Revival Ready - The Book of Nehemiah: Rising Up to Build

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Good morning, cross-case family. Let's stand together. We're here to worship King Jesus. Salute His name in this place. He's our victor, our Savior. He is worthy of all of our praise. So let's give our best song, our best worship unto the Lord as we sing to Him this morning. (upbeat music) There's peace that I'd last darkness and there's hope that's in the blood. This future grace that's mine today, that Jesus Christ has won. So I can face tomorrow, hallelujah, for tomorrow's in your hands. And all I need you will provide just like you always have. We can rest in this truth this morning. I'm fighting a battle that you've already won. And no matter what comes my way, I will overcome. I don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done. And I'm fighting a battle you've already won. Thank you, Jesus.

There's mercy in the waiting. And there's men of four today. And when it's gone, I know you're not. You are my open state. And when the sea is raging, your spirit is mine. He'll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ. I'll say that it is well. Oh, I know that it is well. I'm fighting a battle you've already won. And no matter what comes my way, I will overcome. I don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done. Thank you, Lord, that I'm fighting a battle you've already won. Hallelujah. There's our hope we rest in today. Oh, I know how the story ends. That we will be with you again. This is who you are. You're my savior and my defense. So there's no fear in life or death. People of God, we declare that I know how the story ends. We will be with you again. So there's no more fear in life or death, 'cause I know how the story ends. I know how it ends, 'cause I'm fighting a battle that you've already won. And no matter what comes my way, I will overcome, I don't know what you're doing. But I know what you've done, I knew you, I'm fighting a battle that you already won. And I'm fighting a battle that you've already won.

I knew you, holy praise you, holy. And that is good news to sing, I hope it's news that you know in your heart. We are fighting from a victory that Jesus has already won. Can we give him praise one more time? We all sound great this morning, we are honored to worship Jesus with you. We say this every Sunday, 'cause we mean it. If you're here today and you're a visitor for the first time, you're the most important people in the room to us. We know there's many great life-giving churches in our region, for you to be here is an honor. And the only thing we ask from our visitors, if you'll just take a few seconds, at some point in this service, you take out that connect card, you fill out as much info as you're comfortable with, we make our no hassle guarantee, meaning that we're not gonna show up at your house or call you late at night or any of those things. We just wanna connect with you in your spiritual journey. Also say to you today, if you got a prayer request, by the way, I've never met a person that didn't need prayer for something. If you got a prayer request, this is to anybody. If you're here every week and have been for 40 years or if this is your first Sunday, on the backside of that same card is a place for you to put it down, and here's our promise, you put it down. We pray for it. Every Tuesday, we labor in prayer, and we actually see God answer these things, okay? So you put it down, we will join you in that request. When you walk out, people will be standing with some red buckets, you can drop that connect card or your prayer request in that bucket. It is a reminder, and I'll say to our church family, a man way to go in your faithfulness, first fruits giving, that's a physical reminder, though a lot of us do that digitally online to be faithful as much as our song, so is our stewardship, a way of worshiping the Lord. So we're thrilled for you to be here today. God has something to say to us, and I don't know what your week's been like.

Actually, I'm loving the fact this Labor Day weekend in the room is full. So I feel like there's anticipation to hear from the Lord. But I know with me, sometimes I got to get in the right posture. So I want us to do this. I'm going to kneel right here, if there's anybody close enough that you want to join me and kneel to alter, you can. You don't have to do that from up there, you can kneel in your heart or make a place. But let's do this for a second. If you want to, you can join me right now and pray. Let's kneel before the Lord for a second. Just steal ourselves before God. If you can't kneel, that's okay if you just want to sit for a second. If you want to open your hands, maybe you want to turn your face toward the Lord. We're not merely here to make it through a service or just to sing some songs. We're here to meet with God this morning. And our response to Him does matter. Why don't you just say in your own heart, "Lord, I'm here to hear from you. I'm here to worship you." Maybe you're sure this morning it's been a long, long time since you sent God's presence personally. Why don't you just say, "Lord, would you make yourself known to me today?" Hey, if you're hearing, you got a lot of questions about this thing called faith. That's okay. If you'll just be bold, and that's all. I think you'll hear that. So Father, we humble ourselves before you and what we ask in these next moments is for more than merely having a gathering. Lord, we're here for you. We're here to worship you, we're here to exalt you,

