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Joshua Kehler: Looking at
Nehemiah and the mission of Jesus,

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Nehemiah and the mission of Jesus.

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And so Nehemiah chapter two, if you
guys ever need a Bible, please grab one.

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We have Bibles down here.

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We'd love to give you one.

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we go through scripture important
that we grow in our knowledge of

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the word of God, as his people.

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And, and make sure you guys have a
Bible that you can, follow along with.

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chapter two, it says, and it came
to pass in the month of Nisan in

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the 20th year of King Artaxerxes
when wine was before him that I took

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the wine and gave it to the king.

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Now I had never been sad
in his presence before.

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Therefore the king said to me, why is
your face sad since you are not sick?

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This is nothing but sorrow of heart.

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So I became dreadfully afraid.

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And I said to the king,
may the king live forever.

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Why should my face not be sad
when the city, the place of my

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father's tombs lies in waste and
its gates are burned with fire.

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Then the king said to
me, what do you request?

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So I prayed to the God of heaven and
I said to the king, if it pleases the

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king, and if your servant has found
favor in your sight, I ask that you

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send me to Judah, to the city of my
father's tombs, that I may rebuild it.

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And the king said to me, the
queen also sitting beside him,

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how long will your journey be?

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And when will you return?

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So it pleased the king to
send me and I set him a time.

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Furthermore, I said to the king, if I, if
it pleases the king let letters be given

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to me for the governors of the region
beyond the river that they must permit

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me to pass through till I come to Judah.

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And a letter to Asaph, the keeper
of the king's forest, that he must

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give me timber to make beams for the
gates of the citadel, which pertains

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to the temple, for the city wall,
and for the house that I will occupy.

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And the king granted them to me according
to the good hand of my God upon me.

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Then I went to the governors in
the region beyond the river, and

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gave them the king's letters.

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Now the king had sent captains of
the army and his horsemen with me.

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When Sambalat the Horonite and
Tobiah the Ammonite official heard

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of it, they were deeply disturbed
that a man had come to seek the well

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being of the children of Israel.

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Jesus, we thank you for
your word this morning.

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We thank you for salvation.

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We thank you, Lord, that we could
come together as a family and that

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we can worship and exalt your name.

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God, we praise you that you,
as, Mark prayed, you don't make

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us pay for salvation, Lord.

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you don't make us work for it.

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It is purely by your grace.

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We love you for that, God.

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Lord, we bask in that grace this morning.

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That God, religion, often says do, do,
do, and you say this morning to us, it's

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been done, it's been done, it's been done.

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I pray, Lord, that we would stand
in that finished work this morning.

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I pray, Lord, that as we see your beauty,
we would As we see your perfection, as

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we see your great love manifested in you
giving your life for us on the cross,

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that Lord, we would just be drawn to you.

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And in being drawn to you, we would
be brought alongside your mission.

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For Lord, you came to seek and save not
only those in this room, but those outside

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of this room, those in the cafe, those
driving down the street, those with homes

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across the street, those out into, the
uttermost parts of the city and then out

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into the uttermost parts of the world.

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So we thank you.

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We ask for your heart.

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We ask then for your action in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Often as we think of.

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Giants, and in reference to spiritual
things, there are giants that are more

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apparently giant like in our minds.

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We think of the reaper with his,
dark hood, his bony fingers and his

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sickle, the representative of death,
that great enemy of the human race.

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And we think in that form as
even the shadow, of that death

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can cause fear to well up.

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And that giant made obvious
that enemy making himself known

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to the hearts, of humanity.

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Yeah.

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We think about the giant of despair
and doubt who often comes with

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his club of philosophy and human
reasoning and understanding.

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He takes you to his dungeon and he
puts out your eyes that you would not

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focus on eternity but on the here and
now and he keeps you captive every

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time you go to get up on your feet.

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And he bashes you down again into
discouragement and despair and the

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giant in that castle that laughs
and rules that castle is well known

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as an enemy to the Saint of God.

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There is the other one that is
beautiful in appearance from a distance.

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Perfection of skin, perfection of
form, perfection in every single way.

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And they draws you by its beauty, but
as you gather close to this giant,

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you find it is but mere paper mache.

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It is only, an illusion and that beneath
is the rotting corpse of addiction.

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And so it seeks to draw you in by its
beauty to bait you in only to find the

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hooks that it sets into your flesh as
it holds you captive and in bondage

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and to the saint of God, that giant,
that enemy is very well visible.

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But there's a giant I want to speak
to you on this morning that is

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perhaps one of the greatest enemies
and is the great enemy of mission.

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When it comes to God's people, and
that is one who comes not with weapon

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or spear or sword, not with, fear
and intimidation, not with that

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unadulterated, heart shaking, deal, but
comes with gentle songs and gentle words.

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It comes on and reaches its hand
out as to offer friendship, it

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offers counsel, it offers to rest.

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It looks back on the past on how much
has been done, how much work has gone on

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for Christ and says, you must be tired,
you must be weary from your long journey.

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The trials must have been taking its toll,
it's time to rest, it's time to sleep.

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And on the hill difficulty, that
hill which the Christian is to

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journey and is to climb, there's that
arbor that offers peace and rest.

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And so this one sings his sweet song
and puts the Christian to sleep,

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until soon that Christian can get
to the place where it's impossible

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to wake him from his slumber.

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Amen.

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And this giant, the great enemy, an enemy
undiscovered by many a Christian and by

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many a saint is the giant of comfort, is
the giant of comfort to just rest, to just

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sit back, to just wait for someone else.

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To do it, to look into Pat ourselves
and to say, I have done a lot.

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I have been a part.

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I have put my time in.

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It's time for somebody else to do it.

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This giant would lead you
into, to do just enough.

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To go to the prayer meeting, to
offer the prayers and the requests

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to God, but then it would lull you to
sleep with the words that now as you

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have prayed, somebody else will do.

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And so the great enemy of mission
for us as Christians is that giant,

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that danger, that enemy of comfort.

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We find Nehemiah in chapter
1, the cupbearer of the king.

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Nehemiah was a slave taken
captive, by the Babylonians as the

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Babylonians overthrew Jerusalem.

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The story of Nehemiah happens about
450 years before the birth of Christ.

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And it's all about
going back to Jerusalem.

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Jerusalem had been torn down
in that day and age when an

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enemy would go into a city.

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they knew that the defenses
of that city were its walls.

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And so that even if they pulled the
people out or they had beaten and

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subdued the people, what would happen
is if there were the walls remain

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intact, another group would rise up
and they would have the same problem.

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And so they took stone upon
stone off of that wall.

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They destroyed the houses, they destroyed
the temple, that central location where

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God's people would gather to worship.

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And, the enemy had left it in ruins.

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He'd taken, the, best of the people
back to captivity to indoctrinate

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them in the culture so that
they would become Babylonians.

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Babylonian, soon after
was overthrown by Persia.

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Persia now on the scene
as the world power.

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God giving favor with those,
who were slaves in Persia.

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Esther being part of the story,
Ezra being part of the story,

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Daniel being part of the story.

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And, in that land, as they looked
to Jerusalem, as they longed to

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be back to the place where God had
told them to gather for worship.

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So here, we find Nehemiah is in a place.

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He hears about, what is,
Jerusalem's condition.

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many projects had started to get the
walls going, but they had stopped.

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The enemy would come in and stop them.

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In fact, it was, Artaxerxes
very own decree to stop the

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walls in Ezra's chapter four.

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He's the one, this king in
whom Nehemiah is serving.

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He's the one who said, stop it.

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What you're doing is wrong.

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And so he put forth this foreign policy
in place that they could not rebuild.

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And so here Nehemiah finds himself in the
palace of the king as his cupbearer, a

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cupbearer was somebody the king trusted.

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It was somebody, who was
constantly around the king.

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He would pour wine again from his vessel
into the cup, he would taste that wine

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to make sure it wasn't poisoned, and
then he would present it to the king.

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And so, Nehemiah found himself as one
of the captive, captives of Israel in

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a position that wasn't very captive
And Nehemiah found himself as one of

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the captive, captives of Israel in
a position that wasn't very captive

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He had the best from the table.

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He had the best to drink.

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He had, no problem worrying about
where he was going to sleep.

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He had no problem about power and
people coming to him for requests

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because he had the ear of the King.

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He was in a place of authority, but as he
heard about the walls, as he heard about

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the rubble, as he heard about Jerusalem
and it's horrible state, he began to weep.

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And in verse one of chapter two
and it came to pass in the month

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of Nisan, four months have gone on
and here is the Persian new year.

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But to Nehemiah, there's nothing new.

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There's nothing, new because he's
focused on what has happened.

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It's not old information, but he gets a
new heart and he gets the heart of God

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as he begins to cry out to God that God
would raise up somebody, that God would

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deliver his people, that God would deliver
them so that they could worship him once

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again, that his name would be great,
that he's zealous for the name of God.

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For far too long has the enemy blasphemed.

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Has he had to be in the courts
of this king to hear, and to hear

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this worship go on over this king.

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Because he was the king, he was
the emperor, he was the power, he

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was the god like man in Persia.

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And so the Persians would worship him
as such, and for him to sit by day after

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day to hear this worship to this man who
was but a man, to know in his heart that

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there is a God who saves, that there is
a God who loves, that there is a God of

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all power, glory, and grace, it broke
his heart, it broke his heart, but the

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story today that we find ourselves in
is that he did not just acquire the

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heart of God through prayer, But because
acquiring the heart of God, he acquired

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the legs, and the hands, and the feet,
and the mind, and the eyes of him as well.

