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Welcome to Be on Sunday, a 
podcast that is an extension of 

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the preaching ministry here at 
Leemington EMC. 

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I am Pastor Jonah Chitty and I'm
joined by Joe. 

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Joe. 
Hey, Joe. 

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Hey, how's it going? 
I'm good. 

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How are you? 
I'm good. 

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I was talking to my dad the 
other day. 

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He said he didn't care for our 
dad jokes. 

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He said it. 
Yeah, he said they were just. 

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He said he didn't get them. 
I'm like, yeah, that's that's 

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kind of the point. 
The only person that thinks 

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they're funny is the person who 
says them. 

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For us. 
So that's I'm we just have to 

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step our game. 
I know. 

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I think that's all. 
We just need better jokes. 

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I don't know if we have any 
today, but maybe we'll have to 

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come up with that. 
Well, I mean they were ChatGPT 

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and about Nehemiah, so we were a
little narrowly. 

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Focused I I did think my 
Napoleon 1 was pretty good it. 

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It was good. 
But it came out later in the 

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show, and it wasn't, it wasn't 
an appropriate time for it. 

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You guys were talking about 
something serious, and I just 

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talked about Napoleon tearing 
bones apart. 

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Anyway, yeah, So we hit Nehemiah
Chapter 3 on Sunday. 

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Pastor Jake preached a sermon 
called. 

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The fruits of godly leadership. 
The fruits of godly leadership. 

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You want to give us a rundown? 
Yeah, yeah. 

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So I mean this chapter, it was a
longer chapter. 25 verses or 

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something. 
It's in the 30s, thirty 232 

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verses and it was a big chunk 
and it made the most sense to 

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keep it together because it's 
it's, it just flows all, it's 

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just a lot of repetition. 
Has some repeated parts. 

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Yeah. 
So there's a lot of the same 

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things repeated, different 
groups of people that are 

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beginning to rebuild. 
And it's the beginning of the 

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rebuilding of the work, which is
super exciting because here 

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we've talked a lot about the 
vision. 

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We've talked a lot about how, 
you know, God planted this 

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vision in Nehemiah's mind and 
the prayer and all the effort 

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and all the dominoes that needed
to fall for Nehemiah to go to 

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Jerusalem. 
And, and then even like, well, 

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how's he going to present it to 
the people so that they want to 

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do it And then they do. 
And now it's like, you know, 

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sort of like Jake mentioned on 
Sunday that now the shovel hits 

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the ground and it's like, now 
it's exciting. 

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It's like everybody's working 
and all sorts of different 

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people and everybody's getting 
involved and beginning to help 

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with the work. 
And so it's very exciting, 

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right? 
I mean, I can just imagine like 

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the drone, a drone flying around
and capturing all of this video 

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of. 
Oh, that would be cool, wouldn't

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it? 
These people working on 

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different parts of the wall and,
and working hard and, and 

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working together and, but 
working in different parts and, 

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you know, people who people who 
weren't, that's not what they 

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would have done or that's not 
what they would have been 

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skilled at or had been trained 
in, But everybody's helping. 

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And that was the the most 
pressing task for them to be 

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working on. 
And so it's just really neat. 

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And so some of the points that 
had five points to Jake had five

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points in a sermon this week. 
And the first one was that the 

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community built the wall. 
So to just emphasizing that it 

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was, it was, you know, the group
of people that wasn't like, oh, 

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they hired it out to a 
contractor. 

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But it's like they all, they all
built it together #2 was the 

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wall was built by volunteers. 
And so again, just emphasizing 

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that point that it's like these 
people were just were there, but

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donating their time and helping 
and serving #3 was that the 

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building of the wall included 
different tasks. 

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And, and so there was a few 
different things going on, 

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right? 
Like the setting of the 

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foundation and the wall and the 
gates and the bars and, and, you

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know, different, different 
things along the wall that that 

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needed to be repaired. 
And so there's different things 

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going on there. 
Number four people of various 

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trades built the wall. 
And so different again, just 

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sort of everybody sort of 
pitching in, right? 

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Like Goldsmiths, perfumers and, 
and the leaders and the priests 

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and everybody's that's not 
normally what they do, but 

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that's what they're doing now 
because it's the most important 

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thing. 
And among those people, his, his

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point #5 is that women helped in
rebuilding the wall. 

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And so again, just emphasizing 
that point that literally 

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everybody is, is working. 
And, and you can imagine, you 

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know, it doesn't say this 
specifically, but you can 

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imagine it's like, well, if dad 
is there and mom is there, then 

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the kids are probably running 
around helping and, and a little

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bit every, which maybe that's 
taking it too far because I know

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at some point there's going to 
be real danger with these 

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enemies that come around. 
And so maybe that's true, but 

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you may, you get the feeling 
that it's like they're involved 

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to some degree, right? 
Like. 

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The whole community was, yeah, 
like everybody that was there 

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and people from far off right, 
like the, the people of Tacoa 

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came, the men of Tacoa came and 
we helped and they were, they 

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weren't far, far off, but they 
were. 

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I just read some that there was,
they were like 11 miles away. 

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So like their, their community 
was far. 

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So they had to cross through 
some of the enemies to get there

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to help. 
And so there was danger there. 

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But yeah, you're right. 
So like the whole community of 

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Israel that were left, the 
remnant that was there, they 

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were helping right and doing all
the work. 