we're here to praise you, we're here to magnify you, we're here to get under rightly the authority of your word and have our lives be transformed by truth. We're here to catch the wind of your spirit's work. So Father, I pray that you would awaken our minds spiritually, our hearts spiritually, God, that we might rightly be transformed. God, would you call people to your work today? Call us to engage in your work in our lives, our families, whatever it might be. Lord, do miracles in this place. We pray in Jesus' mighty name, amen. We can stand together, we're gonna continue to press in to worship, I wanna encourage you to set your eyes on him and he will honor that. - So we're seeing church, let's declare the truth of the gospel, this is our testimony of his grace. ♪ I was buried beneath my rebellion ♪ ♪ And lost without a hope or redemption ♪ ♪ And blinded my need for a savior ♪ ♪ Oh, but God, thank you ♪ ♪ And I was crushed by the way of my failure ♪ ♪ And live in the lie I created ♪ ♪ Dig in my grave without loin' ♪ ♪ Oh, but God, oh, but God ♪ ♪ Rich in mercy, how you love me ♪ ♪ Too much, let me say loss ♪ ♪ My salvation sent from heaven ♪ ♪ Nailing my sin to cross, oh, but God ♪ ♪ God, you gave me a truth worth believing ♪

♪ And I traded my chains for your freedom ♪ ♪ 'Cause you were the one that I needed, oh, but God ♪ ♪ Resurrected my heart from the roof ♪ ♪ My rescue came through like the morning ♪ ♪ And this is my short testimony ♪ ♪ Oh, but God, oh, but God ♪ ♪ Rich in mercy, how you love me ♪ ♪ Too much, let me say loss ♪ ♪ My salvation sent from heaven ♪ ♪ Nailing my sin to cross, oh, but God ♪ ♪ Oh, and over wreckage of my choices ♪ ♪ You have turned to life from ashes ♪ ♪ Lived it from death, we're risen within ♪ ♪ And now I stand in confidence ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know that all the wreckage of my choices ♪ ♪ You have turned to life from ashes ♪ ♪ We lived it from death, risen within ♪ ♪ And now I stand in confidence ♪ ♪ Oh, rich in mercy, how you love me ♪ ♪ Too much, let me say loss ♪ ♪ My salvation sent from heaven ♪ ♪ Nailing my sin to cross, oh, rich in mercy ♪ ♪ How you love me too much, let me say loss ♪ ♪ My salvation ♪ ♪ Over God, over God, over God, over God ♪ ♪ Over God, over God, over God ♪ Let's thank you church, we thank you for the cross, for the blood. (audience applauding) (soft piano music)

♪ For my waking breath, for my daily breath ♪ ♪ My daily breath, oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you, for the son to ride ♪ ♪ For my sleep at night, oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ You're the way, the truth and the lie ♪ ♪ You're the world that never runs dry ♪ ♪ I'm the branch and you are the vine ♪ ♪ Throw me close and teach me to buy ♪ ♪ You ♪ ♪ Where the spirit leads as I'm following ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ Oh, for the victories ♪ ♪ Still it can't be ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ You're the way, the truth and the lie ♪ ♪ You're the way that never runs dry ♪ ♪ I'm the branch and you are the vine ♪ ♪ Throw me close and teach me to buy ♪ ♪ Be my strength, my song in the night ♪ ♪ Be my home, I treasure my price ♪ ♪ I am yours, forever your life ♪ ♪ Throw me close and teach me to buy ♪ ♪ And when I pass through death ♪ ♪ As I enter rest ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ For eternal life ♪

♪ To be raised with life ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ Oh, I depend on you ♪ ♪ You're the way, the truth and the lie ♪ ♪ You're the way that never runs dry ♪ ♪ I'm the branch and you are the vine ♪ ♪ Throw me close and teach me to buy ♪ ♪ Be my strength, my song in the night ♪ ♪ Be my home, I treasure my price ♪ ♪ I am yours, forever your life ♪ ♪ Throw me close and teach me to buy ♪ ♪ I will teach me to buy ♪ ♪ Throw me close and teach me to buy ♪ Just declare that this way. [singing in foreign language] For everything. [singing in foreign language] [singing in foreign language] Oh, and I, Lord, as I'm desperate for you, how we need you Lord, oh, and I, I've been lost without you, I've been lost without you. I've seen that again, I'm desperate for you. I start crying and I, I'm desperate for you, I've lost without you, yes. So Father, we are singing what is so, we are absolutely desperate for you. We're desperate for you for the very breath that is in our lungs. We're desperate for you to give us clarity about our lives. God, we're desperate for your truth to transform us. We're desperate for your spirit to empower us.

