I'll give it to you today. I believe that if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, if you've broken out of the old thrill sequence and you are living for God the way that you should, the way to really take the thrill sequence for God to the whole next level, the whole next level, is to see the word "disciple" as a noun and a verb. Okay, now pay attention. I wasn't very good at English in school. I wish I would have paid a lot closer attention. But I do understand what's a noun and what's a verb, all right? The past and present participle, sometimes that confuses me, all right? And there, their and they're, you know what I mean? How many know what I'm talking about? All right, but this one is easy. Disciple is a noun and verb. If you treat the word "disciple" as a noun and a verb, I believe you will start living the thrill sequence. What do I mean by this?
Okay, I am a disciple of Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus. I will be a disciple, a follower of Jesus. Noun. Okay? And if you live that way, like, I will follow Jesus, I will be a follower of Jesus, and I'm going to do whatever he says and whatever makes him smile, I'm going to be a disciple noun that's half the equation of living for the thrill sequence for what really matters.
Here's the second part. Verb: I will disciple. You are not excited about that one, are you? Okay, that means work. If you take it as a noun, I will be a disciple, you're still going to be disobedient if you don't take it as a verb. But you'll have thoughts, like, I'm going to learn, I'm going to this, okay. But I'm going to do disciple. I'm going to make disciples. I'm going to turn it into a verb and I'm going to put some action behind it. I am. I will. Be and do. They go together.
You are like, well, I'm not much of a doer. How many know sometimes people will say, "That's not really my passion to do that." You know, you need to do it. You need to serve. You need to get out there and make being a disciple a verb as well as a noun. Be and do. It's where true fulfilling comes from. You can go for it.
I'm telling you what, everything we do at River Valley Church, everything we do at River Valley Church is there to help you to live in the be and the do. Everything we do at River Valley Church is to help you to live in the be and the do. I will be a disciple, okay? So what do we do? We say have SOAP time; scripture, observation, application, prayer. Be a disciple. You are going to become who God wants you to be, and as you do your SOAP reading and all that, all of a sudden you start to become and you are following. But guess what? We've got more for you. We've got Lifegroups for you. We want that so you can be and do. Sometimes you become. You know, you learn more in your Lifegroups. And other times you lead them, and you're actually some of your Lifegroups are serving things. But it is so that you can be and do. How many know that our Global Teams, we say within four years of being at River Valley Church we want you to go on a Global Team. Why? Because we are trying to help you be and do. Noun and verb. And when you do noun and verb, you start living for the thrill sequence that God intends you for, and your whole life changes. That joy, that happiness comes in.
Some of you are like, "I don't want to go on a Global Team, you know." Well, what are you doing in the verb category, when you go out and you make disciples? How about Life Teams that we have here? Life Teams. You say what is that? That is taking disciple to being a verb. You are going to find your place to serve on a Life Team and help make disciples. How many know that when you're watching kids in the nursery, you are making disciples. You're turning it into the verb. How many know when you're greeting, you're doing the Welcome Center, you're leading a Lifegroup, you're on the worship team, you're on a prayer team, you are turning it into that. How many know you are mentoring somebody, you are making disciples. How many know that when you're leading somebody into faith in Jesus Christ, you're being, you're turning it into the verb. There is joy in being a disciple and there is joy in doing discipleship and making more disciples.
There's more. Kingdom Builders, it's about being a disciple and doing. It's about taking it and saying, "God, I want to hear what you speak to me and I want to be in this relationship with you. In this relationship, tell me how much I should give toward this, and I want you to help me to become a less greedy person and a more generous person. I'm going to become a disciple. But as I give and I'm helping to build things and grow the kingdom of God and reaching the least of these, I'm turning it into a verb in Kingdom Builders."
There are so many different things that we do around River Valley Church so that you will have noun and verb, and you'll truly be living the thrill sequence.
So let me close with this: Please, please God. Simple. Please, please God. That's what your pastor is asking. Please, please God. Please God. Take the life that he has given you, take the adrenaline that he has given you, take whatever gifts and talents he has given you, be. Become a disciple. Follow him. And then do all the things he has called you to do. Don't waste your adrenaline. There is coming a day that you're going to have to stand before God and give account. Live accordingly. Thank God that if you crossed the line and you broke out of the old thrill sequence of chasing after things that didn't matter and you crossed the line to follow God, now you are really living for the things that are mattering, and you're saying, "God, this matters. This matters. And I'm going to chase after you with all the aggressiveness that I chased after this."
I just had this thought. Some of you were known as party animals before you found Christ. Why are you so tame as a follower of Jesus Christ now? Okay? God got rid of your sinful nature, but he didn't get rid of your aggressiveness. Get going! Lead some things. Create a little chaos around the church. Get the Lifegroup a little spiced up. Keep the lamp shade off your head. But you know what I'm saying. Seriously! Do missions. Go after the riskiest people that no one would ever want to share their faith with and use that aggressive nature that God gave you for something good for him. Let's not just be passive, timid followers of Jesus, thanking God that we broke out of meaningless, the life of just thrill sequence, and then just settle to just occupy space. We are not here to occupy space. We are here to make a difference for God and live in his thrill sequence and show the world they can break out of that and enter into this.
So, Lord, I just pray right now that you would help us. You would help us break out of that and move into what is meaningful, Lord Jesus. I pray for that. I pray for that. I pray for anyone that's trapped in the thrill sequence of chasing after all the things that the world says, the shiny things, the things the world tries to make look better than they really are. I pray that people would break free. And at the end of the service with prayer team members, if there are people that need to find you as Lord and Savior, they feel like they've been stuck in that thrill sequence, they have no meaning, I pray that a prayer team member would lead them to faith in Jesus Christ.
Then I thank you, God, for those of us that broke out of that old thrill sequence now who are living for you, and I pray, God, that we use our adrenaline for kingdom purposes, we'd do the things that you've called us to do. We wouldn't be content to just, you know, be saved. We want to make disciples. We see disciple as a noun and a verb and to make a difference for you, God. So help us to be more active.
And, lastly, I do pray, Lord, honestly, for those people that are aggressive. Lord, they are aggressive on the softball field, they are aggressive in the marketplace, they are aggressive all over. Then for some reason they feel like they come into the church and they decide to be peaceful and staid. Maybe this is the place to just get rid of carnal aggressive, but I don't want them to lose their aggressive chasing. I want them to use it for you. And I pray that they'd be leaders, they'd use their gifts and talents for you, that they would stir things up in the church, and we'd go after more people and make a bigger difference and give more, do more, live more for you, Lord, and chase after the only one that really matters. So, God, help us to live the ultimate thrill, which is knowing you, being forgiven by you and making you known to others.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen.