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So. 
Yeah, from the least to the 

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greatest, everybody is. 
Everybody's helping, almost 

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everybody. 
Yeah, this is it is a hard 

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chapter to read. 
We'll just like, like recognize 

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it. 
Jake recognized it as he was, as

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he was talking about it. 
And in his opening, how like, 

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OK, like you mentioned earlier, 
there's a lot of repetition and 

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you're tempted to think, man, 
this is not interesting at all. 

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Boring as a phone book was was 
said in the sermon. 

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But I think, I think he was 
joking, but it's, it's hard to 

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like find like we're going to 
read this in our reading plan. 

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We're going to come across some 
things and even our reading plan

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skips over some genealogies. 
And so, so it's hard to like 

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draw out meaning there. 
So you have to be intentional. 

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One of the things that I was 
interested in. 

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So I was thinking, yeah, what 
what does it mean? 

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Like, why is it like set up the 
way it is and why is it so 

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repetitive? 
And I looked at a commentary 

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about Doctor Betts, the one 
we've been using for our 

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outline. 
I thought it was really 

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interesting that he drew out 
like that, the very beginning of

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the chapter, like that Nehemiah 
was writing about who started 

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the worker. 
Like he starts with the priest, 

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right? 
So Doctor Betts mentions that 

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that it's essential that priests
take the lead in the project, 

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for it is more than a 
reconstruction project. 

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It is God ordained work, turning
the reproach of Jerusalem into 

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glory of God. 
They're on a spiritual mission 

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and they understand that the 
spiritual leadership requires 

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being an example to everyone 
else. 

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I thought that was that was 
interesting to think about. 

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OK, so if we're like just go to 
one resource or two resources 

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and try to if you, if you, if 
you don't have a study Bible or 

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something like that, look for 
resources online that might can 

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help you point to like what is 
really going on. 

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Doctor Betts also mentioned for 
context. 

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I thought this was interesting. 
You and I talked about this 

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briefly before, but in he 
mentioned that this is a 

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fulfillment like the rebuilding 
of the walls, fulfillment of 

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prophecy in Ezekiel. 
Ezekiel chapter 28 says in 25 

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and 26. 
So chapter 28 verse 25 and 26 

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says this. 
It says this is what the Lord 

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God says. 
When I gather the House of 

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Israel from the peoples where 
they are scattered, I will 

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demonstrate My holiness through 
them in the sight of the 

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nations, and they will live in 
their own land, which I gave to 

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my servant Jacob. 
They will live there securely. 

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They'll build houses, plant 
vineyards. 

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They will live securely. 
When I execute judgments against

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all their neighbors who treat 
them with contempt, they will 

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know that I am the Lord their 
God. 

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And so Doctor Betts made the 
connection for this. 

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This is the first part of that 
security that he promised. 

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And so he's fulfilling his 
promises. 

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And so like one of the things in
Sunday school, like one like 

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when we're talking to the kids 
and the kids are learning, one 

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of the like the things that we 
repeat over and over again is 

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that God always keeps his 
promises. 

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And so it's important for us to 
see that too. 

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So like the priest recognized 
that. 

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So they start building at the 
sheep gate, which is where all 

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of the sacrifices would take 
place. 

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It was important that they did 
that work 'cause that's where 

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they're going to be working. 
Yeah. 

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Anyway, I just thought it was 
very interesting to think about.

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And you mentioned earlier that 
this sort of even connects to 

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our reading plan already. 
Right, Well, even in that, that 

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passage in Ezekiel, right, like 
he mentions like the land that 

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the Lord promised to Jacob, 
right. 

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When we just read that at the 
beginning of this week that, you

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know, as Jacob is, is 
travelling, he stops in the land

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that the Lord has promised to 
Abraham and he sleeps there and 

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he gets this vision from the 
Lord that the Lord is going to 

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bless him. 
He's going to give him this 

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land. 
This is where his descendants 

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are going to grow and, and be 
multiplied. 

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And it's again, like you said, a
fulfillment of God's promise 

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many, many years later. 
But he's going to be faithful to

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his promise to give his people 
that land. 

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Yeah. 
And so yeah, it's, it's 

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interesting to see it all 
connecting and tying together. 

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So like one, one of the like 
basic Bible reading skills we 

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need to like develop in our mind
is like, so asking like those 

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diagnostic questions, what does 
this text teach me about God? 

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Well, there's our thing that is 
teaching us about God. 

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It's roundabout and we had to 
work for it, right? 

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We had to like work hard to get 
there, right? 

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Sort of hard. 
You have to look, you have to 

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know where to go. 
You have to know where your 

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resources are. 
But it points out that God, it's

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a reminder of this like massive 
truth that God is a God who 

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keeps his promises. 
He is faithful. 

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And so that's like a lesson we 
can take from the first few 

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verses in in this book. 
And so I don't know, I just 

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thought it was pretty good to 
think about. 

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Yeah, absolutely. 
But like, sort of what you 

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mentioned, like some, again, 
part of what we're doing in 

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Scripture is, you know, taking 
the time, taking the time to 

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think, you know, where we are in
the storyline of scripture. 

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You know, if we just come to a 
text and then just read it at 

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face value, there's, there's a 
lot that we don't understand 

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because there's, there's context
there, right? 

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Like when we come to the book of
Nehemiah, we, we need to ask 

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ourselves, well, what has 
happened before this? 

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And, and then we go back to 
like, OK, well, you know, we can

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do like an overview of, of 
scripture at this point, right? 

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It's like, well, Adam and Eve, 
they send there was the fall and

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God called Abraham and chose 
Abraham and and said he was 

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going to bless him. 
And then we see like Abraham's 

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descendants and their family and
then they're in exile in Egypt, 

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but God delivers them. 
And then we see this 40 years in

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the wilderness. 
But eventually they do come into

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the land and then finally it's 
their land, right? 

