1 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,880 Welcome to the podcast of the White Church in Adelaide, South 2 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,840 Australia. Just going to just start by just 3 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:21,200 sharing a scripture that I felt just in the in the singing time, 4 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:33,200 in the worship time, music time, Ephesians one I'll start in I'll 5 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:37,000 start in 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 6 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,080 glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the 7 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,600 knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being 8 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,480 enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling. 9 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,680 What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the 10 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:57,000 Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power 11 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,040 towards those who believe according to the working of His 12 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,000 mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised him from 13 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,760 the dead, and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly 14 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:13,360 places. Jesus is seated in the heavenly 15 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,640 places at the right hand of the Father, far above all 16 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,520 principalities, and power, and might, and dominion, and every 17 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,000 name that he's named, not only in this age to come, but that 18 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,800 which is to come. And he put all things under his 19 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:33,120 feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, 20 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,960 which is his body, the fullness of him who feels All in all. 21 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,640 But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love, which 22 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,920 we've He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, 23 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,120 made us alive together in Christ. 24 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:56,360 By grace we've been saved and has raised us up together and 25 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:01,960 made us to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 26 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,200 Isn't that amazing that in the ages to come he might show the 27 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,640 exceeding riches of his grace in and his kindness towards those 28 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:15,240 in Jesus Christ? Like this is the the Lord Jesus 29 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,560 that we're Speaking of this morning and not just Speaking of 30 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:24,400 him that we're encountering, that we are worshipping, that 31 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:29,280 the Spirit of God that is doing something here right now in US, 32 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,240 through us in this room. We're not, we're not just a 33 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,680 bunch of people singing songs to a God that's far away. 34 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:43,160 We are a body of Christ coming together by the Spirit of God 35 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,360 and praising and worshipping him and communing with him. 36 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:48,920 And like he's doing something here. 37 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:51,720 Like he's dealing with stuff, like he's setting us up for 38 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:57,280 success, right? And we have to start there, you 39 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:02,000 know, and Leo obviously shared that, you know, last weekend. 40 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,920 It's just like, it's all about him. 41 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,120 Like we don't do anything for ourselves. 42 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:10,640 We don't do anything so that we gain anything. 43 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,320 It's so that He's glorified him, that we make much of him, and we 44 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,440 get to partake in all of his goodness. 45 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,040 We get to experience him, and He is the prize. 46 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,600 You know, Ty talks a lot about this when he was with us. 47 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,040 Jesus is the prize. You know, we're not walk, we're 48 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,880 not praying, we're not trying to know the scriptures. 49 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,800 We're not doing church, you know, to get to some end goal 50 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,000 that, you know, that God would empower us to do something. 51 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:40,840 It's so that we know Him. It's so that we can commune with 52 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:45,120 God in a real way and that, you know, we'd be restored in into 53 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:46,880 right relationship with God the Father. 54 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,360 Isn't that powerful. And so these are the things that 55 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,400 we've been talking about, you know, the the culture of the 56 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,360 church, the things that need to be a culture for us. 57 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,440 And they all point back to Christ. 58 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,760 They're all, you know, we're never going to be, you know, a 59 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,800 generous culture if we're not connected with the Lord because 60 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,680 generosity is a is a is from the Lord. 61 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,720 It's like a fruit of the spirit. It's kindness, it's gentleness. 62 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,000 It's do you see? We can't, we can't. 63 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,120 You can act generous like I can give Daniel some money. 64 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:25,560 Calm down. I'm not giving you any money, 65 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,640 but I could, I could give Daniel some money right now. 66 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,640 And the act of me giving would be generous. 67 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,880 But if I did it begrudgingly, I'm not being generous, it's not 68 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,200 coming out of the right relationship with God because 69 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:45,040 I've, I've received generosity from him and it flows through 70 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:45,880 me. Do you see? 71 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,080 So you need to understand how generous God is if you're 72 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,160 actually going to partake of generosity. 73 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,560 You know, we don't want to just go through the motions for any 74 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,720 of these things. You know, we said that, you 75 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,400 know, Leo when he was with us and Ty also. 76 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,000 And, and even when, you know, when Dudley comes and speaks to 77 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,640 us, these guys are a part of the NCMI team. 78 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,120 We partner with this team. They are not guest speakers, 79 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,640 right? These aren't people that are our 80 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,080 friends that we welcome in just to give us a good message so 81 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,360 that we can go cool. Isn't that great? 82 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,640 And, and I think that sometimes what happens when there's a, 83 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,800 when there's a guest speaker mentality, like we just try to 84 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,040 put our best foot forward and like have our best musicians 85 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,600 and, and we're almost like showing off to them. 86 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,520 Like, look how wonderful we are. It's we've completely missed the 87 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:38,080 heart of what we're what's going on here. 88 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,400 We're not here to impress them so that they would look at us 89 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,720 and go, oh, wow, these guys are really running after the Lord. 90 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,440 It's not about impressing this these team guys, they are coming 91 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,960 as a part of the team with, you know, there there are an 92 00:05:51,960 --> 00:06:00,880 Ephesians, there are trans local team of Ephesians 4 gifts that 93 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,880 come and minister into the life of these churches into us as the 94 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:09,960 life of the church that we would partake of, of this gifting and 95 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,960 that would deposit something here and we'd receive something 96 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:18,520 and it would build and edify the church that we could walk more 97 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:24,360 freely and successfully in the call of God for this lampstand. 98 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,280 God has a plan and a purpose for this lampstand. 