Revival Ready - Nehemiah: Finding Your Place in the Rebuilding Work

We serve a God who is capable of doing the impossible. Nothing is too hard for Him. So let's declare who He is as who worship His holy nameless word. Let's see it together. Just one word. Oh, just one word. You calm the storm that surrounds me. Just one word. Oh, just one word. The darkness has to retreat. Oh, just one touch. I feel the presence of heaven. Oh, just one touch. My eyes were open to see. My heart can't help but let's declare this morning. Nothing that our God can't do. There's not a mountain that He can prove. Oh, praise the name that makes a way. There's nothing that our God can do. Oh, with just one word. You hear what's broken inside me. Thank you, Lord, for just a word. Just one word. And you revive every dream. Oh, just one touch. I feel the power of heaven. Oh, need more. With just one touch. My eyes are open to see. My heart can't help but let's declare this morning.

Oh, there's nothing that our God can't do. There's not a mountain that He can prove. Oh, praise the name that makes a way. There's nothing that our God can't do. Oh, there's nothing that our God can't do. There's not a crazy wall He can't break through. Oh, praise the name that makes a way. There's nothing that our God can't do. Oh, nothing's too hard for God. So we believe. We declare this morning. I will believe for greater things. 'Cause there's no power like the power of Jesus. Let faith arise and let all agree. There's no power like the power of Jesus. I believe, I will believe for greater things. 'Cause there's no power like the power of Jesus. So let faith arise and let all agree. There's no power like the power of Jesus. I will believe for greater things. There's no power like the power of Jesus. So let faith arise and let all agree. There's no power like the power. There's nothing that our God can't do. There's not a mountain that He can prove. Oh, praise the name that makes a way. There's nothing that Jesus can't do. Oh, there's nothing that our God can't do. There's not a prison wall He can't break through. Oh, praise the name that makes a way.

There's nothing that our God can't do. Oh, praise the name. Amen, amen. Hey, good morning church family. Hey, it is great to be in the house of Lord. And we will say this for those who may be our first time guest here. We are so glad that you have joined us this morning. We do not think that's an accident. We are so glad that God led you here. And just to worship alongside of us, we say this often and we mean it. You are the most important person in the world. And again, that God has led you here just to worship alongside His church family. Hey, we will invite you to do something. There's a connect card on the back of the seat. In front of you, we would love for you to just take a moment at some point and just give us some information as much as you want to. That way we can just help you out in any way that we can. Just to walk this journey and take whatever step is next for you, you find a church home regardless of where that is. So you just give that and that is a prayer request. And look, I say this with all sincerity, it is an honor as a church staff on Tuesday mornings to come alongside all of those prayer requests, all of them, and just come alongside that journey and pray for you and with you however you need. And so that's on the backside of that connect card, hey, we want to invite you. It's when we exit, then when you see some people holding some red buckets, just place that card in that red bucket, and then we'll do whatever we need to next with it. Hey, I'll just take a moment and let's just, as we just continue and worship, think about something, one thing for me. What do you need to believe in today, right? What do you need to believe for?

Maybe it's something that you believed and maybe you didn't see it fulfilled, how you thought you needed to, and it's something that's gone away, and maybe you've lost some faith in it. So just take a moment, just close your eyes, we continue and worship Lord. Father, we believe in you, we trust in you, we trust in your plans, we trust in your will above anything else that's just maybe our desire, what we thought should happen, Lord, but we still believe in you. God, for those things that we need to continue to believe in, Lord, the things that we know it's your will, we know it's your desire, God, renew that faith in this God, because we don't want to just sing a song to open us up, Lord, we come here to lay things at your feet, we come here to lift your name up, that you're a God that can move any mountain, that you're a God that can break any prison wall, so we come before you to lift your name up, as we just continue and worship, you're the king of kings, the name above all names, and you're worthy of all of it this morning, every ounce of it, you're worthy of all of it, and we ask these things in the name of Jesus, amen. It is written, you're my refuge and strength, though the earth may pass away, will remain, and it is written, you provide every need and everywhere that you will lead, you will sustain. Keep your promises, your goodness ever in, from generation to generation, you keep your confidence, we've seen your faithfulness, from generation to generation, and it is written, we're redeemed by your blood, until the old has passed away, the new has come, it is written, it's not about power or mind, but by the spirit of the living God in the world, you keep your promises, your goodness ever in, from generation to generation, you keep your confidence, we've seen your faithfulness, from generation to generation. We will trust you and believe as it's written, let it be, you alone will be a firm foundation. You've spoken, it's enough, it's the crown we're standing on. We will trust You, whether the end is risen Let it be, you will go, you will go from there Yes and it's broken What you know, it is enough Here's the crowd, we're standing on