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God longs to put his heart in
people who will be him, who will

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move out in mission for him.

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Jesus declared, As the Father
sent me to his disciples and to

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all disciples, so I send you.

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I'm sending you.

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As the Father sent me to be on mission.

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Because Jesus came on mission.

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Amen.

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What was Jesus's mission?

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It was not to come and just to see
what it's like from our perspective.

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It wasn't just to check out
his creation, zoomed in.

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But Jesus came for a purpose.

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He came, and even at the manger, Where
he was born and laid, there was a

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shadow of the cross that loomed over
even that fantastic, glorious scene.

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Jesus knew that he would
end up at the cross.

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He declared, No man takes my
life, but I give my life freely.

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On the cross, when he was there,
when it says that he declared as he

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became sin for us in that place, He
declared, Father, it is finished.

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It is finished.

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He came on mission.

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He came to complete.

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And so, as he completed his work on the
cross, he then sent us into the world

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to carry that message, that good news.

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That God has come to man.

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That God has provided a way.

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That God has made a way where
we can be right with Him.

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A way that we can have our
guilt removed and washed.

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That we can be put back
into the relationship we

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were originally created for.

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And long have we sought after things to
get us back to that original, intention.

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Because we all have this angst in
us, we all have this heart in us

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that desires something greater.

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And so we often try to fill it
with something and we say, this

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is the thing that will do it.

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This is the thing that will get me back.

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This is, and we put and we invest
everything into that only to

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find that it's dry, that it's
not fulfilling, that it's empty.

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And so we move on to something else
and we say, this will be right.

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If I just have this person in my life,
if I just have this relationship, if

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I just have this success, if I just do
this and we put everything into that and

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only to find that it comes far short.

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00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,790
Because there's only one who can restore
us back to that which we were created for.

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Often the lie is put forth that
God wants from you, that he wants

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00:15:36,110 --> 00:15:38,080
to take your joy and steal it.

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00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,160
Nothing could be further from the truth.

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He created you in complete pleasure.

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00:15:42,890 --> 00:15:45,010
He created you in complete joy.

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00:15:45,100 --> 00:15:51,430
He created you to experience complete and
utter satisfaction when we walk in the

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cool of the day in the garden by his side.

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00:15:54,840 --> 00:16:00,450
And so his process is not to give
us the law that we follow so that

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00:16:00,450 --> 00:16:05,030
he could show people this is what it
looks like to follow me, but is to

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00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:09,250
get us to see that law as a reflection
so that we see we can't do it.

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We need something greater.

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00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:12,260
And he says, I am the greater one.

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I am the greater sacrifice.

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00:16:13,970 --> 00:16:15,970
I am the one to which
everything pointed to.

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00:16:17,020 --> 00:16:21,120
I am the fulfillment, everything else
was shadows, and that when we take Him,

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what happens is He restores us and we
find that as we love Him, as we draw

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near to Him, we are doing exactly and are
in the place for what we were created.

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Complete joy, complete peace,
complete and utter satisfaction.

250
00:16:40,020 --> 00:16:44,310
Such is the case that we cannot
completely enjoy God's creation

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until that relationship is right.

252
00:16:47,710 --> 00:16:50,840
Nehemiah finds himself in the palace.

253
00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:56,520
He finds himself in the palace, but
notice that he doesn't just pray and

254
00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:58,450
say, God, raise up somebody to do it.

255
00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:04,750
God raise up somebody to do
it, but that he is ready to go.

256
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He says, therefore, the King
said to me, why is your face sad?

257
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Verse two, since you are not sick,
this is nothing but sorrow of heart.

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So I became dreadfully afraid.

259
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,980
The reason that Nehemiah became dreadfully
afraid is because when you're in the

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00:17:17,980 --> 00:17:20,160
presence of someone who's to be a God.

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00:17:20,505 --> 00:17:24,845
You are supposed to be happy
in that God like presence.

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00:17:25,175 --> 00:17:29,935
And so often, as was the case with
these, Eastern despots, these,

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00:17:29,985 --> 00:17:35,085
emperors, what would happen is that if
someone was sad or somebody made them

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00:17:35,085 --> 00:17:36,515
upset, they would put them to death.

265
00:17:37,615 --> 00:17:42,815
You even have the story of Esther,
who was his own wife, the queen.

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00:17:43,045 --> 00:17:46,395
And yet she feared to go before
him, for if he did not raise his

267
00:17:46,405 --> 00:17:51,335
scepter to allow her to approach,
then she would be put to death.

268
00:17:52,125 --> 00:17:54,675
So very fickle are these godlike kings.

269
00:17:55,230 --> 00:17:58,430
And, and so what happened
is you were always jubilant.

270
00:17:58,460 --> 00:17:59,600
You were always joyful.

271
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,080
You were always excited.

272
00:18:01,090 --> 00:18:04,930
You were always, ready to go and nothing,
no matter how bad the circumstance

273
00:18:04,940 --> 00:18:09,520
was, no matter how bad the news was,
you just, you did your job and, you

274
00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,190
were, you smiled, the whole time.

275
00:18:12,190 --> 00:18:14,330
And so he was afraid
because the King caught on.

276
00:18:14,470 --> 00:18:16,550
He could not contain it any longer.

277
00:18:16,620 --> 00:18:18,890
He could not hide his burden inside.

278
00:18:19,890 --> 00:18:28,530
Under a plastic countenance, he looked
and he heard of the rubble into him.

279
00:18:28,790 --> 00:18:34,730
You look and you say, why is he freaking
out about stones that are broken apart?

280
00:18:35,350 --> 00:18:39,330
Why is he freaking out about rubble,
about trash that has been gathered?

281
00:18:39,510 --> 00:18:42,670
Why is he freaking out
about such a physical thing?

282
00:18:42,670 --> 00:18:44,760
Because to him, it was
not a physical thing.

283
00:18:45,815 --> 00:18:49,525
It was the rubble that represented
the people's condition.

284
00:18:50,275 --> 00:18:54,355
They were in a place where there
was, the enemy had complete access to

285
00:18:54,355 --> 00:18:56,385
them, who could do what they wanted.

286
00:18:56,395 --> 00:18:59,795
They could come in any time, rob, and
take because there was no security.

287
00:19:00,645 --> 00:19:04,105
There was too much rubble in chapter
4, in fact, the workers crowd, there's

288
00:19:04,105 --> 00:19:05,895
too much rubble we can't build.

289
00:19:06,525 --> 00:19:08,085
They were discouraged.

290
00:19:09,365 --> 00:19:14,715
There was so much, because they had
not one who would say, this is a worthy

291
00:19:14,725 --> 00:19:16,565
project, let's begin, let's do it.

292
00:19:18,020 --> 00:19:19,250
They were discouraged.

293
00:19:19,970 --> 00:19:23,730
So Nehemiah hears about the rebel
and a beautiful picture in the

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00:19:23,730 --> 00:19:28,360
book of Nehemiah, as we look at its
historical context, this is an actual

295
00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,630
event historically that happened.

296
00:19:31,190 --> 00:19:37,670
Not only is the Bible true and accurate in
everything that it says, but there's extra

297
00:19:37,670 --> 00:19:43,540
biblical, archaeology that attests to the
fact of Nehemiah and this whole process.

298
00:19:43,905 --> 00:19:45,755
of the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

299
00:19:46,155 --> 00:19:51,095
So we look at its historical context first
and foremost, but we must not miss the

300
00:19:51,095 --> 00:19:53,775
spiritual picture that is painted for us.

301
00:19:54,025 --> 00:19:58,345
For Nehemiah did not do simply a
physical work, but as he rebuilt the

302
00:19:58,345 --> 00:20:00,195
walls, he was rebuilding a people.

303
00:20:00,835 --> 00:20:02,085
He was rebuilding a people.

304
00:20:02,735 --> 00:20:09,545
Nehemiah's name means comforter, which
is the name given for the Holy Spirit.

305
00:20:10,380 --> 00:20:13,320
Given for the Holy Spirit
in Ephesians 2 19 to 22.

306
00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,620
It says now therefore you are no
longer strangers and foreigners

307
00:20:16,620 --> 00:20:18,370
He's talking to a church.

308
00:20:19,940 --> 00:20:24,565
So I know some of us we feel like
strangers maybe a little bit We wonder

309
00:20:24,565 --> 00:20:29,815
what our bond is, but he declares, but
we are fellow citizens with the saints

310
00:20:29,835 --> 00:20:32,535
and members of the household of God.

311
00:20:32,915 --> 00:20:37,545
Having been built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus

312
00:20:37,545 --> 00:20:41,365
Christ himself being the chief
cornerstone in whom the whole building

313
00:20:41,375 --> 00:20:46,555
being fitted together grows into a
holy temple in the Lord in whom you

314
00:20:46,555 --> 00:20:51,325
also are being built together for a
dwelling place of God in the spirit.

315
00:20:52,115 --> 00:20:53,655
That's an amazing passage.

316
00:20:54,215 --> 00:20:59,055
That passage says that God takes the
church, and the church is like a stone.

317
00:20:59,365 --> 00:21:02,925
We make our foundation upon Christ.

318
00:21:02,985 --> 00:21:04,895
Christ being the chief cornerstone.

319
00:21:05,125 --> 00:21:08,045
And what happens in a church
is God brings his power.