We're desperate for you as a church, Lord, God that you would lead us to places of effectiveness, Lord, for the sake of people coming to know you. Jesus, we're desperate for you for our daily provision. God, we're desperate for our children to come to know you. As Lord and Savior, we're desperate for protocols to come home. Lord, we're desperate for you. So God, if you are looking for a people that are embracing desperation, I pray you'd find them here today that we're glad to say that. Maybe from your heart for just a second. In whatever area of your life, why don't you just say, Lord, I'm desperate for you in this. Let him know for a second. Maybe you're desperate for some clarity. You're desperate for a breakthrough. Just lift it to him to meet you physically, emotionally, spiritually. So we embrace desperation. And we pray all these things in the matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Can we give him praise this morning? Come on. Awesome. Amen. Well, listen, if you've got a Bible turned to Nehemiah chapter 2, if you don't, that's OK. It'll be on the screen. It's better, though, if you can see it in the Word of God that's in your hand. We're going to jump back in to our revival ready series. As you do, just three things to note real quick.

One, our Wednesday night of quip groups kicked back off this last week, man, and unbelievable. The amount of people that was on this corner of Wednesday night. We try to be very intentional in how we're equipping our church to grow to the fullness of the measure, stature of Christ. Lots of great options out there from specific things for like women and then for our kids, students. Man, Brother David's teaching a great one in here. Also, you're welcome to join me and John in United Prayer in the choir room right back there, man, just to learn how to pray a little more effectively. I encourage you, also, dinner is served here before that. Man, we had a pile of people come and eat dinner with us. Tuesday night, I want to say something specific to our young adults. 18 to 29-year-olds, a special night of worship in here. Tuesday night, a focused night. And actually, we're going to have my dear friend and the guy that first mentored me, Andy. So 18 to 29 year olds, here's my encouragement. Don't miss what God wants to say to your generation and bring some others with you this Tuesday night in this very room. And then when you walked in, you got one of these prayer walking 101 cards. And when you walked in the door today, do not leave that and you'll seat back in front of you or underneath your seat 'cause I cleaned it up on Monday morning, right? Along with everybody else. Here's the encouragement I have for you. Take this with you and prayer walk your neighborhood.

Maybe prayer walk your workplace, maybe prayer walk your school or around your kids school. What it does is a practical quipping way for you to know how to worship wherever God has placed you, to know how to ask him to do specific things on behalf of people, families in our region because God actually hears and cares about the prayers of his people to listen to what the spirit of God might prompt you to pray. So it's a great resource. And then to know maybe somebody you might invite next Sunday to join you in God's presence right here. Now let me catch you up, okay? 'Cause I know it's been a couple of weeks we're breaking back into Nehemiah and we'll be here for the next several weeks together. Nehemiah starts, we'll give you a little context before we jump into chapter two. Nehemiah one starts with God sharing his heart with Nehemiah for a people in a place. You open the book of Nehemiah and the letter really in this moment, the journal entry of Nehemiah and what you see in this moment is Nehemiah becomes aware of the condition of a people, Jerusalem and a place the Jewish people, his heritage, his family. And what God does in that moment is he downloads in the Nehemiah's heart, what's in his heart? That unfortunately the rebellion of God's people had led to the righteous judgment of God that has lingered for 70 some odd years.

But now Nehemiah is finding himself in the rebuilding, restoration, revival moment that God had long promised. But God had to find somebody that he could share his heart with. So Nehemiah is broken and because of his brokenness, he fast, he prays not for just a moment but get into Nehemiah chapter two, he fast and prays over a season time, many days, many moments for four months. He's carrying a burden for what God wants to do among of people so much so, I'm giving you, I'm catching you up. So much so that the king notices that his state is saddened by the way, which was you could not do, that you had to be jovial in the presence of the king but the burden was so great that his body was beginning to show it. And so the king who has listened to me great thoughts toward Nehemiah because Nehemiah was a great worker, had great integrity, saw that Nehemiah was bothered. And so we ask him, "Hey, what's going on, Webra?" Calversion, "Hey, what's going on?" I can see that the state of your soul is sad. And so the moment that Nehemiah's been prayed for for four months has finally arrived. And what Nehemiah says to him, "How could I not be sad?" The place that I come from, the people that I come from, the place where my father is buried is devastated and destroyed, so yes, my heart is heavy. And then the king does something the king does not have to do.