99 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,880 And we partner with these with with the NCMI team so that they 100 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,000 can come in with an Apostolic and prophetic heart and they can 101 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:40,440 impart to us giftings and stir us up and remind us and rebuke 102 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,520 us if need be, You know, just to remind us why we're here. 103 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,240 And that would be strength and call that God has for us. 104 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,760 So I say all that just to remind us that like, you know, Leo's 105 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,040 come last week and talked about, you know, how important it is 106 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:59,120 for it to have a Christ culture and that that all, everything 107 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,240 that we do would be centred around Christ, which is sort of 108 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,280 the same message that type preached to us weeks before. 109 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,520 It's all about Christ. So we're not just going to go, 110 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,120 hey, that was a lovely weekend and just move on. 111 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:14,680 Let's, let's talk about something else. 112 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,280 You know, like let's talk, let's stay here for a bit and talk 113 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,480 about Christ. You know, like we, we, we need 114 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:28,040 to be a church that goes like there's, you know, Leo went 115 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,880 somewhere to come here. We've we're called to go. 116 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,600 We're not called to stay here. God's calling us out to go and 117 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,280 be a part of the greater Commission. 118 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,520 Can I ask for us in this room? Are we able to go? 119 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,880 I heard crickets. No, but like you don't need to 120 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:49,960 answer that. But are we able to go? 121 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,920 I would say yes, we are able to go in some way. 122 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:59,800 Like you might be, you know, bed bound and the Great Commission 123 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,800 is still for you. Like God hasn't changed his 124 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,480 mind, like he hasn't put the Spirit of God in in someone and 125 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,160 said, go there for what I'm saying is you can still play a 126 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,800 part. And we should because it's the 127 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:14,920 call of God. It's the reason for the church. 128 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:16,840 It's the reason that we're alive here. 129 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,880 And so, you know, when I say, are we able to go, can I remind 130 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,720 us? This is our two year birthday. 131 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:29,480 Many of us went to be here. We left churches, we left other 132 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,280 places. We came where we're involved in 133 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,880 a pioneering work here for the sake of the Kingdom, for the 134 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,039 call of the Lord that the Great Commission would be outworked. 135 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:46,680 So two years ago you went right. So you're still able to go is 136 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:49,560 what I'm saying. And and it might change over the 137 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:52,520 years, your availability and what you're able to do and stuff 138 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,240 like that. But we can all say yes, Lord, 139 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,440 here I am. Use me for the Great Commission 140 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:00,840 because that's the reason that the church exists. 141 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,520 We had our elders time last week, which was wonderful. 142 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,080 I, I thoroughly, you know, it sounds weird. 143 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,280 I thoroughly enjoyed. It wasn't even about enjoying 144 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:12,880 it. It was about it was the same 145 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:14,760 thing. It was the Great Commission. 146 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,360 It was God stirring us up and bringing in gifts and, and 147 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:24,560 imparting to us that we would be equipped and able to fulfil the, 148 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,440 the call of God on our lives as elders. 149 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:32,560 And so there was an investment there that we received, and many 150 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:35,680 of us in this local church played our part in this. 151 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:40,240 And so, like, if you baked something for the morning tea, 152 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:44,080 can I say that you've played a part in the Great Commission? 153 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:46,720 You've played a part in the going. 154 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:48,360 You might not have gone anywhere. 155 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:52,480 You might have stayed in your kitchen and baked a cake and 156 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,680 maybe Justin came and picked it up and then took it there, might 157 00:09:55,680 --> 00:10:00,440 not have even left your house. But you've played a part in what 158 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,320 God is doing. And I say that just to remind us 159 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,600 that we can all play a part. There's something that we can 160 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:07,480 do. Many. 161 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:13,560 We were so excited and grateful for this church in that because 162 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:17,440 many of us baked things, many of us purchased things, many of us 163 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,960 gave money, many of us came and served there. 164 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:24,640 There was so much that happened through this little lampstand. 165 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,360 We are few in number, but we played our part and it's really 166 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:30,600 exciting. Were you excited, Justin? 167 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,200 We were so chuffed. We're like this. 168 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,280 Lord, you are amazing. Thank you for giving us the 169 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,680 opportunity to serve for the for the Kingdom, for the greater 170 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:42,000 call. Amen. 171 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:44,040 So good. Good on you guys. 172 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,640 And there's obviously like we're early in the year, there's going 173 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:51,360 to be many more opportunities for us to do this. 174 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,840 So don't think that well, I'm not able to do anything. 175 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:57,920 Never think I'm a I'm unable to do anything. 176 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,120 If anything, come and ask and say, what can I do? 177 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:03,480 Like, you know, like I can't walk and I don't have any money 178 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:06,800 or I'm just saying things that might hinder some people. 179 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:09,040 We can all walk here and you've made it here. 180 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:11,960 So anyway, but what can I do, Lord? 181 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,440 And, and, and come and speak to us, but ask the Lord directly. 182 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:17,040 Say Lord, here I am. Use me. 183 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,200 How can I be used? He will use you. 184 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,880 He hasn't left any of us here on the earth. 185 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,280 You 2 Nana, like you're here for a reason. 186 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:32,120 We're all here for a reason, right Until he calls us home. 187 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,120 The Lord has worked for each and every one of us to do. 188 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,760 That's an exciting thing. That means that that we're we're 189 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,480 there's purpose. It's nice to have purpose. 190 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,920 It sucks not to have purpose. If you think that you're 191 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:51,000 useless, no one here is useless. But if that, if that's in your 192 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,040 mind, if you think that you're useless and that you can't be 193 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,640 used of God, you're going to be in a very depressed state. 194 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:02,160 It's not nice to feel useless. And none of us are useless. 195 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:06,760 All of us have plan, have a purpose that God wants to stir 196 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:10,280 and use you in, not by my, not by power, but by the Holy 197 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:11,720 Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit that's 198 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,760 going to enable you to do anything. 