5 Marks of Revival Every Believer Needs | Reset: The Power of Prayer & Fasting (Part 03)

Good morning church, let's stand to our feet in this house, those of us who are joining online at Tipton and all across in the house churches, we're so glad that you're here. We hope you're ready to worship and I hope you brought your faith today because we serve a God who is faithful. Amen. We're going to sing of all that he's done and because of that we're going to believe for even more and even greater things. Let's sing this out together. You could do what you've done before but I hear you say when you're thinking I have the will to do it. Come on, whose testimony is that today that you have a God who has been faithful to you, that you can look back on your life and you can see his faithfulness. Come on let's sing of all that he's done. Come on let's sing of all that he's done today that you can look back on your life and you can look back on your life and you can look back on your life and you can look back on your life and you can look back on your life and you can look back on your life and you can look back on your life and you can look back on your life Come on, as the God we're calling on this morning, the God who can do the impossible, amen? God, we just admit, we acknowledge today that we need you. We sing this in faith. I'm calling on the God of Moses, the one who opened up the ocean. I need you now to do the same thing for me. Oh, we need you. We need you. Come on, we sing it. Oh, God, my God, I need you. Oh, God, my God. Come on, tell Him today. Oh, rock, Oh, rock of ages, I'm standing on Your faithfulness.

I'm standing on Your faithfulness. Standing on Your promise, God. I'm calling on the God of Mary, Yes, I am, whose favor rests upon the lowly. I know with You all things are possible. I'm calling on the God of David, who made a shepherd boy great. I may not face good life, but I've got my own giant. Oh, God, my God, I need You. Oh, God, my God, I need You now. How I need You now. How I need You now. Oh, rock, oh, rock of ages, I'm standing on Your faithfulness. I'm standing on Your faithfulness. I need You. Oh, God, my God, I need You. Oh, God, my God, I need You now. How I need You now. How I need You now. Oh, rock, oh, rock of ages, I'm standing on Your faithfulness. On Your faithfulness. On Your faithfulness. On Your faithfulness. You are faithful. You heard Your children. You hear Your children. You are the same, God. You are the same, God. You answered prayers back then, and You will answer now. You are the same, God.

You are the same, God. You are providing. He's still the provider. You are providing. Praise Him. You are the same, God. He's the same, God. You are the same, God. He's the same, God. You moved in power then. God moved in power now. You are the same, God. You are the same, God. You were a healer then. You are a healer now. You are the same, God. You are the same, God. You were a Savior then. You are a Savior now. You are the same, God. You are the same, God. Oh, God, my God, I need You. Oh, God, my God, I need You now. How I need You now. Oh God, my God, I need you. Oh God, my God, I need you. I need you now. I need you now. You're the rock of ages. Oh rock, oh rock of ages.

I'm standing on your faithfulness. On your faithfulness. Oh, you are faithful. You're so faithful. He's faithful. He's faithful, amen? We taught you this song last week. The God is still the God of the impossible. Nothing's too hard for him. And so this song just declares that and just invites us to lift our hands in trust and surrender. And so God, we do that this morning. We put our hands to the God who can. It's who you are. I quarter in the wilderness. You're the source of every breath. Turn my faith to side till I'm believing. Stir our faith today. You don't know impossible. Your power undeniable. I'm convinced that you will stop at nothing. You're unstoppable. And all things are possible. Because you still do miracles. I will lift my hands to the God who can. Kings and their kingdoms fall. But you are unshakeable. I will lift my hands to the God who can. Oh, you're my unbelief. When I'm stuck in unbelief.

Your blood the cure for my disease. I will stand believing for my healing. No force of hell can separate. You hold the keys to every grave. You conquered death. You conquered death and sent the devil running. And all things are possible. But you still do miracles. I will lift my hands to the God who can. Kings and their kingdoms fall. But you are unshakeable. I will lift my hands to the God who can. I will lift my hands to the God who can. Come on, I don't know what you're lifting your hands in faith for this morning. But I can tell you today that he can. What seems impossible for you, what is impossible for you, is not impossible for our God. Amen? Come on, we declare this together. I can't make a mountain move, but I know who can. You can. I can't make an ocean move, but I know who can. You can. I can't make an ocean part, but I know. Come on, sing you can. You can. I can mend a broken heart, but I know who can. You can. Oh.