What do you wanna do about it? What's in your heart to do Nehemiah in this? And I love Nehemiah's response. He says, "So I prayed to the God of heaven." Now he's standing in front of the king. What he didn't say to the king is, if you allow me a few moments, I'd like to go to my prayer closet and pray about this. No, see, Nehemiah's been planning for four months for a moment to finally get there. And when it comes, he goes vertical in his mind and his spirit, how many of you prayed these kind of bullet prayers? Hey, God, help. That's where Nehemiah was. Hey, God, the moments finally come that we've been fasting and praying and believing for. He's saying, "God, we're here, help." Then he looks to the king, says, "Well, since you asked, any chance that you could give me permission to leave my job, go back to Jerusalem to see restoration come to the place in the people. By the way, would you write letters giving me permission for safe travel all the way there? And hey, while I'm asking, what do you think about paying for it? (congregation laughing) How about you, out of your resources as a pagan king, give me the resources that's needed to restore the place of God and the people of God

to which the king says, go for it. Unmerited favor of God. this collision moment where the kingdom of God and the purposes of God, the desire of God has been displayed in the heart of this servant cupbearer, and God is allowing him to get to this, and you get to verse 17 from there. Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem, he walks around for three days, he inspects the walls, he smells the smells, he fills the rubble under his feet, and now we're at the moment where it's time to do something. In verse 17 it says this, he's rallied the Jewish people, he's rallied those that's lived in this rubble for generations, and he says, verse 17, then he said to them, you see the trouble that we are in, how Jerusalem lies and ruins with its gates burned. Somehow Nehemiah got all God's people in a place where they could hear in such a moment this statement. Now you see something, don't you, you know what's true? The longer we live, the easier it becomes for us to be acclimated to our brokenness. Let me tell you what was probably not true. It was probably not true that the Jewish people had this ready awareness of like, man, you know what, this is not what God intended. They had normalized living a lesser life. They had normalized living in brokenness. They had got used to ruins when God had made them for so much more.

Yeah, let's be real for a save. You ever walked into a situation, maybe even walked into a home, and it was just all in disarray? You ever found yourself down a street and you thought, man, this street's a little scary. Or maybe you walked into a home in the clutter and the chaos and maybe even a level of filth and you think to yourself, how do you live like this? You know what I'm talking about, right? For 70 years the people of God have lived in the lesser. For 70 years, now the righteous judgment of God had brought them to this place because of their rebellion. But the truth is, is God had never intended His people to live like this. God had never intended for His people to live in ruin. God never intended for His people to live with the gates down and anything coming into their life and robbing them of life. And what Nehemiah's starting with is before we could see restoration, before we could see renewal, before we could see revival, we got to see the ruins. We got to recognize this is not it. This is not what God intended for my family. This is not what God intended for my children. This is not what God intended for a nation. This is not what God intended for generations. This is not what God intended around sexuality. This is not what God intended around disunity.

That you have to have a moment where you finally see what God sees. The first thing that's got to happen is you got to have clarity about our condition. First principle of revival, man. Before you can see revival, renewal, you got to have clarity about our condition. Like this is not the way a society flourishes. This is not the way a family flourishes. This is not the way a marriage flourishes. This is not the way children flourish. This is not the way a system, a workplace flourishes. Let me tell you what I think God's doing in this moment right now. He's helping us to see finally. Let me tell you what he's wanting to do in the eyes of his sons and daughters, not just in one, but in all. I want you to see that this is a problem, this is ruin, that this is not what God intended for future generations. Now, can I be real with us in our American context? The rubble that we have is not necessarily walls that are down or there is levels of poverty and blight and things like that that we need to see renewed. But in this room, that might not be our rubble. Our riches can be our rubble. Our greed can be the gate this down. Meaning you can have it all going on out here, but in here, ruin.

In here, the need for renewal, revival, that greed might open the door to every kind of enemy. For the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, in our day, we need to look around and say, "God, is this what you intended us to be?" You know what God intended the church to be? Many different things, aspects to who we are, but at our best, a forever family that's making a real difference in the world. And if we're not being that, we're living a lesser than. Lesser than what God intended for us. God wants to bring clarity to our condition. man, look at that's right, Kyle. Look at the ruin they're living in. You know what I'm talking about. Don't look at me, holy, right? We love the standing judgment of somebody else's ruin. We love being a cynic. I'm gonna let you in on a secret. We got way too many self-appointed prophets that love the blog post until everybody else what they are doing wrong. I'm gonna let that land for a second. (congregation laughing) When if you want to experience real revival and renewal, you say, God, show me the condition of my own heart. Show me ways that I have contributed to the societal breakdown, to they're not being renewal or flourishing in our city,

in our communities, in our marriages. No, no, don't, I don't need to see it out there on behalf of somebody else. Let me see it in here. How have I contributed by things that I've committed, sins I'm committed, or lack of care, or things I've omitted? Me and things I haven't done, haven't cooperated with. Then Nehemiah goes from that, say, hey, we gotta see our true condition too. Come let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision. So he's looking, now we're getting to a call to action in this moment. You're starting to see something. Why don't you look at it? Come let us build the wall of Jerusalem. Let me tell you a secret about redemptive history. God loves, I mean, he loves to pick a person that he might impact the people. He loves us to be in one moment to call out a Moses, a stuttering dude that is hiding on the other side of a mountain, tend in some sheep and go, that's my guy. Nobody else is looking to Moses thinking, that's the guy? He loves to find a roof over here and say, I got her exactly where I need her in this moment that I might use her to bring about generational change. So God loves to use a leader.