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And then we see like God begin 
to make his covenant and his 

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promises sort of prior to going 
into the land. 

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But he says, if you'll be 
faithful to me, I'll bless you. 

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But if you walk away from me, if
you disobey me, it's like, then 

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I will discipline you. 
And part of that discipline will

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be exile, which is where we pick
up an EMI, right? 

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I mean, this is like, yeah, 
you're going second, right? 

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I mean, this is big time 
overview, but those are helpful 

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things to know. 
It's like, well, why is Israel 

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in exile? 
Because they're disobedient. 

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But you know, that's also 
there's something to keep in 

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mind though, the disobedience, 
their disobedience, and then God

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00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,680
saying like making good on what 
he said is like, is him keeping 

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his word right? 
Absolutely. 

231
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We can't, we can't fault him for
keeping his word. 

232
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No, absolutely not. 
Yeah. 

233
00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:36,520
But yeah, I mean that. 
So that helps you understand 

234
00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,360
what's going on. 
But then like then we're still 

235
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not done yet, right? 
Like that helps us to understand

236
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what's going on in Nehemiah. 
But then we still need to take 

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the time to think through. 
It's like, well, OK, how what is

238
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how does this apply to us today?
What, what does that mean for us

239
00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:52,600
now in the new covenant of 
Christ and how are things 

240
00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:54,640
fulfilled? 
And so that's again, sort of 

241
00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:56,520
what we're trying to do all 
throughout this book and see 

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how, again, how does it, how is 
this just part of God's big 

243
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:01,720
story? 
Because again, the Bible is one 

244
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story. 
It's telling one story. 

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It's 66 different books by over 
40 different authors over the 

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00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,760
span of 1500 years or so. 
And yet it's all telling one 

247
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story of God's plan of 
redemption, and we need to 

248
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remember that. 
And so, yeah, I, I feel like 

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it's that that connection with 
Ezekiel is really, really 

250
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helpful because he was 
prophesying during that, you 

251
00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:24,880
know, or I don't know if it was 
maybe during that time. 

252
00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,280
It was during the exile. 
So he was during the during the 

253
00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:28,240
exile, Yeah. 
So. 

254
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:29,840
So just before this. 
Yep, Yep. 

255
00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:33,840
Not too much, not too much time 
before, but like, still, when 

256
00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:35,440
Ezekiel's there, there's no 
hope. 

257
00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:37,240
Jeremiah and Ezekiel are like 
contemporaries. 

258
00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,120
There's in their mind, like 
Jeremiah doesn't end anything 

259
00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,840
in, well, it's like, oh, it's 
still still bad, right? 

260
00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,360
But there's hope, right? 
He's talking constantly talking 

261
00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:47,640
about the hope of things to 
come. 

262
00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,320
And Ezekiel's the same way. 
They're they're pointing toward 

263
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what God's going to do. 
And that's encouraging. 

264
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:55,720
Yeah, absolutely. 
And that's what we have to do as

265
00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:57,320
well. 
So we we're kind of in one of 

266
00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:02,600
these times of silence. 
Like we got that Christ has come

267
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and we're living in this this 
like already not yet stage of. 

268
00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,240
You mean currently now like our 
day and. 

269
00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,480
So like we're waiting as well. 
Like we're in what we, The thing

270
00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:17,400
is, we can't lose like hope that
that Christ is going to keep his

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00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:18,840
promise. 
He's going to come back and he's

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going to he's creating the new 
heavens and the new earth. 

273
00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:23,840
So we're like in the time on the
great grand timeline of 

274
00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,400
everything, like we're in this 
spot where it's already 

275
00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:29,200
happened. 
Christ has come and redeemed the

276
00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,640
world, but it hasn't happened 
yet, Right. 

277
00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:33,200
Right. 
So it's like already not yet. 

278
00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,720
We talked about that a lot in 
seminary so much that we got 

279
00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,680
tired of hearing the already. 
Not yet, But it's it's the way 

280
00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:39,720
to describe where we live right 
now. 

281
00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:40,920
Yeah. 
Yeah, yeah. 

282
00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,240
And, and to think that like now 
we're now we're a part of 

283
00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,520
building something, right? 
Building a Kingdom like in the 

284
00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,480
same way that Nehemiah and all 
these people are, are a part of 

285
00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,080
building a wall that was going 
to be torn down and destroyed 

286
00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,400
anyway. 
Now we're a part of something 

287
00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,840
very similar, like, like if we 
look at it from like the, from 

288
00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,680
like the physical aspect, yeah. 
It's like, you know, we're in a 

289
00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:03,280
sense building and doing things 
that are going to be torn down 

290
00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:05,120
and destroyed because the new 
heavens and the earth are going 

291
00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:06,880
to come. 
But we're building a Kingdom 

292
00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,640
that is eternal. 
And that's like people who are, 

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00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,400
who are fully, fully devoted 
followers of Christ, who are 

294
00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,920
disciples of Jesus and want and 
love and want to serve him. 

295
00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:18,680
The new people of God, the 
church is the new people of God.

296
00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,400
So yeah, it's good stuff. 
That's awesome. 

297
00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:23,440
That's something to think about 
as we as we look at the 

298
00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,840
beginning. 
I'm just thinking just the two 

299
00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,360
verses, thinking about what the 
priests are there for, because 

300
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,000
God is going to going to 
demonstrate that he is holy by 

301
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,760
the way he protects Israel, and 
this is how he starts. 

