Stacking Strength (Wade Joye)

0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.399 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.479 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:16.280 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:21.360 It feels awesome today. My name is Wade Joy. I'm 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:24.160 the worship pastor here and I have the incredible honor 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:26.800 and privilege to bring God's word to you this weekend. 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.720 I am so excited about what God has given me 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:35.360 to share. But first of all, how awesome was that 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:41.440 message from Pastor Stephen last weekend? The pressure to perform, 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.040 and if I'm being real, I feel just a little 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:46.360 bit of pressure being on this stage right now. We're 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:51.080 the greatest preacher on the planet, preaches every single weekend. 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:56.360 But that sermon last week it helped me so much 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:59.040 to live out of a place of purpose and not 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:01.800 trying to perform for us people. And in fact, Pastor 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:03.880 Stephen was in a meeting with our campus pastors and 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.200 a lot of our church leaders this week and he 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.000 was really encouraging us as we talked about that message. 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:11.720 When we look at ministry to always lean into what 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.240 is most helpful for people, not what is going to 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.760 impress an audience. And when he said that, it made 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:20.440 me just extra thankful for all the sermons that he's 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:24.000 preached that have helped me love God more, helped me 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:26.160 trust the Lord more fully, help me believe that God 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.760 can actually use somebody like me. So if anything in 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:32.880 this ministry has helped you, can you just appreciate what 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:41.800 God has done through the church. So God has given 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.160 me something that I hope helped you. And if you 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:46.080 can just remain standing as we look at our main 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.400 text today, it's found in Meaemiah chapter six. And I 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.720 was studying this book with a lot of our worship 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.320 leaders earlier in the year and God just began to 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:57.800 illuminate some truths in my heart that helped me a lot. 0:01:57.960 --> 0:01:59.600 And if you don't know about Nehemiah, he was a 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:03.600 leader who led a remnant of Jews back to Jerusalem 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.760 out of exile, and he was tasked with rebuilding the 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.320 wall around Jerusalem. The wall was broken down, the city 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:12.120 was vulnerable, and God had given him this great task. 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:14.239 But he faced a lot of opposition. He faced a 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.079 lot of setbacks, and that's kind of where we find 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:19.440 him right now. Nehemiah chapter six, and it says this 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.320 when word came to sand Ballot, to Baia, Guessham, the 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:25.080 Arab and the rest of our enemies, that I had 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.440 rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:29.520 up though up to that time I had not set 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.200 the doors in the gates. Sand Ballot and Gesham sent 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.919 me this message, Come let us meet together in one 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.880 of the villages on the plane of oh No. Side. 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:39.880 Note nothing good happens in a place called oh No. 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.520 Just trust me there. But they were scheming to harm me. 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.120 So I sent messengers to them with this reply, I'm 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:48.920 carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:50.880 should the workstop? Well, I leave it and go down 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.240 to you. Four times they sent me the same message, 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:55.600 and each time I gave them the same answer. Then 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:57.880 the fifth time, Sambalot sent his aid to me with 0:02:57.960 --> 0:02:59.840 the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:03.160 life in which was written it is reported among the nations, 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:05.239 and Gesham says, it is true that you and the 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.760 Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.760 the wall. Moreover, according to these reports. You're about to 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.720 become their king. And I've even appointed prophets to make 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:16.639 this proclamation about you in Jerusalem. There is a king 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.200 in Judah. Now this report will get back to the king. 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:21.720 So come let us meet together. And I sent him 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.640 this reply. Nothing like what you are saying is happening. 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:26.679 You are just making it up out of your head. 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:28.000 I just gave you a new bibble verse you can 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:30.960 quote to some of the people in your life. They 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.520 were all trying to frighten us, thinking their hands will 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:35.520 get too weak for the work and it will not 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.520 be completed. But I prayed, now strengthen my hands. So 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:45.240 the title today's message is stacking strength. Stacking strength. Come on, 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.760 let's pray together. Lord. I thank you for the strength 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.200 that flows from your word. God, I thank you for 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:53.920 the strength that flows from your presence. So Lord, right now, 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:56.720 I prayed that you will speak a very specific word 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.200 to everybody under the sound of my voice, as your 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.520 word is reached in Jesus' name. Amen, All right, come on, 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:05.800 give a couple of hugs Memorial Day hugs as you 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:19.080 have a seat. So I had a bit of an 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:23.560 old man's rite of passage recently last week I turned 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:28.760 forty three, was my forty third birthday. Thank you. I 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.360 share a birthday with the Great Holly Ferdic. I'm much older, though, 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:35.359 and I've really been praying to get that George Clooney 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.120 anointing because I want to believe that I'm going to 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.920 get better with age, that the gray in my beard 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.400 makes me look more distinguished, makes me look more handsome, 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:46.280 that I'm in the wisdom zone of with all this experience. 