God loves to use a person, but God never stops with a person. God uses a leader to call laborers. Go back to that passage of scripture, if you don't mind, where it says, come let us. Come let us, Nehemiah didn't say, come let me. God, Nehemiah didn't say, hey, y'all come watch me. He said, come let us build. Nehemiah's looking into their eyes. And this is what he's saying. And I'm looking into your eyes. Men and women of God, we got work to do. Men and women of God, church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we got work to do. That if we're going to see a wall rebuilt, if we're going to see a society flourish, if we're going to see a generation impacted, it's going to take all of us. I say it again, it's going to take all of us. Interesting, if you go back to that passage of scripture, that we may no longer suffer derision. I mean, break that other translations, the like house says, disgrace. What it meant was we don't even look like the people of God anymore. What it means like our state of living, our engagement with God, not only are we a bad representation of the people of God, we're a bad representation of our God. That goes, I want to let you know in secret, the way in which we live and engage in our culture

and our community is a direct reflection of the goodness of our God. And in this moment, what Nehemiah is saying, there's too much at stake here. It's not just about the rebuilding of a wall, it's about renewing a right view of God. It's about cooperating with God in such a way that he renews cities, he renews streets, he renews families, he renews generations so that when people look at us, they say, our God, their God is good, their God is powerful, their God is in control. So you know what Nehemiah's doing? So you got clarity about our condition. Nehemiah's issuing a call to action. Hey church, do you want to be revival ready? It's not a rhetorical question. I'm asking you and you're ready? I'll preach quicker if you'll respond. (congregation laughing) You want to be revival ready? (congregation murmuring) At some point, you got to accept the call to action. You got to accept the call. Jimmy handed that water in a second. Thank you. You got to find your part in building something. Thanks for the, can we thank Jim for that? There you go. (congregation applauding)

All right, there you go. The thanks, Jim. Cross gates, hear me now. God is calling, it's happening right now. God is calling his church to action again. God is calling his church to listen to me, to not do religion, they'll just go through the motions, but to really engage in the work of God right now, to be a part of building something. To be a part of building something, building something that will matter a million years from now. Now, make no mistake, what Nehemiah was calling them to would not be easy. This is not snow angels that they're gonna make on the ski slope somewhere. This is building a wall in the desert, dude. Hard work, it's gonna be physically taxing, it's gonna be emotionally taxing, it is gonna be on all-out spiritual dog fight. But he's issuing the call nonetheless. If you're waiting for somebody to issue the call, hear it today. The Lord is calling his church to cooperate with the building of his kingdom in our day to reach people, to serve people, to see change come to every space and place in such a way that the world would go, I think God might be real.

I think Jesus might be alive, ruling and reigning. It keeps going through the text of scripture, and I love this now. And I told them, so he's issued the call, call to action, and then he's gonna give him a little confirmation here. And I told them of how the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also the words that the king had spoken to me, let me tell you what, Nehemiah, he's a great leader. Let me tell you one of the ways that's evidence in this moment. He said, guys, I'm gonna let you on in a secret. This is not a Nehemiah idea, this is a God idea. He said, this is not me getting a strategy, this is not me thinking this thing, this is not just me making a plan. God is moving on our behalf. Let's wait, it says again, look at that passage of scripture. It says, and I told them of the hand of my God that was upon me for good, and also of the words of the king, he had spoken to me. He said, I got God's favor on my life, I've got God's hand on my life. Let me tell you an evidence of that in this moment. The pagan little K King gave us permission to come, provisioned once I got here, and we can do this. Listen to me without fear of response from the king.