You can do anything. Oh. Oh, I believe it. Oh, we sing it for faith. I can't make a mountain move, but I know who can. You can. I can't make it over you, but I know who can. Heal, can't. Heal, can't. I can't make it up. Heartburn, I know. Heal, can't. Heal, can't. I can't mend a broken heartburn, I know. Heal, can't. Heal, can't. I can't wash away my sin. But I know who did. Heal, can't. I can't make a dead thing live. But I know who did. Heal, can't. So I know who can. Heal, can't. Heal, can't. Come on, lift your hands and say that all things are possible. Come on. We still do miracles. I will lift my hands to the God who can. The kings and their kingdoms fall. We who are unshakable. So I will lift my hands to the God who can. I will lift my hands to the God who can. I can't make a mountain move, but I know who can. Heal, can't. Heal, can't. I can't make an old thing new, but I know who can. Heal, can't. I can't wash away my sin. But I know who did. Heal, can't. I can't make a dead thing live, but I know who did. Heal, can't. So I know who can. Heal, can't. So I know who can. Heal, can't. Heal, can't. Come on, let's do this chorus one more time. All things are possible. All things are possible. You still do miracles. I will lift my hands to the God who can. The kings and their kingdoms fall. We who are unshakable. So I will lift my hands to the God who can. I will lift my hands to the God who can. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. That's the guy we serve. That's the guy we sing to this morning. I'm so thankful. I hope you are too. And we're just getting started this morning, but before you take your seat, why don't you greet those around you real quick? Prayer is the active, living relationship of being intimately connected with the God of the universe. It is the cornerstone of relationship. It's communication. It's actually talking and hearing from Him. When you pray, you are communicating with God, and you are letting Him know how much you love Him. Open your mouth. Have that conversation with God. Hello, Jesus. You are my rock of ages. You're the words on living pages. You're my deliverer in times of fear. Well, good morning, Abundant Life. If you have a copy of God's Word, go ahead and grab the book of Nehemiah chapter 8. As we're going to be at this morning, if you are new to the Bible, Nehemiah is in the second half, or excuse me, the first half of your Bible or the Old Testament. If you found the book of Psalms and then head back towards Genesis, you'll be kind of in the right neighborhood for Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 8. As you are finding your way to Nehemiah chapter 8, I don't know what your life has looked like, but I've got these three little girls, and there are many opportunities for me to learn new things with little kids. Several years ago, I got to do something I've never done before, and I've never done since. My wife calls me, and my youngest was about two years old. She said, hey, Anna Joy, she's hurt her elbow. I don't really know what's going on, but I put her down for a nap, and we'll see if she can sleep it off. She wakes up, and my wife's like, hey, she's still holding her elbow, and I've got to go to church tonight. She's going to the gathering. Fellas, you'll appreciate this. My wife is like, all right, the youngest is hurt. I need you home at this time. I've already scheduled the appointment at Children's Mercy. Look at me, look at me, right?

And she's like, so I need you to get here at this time, take that one to that place. I've got to go worship the Lord, all right? And you know, so I'm like, all right, got it, got it. And I'm not really into the details, but I remember vaguely hearing about this thing called nursemaid's elbow or something like that. And so on my way home from the office, which was about a seven minute drive, I had time to Google, how do you reset nursemaid's elbow yourself? And so I'm kind of a DIY guy, and I find this like random lady in Alaska that's living out on the frontier, and she's like, hey, just in case you're not close to a hospital, this is what you ought to do. And so I was like, all right, one, two, three, got it. All right, and so I walk into the house. I don't consult my wife at all. I walk up to my daughter. She's given all the symptoms of nursemaid's elbow. She's dislocated her elbow. I ask for her hand. She trusts me implicitly, puts her hand in my hand. I stabilize the elbow joint, and then I reset that elbow that was dislocated. Let's go, you know, and so it was amazing. I'm walking around like, yeah, yeah. See, my daughter, she had something that was dislocated

that needed to be reset. The reason why I start there this morning is I'm not trying to give parenting advice. I wouldn't recommend that. Her arms are still a little bit, you know, offset, anyway, but just kidding. The reason why I start there is because many of you have come in here this morning, and there's something in your life that is dislocated. There's something in your life that needs to be reset, and the invitation in this entire series, and the invitation this morning is that you would trust your life into God your Father's hands, and you would allow God your Father to stabilize that which is dislocated and reset that which is dislocated in your life. Now, the reason why I know that there are many things in the rooms this morning that need to be reset is because I've been reading these prayer cards at every one of our campuses, in our church houses, even tipped in prison, we've had people submit prayer requests, and I just want you to know that at all of our campuses, the staff has been looking at these cards and spending time throughout the week praying for the needs that have been brought forth, and so I've been rocking it in Blue Springs, and so on Monday, we gathered several of these cards and just got, as a staff, got on our face before the Lord and just prayed for the things that were being brought forth

and like, there's overwhelming evidence to convince me this morning that many of you have walked in here, though you look good, most of you smell good, there's something that is dislocated in your life, and we need God to reset us, or you know somebody that has something dislocated in their life that you need God to reset, and one of the things we're gonna do this morning is we're gonna continue in this vein of prayer, and I just want you to go ahead and begin to identify who is somebody in your life that needs to experience a reset, and so if you grab one of these cards on the way in, I want you to go ahead and grab it and write down somebody's name on this card, and we're gonna give you some instructions before we leave this morning about how you can bring these forward, and you're saying, I'm praying for this person, I'm praying for the one, and I'm asking that this person, that they would experience a reset with you, God. I'm asking that you would move in their life, and so go ahead and identify somebody that you would write down on this card, and you would say, God, would you reset what's going on in their life? If you're taking notes this morning, I've just, well, I've titled this message, We Need a Reset, and I wanna give you five things

that you do during a reset. If you're new to the Bible, the book of Nehemiah really tells two stories that come together. It's the story of Ezra and Nehemiah. They were contemporaries, and so in week one of this series, we preached a message out of Ezra, and then last week, Pastor Phil preached out of Nehemiah. Well, in Nehemiah chapter eight, the two folks come together, and Ezra and Nehemiah, they come together for this big conference or this big church service, and what was going on in the book of Nehemiah chapter eight is that God's people, they were dislocated in life, and they were living in the ruins of their rebellion, and God had said, man, if you'll put your life in my hands, I will reset what is dislocated, and so Ezra, he's been calling the people, and you read about it in the book of Ezra, to a spiritual renewal. He's saying, man, we've gotta turn our hearts back to God, and then Nehemiah was broken when he understood the ruins of the city, and so he asked his king if he could leave and go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, and you can read about it in Nehemiah, and so you have these two guys, one that's trying to rebuild spiritual things, one that's trying to rebuild physical things, and side note, they both matter, all right, and so anybody that's doing a work for God that is rebuilding the house of God, that's an important thing, even though it's physical,