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:48.520 But every day my body is telling me that that 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.680 is a lie, because everything hurts. I think my knee 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.720 hurts right now. But you know, a couple months ago, 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:57.599 I was in a meeting and I started to get 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.680 this just stabbing pain in my right and I had 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.120 to wait it out a little bit because I don't 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:04.479 know if you're like this, but I'm the kind of 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.839 guy that I can't google any symptoms I have. I 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.000 can't go to web md because I automatically go to 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.719 the worst case scenario possible, even like one little snuff 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:16.880 and I think I'm done for or I think I 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.359 have this like disease. It's only in two percent of 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:21.440 the population in Brazil, and somehow it's found its way 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.880 to me and Charlotte, North Carolina. But this, this stabbing pain, 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.880 it wouldn't go away, and I couldn't even focus. And 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:30.960 it reminded me of when I had my appendix out 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.600 about fifteen or twenty years ago. But since my appendix 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.279 isn't there anymore, I realized something was wrong, and so 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.040 I started to sweat in the meeting, I started to 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.039 pace around. I couldn't concentrate. So I just had to 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.440 leave and I went to the emergency room because I 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:45.800 knew something serious was actually wrong. So once I navigated 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.160 the glorious place that is the waiting room of the 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.919 emergency room, I made it back to the doctor. I 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.120 started to talk through my symptoms and where the pain 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.000 was and where the pain was spreading to and I'll 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.560 save you those details. And he looked at me and 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:01.839 he said, oh, you've got a kidney stone. Some people 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:04.080 have had. I heard some of those groans right there. 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.600 You know, you feel my pain, and you know I 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:10.920 knew my day of reckoning had finally come. For all 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.479 the soft drinks that I drink. So if you know me, 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:19.640 on a good day, I drink about six diet cokes. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:24.080 Are this healthier soda called ZeVA six a day most days. 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:28.480 Most days I'm more in like the ten eleven twelve range. 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:30.960 I know, just bring on all the judgment. I was 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:38.800 ready for it. It's my vice, but thank you. But 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:42.880 if you multiply six soft drinks a day times three 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.480 hundred and sixty five days a year times twenty years 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:47.880 that I've really kind of been been doing this, that 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:53.560 equals one very painful kidney stone. And so as my 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:55.560 doctor and I were talking, he then said what I 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:56.920 was waiting for him to say, and he said, do 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:00.000 you want morphine? And he then said, you know, you know, 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.760 having a kidney stone is the closest a man will 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.919 get to childbirth. I know all the women are just 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:08.800 rolling your eyes. You think we're a bunch of WIMPs. 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.960 Now we are. I am, And since I'm not into 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:14.320 natural childbirth, I said, give me all the medicine. You 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.720 can give me the morphine. I am ready right now. 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.520 So once I got that, I was good to go. 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:22.920 I was feeling better. They did some tests and they said, 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:24.960 you have a three millimeter kidney stone, which is a 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:28.360 medium sized stone. Six millimeters or more we'd consider a 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.360 large stone. And then we do the procedure to break 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.960 it apart and it'll pass much easier. And so I 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:34.400 was just waiting to find out, how are you going 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:36.280 to get this out of me today? Because I've heard 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.360 horror stories about passing this thing and I do not 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.640 want to experience that. And all they did is gave 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.240 me some muscle relaxers, some pain meds, and a filter 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.360 to catch it in and said this will come out 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:50.800 sometime in the next two to three weeks. That is 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.320 not what I wanted to hear, because three milimeters might 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:55.240 sound small to you, but it was a mountain to me, 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:57.600 and I need a God to move that mountain. Right then, 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:01.160 I was praying every prayer of faith I could possibly pray, 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:03.440 and thankfully the Lord heard my cry and in his mercy, 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:07.960 the next day it passed. But I never knew that 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.720 something so small could stop me dead in my tracks, 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:17.559 something three millimeters could shut my system down, because small 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:21.440 things make a big impact. And honestly, that's been the 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:23.400 motto I've lived by. I mean, that's the short man's 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:28.520 motto right there. I've always any any story where the 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:30.600 short guy is the hero I love. That's why I 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:32.600 love Lord of the Rings. I can relate to hobbits 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:36.880 is awesome. Any story in the Bible where, like you know, 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.280 the giant is slain with the one small stone, or 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.679 the mountains could be moved with faith the size of 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:44.080 a mustard seed or a kidney stone. I cheer about that. 