This is God, guys, that's what he's saying. Let me tell you something that you and I need to know. If you wanna go about the word with some confidence, you need to know that we got the confirmation of God. The confirmation of God, that's a principle to be revival ready, it's the confirmation of God. Can I preach for a second? I don't know why I asked them going to anyway. I think we've forgotten some things. I think we've forgotten some things. God's hand is upon us, Lord Jesus' hand is upon his church. God, the Holy Spirit, is in his people. Come on now, that when you and I make up our mind to be about the great commandment and the great commission, we're not alone. Listen to me now, church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the moment that you and I decide to engage in the mission of God, to make Jesus known every place, you're right in the will of the Father. That the moment that we decide to be a part of kingdom work that brings renewal, that brings about flourishing, that helps hurting people, we don't have to wonder, I wonder if God's gonna be with us. He said, I'm with you. That if you wanna be a part of seeing Jesus build his church, you ain't gotta wonder, God, I wonder if you're gonna help us in that work. He said, I'm already there. You remember the moment where Peter, Jesus was having this conversation, Matthew 16, 18?

I love this passage. It's the moment where Peter finally got it right. Man, listen, as a guy that often talks how to turn the moments that he actually gets it right, it's very encouraging to me, 'cause he's the same guy that says a lot of stupid stuff, okay? But in this moment when he says, hey, who do people say that I am? Some say, well, some say you're John the Baptist, and some say you're one of the other prophets. He said, but who do you say? And Peter says, you are the cross. You're the son of the living God. and Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, "I'm as shocked as anybody, you got it right Peter, right?" (congregation laughs) I tell you the truth, you are Peter and on this rock and the rock's not him, the rock's the confession. The confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, he said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell "will not prevail against it." He said, "People listen to me. "If you give yourself to this work, "nothing can prevail against you." Satan schemes, demonic forces, darkness, principalities, if you give your whole life to seeing, listen to me, not your kingdom built, not building your brand, not building up your name, Jesus is saying, "If you give your life to building my church,

"nothing's gonna prevail against you." Come on now. Church, if we're looking for the confirmation of God, we have it. It's the same thing that God says to Jeremiah when he found himself in exile. He said, "Hey man, the place I sent you next, "I want you to bless it, I want you to pray for it, "I'm with you in it. "I want you to make a difference where I've sent you." Go back to Nehemiah too and it keeps going. So you got the confirmation of God, you got the clarity about our condition, you got a call to action, you got the confirmation of God, and then hear God's people respond. And I wonder if you'd allow this cry to come out of you, 'cause this and the measure to which we will see change in our generation is directly tethered to, will this ever come out of us in a way that we mean it? And they said, "Let us rise and build." So they strengthen their hand for the good work. Let me tell you what this is not, this is not a hoorah moment. It's not a moment where they're like, "Yeah, we're in." And then five minutes later, they're out. This is a soul surrender. This is a moment where they said, "Let us rise and build." It was a genuine surrender,

meaning they finally saw the rubble around them. They recognized that this is not what God intended for their families, for their future, for generations of the faith. They heard the call to action. They heard God speaking through Nehemiah saying, "Would you come and help me build this?" They saw the confirmation of God that God has given us favor. He's fulfilling his 70-year-long promise that God's given us favor even in the eyes of a pagan king and their response was, "Let's get after it." Let's go to work. Let's go to work. Let me tell you what's interesting. You'll see this, don't miss any of the weeks ahead. It starts in their own home. It starts right in front of their own home. If they find their part, their place in the work, to let's get up and get to work. Can you imagine what would happen if 2,000-plus people in Little O Brandon, Mississippi, in Rankin County, at the spirit of the living God, were to so move upon us and we were to say each and every one of us and mean it, Lord, we're in. Let's rise and build, not cross-gates, not a denomination to be a part of seeing the kingdom of God built. To see change come to Rankin County,

to see change come to the state of Mississippi, to see generational change come to schools, to see change come to your neighborhood, to say, God, I'm gonna pray my part, I'm gonna reach the people you put in front of me, I'm gonna serve in the church that you place me in. They wouldn't merely be 200 that are doing it, but every person got in it. And by the way, for some good news, the Lord is already doing these things in our region, right? He's already doing these things in our nation, and the wind is blowing. The work of God is advancing. The question, what measure will we stretch out the sail of our soul and catch the wind of God's work? How many of us will be a part of it and look up 10 years from now and go, did you see what God just did? Changed the nation, changed the region, changed the generation. I love it, it says, go back to the verse of scripture, if you don't mind, it says, and they strengthen their hand for the good work. And we tell you what the picture is 'cause you ready? Those hands that were strengthened are soon gonna carry a trowel, meaning to put stuff in the brick and the block of the wall, they're gonna have a trowel in one hand

