Skin In The Game! | Pastor Bartholomew Orr

Devotional

Day 1: Testing Spirits in the Storm

Jesus stood among His disciples after rising from the dead, flesh and bone. He showed His scars, ate broiled fish, and proved He was no ghost. The disciples touched His wounds, their doubts dissolving like morning mist. Yet even then, Jesus warned of deceivers who’d twist the truth. [57:50]

John wrote to believers surrounded by false prophets denying Christ’s humanity. He urged them to test every teaching against the bedrock truth: Jesus came in real skin, died, and rose. Spirits that reject this core aren’t from God.

Many voices today claim spiritual authority but distort Christ’s identity. When was the last time you opened Scripture to verify what a preacher, podcast, or post said about Jesus? What daily habit could anchor you deeper in the real Jesus of the Gospels?

“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. This is how we know: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body is from God.”
(1 John 4:1, 3 NLT)

Prayer: Ask God for discernment to recognize counterfeit teachings about Christ’s nature.
Challenge: Read 1 John 4:1-3 aloud. Underline every phrase describing Jesus’ humanity.

Day 2: Love’s Unflinching Proof

John sat beside Jesus at the Last Supper, leaning on His chest. He felt the heartbeat of the One who’d soon hang on a cross. Years later, John wrote: “God showed His love by sending His Son.” Not a theory, but flesh-and-blood sacrifice. [58:30]

Love defines God’s children. It’s not sentimental—it’s scars and surrender. The Father didn’t send a vague “positive energy” to save us. He gave His Son. When we love poorly, we deny our lineage; when we love boldly, we mirror our Maker.

You’ll meet someone this week who feels unlovable—a cranky coworker, a distant relative. How might you actively reflect God’s stubborn love to them? What practical step could prove love isn’t just your words, but your wiring?

“God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”
(1 John 4:9, 11 NLT)

Prayer: Confess one relationship where you’ve withheld love. Ask for courage to initiate reconciliation.
Challenge: Write a handwritten note of encouragement to someone you’ve struggled to love.

Day 3: Confidence Before the Bench

John watched Jesus stand trial—false charges, mocking crowds. Yet the Savior faced His accusers with unshakable calm. Decades later, John assured believers: “We can face judgment with confidence” because we’re becoming like Christ. [01:15:58]

Fear shrivels when we grasp our identity. The Judge isn’t a stranger—He’s our Advocate. Every act of Christlike love today becomes evidence tomorrow of whose we are. Our confidence grows not from perfection, but from abiding in the One who is perfect.

What shame or secret sin makes you dread eternity? How might embracing 1 John 4:17 free you to live boldly, knowing Christ’s righteousness covers you?

“As we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.”
(1 John 4:17 NLT)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for being your Advocate. Name one fear about judgment and release it to Him.
Challenge: Memorize 1 John 4:17. Whisper it when anxiety about God’s approval arises.

Day 4: Skin in the Salvation Game

Roman nails tore through Jesus’ wrists. A spear pierced His side. John saw water and blood flow—proof of a real death. God didn’t send a hologram. He put skin in the game. [01:21:58]

Sacrifice measures love’s depth. The Father risked His Son; the Son surrendered His life. Our half-hearted faith insults this gift. True belief isn’t lip service—it’s investing our time, talents, and treasures where eternity’s at stake.

What’s your “skin in the game” this week—the tangible proof you’re all-in for Christ? Is there a comfort, habit, or resource you’ve withheld from His kingdom work?

“This is real love: Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
(1 John 4:10 NLT)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for His physical sacrifice. Surrender one area you’ve kept from His lordship.
Challenge: Share the gospel with one person using 1 John 4:9-10 as your foundation.

Day 5: Greater Than the Roar

Demons trembled when Jesus walked dusty roads. Storm winds stilled at His command. John reminds us: “The Spirit in you is greater than the spirit in the world.” Victory isn’t coming—it’s already won. [01:02:03]

The disciples cowered until Pentecost. Then—filled with the Greater One—they turned the world upside down. Our battles (doubts, temptations, fears) aren’t exceptions to God’s rule—they’re arenas to prove His supremacy.

