Built By Faith | Jabin Chavez | City Light Church

Hey, what's up family? We are about to jump into God's word and I'm so excited about it. Hey, just wanted to take a moment real quick to tell you to like and to subscribe and to hit the notification bell. All the things that help us get this word and this message out to a greater audience. If today's word is a blessing to you, even if you want to like throw it in your Instagram story, things like that, if you're still on Twitter or X or threads or one of those and share the word with a friend, all of those things help us. And so if this ministry is a blessing to you, help us spread the word. Also want to tell you, man, we've got some really great praise and worship that is coming out of this house. We recently released Let the Redeemed. As you're watching this right now, we're just releasing a brand new kind of spontaneous moment called Joy. And we've got lots of incredible music with City Light Worship. So that's on Spotify, that's on YouTube, that's on Apple Music, all the places that you listen to music. And now hope all of that is a blessing to you. And right before we go to God's word,

if City Light is a blessing to you, if this ministry has been impacting to you, would you prayerfully consider partnering with us financially? They tell us that Las Vegas is the most unchurched city in the most unchurched state, Nevada, in America. And we are doing everything we can to win people for Jesus and make a massive impact in this city. And if that stirs your heart, man, we need your help. And we need your partnership. And if you kind of consider City Light to be a part of your spiritual formation, if you consider my ministry to be a blessing, no gift is too small, no gift is too large as we continue to reach this region with the gospel. Let's jump into God's word and let's receive from the Lord. I'm praying that this word's gonna be a blessing to you. This is Hebrews chapter 11, verse seven. We're just looking at one verse today. It was by faith that Noah built a large boat. It was by faith that Noah built. It was by faith that Noah built to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God who warned him about the things, watch this phrase, that had never happened before. By his faith, Noah condemned the rest of the world. Now, that doesn't mean that Noah was condemning the world.

It means that Noah's life and his faith was so radically different than the world's system that it was a stark contrast to the world, that Noah and his family were so radically different because of their faith and everything that was going on in the world. And I believe that what God did here for Noah and his faith, God will do for you too, that God is raising up a unique and peculiar people in this city that are gonna change this city and reach this city for the Lord Jesus. Give me a good amen right there. And he received the righteousness that comes by faith. It was by faith that Noah built. And I wanna talk about that for a few moments today, built by faith, built by faith. Father, I pray you speak now to every heart, to every person. I thank you no one's here by accident. I thank you for a word in season that will encourage the weary. I thank you for every family represented in this room the blessing of the Lord is coming upon every family, every father, mother and child. I thank you for the future that you have for us. We declare we'll see it and we're built for it in Jesus name. And everyone said, amen.

Amen. Elbow your neighbor, tell them let's build. Come on, tell them let's build, let's build, let's build. Jesus tells us that there would be a clear picture and a clear warning sign, a clear signal of what the end times would look like that before the coming of the son of man, before the second return of Jesus, Jesus said this in Matthew 24, 37, that it would be like the days of Noah. That as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the coming of the son of man. And Jesus said, if your days look like the days of Noah, you know you're getting close to the return of the Lord Jesus. And here's what we know from the book of Genesis when we read about Noah, that the world was greatly violent and greatly perverse. That the two spirits that really kind of were in the world system before Noah's flood, there was greatly perverse. Great perversion, and there was great violence. And we see that today. We see that in our world. Again, it's impossible to go on social media and not see violence and see perversion. It's like no matter how many times you tap not interested, come on, the algorithm just keeps seeming to win. All right, not one man is gonna say amen to me. But I'm gonna let y'all let me just hang out here