199 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,000 Amen. Excellent. 200 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:22,440 All right, so I'm just going to read some verses from Nehemiah 201 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:27,880 1. Nehemiah, like us is was called 202 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,960 God had a call for Nehemiah. He had a mighty work for 203 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,160 Nehemiah to do. And so we're just going to look 204 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:39,840 briefly at the start of Nehemiah's journey, specifically 205 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,040 in prayer. Nehemiah started off in prayer, 206 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,000 so we're going to look at those scriptures now. 207 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,880 Nehemiah 1. I'll just give you the back 208 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,640 story. God had judged the nation of 209 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,120 Israel and driven them out from their land. 210 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:57,760 That was God's doing. The enemy didn't come and 211 00:12:57,760 --> 00:12:59,840 destroy them. God allowed that to happen. 212 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,840 God was judging Israel. They were taken away captive. 213 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:09,400 They were taken to Babylon. The city of Jerusalem was in 214 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:11,720 ruins. The wall was torn down. 215 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,560 The temple was destroyed. It was a wasteland and Nehemiah 216 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:19,240 was serving the king of Babylon as his cup bearer. 217 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:23,800 So he was really close to the king, which is, you know, it's 218 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,760 a, it's a theme that we see in the Bible, Joseph in, in Egypt, 219 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:32,240 close to the, to the Pharaoh. See, God raises people up and 220 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:36,920 positions them to be used. And so Nehemiah won. 221 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:42,040 Some of the people came from Jerusalem, and Nehemiah asked 222 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,720 for the condition of Jerusalem. He says what's going on in 223 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,520 Jerusalem because he's miles away. 224 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:53,000 And verse 3, the the survivors who are left from the captivity 225 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,840 in the province are there in great distress and reproach. 226 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,280 The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and the gates are burned 227 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:02,760 with fire. This is the report that Nehemiah 228 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:06,400 gets. Firstly, people around Jerusalem 229 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:11,360 were in great distress and reproach, and Nehemiah just has 230 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,760 this heart for the people that he was distressed by that, but 231 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,600 not just because the people were distressed. 232 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:23,120 Can I say that Nehemiah was distressed for the Kingdom of 233 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:28,880 God because Jerusalem was God's holy city that God put his name 234 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:34,320 there and God raised up a holy people to bear witness of who he 235 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:38,280 was and that's not only the people that were struggling was 236 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,400 of distress to Nehemiah, but the Kingdom of God. 237 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:46,320 What of the Kingdom of God. It's in ruins, right? 238 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:56,880 That troubled him greatly. And when we and so like the the 239 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:01,520 Commission that the Lord has for us as a people sort of starts in 240 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:07,720 the same place, people out there are distressed and broken and 241 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,840 hurting, right? But more so than that, the 242 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:18,160 Kingdom of God is how is what God wants to show people. 243 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,960 He wants to reveal himself. He wants for the king to be 244 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:26,240 revealed and for the Kingdom of God to be made known out to 245 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,680 those people. So we can have a heart for the 246 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:31,160 lost and want to serve them and want to bless them. 247 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:33,440 But it's so much bigger than that. 248 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,320 We need to have a heart for God's Kingdom, Your Kingdom 249 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,560 come, your will be done. That needs to be the heartbeat 250 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,480 of us as a church that not only will we take care of the lost 251 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,600 and the broken and see them come to the Lord, but that the 252 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,280 Kingdom of God would advance, that it would move forward, that 253 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:54,480 it would take ground, that it would conquer here. 254 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,560 You know, and we know that it's never going to come to the full 255 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,280 fruition until Jesus returns. We realize that when Jesus 256 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:03,960 comes, that's when things get real. 257 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:09,680 But the Kingdom of God can be seen through the sons and 258 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,160 daughters of the King. That's where, where we're called 259 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,720 to let people know who he is and what he's about. 260 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:21,280 We're, we're, we're called to make the Kingdom of God known 261 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:23,320 here now. Amen. 262 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,320 We've got to ask God for a fire in here, Gods, because we're 263 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,200 the, the church is passive. We're sort of just sitting 264 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,720 around just enjoying, you know, well, at least we're saved. 265 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:37,920 At least, you know, the King's coming for us. 266 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,400 That is not the call of God. That is not the mandate. 267 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,680 The mandate is to get out there and help others to see what we 268 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,240 see. Amen. 269 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,280 So, Lord, put a fire in US. Lord, I pray that you would stir 270 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:54,440 just the Spirit of God for us to see clearly, to know the call, 271 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,400 to know the times and the seasons. 272 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:58,600 Help us here, Lord, even in this moment. 273 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,760 Lord, I pray that we wouldn't leave this place the same with 274 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:07,440 the same ability to be passive. Take that away from us, Lord. 275 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:12,520 Let us just be fired up again, Lord, for the plan and purpose 276 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,720 of our king. All right, we'll continue on in 277 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,520 verse 4. So it was when I heard these 278 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,200 things that I sat down and I wept and I mourned for many 279 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,240 days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of 280 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,920 heaven. So Nehemiah hears, he cares, 281 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:35,200 he's distressed, he fasts and prays, he denies himself and 282 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:40,320 seeks God. How important is prayer? 283 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,960 Prayer is so important. We need a greater revelation of 284 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,760 the importance of prayer because it's not just asking God for 285 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,320 things. If it's communing with God, it's 286 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:57,280 actually coming in and into an audience with the God, with God 287 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:01,760 Almighty, with the only one that has power to do anything. 288 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:08,080 So we need to be praying. We need to have a revelation of 289 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,600 the importance of seeking God, that the for the Kingdom, that 290 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,320 the Kingdom would come and His will would be done. 291 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,480 We just pray for our own selfish lives. 