What “giant” have you been avoiding because you forgot who dwells within you? How might today shift if you acted from victory, not for victory?

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory… because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”
(1 John 4:4 NLT)

Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your awareness of His power within you.
Challenge: Declare 1 John 4:4 aloud three times today—before a mirror, in your car, or over a meal.

Sermon Summary

John names the stakes and sets the terms. The Spirit speaks, but so do many false spirits, so the text commands testing and not swallowing every claim that flies under a God label. The standard is Christ Himself. Anyone who confesses Jesus Christ come in real flesh bears the Spirit of God, and anyone who won’t is riding with antichrist. The battle is real, but the outcome is certain. The text says God’s children already carry victory, because the One in them is greater than the one in the world. Since skin in the game determines the win of the game, the call is simple and strong: give it all.

The text first demands critical thinking. Stop believing everything seen and read. Satan counterfeits as an angel of light, so discernment must be trained by the real thing. Scripture, breathed out by the Spirit, gives the church the authentic bills to handle until the false feels wrong in the hand. Jesus is confessed as fully God and truly man, not a mere prophet. So commitment must show up in the mind and the time. Learn the truth, share the truth, live the truth, and do not take a summer break from the Book.

Then the text calls for courageous love. Love is the badge of authority and the DNA that proves paternity. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God loved first, loved sacrificially, loved unconditionally. That love remakes a people who love because of God and love for God, so that the unseen God gets seen when His love reaches full expression in His church. Give the heart. Love hard. Everybody. Even the hard folks. Feed enemies. Look past color and party lines. Stop wearing feelings on sleeves.

Finally the text frees the church to live confidently. Judgment is coming, yet those who abide in God find their love growing toward maturity so they face that Day with confidence, because they live like Jesus in this world. Joy marks that life, the kind that strengthens when storms come. Let Jesus be the model. What would Jesus do checks the mouth, the calendar, and the route, and then excellence and holiness become the default. Give the best.

God Himself has already put skin in the game. The Father sent the one and only Son. This is real love. Jesus died on Calvary, was buried, and rose early with all power, and still keeps His people. That divine investment calls for human response: invest time in prayer, talent in service, treasure in mission, and trust in the Lord, aiming to win in faith, finances, fitness, career, and service under the banner of a victory already won.

Key Takeaways

1. Test the spirits with Scripture Discernment is not suspicion, it is submission to the apostolic Christ confessed in the Word. The church learns the real so well that the counterfeit cannot seduce. Christology is the watershed, and antichrist always blurs or denies the Incarnation. Give the mind and the time to the Book. [63:37]
2. Victory belongs to God’s children The text locates confidence not in bravado but in the indwelling Spirit. The greater One on the inside guarantees a win even when the outside looks like loss. Faith clings to that verdict and lives out of it, not toward it. Courage grows where victory is settled. [63:15]
3. Love is the family resemblance Love is the badge and blood type of those born of God. God’s prior, sacrificial, unconditional love becomes the pattern, power, and purpose of a people who love like Him, because of Him, and for Him. Since no one has seen God, love makes the invisible God visible. [71:01]
4. Live like Jesus without fear Judgment is certain, but panic is not required for those whose love matures in abiding. Confidence flows from practicing Jesus’ life in this world, not from perfect track records. Joy rises as a present strength when Jesus is the model and the measure. [75:42]
5. God put skin in the game The Father sent the Son, and the Son bled and rose. That is real love and real commitment, the ground and fuel for any human response. Time, talent, treasure, and trust are sane offerings to the One who first invested Himself. [81:35]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[19:26] - Changing lives, making a difference
[34:03] - What baptism is and isn’t
[34:45] - Monica’s confession and baptism
[39:02] - Prayer for bereaved families
[40:41] - Worship through giving
[42:20] - Celebrating a Space Force milestone
[43:46] - Luke 6:38 and giving confession
[54:46] - Testimony of God’s healing
[56:56] - 1 John 4 read aloud
[59:34] - Skin in the game
[63:37] - Think critically, test the spirits
[71:01] - Love courageously as God’s children
[75:42] - Live confidently before judgment
[81:35] - God’s ultimate investment in Christ
[83:45] - Invitation to respond and join