in front of my wife. But I'm just telling you right now, I keep clicking not interested, and here they are, stuff everywhere showing up on my feed. Praise God. And it's there's great perversion and there's great violence. There's murders and there's fights and there's all of this stuff that just it's everywhere. Now, here's what's crazy. There's that, but then Jesus went on to say, if we were to keep reading in Matthew, he would say, but like the days of Noah, people would just be getting married and doing businesses and people would be having kids. In other words, life would feel very normal. And yet there would be great perversion and great violence. And that's where we're at right now. So see, before the coming of Jesus, the end times aren't gonna look like Mad Max. You know what I mean? It's not gonna be like some weird world falling apart, some nuclear fall, it's not gonna be like that. Jesus actually said, be careful when everyone's screaming peace, then you know sudden destruction. And so there's violence and there's perversion and then there's kind of just normal life. And I think what can happen to the church is we can just kind of get into normal life

where we've almost learned how to ignore the bad and we're kind of just living our life. But what God wants to do in the last days is actually raise up a generation of Noah's who love people, who are preaching the gospel, who are salt and light, who are different in their generation and who are not afraid to see a great revival before the coming of Jesus. Come on, if I'm preaching to you, if that's you, say amen. Amen. Amen. God said that Noah, Genesis chapter six, verse nine, Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless, living on the earth at the time, and he walked, watch this, this is the key to your life. He walked in close fellowship with God. Now I want you to notice this, from God. But number two, look at verse 10, Noah was a father of three sons. You cannot separate the man from his family. Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence and God observed the corruption in the world for everyone on earth was corrupt. Now I want you to catch, what is God's remedy? What is God's answer to the corruption of the world? Verse 13, so God said to Noah, God always has a plan in every generation.

God always has a remedy in every generation and God's plan is always God's man. And I'll even say God's woman. Come on ladies, I'm not leaving you out, don't worry, I got a feminist that was mad at me for a second, but I'm with you too, okay, I'm with both of you. That God always has a man, God always has a people. God always has a Noah, see this word Noah, this name means rest. It means to be at peace and to be at rest, that in the craziness of this world and in the craziness of what we see and in the craziness of the economy and in the wars and in the rumors of war, there will always be a people that are at rest, a people that are different, a people who have an ark. I want you to know that city light is more than a building, it is an ark, it is a place that people can come and find peace and find rest. How many know church should feel different than the game, different than the concert, different than the strip, different than the political rally that you might like to go to, that the church is different, the church is at peace, the church is at rest, that when people come here, people ought to say, that felt different. Love it or hate it, it's different. That there is a people who are at rest, calling people to the God of peace, calling people to Jesus,

calling people to a relationship with God, that when the world cannot satisfy and the world will not satisfy, there is a God that you desire. Here's what I know about Noah, number one, Noah built for his family. Noah was a builder, he was a builder. Dad, let me just say something to you, your home must be built. The home is built. The family is built, your children must be built. The values of your last name must be built. When God tells Noah to build the ark, I want you to catch this and I want you to. to read about this in Genesis this week, God was so detailed. He said, I want it to be this big and I want it to have windows here and I want it to have doors here and I want it to be this many stories and I want you to use this kind of wood and I want you to use this kind of tar on the outside and I want you to use this kind of roof and I want you to put in these kind of animals and I want this to happen this to happen. God had so many details, I just want you to know when we say God has a plan for your life, God has a detailed plan for your life and as you submit to that plan and as you submit to what God has for you,

that is where the blessing is, that is where the protection is, that is where the provision is. See, we do not just live our life how we want to live our life and because we're Christians, then just pray God bless it. God don't bless everything. What you need to do is find out who God is and what God does and what God loves and then do that because that's what God blesses. Now, every time I've said it, I'm four in, no one's given me a good enough amen so I'm going to start over again. Listen, you don't just do what you want and throw a Jesus sticker on it. You find out who God is, what God does and what God loves and you do that because that's the spout where the blessing comes out. That's what God is blessing and you might be going, how do I find out? I'm so glad you asked. It's called the Bible. I live according to the word of God. I live according to scripture. I still believe in the, this is a Bible church. This is a Bible preaching and teaching church. The Bible said that the world will pass away, the heavens and the earth will pass away but my word will remain forever.