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:47.960 I love I love that. But it also can work 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:50.120 the other way, And this is the way that we 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:54.160 don't cheer about as much. Where a decade long friendship 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:59.679 can be ruined by one betrayal or one mistake can 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:04.640 have ramatic implications for your entire future. Galatians five nine 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:08.520 and the Passion translation says, don't you know that when 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:11.520 you allow even a little lie into your heart, it 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.920 can permeate your entire belief system. See I want to 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:19.240 be the guy like Nehemiah who does great things for God. 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:22.440 I want to be the guy that builds the wall. 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.920 But there is one little lie that makes me feel 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:31.480 like a failure over and over and over again. See. 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:33.840 I know all the promises of Scripture and that all 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:36.480 God's promises are yes and amen for me and Christ Jesus. 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.680 But there's one little lie that looks like the truth 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.480 that has taken up residency in my heart, and it 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.240 makes me feel like I can't do anything that matters 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.680 for God. It makes me think that God is using 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.360 other people more than he's using me, and it stops 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.360 me in my tracks time and time again. And this 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.880 lie is so dangerous because it sounds a lot like 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:58.800 the truth. And it's this and maybe you struggle with 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.480 this as well. But the lie I tell myself all 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.280 too often is that my greatest impact happens when I 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:09.480 take giant steps of faith. So my greatest impact happens 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:11.920 when I take giant steps of faith. And maybe you 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:13.960 don't struggle with this the way I do, But I 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.760 feel like God only uses me when I take the 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.600 big risk, when I take the huge step of faith. 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:22.640 If I'm being honest, I feel like God only uses 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:24.280 me the two times a year I'm on this stage 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:27.160 preaching or some of you know about you know how 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:28.800 my kids were born and they had a lot of 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.640 medical issues, and we prayed for miracles in the hospital 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:33.960 and we saw those miracles, and I felt like God 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:37.600 used me then. But what about every other day? That 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:42.320 seems really really ordinary. I read a study on the internet, 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:47.480 which of course means it's true that said the average 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:51.080 person gets fifteen days of perfect happiness a year. So 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:53.360 I don't know how they define perfect happiness, but no 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:55.559 matter what, that's just depressing right right there. So two 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:59.440 weeks of happiness a year, and I realized that I 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.079 kind of think of faith that way. Then I might 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:05.520 get fifteen perfect faith days a year where I can 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:07.920 actually see God using me, I can see the evidence 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:11.600 of it. I feel like I'm in the faith zone. 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.760 And that just makes me feel so defeated, because what 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:19.120 about the other fifty weeks of the year, when I'm 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.200 in meetings, when I'm answering emails, when I'm chow foring 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.719 my kids to and from their practices. How is God 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:27.880 working in my life? Then? Have you ever felt like that? 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.160 Have you ever wondered? Am I even making a difference 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:35.440 in the ordinary and mundane routine of life? Well? I 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.280 have two. And God has really been helping me with 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.520 this passage from me Amiah. Break down that lie and 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.960 replace it with a truth, because whenever you get rid 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:44.720 of a lie, you have to replace it with something 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.240 that is true. And so what God has been teaching 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:49.120 me is this, And I want you to hold onto this. 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.520 If you get nothing else from this message, I want 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.080 you to walk away with this, and that is that 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:56.760 my greatest impact doesn't happen through giant steps of faith, 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:02.200 but rather through daily steps of faithfulness. God doesn't just 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:06.200 move through the dramatic. He does do that, but more 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:09.439 often than not, he moves through the daily, the day 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:11.760 to day. See Nei a Mayah took the giant step 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.400 to build the wall, but what inspires me about his 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:19.000 story is how he persevered in the day today, obedience 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.200 even when it's hard. And so that's what I want 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:23.840 us to talk about today. There's three principles in this 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.720 passage that are helping me a lot to believe that 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.520 God can use me even when it doesn't seem like 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:31.240 it around me, and I hope they help you too. 