"Knowing the Story You’re In" - 5 p.m. The River Service

Rev. Billy Cerveny opens with a viral video that humorously illustrates how easy it is to misread a situation when we don’t know the real story we’re stepping into. He uses this as a doorway into Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians—reminding us that the Christian life is lived within a much larger, often unseen spiritual story. Billy unpacks how God’s “hidden wisdom,” decreed before the ages and revealed fully in the crucifixion of Jesus, was concealed even from the spiritual rulers and powers that opposed God. By tracing the storyline from Eden through Abraham to the cross, he shows how God outwitted the spiritual forces of darkness and how believers now stand in a victory they did not earn but have fully received through the Holy Spirit’s revelation.

The sermon encourages listeners to reject the “wisdom of the world”—the voices of power, control, pride, and self‑salvation—and instead embrace the upside‑down wisdom of God seen in the cross: strength through weakness, victory through surrender, meaning through being chosen and loved. In moments of suffering, confusion, or attack, Christians can stand calm and steady, knowing the true story they belong to and the God who holds the final word.