I want you to know there are very few things that are going to make it from here to heaven but one of them is the Bible. And we are to live according to the word of God. Check this out, Exodus chapter 25 verse 40. Make them, build them, create them, watch this, according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain. Every man of God needs a mountain. The place where you pray, the place where you seek God, the place where you hear God and then what you do there is you now build your life on the patterns. I want to say it like this. It's not really that God favors people, it's that he favors his principles and his patterns. So God doesn't have favorites. God doesn't look at you and go, I like you more than I like you. That's not how it works. It's that he favors his principles and his patterns and when you live your life according to the pattern and the principles of God, God puts his favor on that. So I'm not any more special than anybody else. No one in this room's more, you know, wow, they're really favored. I don't really use that kind of language. What it really is is that they've built their life on the patterns and the principles of God's work and then God is simply blessing his patterns.

God's simply blessing his principles and he's blessing any person who chooses to live under that. See, God was so specific about the ark and dad, you must get specific about your home. God was very clear to Noah, excuse me, what to allow into the ark. You know, you have to choose what you're gonna allow into your home. I know you got teenagers you're scared of but put a cup on and go be the parent. Just like I did this morning when I had to preach this message. Amen, everybody. Put my helmet on, put my cup on, here we go. I'm going to battle right now. Proverbial, you know, that's not real. Okay, I got my wife very nervous here saying cup so I'm gonna keep moving. I cussed two weeks ago, now I'm saying cup. I gotta stop drinking coffee before I preach. Listen, God said, Noah, I want this in the ark. See, you choose, you build the values of your home, the spirit of your home. You choose what you allow in your home, who you allow in your home. You can't choose your kids' friends at school but you can choose what friends get into your house. Amen. Well, they want to have a sleepover.

I don't know, maybe not. We don't do sleepovers yet. Maybe we will one day but our nine-year-old, we don't do sleepovers yet. I'm not against it. One day it'll probably happen. It's probably inevitable but right now we don't do that. We just don't do it because I just don't know everybody. And I'm just not there yet. And by the way, you could be driving to a sleepover, parent, and if you get a check in your spirit, turn around and let your kid throw a fit. Amen. You decide. You decide what they watch in your home or what they listen to in your home. Well, you know, they're 16 and so what does that mean? Don't you pay for their food and pay for their air? so they can pay for their bed. You don't need to listen to trash in your home. Give me some decaf right now, hallelujah. You know, when my little girl was four years old, we were outside in the backyard, and my little four year old just looked at me, we're out at the pool, and my little four year old looked at me, and she said, you know, Dad, I was wearing blue swim trunks, that's how it came up, I was wearing blue swim trunks, and she looked at me, she said, you know,

boys now wear pink, and girls wear blue. And I just thought, well, that was interesting, four year old to say that. By the way, dude, if you're wearing pink, God bless you, this isn't, I had a guy walk up to me last night in pink shoes, he's like, I'm really sorry, Pastor. I was like, no, no, no, no, no, that's fine, I'm not. I'm like, where did you get this four year old daughter? Well, she got it from YouTube. Because somebody she was watching, who we found out was non-binary, was teaching my four year old about gender. But that's, that's my arc. That's my arc. That's my YouTube. Now, it was kid, it was YouTube kids, and we put up every blocker, and we put up everything that we knew to put up, and we bled the blood of Jesus, and we anointed with oil, and we still had gender confusion on her iPad. I'm not judging that person, and I'm not judging you for your beliefs. I'm telling you, I have to decide what goes into my arc. Are you being, are you, are you being idealistic? No, I know she's gonna grow up. I know she's gonna be 12, and 13, and 14, and 15, she's gonna hear stuff, and learn stuff, and we're gonna have to walk through things, but at four? Uh-uh. So we deleted her YouTube six years ago,

and she ain't got it back. I'm just telling you, was that, did she throw a fit? Probably, I don't remember, and I don't think she does either. I'm just saying, parents, you gotta be the parents. See, be your child's parents when they're young. Then you get to be their friends when they're old. But if you try to befriend your six-year-old, you'll lose them when they get older. And I'm not saying be overly tough, and I'm not saying, but what I am saying is, you, you choose. God said, Noah, I want this on the boat. And as the father, you must decide what's coming into the ark of your home. Are y'all with me? And you're gonna have to build it, and it's gonna be board by board, and it's gonna be brick by brick, and it's gonna be nail by nail, and it's gonna, at times, feel like really hard work, but you're building something. Now, number two, because this goes hand-in-hand with it, not only do you build it, but Noah had a vision for his family. And what every child needs from their father is they need vision from their father. And so, Dad, that's why you need a mountain. That's why you need a time with God. That's why you need a relationship with the Lord.