302
00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,400
Yeah, really, really good stuff.
Yeah, and like you said, they're

303
00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,160
like, you know, they're trusting
in the Lord, and that's why 

304
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:43,400
everybody's hands go to the 
work. 

305
00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:45,400
I know one of the things Jake 
brought out was that, you know, 

306
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,160
everybody sort of bought into 
the vision, right? 

307
00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:49,240
Because they see that the Lord 
is behind them. 

308
00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,120
And when you trust, you know 
that the Lord is with you and 

309
00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:53,840
that the Lord is orchestrating 
these events. 

310
00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,160
And, and the Lord has brought 
about all these things that have

311
00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,360
now presented us with this 
situation and this opportunity 

312
00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:02,960
that wasn't there before. 
You're, it gives you the 

313
00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,640
confidence to go ahead and go. 
This is what the Lord wants us 

314
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,920
to do. 
And so everybody jumps on board 

315
00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:12,240
and everybody, you know, dives 
in and is, is hard at work, you 

316
00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:14,000
know, rebuilding, rebuilding the
work. 

317
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:18,960
And and I thought that's really 
true, except for he did mention 

318
00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,240
almost everybody did. 
And then we have those nobles 

319
00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,560
from the from Tokoites, right, 
that didn't join the work and 

320
00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,480
like the ESV calls them. 
What did you say verse five? 

321
00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:31,520
I think it. 
Is yeah, it says they, they they

322
00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,880
would not stoop to serve their 
Lord. 

323
00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,600
And Lord is capitalized, Yeah. 
So they're not talking about 

324
00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,680
Lord as in like a leader there. 
They didn't want to serve Yahweh

325
00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:42,520
is what they're what he's 
saying. 

326
00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,600
But the interesting thing is is 
that the men of the village or 

327
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:47,880
the men of the of the of Toccoa 
came anyway. 

328
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,120
They're nobles. 
Whatever we're going, we were 

329
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,400
going to trust and stoop our 
next to serve the Lord where you

330
00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,720
may not. 
And it's interesting to think 

331
00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:59,800
about. 
And again, that commentary was 

332
00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:03,120
helpful like, OK, we're all 
these people in the city of 

333
00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,040
Jerusalem. 
That's another thing to think 

334
00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,280
about too. 
No, some of them lived outside 

335
00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,480
in the neighbouring areas and 
they had to come back to build 

336
00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,280
the wall of the city. 
And so like to Co I was one of 

337
00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,600
those was like 11 1/2 miles 
away, they say. 

338
00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,800
And so they had to cross through
danger and their nobles weren't 

339
00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:23,520
willing to do that. 
They didn't trust the Lord and 

340
00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,000
like what? 
Not stooping their, their necks,

341
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:26,840
right? 
Is that what they said? 

342
00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,520
Not stoop down to serve their 
Lord. 

343
00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,800
It's like the word is hang on, 
let me look it up because I 

344
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:33,920
thought it was really, really 
good. 

345
00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:38,320
Oh, literally hard of neck is 
what the Hebrew word is for that

346
00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:43,080
like, so it reminds me of stiff 
necked Pharisees and a stiff 

347
00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,040
neck generation in the New 
Testament where Christ is 

348
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,680
describing those who, who 
wouldn't listen to him, he was 

349
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,840
there and they wouldn't listen. 
So even in the in like when 

350
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,600
you're, when there's a whole 
group of people who like are on 

351
00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,200
the same mission, there are 
still going to be some that 

352
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,440
never adopt, right? 
There's the early adopters that 

353
00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,440
sometimes and then there's the 
people that never adopt the 

354
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,840
mission, right? 
So I think that we can't, we 

355
00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,720
can't be discouraged by the very
few people who never, who never 

356
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:13,960
adopt you, right? 
Well, and then there's going to 

357
00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:16,000
be people, you know, who oppose 
the work, you know? 

358
00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,480
Oh yeah, coming on, that is 
completely, completely against 

359
00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,560
and not just not helping, right.
And we and we see sort of like 

360
00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,520
the building tension, right? 
Like like in Chapter 2, it's 

361
00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,800
like, you know, the, the engine 
starts, you know, as Nehemiah 

362
00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,000
comes across. 
And then it's like we're sort of

363
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,120
introduced to these enemies. 
And then the opposition starts 

364
00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:34,720
to increase at the end of 
Chapter 2. 

365
00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,840
And it's like that now, the 
insults start to get hurled, and

366
00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,160
that opposition is just going to
get ramped up more and more and 

367
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:41,720
more. 
And it's like, man, yeah, 

368
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,200
there's going to be people who 
are going to oppose, oppose it 

369
00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:46,160
even though you're doing the 
Lord's work, you know? 

370
00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,040
Yeah, the rising tension will 
will culminate next week when we

371
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,680
start 41. 
When Sambalot heard that they 

372
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:54,400
were rebuilding the ball, he 
became furious. 

373
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,720
Yeah, he seems like a nice guy, 
but he needs. 

374
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,440
Yeah, it's like, and that's, and
that's not, not only normal, but

375
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,000
it should be expected, right? 
Like we should expect that when 

376
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,440
we're, we're doing the Lord's 
work, the Lord's enemies are 

377
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,880
going to rise up against us. 
And it's, it's not because 

378
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,400
they're opposing us, you know, 
even though it's tempting to 

379
00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,800
feel like that, right? 
They're they're opposing what 

380
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,800
God is doing. 
Yeah, that's, that's something 

381
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,160
helpful to think through as 
you're like, I'm just thinking 

382
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:23,359
about the evangelism team. 
They bump into people all the 

383
00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,800
time who are discouraging in 
their responses to them. 