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:33.200 The first is this, and if you're a note taker, 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:37.400 go ahead and write this down. The impact definishing is 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:43.040 greater than the excitement of starting. The impact definishing is 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:47.320 greater than the excitement of starting. See even though it 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:49.960 doesn't say it explicitly in this text, I have to 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:54.080 believe that the people in Jerusalem were feeling energized because 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.640 the wall looked to be complete. I mean, the walls 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.320 were high, they look strong. I imagine they were standing 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.000 there trying to get just the perfect selfie with the 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.240 walls in the background to post on Instagram. They were 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:09.160 feeling energized by the progress. But there was one detail 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:10.800 that you might have glossed over, because I did it 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:12.760 first in the first verse of this chapter, and it 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.280 says this when word came to Sambalot to buy a 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:18.440 guess in the Arab and the rest of our enemies, 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:20.680 that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.040 was left in it, though up to that time I 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:27.439 had not set the doors in the gates. See, there 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.160 wasn't a gap in the wall, but there was a 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:33.280 pretty big gap where the doors should have been. There 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.280 was a pretty big gap where the gate was. There 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:38.160 was a lot of progress that had been made, but 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.160 the work hadn't been completed yet. How many of y'all 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:42.800 were here for a series that we did about a 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:45.600 year ago called Gates of Change. It was an awesome, 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.640 awesome series. I loved it. Some of you did too, 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:53.560 and we learned in this series how important gates were 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:57.320 to ancient cities. They were the place of commerce, of trials, 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.000 proclamations from kings. A lot of stuff happened at the gate, 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.280 but it was also the most vulnerable part of the 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.160 city because it was the part that enemies sought to 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.840 conquer first, because if you could control the gate, you 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:12.000 could control the city. So no matter how high and 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.240 strong and mighty these walls were, the city was still 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:19.320 vulnerable because the gates weren't in place, the work wasn't done. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:23.640 So we loved to start things, but finishing things is 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.880 a different matter, and we used to experience this a 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.480 lot back in the early days of songwriting for our 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.360 church ten eleven, twelve years ago. First of all, y'all 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:38.160 know nothing about old school elevation worship, but Pastor Stephen 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:41.000 commissioned us to write songs, and you know, me and 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:42.400 Chris and the rest of the team, we had no 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:44.920 idea how to write worship songs. So anything that had, 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.760 you know, remotely rhymed kind of had a melody to 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.280 it was somewhat scripturally accurate. We would just test it 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:53.840 out on the poor people of our church. It was 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:56.560 not FDA approved yet, it did not have the official 0:14:56.600 --> 0:15:00.360 worship song stamp of approval, but the church was patient 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.560 with us. It served its purpose in that time, but 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.800 it was a huge blessing when Pastor Stephen got involved 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.520 in the songwriting process because he would say, Okay, that's 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:12.440 not a song, that's an idea, that's a rough draft. 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:16.160 We need to take this round two, round three, round four, five, 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:19.280 round ten, because he wanted us to really dig to 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:22.240 find what was most meaningful for our church to sing. 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.160 And that's why there's a song like Resurrecting that means 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.600 so much to our church. But it took a year 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:30.800 to write, and I remember, you know, nine months and 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.000 ten months, and Pastor Stephen was trying to find just 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:36.120 the perfect line for that fourth verse that would just 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.440 elicit faith when we sang it at our church. And 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:42.400 so now our team is on a European tour and 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:44.800 when they get to the fourth verse and singing the 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.640 tumb where soldiers watched in vain was barred four three days, 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:49.840 his body there would not remain. Our God has robbed 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.680 the grave. There's going to be shouts halfway across the 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.600 world because of that line and how it elicits faith 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.880 in people's hearts. But that didn't come with the song idea. 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:03.520 That came after a year of work. You see, starting 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:07.440 is fun, Starting is exciting. We love to launch the 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.840 business we love to ask the girl out. We love 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.520 to celebrate our kids first steps, and in fact, celebrating 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:16.680 first steps is awesome. We go nuts here when somebody 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:19.240 makes their first step of faith, committing their life to Jesus. 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:23.520 That's why we exist as a church that deserves celebration. 