and anybody that's doing a work for God that is rebuilding the people of God, that is equally as important, that Ezra's spiritual quest was no better than Nehemiah's physical one, or vice versa, and so God brings both of these guys together, and says, man, let's restore the body of God, and let's put them in a place where they can thrive, and they can flourish, and so Nehemiah and Ezra. They've rebuilt the walls. Ezra's been calling the people back to God, and then they come together in Nehemiah chapter eight, and here's what it says. It says, now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square. That was in front of the water gate, not a scandal. This is a place. All right, this is a place in Jerusalem where people would be going in and out to go get water. That's why it was called the water gate. And all of the people coming together, it's about 50,000 people. Some of you are like, this church is too big. Well, you wouldn't have liked it that day. A lot of people gathering together. Why were they gathering together? They told Ezra, the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. I love this. They're like, hey, Ezra, Ezra, we're all here today.

Bring the book. And I love that. They're just like, man, we want the word. And then it says in verse three, then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the water gate from morning until midday. That's about six hours. He's read it before the men and women and those who could understand. And again, I love this because get the picture, right? All of these people rallying around, this man of God reading the word of God for about six hours. He's preaching the message. And you've got men, you've got women, and you've got people that can understand, so older kids. Now, I love this because the word of God is for everybody. It's not just for men. It's not just for women. It's not just for littles. It's for all of us. And so they're all gathering together. And note this, it says, and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. You could circle that word, attentive. We're gonna come back to that in a minute. Verse four, it says, so Ezra, the scribe, he stood on a platform of wood,

which they had made for the purpose. And beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah and a lot of other names. If you need a baby name, good luck. There's a lot of them there that I don't know how to say. All right, in verse five, skip down to five. And Ezra, he opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. See, God is resetting what is dislocated in their lives. And they are showing us what happens when God is doing something new in our life. When we're experiencing revival, what's going on is that people are rallying around God's word. Point number one, if you're taking notes, you can write that down. You gotta rally around God's word. You gotta rally around God's word. This is a mark of revival, y'all. This is a mark of God doing something new, that people are rallying around his word so that they can live it out. I don't know what it looks like for you to rally around God's word. But when God's doing something new in your life, you make church a priority. And I don't know where you're at in your spiritual journey.

But hopefully, God is pouring his spirit out in a new way. And my prayer would be that this would be a season where you double down and make church your number one weekly priority. We gather on Sunday, the first day of the week. And we gather the first part of the first day of the week because we wanna bring God our first and our best, amen? And so what would it look like for you to make a priority out of being present and rallying with God's people? They rallied together. Again, about 50,000 people, they were gathered together as one man at this place. And note what they were gathering together to do. They weren't just there for the fried chicken and the sweet tea, all right? They were there because they wanted the book. They came together and said, Ezra, Ezra, we are here today for the book. Open the book. And so they're rallying around God's word. A sign that God is resetting you is that you have a renewed hunger for the word of God. Note this, that the word of God, it was central. This was something that wasn't an add-on to their gathering. It wasn't just kind of on the side of their gathering. It was the focal point. The word of God was central. They wanted the word. The word of God was literally elevated.

They made a platform for Ezra because they wanted to elevate the word of God above all of the people. The word of God was revered. It says when Ezra was reading the word, the people stood. I don't know if you've ever been to a church where when they are reading the word of God, the people stand in reverence or in response to the reading of God's word. Well, this is where that comes from. They're modeling that this is a good way for us to interact with the word of God. They were hungry for the word. Has this happened in your life? Has there been a time in your life where you were hungry for the word of God, where God was doing something new and you were like, man, I just want the book. I want the word. I know there's been times in my life where that hunger has been stronger than others. I remember when I was first following Jesus Christ, when I was about 20 years old, man, I just couldn't get enough of the teaching and preaching of God's word. And so that was back in the day where you had like CDs. I remember the CDs are kind of like Frisbees, but smaller. And so we'd put them in our CD player and I would have like books of CDs and sermons on CDs. And I was driving and taking in the word of God

and listening to the word. And God shaped me and formed me in that season because like a newborn child, I was craving the word like spiritual milk. And there's been times in my life where that's ebbed and flowed. But I'm asking God, would you reset me and would you rekindle and renew my appetite for your word? I want the word. I want to be a part of a church that preaches the word. I want to be a man of God. stands on the word, and I'm so glad that we are a part of a church that preaches the word, amen. I'm so glad that we get to come in here and open up this book week in and week out, and if you've ever thought, why are we spending so much time with the book open and talking about the Bible? Because it's the word of God, that's why we do this, and it's the thing that shapes us and changes us. I wanna be a preacher that preaches the word, and if I don't, I'm afraid of what might happen. Let me explain what I mean. A couple of years ago, I went down to Texas to visit my family, and it just so happened I was there on the perfect day, because my mom, several years ago, moved her parents onto the front part of her property, and we said goodbye to my grandfather about three years ago, and then about two years ago, my grandmother fell sick.