320
00:21:08,060 --> 00:21:13,330
people together so that as his people come
together, as he fits these bricks of all

321
00:21:13,330 --> 00:21:17,400
different walks of life, all different
shapes and sizes, all different cultures

322
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:23,170
and backgrounds, what begins to happen
is God fashions for himself a house that

323
00:21:23,170 --> 00:21:25,690
he can dwell in, that he can dwell in.

324
00:21:26,655 --> 00:21:28,735
Because God loves to be
where his people are.

325
00:21:30,595 --> 00:21:33,805
And so, he brings us together.

326
00:21:34,115 --> 00:21:40,005
And so, there is constantly throughout
scripture, in Jude 120, but you beloved,

327
00:21:40,015 --> 00:21:44,735
building yourselves up on your most
holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

328
00:21:44,995 --> 00:21:47,275
keep yourselves in the love of God.

329
00:21:47,770 --> 00:21:53,470
There's constantly, in scripture, building
going on, building that's happening as

330
00:21:53,490 --> 00:21:56,300
God the Holy Spirit builds into our lives.

331
00:21:56,470 --> 00:22:01,780
As God the Holy Spirit looks out at
this city and he sees rubble, he sees

332
00:22:01,780 --> 00:22:05,490
a people broken down and is there,
are they not a people broken down?

333
00:22:05,490 --> 00:22:08,460
Does rubble not properly
represent this city?

334
00:22:08,900 --> 00:22:13,360
But God looks and he can look at the
rubble and he can see the completed work.

335
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,330
He can look at it and he can go, this
will be a fortified wall one day.

336
00:22:17,340 --> 00:22:17,380
Amen.

337
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,230
This will be a new person.

338
00:22:20,350 --> 00:22:22,170
This will be a new city.

339
00:22:22,740 --> 00:22:29,070
And so, he works at that building
process and he works at building lives.

340
00:22:29,070 --> 00:22:30,240
That's what God is into.

341
00:22:30,250 --> 00:22:34,400
That's what God does is he takes that
which the world says is worthless.

342
00:22:34,620 --> 00:22:39,320
And he uses that as a jewels,
for his glorious grace.

343
00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:40,700
It's like taking coal.

344
00:22:41,050 --> 00:22:42,650
The world would say, what is coal?

345
00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:47,560
But as he squeezes it in his palm,
in his nail scarred palms, as he

346
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:54,360
presses it lovingly, he brings forth
jewels to be a testimony of his grace.

347
00:22:54,890 --> 00:22:57,030
To what he can do in a life.

348
00:22:58,260 --> 00:23:02,830
And so there's rubble in the city
and there's rubble in the church

349
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,280
and God longs to build us up.

350
00:23:05,530 --> 00:23:09,690
God does not want us to have the
enemy to have access any longer.

351
00:23:10,690 --> 00:23:15,660
God doesn't want us to remain in bondage
because he's already set us free.

352
00:23:16,660 --> 00:23:18,580
And so the Lord longs to build.

353
00:23:19,580 --> 00:23:24,180
We get a picture in Jeremiah of
that building, unique, because I

354
00:23:24,180 --> 00:23:26,920
love the picture in Jeremiah because
it's not simply of a man with a

355
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:32,050
hammer pounding out, getting things
into shape, but it's that of a

356
00:23:32,050 --> 00:23:33,840
potter with his hands on a vessel.

357
00:23:35,530 --> 00:23:41,360
And so God is so intimately wanting
to build into our lives, like that

358
00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:44,860
potter, and you've seen potters
perhaps, and what they do is they

359
00:23:44,860 --> 00:23:47,000
take that clay, and what is that clay?

360
00:23:47,945 --> 00:23:53,575
The clay is something that is, is
unshaped, it's a form of dirt, it's earth.

361
00:23:54,555 --> 00:23:58,995
And what does the potter do is
he sees something in that, and

362
00:23:58,995 --> 00:24:01,035
yet the clay cannot make itself.

363
00:24:01,455 --> 00:24:04,505
The clay can't rise up and turn
itself into its own vessel.

364
00:24:04,585 --> 00:24:08,485
How foolish would that be for the clay
to say, let me at it, let me do it.

365
00:24:09,135 --> 00:24:13,315
But what happens is the clay
submits and surrenders to the palms

366
00:24:13,455 --> 00:24:15,505
and the pressure of the potter.

367
00:24:15,655 --> 00:24:19,285
And as that potter shapes it and
molds it and makes it and builds it

368
00:24:19,285 --> 00:24:21,385
up, he digs his hand inside of it.

369
00:24:21,535 --> 00:24:24,815
It takes out that which isn't
useful to him to make that

370
00:24:24,815 --> 00:24:26,475
which can be useful to him.

371
00:24:27,405 --> 00:24:30,105
And such are some of us that
earthen vessel, we have that

372
00:24:30,105 --> 00:24:31,915
treasure in earthen vessels.

373
00:24:32,915 --> 00:24:34,575
And he longs to shape our lives.

374
00:24:34,695 --> 00:24:37,235
He longs to rebuild that rubble.

375
00:24:37,955 --> 00:24:40,025
And often what is that
rubble in our lives?

376
00:24:41,025 --> 00:24:44,545
Sometimes we look and we go, the rubble
is obviously the sin we fall into.

377
00:24:45,545 --> 00:24:47,505
For honest in here, we fall into sin.

378
00:24:48,005 --> 00:24:48,515
I do.

379
00:24:49,755 --> 00:24:52,535
And some of us, we
struggle so deeply in it.

380
00:24:53,535 --> 00:24:56,715
Have you ever had the thought, if
I can just get over this, I would

381
00:24:56,725 --> 00:24:58,655
be almost a perfect Christian.

382
00:24:59,655 --> 00:25:03,845
Only to find as you get over it,
there's ten more things revealed.

383
00:25:04,845 --> 00:25:07,755
But here we are, we
struggle, and there's rubble.

384
00:25:07,755 --> 00:25:11,395
But there's more rubble, there's more
gates that have been burned down than

385
00:25:11,395 --> 00:25:14,085
simply the things that are apparent to us.

386
00:25:15,875 --> 00:25:20,625
And those are the things of self
religion, that idea that we can, because

387
00:25:20,635 --> 00:25:24,785
God has saved us, that idea that now
we can keep ourselves or that we can

388
00:25:24,835 --> 00:25:27,195
earn more from God by how we behave.

389
00:25:27,935 --> 00:25:31,935
So often we look to a church to
give us some moral checklist, to

390
00:25:31,935 --> 00:25:35,125
give us some behavioral checklist
and say, don't do this, don't do

391
00:25:35,135 --> 00:25:36,635
this, don't do this, don't do this.

392
00:25:37,475 --> 00:25:42,005
And where the word of God speaks
clearly to issues regarding sin.

393
00:25:42,225 --> 00:25:46,965
So many times the church feels that
need in people and in these areas

394
00:25:46,985 --> 00:25:48,315
which the Bible does not speak.

395
00:25:48,355 --> 00:25:52,115
They speak loudly on, and they
say, you can't do this if you're

396
00:25:52,115 --> 00:25:53,855
a Christian, you can't do this if
you're a Christian, you can't do.

397
00:25:54,055 --> 00:25:58,085
And it becomes this thing that we take
and we say, okay, this is what I'll take

398
00:25:58,085 --> 00:26:02,575
as a means to earn more love from God, to
earn respect from God, to pay God back.

399
00:26:04,010 --> 00:26:08,340
And we fall into the rubble of
self salvation to think that we can

400
00:26:08,340 --> 00:26:11,600
keep ourselves, that we can make
ourselves any better, instead of

401
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:16,060
simply standing into what God has
done for us and loving Him for it.

402
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:20,390
And then God the potter puts His hand to
us and begins to change us and shape us.

403
00:26:21,315 --> 00:26:26,085
But the clay to be shaped and
changed must be near to the

404
00:26:26,085 --> 00:26:28,485
hand of the one who forms them.

405
00:26:30,425 --> 00:26:35,105
And the danger about falling
into the rubble of religion

406
00:26:36,055 --> 00:26:38,125
is that we run away from him.

407
00:26:39,125 --> 00:26:42,765
And we look for things to shape
us, and they only destroy us.

408
00:26:43,655 --> 00:26:47,015
And finally we run back as a
marred vessel, but he does not

409
00:26:47,015 --> 00:26:48,995
cast us away as Jeremiah says.

410
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,630
But he begins that work
anew in us, restoring.

411
00:26:54,440 --> 00:27:00,770
And so Jeremiah, or Nehemiah the
rebel, his, is bad and he tells

412
00:27:00,770 --> 00:27:02,670
him, as he's of dreadfully afraid.

413
00:27:02,670 --> 00:27:05,120
He says to the king in verse
three, may the king live forever.

414
00:27:05,370 --> 00:27:06,775
Why should my face not be sad?

415
00:27:07,775 --> 00:27:13,845
You say you're sad and he says,
but why should I not be sad?

416
00:27:14,695 --> 00:27:15,855
Don't you know what's happening?

417
00:27:15,865 --> 00:27:18,955
He says, why should my face not be
sad when the city, the place of my

418
00:27:18,955 --> 00:27:22,735
father's tombs lies in waste and
its gates are burned with fire?

419
00:27:22,885 --> 00:27:25,155
And so he tells them
all that's in his heart.

420
00:27:25,975 --> 00:27:31,425
He says, I, the burden is so great
for me, the burden for this city, the

421
00:27:31,425 --> 00:27:36,865
burden for Jerusalem is so great that
I can't not, I don't fear death as much

422
00:27:36,995 --> 00:27:39,495
as I not fear seeing something happen.