384
00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,040
And even, like, if you're trying
to do something good, like if 

385
00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,280
you're just trying even like, 
like Mercy Ministry, you're just

386
00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,360
trying to help with like, a cold
glass of water, Right? 

387
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,520
Yeah, There's still going to be 
people out there that are just 

388
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:38,160
like completely against. 
You. 

389
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:40,560
Yeah, exactly. 
They'll find some way to slander

390
00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:41,880
you. 
So what's the lesson there? 

391
00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:44,400
To know what happens and move on
and keep going. 

392
00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:45,040
Right. 
Yeah. 

393
00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:46,200
Trust in the Lord and keep 
going. 

394
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,600
Yeah, right. 
I mean, you know, I mean, there 

395
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,960
may be a time for discerning. 
It's like, you know what, just 

396
00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,160
double checking, you know, like 
maybe praying and going all 

397
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,320
right, am am I sure on the right
path is am I for sure doing what

398
00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:58,920
the Lord wants me to do? 
And it's like, once you're 

399
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,040
confident of that, it's like, 
yeah, let's keep keep going. 

400
00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:03,520
Right. 
We were reading Paul, like Paul 

401
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:07,000
1st Corinthians 16, right? 
He's like there's a wide, wide 

402
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,800
the door for ministry is wide 
open, but many oppose me. 

403
00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,400
That's sort of how he knew. 
He's like the door is wide open 

404
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,520
because and I know that's 
because many oppose me. 

405
00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:16,640
That's sort of the same thing 
here. 

406
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:18,880
It's like, yeah, we're going to 
do this. 

407
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,200
We know that people don't want 
us to do this because we were a 

408
00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:22,720
strong nation. 
Yeah, right. 

409
00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,520
We were. 
And then again, they, I think 

410
00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,120
you were. 
Was it, Ezra, when they said, 

411
00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:29,360
yeah, they were rebellious 
people? 

412
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:30,920
Was that what you said? 
Yeah, in the time. 

413
00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:32,800
In the time of Ezra. 
Yeah, yeah. 

414
00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:38,600
So Joe is still sick, still 
sick, still fighting the cold. 

415
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:40,520
I am too. 
Hopefully it goes away soon. 

416
00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:44,160
But yeah, I mean, the thing I 
think the one of the encouraging

417
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,080
things, I mean like to to sort 
of get practical and 

418
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:52,160
applicational with it. 
I think like all the people that

419
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,080
that are hands on deck is, is 
encouraging to us as a church. 

420
00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,240
You know, I think it really 
points to the body of Christ in 

421
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,800
the in in the new covenant. 
You know, like now the church is

422
00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,480
as the people of God and 
thinking of everybody with 

423
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,160
different skill sets, with 
different gifts, with different 

424
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,520
abilities coming together for 
the same purpose of building 

425
00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,400
God's Kingdom, right? 
And I think there's, there's 

426
00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,040
times where we will all be doing
different tasks and, and using 

427
00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:20,800
our unique gifts that God has 
given to us. 

428
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,160
And then there's other times 
where it's like, man, there's an

429
00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,360
issue that's just so pressing 
and so necessary that it's like 

430
00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,320
everybody's helping with that. 
I think of, you know, here at 

431
00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,200
this church when, when we were 
adding on this side of the 

432
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,200
building, you know, just to save
money, that a lot of people in 

433
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,000
the church did a lot of the work
ourselves, right? 

434
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:43,040
And so again, everybody's 
working and all hands on deck, 

435
00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:44,320
right? 
Like women are helping with 

436
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,040
cleaning and painting and men 
are doing like drywall and 

437
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:48,920
whatever. 
And so there are different tasks

438
00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,040
in there, but the main task is 
like let's add this addition. 

439
00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:53,080
We got to get this building. 
Done. 

440
00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,640
Yeah, let's do this work, right.
And so everybody was like 

441
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,120
working together and lots of 
people were were helping. 

442
00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:00,800
And so it's like, yeah, it's, 
it's so pressing in that moment 

443
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,240
that everybody's helping with 
it. 

444
00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,920
Yeah, it reminds me too of like,
like we talked about in the 

445
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,200
beginning of this series that 
that prayer needs to be our 

446
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,880
first option, right? 
Can't be the like your last 

447
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:14,560
resort. 
It has to be your first option. 

448
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:18,360
So that's one of the things that
everybody has the, the ability 

449
00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:21,760
to and, and the, the 
responsibility to do, right. 

450
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,520
So we, we should like if we want
to move towards being a more, I 

451
00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,840
think, I think no matter how 
strong you are in prayer, 

452
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:29,200
there's always room for 
improvement. 

453
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,800
So if you want to move towards 
like becoming a, a more a 

454
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:38,160
praying church, being more known
as a praying church, we need to 

455
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,760
make like, it doesn't matter, 
OK, you can't lead a Bible 

456
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:42,120
study. 
You're not, you're not skilled 

457
00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:45,160
in that or you don't, you're not
going to, you're not an 

458
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,720
evangelist. 
You know, it's not, that's not 

459
00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:49,520
my spiritual gift. 
Well, you can pray for 

460
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,680
evangelist, right? 
You can, you can pray for Bible 

461
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:53,600
study leaders. 
You can pray for like. 