292 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:21,440 That sounds harsh, but it's true. 293 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:27,160 Sometimes prayer can only be me asking God to fix me, to give to 294 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,640 me, to bless me. That is not the reason that 295 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:34,560 Nehemiah was praying here. He was praying because he wanted 296 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,600 to see God come and do something that only God could do. 297 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,120 He knew that God had judged the people and he knew that it was 298 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:44,160 going to take God's mighty hand to bring him back. 299 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,240 So he went to God and he fasted and he prayed, and he diligently 300 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,960 was seeking the Lord. So in the same way, we need to 301 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:58,240 be diligently seeking the Lord that he could move, that His 302 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,080 Kingdom could come. Amen. 303 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:03,560 Prayer matters. It matters that we pray on our 304 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,280 own every day. Prayer is not just whenever you 305 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:08,760 feel like it. Prayer is every day. 306 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,480 Don't leave your bed without talking to the Lord. 307 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,640 Let's pray every single day. You cannot just say we can't 308 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:21,680 make it on our own. You can't overcome and be strong 309 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,680 without the Spirit of the Lord. Not in this world. 310 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,080 This world is cutting the legs out from under us. 311 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,920 It is the power of the Holy Spirit that helps us overcome. 312 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,080 Amen. Let's start in prayer. 313 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:35,680 Whenever we meet together, we must be praying. 314 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,240 That means that whenever we go out for coffee with each other, 315 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,560 don't just sit and listen to each other and, and the things, 316 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,000 the, the struggles in our lives and stuff like that and don't 317 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,680 pray right? We've got to pray. 318 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,760 We've got to seek the Lord. You can't fix anyone's problems. 319 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,480 The Lord can. The Lord can come and bring 320 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:55,640 comfort. You can say kind words to 321 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:57,960 someone when they're when they're feeling down and 322 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:02,920 depressed, but pray with them. Help them to lift their eyes and 323 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,800 and see the Lord. That's going to bring lasting 324 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:07,000 comfort. Amen. 325 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:12,120 We must pray, you know, Kingdom culture, whatever it is, 326 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:15,440 whatever we're talking about here, it has to come through 327 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,000 prayer. We're never just going to get 328 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,520 this right in our own understanding or through some 329 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,320 sort of a, you know, just reading the words and having 330 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:27,600 like an intellectual understanding of what we should 331 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,120 do. It has to be through the Spirit 332 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:33,400 of God that we can do anything, Amen. 333 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:40,000 And it's all about him. Before we go off and do anything 334 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,960 for him, we need to go to him. We need to know him. 335 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,840 We can't do anything for God without him, right? 336 00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:50,920 Amen. Of course not. 337 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:55,360 So let's unpack Nehemiah's prayer a little. 338 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:57,800 First five, this is how he prays. 339 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:03,800 He said, and I said, I pray. Lord God of heaven, O great and 340 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:08,600 awesome God, you who keep your covenant and mercy with those 341 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,440 who love you and observe your commandments. 342 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,680 Just pause there for a second. Nehemiah starts off with praise. 343 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:18,920 He lifts up the name of the Lord. 344 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,440 That's how we should start praying. 345 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,760 Lord help me, I know I need money. 346 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,200 Father, you are mighty, You are powerful, You are wonderful. 347 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:35,280 You are able to do all things. You created all things. 348 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,960 We start in prayer, we start off sorry. 349 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,440 We start off with praise, giving God glory. 350 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:47,360 Today we celebrate two years. We're not celebrating that. 351 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,040 We've been here for two years and look how wonderful this is. 352 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:54,440 We're celebrating him, what he's done, how amazing he is. 353 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,000 Amen. He is awesome. 354 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,160 Thank you for to your years here, Lord, Thank you that you 355 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,240 made that possible. Thank you, Lord, that you can be 356 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,680 glorified in this community centre because it wasn't 357 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,600 happening before. There wasn't people lifting up 358 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:12,680 the name of Jesus right in this room. 359 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,760 This room's become a space of worship to the king. 360 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:22,320 That's significant. So we start off with praise and 361 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:24,600 then he goes on. Nehemiah started off with praise 362 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:29,040 and then he goes on verse 6. Please let your ear be attentive 363 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:33,320 and your eyes open that you may hear the prayer of your servant, 364 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:37,600 which I pray before you. There's a cry here from 365 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,560 Nehemiah. It's please, Lord, please. 366 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,640 You can hear the desperation in his heart. 367 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:49,800 Please, Lord, there's passion. He's desperate because he knows 368 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:51,480 why? Because he knows that he's 369 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,080 praying to a God that can do something. 370 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,720 He believes that when he is crying out to the Lord that 371 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:03,040 something can change here, that I'm crying out to the one that 372 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:07,280 can change this situation, that can bring hope, that can bring 373 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:12,800 peace, that has almighty power. Lord, hear my prayer. 374 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,480 Lord, hear us. Because we can do nothing in our 375 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,480 own strength like we need to be praying this way. 376 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,240 Look like we're, it's sort of different in the new covenant. 377 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:26,760 We have boldness to go before him and we know that he hears 378 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,320 us. But it's a really good thing to 379 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:33,400 remind ourselves that we have an audience with the king. 380 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,120 He knows that he hears. He would hear even if we didn't 381 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:42,560 ask him to hear. If Nehemiah said if he neglected 382 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,680 to ask the Lord God to hear, would the Lord God have heard 383 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:47,160 anyway? Of course he would have. 384 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,440 So it's for our sake that we say, Lord hear us, Lord hear us. 385 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,520 It's so that we can remind ourselves that we have an ear 386 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,840 with the God who created all, all things. 387 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,520 That's important for us because otherwise, sometimes what can 388 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,120 happen is we just pray in a way that we're just talking to the 389 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:08,720 wall. We don't acknowledge who we're 390 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,480 talking to. And I think that when we start 391 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:15,560 off with prayer and praising him, it brings you into a place 392 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,120 of reverence. So you start off in a way that 393 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:22,680 you remember who you are praying to, You remember who you're 394 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:24,520 praising to. And it's like, Lord, thank you 395 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,400 that you hear me. Thank you that you are 396 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:31,120 listening. Verse 6 continues day and night 397 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:33,640 for the children of Israel, your servants. 