We called in hospice, and I was traveling to preach in Louisiana, and just had a stop on Monday morning to see my mama, and we were actually at my grandmother's house, and the hospice nurse came in and checked on my grandmother. Everything seemed fine, but then she broke the news to my mom that your mom only has a few days to live, and so I'm there, and I'm hearing this news that my grandmother only has a few days to live, and we bring my grandmother back out in the living room, and praise God for the opportunity for me to be there in those moments, and to pray over my grandmother and remind her that Jesus said, I'm the resurrection and the life, and if any man puts his belief in him, he will not perish, but he'll live forever, and my grandmother, she's more alive now than ever, but I got to pray that promise over her life, and mom's crying, got to minister to her, and then my mom just looks at me and says, well, baby, why don't you get some last minutes with your grandmother, and I'm gonna head to the house, and she's ready for a nap if you can help her get to bed. I said, yes, ma'am, and so I walked my grandmother back into her bedroom, and I said, hey, grandmama, I'm about to go to Louisiana. I'm about to preach the word. I'm about to go preach to these teenagers, so would you please be praying for me? And she said, oh, yes, baby, I'll be praying for you.

I said, well, do you need anything before I leave? Do you need a Diet Coke? And she said, oh, no, baby, you go preach the word. I said, yes, ma'am, I'll preach the word. And I said, well, do you need me to take out the trash? You need me to do anything in the house before I get you snuggled up? She goes, oh, no, baby, you preach the word, son. I said, yes, ma'am, I'll preach the word, and then I pulled the blanket over her, and I kissed her and prayed with her one last time before I said goodbye for now. And she said, you preach the word. And she reminded me of the call that was on my life. And so here's the deal, man. If I compromise the word of God, I believe that the wrath of God will be demonstrated in him resurrecting my dead grandmother, and she'll come wear my backside out. We are here to preach the word, amen. We have come here to rally with God's people around God's book to hear the word of God. And there was two things that these people were doing in response. They were offering what is the most precious commodity that any of us have. It's not our money, it's not our boat, it's not our house, whatever that is. It's these two things. They were offering their time and their attention.

Note this, that when they were rallying together and Ezra was preaching the word, they weren't in a hurry. They had church for six hours. They had church, all right? Nobody was watching their clock going, when is he gonna be done? They're like, man, we are so, we're hanging on every word. And they were offering their attention. It says they were attentive. Man, we live in such a transactional time spiritually where it's in and out. Is this service gonna be done? When's the guy gonna get done? I've got other plans. And when you are experiencing a reset and a fresh pouring out of God's spirit in your life, you just wanna sit a while. You wanna come often and you wanna stay a while and linger. When you're experiencing that reset, you wanna hang on every word. You're offering your attention. You're not scrolling the sermon away, looking at replays from the NFL preseason that doesn't even count, right? You're locked in. You're not out somewhere else. And so they're rallying around God's word. They're not in a hurry. They're not distracted and revival is taking place.

See, when revival is happening, people gather together, hungry for God's word. We're not in a hurry and we're locked in. They're experiencing a reset and they're rallying around God's word. It goes on, it says this in verse six. It says, and Ezra blessed the Lord. The great God, I love this. Anytime the Bible just adds great to God's, you know, as an adjective, I just love that, you know, because we grew up saying in church, you know, God is good all the time. All the time, God is good, right? Y'all have heard that, some of y'all. Well, I think we should change it to God is great. You know, I love this. He says, man, I'm gonna bless the Lord. God is good and he is a good God, but I love it when we say that he's a great God. It just takes it up a notch. It says this, then all the. people, they answered, amen, amen, while lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worship the Lord with their faces to the ground. When we're experiencing a reset, we are rallying around God's word. And then point number two, we are engaging in worship. They engaged in worship. You engage in worship. I mean, this is your response. When you're hearing the word of God preach, you engage in worship. The people were engaging in worship and notice this, that they were engaging when the sermon was happening. I think a lot of times we reduce worship down to just the singing.

Those singing is worship. But what we're doing right now with the word of God open and this broken feeble man of God trying to proclaim the word of God to you, this is worship. And it's okay for you to engage a little bit. And so what they were doing right here when Ezra was saying the word of God, they were saying, amen, amen. I know sometimes when pastor Phil be preaching, I'm like, amen. I give him a hearty amen. You know, and that's good. That's okay to do that. Sometimes pastor Phil be preaching and I'll go, ouch. You know what I'm saying? You got to say ouch instead of amen when he steps on your toes a little bit. Sometimes pastor Phil be preaching. I just give him a, that's right. I mean, that is, yeah, yes. Sometimes I just move at him. Right. And so I'm giving you permission to shout back a little bit. If you want to say amen, if you want to wave a hanky, you can wave it at me. All right. It's okay to engage in the worship. Now I'm going to alleviate some of y'all because y'all, y'all don't talk back and that's okay. And I do this as well. When pastor Phil's preaching, sometimes I say, man, sometimes I move. Sometimes I say, yeah, but most of the time I do the head Bob scribble. You don't have the head Bob scribble is. It's like when I just said point to engage in worship. Some of y'all went like this. Okay. Your head's up. You heard it. Your head's down in your notes and you scribbled it right. The head Bob scribble. And some of y'all, that's how I know that you are locked in. You are taking notes. And I love, I love note takers. I've heard it said note takers are world changers and a dull pencil can remember more than a sharp mind any day. Amen. And so you can write that thing down and take it with you for a little bit longer. And so the way that you can interact with the worship of the preaching is you