462
00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,400
And so I think it's important 
for us to like, not neglect, 

463
00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,800
like that is building the wall. 
If you want to talk about 

464
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,080
protection and asking the Lord 
for the and, and, and 

465
00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,040
recognizing that the Lord is all
we have. 

466
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,880
Like prayer is prayer. 
Is it, it, is it. 

467
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,080
That's where the book started. 
That's where it's going to 

468
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,280
finish honestly. 
Like, you know, like reclaiming 

469
00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:19,040
and being firm for the Lord. 
But yeah, anyway, prayer, I 

470
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:20,720
think prayer is one of those 
things like you mentioned, like 

471
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,000
what, everybody, it's all hands 
on deck. 

472
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,720
Doesn't matter if you think 
you're good at it, if you think 

473
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,200
you're eloquent with speech, it 
doesn't matter. 

474
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:29,280
We're praying to the Lord and 
so. 

475
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:30,960
Yeah, yeah. 
Well, and I would think that 

476
00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:32,800
discipleship ties in with that 
too, right. 

477
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,840
Like, again, like it's easy to 
point to the things that we 

478
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,240
can't do. 
But you know, one of the things 

479
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,160
that we believe here as as 
pastors and as a leadership, as 

480
00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,800
a church, that we believe that, 
you know, it's everybody's 

481
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:44,880
responsibility to be involved in
discipleship. 

482
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,280
You know, to what, to what level
is it may be different in 

483
00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:49,800
different people. 
You know, like you said, some 

484
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,280
people may oversee like a youth 
ministry or young adults 

485
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,520
ministry or, you know, they may 
be teaching like larger groups 

486
00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:57,880
or teaching on a Wednesday 
night. 

487
00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:01,440
And so there's different levels 
of, of responsibility and, and 

488
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,560
authority there. 
But at some level, we expect 

489
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:06,400
everybody to be involved in 
discipleship. 

490
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,360
I mean, that's, that is not 
optional, right? 

491
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,640
That is for everyone, you know. 
And so as parents, you're just, 

492
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,640
you ought to be discipling your 
kids, but you ought to be 

493
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,280
involved in discipleship in the 
church as well and helping other

494
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,920
people grow in their faith. 
Because again, the Commission, 

495
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,800
the Great Commission is to make 
disciples of all nations, 

496
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,080
teaching them to observe all 
that I've commanded you. 

497
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,160
And so at some level, we all 
need to be involved in it. 

498
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,840
And it's a simple, I mean, we 
have a super simple process. 

499
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,640
You know, anybody I know it 
people are, you know, I don't 

500
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:38,800
know if I'm ready for that. 
And then once we explain the 

501
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,600
system and, and once you're in 
AD group for a couple weeks, 

502
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:43,720
you're like, Oh yeah, anybody 
can do this. 

503
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,200
You know, I've, I've heard that 
recently where like 2 weeks into

504
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,760
a discipleship group, you know, 
they've met once or twice and 

505
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,440
everybody in the group is going,
Oh yeah, I, I think I could do 

506
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,760
this no problem. 
Like it, anybody can do it. 

507
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,360
It is that simple. 
But it's just about US meeting 

508
00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:03,320
together, sharing what God's 
teaching us, sharing what we're 

509
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,480
learning, holding each other 
accountable. 

510
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,280
And it's like allowing God to 
grow us together in His Word. 

511
00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:09,520
Yep. 
That's all it is. 

512
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:13,480
Yeah. 
Because the reason it's so it 

513
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,160
feels that way, that it's so 
easy. 

514
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,440
Well, one it is. 
But it's because God does the 

515
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:18,280
work, right? 
He's not. 

516
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,480
You're not. 
You're not growing on your own. 

517
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,000
You're not. 
You don't have to have like a 

518
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:25,720
theology degree in order to read
the Bible and to talk about it 

519
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,120
with another person. 
You just have to be committed to

520
00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:29,600
it. 
Like you can't, you can't just 

521
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,160
say that's beneath me or and 
honestly, I think that's part of

522
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,240
it too. 
It's like there's there's like 

523
00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,760
I'm just thinking about 
objections to becoming like 

524
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,400
being a discipleship group. 
Like I don't have time. 

525
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:45,640
There's probably something else 
there, right? 

526
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,520
That's not really an excuse. 
You know, if we've debunk the I 

527
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,040
don't have time excuse before, I
don't know if we've done it 

528
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,960
here, but everybody has time. 
Yeah, you do. 

529
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,440
Just go open up your phone, like
if you have an iPhone and swipe 

530
00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:59,240
left. 
Oh, move your finger to the 

531
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,560
right and then scroll up a 
little bit and you'll find 

532
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,600
screen time there if you have it
turned on, and you'll see how 

533
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:05,880
much time you have. 
Look at the one that says 

534
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,800
Facebook or whatever social 
media app you use. 

535
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:09,640
You have time. 
Yeah. 

536
00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:13,920
OK, so that's debunked. 
Well, and again, sort of to tie 

537
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,280
in with that, like these D 
groups, I mean you can meet in 

538
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:18,280
an hour. 
Exactly an hour and 15 minutes. 

539
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,040
Is that like a long one? 
Right, But so you have time. 

540
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,800
Secondly, like I don't feel like
I'm I'm not qualified to do 

541
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:28,440
that. 
OK, that's a pride thing. 

542
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,640
Like maybe you're afraid, maybe 
you're just you have a fear of 

543
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,000
what other people will think. 
That's so that's fear of man and

544
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,120
and pride in your and like you 
feel like you don't want your 

545
00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:41,480
pride to be hurt, right. 
So like they're an or yeah, or 

546
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:42,720
I'm better. 
I don't need that. 