398 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:38,960 And I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we 399 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:43,640 have sinned against you both my father's house and I have 400 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,000 sinned. We have acted very corruptly 401 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:51,600 against you and have not kept your commandments, the statutes, 402 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,640 the ordinances which you commanded your servant Moses. 403 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:03,120 Confession, confession. Nehemiah confesses the sins of 404 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:06,440 Israel, the people of God. But not only that, he includes 405 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:08,800 himself in it. He says I and we. 406 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:14,000 He knows that confession is so powerful before a holy God. 407 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,440 We got to come before the Lord and confess. 408 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,840 We got to make sure that there's nothing that's getting in the 409 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:26,720 way of of the Lord hearing and answering these prayers. 410 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:31,360 Can I say that like if I don't treat my wife right, my prayers 411 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,120 are hindered before the Lord? That's what the scripture says. 412 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,840 That means that if I don't treat my wife the way that he would 413 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:44,360 have me treat her, that my my prayers are hindered. 414 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:50,360 That means that confession is so important before a holy God, we 415 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:55,200 must confess, We must make sure that that we aren't coming to to 416 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:59,560 him knowing that this stuff that I've done, that I'm doing, that 417 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,160 I'm allowing in my life. That's that's getting that 418 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,200 that's searing my conscience. That's I think it's a lot about 419 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:11,040 your conscience towards God. You can pray that God would move 420 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,240 and heal and and you know, help your neighbors and give us his 421 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,080 spirit and all of these things. You could say that, but if in 422 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,800 the back of your mind somewhere you're just living for yourself 423 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:26,400 and there's things in your life that you're unwilling to repent 424 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,480 and turn from, you know that they're there subconsciously. 425 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,600 Maybe in the moment you're going to go away and you're going to 426 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:34,760 remember, but God knows they're there. 427 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,480 Repentance is really important. And I think that we can, even 428 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,200 when we're crying out to God, as Nehemiah did for the for the 429 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,840 people, for the people out there that we can pray in a similar 430 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,640 way. You know, we can say, Lord God, 431 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:55,240 you are merciful and great. We serve a merciful God. 432 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,000 But these people out there are your inheritance. 433 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:03,600 Lord, you died for them. Lord, forgive them, have mercy 434 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,560 upon them. Let them see your great mercy. 435 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,120 Do you see like you can, you know, you can't repent for 436 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:14,240 someone that they could be saved, but we could cry out for, 437 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:19,040 you know, for our community and for our city and say, Lord, let 438 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:24,400 this city repent and turn to you the the merciful one, the holy 439 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,360 God. We need to be crying out on 440 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:29,000 behalf of the people. They are dead. 441 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,920 The people that don't know the Lord are dead. 442 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:37,440 We come alive in Christ when we receive this great salvation. 443 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:41,320 So if there's a dead person on the floor there and I'm like, 444 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,200 you know, speaking to them, can they hear me? 445 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,120 They're dead. It takes the Lord to actually 446 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:53,320 put life in someone. That's why the salvation is a 447 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,800 work of God. You can't make yourself alive, 448 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,000 you can't even hear. But the Lord God can, can make 449 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,080 you alive to hear, and you can receive salvation from the Lord. 450 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,360 So we need to be crying out for our city, for our friends, for 451 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:09,320 the lost Lord. Help them to turn from their 452 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,920 things. Help them to find Your mercy and 453 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:13,840 your grace. Amen. 454 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,160 And again, it's for us and for them. 455 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:21,200 Don't go to the Lord with unconfessed sin. 456 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,040 You're not hiding anything from a holy God. 457 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:31,000 And this isn't a rebuke. This isn't a, you know, repent 458 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,440 from your sins. Like I should be able to say 459 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:36,360 that as clearly as that. So maybe I will repent from your 460 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:39,560 sins. Don't stay living in darkness. 461 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:42,720 We've been called from darkness into the glorious light. 462 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,280 Come to the Lord with a clear conscience. 463 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,640 Confess your sins. He remembers them no more. 464 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,520 You could do that right now. If you're in this meeting and 465 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,200 you know that there's things that need to be confessed, you 466 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,160 could do that now. I would encourage you to do that 467 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,760 now to say, Lord, forgive me. Do you know what the Lord does 468 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:04,800 when you cry out to him and say, Lord, forgive me? 469 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,400 What does he do? He forgives you. 470 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:09,600 This is what the word of God teaches. 471 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:11,520 I will remember your sins no more. 472 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,160 Done, finished, move forward, get living again. 473 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,480 Put those things behind you. But it happens through confess 474 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,320 confession. It's very powerful. 475 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,720 First eight, let's move on. Remember, I pray the word that 476 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,120 you commanded your servant Moses, saying, if you are 477 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,040 unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. 478 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:37,240 But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, 479 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,760 though some of you were cast out to the fathers parts of the 480 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,640 heavens, yet I will gather them from there and I'll bring them 481 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:49,000 to the place which I have chosen a dwelling for my name. 482 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:51,680 Catch this because this is important. 483 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:56,960 Nehemiah reminds the Lord of the words that he spoke. 484 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,440 He reminds the Lord of the promises that he made. 485 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:06,200 That is prayer. We must be praying this way. 486 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,600 We were asked to remind the Lord of what he said and what he's 487 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,040 promised. And Dudley shared this with us 488 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:16,680 as as elders during last week. And you know, it's something 489 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:20,080 that I've heard and I've known, but gosh, it gripped me again. 490 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:22,960 We need to be praying the word of God. 491 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,920 We need to be speaking the word of God. 492 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:29,400 It is powerful. You know, it is what we need to 493 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,840 go to war to see his Kingdom come and his will be done. 494 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:36,200 It's there's power in the word of God because he spoke it and 495 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,240 it's unchanging. We must declare His word as 496 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,960 Nehemiah isn't Nehemiah did. The promises of God are 497 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:48,040 unchanging. His word will come to pass. 498 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,880 The things that He said will happen. 