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.480 You know, when when you're making your vows at the 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.520 altar on your wedding day, hopefully you're celebrating. If you're not, 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.880 you're not making a good decision there. But how many 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:38.240 of you know? Saying those valves is one thing. Living 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:42.000 out those valves fifteen years later is a completely different matter. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.440 Now you have about one hundred of your friends and 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:46.680 families celebrating you on your wedding day, They're not there 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:48.520 with you in your living room fifteen years later when 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.880 you and your wife can't even speak speak to each other. 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:55.360 So you thought building or planning the wedding was the wall. 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.680 The wall was building a marriage. That's what takes work. 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:02.400 Making the baby is fun. Trust me, I've got some 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:08.120 babies and it's fun raising those babies in their middle 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.960 school years, their high school years. I haven't hit that yet, 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.440 but I heard it's a lot of fun. But trying 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:17.399 to show them what it looks like to be a 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:18.960 man or a woman of God when you feel in 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:20.840 perfect yourself and you don't feel like you have your 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:22.840 stuff together, but you're trying to be there for them 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:25.480 and love them in times where they're not very lovable. 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:30.119 Raising a child is hard. It takes We're coming to 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.440 church one time is awesome. We are so glad you're 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.080 here if this is your first time. But to actually 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:37.240 have your life change the way God wants to change 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.639 your life, it takes being here consistently. A lot of 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:43.080 you heard about eGroups earlier. That is the power of 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.000 an e group. It's getting people in your life consistently. 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:49.400 And can I be honest with you about one thing. 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:53.159 This is some therapy for me. I used to hate 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:57.480 that word consistent because people would use it to describe 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:59.320 me and they would say, wait, it is just so 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:02.919 con and the way I translated that is Wade is 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:07.040 so boring. I hated that word. I didn't want to 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.359 be the consistent one. I wanted to be the guy 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:12.400 that was that was exciting and had a quick wit 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.080 and was so insightful and was the life of the party. 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:19.719 And Wade's a great singer, but instead I got Wade's 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:24.880 just consistent sounds so lame. It's like, it's like, you 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.600 know the girl, she has such a great personality. I 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:29.440 never wanted to be the guy with the good personality. 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:33.919 I wanted to be the hot one. Now some of 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.280 you married the hot one, and thirty years later you 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.399 wish you married the one with the good personality. Just 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:44.560 look look straight ahead at me. You're good. We'll get 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:53.959 through this. But what I am learning. What I'm learning 0:18:54.200 --> 0:19:00.359 is that Jesus celebrates consistency because consistency is power powerful. 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:05.399 It might not be flashy, but consistency actually changes things. 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.600 Consistency makes a huge difference. I mean, I had that 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.960 stupid kidney stone because I consistently drank diet cokes every 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:16.600 day for twenty years. Consistency makes a difference. This church 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:21.760 is built on consistency. Consistent volunteers who serve every single 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:24.600 weekend when you feel like it and when you don't. 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.760 We couldn't do it without you. This church is built 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:33.080 on consistent generosity, people who give and prioritize God through 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:36.920 the tithe in plentiful seasons and in hard seasons. See. 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:40.520 The church is built on consistency. And I feel the 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:42.159 benefit of that and the impact of that in my 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.359 family because my daughter, my youngest daughter, Sidney, she gave 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:49.040 her life to Christ this past Good Friday, which was awesome. 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.240 How cool was that to do that on Good Friday? 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.600 And it made me so thankful for all of our 0:19:56.600 --> 0:20:00.680 e Kids volunteers who showed up consistently to show her 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:03.480 what it looks like to love Jesus. And they showed 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:05.760 up to serve when she was behaving, and they showed 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:07.560 up to serve when she was not behaving. She was 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:09.480 not going to get a gold star that day. You 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:11.199 showed up to serve when you were feeling like it. 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:12.720 You showed up to serve when you did it, and 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:16.159 my family is different and change because of you. So 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:19.280 thank you on behalf of all the families at Elevation Church. 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:21.760 I want to thank the unseen Heroes and our e 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:27.720 Kids Department. Consistency makes a difference, and I also think 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:32.520 it's important to God because our culture doesn't celebrate consistency. 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:38.240 Our culture celebrates convenience, leaving the hard thing to chase 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:41.160 the thrill of the new thing. But I think God 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:43.760 wants to show what it looks like when a people 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:46.639 actually stays in the hard thing and makes it better. 