547
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,360
Like that's another thing. 
If you're like, like somebody 

548
00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,480
who's been, I've been a 
Christian for over 30 years, 

549
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,120
right? 
Like there's a, there's a part 

550
00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,400
of you that says I'm above that.
Like there might be. 

551
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,080
And if we ever get to that spot 
in your life, then you need to 

552
00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,680
like really ask the Lord for 
forgiveness and repent because 

553
00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,240
you're not there yet. 
Like the Lord is showing me, 

554
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:04,520
man, like you're not there yet. 
Jonah. 

555
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,280
So absolutely. 
So like it, it's likely there's 

556
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,680
a sin issue that's causing you 
to not want to take the step and

557
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,360
be in a group. 
And I would just say, just think

558
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:16,600
on that, pray on that and ask 
the Lord to reveal that to you. 

559
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:22,440
Because what is holding you back
from, from wanting to be like in

560
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:27,480
community, growing in Christ, in
a community of four or five 

561
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,560
people who are loving you and, 
and, and the reason you're Satan

562
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:32,640
is the only thing holding you 
back. 

563
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,880
There's a sin issue in your 
heart that's holding you back, 

564
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,600
and there's something you need 
to prioritize or deprioritize in

565
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,000
your life to allow you have time
for it. 

566
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,800
Yeah. 
And if we and if and if there 

567
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,040
are people who are intimidated, 
I mean the process is to get to 

568
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,640
be involved in AD group. 
Right. 

569
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,600
Not lead it right. 
Right for and you can be there 

570
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,840
for, you know, the goal is a 
year and then after a year of 

571
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,080
really feeling comfortable with 
the whole system and how it 

572
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,800
works, like then launching out 
and starting your own group. 

573
00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:59,920
And if you don't feel 
comfortable after a year, stay 

574
00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,320
in the group, right? 
You know, stay, stay on the, on 

575
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,920
the Yeah, but but you, you will 
feel comfortable. 

576
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:06,040
That's the that's the whole 
point. 

577
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,880
It's like absolutely two weeks 
in. 

578
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,760
Oh yeah, People who are like 
some of the people who are like,

579
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,720
yeah, I can do this. 
Then two months in, the hardest 

580
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:14,680
person would be able to say, 
yeah, I think I can do this. 

581
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,200
Yeah. 
And I want to tie into like, 

582
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,240
maybe, maybe a reason that 
people might give that maybe is 

583
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:26,160
a bit deeper, which is I think 
like fear, fear of like what 

584
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,440
people might find. 
And so and that, I think that is

585
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,720
sin and pride too. 
So the accountability part, 

586
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,280
right? 
Like I think there's some people

587
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:35,480
who it's like, man, I don't want
to go there. 

588
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,760
I don't want to share my heart. 
I don't want to share the 

589
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,640
concerns I'm going through. 
Like I'm scared of what I'll 

590
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:43,880
find and I'm scared of what 
other people will find. 

591
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,000
And and that's a scary thing, 
right, to open up to people and,

592
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,200
and again, the group just 
naturally it, it's not about 

593
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,840
like a deep dive into like 
immediately revealing all the 

594
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:56,680
deepest starts. 
Well, it's not a, it's not a 

595
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,720
therapy session. 
No, it's not a counseling 

596
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,880
session. 
No, it's it's not like that's 

597
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:03,080
one of the things to keep in 
mind too. 

598
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,120
Right. 
And the goal is to become close,

599
00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,000
but that that happens over time.
That's why they're a year long 

600
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,920
because it's like it happens 
slowly. 

601
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,120
Like as you get more 
comfortable, you're able to 

602
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,680
like, you begin to trust these 
people and you see that they're 

603
00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:17,720
on their side, on your side, and
they're for you. 

604
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,480
And you begin to like share a 
little bit more and maybe a 

605
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,040
little bit more of your heart 
and what's going on and how they

606
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,600
can be praying for you. 
Because these people are for 

607
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:26,920
you. 
They want you to succeed. 

608
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,600
They want you to experience all 
the joy and the blessings that 

609
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,720
come from communion with Christ 
and communion as brothers and 

610
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:33,840
sisters in Christ. 
Yeah. 

611
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,640
Yeah, dude, it's a, there's a, 
it's a the community aspect of 

612
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:39,600
something. 
Yeah, is super important. 

613
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,000
Yeah, well, and and talk about 
building a wall, right? 

614
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,000
Like right. 
Exactly. 

615
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,840
Protection right wall is. 
Protection and and like when we 

616
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,920
when we are involved in 
discipleship, then that analogy 

617
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,280
could probably go a lot of ways,
right? 

618
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,960
Like we build up a wall in our 
own lives where now it's a 

619
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:57,000
defense against the enemy, it's 
a defense against our own self 

620
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:58,920
doubt. 
While you're using spiritual 

621
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:01,240
disciplines to help with that. 
So you're you're doing your 

622
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:03,720
daily Bible reading, you're 
meditating on a passage of 

623
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:05,880
Scripture every day, a different
1:00 every day. 

624
00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:08,720
And then you're meditating on 
one even further with the memory

625
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:10,400
verses that you work on every 
week. 

626
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,360
And so those are like, those are
defenses. 

627
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:14,960
Yeah. 
Against the devil. 

628
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:16,960
Yeah. 
And so like, that's building a 

629
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:19,680
wall in your own life. 
And then with the community too,

630
00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:21,680
right? 
We're building together, right? 