423
00:27:40,875 --> 00:27:47,295
I don't care so much about what you can
do to me, what I care about more is that

424
00:27:47,305 --> 00:27:49,515
city and the people who dwell there.

425
00:27:50,230 --> 00:27:53,600
And what begins to happen in Nehemiah
through that process of months of

426
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,940
praying and fasting before God,
of getting God's heart, it doesn't

427
00:27:57,940 --> 00:27:59,690
become about Nehemiah anymore.

428
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:01,710
It comes about other people.

429
00:28:02,710 --> 00:28:05,640
All that we could have a
vision for other people.

430
00:28:06,510 --> 00:28:10,280
How much of our despair, how much
of our depression, how much of our,

431
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:15,790
that which keeps us back is because
we look so much at ourselves.

432
00:28:16,940 --> 00:28:18,320
We look at our flaws.

433
00:28:18,540 --> 00:28:19,960
There's gonna be flaws.

434
00:28:20,700 --> 00:28:22,210
We look at our failings.

435
00:28:22,300 --> 00:28:24,990
You're gonna fail, but we sit there.

436
00:28:24,990 --> 00:28:25,830
We camp there.

437
00:28:25,830 --> 00:28:26,700
We root there.

438
00:28:26,910 --> 00:28:31,840
We build a house there
and slowly we die there.

439
00:28:32,610 --> 00:28:36,420
As we look at ourselves, we're consumed
with ourselves and we're consumed.

440
00:28:36,530 --> 00:28:38,440
Oh, I can't, I, how could God use me?

441
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:39,900
How could God do anything with me?

442
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:41,480
God's already done it.

443
00:28:41,490 --> 00:28:42,690
He's done it through Jesus.

444
00:28:42,770 --> 00:28:43,880
He agrees with you.

445
00:28:43,890 --> 00:28:44,570
You can't.

446
00:28:44,770 --> 00:28:46,510
So he sent his son to do it.

447
00:28:47,205 --> 00:28:50,855
And so as you accept him, he
says, don't focus so much on that.

448
00:28:51,035 --> 00:28:53,315
Stand in my grace and move forward.

449
00:28:53,645 --> 00:28:57,835
Lay the old things behind, become
that new creation in Christ.

450
00:28:58,785 --> 00:28:59,775
So important.

451
00:29:00,165 --> 00:29:04,485
And so Nehemiah begins to get
that heart for other people,

452
00:29:04,595 --> 00:29:06,475
even at the risk to himself.

453
00:29:06,475 --> 00:29:09,245
In verse four, the king said
to me, what do you request?

454
00:29:09,245 --> 00:29:10,565
So I prayed to the God of heaven.

455
00:29:11,565 --> 00:29:16,205
It wasn't a long prayer, it wasn't,
the, Dear Lord in heaven, as I've seen

456
00:29:16,205 --> 00:29:19,725
somebody do in a restaurant, have you
ever been with somebody and you're like,

457
00:29:19,725 --> 00:29:21,045
Hey, who wants to pray for the food?

458
00:29:21,045 --> 00:29:23,935
And they're like, I will, Oh great.

459
00:29:24,875 --> 00:29:26,665
I can tell something's going to happen.

460
00:29:27,435 --> 00:29:30,995
and it's like their one opportunity
to really witness or to show you that

461
00:29:30,995 --> 00:29:32,685
they're not ashamed of the gospel.

462
00:29:33,355 --> 00:29:37,345
They're like, Lord, these
sinners over here and over here.

463
00:29:38,245 --> 00:29:42,955
And it's crazy, you're like,
oh, I think I'm going to go

464
00:29:42,955 --> 00:29:44,315
join the sinners over here.

465
00:29:45,315 --> 00:29:50,945
But it wasn't this, this long kind
of prayer, he had to answer the king.

466
00:29:50,945 --> 00:29:52,095
The king asked him a question.

467
00:29:52,675 --> 00:29:56,985
But what we see here is a beautiful
picture of a continual prayer life.

468
00:29:56,985 --> 00:29:58,825
Ephesians says, pray without ceasing.

469
00:29:59,475 --> 00:30:02,035
That does not mean while you're
driving your eyes are closed.

470
00:30:03,035 --> 00:30:04,175
I've been with those people too.

471
00:30:05,225 --> 00:30:10,175
but it means that you are in such
constant communion in nearness in your

472
00:30:10,185 --> 00:30:15,355
heart to the King of Kings as that
it would be as if you're conversing.

473
00:30:16,565 --> 00:30:18,215
I learned this from my dad.

474
00:30:18,225 --> 00:30:20,515
It was one of the great
lessons in my life.

475
00:30:21,735 --> 00:30:22,995
my dad prays about everything.

476
00:30:24,445 --> 00:30:26,045
And when I say everything,
I mean everything.

477
00:30:27,315 --> 00:30:30,985
but it's not these, he prays
long when it's the right time.

478
00:30:31,075 --> 00:30:33,445
He prays often just.

479
00:30:34,125 --> 00:30:36,695
I remember getting up in the morning,
and the thing I would find is my

480
00:30:36,695 --> 00:30:41,090
dad with his Bible, just, he always
crossed his legs like this, and, and

481
00:30:41,090 --> 00:30:42,530
just praying and seeking the Lord.

482
00:30:43,340 --> 00:30:46,990
And, but man, we'd get into
the car, and we'd pray.

483
00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:49,320
God, be with us.

484
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:51,590
Protect us.

485
00:30:52,030 --> 00:30:55,390
We'd pull up at, Target, and we'd pray.

486
00:30:55,420 --> 00:30:58,550
God, help us be mindful
that we're Christians first.

487
00:30:59,065 --> 00:31:02,985
Bind the strong man, don't lead us
into temptation in this place, let us

488
00:31:02,985 --> 00:31:05,185
be about your business, and we'd go.

489
00:31:05,845 --> 00:31:06,505
Everything.

490
00:31:07,035 --> 00:31:10,035
My friends, going over to my friend's
house growing up, my friends were like,

491
00:31:10,035 --> 00:31:11,365
hey, come over to our house today.

492
00:31:11,545 --> 00:31:13,115
My dad would be like, let's pray about it.

493
00:31:14,115 --> 00:31:17,555
And my friends used to make
such fun of me, they'd, man,

494
00:31:17,565 --> 00:31:19,055
he prays about everything.

495
00:31:19,215 --> 00:31:20,165
Yeah, he's a Christian.

496
00:31:20,165 --> 00:31:21,285
What do you think about that?

497
00:31:21,485 --> 00:31:23,805
Pretty crazy that a Christian would pray!

498
00:31:23,805 --> 00:31:24,190
Oh!

499
00:31:25,180 --> 00:31:26,560
What a bunch of wackos!

500
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:28,480
Oh man.

501
00:31:29,580 --> 00:31:35,070
but there's this sense of this, it's
like, inhaling and exhaling prayer.

502
00:31:36,780 --> 00:31:42,060
And I think one of the most important
things it's funny, when you go on a

503
00:31:42,060 --> 00:31:44,190
missions trip, I dunno, how many of
you have been on a missions trip?

504
00:31:44,190 --> 00:31:45,300
Short term, long term.

505
00:31:45,650 --> 00:31:50,260
When you go on a missions trip, you
gear up to go on a missions trip.

506
00:31:51,710 --> 00:31:55,640
You're praying beforehand, you're
studying the culture, you're

507
00:31:55,645 --> 00:31:57,350
trying to learn the language.

508
00:31:57,470 --> 00:32:00,170
You're going over the Romans
road backwards and forwards

509
00:32:00,170 --> 00:32:01,520
until you know it by heart.

510
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:05,980
you've got, you're building 50 million
of those colored bracelets, and, and

511
00:32:05,985 --> 00:32:07,485
you're prepared and you go in and.

512
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:09,530
And when you go in, what happens?

513
00:32:10,910 --> 00:32:13,410
The car breaks down,
right after the border.

514
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:14,030
What happens?

515
00:32:14,150 --> 00:32:16,850
What, you're on the train,
people are like, We gotta pray!

516
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:19,360
And so prayer is made to God.

517
00:32:20,030 --> 00:32:20,650
What happens?

518
00:32:20,710 --> 00:32:23,350
Somebody comes and talks and
says, What are you here for?

519
00:32:23,460 --> 00:32:25,650
A group gets together and
goes, We need to pray!

520
00:32:25,870 --> 00:32:27,150
And so prayer is made to God.

521
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,210
And this happens over here, We need to
pray, and all of a sudden you find, Why?

522
00:32:32,220 --> 00:32:34,720
Because in your mind you are on mission!

523
00:32:36,285 --> 00:32:37,985
You are on mission.

524
00:32:38,485 --> 00:32:42,115
And so all my dad was doing is
carrying that same mentality we

525
00:32:42,115 --> 00:32:46,465
would take in a short term missions
trip and applying it to daily life.

526
00:32:47,465 --> 00:32:51,405
That everywhere we walk, God, I'm
going into work today, but I know

527
00:32:51,595 --> 00:32:52,875
that you've allowed me to work here.

528
00:32:52,875 --> 00:32:56,625
I know you've given me skills and
gifts so that I can glorify your

529
00:32:56,625 --> 00:33:01,275
name working here, but ultimately I'm
about your business in this place.

530
00:33:02,205 --> 00:33:04,335
Give me opportunity if
you want me to speak.

531
00:33:05,205 --> 00:33:09,455
I do not mean we just go in
and we, track bomb the place.