can say, amen, amen. That's just a word that means let it be. That's right. Clock it. All right. That's what it means. Or you can write it down. You can write it down. You can say, you know, head Bob scribble. Okay. And let me know you're picking up when I'm putting down. But the point is this is that they were engaging in the sermon and then they turned a corner and they bowed their heads and they worship the Lord. And I don't know what that looked like in that down north. They had a worship team that came out and guitars and drums. I'm all that stuff's biblical. I don't know if that's what they did, but, but here's the point. They were lifting their hands. They were talking back. They were bowing their heads. They were engaging in worship. That's why we say here at abundant life, and here's what we mean by that. All of me for all of him. We want to bring our whole self into the worship space. We want to engage in worship. See when God is resetting what is dislocated, you can't help but worship. And I, and I'm praying that there would be just a resetting that takes place in the body of Christ. I'm praying for the men in the house specifically, that the baritone section at abundant life would be deafening. I'm praying that the men would lift up Holy hands. Like in first Timothy two, I'm praying that we would worship with our voices and that we would declare, God, you are great and mighty. And, and I, and I can't make the mountain move, but you can God, I'm going to lift up my hands and declare that you can. And I'm praying for the men because the sign of the healthy church is that babies are crying. The baptism waters are stirring and the men are singing and we need to be engaged in worship. We need to bring our whole self. See when God is resetting what is dislocated, you can't help but respond. I don't know what your experience has been, but there's been times where I'm and I'll hear a message like, like we're here this morning and I'll, I'll hear like these truths, but,

but it, but it's only until I step into the presence of God. It's only until I step into that moment where I'm, where I'm lifting my voice and lifting my hands that the Holy spirit, he does something in that. It's like I got the meat of the word, but I need the spirit to help me digest that down into the roots of my reality. And it's in that worship where I can't explain it, but I can't deny it. And listen, I don't want to be relegated to the sidelines of watching someone else meet with God. I want to be right up in the middle and say, God, here I am to worship here. I am to bow down here. I am to say that you are my God. You're altogether lovely. You're altogether worthy. You're altogether wonderful to me. And I don't want to sit on the sideline and miss it. When you are being reset, when you're experiencing revival, you are engaged in the worship. And that's what's going on right here. Don't sit on the sidelines of a move of God. Get in the middle. beloved. He goes on, he says this in verse seven, he says, in Jeshua Benai and some other names, if you need a baby name, there's another list. All right. I ain't going to say them. And the Levites now note this, here's what they were doing. They helped the people to understand the law and the people stood in their place. And so they read distinctly from the book. I love this. They're not like, Hey, let's bring in some outside thoughts on this. They weren't reaching for a commentary. They weren't reaching for a news feed. They weren't reaching for an Instagram reel. They weren't reaching for some modern psychology. They distinctly read from the book. They said, you know what? We still got some work to do in this book while we're moving on to another one. Love that. So they read distinctly from the book in the law of God. Here we go. And they gave the sense. They said, let's, let's break this down. Help,

help us understand what's the heart of this text and help them to understand the reading. See, when you are experiencing a reset, you rally around God's word, you engage in worship and then you study God's word. Point number three, if you're taking notes, you could write that down. You study God's word. See, when God is resetting our hearts, we aren't just listening to the word. We're seeking to understand it and obey it and live it out. I'm not sure how this played out in this day, but it sure seems like at some point after they had some time of worship, somebody walked out and they were like, all right, at this time, we're going to have Jeshua, B'nai, Shurimah, whatever. We're going to have all these guys and the Levites and we're going to bust up into smaller groups and then y'all going to have some time to process what we just heard. That's kind of what it seems like they would have done. And this is basically them getting into small groups and, and experiencing what we call community at Abundant Life. This is why community is so important to me. Like they, they read the word, they gave the sense and they help people understand it because I believe it's in community that we really begin to process how the rubber meets the road of the preaching and teaching of God's word. It's in community that I look at some of the men that I'm with and I say, Hey, man, how you living this out? It's in community that we begin to process the application of God's word. And so let me give you two things that we offer as a church that can help you break down the word of God. One is that every Sunday we email people that are leading a group, a discussion over the sermon. And so the sermon that I'm preaching right now, our group staff, they're going to be writing discussion questions and they want to equip you to help process the word so that you can get the sense and seek to understand it.

And so you, if you don't know that, if you're not leading a group, then or if you are leading a group and you're not tuned into that, I would encourage you to tune into that. If you're not leading a group and you want to lead a group, then you can email our groups team and we would love to supply you with that. If you just want that for your own personal devotional life, listen, we'll send that to you. That's okay. But it's kind of weird if you're having a sermon discussion with yourself. All right. We want to get you with some people to process that with some people. The second thing that we are offering to you guys right now is for you to subscribe to a prayer and devotional by texting this number right here. And listen, this has been, this has been incredible. I don't know if you're locked in on this, but we have about 8,500 people that have text in and that are at least getting the invitation and the prompts every day. I was talking with one of our pastors on staff recently and he was like, bro, have you been, have you been doing the prayer and devotional? I was like, this is a test. I was like, yeah, you know, I mean not every day, but I'm doing pretty good. He goes, man, it's, it is wrecking my life in all of the right ways. He said, I don't know. I mean, here's what it's doing. He said, man, it is rekindling my love for God because I'm just sitting with the Lord and I'm just praying and the devotional thing and I'm just getting his presence and I'm studying the word of God. You know, so refreshing to hear this brother say this that he's like, man, I'm just sitting with the Lord and he's re he's resetting some things in my heart and that's how it works. Y'all you spend time at the feet of Jesus and he begins to bring back your first love. You spend time at the feet of Jesus. Book open prayers,