499 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:52,920 His word does not come back to Him. 500 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,480 Void. Take a hold of that for your 501 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,760 life. Speak it, stand on it, take it. 502 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,680 It's like taking it to the bank. It's like taking the cheque to 503 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,720 the bank and just going, I've got the cheque, can I have the 504 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:08,920 money? They give you the money because 505 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,280 you've got the check. The word of God is like the the 506 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:13,960 written check. It's like I said it, it will 507 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,080 come to pass. You can take it to the Lord. 508 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,960 This is what Nehemiah does. He takes it to the Lord and he 509 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,480 said, Lord, you said that you would gather your people back. 510 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,360 And what is the Lord do? He gathers the people back 511 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:32,120 because he said that he would Amen this like this thing, this 512 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,240 book, the scripture, the word of God. 513 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,560 We've got to live by this. We've got to take a hold of it. 514 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:39,640 This is why we're sort of pushing. 515 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:42,400 Have a Bible, bring it in, read it, share it. 516 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:45,840 Amen. You know that this is important, 517 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,720 right? Did you read this this morning? 518 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,440 Don't answer me. Don't even look at me. 519 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,120 Did you read? Did you read this this morning? 520 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:57,480 Did you read this yesterday? Did you read this the day 521 00:31:57,480 --> 00:31:59,960 before? Have you put the word of God in 522 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:02,880 you this this week? Have you declared the word of 523 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,120 God over your life, over your family, over your house? 524 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,760 Have we been declaring the word of God over this church? 525 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,000 I know some of us have because Pat and Leon said that they had 526 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:14,560 been this morning. Thank you guys. 527 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:19,120 I pray that all of us have been doing this declaring the word of 528 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,200 God over us as a people over a church. 529 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,040 It's the only way that this church, this lampstand is going 530 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,320 to be successful in walking in the call of God. 531 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:29,680 We have to get on board with what he said. 532 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:32,400 Amen. It's good stuff. 533 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,000 All right, verse 10. We'll keep moving forward. 534 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,800 I'm going to try and land this really fast. 535 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:43,080 Verse 10 Now these are the servants of your people whom you 536 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:46,720 redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 537 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:51,240 Oh, Lord, I pray, please let your ears be attentive to the 538 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,640 prayers of your servant and to the prayer of your servant who 539 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,760 desires to fear your name and I'll and let your servant 540 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,640 prosper this day and pray. I grant him in the sight of all 541 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:07,000 of of this man, mercy in the sight of this man. 542 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:12,200 So Nehemiah's asking now he's praised the Lord. 543 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:17,760 Yeah, he's repented. He has declared the word of God. 544 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:22,440 Now he's asking, he's asking the Lord for something. 545 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:27,200 We got to be asking. This is we have to ask the Lord. 546 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,760 We have to ask him for the things that we need, You know, 547 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:32,680 he need. He asked for prosperity. 548 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:37,120 We've got to ask for prosperity. We got to ask for favor in the 549 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:41,040 sight of man. Nehemiah was highly favoured, 550 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:46,480 you know, and, and the king of Babylon, you know, commissions 551 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:48,760 him and sends him and gives him provision and all of these 552 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,400 things. So God answers that prayer he 553 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,720 asked for. He asked for favor in the sight 554 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,520 of men. And God does it. 555 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:00,200 We got to be asking for favor in the sight of men, you know, 556 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:03,960 favor in, in this, in the people that are running this Community 557 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:08,719 Center, favour for the council and the government in our city. 558 00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:11,360 God's favour. We're going to be asking for 559 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:13,360 these things. But more importantly, my point 560 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:17,320 is we've got to ask. We've got to ask for the things 561 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:21,199 that we need to see God's will be done to see the Great 562 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:25,000 Commission come to pass Amen. James says that you don't 563 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,560 receive because you don't ask. Then he talks about, and then 564 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:30,920 when you do ask, you ask and your heart is in the wrong 565 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,679 position, right? So we have to ask rightly. 566 00:34:34,679 --> 00:34:39,159 We're not asking God to give us for our own selfish desires. 567 00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:42,560 Again, I mentioned that earlier. We're asking that God would give 568 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,920 us what's needed for his plan and for his purpose in and 569 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:49,840 through our lives in the life of this church in and through this 570 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:53,199 city and beyond. So bringing this to a close. 571 00:34:53,199 --> 00:34:58,280 So, so the pattern for prayer here in the Old Testament, it's 572 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:02,800 funny when you put it aside the, the, the Lord's Prayer, it's the 573 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,400 same elements. So I'm not going to do that 574 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:07,640 today for you. I would encourage you guys to go 575 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,480 and do that. Read Nehemiah 1, read how he 576 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,480 prays and then go and read, you know, the Lord's Prayer, where 577 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:17,560 the Lord teaches the disciples to pray and see, have a look, 578 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:20,360 see how they tie together. It's very interesting. 579 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:25,360 So we need to be praying in a, in a way that the, the Scripture 580 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:29,960 gives us the pattern to pray. We need to praise the Lord, we 581 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,840 need to confess, we need to declare His Word. 582 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:37,520 I think that's the key one for us right now for this season 583 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:41,560 that we find ourselves in. Declare His Word, take a hold of 584 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:46,440 His promises and ask the Lord for those things that we need to 585 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:49,640 see His will done and fulfilled. Amen. 586 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:52,160 Excellent. Why don't we pray? 587 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,960 Do you mind if you just stand with me and we'll just lead us 588 00:35:54,960 --> 00:36:01,320 in prayer here? Lord God, God Almighty, Creator 589 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,520 of all things, we praise you in this place. 590 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:06,800 We lift up high the name of Jesus. 591 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,840 You are the God of Gods. You are the King of kings. 592 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,080 You are the Lord of Lords. As we started off, Lord, you are 593 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:17,680 seated on the throne of glory at the right hand of the Father. 594 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:20,960 You've brought us up to sit with you as your body. 595 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,760 Lord, we declare your greatness in this place. 