532
00:33:10,455 --> 00:33:11,295
Please don't.

533
00:33:12,295 --> 00:33:15,815
I don't mean that we go in and that's
one thing that's apparent with Nehemiah

534
00:33:15,985 --> 00:33:18,075
and why the king grants his request.

535
00:33:18,075 --> 00:33:20,385
One of the reasons it's the
good hand of God upon him.

536
00:33:20,565 --> 00:33:23,285
But the reason that he even
listens to Nehemiah is because

537
00:33:23,295 --> 00:33:24,825
Nehemiah was a hard worker.

538
00:33:25,825 --> 00:33:29,355
It's not going in and just being
brazen and just being like, I'm taking

539
00:33:29,355 --> 00:33:33,845
an extra 15 minutes today on break
because I'm going to pray, the boss is

540
00:33:33,855 --> 00:33:35,365
like, what do you're fired, a thing.

541
00:33:36,645 --> 00:33:37,845
Oh, the persecution.

542
00:33:38,845 --> 00:33:40,045
Maybe you should work

543
00:33:41,045 --> 00:33:42,245
and wait for those opportunities.

544
00:33:42,485 --> 00:33:45,105
Opportunities come when
you're missionally minded.

545
00:33:45,885 --> 00:33:47,365
I'm Irving at Home Depot.

546
00:33:48,915 --> 00:33:49,805
We're doing a remodel.

547
00:33:49,825 --> 00:33:51,765
I used to be an electrician
and I remember this guy.

548
00:33:52,765 --> 00:33:55,795
He comes in and he's I love good news.

549
00:33:56,555 --> 00:33:57,385
He's I love good news.

550
00:33:57,505 --> 00:33:58,555
Any good news.

551
00:33:59,695 --> 00:34:01,665
It could be any good news
on the face of this earth.

552
00:34:01,755 --> 00:34:02,525
I just love it.

553
00:34:03,395 --> 00:34:05,555
He's do you have good news to this guy?

554
00:34:05,585 --> 00:34:07,475
and the guy's and everything
he's and he turned.

555
00:34:07,805 --> 00:34:09,135
He's do you have good news?

556
00:34:10,405 --> 00:34:15,885
that's what typically people call an
opportunity can drive a truck through.

557
00:34:16,885 --> 00:34:19,875
But one of the things we need
to do is we need to be a people

558
00:34:19,875 --> 00:34:24,135
of prayer, but not just at the
prayer meetings, but all the time.

559
00:34:25,565 --> 00:34:28,415
Hey, how about like when
we go to use the restroom?

560
00:34:28,925 --> 00:34:30,225
Lord, I'm going into the cafe.

561
00:34:30,435 --> 00:34:35,215
Let me, to these cafe workers,
just have your countenance.

562
00:34:36,185 --> 00:34:39,364
And so then we're mindful that
there's unbelievers working out there.

563
00:34:39,945 --> 00:34:45,034
And then we're mindful of, of our attitude
and we're mindful of how, how we appear.

564
00:34:46,514 --> 00:34:49,915
And so Nehemiah, he throws, up the
prayer and he just asked the Lord.

565
00:34:49,915 --> 00:34:51,205
He just like breathing.

566
00:34:51,205 --> 00:34:52,335
He just prays to the Lord.

567
00:34:52,335 --> 00:34:52,985
It doesn't record.

568
00:34:52,985 --> 00:34:53,645
It was short.

569
00:34:53,895 --> 00:34:55,525
And he said, okay, Lord, here we go.

570
00:34:55,844 --> 00:35:00,085
Now the thing about Nehemiah is that
Nehemiah hadn't simply prayed, but that

571
00:35:00,085 --> 00:35:02,295
through prayer was revealed a plan.

572
00:35:03,295 --> 00:35:08,315
And often I think we, we pray and just
hope that something happens, but Nehemiah

573
00:35:08,315 --> 00:35:14,495
prayed and he began to knock and he began
to seek on, the Lord's heart for things.

574
00:35:14,515 --> 00:35:18,925
Luke one, Luke 11, nine, the whole
context of this chapter is prayer.

575
00:35:19,185 --> 00:35:23,255
He says, so I say to you, ask and it will
be given to you, seek and you will find.

576
00:35:24,140 --> 00:35:26,250
Knock, and it will be open to you.

577
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:31,640
Notice that there's one passive thing
and two active things in that passage.

578
00:35:32,030 --> 00:35:36,480
There's asking, which is passive, but
then there's seeking, which is active, and

579
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,040
then there's knocking, which is active.

580
00:35:38,895 --> 00:35:42,145
And so the Lord would have us
be so emboldened by our prayers

581
00:35:42,145 --> 00:35:43,205
that He is great and awesome.

582
00:35:43,205 --> 00:35:46,375
Because one of the great things about
prayer is that it takes our eyes

583
00:35:46,375 --> 00:35:50,015
off the smallness of ourselves and
our abilities and our circumstances.

584
00:35:50,235 --> 00:35:52,835
It puts them on the greatness
of God and who He is.

585
00:35:53,155 --> 00:35:54,555
How wonderful His love is.

586
00:35:54,725 --> 00:35:57,755
It puts us right back on
mission because He came to seek

587
00:35:57,755 --> 00:35:59,255
and save that which was lost.

588
00:35:59,465 --> 00:36:01,105
That He is willing that
none should perish.

589
00:36:01,255 --> 00:36:03,115
And so we gain a boldness from that.

590
00:36:03,390 --> 00:36:05,280
And so then we begin
to try things for him.

591
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:08,360
We begin to go and we begin to say,
Lord, is this where you're leading?

592
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:09,500
Is this where you're moving?

593
00:36:09,700 --> 00:36:10,710
Then we begin to do it.

594
00:36:10,790 --> 00:36:15,680
What's amazing is that Nehemiah had
so in prayer had a plan put together

595
00:36:15,950 --> 00:36:20,330
that he even knows the name of the guy
who he's gonna get the lumber from.

596
00:36:21,580 --> 00:36:25,850
Asaph, he's yeah, so I need a letter here,
I need a letter here, I need a house here.

597
00:36:26,050 --> 00:36:30,940
and what's amazing about this in his
boldness that came from being near

598
00:36:30,940 --> 00:36:34,870
to God, as he gets God's heart, he's
not considering himself anymore.

599
00:36:35,070 --> 00:36:38,520
Comfort has died to him as
he's looking to give that up.

600
00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,370
He is bold and he's going to go
after, in essence, he is a slave

601
00:36:42,510 --> 00:36:46,660
who rolls up to the emperor, the
world ruling power at that time.

602
00:36:46,830 --> 00:36:48,520
And he rolls up to him and he goes, Hey.

603
00:36:48,695 --> 00:36:50,675
King, I don't really
like your foreign policy.

604
00:36:51,615 --> 00:36:54,425
You know that foreign policy where
you said we couldn't build, Jerusalem?

605
00:36:54,645 --> 00:36:56,715
Yeah, can you reverse that?

606
00:36:58,445 --> 00:36:59,395
That was a bad call.

607
00:37:00,835 --> 00:37:03,335
And not only that, but can you
appoint me as the governor?

608
00:37:03,575 --> 00:37:05,945
I know I'm, I know I'm a cup
bearer right here, but why don't

609
00:37:05,945 --> 00:37:06,885
you put me as the governor?

610
00:37:07,125 --> 00:37:09,755
Not only that, why don't you build
me a house because there's gonna be a

611
00:37:09,755 --> 00:37:11,315
lot of people gathering at my table.

612
00:37:11,465 --> 00:37:12,235
I'm gonna need that.

613
00:37:12,375 --> 00:37:15,245
I'm gonna need letters that
let's everybody know I'm the guy.

614
00:37:15,370 --> 00:37:21,180
not only that, I'm gonna need your
own resources, King, to build a place

615
00:37:21,180 --> 00:37:24,370
for worship for the people of Israel.

616
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:27,870
To rebuild the walls, the very
thing you said, you, to stop, I

617
00:37:27,870 --> 00:37:29,660
need your very resources to do it.

618
00:37:30,390 --> 00:37:34,120
Not only that, when the King asks him,
how long will you be gone, we find out

619
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,400
in chapter 5, I'll be gone for 12 years.

620
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:39,070
He's bold.

621
00:37:40,070 --> 00:37:40,420
Why?

622
00:37:41,420 --> 00:37:43,340
Because he was zealous
for the name of God.

623
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:48,840
It was not to put him in a place where
he could rule, but he was zealous to

624
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:51,090
see God's people restored in worship.

625
00:37:51,250 --> 00:37:56,030
He was zealous that something that was
broken down, messed up, that something

626
00:37:56,130 --> 00:38:01,310
that was used by the enemy to be that
platform, that spectacle that the

627
00:38:01,310 --> 00:38:03,120
enemy would shout from every direction.

628
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:04,850
Look at the God of Israel.

629
00:38:05,100 --> 00:38:06,260
Look at the God of Israel.

630
00:38:06,260 --> 00:38:08,250
Look at the people fallen and failed.

631
00:38:08,450 --> 00:38:10,400
Look at our gods are stronger.

632
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:12,460
He was zealous that not one.

633
00:38:12,775 --> 00:38:17,785
More breath from the enemy would come
that once again God would rule and reign

634
00:38:17,785 --> 00:38:21,375
in that place that his people would
come together once again And they would

635
00:38:21,385 --> 00:38:26,465
begin to sing boldly the praises of the
king of kings that salvation would be

636
00:38:26,475 --> 00:38:33,435
brought to the land Once again, He was
bold because he loved and adored his God.