You are caught and we will not be shaken You keep your promises All your goodness never ends Don't generate shame Don't generate shame You keep your promises We've seen your faithfulness From generation to generation From generation to generation From generation to generation Thank You, God, thank You, God (Applause) (Music) In broomed in glory My Savior King Your loving kindness has welcomed me Though I'm unworthy of majesty You're at the lowly in royalty And I will lay my crowns down at your feet You are holy, so holy and I will give my life as an offering You are worthy, so worthy of love (Music) Here at your altar To seek your faith Broken and poured out without restraint In full of banded before my King Here I surrender my every day And I will lay my crowns down at your feet You are holy, so holy and I will give my life as an offering

My life as an offering You are worthy, so worthy of love (Music) We've seen holy, holy, holy Is the land upon the throne We'll try with all the heaven in the everlasting song Oh, in holy, holy, holy is the land upon the throne We'll try with all the heaven in the heaven Come on, let's lift it up this morning You're holy, holy, holy is the land upon the throne We'll try with all the heaven in the everlasting song ♪ Oh and holy, holy, holy is the lamb on the throne ♪ ♪ But you're the heaven in the everlasting soul ♪ ♪ Kind in me, my comes and I go of thee ♪ ♪ You're holy, so holy and I will ♪ ♪ In my life as it all burned thee ♪ ♪ You're worthy, so worthy and I will ♪ ♪ Lay my crowns down and you're worthy ♪ ♪ You're holy, so holy and I will ♪ ♪ In my life as it all burned thee ♪ ♪ You're worthy, so worthy and I will ♪ (audience applauding) Let's just turn our face toward Him real quick. And Lord, we join in with all the angels around your throne right now, and we say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And we cry out, Lord, as we saw in Isaiah's moment, would you now allow the train of your robe to fill this room? Would you let us experience the truth of your kingdom

in such a way that we might see you for who you are and seeing you would cause a transformation that would rightly move us to places that we would render ourselves of the things of this world, that they would grow strangely dim in the presence of a king. So God, would you just absolutely transfix our faces on you, Lord. Transform our minds, change us from the inside out. Let your truth reign, God. Spirit of God, we welcome your presence, we welcome your work. Where you stand right for a second, why don't you just say a simple prayer that God will hear. Lord, speak to me this morning. So Lord, that's what we need more than anything. We need to hear your voice. The voice that says in your word that breaks the cedars. So we pray it in Jesus' name. All God's people said, amen. Let's give him praise one more time. Come on. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Well, listen, if you got a Bible, go ahead and turn to Nehemiah chapter three. Nehemiah chapter three, as you do turn to that man, I encourage you to bring a physical copy of God's word. If you don't have it, it will be on the screen.

Just so you know, by the way, the little tap tags in front of you on the seat in front. In front of you, if you take the front of your phone and put it on there, it'll actually give you the sermon notes, a little cheat code there. That don't mean that you can check out 'cause you got the notes, but it might help you progress long. Plus, I'm gonna move through several passages. So Nehemiah chapter three, one note to those that are new to us and you're considering taking next steps. Maybe foundations would be the right step for you. We encourage you in your process, your journey toward finding a faith family. We'd be honored to be a part of the work of the kingdom with you, but at some point, you gotta go to our website app or somewhere and sign up to take the next step. Foundations is next week. I'm gonna reference it even in a few moments. Now, as we dive into the world, listen, we've been on a powerful journey and we're starting to get super practical this week. If we wanna be a people that are revival ready, meaning personally, that your position, that God might move in you in such a way that you might find yourself a part of something that's bigger than just you, that God would so rightly knit a family together