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
1 John 4:1-12 (ESV)
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Observation Questions

According to 1 John 4:1-3, what is the key test to determine if a spirit is from God? How does this connect to the warning about "false prophets" in the sermon? [01:03:37]
The sermon emphasizes that "love is the family resemblance" of God’s children. What specific actions or attitudes does 1 John 4:7-12 associate with this love?
In the sermon, it’s stated that "victory belongs to God’s children" because "the One in them is greater than the one in the world." How does 1 John 4:4-6 explain this victory? [01:03:15]
The phrase "skin in the game" is used repeatedly in the sermon. What biblical example of God’s "skin in the game" is highlighted in 1 John 4:9-10? [01:21:35]

Interpretation Questions

Why is confessing Jesus as both fully God and fully human (the Incarnation) such a critical test of truth versus deception, according to 1 John 4:2-3? How might modern false teachings distort this truth?
The sermon says, "Love makes the invisible God visible." How does 1 John 4:12 connect love for others to making God known? What does this imply about the church’s role in the world? [01:11:01]
The phrase "live confidently before judgment" in the sermon ties to 1 John 4:17. How does growing in love lead to confidence rather than fear? What might hinder this growth?
The sermon warns against "blending in" with the world. How does 1 John 4:4-5 contrast the identity and priorities of God’s children with those of the world?

Application Questions

The sermon urges believers to "test the spirits" using Scripture. What practical step could you take this week to grow in discernment about teachings or messages you encounter? [01:07:07]
"Love courageously" includes loving "even the hard folks." Who in your life feels difficult to love right now? What specific action could reflect God’s sacrificial love to them? [01:14:28]
The sermon challenges believers to "live like Jesus" as a daily model. What habit, attitude, or decision in your life needs to align more closely with "What would Jesus do?" [01:18:05]
"Skin in the game" means investing time, talent, and treasure in God’s mission. Which of these areas feels hardest for you to surrender? What small step could you take to deepen your commitment? [01:19:42]
The sermon says joy strengthens believers in storms. How could you intentionally cultivate joy this week, even in a challenging circumstance?
The Bible reading emphasizes that "God is love." How might your relationships (family, church, community) change if this truth shaped your interactions daily?
The sermon asks, "What’s your skin in the game?" What evidence in your life right now shows you’re fully invested in following Christ? What needs to change? [01:23:45]

Sermon Clips

37s

“The reason why, reason why I can't point a finger at you and get mad at you and get upset at you is because I know how god has loved me, look beyond my faults, and supplied my every need. And the last time I checked, I'm in the same boat that you're in. All of us got some dirt under our nail. All of us got some dirty horse. We got some dirty lies. We got some dirty mind but god looked beyond our filth. He looked beyond our sin. Loved us and because of that love, I can't help but love you.”

35s

“But praise be to god. Despite judgement coming, y'all, we can have joy for living. We can have joy for living. The Bible says there, John says, we're going to face him with confidence. We're not coming scared. We're not coming shaking in our boots but we're coming bold before our heavenly father. We got joy for living. I don't know about y'all but I'm thankful that when I think about god, I got joy. This joy that I have, it doesn't come from the world. It doesn't come from drugs. It doesn't come from alcohol.”

38s

“And then with our time, we need to live the truth of the bible. And so if you're gonna have skin in the game brand, you need to give it your mind and your time. Do you have some skin in the game? Is it reflected in your time? How much time did you spend in the Bible this week? Now if you were like me, you binge watched a Netflix series, and you went through all eight episodes in one week. Don't y'all talk about me. Some of y'all do it in one night.”

47s

“Because I don't know about y'all Brown but I wanna win. I wanna win. Anybody else wanna win? I wanna win with my faith. I wanna win in my finances. I wanna win in my fitness. I wanna win in my career. I wanna win in my service. In all that I do, I want to be a winner. And the Lord have already assured us victory belong to us because we are more than conquerors through him that love us, put some skin in the game, put some skin in the game, and you ought to put some skin in the game because god put skin in the game. He pet some skin in the game because look what the Bible says.”

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Skin In The Game! | Pastor Bartholomew Orr | 8am Worship Service