and they're gonna have a sword in the other. But they had to make up their mind on the front side. Hands, it's time to work in war again. Hands, it's time to work in war again. They had to have their strength renewed in their hands again. And I wanna say something to some discouraged believers out there, you said, "Call I've been here before, "my hands are tired, "we'll buy the power of the Holy Spirit, "strengthen your hands again." I mean, hey, strengthen your hands again on behalf of your family. Strengthen your hands again on behalf of this church. Strengthen your hands again on behalf of a city. Strengthen your hands again. I know it's easy to get tired, we all do. Now's the time to work. Now's the time to war again. So they strengthened their hands. You know what it was? It was a commitment to the call. It was a commitment to the call. They heard the call to action. They see the confirmation of God. And then they made a commitment to the call. Let me tell you something that's awesome. I'ma be done in just a second. Miss Laura, you can go ahead and come. It doesn't mean I'm that close to being done though, okay? I just like the music.

Let me tell you what they didn't know. Guys, listen to this, you know what they didn't know? Once they made this commitment, they didn't know what we know. What we know, 52 days after that commitment, the wall was gonna be completed. Come on, nobody thought that was possible. 52 days after that commitment, God had changed the future for the generations to come. Have your eyes for just a second. You have no idea what kind of change is on the other side of your commitment. Your whole hearted surrender, man. Saying, God, I wanna be a part of your work. I wanna be a part of you advancing your kingdom here. I wanna be a part of you building your church, Jesus. Here I wanna be a part of you bringing change to generations here, 52 days later. The world had literally been changed. Now, I wanna let you know in secret. On the other side of them putting their work gloves on, making a commitment, it was not sunshine and rainbows from there. The literal next verse, don't you think about it? They hear this compelling vision. They hear this call to action. They make their commitment to it. And then verse 19, but when sand ballad, that guy. The horned night until by the Ammonaut serving,

yes, from the area heard of it, they jeered at us. Despised us and said, what is this thing you're doing? Are you rebelling against the king? They barely got their work gloves on. And the enemies already putting words in their mind. Anybody ever been there before? Come on. I'm gonna follow Jesus with all my heart. I'm gonna make disciples. I'm gonna serve, I'm gonna pray. And then on the side of you hear the whisper, who are you? Anybody ever heard that before? The hiss of the enemy? Well, God can't use you. You're too big a mess. I made too many mistakes. You gotta leave that for the spiritually elite. And then we see what the enemy does. He even levels the crosshairs. The confirmation God had given him. Is that that little K King had given them the provision? And what does the enemy do, the hiss? What are you rebelling against the king? Try to make him afraid. We wait till we tell the king that this is about rebelling against him. That's not been one statement of rebellion. I'm gonna let you in on a secret. If you get serious about following the Lord Jesus cross,

you get serious about the work of God. The enemy's gonna get serious about you. And hear me, if you wanna be a part of this kind of work, the true conflict is coming. I feel it this morning. I've been warring and working and believing. I feel it. I feel the enemy like, ah, I think work. Ah, it's just how you just thinking stuff. that you might believe. Let me tell you something about the enemy. He's been lying a long time. He's got some good ones. Let me tell you what I love about Nehemiah. This is either vertical. Man, the vertical demeanor of Nehemiah. I think God had to birth this in that four months of seeking him, fasting, and praying that when that horizontal accusation came, he went straight vertical. He said, "Then I replied to them, 'The God of heaven will make us prosper.'" And we, his servants, will arise and build, but you make no mistake about this, send by a ballad to buy a gashim. You may know mistake about this, but you'll have no portion right or claim in Jerusalem. God's work is going to be so established here. He's going to run you out. Come on now. You talk about bold as a line. He goes, "But the God of heaven is going to make us prosper. We're going to cooperate. You're going to lose." God's going to help us see a city established. God's going to help us see generations redeemed. God's going to help us prosper in such a way that his church flourishes. We, we're going to do our part. We're going to pray. We're going to pray. We're going to live on the edge of mission. We're going to go after people that are far from God, that are broken, that are hurting. We're going to try to help them find hope. We're going to serve in this church. Nobody's going to have to shame me to serve in kids ministry. Nobody's going to shame us the part way over here. By the way, you killed it today. Nobody's going to have to shame us. Listen, nobody's going to shame us to this because I'm a part of this work. I'm going to find a team to serve on. I'm going to live on the edge of mission