that you and I could be a part of the rebuilding, establishing of God's kingdom right here on earth. At some point, listen, this has gotta get personal. At some point, our awareness has to move us to alignment and that's what you see today in Nehemiah chapter three. Let me give you four verses real quick. And then, Allah Shib, the high priest rose up with his brothers and the priest and they built the sheep gates. So see it, here's this one man and his brothers, his family, they built the sheep gate. They consecrated it and they set its doors. They consecrated as far as the tower of the hundred, as far as the tower of Hananel and next to him, the men of Jericho built. And next to them, its beams and set its doors and its bolts and its bars and next to them Miramoth, they may not name your kids this by the way, can we just clarify real quick. This is not the section you pick new names out of, right? The son of Yerah, the son of Hey-Kuz, that's just fun to say. Hey-Kuz, that's really how you say it, right? That's where it started, Hey-Kuz. I and repaired, and next to them, Mishulom, and that guy and the son of, that guy repaired, and next to them, Zaidok, the son of Baniah, Baniah, repaired. So here we are. 14 more times, you want me to keep going? No. 14 more times in chapter three, this is what it says, and next to them, and next to him. And next to them, and next to them. For 14 more times, Nehemiah and his journal entry, make sure that we know which families, which people, what place, what tribe, who was where. For 14 exchanges here, Nehemiah wants us to know who was where. Simply put, who was working next to them. They didn't know everyone, but they knew at least a few families that were working near them. Now, they had been living near these people most, if not all, of their lives, but they had never been a part of building a future together. In this moment, what God is aligning is strategic assignment and a lot of his rebuilding work. They're about to go to work. Hear me now, you got to see this.

They're about to go to work in building the wall around Jerusalem again, a wall that represented the protection of God. They're building, and it's in other places in the scripture, the temple of God that represents the presence of God. And in 52 days, God's going to do a supernatural miracle through physical labor and re-establish a nation, re-establish a people, re-establish generations of the faith in 52 days. But what he wanted everyone to know from the front side is this, where's your place and who's your people? Where's your part and who's your people? Have you found your place? Do you know what family that you're laboring besides? I want to ask a really practical, important question. Who are your next to them families? In a lot of the work of the kingdom of God, who are your next to them families? Who are you living alongside in a lot of the advancement of God's kingdom? Let me tell you something about the local church. The local church is a representation of God's forever family. God's not listening to me building worship services. He's building a family. See, cross gates is not merely a service to attend. It's a people to be a part of. So what Ephesians 2 19 says, so now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and give you a new covenant picture of this. You're no longer strangers or foreigners. You're citizens along with all of God's holy people. You're members of God's family. See, what happens the moment that we believe you and I, and if you haven't yet, you can today, that at some point in your life, you come to realize that we were foreigners, that we were aliens, that we were sojourners, that we were outside of the fold and the faith, that we didn't have a family, we didn't have a heavenly father, but cross came. Come on. And that cross came, listen, to live perfectly, to die sacrificially, so that at some point, 19 for me, at some point in my depravity and my sinfulness, that I could look up and see the sufficiency of Jesus through his perfect life, sacrificial death, powerful resurrection, and reach out by faith and receive the gift of salvation, and not be made merely better, be made alive. And not listening, not be made a part of a club or a worship service, but to be made a part of a family. And that in the family, there's others that are serving next to me. There's in my family, other families that are knit together in this bigger family called the family of God. 50 plus years ago, Jesus started something in this one little expression called cross gates. And a few families started, and I look across the room and see many that have been here a long time, that have been a part of it. And what God intended was that through few, many would be reached. And he mutated the story of God from God's perspective in the same way, all those crazy names back then.

If God was writing a letter about cross gates, he would say, and here's the Callahan family. And next to them is the Reno family. And next to them's the Edwards family. And next to them's the Miller family. And next to them is this family. And next to them is this family. And next to them is this family. And that family, those families represent one big family. So what was true for them is true for us. And that each family has a part in advancing the work. We, listen, here's the beautiful thing. We got a father and we're part of the family business, y'all. Not in the Godfather kind of way. But in the good father kind of way. Guys, listen to me, we got a family business. And listen, our family's business is the advancing of our father's kingdom. The advancing of our father's kingdom here on earth. And that's why knowing you're a part of this family matters. I'll say this, membership matters. Not so that you could say you go to cross gates. So that you could say, I'm a part of that local expression of God's family. Let's go back to Hebrews 13, 17, obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those that will give an account. We don't like the first word when it says obey and submit. And all that means is alignment. That at some point we need to rightly identify