Why? Because you're gonna have to speak vision into your child. You're gonna have to learn how to share vision with your child so that they can believe for bigger things. Watch that again in verse seven. The Bible said that God showed him things that had never happened before. Think about that. This had never happened before, but now it's gonna happen. Never happened before in our family, but now it's gonna happen. Never seen this in our family before, but now we're gonna see it. We've never said this in our family before, but now we're gonna say it. We are starting something new that has never happened. Can you imagine this? God goes to Noah and says, Noah, build me a boat. Noah goes, yeah, for sure. What's a boat? Well, it's like a big floating house. Bet, I'm on it. Why do I need to do that, God? Oh, because it's gonna rain. Okay, awesome. What's rain? Well, water's gonna fall from the sky. Okay, got it. And Noah, for the next 120 years,

has to build on the vision that God gave him. On the vision that God gave him. And he had to work that vision. And he had to fight for that vision. And he had to get his sons involved in that vision. And he had to get his family involved in that. And he had to get through the ridicule of that vision. And he had to get through the hate of that vision. And he had to get through the sneers of that vision. But he kept, he stayed committed to the vision. The apostle Paul said in the book of Acts, that I have not disobeyed the heavenly vision. That you can get something for your family that has never happened before. No one in your last name has ever experienced it. No one will understand it. They'll make fun of you at Thanksgiving. They'll make fun of you at Christmas. But listen, faith can feel foolish until it rains. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Oh, come on, Noah. Noah, don't give up on what God put in your spirit for your family, keep working it, keep fighting for it. Choose to do something new in your family and in your family tree and in the generations to come. We've never seen this before, it's never happened before.

No one's ever loved God like this in our family before. No one's ever been free in our family before. No one's ever prospered in our family. No one's ever walked in health in our family. Everyone's always been angry in our family. Everyone's always torn each other apart in our family. Everyone's always been addicted in our family. But Noah stood up in a generation and did what had never been done before. Friend, it may have run in your family until it ran into you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let me get about 100 people to shout with me right there. Come on. Am I preaching to any curse breakers in the room that say, it might've been like this before me, but when it ran into me, it ran into the Christ in me, the hope of glory. And everything is changing after this. Come on, say amen, give me a good amen right there. That you would be the curse breaker, the visionary, the freedom fighter in your family to create new generational blessing. Where there is no vision, the people perish. That word perish right there means to lose control. If you've ever met anybody,

and you might be that person right now. If you've ever met anyone who's lost control, watch this. Before you lose control, you lose vision. Before your life goes off the rails, you lose vision. Before the affair, you lose vision. Before the addiction, you lose vision. Before you gamble away all your money, you lost vision. Does that make sense? You lost a picture of the future, and it made you lose control. You perish, you lost restraint. The vision keeps me focused on where I'm going. And anything that is not making it into my future, I don't lose control to that because I know ultimately where God's taking me. Now I want you to see the next part of the verse because a lot of people don't read this part. And happy is he who keeps the law. This is powerful because they're attached. I've got big vision, but I've got a big word life. Come on. I've got big faith, but I've got big integrity. I'm dreaming really big, but I'm staying really grounded in the law of God. And these two things go together. And here's what I found. When my vision is running low, I always go back and look, where have I opened the door to the enemy where my vision is getting sapped?