637
00:38:34,125 --> 00:38:38,955
And so you notice in, in verse 4, or verse
5, he says, And I said to the king, if

638
00:38:38,955 --> 00:38:42,935
it pleases the king, and if your servant
has found favor in your sight, that I ask

639
00:38:42,935 --> 00:38:46,115
you to send me to Judah, to the city of
my father's tombs, that I may rebuild it.

640
00:38:46,115 --> 00:38:49,705
And the king said to me, the
queen also sitting beside him,

641
00:38:50,660 --> 00:38:52,140
How long will your journey be?

642
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:55,950
And again, we find out in, in
chapter five, how long that is.

643
00:38:55,950 --> 00:38:57,680
I think verse 14 of chapter five.

644
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:00,560
So it pleased the King to
send me and I sent him a time.

645
00:39:00,900 --> 00:39:04,540
Furthermore, I said to the King, if it
pleases the King, let letters be given

646
00:39:04,540 --> 00:39:07,730
to me for the governors of the region
beyond the river, that they may permit

647
00:39:07,730 --> 00:39:09,700
me to pass through till I come to Judah.

648
00:39:10,210 --> 00:39:15,150
And a letter to Asaph, the keeper
of the king's forest, that he must

649
00:39:15,170 --> 00:39:18,540
give me timber to make beams for the
gates of the citadel, which pertains

650
00:39:18,540 --> 00:39:22,290
to the temple, for the city wall,
for the house that I will occupy, and

651
00:39:22,290 --> 00:39:27,160
the king granted them to me according
to the good hand of my God upon me.

652
00:39:27,990 --> 00:39:30,370
Ultimately, God is sovereign.

653
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,760
Proverbs says that the king's heart is
like rivers of water in the hand of God.

654
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:37,970
But Nehemiah stepped out.

655
00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:41,490
Nehemiah stepped into God's mission.

656
00:39:42,425 --> 00:39:47,045
Nehemiah counted his life not dear
to himself, but that the lives of a

657
00:39:47,045 --> 00:39:49,735
ruined people were much more important.

658
00:39:50,875 --> 00:39:57,135
He put himself at risk, and
he took the sling in his hand.

659
00:39:58,305 --> 00:40:04,005
He spun it, and with God's
strength, he slayed the giant of

660
00:40:04,005 --> 00:40:07,185
comfort, the giant of comfort.

661
00:40:08,185 --> 00:40:11,095
He says in verse nine, Then I went to
the governors in the region beyond the

662
00:40:11,095 --> 00:40:12,785
river and gave them the king's letters.

663
00:40:12,795 --> 00:40:15,955
Now the king had set captains of
the army and the horsemen with me.

664
00:40:16,795 --> 00:40:20,475
So not only had God given him favor,
but the king wanted to make sure

665
00:40:20,475 --> 00:40:22,185
that this mission was accomplished.

666
00:40:22,185 --> 00:40:23,165
His name was on it.

667
00:40:23,795 --> 00:40:27,335
So in Sambalite, the Horonite and Tobiah,
the Ammonite official heard of it.

668
00:40:27,345 --> 00:40:31,005
They were deeply disturbed that a
man had come to seek the wellbeing

669
00:40:31,005 --> 00:40:32,205
of the children of Israel.

670
00:40:32,625 --> 00:40:37,375
Now, these are the characters in the story
of Nehemiah Sambalot, he was a governor.

671
00:40:37,435 --> 00:40:41,025
You remember Persia, the way they
ruled was they had many satraps

672
00:40:41,025 --> 00:40:42,735
or governors, regional governors.

673
00:40:43,155 --> 00:40:45,815
So here was the governor of this region.

674
00:40:45,885 --> 00:40:47,305
He was a governor of Samaria.

675
00:40:47,725 --> 00:40:51,735
And what happened is now
this Nehemiah is coming in.

676
00:40:51,975 --> 00:40:54,115
It's going to overthrow his authority.

677
00:40:54,115 --> 00:40:55,795
It's going to overthrow his rule.

678
00:40:55,965 --> 00:40:59,005
It's going to overthrow his dominion.

679
00:40:59,745 --> 00:41:00,785
And what happens?

680
00:41:01,785 --> 00:41:05,615
He says at the end of verse 10,
they were deeply disturbed that

681
00:41:05,615 --> 00:41:10,295
a man had come to seek the well
being of the children of Israel.

682
00:41:11,295 --> 00:41:14,885
When I think about the city of
Stockton, and I think as we have

683
00:41:14,885 --> 00:41:19,395
labored in prayer for years before
this church was even planted, God, what

684
00:41:19,395 --> 00:41:21,635
is our expression in this city to be?

685
00:41:22,345 --> 00:41:23,495
What is it to look like?

686
00:41:24,005 --> 00:41:29,200
And it is not, I promise you, when
he said that we're to plant churches

687
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:31,450
all over the city that is not a fad.

688
00:41:31,670 --> 00:41:34,880
That is not a new thing going
around that is not just, a

689
00:41:35,140 --> 00:41:37,020
common fancy or a good idea.

690
00:41:37,020 --> 00:41:37,960
Hey, we should do this.

691
00:41:38,170 --> 00:41:41,570
That is something that God has
revealed to our hearts that.

692
00:41:41,860 --> 00:41:45,260
This church reality is supposed
to be that we are supposed to

693
00:41:45,270 --> 00:41:46,570
be a church planting church.

694
00:41:46,620 --> 00:41:47,230
Why?

695
00:41:48,140 --> 00:41:52,440
The reason that we are to plant churches
in the city of Stockton is for many

696
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:57,530
reasons, but one of them being that
often we expect people to come to us

697
00:41:58,300 --> 00:42:01,000
and the city's big, 350, 000 people.

698
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:05,220
And in the great
commission, Jesus said, go.

699
00:42:06,100 --> 00:42:06,860
What did he say to do?

700
00:42:06,870 --> 00:42:07,870
He said, make disciples.

701
00:42:07,910 --> 00:42:13,740
The way that we make disciples is in a
healthy church where there's community.

702
00:42:14,385 --> 00:42:17,355
Where people know each other,
where people can actually have

703
00:42:17,355 --> 00:42:19,045
accountability with one another.

704
00:42:19,815 --> 00:42:21,405
Where we do life together.

705
00:42:22,325 --> 00:42:25,925
To think that we are made healthy
disciples just by the preaching

706
00:42:25,925 --> 00:42:27,625
of the word of God is air.

707
00:42:28,665 --> 00:42:32,565
For in Acts chapter 2, the healthy
church was not simply the preaching

708
00:42:32,565 --> 00:42:36,425
of God's word, it was doing life
together, it was worship, it was

709
00:42:36,425 --> 00:42:40,855
breaking bread, and from house to house
it was prayers and songs and hymns.

710
00:42:41,855 --> 00:42:44,865
And so God has called us to go
forward, God has called us to

711
00:42:44,865 --> 00:42:48,535
move and to take the gospel out.

712
00:42:50,495 --> 00:42:55,775
I find, for one reason or another,
I'm going to be careful, but what

713
00:42:55,775 --> 00:43:00,165
can happen over time is that we can
begin to develop, extremes or we

714
00:43:00,165 --> 00:43:02,295
can begin to develop pet doctrines.

715
00:43:04,285 --> 00:43:09,265
And so there's some who would
focus on health and wealth.

716
00:43:10,500 --> 00:43:13,300
In the city, perhaps, I don't
know, to balance out the bad

717
00:43:13,300 --> 00:43:15,070
economy and how bad things are.

718
00:43:16,590 --> 00:43:22,050
There's some who focus on the
extreme legalism, perhaps because

719
00:43:22,050 --> 00:43:24,150
they see Stockton broken down.

720
00:43:24,150 --> 00:43:26,340
And so they want to put
into place barriers.

721
00:43:26,340 --> 00:43:30,710
Perhaps it started is the right heart
where they said we need to say no to this.

722
00:43:30,710 --> 00:43:33,270
We need to stop seeing
people be lost to sin.

723
00:43:33,325 --> 00:43:38,825
But they went about it the wrong way as
they put these barriers in place that

724
00:43:39,065 --> 00:43:41,985
only make barriers, in between Christ.

725
00:43:43,235 --> 00:43:46,885
Some have come into the city and they
have said, what we really need to do is

726
00:43:46,885 --> 00:43:48,605
just share the love of God with people.

727
00:43:49,035 --> 00:43:52,895
And so we'll accept anything, we'll accept
everything, we'll accept every lifestyle.

728
00:43:53,445 --> 00:43:56,395
And where that's genuine in the
heart because God is a loving

729
00:43:56,395 --> 00:44:00,195
God and because God will accept
everybody, God only accepts us on

730
00:44:00,195 --> 00:44:03,485
the basis of Christ's sacrifice
because we are still full of sin.

731
00:44:03,485 --> 00:44:03,555
Amen.

732
00:44:04,780 --> 00:44:09,190
But as you play down sin and the
danger of it, and you say, it's okay,

733
00:44:09,340 --> 00:44:12,770
then you find people get to heaven's
door and they knock on it and their

734
00:44:12,770 --> 00:44:14,810
name's not found written in the scroll.

735
00:44:16,310 --> 00:44:19,500
And you've got churches who
give encouragement to like that.

736
00:44:20,500 --> 00:44:26,480
And so we need to be as the Bible
teaches a gospel centered church where

737
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:33,120
we preach the gospel, where we preach
that man has fallen, that God pre created

738
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:34,820
us in perfect relationship with him.