596 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,160 We praise the name of Jesus. Lord. 597 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,920 God, you are glorious, You're powerful, you are mighty. 598 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:31,680 We love you in this place. Have your glory, Lord. 599 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,560 We love you, Lord. Lord God, please forgive us for 600 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,800 our times of ignorance, Lord. Forgive us for, you know, being 601 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,520 selfish sometimes and for doing things with the wrong 602 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:47,160 motivation, Lord, For praying in a way that is unscriptural. 603 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:51,000 Lord, help us, Lord. Lord, forgive us for our pride. 604 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,320 Lord, I say, Lord, forgive me of my pride. 605 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:56,560 It's in there somewhere and it tries to get a hold of me 606 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:58,520 sometimes. Lord, I pray that you would 607 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:02,120 forgive us of our arrogance and our pride, our laziness. 608 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,040 Lord, I pray that you would forgive us of our laziness. 609 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:09,720 Lord, to just settle and to not run and to not step out and to 610 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:12,600 not lay it all on the line for you and your Kingdom. 611 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,880 Lord, forgive us. Lord, forgive the the people of 612 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,960 the community that you've planted this lampstand in. 613 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:22,560 Forgive us our sins. Lord, have mercy on the people 614 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:24,240 that you have called us to reach. 615 00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:26,920 Lord, let your eyes be open to them. 616 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:30,920 Let your heart be open. Lord, let your mercy be extended 617 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:35,240 to them in the name of Jesus Christ, the one who died for and 618 00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:38,320 who has forgiven. Your word says that you died 619 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:41,840 while we were still sinners. And so we thank you, Lord, your 620 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,080 that your attentive Lord, to to cries for the lost and for the 621 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:49,800 hurting and for the broken. Lord, according to your word, we 622 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,120 can do nothing. That's what your word says. 623 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,680 We need your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, fill us, empower 624 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:58,160 us. Let us leave this place, Lord, 625 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,360 empowered for the mighty work that you have for us, Lord. 626 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:06,360 Zechariah 46 says not by might nor by power, but by your 627 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,680 Spirit, Lord. So we take a hold of that today. 628 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,160 We stand in that truth and we we thank you that we have your 629 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:16,760 spirit, and we thank you that we can do all things through Christ 630 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,960 who strengthens us. Lord, you said that you will 631 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,080 build your church. We take a hold of that today. 632 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,880 You are building your church. This church, this local church, 633 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,120 this lampstand belongs to you. You said you will build it. 634 00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:32,800 We will trust you, Lord. We will serve you. 635 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,600 We will follow you, Lord, and the gates of hell will not 636 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:37,920 prevail. We thank you for the power, 637 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:40,840 Lord, that you've given us as a body in this place. 638 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:45,720 Thank you, Lord. Lord, we are asking that your 639 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:50,520 power would come and fill us today, that you would anoint 640 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:54,040 your servants in this place, Lord, for the great work that 641 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:57,240 you've called us to. Lord, we thank you that each and 642 00:38:57,240 --> 00:39:01,640 every one of us in this place has been made able ministers in 643 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:04,360 the New Covenant. We take a hold of that, Lord, 644 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,440 that's not just elders, that's just not just deacons, that's 645 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:09,920 not just worship leaders. That is Saints. 646 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:13,720 That is all of us. You have made us to be able 647 00:39:13,720 --> 00:39:17,440 ministers in the New Covenant and we say Amen to that, Lord. 648 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:21,960 Lord, we pray that you would let the captives free in this city. 649 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,360 We're asking, Lord, that you would release them. 650 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,000 Lord, we pray that you would bring to us those that have been 651 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,120 held back. We, we ask that you would 652 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:33,280 release them in Jesus name, Lord, from the north and the 653 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:35,600 South and the east and the West. Give them up. 654 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:38,640 Release them, Lord. Let them come, Lord, in 655 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:42,120 alignment with your word. Lord, we pray for Lord, we're 656 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:44,680 asking for wisdom and understanding. 657 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:48,240 Lord, we pray that you would open out the eyes of our hearts 658 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:52,400 to see you clear, to know you clearly, to know that even the 659 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:56,320 times and the seasons. Lord, what you have us here for, 660 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:58,920 we pray that we would no longer be deceived. 661 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,680 Let us stray distracted. Lord, we pray that we would have 662 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:06,760 just a clear, clear, clear understanding of why you have us 663 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:10,080 here. Thank you Lord, Lord, call this 664 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,400 church and and and us as a people in light with your word 665 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:15,720 and your will. Call us in, Lord. 666 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:19,360 We, we pray for the firebrands, we pray for the mighty those 667 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:20,640 that are running after you, Lord. 668 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,640 We pray for the men and women that are hungry to serve. 669 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:26,480 We call them in. We say let them come, let them 670 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:28,800 join this mighty work that you have for them. 671 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,360 Bring in the firebrands, we say. Bring in the loss, bring in the 672 00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,040 herding, bring in the lonely, bring in those that are 673 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,520 downtrodden, bring in those that are hurt, Bring those people in 674 00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:40,840 also and everything in between, Lord. 675 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:44,080 We call them in. We call them in Lord, we pray, 676 00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:47,640 Lord, that you would build a church in this city where the 677 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:52,440 where the lost are added daily. Lord, whether you are adding 678 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:56,200 daily those who are being saved. We pray for an explosion in the 679 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:58,840 church in our city. We pray, Lord, that we would see 680 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:02,720 young men and old men and and people in between whatever ages, 681 00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:04,920 whatever demographic, whatever culture. 682 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,440 Lord, we pray that they would fill the church in this city. 683 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:13,000 We pray for a season of of fruitfulness and multiplication. 684 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:16,200 We pray Lord, that you would pour out your rain in this city 685 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:21,200 and the Spirit of God move powerfully these things We pray 686 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:27,080 in Jesus mighty name, Amen. Ephesians 3:20 I'm going to end 687 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:28,880 with this and I'm going to hand straight to Justin. 688 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:33,280 Ephesians 320 says now to him that he's able to do 689 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:38,760 exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, 690 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:41,680 according to the power that works in US. 691 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:47,840 To him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ to all generations, 692 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:50,240 forever and ever. Amen. 693 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:54,600 Amen. Awesome, awesome. 694 00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:55,920 Would you just lift your hands to heaven? 