engaged studying his word and he begins to reset that which is dislocated. Oh, if we could just get a moment with the, with Jesus, with the father, if we could just get a moment, God can do more in a moment that you could do in a lifetime. You just get a moment at his feet and that we would make a commitment to study his word. You want you to get the sense of the word and understand it so that you can live it out. The, the book of Nehemiah goes on and says this in verse nine and Nehemiah, here's, here's Nehemiah now, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, this day is holy to the Lord, your God. Do not mourn nor weep for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. So you get the picture, right? They come out there and they're like, man, they've been preaching the word and people are just convicted and they're weeping and they're like, but, but guys, guys, like we, you know, something's, you know, there's something they're trying to course correct here. They're like, Hey, Y'all don't need to weep anymore. Y'all don't need to weep anymore. But what's going on is really a natural thing. It's a normal thing, it's a good thing. That it's good for us to feel the conviction of God's word in our life. And oftentimes it leads us to tears. It's good for us to understand that we have fallen short of the glory of God and to feel conviction and to feel sorry over that. And so what's happening with them is, more than likely, they had kind of locked in

on a part of the Bible or the sermon that Ezra was preaching. Because you don't have to read the Bible very long to realize that sin has destroyed everything. You don't have to read the Bible long to realize that God is perfect and holy and that we fall short of that standard. So maybe that's where they just settled. And they're like, man, I'm a sinner, God is perfect and holy, and we fall short, and we are doomed. And listen, all of that's true, but that's not the rest of the story. And they are just locked in on that. And we need to have times in our life where we feel the conviction of God Almighty. We need to have times in our life where we admit that we're a sinner and that we fall short of the glory of God. But that's not the purpose of the Bible. Like the Bible isn't just to tell you, God made this world, we messed it up, God's perfect, and now you're under the condemnation of God Almighty, the end. That's not the Bible. The Bible is, it gives a lot of discretion, a lot of link to helping us see that we need Christ. It's like a spiritual MRI in much of the Bible, revealing the brokenness and what's tore up in our hearts. But that's not the point of the Bible.

The point of the Bible is to tell you that God is a good God, and that he made a way for salvation even though we fall short, even though we trip and we stumble, even though we are sinners, Christ died for us. And so I don't know if Ezra like came back out and he's like, guys, guys, I know that I just read a large part of the law, y'all are all very upset, but I've got good news. Ezra maybe came out there and said, God has made an everlasting covenant with us, that I know that we have fallen short and we've really messed it up, but God made an everlasting covenant with us. And he is faithful, even when we're faithless. And maybe Ezra, he's like, I don't know how it's all gonna work out, but I know that God's gonna work it all out because Ezra was on that side of the cross. He didn't know that Jesus was coming. He didn't know that there was gonna be a cross. But I've come to you today, standing on this side of history, looking back at Jesus who died on the cross, rose from the grave so that you and I can receive salvation. So yes, mourn, weep over the brokenness of your life and over the sin that you have committed against the holy and righteous God. But that's not the end of the story. Jesus came to make you a new creation. And if anyone is in Christ, the new has come,

the old is gone. You are all sinners, we are all sinners. We all fall short of the glory of God. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us so that God would demonstrate his own love for us, that we don't have to stay in our sin, that we can be redeemed, we can be forgiven, we can be covered in the righteousness of Christ, we can be saved, and so don't mourn anymore. Rejoice in the salvation that God has brought, amen? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And so they're like, guys, guys, I've got good news. We don't have to mourn. And I love this, you pick up and it says this in verse 10. It says, then he said to them, go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. He says, do not sorrow. This is a key phrase, you can circle this in your Bible. It says, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. He's saying, cheer up, God will save us. Go get some barbecue and some sweet tea and invite your mom and Bill. It's time to celebrate.

For the joy of the Lord is our strength. See, when you're experiencing a reset, you rally around God's word, you engage in worship. You study his word, and then point number four, you enjoy the Lord. You enjoy the Lord. And so let me just ask you, are you enjoying the Lord? Like when God is resetting what's broken, there's gonna be some pain, but joy should be the destination. Let me say it this way, the sunrise of salvation always starts with sorrow over our sin, but you should be dancing by high noon, because you realize just how good you got it. That day that I reset Anna Joy's elbow, you know, I told y'all that, you know, I came in and I didn't consult my wife. I just grabbed, you know, asked for her hand. She gave me her hand and I opened it up, just like the Alaska lady said and reset it, right? And when I reset it, she immediately, Anna Joy looked at me like, what have you done? Because she was in pain. And then she ran away from me and ran to her mother, and then her mom is like consoling her, and she's, you know, she's looking at me with this look of like, once I get. done taking care of my baby. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you. No, y'all know the look, right guys. Y'all know the look, right? And I'm over there like, kill me. Yeah. Yeah. Kill me. Yeah. Yeah.