what local expression of God's forever family are we identified with because here's crazy thought. One day I'm gonna give an account for you. And one day you're gonna give an account for your part in this. That we're not just floundering around this family that we're intended to be a part of a family and we gotta work to do. We gotta kingdom to advance. So for some of us in this room, if you wanna be a part of a real revival, a practical step, I'm gonna say it again, is foundations. A practical step for some of you in this room, you're saying, man, I wanna be a part of a move of God. I wanna see God moving me, then you gotta move toward family, not away from it. And now while we're grateful for so many that God is drawing here over time, it's probably time to take that next right step to sign up and to come. What does it look like to be a part of the family of God expressed in this one local church called cross gates? Now back to the point today, it's obvious that our work is, we're not gonna walk out of this room and go build a literal wall, are we, right? Our work as the people of God and the Old Testament, God often gave us a physical expression of spiritual truths.

And so what we have to ask in a new covenant way, if we're a part of this thing together, what does next to them, here's a question, what does next to them work look like for us? What does next to them work look like for us? And so I'm gonna give you three ways. If we wanna be revival ready, I'm gonna give you three ways that we do this work together. Here's the first way, and each person, each family has a part. The first is you gotta pray your part. You gotta pray your part. I'm gonna give you one of my favorite passages of scripture. You've already heard me quote several times before and if you stick around, you're gonna hear some more. Isaiah 62, verses six and seven, says on your, what does it say, walls. On your walls, oh, Jerusalem, I have set watchmen all the day and all the not, and they shall never be silenced. Speaking to prayer. And you who put the Lord in remembrance, don't be silent, put the Lord in remembrance. I'm not just merely throwing words into the sky that prayer is me having a conversation with God. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest and give him no rest. I love that. What the scripture is saying, pester God in prayer. Come on now, some of y'all like to pester people. You know what I'm talking about, right?

That's one of my mom's favorite statements to me. She'd look at me and go, call you or pestering me, right? 'Cause I'd be like, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, you know what I'm talking about? What God is saying through prayers, listen to me, I want you to pester me with your prayers. Keep walking through it, it says, give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. Now we talk about prayer a lot around here. What I hope is it's not merely talk, it actually lends itself to more people praying more. That when God put us together, get this now. When God weaved us together, he knew that every part, every person, every family had a place and a responsibility and prayer that nobody else can pray. That God has placed you in a lot of the kingdom work in Rankin County, in a lot of the kingdom work in the Jackson Metro Place. God placed you on a street. God placed you in a family. God placed you near a school. God placed you at a workplace. That God placed you there to pray to him for him to establish his kingdom right there. And that you have a perspective and prayer that I don't have. You've got people around you that you can pray for that I don't even know. You got neighbors, man.

You got co-workers that you got schools. That's why I say never miss a chance to pray for the city. God's place. You never miss an opportunity to pass by a water tower and say, Lord Jesus, would you bless Brandon? Lord Jesus, would you bless Pearl? God, Lord Jesus, would you bless Flowwood? Would you bless the cross gates community? Lord Jesus, would you part your spirit on Jackson? God, would you bring businesses? Would you bring things that help this city flourish? That the rebuilding work of God starts and is sustained and brought to completion through a praying people. And I am begging you to believe something. Your prayers matter. I'm begging you to believe something. Your cry matters. Your plea matters. Your begging God matters. The God has set watchmen on the walls of this city to not merely do the work, but do the work of prayer first before we do the work. To pray our way into the future. Listen, prayer pays the way to reaching more people. Prayer pays the way to impacting generations. Prayer positions us for revival. Not a few people praying, every person praying, every person in this room. Can you imagine if you took the divine assignment

to pray your way toward work every morning, to pray your way through the city, God placed you in the prayer way through the classroom hallways. Jeremiah 29, says, but seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile and prayed to the Lord on its behalf or its welfare. For in its welfare, you will find your welfare. Let me tell you what, the way God intended it. God would never want us to imagine that the church would thrive and the city would fail. You hear me? The way God intended it, listen to me. He plants the church and the church brings flourishing to everyone everywhere. That I bring about a people. I place my presence and my power. I give wisdom to leaders. I put them forth and that great kingdom, businessmen and women are in every realm and wherever they go, they bring the kingdom, that they bring change. And how do they do it first that they pray they're part? To pray our way into the future. God has sovereignly sent you place to you, to pray over your neighborhood, to pray, listen to me, to pray for your coworkers, to pray for your businesses, to drive by and see places when God reestablished that. God blessed that. I am watching that. Is anybody else seeing that happen around here?