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:50.040 Who can honor their commitments when it hurts. Who can 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:54.439 do the hard thing consistently, over and over again. Who 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:56.720 don't just chase the new thing, but do the old 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:59.639 thing with a new passion. So turn to your neighbor, 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:04.080 speak the over yourself, say I am consistent. I like 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:07.560 the sound of that, all right. The second principle is this, 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:11.560 the path of least resistance is rarely the path of obedience. 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:17.800 The path of least resistance is rarely the path of obedience. 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:20.840 So one of the things I heard a lot growing 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:24.119 up in church to justify decisions, and I said it, 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.000 I heard it a lot. Maybe you've heard this too, 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:28.720 is I've just got a piece about it? Have you 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:31.719 ever said that? This is not a trick question? It's 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:33.720 okay if you have. I got a girl dumped me 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:36.200 one time because God gave her a piece about it. 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:40.560 And I thought God was big enough to have some 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:42.159 peace to go around and give me a piece and 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:43.520 give me a little bit of a heads up. But 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:46.800 he failed to do that at that time. But it 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:51.160 made me feel so unspiritual because most of the things 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:54.320 I felt like God wanted me to do. I rarely 0:21:54.359 --> 0:21:57.440 felt peace about In fact, they usually scared me to death. 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:01.800 And I think me and Mayah probably didn't feel a 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:05.000 lot of peace in the situation he was in. So 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:07.760 he was confronted with this rumor at this time that 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:09.879 could have gotten him killed. And I want us to 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:12.919 look at verse six so you can see it. It 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:16.280 says it is reported among the nations, and Gesham says, 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:18.800 it is true that you and the Jews are plotting 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:22.280 to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. So 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:24.680 here we have this rumor that he's building this wall 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:26.760 just so he can revolt against the king of Persia. 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:29.160 So if that rumor gets back to the king, Nehemiah 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:32.080 is dead. Now. If he goes to the plane of 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:34.840 oh No to meet with these people who started the rumor, 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:36.640 they're setting a trap firm. If he goes and tries 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:38.920 to refute the rumor and set the matter straight, he's 0:22:38.920 --> 0:22:42.600 dead there too. So it's a no win situation for Niemiah. 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:45.440 I have to imagine that he was tempted to take 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:47.679 the path of least resistance, would be to kind of 0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:50.080 get out of town quietly, go find another city, go 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:53.320 find another wall, to build, but the path of least 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:57.920 resistance would also be the path of disobedience. I don't 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:00.240 think Nehemiah when he was sitting there, thinking, God, know 0:23:00.280 --> 0:23:02.959 you called me to build this wall, and I'm facing 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:05.560 this opposition, but I'm going to trust you anyway. I 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:08.639 don't think that was a peaceful decision. And it reminded 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:10.600 me of something Pastor Stevens taught us, and that is 0:23:10.640 --> 0:23:16.240 that peace rarely comes before obedience. Peace is a byproduct 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:20.800 of obedience. Peace comes after you obey. We can't wait 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:24.560 for our emotions or our feelings to validate God's voice 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:26.359 when we know his word has told us to do this, 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:29.240 when we know his spirit is leading us to fight 0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:32.200 for something. So you're praying for guidance and you're praying 0:23:32.200 --> 0:23:34.480 that God speaks and you know that you see this 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:36.359 in his word, and you know you should take this step, 0:23:36.400 --> 0:23:38.280 and you know you should stay in this relationship and 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:40.600 fight for it. But you're just waiting for this feeling 0:23:40.640 --> 0:23:44.640 and this emotion to tell you it's okay. And fighting 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:47.440 for something is not a very peaceful thing. And God 0:23:47.440 --> 0:23:49.360 has called us as a people to fight for love, 0:23:49.440 --> 0:23:52.679 to fight for reconciliation, to fight for peace. Changing this 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:55.560 world is not an easy thing, and peace doesn't come 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:58.439 until after we obey. It is a hard thing to 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:02.399 forgive somebody when they It doesn't feel very peaceful to 0:24:02.440 --> 0:24:04.760 take that step in to do it, But peace will 0:24:04.760 --> 0:24:08.639 come after the reconciliation, and that takes work. You know, 0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:11.160 some of you high school students, it's not a peaceful 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:14.159 thing to stand up for the kid who's bullied and 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:17.160 isn't treated with any dignity or respect. But you have 0:24:17.240 --> 0:24:19.920 no idea what that simple act of courage would mean 0:24:19.960 --> 0:24:22.640 in that person's life. But it's not a peaceful thing 0:24:22.680 --> 0:24:25.640 to stand up against your friends. Some of you made 0:24:25.680 --> 0:24:27.679 commitments at the end of the year to give and 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:30.680 to begin to prioritize God through tithing, and now these 0:24:30.720 --> 0:24:33.480 bills hit that you weren't planning on, and it is 0:24:33.520 --> 0:24:35.960 a hard thing and it hurts sometimes to honor your 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:39.200 commitment to God. But God always promises that he will 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:42.119 bless us when we are faithful and we will trust 0:24:42.200 --> 0:24:46.080 him and when we obey. And if I'm telling the 0:24:46.080 --> 0:24:51.400 truth right now, sometimes I use peace as an excuse 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:54.400 to get out of doing the hard thing. So I've 0:24:54.440 --> 0:24:57.840 said I've got a peace about this and it's given 0:24:57.880 --> 0:24:59.840 me the excuse to leave the hard thing when really 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:02.919 what I was feeling was relief, not peace. Relief and 0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:05.439 peace are not the same thing. And some of you 0:25:06.359 --> 0:25:10.000 might have walked out on commitments, walked out of relationships, 0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:12.320 and you claimed you had peace, but you really just 0:25:12.359 --> 0:25:14.520 felt relief because you could wash your hands of the problem. 