I said, just give it a second. I said, you know, calm down. Just give it a second. She's like, calm down. Right. She's loading the anyway. So I inflicted some pain on Anna joy, but then she's crying with her mama and mama's, you know, you know, being the responsible parent and I'll walk up and, and, uh, and I'm like, I'm like, Hey baby, you know, let me see daddy move. You know, let me see daddy show daddy how you move your arm, you know? And she goes, Oh, and then she starts skipping, you know, tears dry up. And I'm like, yeah, that's right. Fixed. All right. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah. I had to inflict a little pain, but in just a moment's notice, just a few moments later, there was skipping throughout the house and joy had come. And so it is with God that he may have to stabilize and reset something in your life when you come to him, because if you're not right, he wants to make it right and he wants you to repent and he wants you to be in alignment with his will, but he wants joy to be your destination. It's the joy of the Lord that is your strength. It's not the conviction of the Lord that is your strength. It's not the guilt of God that is your strength. It's joy. And where does joy come from? Joy comes from right relationship with God Almighty through Jesus Christ. You can't have the joy of the Lord if you ain't got the Lord and you need the joy of the Lord in your life. And that joy should, it should exude out of us. We should be the, our church's name is abundant life. Could have fooled me with some of y'all's faces this morning, right? But you need to come in joy filled. You know, Jesus, what that means is, is even if the worst happens to you, you're still a winner. I mean, whatever circumstance may come your way, the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected and there's no problem that you could go through. There's no circumstance that you could come against that a good resurrection can't fix. And if you die, if the worst happens to you, you still win in the end. There are no bad days in heaven. Like if you get to heaven and somebody walks up to you and they say, Hey, how's it going? You're going to be like, who's the new guy? We're in heaven. It's going great. Joy unspeakable. And it's the joy of the Lord that is our strength. So today when we go, when we go out and leave a big tip, you know, we're going to go out to eat where we're at. I'm gonna leave a big tip. And when somebody says, why'd you leave a tip? You don't, you don't need to be like, well, I just, I just felt guilty. They're like, well, thanks for the bennies. But that's weird. You know, you just felt guilty. Like that's a weird motivation as opposed to why did you leave a big tip? You say, ma'am, it's my joy because God sent his son for me and paid everything. I can at least give you something a little bit bigger today. It's a joy that we, we function out of joy. This, when we squeeze our church, we want joy to come out because we are enjoying the Lord because we clearly understand how hopelessly lost we were apart from Christ. But God and his goodness sent his son Jesus and lavished his love upon us. And now we're sons and daughters of the living God. And so we have joy unspeakable and that joy is the source of our strength. If you keep reading in the story, what happens is they were reading the word of God. They realized that there was a, there was a big celebration that was due for like that day. And so they're looking at the calendar. They're looking at what the Bible says and they're seeing that, Oh,

they're like, Oh man, today we should be celebrating something. And, and everyone's really confused because they had never celebrated this celebration and their parents had never celebrated this and their grandparents had never celebrated this, but they're literally reading in the word. And they're like, you know what? We, we should bring in the farmer's market and the tents and we should have this celebration of the booths is what it's called. And it says in verse 17 that they hadn't celebrated that since the days of Joshua. If you don't know your math, what it is, is it was nine centuries since they had celebrated what the Bible said they were supposed to celebrate. And so I don't know how the conversation went, but they're like, man, the word says this, we should do this. Let's get everybody together. Let's give it a shot. You know? And it says that they, they begin to put on this celebration that God's word commanded them to do. And it says this in verse 17, if you skip down at the very end, it says, and there was very great gladness. See when you are experiencing a reset, you're rallying around God's word. You're engaged in worship. You're studying the word of God. You're enjoying the Lord and you are fifth and finally you are trusting God's ways. They trusted God's ways. They trusted his ways. They read the book the book said to do this and they started to do it and they had great Gladness when they did what God's Word has to say I mean a true marker revival is not that we gather together a true marker revival is it's not that we have loud music and Lots of preaching a true marker revival is that we walk in obedience We read the Word of God and we do what it says and listen You have no idea what gladness is on the other side of your obedience. And so they were filled with great gladness They dusted off this old thing and they're like, you know what we should do this and then they were glad because they did that a marker revival is that you are uncovering truths that may have been locked up for Generations and you may be the first person in your family to obey a commandment from God

And so you may not have anyone in your family that's ever walked in sexual purity But you got in the word and you realized that was something that was important to God and you said, you know what? I'm gonna be the first generation. This may not have happened in nine centuries, but I'm gonna be the first generation that walks this thing You may have not had anybody in your family that has ever lived on mission and made the mission of God You may not have anybody in your family It's a missionary and you're like, you know what? I'm gonna brush this truth off and I'm gonna be the first generation That walks this thing out for the glory of God in nine centuries You may not have anybody in your family that has rendered their finances or their spiritual leadership to the Lord And and so you may have brushed off he thought you know what? I don't know of anybody in my family that has been a spiritual leader over his wife a spiritual leader over his children I don't know anybody in my family that has ever prayed over his spouse prayed over his kids and sown the Word of God Into his kids at that local level, but I'm gonna brush that truth off and it may be foreign to me But it's familiar to God and so I'm gonna walk it out. I'm gonna trust his way. You have to trust God's way But you have to be willing to put your life in his hands Again that day that I approached Anna joy when she had dislocated her elbow I walked up to her and said hey, baby Will you put your hand in daddy's hand and she had a choice to make? She could have said no We're going to hospital But she willingly trusted her hand into my hand and When she did that I reset what was dislocated. I Didn't snatch her hand imagine if she imagine if she never got it fixed I mean, she's several years older now. Imagine she just said you know what? I hurt my elbow many years ago, and I'm gonna I'm gonna live a life only using one arm Like that'd be crazy right like she was created to use both arms But why wouldn't she extend what was? Dislocated and get it fixed so that she could be aligned and do what she was created to do and many of you you have unsettled to live a dislocated life instead of bringing that pain into the hands of your loving father and you are living a