I see that God is actually a prayer, hearing, prayer, answering God. He's doing things in our city. He's doing things in our region, man. He's establishing things for future generations, but there's just always more with him. Come on now, there's always more with him. And there is a war. And what the enemy would love for us to do right now is to back up. And what the scripture's calling us to do is to believe more. So what does next to them look like for us? Well, the first, you pray your part. The second is you gotta play your part. You gotta play your part. 2,000 some odd people will gather in the presence of the Lord today. Can you imagine if God mobilized an army of praying people that are looking saying, "How can I play my part?" I mean, in each person, each family says, "We got a section of the work that we gotta part to play "in the establishing of God's kingdom in this region, "that we gotta roll to play and sing them And so I know I gotta pray first, but then I gotta actually follow my prayers. Let me tell you what the Lord never intended for us to do, to stop at the end of our prayers. Listen to me, where our prayers are being uttered, our feet have to follow. Come on, right?

Like I believe you can do it, and here I am, use me. I think you can change lives, and so I'm gonna move toward living people. I think you can bring about restoration in city, so I'm asking you to use me there to find your section on the wall, your part. We'll only accomplish, hear me, cross gates. We'll only accomplish in the work of the kingdom, the sum of our parts. Meaning it won't be about the preacher, I promise you. If that's the case, we're in trouble. All right, it won't be about the style, it won't be about the brand, it won't be about, you can build some things around there, you won't be the true church. That if we wanna see real life change, it's gonna be to the measure in which every man or woman that identifies a part of this local church says, "God, use me, God, use us." The God has decided, this is a crazy part about the kingdom, which is an invitation to a life that matters. God has decided that the primary way that he will advance his kingdom is through his kids. Hallelujah. Like you want a life purpose, there it is. God said, "The way I'm gonna make my glory, my power, my presence, my rule, my reign, what I care about known in the world is through his kids." And you have a part to play in that. In a new covenant way, that's what Ephesians 4 16

tells us from whom the whole body joined together. We're joined, we're family, held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly. Makes what? The body grew up so that it builds itself up in love. May tell you one of the harsh truths about the church of the Lord Jesus cross for a long time. A lot of times it had a big mouth, but no moving body. It loved the shout stuff. It just didn't do stuff. Come on now. Tell the world a lot of stuff. Didn't show the world much of anything. And what God has done is weaved a body together and placed that body all over this place. Man, he's placed us on different streets, and different neighborhoods, and different relationships, and he says, y'all are joined in this thing. Represent me there with wisdom and creativity and innovation and decision making and bring about change everywhere. More people plowing more kingdom fields. More people impacting other people. More people bringing about the influence of the kingdom of God in every realm and sphere of influence everywhere. To make a kingdom difference in every place God has put us, he said, how's that play out? Can I give you two practical ways? Two practical ways that you can play your part. One is on mission in this community.

On mission in this community. On mission in the community. To realize, and I'm gonna say this again, hear me now, everywhere you are already living as somewhere God sovereignly sent you. Come on, you ain't gotta go to the mission field, you're living there. That when Jesus saved you, if he hasn't yet, he wants to today, he'd already placed you. And the gospel of Jesus was never intended to stop with anyone, but to spread through every one of his kids. You love this passage, Matthew 5, verse 13 and 14. You are the salt, you are, you are. Not a few, if you're a follower of Christ, you are the salt of the earth. But if you've lost, but if salt is lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It's no longer good for anything. It's set to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the lot of the world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. It goes on to say that should never be put under a basket, that should never be tried to diminish or dimmed. Let me tell you what Jesus is saying about us. Saying about you, not saying about a preacher standing in the power of the Spirit. He's talking about his people. That your salt, your light, that you, because of the power of the Spirit,