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:19.399 God is calling us to be people who fight for peace, 0:25:19.760 --> 0:25:22.439 who are willing to do the hard thing, who don't 0:25:22.480 --> 0:25:26.119 wait on the emotion, because sometimes those opportunities do not 0:25:26.240 --> 0:25:32.200 last forever. And I learned this the hard way. See, 0:25:32.480 --> 0:25:36.160 I have two amazing parents. They raised me in church, 0:25:36.200 --> 0:25:37.880 they raised me to love God. They set a great 0:25:37.880 --> 0:25:41.040 example for me, and they moved to Charlotte to help 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:42.920 us with our kids and their medical issues. I love 0:25:42.960 --> 0:25:45.359 them a lot. But a lot of people don't know 0:25:45.400 --> 0:25:48.359 that my dad is really my stepdad. He married my 0:25:48.400 --> 0:25:51.080 mom when I was seven and adopted me when I 0:25:51.080 --> 0:25:54.520 was sixteen. For all intents and purposes, he is my dad. 0:25:54.640 --> 0:25:56.359 He is the example in the role model of what 0:25:56.400 --> 0:26:01.240 a man of God looks like. I love him so much. Yeah, 0:26:01.240 --> 0:26:09.840 you can clap for my father. I didn't know my 0:26:09.880 --> 0:26:13.400 biological father that well. I didn't see him much after 0:26:13.440 --> 0:26:16.240 the age of four. We lived in California right after 0:26:16.280 --> 0:26:18.800 I was born with him, and he was basically a 0:26:18.840 --> 0:26:21.359 con man, a white collar criminal. He was in and 0:26:21.400 --> 0:26:25.840 out of prison for money laundering, heavy cocaine user, had 0:26:25.840 --> 0:26:28.600 a double life behind my mom's back, had countless affairs, 0:26:29.840 --> 0:26:32.560 very violent person, and once my mom figured out who 0:26:32.560 --> 0:26:36.320 he was, she left him and moved to the East Coast. 0:26:37.400 --> 0:26:41.000 And about five or six years ago, I began to 0:26:41.040 --> 0:26:44.800 get this sense, this leading from God, this prompting that 0:26:44.880 --> 0:26:48.440 I should reconnect with him and just try to build 0:26:48.440 --> 0:26:52.359 a relationship, be some source of light in his life, 0:26:52.359 --> 0:26:56.480 and share my faith. And there was zero percent of 0:26:56.520 --> 0:27:00.200 me that wanted to do that. It felt awkward, it 0:27:00.200 --> 0:27:04.159 felt weird. I couldn't even get to the bottom of 0:27:04.200 --> 0:27:06.760 the depth of emotions that I felt about that, And 0:27:06.840 --> 0:27:09.040 so I really thought God on it. I didn't want 0:27:09.040 --> 0:27:11.320 to do it, but I knew it was something he 0:27:11.400 --> 0:27:14.359 was prompting me to do. But I kept putting it 0:27:14.400 --> 0:27:17.080 off until it felt right. One day, I'm just going 0:27:17.119 --> 0:27:18.520 to feel that it's right and I can pick up 0:27:18.560 --> 0:27:20.439 the phone and make the call. One day I'll get 0:27:20.480 --> 0:27:24.359 a peace about it. So October twenty sixteen, my mom 0:27:24.400 --> 0:27:27.840 caused me and said that he had passed away. And 0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:31.480 I remember I was in my office in a meeting 0:27:31.520 --> 0:27:33.600 with John Bishop, and I just poor John. I just 0:27:33.640 --> 0:27:38.680 broke down crying. And I never expected to grieve over 0:27:38.760 --> 0:27:41.440 somebody that I didn't know the way I grieved then. 0:27:42.920 --> 0:27:45.359 But I was also grieving because I knew I would 0:27:45.400 --> 0:27:49.520 never get that chance back to obey to share Christ 0:27:49.520 --> 0:27:51.480 with them. And it wasn't even something huge that God 0:27:51.600 --> 0:27:54.119 was asking me to do. It was one simple phone 0:27:54.119 --> 0:27:58.520 call that could have had a dramatic impact on his life. 0:27:58.600 --> 0:28:01.359 And thankfully, God is a god of mercy, He's a 0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:03.720 God of grace, and so he helped me come to 0:28:03.840 --> 0:28:06.080 terms with that and realize that there's other people that 0:28:06.119 --> 0:28:09.000 could have shared Christ with him too, And the Lord 0:28:09.040 --> 0:28:11.320 did help bring me to a sense a peace about that. 0:28:11.359 --> 0:28:14.159 But I share this with you because I resolved in 0:28:14.160 --> 0:28:17.000 that moment that I wanted to be the guy that 0:28:17.280 --> 0:28:21.800 obeys those simple promptings from God, even when they're not peaceful. 0:28:22.119 --> 0:28:24.040 I want to be the guy that sends the text. 0:28:24.280 --> 0:28:27.160 I want to be the guy that makes the phone call. 0:28:27.240 --> 0:28:30.120 I don't want to just wait for peace to come. 0:28:30.280 --> 0:28:33.400 I want to be the guy that does the hard thing, 0:28:34.000 --> 0:28:36.080 even when it's not the peaceful thing, because we all 0:28:36.119 --> 0:28:38.560 want to build these giant walls of faith in our life. 0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:42.040 But those walls are built one step of obedience at 0:28:42.080 --> 0:28:45.960 a time, one brick after the other. And sometimes to 0:28:45.960 --> 0:28:48.680 pick up those bricks and stack them. It's a painful thing, 0:28:48.720 --> 0:28:52.920 but God will always bless it when we obey. Here's 0:28:52.960 --> 0:28:57.840 the final point. Don't mistake what is most noticeable for 0:28:57.920 --> 0:29:02.000 what is most valuable. Don't mistake what is most noticeable 0:29:02.000 --> 0:29:05.040 for what is most valuable. So one of the biggest 0:29:05.080 --> 0:29:10.360 lies that has stolen my peace in my walk with 0:29:10.400 --> 0:29:15.280 God is trying to attach my worth with my accomplishments, 0:29:15.840 --> 0:29:19.200 my value with what other people can see, my value 0:29:19.240 --> 0:29:21.880 with the wall that I've built, the work of my hands. 0:29:21.880 --> 0:29:24.640 And here we have me a Mayah who's the builder 0:29:24.640 --> 0:29:27.840 of the wall, the leader of the exiles. And I 0:29:27.880 --> 0:29:31.720 don't think he was feeling a lot of significance or 0:29:31.840 --> 0:29:33.560 value in the work that he was doing, because it 0:29:33.600 --> 0:29:35.800 looked like it was in jeopardy, it looked like it 0:29:35.880 --> 0:29:37.480 might not get done. It looked like he might even 0:29:37.560 --> 0:29:40.240 lose his life because of it. And in this moment 0:29:40.240 --> 0:29:42.920 of weakness, he prayed a prayer that I think we 0:29:42.960 --> 0:29:45.320 would all do very well to pray ourselves. So Verse 0:29:45.400 --> 0:29:48.800 nine says they were all trying to frighten us, thinking 0:29:48.880 --> 0:29:51.239 their hands will get too weak for the work and 0:29:51.280 --> 0:29:54.400 it will not be completed. But I prayed, now strengthen 0:29:54.480 --> 0:29:59.120 my hands. I used to read over that prayer like 0:29:59.160 --> 0:30:01.200 it was some token prayer, like this is just some 0:30:01.240 --> 0:30:05.120 two D story character. But what I love about our 0:30:05.240 --> 0:30:08.000 church is Pastor Stephen helps us see that the humanity 0:30:08.000 --> 0:30:10.360 in the Bible, that these were real people with real emotions. 0:30:10.400 --> 0:30:12.560 And so I tried to put myself in Neamia's shoes. 0:30:13.520 --> 0:30:16.720 And he had staked everything on building this wall. He 0:30:16.840 --> 0:30:19.320 was risking his life, and it looked like it was 0:30:19.320 --> 0:30:21.959 in jeopardy, and all he knew to do was to 0:30:22.000 --> 0:30:24.560 pray for strength from God. It had to be so 0:30:24.720 --> 0:30:27.840 tempting to quit, it had to be so tempting to 0:30:27.960 --> 0:30:31.200 walk away. And I was wondering what kept him going 0:30:32.160 --> 0:30:34.080 in the midst of all the discouragement, in the midst 0:30:34.120 --> 0:30:37.200 of all the hardship. And I think one thing might 0:30:37.240 --> 0:30:40.880 be this, that he realized that God wasn't just building 0:30:40.920 --> 0:30:44.200 the wall, that he could see. God wasn't just building 0:30:44.200 --> 0:30:48.080 this outer wall to protect a city. God was building 0:30:48.080 --> 0:30:51.360 this inner wall of faith in his heart, this inner 0:30:51.360 --> 0:30:54.400 wall of character, this inner wall of trust, this inner 0:30:54.440 --> 0:30:57.400 wall of realizing that his hope was and then how 0:30:57.440 --> 0:31:00.240 strong this wall was. His hope was in how big 0:31:00.240 --> 0:31:03.920 and mighty his God is. His defender wasn't some far 0:31:03.960 --> 0:31:08.000 away king in Persia. His defender was the Lord God, Almighty. 