739
00:44:35,050 --> 00:44:36,160
But we want it.

740
00:44:36,785 --> 00:44:40,155
That God is a giving God, that
he was giving to us, but that we

741
00:44:40,155 --> 00:44:41,815
wanted to take instead of giving.

742
00:44:42,815 --> 00:44:47,825
And so we became in our own minds, God,
we said, we know what's best for us.

743
00:44:47,955 --> 00:44:52,065
We know what we'll do until we
found the complete emptiness of it.

744
00:44:52,790 --> 00:44:56,310
And so God set out this, the way
to approach him throughout the Old

745
00:44:56,350 --> 00:44:59,690
Testament that the law was given
because he is so holy, because he

746
00:44:59,690 --> 00:45:03,290
is so just that we had to approach
them on the basis of a substitute.

747
00:45:04,110 --> 00:45:07,780
You think how gnarly that is to
take a lamb after having argued

748
00:45:07,780 --> 00:45:09,280
with your wife over something.

749
00:45:10,005 --> 00:45:13,815
And all of a sudden you take this lamb,
and you take this innocent thing, and you

750
00:45:13,815 --> 00:45:18,155
have to watch as it's throat slit, as you
confess your sins on this animal, so that

751
00:45:18,165 --> 00:45:20,215
you can approach the presence of God.

752
00:45:20,445 --> 00:45:24,965
Something had to die, because it
says, the life is in the blood,

753
00:45:24,965 --> 00:45:27,765
and without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins.

754
00:45:28,725 --> 00:45:31,745
The life is in the blood, so
it had to be a life for a life.

755
00:45:31,785 --> 00:45:37,015
There had to be substitution, and so the
law was given, not to, as a way to get

756
00:45:37,015 --> 00:45:39,585
people to God, but to reveal to people.

757
00:45:40,685 --> 00:45:41,975
That we can't do it.

758
00:45:43,195 --> 00:45:48,545
But not only did we have this mirror, but
then we had people come and add to it.

759
00:45:48,885 --> 00:45:52,785
Until they added more commandments,
and more laws, and more weights.

760
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:59,000
That they themselves didn't even keep
until Christ came and he was the one

761
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:00,660
to which all the sacrifices appointed.

762
00:46:00,660 --> 00:46:02,960
And he substituted himself as John.

763
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:06,480
The baptizer cried out when he saw
him, Behold the Lamb of God that

764
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:08,060
takes away the sin of the world.

765
00:46:09,260 --> 00:46:10,360
And he shed his blood.

766
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:12,300
That's why we talk about
blood in the church.

767
00:46:12,810 --> 00:46:14,390
Because the life is in the blood.

768
00:46:14,430 --> 00:46:17,400
And without the shedding of blood
there is no remission of the sins.

769
00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:21,990
It is a bloody cross because it
proves that a life was exchanged on

770
00:46:21,990 --> 00:46:24,080
that cross for the life of humanity.

771
00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:30,210
But as 1 Corinthians chapter 15 says, we
are most pitiful if Christ did not raise.

772
00:46:31,070 --> 00:46:32,800
And so we rejoice in the resurrection.

773
00:46:32,930 --> 00:46:33,420
Why?

774
00:46:33,570 --> 00:46:34,510
Why the resurrection?

775
00:46:34,510 --> 00:46:35,280
Why is that great?

776
00:46:35,450 --> 00:46:39,570
Because it is God's
exception of the sacrifice.

777
00:46:40,060 --> 00:46:41,630
He says, yes, that was satisfying.

778
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:43,540
Yes, my wrath was poured out.

779
00:46:43,550 --> 00:46:45,210
Yes, you can come to me now.

780
00:46:45,350 --> 00:46:47,210
And so we come to Jesus.

781
00:46:48,210 --> 00:46:51,210
And we come and we approach him
now on the basis and that gospel

782
00:46:51,210 --> 00:46:52,790
message needs to go out and go forth.

783
00:46:52,990 --> 00:46:56,390
But not only did he forgive us the
sins, but he makes us completely his.

784
00:46:56,460 --> 00:46:58,960
He makes us new, he adopts
us, he makes us his children.

785
00:46:59,200 --> 00:46:59,900
You guys,

786
00:47:00,900 --> 00:47:05,470
in Hebrews 11, it says, Without
faith, it's impossible to please me.

787
00:47:06,470 --> 00:47:08,980
And to some, maybe in this room,
that becomes a heavy thing.

788
00:47:09,650 --> 00:47:12,430
Okay, I need more faith to
please God, but that is not

789
00:47:12,470 --> 00:47:14,140
what is intended by that verse.

790
00:47:14,850 --> 00:47:17,080
In Romans 1, it says the
just shall live by faith.

791
00:47:17,290 --> 00:47:21,670
That means our state, our standing
before God, his approval of us.

792
00:47:21,820 --> 00:47:24,010
We have to trust that
he really has done it.

793
00:47:24,210 --> 00:47:28,840
And so what that passage declares
in Hebrews is he says, guys, What

794
00:47:28,860 --> 00:47:33,660
pleases me is not all your effort
to be more moral, is not all your

795
00:47:33,670 --> 00:47:37,970
behavior, is not your works and your own
righteousness that doesn't please me.

796
00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:41,270
What pleases me is that you believe
that I have already given you

797
00:47:41,270 --> 00:47:44,870
righteousness, that I have already
given you my love and completion.

798
00:47:46,590 --> 00:47:49,510
That's what pleases me when we
just believe that he's done it all

799
00:47:50,330 --> 00:47:52,310
and that we worship him for that.

800
00:47:53,915 --> 00:48:00,145
And so the enemy, as we move into the city
of Stockton has taken note of this church

801
00:48:01,145 --> 00:48:08,385
and it would be well said his reaction
to the preaching of the gospel would be.

802
00:48:08,475 --> 00:48:10,888
I want you to know that
He is deeply disturbed.

803
00:48:10,888 --> 00:48:12,095
The enemy would long to

804
00:48:13,095 --> 00:48:14,145
keep you captive.

805
00:48:14,965 --> 00:48:19,255
The enemy would long to hold this
city as an example to the rest of the

806
00:48:19,255 --> 00:48:25,795
country, to the state and to all those
around of hopelessness, of despair, of

807
00:48:25,795 --> 00:48:28,775
a people who lack the worship of God.

808
00:48:29,775 --> 00:48:30,685
But God won't have it.

809
00:48:31,935 --> 00:48:35,235
And so God is inviting you to His mission.

810
00:48:36,235 --> 00:48:39,655
He's inviting you to be a people
of prayer, to gain His heart, but

811
00:48:39,655 --> 00:48:42,385
then He's inviting you to act on it.

812
00:48:43,385 --> 00:48:44,045
To act on it.

813
00:48:45,325 --> 00:48:48,005
I don't mean that you all become
preachers and I'm going to close

814
00:48:48,015 --> 00:48:49,235
if we get the band up here.

815
00:48:49,435 --> 00:48:52,055
I'm not saying that we all,
get in full time ministry.

816
00:48:52,055 --> 00:48:53,465
No, you are in full time ministry.

817
00:48:53,625 --> 00:48:57,145
What I'm saying is that you begin
to see with eternal eyes with his

818
00:48:57,145 --> 00:49:00,765
eyes, the people around you, the
circumstances that you find yourselves in.

819
00:49:00,995 --> 00:49:05,115
What I'm asking you to do is
that you might think about where

820
00:49:05,115 --> 00:49:06,635
God has put you in this city.

821
00:49:08,090 --> 00:49:11,250
Where you, where he's put you
wherever you live today, where you

822
00:49:11,250 --> 00:49:15,720
would look and you would go, God,
here I am in this neighborhood.

823
00:49:16,130 --> 00:49:18,940
And there's a neighbor across
the street, she's a single mom.

824
00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:21,940
And she's raising three kids.

825
00:49:23,490 --> 00:49:28,355
And for far too long, I've only
worried about making sure, That my

826
00:49:28,355 --> 00:49:33,045
lawn was mowed, that my stuff was
dialed, and I haven't even glanced

827
00:49:33,205 --> 00:49:37,845
once across the street to wonder at
her state, to wonder at the condition.

828
00:49:38,035 --> 00:49:41,725
And I don't mean that we run, and then
we just go, yeah, here's the, and we

829
00:49:41,725 --> 00:49:46,115
throw a Bible at them, but what I mean
is that by God's grace and kindness,

830
00:49:46,215 --> 00:49:49,485
we build a bridge that we might be able
to preach a gospel that they'll hear.

831
00:49:50,485 --> 00:49:54,475
So it's as simple, church, as rolling
up and going, hey, can I mow your lawn?

832
00:49:54,475 --> 00:49:55,285
I know you're busy.

833
00:49:57,280 --> 00:50:00,150
Hey, we'd like to bring you
dinner this week sometime.

834
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:02,750
We know you're busy trying
to provide for your kids.

835
00:50:04,410 --> 00:50:05,440
What's your story?

836
00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:06,830
What happened?

837
00:50:08,330 --> 00:50:09,470
What's your situation?

838
00:50:11,110 --> 00:50:16,150
The kids who constantly walk back
and forth, aimless, wondering,

839
00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:17,780
is this all life has to offer?

840
00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:24,130
That we would be interested
because these are people who

841
00:50:24,130 --> 00:50:26,310
God has formed in his image.