that we should make everything better and everything broader. Salt makes it better, does it not? You know what I'm homing up? Anybody ever had some bland food? You said somebody's like, "This is so good." You got some salt. (audience laughs) Help. (laughs) That's funny right there. Salt makes it better. Light makes it brighter. If I was sitting at coffee with you right now, if I was sitting at a cup of coffee with you right now, I'd say, "Hey, listen, do you know for certain "that Jesus Christ has saved you?" I'd look you right now. I'd say, "Do you know for certain "that Jesus has made you a part of his forever family?" And if your response is no doubt, dude, I know I've been made new. I'm a child of the kingdom of God. And I would look you in your eyes and say, "Well, wherever you are, you're salt, you're a lot." That God has placed you on that street to make it better. God has put you on that street to make it brighter. God's put you in that workplace, not to just be mad at the boss all the time, but to make it better, to make it brighter.

If you are the boss, it's not to be frustrated at your employees all the time. Make it better 'cause it's either one or the other. But to make it better, to make it brighter. If God has placed you in Brandon or placed you in Pearl or placed you in Jackson, it's not to complain, it's to make it better, it's to make it brighter. It's to bring about difference and change. You say, "How, how do you do that?" We pray first. And then you go to work. And the primary way that we work is as his ambassadors. Second Corinthians 5-20, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ. Be reconciled to God." Living on mission in the community, two primary ways we do that, we pray and we proclaim. We make known the excellencies of Him who is saved us, who took us from darkness and brought us into His marvelous light. I said, "Well, Kyle, how do you do that?" We'll show up to serve. Let me tell you a secret. Let me tell you why we do pine straw days and we put pine straw to tractor trailer loads worth of pine straw in our cross-gates community.

Let me tell you why we do that. Let me tell you why we partner with our city and with great organizations to throw big freedom fast and see thousands of families have a safe environment. You don't know why we do benevolence ministry and feed on Thursdays, hundreds of families because of your faithfulness. You want to know why we do all these kind of activities that will show up and serve so that we might get a chance to stand as front of them as many people as possible and say, "Be reconciled unto God through Christ." That's why we do it. 'Cause we're building a bridge. We're showing who Jesus is and then we're sharing what Jesus wants for them. So that's us as the big sea church, but you as a follower of cross-Christian, that's you and everywhere God's placed you to make it better, to make it a little bit broader. So how do you play your part inside of that? Whatever you do, do it with excellence, do it with integrity, do it with passion, do it with purpose. So on mission in the community and second way that you do it, second way that you play your part is on a team in the church. I'm looking out at a lot of team members already, people that serve somewhere, some how. Can we just talk for a second?

50 plus years ago, some people said yes to Jesus on this corner. And the reason we're in this room is that a lot of people serve somewhere, somehow, for a long time. Hallelujah, right, many of which have already stepped into heaven, many of which that died serving Jesus. Literally lived, served, stepped into the presence of Jesus crossed. And the church that we're believing to become and the future calls for hear me, not some of the same people serving more places, it calls for more people serving in more places. It calls for every generation to make a decision on will you show up and serve. Let me tell you what we'll never do. I'm having a heart to heart moment with you. Never gonna do the shame plea for you to serve in kids. Never gonna do that. We really need 50 more people serving in this. We really need 50 more people in the parking lot. 'Cause let me tell you what, if I do that, it will only last as long as the shame is felt. But instead, what I wanna do is, I wanna paint a picture for you for a second. I've done this before. Let me tell you what's happening in this room right now. And if this is you, hear this as God's love for you. In this room today, we'll be in the next service as well. It's somebody that came for the first time.