Half version of what you were made to live because you're living dislocated because you just want to live in the pain rather than go through the pain of getting it reset and there's a God that Loves you and they and he has ways and he has he has different instructions and commands that allow our life to be in Perfect alignment with his will but you have to be willing to trust your life over to him Have you done that and if you haven't what are you waiting on? Why would you settle for any less version of life than the life that God Almighty has for you? And so that's what the people did that day Man, they rallied around God's Word They engaged in worship They studied the Bible they enjoyed the Lord and they trusted God's ways and they experienced a reset What about you? I asked you earlier to grab this card and write a name on this card of somebody that needed to experience a reset I Want to invite you if you didn't grab this card or if you have a piece of paper Maybe you wrote this down or you just do this mentally. I want you to think about the name that you identified earlier and Let me share with you a name that you need to write on the other side who needs a reset It's me You need a reset God before you do anything in someone else's life. Would you do something new in mine? God I want a fresh encounter with you God I want to experience what you have for me. I want to rally around your word. I want to engage in worship I want to study your word God I want to enjoy you. I want to trust your ways. What does that look like practically? Some of you this morning. You need to come to Christ. There hasn't been a time in your life where you've Stepped into the joy of knowing Jesus and you need to surrender your life to him others of you, you know Christ But you need to step into a right relationship or you need to step back into right relationship with him and It You need to ask him to do something new in your life. And so what does it look like for you to have that reset? I wanna invite everybody just to stand to your feet

as we get ready to move into the next thing that we're gonna do for just a few seconds. Stand to your feet, stretch out for a second. And what I wanna do is I wanna invite you to respond to the preaching and teaching of God's word with joy. We're gonna sing a song that's familiar that just says there is joy in the house of the Lord today. And I'm not gonna be quiet. I'm gonna sing, I'm gonna respond, and I'm gonna invite you to respond with your whole self. I'm gonna pray a prayer of blessing over you. And then we're gonna have at every location, we're gonna sing this song, and we're gonna sing like saved people. And then our campus pastors and our church house leaders are gonna come up and they're gonna give us final instructions before we move on to what's next in our day. If you would bow with me and let me pray over you. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for your goodness in our life. Jesus, we thank you that you give us opportunity to reset. God, I pray that whatever area in our life is dislocated, that we would trust it in your hands and that you would reset that which is broken. And God, it would be evident by the way that we rally together around your word and that we would be people that want the truth. God, I pray that we would engage in worship, that we wouldn't be relegated to the sidelines

or settle for second best. But we would say, oh God, my God, and we would declare you personal. God, I pray that you would help us to have an appetite to study your word. God, that we would gather together in small groups and that we would break down and digest the meat of your word, that we would enjoy the Lord. Oh Jesus, that you would give us joy unspeakable. God, for some of us that you would return to us the joy of our salvation. God, I pray that that joy would become our strength and that we wouldn't be dictated and overcome by circumstances or happenings, but we would have a joy that allows us to rise above it all. And finally, Jesus, that we would trust your ways and that we would experience great gladness on the other side of our obedience to you for your glory, for our joy, and for the world's good. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Let's sing. Come on, of the joy of the Lord is your strength. Shout out his praise with me, let's sing. ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord today ♪ ♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ Our God is surely in this place ♪ And we won't be quiet, come on.

♪ We shout out your praise ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord today ♪ ♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ Our God is surely in this place ♪ ♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise ♪ Come on, shout your praise to Him. Hey! ♪ Oh, may there be joy in this house ♪ ♪ Oh, we worship you, Jesus ♪ ♪ We worship the God who was ♪ ♪ We worship the God who is ♪ ♪ We worship the God who evermore will be ♪ ♪ He opened the prison doors, He parted the raging sea ♪ ♪ My God, He holds the victory, yeah ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord today ♪ ♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ Our God is surely in His place ♪ ♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise ♪ ♪ Oh, we got a reason to sing, oh, a reason to celebrate ♪ ♪ We sing to the God who heals, we sing to the God who saves ♪ ♪ We sing to the God who always makes a way ♪ ♪ He hung up on that cross and He rose up from that grave ♪ ♪ My God, still we're always souls away ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord today ♪ We won't be quiet, but we shout out your praise.

There's joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely in this place. And we won't be quiet, but we shout out your praise. Come on, we shout it out. We shout it out. Because you change everything. Yes, you do, Lord. Because we were the beggars, and now we're royalty. We were the prisoners, and now we're running free. Amen. Because we are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by His grace. Let the house of the Lord. Come on, sing your praise. Let's sing it again. We were the beggars, and now we're royalty. We were the prisoners, and now we're running free. We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by His grace. Let the house of the Lord. Sing praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be quiet. But we shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely in this place. And we won't be quiet. Come on, sing it one more time. There's joy in the house of the Lord. There's joy in the house of the Lord today.

And we won't be quiet. But we shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely in this place. And we won't be quiet. But we shout out your praise. Thank you, Jesus.