because I got work gloves on. By the way, enemy, you'll have no part portion or claim. That's the last thing. If you're going to be revival ready, it's the courage to keep going. It's the courage to keep going. I wonder, church, what's God saying to us this morning. I would encourage you. You don't miss any of the weeks ahead because this is just going to get better and better. It's going to get better and better. But what today do you hear the Lord saying to you? You ask our prayer leaders to come. Go ahead and bow your head for a moment. Hey, we pray with people every Sunday. We prayed over a ton of people last week. Maybe you're hearing you're in the ruins and you need somebody to help lift you up to pray with you. As our prayer leaders come, don't wait. If you're here, you'll go, "Call. I'm in the devastation. The gates are down in my life and I need somebody to believe with me for something." Maybe you're hearing you need to surrender, man. Maybe you're like me and I found myself looking at these passages of Scripture saying, "God, strengthen my hands again. Strengthen my hands again to make a fresh commitment to the call." I said, "God, whatever, however, you want me to be a part of your work." Now, when nobody else looking around, I want you to listen to me for just a second. Near my road in to Jerusalem. In many ways, he was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ because Jesus wrote into Jerusalem wept over him. Then he accomplished the work that nobody could accomplish. He defeated sin and death so that you and I might receive eternal life. Some of you are here this morning and you're not a part of the word yet because you've not received the work of Jesus Christ. So if you're here today, I don't want to have a service. We don't offer this opportunity. If you're here today and you need Jesus to make you a part of that forever family, but nobody else looking around. Nobody else looking around. You say, "Call. I hear all these things, but I'm not one of his kids yet. I'm not been saved by Christ adopted in his family, but I want to be." If you need Jesus to save you this morning, I want you to just be bold for a second. I want you to look at me and raise your hand and say, "Call us me this morning." I need that. I need the saving work of Jesus Christ in my life. I wait for you. You got to be bold. Say, "That's me, dude. I need that. I need that. I need that." Awesome. The simplicity of the gospel is this. Looking at me won't save you crying out to him, can you? in your heart to him right there? If you're here and you need Jesus

to make you part of his family, say, Lord, I confess my sin this morning. I'm turning from it, putting trust in your work on my bath, save me more from you. If that was you this morning, nobody else looking around, I want you to just look at me for a second. If that was you this morning, you put faith in what Christ has done for you. Big stay of your life, best decision of your life. Now, listen, you got to have the courage to keep going. Let me tell you what the courage to keep going is today is that you walk out of this room, you go by that next step center, like many do every week. You got to walk past it. All you do is walk up to that next step center and say to somebody, I need a box. If you'll do that, we'll help you take the next steps in your newfound faith. Father, thank you for your presence. This morning, your word to us, I pray that you have been glorified in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hey, let's stand in worship. If you need to be prayed for, we'd be honored to do that right now. ♪ I hope this builds on nothing left ♪ ♪ Then Jesus' blood and righteousness ♪

♪ I dare not trust the sweetest frame ♪ ♪ But holy trust in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ My hope is built on nothing left ♪ ♪ Then Jesus' blood and righteousness ♪ ♪ I dare not trust the sweetest frame ♪ ♪ But holy trust in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Christ alone, cornerstone ♪ ♪ The legal made strong in the Savior's love ♪ ♪ And through the stroke, He is Lord, Lord of all ♪ ♪ When darkness seems to hide His faith ♪ ♪ I rest on knees, unchanging grave ♪ ♪ In every high and stormy game ♪ ♪ My anchor holds within the bed ♪ ♪ My anchor holds within the bed ♪ ♪ In the bed of Christ alone, cornerstone ♪ ♪ The legal made strong in the Savior's love ♪ ♪ And through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all ♪ ♪ Lord, Lord of all ♪ ♪ He is Lord, Lord of all ♪ ♪ Christ alone, cornerstone ♪ ♪ We've made strong in the Savior's love ♪ ♪ Through the stroke, He is Lord, Lord of all ♪ ♪ Christ alone, cornerstone ♪ ♪ We've made strong in the Savior's love ♪ ♪ Through the stroke, He is Lord, Lord of all ♪ ♪ Lord, Lord of all ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) (upbeat music) Hello, Cross Gates family.

Please bow your heads and extend your hands to receive this blessing. Be blessed, Cross Gates family, with a burden for the lost. Lost family members, lost co-workers, lost friends and neighbors. Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours. May you be blessed with a desire to fast and pray for God's people much like Nehemiah prayed for the people of Jerusalem. May you be blessed, Cross Gates family, with a clarity of purpose. A purpose that builds up the kingdom of God. May you have an unusual knowledge of how to operate within the gifts that God has bestowed on each of us to advance his kingdom. And may you be blessed with favor from your superiors. A favor that can only be explained as a work of God. A favor that confirms your purpose and his plan for your life. I speak over you. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 12. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. Be blessed today, Cross Gates family. You're dismissed. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]