842
00:50:26,700 --> 00:50:31,710
Who God says are beautiful, who he
longs to shape and mold in his hands.

843
00:50:32,470 --> 00:50:37,170
I'm talking about real practically
seeing that we're missionaries that

844
00:50:37,170 --> 00:50:41,240
real practically as we walk out of this
church today, it would be like we're in

845
00:50:41,240 --> 00:50:46,110
Mexico or in Ecuador or that we're in
another side of the world, but we're not

846
00:50:46,110 --> 00:50:47,670
because we're in Stockton, California.

847
00:50:48,330 --> 00:50:51,850
And that we would step out, that we
would see these beautiful people serving

848
00:50:51,850 --> 00:50:55,810
coffee as people that God longs to
have relationship with, that the people

849
00:50:55,820 --> 00:50:59,900
sitting out reading that God longs to
have relationship with, that people

850
00:50:59,910 --> 00:51:03,500
down the street and driving, that people
who give us dirty looks, God longs to

851
00:51:03,500 --> 00:51:06,670
have relationship with, that the boss
who is always honest and never gets

852
00:51:06,670 --> 00:51:10,170
a break and takes advantage of us,
God longs to have relationship with.

853
00:51:10,500 --> 00:51:14,380
That the people who have hurt us in the
past, God longs to have relationship

854
00:51:14,390 --> 00:51:19,240
with that we see that we are on his
mission, that we have been entrusted as

855
00:51:19,290 --> 00:51:23,010
earthen vessels with his good gospel,
and that we take that out, that we don't

856
00:51:23,020 --> 00:51:27,030
hold that back, that we're not ashamed
of it, but that we begin to genuinely

857
00:51:27,030 --> 00:51:31,200
love people because we see them for
who they really are in a ruined state.

858
00:51:31,440 --> 00:51:32,590
And what can rubble do?

859
00:51:32,855 --> 00:51:33,935
can rubble save itself?

860
00:51:33,935 --> 00:51:34,945
Can rubble do anything?

861
00:51:35,125 --> 00:51:37,865
And so we go and we begin
to seek to rebuild lives.

862
00:51:38,105 --> 00:51:41,415
We begin to rebuild as we take
one stone on top of the other.

863
00:51:41,605 --> 00:51:42,975
And it's a long process.

864
00:51:43,145 --> 00:51:44,485
It's not an overnight thing.

865
00:51:44,645 --> 00:51:46,105
And sometimes there's reaction.

866
00:51:46,115 --> 00:51:49,745
Sometimes you pull up a stone and
bats and owls and every kind of thing

867
00:51:49,745 --> 00:51:52,375
flies out of that and you deal with
it and it seems more disastrous.

868
00:51:52,855 --> 00:51:53,665
But you keep at it.

869
00:51:53,685 --> 00:51:55,675
You be not weary in well
doing for a due season.

870
00:51:55,675 --> 00:51:57,145
You shall reap if you faint not.

871
00:51:57,635 --> 00:51:59,025
And so we need labors.

872
00:51:59,405 --> 00:52:00,725
You are the labors.

873
00:52:01,750 --> 00:52:04,560
Often, we pray, God, send
laborers into the harvest.

874
00:52:04,770 --> 00:52:06,930
You are the laborers into the harvest.

875
00:52:07,060 --> 00:52:08,370
It's all around you.

876
00:52:09,350 --> 00:52:11,740
Take up your sickle and begin to reap.

877
00:52:12,110 --> 00:52:15,890
Take Jesus close to your heart and
begin to be transformed by that

878
00:52:15,890 --> 00:52:19,070
potter's hand and he will change
you and make you like himself.

879
00:52:19,270 --> 00:52:20,960
Have constant communion with him.

880
00:52:21,120 --> 00:52:22,410
Have devotion with him.

881
00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:25,810
See yourself for who you are
and yet he knew who you were

882
00:52:25,940 --> 00:52:27,160
and yet he saved you anyway.

883
00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:28,920
He desires you as a bride.

884
00:52:30,080 --> 00:52:31,200
That's nuts!

885
00:52:32,200 --> 00:52:32,840
It's time to do.

886
00:52:33,840 --> 00:52:38,630
For if someone told me that they
went and they threw a match in

887
00:52:38,630 --> 00:52:43,190
gasoline and they were not burned
by it, they were not scarred, there

888
00:52:43,190 --> 00:52:45,720
was no singe of fire upon them.

889
00:52:47,210 --> 00:52:50,560
If they were to tell me that they stood
in the middle of the freeway and had a

890
00:52:50,560 --> 00:52:55,040
semi truck and packed them, but there was
not one broken bone in their body, there

891
00:52:55,040 --> 00:53:00,430
was not one scar upon them, we would all
declare them to be a liar and not true.

892
00:53:00,430 --> 00:53:04,830
And if one comes and says, I have drunken
from the well of living water, I have

893
00:53:04,860 --> 00:53:09,250
tasted from the fire of God, I have this
beautiful passion and love, and there

894
00:53:09,250 --> 00:53:12,120
is not action from it, it is not true.

895
00:53:13,820 --> 00:53:14,560
It isn't true.

896
00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:16,760
It's just stinking not true.

897
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:22,340
And so let him close.

898
00:53:24,240 --> 00:53:25,370
I know why we hold back.

899
00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:27,810
I know we're scared.

900
00:53:27,930 --> 00:53:28,730
Nehemiah was scared.

901
00:53:28,740 --> 00:53:29,780
He's scared through the whole thing.

902
00:53:30,980 --> 00:53:31,780
We're scared of failure.

903
00:53:31,780 --> 00:53:32,630
We're scared of rejection.

904
00:53:32,630 --> 00:53:35,940
We're scared that when we really open
and we really deal with things the

905
00:53:35,940 --> 00:53:38,590
way God wants to deal with things,
that he's going to reject us like

906
00:53:38,690 --> 00:53:39,880
everybody else has rejected us.

907
00:53:40,060 --> 00:53:40,620
It's not true.

908
00:53:40,620 --> 00:53:41,720
It's a life from the pit of hell.

909
00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:45,630
Open yourself up and all he'll do is
make you more beautiful for those things.

910
00:53:46,630 --> 00:53:47,620
We're going to have a time of worship.

911
00:53:48,605 --> 00:53:49,705
We're going to take communion.

912
00:53:50,465 --> 00:53:54,055
We're going to remember
his body broken for you.

913
00:53:55,725 --> 00:54:00,385
Remember his first Corinthian six
says, your lives aren't your own.

914
00:54:00,955 --> 00:54:07,295
You were bought with a price so costly,
so wonderful, so beautiful that you are

915
00:54:07,295 --> 00:54:12,285
the temple, the very building, the very
house that God almighty creator of the

916
00:54:12,285 --> 00:54:14,455
heavens of the universe wants to indwell.

917
00:54:16,275 --> 00:54:18,125
He longs to come in.

918
00:54:18,245 --> 00:54:19,015
What does he long to do?

919
00:54:19,015 --> 00:54:21,185
Does he long to domineer
and destroy your life?

920
00:54:21,395 --> 00:54:23,215
No, what does it say in
the book of Revelation?

921
00:54:23,455 --> 00:54:26,675
It says that he longs to
come in and eat with you.

922
00:54:27,675 --> 00:54:29,485
You have no idea how much God loves you.

923
00:54:30,485 --> 00:54:31,555
You have no idea.

924
00:54:33,075 --> 00:54:35,755
He knocks at the door and you're scared
right now because you're like, if

925
00:54:35,755 --> 00:54:37,155
I open it, he's going to take over.

926
00:54:37,155 --> 00:54:40,580
You And he longs to
bring you to his feast.

927
00:54:40,780 --> 00:54:43,430
He longs to share with you
his bounty and his joy.

928
00:54:43,590 --> 00:54:44,900
He just wants to be with you.

929
00:54:44,910 --> 00:54:46,280
He made you, he loves you.

930
00:54:46,570 --> 00:54:48,170
It's the reason he went to the cross.

931
00:54:48,170 --> 00:54:48,820
Don't you know it?

932
00:54:49,820 --> 00:54:52,070
So we're gonna remember him in communion.

933
00:54:52,080 --> 00:54:55,840
Sometimes people think that, the carpets
are a place where, it's people who

934
00:54:55,840 --> 00:54:58,530
are repenting, but the carpet is that.

935
00:54:59,110 --> 00:55:02,630
And sometimes that's where I get and just
get down as the Lord reveals things in

936
00:55:02,630 --> 00:55:03,830
my heart and we deal with them there.

937
00:55:04,150 --> 00:55:06,370
But sometimes, God said, draw near
to me and I'll draw near to you.

938
00:55:06,370 --> 00:55:09,160
It's a very practical way
of just drawing near to Him.

939
00:55:09,590 --> 00:55:12,670
I'm just saying, I want more.

940
00:55:13,820 --> 00:55:14,330
I need more.

941
00:55:14,330 --> 00:55:14,880
I'm hungry.

942
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:15,570
I'm thirsty.

943
00:55:16,110 --> 00:55:17,290
I need angst.

944
00:55:18,240 --> 00:55:20,220
I want to be your hands
and feet in this place.

945
00:55:20,400 --> 00:55:22,820
We're going to remember them by
our tithes and offerings too,

946
00:55:22,820 --> 00:55:24,790
just as an expression of worship.

947
00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:25,530
Pray with me.

948
00:55:25,530 --> 00:55:26,860
God, I thank you for this body.

949
00:55:26,880 --> 00:55:28,210
I thank you for this body.