0:31:08.040 --> 0:31:10.920 God was building something greater in the Amiah than what 0:31:11.000 --> 0:31:14.000 He was building through him. And God was also doing 0:31:14.000 --> 0:31:16.440 that for the people of Jerusalem. See, they had been 0:31:16.440 --> 0:31:18.920 sent to exile to begin with because they had trusted 0:31:19.360 --> 0:31:22.000 in false gods and lesser kingdoms, and God was building 0:31:22.040 --> 0:31:24.520 a renewed faith in them to trust in the God 0:31:24.520 --> 0:31:28.160 of Israel. That God was their defender and protector. Sometimes 0:31:28.200 --> 0:31:31.280 your faithfulness isn't just about you. It's about what other 0:31:31.360 --> 0:31:34.080 people see through your faithfulness, the way other people are 0:31:34.120 --> 0:31:36.640 encouraged by it, the way other people are inspired when 0:31:36.680 --> 0:31:39.000 you go and you do the hard thing, even when 0:31:39.040 --> 0:31:43.000 it hurts, and even when you're weak. See Nehemiah had 0:31:43.000 --> 0:31:45.800 to be tempted to quit, but he knew that his 0:31:45.880 --> 0:31:49.040 strength didn't come from retreating from the hard thing. His 0:31:49.120 --> 0:31:52.680 strength came from repeating the hard thing again and again 0:31:52.760 --> 0:31:55.640 and again. Strength wasn't in the retreat. Strength was in 0:31:55.680 --> 0:31:58.240 the repeat. Can you say that to your neighbor's strength 0:31:58.320 --> 0:32:01.560 is in the repeat. See God wants us to be 0:32:01.560 --> 0:32:04.280 a people that just the hard thing over and over 0:32:04.360 --> 0:32:06.680 and over again. It's to say, it's the principle when 0:32:06.720 --> 0:32:09.400 you work out, I'll work out maybe once a week 0:32:09.920 --> 0:32:12.880 at best. That's just enough to get you sore, not 0:32:12.920 --> 0:32:17.280 to build strength. If I really wanted to get stronger, 0:32:17.720 --> 0:32:21.040 I would work out day after day after day, week 0:32:21.160 --> 0:32:23.840 after week after week. That would build My strength comes 0:32:23.880 --> 0:32:27.240 in repetition. It's the same with faith. It's repeated obedience, 0:32:27.280 --> 0:32:31.960 repeated surrender, repeated trust in God. So Neamia didn't just say, Lord, 0:32:32.000 --> 0:32:35.320 strengthen my hands and expect some supernatural strength to make 0:32:35.360 --> 0:32:38.280 his hand stronger. No, he knew he needed some stacking strength. 0:32:38.520 --> 0:32:41.000 So he picked up a brick and he stacked it. 0:32:41.560 --> 0:32:44.760 Picked up another brick, stacked it, said Lord, strengthen my hands. 0:32:44.800 --> 0:32:47.480 Got back to work, picked up another brick, stacked it. 0:32:47.520 --> 0:32:51.880 Accusation came, kept stacking, Discouragement came, kept stacking, And when 0:32:51.960 --> 0:32:55.720 his obedience met God's power. That's when his strength came, 0:32:55.960 --> 0:32:58.720 and that's when the wall was built. Because verse fifteen 0:32:59.200 --> 0:33:02.360 shows us this. It says, so the wall was completed 0:33:02.640 --> 0:33:05.560 on the twenty fifth of a lull in fifty two days. 0:33:05.600 --> 0:33:08.120 And when all our enemy's heard about this, all the 0:33:08.160 --> 0:33:11.840 surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self confidence because 0:33:11.880 --> 0:33:15.080 they realized that this work had been done with the 0:33:15.120 --> 0:33:17.960 help of our God. So you might not think you 0:33:18.000 --> 0:33:20.120 had the strength to do what God has called you 0:33:20.200 --> 0:33:22.880 to do, but he promises that if you obey, if 0:33:22.880 --> 0:33:25.640 you keep stacking one brick at a time, it's not 0:33:25.760 --> 0:33:30.920 your strength, it's His power that's working within you, the 0:33:30.960 --> 0:33:35.720 wall will be built. And I really felt like God 0:33:35.760 --> 0:33:38.680 sent me today and brought you here this Memorial Day week. 0:33:38.720 --> 0:33:42.200 And some of you who feel like nobody notices you stacking, 0:33:43.240 --> 0:33:45.200 you feel like you've been stacking the bricks, and you 0:33:45.240 --> 0:33:48.120 feel like you've been trying to feel faithful and nobody 0:33:48.160 --> 0:33:52.000 sees and nobody notices, and maybe you're just tempted to 0:33:52.120 --> 0:33:54.520 quit because you feel like you just can't keep going. 0:33:55.000 --> 0:33:57.560 And I want to tell you that God is doing 0:33:57.600 --> 0:34:00.400 something mighty in your life, even if you can see it. 0:34:00.400 --> 0:34:01.760 Because I want to remind you of the truth of 0:34:01.760 --> 0:34:05.920 Philippians one p. Six, being confident of this that He 0:34:06.000 --> 0:34:08.560 who began a good work in you will carry it 0:34:08.600 --> 0:34:12.920 on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. So 0:34:12.960 --> 0:34:17.040 we talked about finishing what we start. We're never going 0:34:17.120 --> 0:34:20.840 to do that perfectly. But God promises he will always 0:34:20.920 --> 0:34:23.799 finish what he starts, and He has started something so 0:34:24.000 --> 0:34:26.520 special in each and every person under the sound of 0:34:26.560 --> 0:34:32.840 my voice. We're never going to be truly consistent. But 0:34:33.080 --> 0:34:36.440 Jesus is the model of consistency. The word says he 0:34:36.520 --> 0:34:41.000 is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His love is consistent, 0:34:41.120 --> 0:34:44.719 his grace is consistent. His power that's available to you 0:34:45.239 --> 0:34:48.640 is consistent. So do not give up, Do not stop 0:34:48.680 --> 0:34:51.839 building the wall. Keep stacking brick by brick, and God 0:34:51.920 --> 0:34:54.359 is going to build a mighty wall of faith through 0:34:54.400 --> 0:34:56.960 your life. I want to invite everybody to stand so 0:34:57.000 --> 0:35:01.440 I can pray for you well. For you, just to 0:35:01.480 --> 0:35:06.840 hold your hands, palm up like this and close your eyes. 0:35:07.160 --> 0:35:11.520 I want you to think, what is the hard thing 0:35:12.760 --> 0:35:16.319 that you know God has called you to do again 0:35:16.360 --> 0:35:18.799 and again. What is the brick He's called you to 0:35:18.800 --> 0:35:22.480 pick up? In a stack. What is the active obedience 0:35:22.520 --> 0:35:24.480 that you've been dreading, but you know the Lord is 0:35:24.520 --> 0:35:27.239 calling you to it. And I just want you to 0:35:27.280 --> 0:35:30.160 repeat this prayer after me, this very simple prayer that 0:35:30.239 --> 0:35:37.200 Neiamiah prayed, and say, strengthen my hands. So God, I 0:35:37.239 --> 0:35:39.560 don't know what was on everybody's heart as they prayed that, 0:35:39.760 --> 0:35:42.880 but I pray that you will give them the strength 0:35:43.440 --> 0:35:47.480 and the courage and the faith to obey, realizing that 0:35:47.560 --> 0:35:50.440 you are a trustworthy God, You are a strong and 0:35:50.560 --> 0:35:53.920 mighty God, and that even when we are faithless, you 0:35:54.000 --> 0:35:57.879 are faithful, and we can know that you do all 0:35:57.960 --> 0:35:59.680 things for the good of those who love the Lord, 0:35:59.719 --> 0:36:02.600 and our hard according to its purpose. So Lord, working 0:36:02.680 --> 0:36:05.719 the hard things, work in the good things. And Lord, 0:36:05.719 --> 0:36:08.120 I pray that you will open everybody's eyes this week 0:36:08.320 --> 0:36:10.000 just to get a glimpse of the wall that you're 0:36:10.000 --> 0:36:13.120 building through them. And I thank you for their faithfulness. 0:36:13.200 --> 0:36:16.520 I thank you for how you're using them, thank you 0:36:16.560 --> 0:36:19.040 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 0:36:19.120 --> 0:36:22.120 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 0:36:22.200 --> 0:36:25.080 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 0:36:25.120 --> 0:36:28.919 the description to give now or visit Elevation church dot 0:36:29.000 --> 0:36:32.320 org slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed 0:36:32.320 --> 0:36:35.400 the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with 0:36:35.440 --> 0:36:37.680 your friends. You can click the share button, take a 0:36:37.680 --> 0:36:40.239 screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag 0:36:40.360 --> 0:36:48.319 us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.