Where am I not keeping the law of God? Where am I not honoring God? Is it pride? Is it unforgiveness? Is it resentment? Is it ego? Is it sin? What am I doing that's killing my vision? Because what could ultimately happen is if you'll do this right, it becomes like a circle of life where it's like vision, integrity, vision, the word, vision, the word, vision, holiness, vision, holiness. And the holier you are, the more vision you have, and the more vision you have, the more you wanna trust God. And the more you trust God, the more vision is really, and it just creates this amazing cycle of blessing instead of a cycle of destruction. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. What a powerful verse. If you're new to church, that's like one of the big ones. Take a picture of that, put it on your screen saver, and never forget it.

Delight yourself. Live for God. Love God. Seek God. Honor God. Worship God. Find joy in Jesus. Delight yourself in the Lord, and watch this, and He'll give you the desires of your heart. So here's the question. Does God give you what you desire? Or does He give you the desires? Yes. A or B? Both. One or two? Both. So God, number one, is a good heavenly Father, and He knows what you desire. But number two, as you seek Him, and as you honor Him, and as you delight yourself in Him, your desires actually start changing. I don't walk like I used to. I don't talk like I used to. I've been changed from the inside. Something has happened on the inside

that's manifesting on the outside. So now I wanna honor God, and I wanna love you, and I wanna be a man of God, and I wanna be a better husband, and I wanna be a better father, and I wanna be generous, and I wanna prosper in order to build the kingdom of God, and I wanna, my want to changes. Yes. I leave have to and I get into want to. And it's like Paul said, I desire this, but it's not even me, it's the grace of God in me. And I just want to submit to you, I think a lot of us are trying to get the desires of our heart met, but we're not delighting ourselves in the Lord. Don't get the order wrong. And then as you do it God's way, man, all that vision just comes out of your life and you have a lot of desires, but catch this, because you've delighted yourself in the Lord, the desires aren't an idol and you're not discouraged if you don't get them as quickly as you wanted to get them. Y'all with me at the 1045, everybody alive here? And it begins to feed vision and desire. This week I was having lunch with a businessman in our city, he's new to church and he's a successful guy.

And he's telling me about the business, he's telling me about what they're gonna do and how they're going public and blah, blah, blah, they're going through the whole thing. And then kind of towards the end of the lunch, he looks at me and goes, what's next for City Light? He said, I go and it's packed and you've got five services and what are you doing next, what's the vision, where do you go next? Amen, I mean, you tell me to talk vision, I'm just gonna talk vision because it's in my spirits. I start talking about City Light Academy starting in August, I start talking about City Light College in August, I start talking about, man, we want to go to St. George and we want to go to Pahrump and we want to go to Summerlin and we want to go to Henderson and we want to go to Centennial, we want to go to the Northwest and we want to go downtown, we want to go to the East Side. And I just, I mean, all this comes out of my spirit. And then I just had this quick moment where I thought, I hope he doesn't think I'm fundraising because I don't fundraise. I'm not a well-dressed beggar, I don't beg. And I've never had an individual meeting ever with anyone in our church where I've asked for money ever. So I wanted to make sure he knew that I wasn't like, and you know, brother, we could do that if we could just get some help from, amen, if some of our business guys

could just catch the vision, amen. So I just stopped. And the fact is I probably need that guy to help, but I ain't gonna do that because I'm just not gonna be at the mercy of that. So I just stopped myself and I kind of just came to him and I went, let me tell you something. We will only do what the Holy Spirit tells us to do. And if God wants us to have a Summerlin location, he'll speak to me and he'll speak to us. And if God wants us to go to Henderson, we'll go to Henderson. If God wants us to go to St. George, we'll go to St. George and reach all the white Mormons. Amen, come on, somebody. And if God, and I'm just going, Lord, we need a Maui campus, Jesus. I just feel, Lord, just lead me to Maui, Jesus. Here's my point. We only gonna do what the Holy Ghost tells us to do. And so it's not on any one person, it's on the leading of the Spirit of God. And I'm saying that because as we delight ourselves in the Lord, he'll give us the desires. He made it very clear at the beginning of this year, start the college. I trust that voice. He made it very clear to buy this land and do what we did here. I trust that voice.