If that's you, so glad you're here. Maybe somebody invited you. Maybe somebody was a witness at your workplace. Maybe somebody was living a better, a broader life, and they invited you to come to a gathering just like this and you came. Let me tell you, church family, this is what's happening every Sunday, every Sunday. Some, let's paint a picture of an imaginary family that I promise you's really in the room. And they took a courageous step because God loves them. And let's say they're a young family and they got one child and they came for the first time today. Do you remember how intimidating it is to come into a setting that you don't know anybody? They got up this morning and they had to look at the website again to see what time the services was. They got ready and they came to a place to a people they did not know. And then they came into our parking dynamics. We were so sorry. (congregation laughing) And let me tell you, the first tier is that this morning at seven o'clock, we started praying for them. Our staff prayed, we had deacons here praying. We've got other people praying. If you ever wanna come and pray with us, you're welcome, starting praying for their experience today. Not that they'd merely have a good time,

but they'd meet a good God. And the first expression they're gonna get of that is that somebody catches them in the parking lot and says, come this way. Hey, come this way with a big smile in face. Hey, once you come this way, once you park right here, why don't we welcome you out saying, "Hey, is there any way we can help you?" From that parking lot, that's a million miles from there to a kids check-in. At least it feels like it. And that somebody meets them at the crossing guard in like this living, listening them. You wanna live by faith, standing in the middle of that road. (congregation laughing) You talking about armored up, there's angels that are like, man, watch this. But somebody stops it long enough for them to get across the road. And I'm standing there, some others are standing there going, come on, keep coming. Somebody catches them 'cause they got that, those big eyes 'cause they've never been here before and somebody says, "Hey, do you need some help?" Getting checked into the kids area. They got no idea what that is. But somebody meets them there and what we need is more somebody is ready to meet somebody, to host them in God's house because this is crazy.

They might trust to us today the most precious thing they have in their life, their child. (congregation laughing) Give us a shot with their family. Now there's a lot at stake here, future generations. There's a lot at stake here, opportunity to proclaim the gospel. What we need is people that are ready spiritually to receive them and walk them, listen toward a room they do not know and people they've never met. And if set an atmosphere saying if you'll trust us for the next hour and 10 minutes we'll take care of your child. And then there's some people on the other side that's not ready just to take care of them but to share Jesus with them. They share the love of Christ with them in a powerful and a profound way. And let's say they do it by faith and trust us with this moment to serve their child. And then they, for the first time maybe in a long time they got a few moments to walk into a room like this and consider where they are spiritually. To sit in the presence of God and there's a team of people that are ready to worship Jesus and invite them to come with them. A guy that's prepared to share the message in this moment to open the scriptures and say your life really does matter

and there is a God that really does love you. And that there'd be a chance to say to them again have you ever put faith in what he has done for you and that we get a shot, maybe just one, to see a generational change happen. So church family, I would never shame you to say be a part of that. But I'd look you in the eyes and say, tell me what else, what other way you could leverage on just this little section of your life, Sunday morning, you might give yourself to the work of the kingdom of God. And a lot of that, how about sign up to serve on the team regularly? And a lot of that, 'cause listen to me, we got future days ahead of it, there's moments that we need to go to three gatherings, okay, we need to do that. If that's January or if that's next August, at some point, because there's more people to reach. But the level into which we have laborers is the level to which we can move. Same was true when they built the wall. Imagine if sections of them said, no, I'm good. Third way, third way. What does next to them work look like for us? So you play, you pray your part, you play your part. And then you bring your portion. You bring your portion. You say, oh, preacher, are you gonna talk about giving? Nope, I'm gonna talk about bringing.

You say, well, what's the difference? Well, you can't give something that's not yours. You can only bring it. And I wanna say something to us, 'cause again, let me tell you the kind of church we're gonna be. Never gonna be a church that begs you for money. Never, matter of fact, that's a travesty. But we will always be a church that tells you first fruits are his. There he is. Let me tell you this, if you want revival, if you're personally and as a people, it always, always, always touches our giving practices. Listen, what it says, Niamati, and I'll skip ahead a little bit. Verse 35 through 37. We obligate ourselves to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree, year by year to the house of the Lord, also to bring to the house of our God, to the priest who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and our cattle, as it is written in the law. I'm sorry, you can go ahead and come. And the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks, and to bring the first of our dough and of our contributions, the fruit of every tree,

the wine and the oil and to the priest, and to the chambers of the house of our God, and bring to the Levites as the priest, the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes and all the towns where we labor. Here's a principle of the kingdom of God, and this plays out personally, and it plays out by family. The first 10th of what we receive, it belongs to the Lord. I'm gonna say something about first fruits. It's not a decision to be made, it's a declaration. First things are gods. They're gods. Now the only decision we have, will we bring it, or will we keep it? If you bring it, it blesses the 90. If you keep it, if you keep it, the scripture makes it explicitly clear. It's cursed. It's not cause, word, gods, word. Let me tell you what would attract the presence of God in your family. Let me tell you what would attract the presence of God to this church family. Let me tell you what God genuinely does see and care about. Are we the kind of people that return to the Lord what's his? It's a crazy thought, and I'm just talking to you this one, 'cause I believe God's word.