695 00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:59,480 Just very quickly. They've mentioned just in verse 696 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:02,040 11, I think it's of that Nehemiah 1. 697 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:06,600 Nehemiah says here are your servants and you reference the 698 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:08,800 scripture out of Isaiah. Here I am, Lord, send me. 699 00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:14,080 So Father, right now with our hands towards heaven we say here 700 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:16,840 we are. Use us. 701 00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:23,440 Send us. Call us in Jesus name. 702 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:26,800 Amen. Amen. 703 00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:29,080 Thank you, Dave. That was amazing. 704 00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:33,840 Brilliant man. It's a good time to be alive. 705 00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:38,280 Hey, Jesus, Church is advancing. It will continue to take ground. 706 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:43,120 What we're going to do is on the back of that, this is our two 707 00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:46,000 year birthday celebration. So can you give all yourselves a 708 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:49,760 round of applause to you? I mean, it's awesome that we're 709 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:53,080 all here. Hey, like happy birthday. 710 00:42:53,080 --> 00:42:55,160 We can sing happy birthday later. 711 00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:58,080 But what we're going to do is we're going to actually bring 712 00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:00,080 the kids in. What we'd love to do is take a 713 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:03,480 photo of who is here. We did it last year for our 714 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:05,600 first birthday. We did it on the first Sunday 715 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:08,440 that the church met. I know that you might be like, 716 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:12,280 it's a bit cheesy and, but it's actually cool to look back and 717 00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:14,840 say, well, look at what the Lord has done and he's done some 718 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:18,520 amazing stuff this year. He's done some incredible stuff. 719 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:21,440 I'll get, But I, I just want to encourage you with the stuff 720 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:24,400 that God has done this year because we can talk about it, 721 00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:27,120 but it's cool to hear it. Hey, do you know that we've had 722 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:29,200 like 5 or 6 people join the church this year? 723 00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:33,640 Like now we, we only had like 20 people originally. 724 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:37,440 So that's a 25% growth. That's playing with numbers, but 725 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:42,880 I work in data. That's cool guys like for these 726 00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:45,720 some of these guys who who you're with us even this 727 00:43:45,720 --> 00:43:48,280 morning, like you came to the church this year. 728 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:50,960 That's amazing. God, God is adding. 729 00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:54,520 It may not look like much, but God is adding right? 730 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:56,040 And I was chatting with Leon during the week. 731 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:59,800 Do not despise a day of small beginnings like when God adds. 732 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:03,720 We doubled community groups. We went from one to two 733 00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:07,360 community groups this year. In the last year we've gone, 734 00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:10,040 Dana Chantel put up the hand and said like our community group in 735 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:12,760 our house is getting too big and we're like, well, hang on, we 736 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,560 need to split now. And so these guys put up their 737 00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:16,920 hand and they're running a community group. 738 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:20,200 We're running 1 and we've got more people connected in to 739 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:24,800 community through the week. We baptized 2 people instead of 740 00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:28,680 one person the first year. It's doubling that. 741 00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:31,280 Like do not despise the day of small beginnings. 742 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:35,200 Hey Leon, do not despise the day of small, right? 743 00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:38,520 We, we kicked off a men's connect in the community centre. 744 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:41,000 Colin said, Hey, I want to arrange some stuff for some men 745 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:43,960 in my community centre. And through that, we're actually 746 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:47,520 meeting with five people who do not come to church on a regular 747 00:44:47,520 --> 00:44:50,200 basis, ministering the gospel to them. 748 00:44:50,200 --> 00:44:51,840 We're not, we're not shy. We're kind of going, we're 749 00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:54,640 opening our Bibles, we're teaching about the word of God 750 00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:57,200 and we're seeing 5 people from that community centre being 751 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,440 reached by the gospel and we're believing men pray for them and 752 00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:03,280 say God, would you add them in? Is that cool? 753 00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:06,160 We are in this center. We kicked off some hampers and 754 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:08,720 stuff. It's a crazy number, but there's 755 00:45:08,720 --> 00:45:11,720 something like 8 / 800 hampers that we've handed out into the 756 00:45:11,720 --> 00:45:14,880 community and you kind of go, where are the people added Jesus 757 00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:19,040 fed 5000 people like he read women, children and stuff. 758 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,720 And then people came back to him and he said you came because you 759 00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:25,040 got food. Like you came, you know about me 760 00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:28,520 because you came and you had your film and I, I am the bread 761 00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:30,040 of life. It gave him an inroad to 762 00:45:30,040 --> 00:45:34,360 actually preach the gospel. We sent Dave to the Philippines 763 00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:36,760 last year. It was the first time that this 764 00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:39,760 church has actually actively gone out of the country. 765 00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:42,920 Like this church kind of going, we're going to send somebody 766 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:45,000 out. And then not only that, but we 767 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:47,240 also went to the global equipped. 768 00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:49,680 So we sent guys out and I don't know if you know and you 769 00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:53,000 probably don't know, but some of those who went were 770 00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:56,720 supernaturally provided for by this church by other people 771 00:45:56,720 --> 00:45:59,680 outside. God said actually, I'm I'm like 772 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:04,280 backing your faith and going had guys coming in from the NCMI 773 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:06,760 team ministering to us. We had relationships from 774 00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:10,560 Balaclava. We had Ty most recently and Leo 775 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:14,120 and we've had Dudley, we've had Tyrone, we had Joel, Daniel, 776 00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:19,040 like this is what God is doing. We came on to eldership in this 777 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:22,080 last year. So like the leadership team grew 778 00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:25,520 as well. Like it doubled, right, Only 779 00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:28,720 six. We could say it's doubled, but I 780 00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:33,480 just want us to recognize that God is working his plan out, 781 00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:36,360 right? We celebrate all that God has 782 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:39,640 done because it reminds us, as Dave said, we pray the stuff 783 00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:43,400 that God has said and we look back and say, God that in the 784 00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:45,960 Old Testament, they build a monument and said, you did this, 785 00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:48,760 now come Lord and do it again and do it even greater. 786 00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:52,120 So man, it's so we're going to celebrate today. 787 00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:53,760 We're going to have lunch. We're going to set up some 788 00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:56,040 tables and stuff like that. But as I said before, we do 789 00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:58,120 that. We'd love to get a group photo 790 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:01,440 and then you're free. Thank you for joining us for 791 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:03,840 today's message. For more information about The 792 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:08,040 Way Church, please visit ourwebsite@thewaychurch.com dot 793 00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:09,440 AU. Have a blessed day.