He made it very clear that it's time for City Light Academy. I trusted that voice. And that same voice that has led us to this point over the last eight years is the same voice that will take us to Summerlin, to St. George, to Pahrump, to Henderson, to Scottsdale, to North Vegas, to the East Side. Come on, somebody. And that same voice will lead you and lead your business and lead your next season and lead your family because God's voice always leads us into blessing. And so I'm trusting that voice, not what I can just desire or try to manifest, but rather what the Spirit of God is leading. Oh, this is good stuff. Hallelujah. Worship team, come on up here. Man, I'm preaching good right now. I'm preaching, by good, I mean quick. Every other sermon's gone way too long, but I like this. Thirdly, y'all getting something out of this? Yes. Where the men at? All the men? Yes. Yes. Don't let the women outpraise you, men. Need you to lead the way. I said, did y'all get anything out of this? And all the ladies went, woo.

Number three, Noah received for his family. So Noah built for his family. Noah got a vision for his family. Noah received. Hebrews 11, seven said that Noah received and he received. He didn't earn it, he didn't achieve it. He received a righteousness by his faith. Every great father first has to be a great son. Every great provider must first become a great receiver. Every great husband, every great leader must first become a son. Jamin, how do I father when I never had a father? How do I lead when I never had a leader? How do I set the example when I never had an example? You're gonna have to go straight to the source. Noah received from God. And God will show you how to be a daddy. God will show you how to be a pastor. God will show you how to be a father. God will show you. How do you know? Because he showed me. God showed me how to be a daddy. God showed me how to be a husband. God showed me how to be a pastor. I didn't have an example of it. But I received from the Lord. And you know what's so funny? It's like when I finally got to a place of peace where I went, all right, I guess I'm not gonna have

a earthly voice of encouragement in my life. And I'm just gonna need God. And I went all in on God. You know what's so cool? About two years ago, God gave me a spiritual father. God gave me Jacob Aranza. When I was finally at peace and was finally not mad at anybody, and I finally settled in my heart, no one's coming. It's just me and God. God went, well, relax. You think you're all that. I was having an Elijah pity party. I'm the only one. But when I finally got to the place, I said, God, I only need you. I don't need the approval of any man. I need you. And then God gave me a daddy. God gave me a spiritual father who has literally carried me through the last 18 months. I don't think I'd be here right now without Jacob Aranza. And I want you to catch this. I first had to receive from God. And when I'm at my best with God, watch this. I'll be at my best with you. But please watch this. How am I at best with God? When you're a son, not a servant, not a pastor, not a preacher,

not a leader, not a father, not a mother, not a son, a child of God. And when I'm in that space and in that place of receiving, now my whole life just becomes a conduit of whatever God gives me, it just flows right out of me to the world. And I actually live my life now radically different than I would have even lived it two years ago, three years ago, four years ago. I was on a journey and I was getting there, but I'm at such a different place now where I don't live to get anymore. And so when I was praying this morning for you and praying this morning for this service, I prayed, Father, you told me to feed your sheep, so I'm gonna give it my best. Help me, Father. And I just received. Never been a moment of, I hope they like me. Hope they come back. I want people to like me. That's not how I pray. I pray like, God, help me to be a blessing and help me to give what I've got from you to them. When you become a son, when you become a receiver of the love of God, when you become a receiver of the righteousness of God, the faith of God, the goodness of God, man, you can't help but give it away.

But most men will deal with some kind of father wound where there is a gap between where you are and the expectation that you had from an authority figure. There's this gap. Now, watch me, guys, watch me. You will fill that gap because you actually have to fill it to survive. So if you don't fill it with the presence of the Lord, it's gonna be food, it's gonna be alcohol, it's gonna be sex, it's gonna be success, it's gonna be money, it's gonna be the latest. It's going to be the latest toy, it's going to be the next watch, it's going to be the next house, it's going to be more square footage. You're always going to fight for filling the gap. But nothing of this world can fill that gap. Only Jesus. And Noah received.