If we wanna see real revival by family, we got prayers to pray, we got a part to play. Listen, we have a portion to bring. We just do. And let me tell you what I love to do this and say this. I'm not up here saying this 'cause we need anything. I just know that there's more to do. And the principle is true regardless. So the first line item in your budget should be the tithe. Not the last one, the first one. Let me tell you what I love about my wife. There's a lot of things. But one of the things that I love about my brother, if I go and preach somewhere else or something like that and say they pay me $100, That's, she'll say, "Hey, she ties." And I'm like, "He's that woman I tied." And we laugh and we can say it now 'cause me and her know what it's like to have a little. Started that way. And we've watched God be good to us. And we tell you why, I believe, because he's a good father. But we learned a principle of the kingdom from the very beginning. It's all his. He's entrusted to us. The question is, "Will we be faithful with what's first? "Will we be faithful?" Let me tell you the most spiritual moves

some families could make in this room. It's to do like many of us have. I get paid on certain days, and so a recurring gift is set up for the next day. (gentle music) So I get paid on this day, the next day, when it passes through the bank, first it is. For some today, it's to test the tithe. It's to come and trust the Lord with what's first. And we give it to you one more time. What does next to them work look like for us? It's that you pray your part, you play your part, and you bring your portion. I got a promise for you, and I'm done. If those three things are not in alignment, the to believe for revival is ridiculous. But if those things are aligned, be ready for the fire. Let's bow your heads for a moment. As the team comes, our prayer leaders come. We'd love to pray with you about anything in your life today. What's the Lord saying to you this morning? I want to ask you today, I've said it several times in the midst of this message. If you ever had a moment where God made you a part of his forever family, if you ever had a moment, where you went from dead in your trespasses to a live and cross, where you received what you could not earn, the gift of salvation. If you haven't, you can today.

So when nobody else looking around today, nobody else looking around today. I won't embarrass you, but you got to be bold enough to respond to receive this. Is there anybody in the room that needs Jesus to save you, make you a part of his forever family? If that's you this morning, when nobody else looking around, you're saying, Kyle, I'll fit in his presence. I need Jesus to save me. I just want you to look at me and raise your hand real quick. I want to miss you, say, Kyle, it's me. I need Jesus to save me. Make me a part of that forever family. Raising your hand will save me. Putting trust in Jesus, sure can and will. So if you're here this morning and you want to do that, why don't you say something like this from your heart to him? Jesus, I confess my sin to you this morning. I'm asking you to save me. I want to follow you. Fetch you this morning, every week, we have people take this next step. I want to encourage you to do it. When you walk out of the room, you can look to me if you just prayed that. When you walk out of this room, if you will go by the next step center and say to somebody there, "Hey, I need a box." We'll take the conversation from there.

'Cause you got to be courageous enough. Courageous enough to take that step and we'll help you. I'm going to pray for us if we're going to stand one more song. This is not the time to leave. If you'd allow us to, we'd love to pray with you about anything. Father, thank you for your presence in this room. Thank you for the truth of your word. Help us to be faithful and following you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand, let's worship him together. ♪ There are words the road may see ♪ ♪ I'll follow away your spirit leaves ♪ ♪ And broken as my life may be ♪ ♪ I will give you every piece ♪ ♪ I hear you call ♪ ♪ I am available ♪ ♪ I say, yes Lord, I hear you call ♪ (singing in foreign language) I just want to see you move, I hear you call, I am available. I say yes, Lord, I am available, I hear you call. I am available, I say yes, Lord, I am available. Here I am, here I am, here I am, you can have it all, you can have it all, here I am, you can have it all, you can have it all, here I am, here I am, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all. You can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all, you can have it all,