631
00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,280
We're working together. 
Now we have like this teamwork. 

632
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:24,840
Right. 
That's right. 

633
00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:28,040
This I know that an illustration
that that Aldo has shared with 

634
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,400
me before where he's talking 
about like it's a helpful 

635
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,560
illustration as we talk about 
like these groups. 

636
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,640
Aldo is a person like in our 
church. 

637
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:36,800
Yeah, Aldo, yeah. 
Aldo, he's a great guy. 

638
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,800
Aldo is a great guy. 
Sorry, I didn't like most people

639
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:42,480
might know who all that's true, 
that's true, who may not. 

640
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:43,280
Know that's fair. 
Yeah. 

641
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,320
Aldo Gabriel, yeah. 
And so one of the things that 

642
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:49,240
he's, he's shared with as we 
talk about like discipleship 

643
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,600
groups is he uses the 
illustration of Redwood trees. 

644
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,880
And so Redwood trees are among 
the tallest and the biggest 

645
00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,160
trees in all the world. 
And the reason a tall can, a 

646
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:02,120
tree can grow tall and strong 
and stand firm in the midst of 

647
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:04,480
like storms and everything is 
because of its root system. 

648
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,440
Right now, these trees are 
different. 

649
00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:10,040
Their roots don't go like down 
really far and they're not like 

650
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:12,680
super big, but what they 
actually do is they're usually 

651
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:16,120
less than a meter below the 
surface of the ground and they 

652
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,920
spread out and intertwine. 
With the with other Redwood. 

653
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,880
With the other Redwood trees and
that's how they're able to stand

654
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,400
so strong and get so big and so 
tall. 

655
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,720
And so it's a, it's a really 
amazing illustration of, of what

656
00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,680
it's like in our Christian lives
that like when we begin to 

657
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,680
connect our lives with other 
people again, the, the fear of 

658
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:37,680
opening up is a real fear for 
us. 

659
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,760
But the truth is that once we do
that, we actually get stronger. 

660
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,920
We can grow spiritually stronger
and the Lord uses it to shape us

661
00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:48,800
and mold us in a way and and we 
grow as disciples. 

662
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,120
It's really, really good. 
Now I'm thinking about roots, 

663
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,160
like an oak tree would have a 
different root system. 

664
00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:57,800
A lot of times they're off by 
themselves, especially in the 

665
00:29:57,800 --> 00:29:59,000
South. 
They're out by themselves in the

666
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,000
middle of big fields. 
And there's one of the big broad

667
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,240
trees. 
And the picture is like, it's 

668
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,760
almost the same like limb 
structure underneath the ground 

669
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:11,960
that is up top deep tall, like 
deep down wide out like it is so

670
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,360
that it can, it's almost so it's
like, and then pine trees have a

671
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,960
taproot that goes way down deep 
in the ground, which is why 

672
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,760
they're good in sand anyway. 
So anyway, tree roots are fun 

673
00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:24,000
and fascinating so. 
Right. 

674
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,040
Well, and again, it's like now 
I'm thinking of an illustration 

675
00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,640
that one of our professors use, 
Doctor Pierre. 

676
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,760
He, he talked about like a 
healthy root system and this 

677
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:37,720
idea of like, like our roots, 
like if, if we look at the fruit

678
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:39,800
of our lives, so many times 
we're looking at the symptoms in

679
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:41,120
our life, right? 
And so I would just challenge 

680
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,600
people to think about this, look
at the things in your life. 

681
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:45,960
What is the fruit of your life, 
right? 

682
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,360
Maybe there's fruit from me not 
trusting God. 

683
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,320
Maybe there's fruit from the 
fact that me and my wife don't 

684
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:55,560
talk about spiritual things or 
we don't pray together. 

685
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:57,800
Or, or maybe I'm seeing the 
fruit of the fact that, you 

686
00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,120
know, I haven't really been 
involved in discipling my kids 

687
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,440
or I'm not really involved in 
church or, or I'm not, you know,

688
00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,280
going to Bible study or getting 
involved in a discipleship 

689
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:08,160
group, or I haven't taken my 
face seriously. 

690
00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,000
And, and the fruit of not 
reading and not praying and all 

691
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,440
these different things. 
And look at the fruit of your 

692
00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:17,240
life and what is causing that 
lack of fruit or what is causing

693
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,960
that unhealth, right? 
Like it presents itself as like,

694
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:21,440
man, there's no fruit in my 
life. 

695
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:23,920
There's no, maybe not very many 
leaves on my tree. 

696
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:28,640
I sort of look like a dead tree.
And well, what are you rooted 

697
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:30,480
in? 
And, and this idea that like 

698
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,240
what you're rooted in, like your
roots, and then what is feeding 

699
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,920
your roots is what comes out in 
your fruit, right? 

700
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,960
And so the whole idea of, of 
discipleship and, and D groups 

701
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,240
is getting rooted in Christ 
together with brothers and 

702
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:45,480
sisters. 
And when you're rooted in God's 

703
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,680
word and the Holy Spirit is 
working through his word as you,

704
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,800
and it's going to now come up in
your root system and it's going 

705
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:57,160
to start showing itself in fruit
in, in a healthy tree that bears

706
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,040
fruit. 
And so we have to be intentional

707
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,360
though, to get rooted in Christ,
to get rooted in his word, to 

708
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:06,400
get rooted in, in one another. 
And so I mean, that's what we're

709
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,560
doing right? 
Like I remember wrestling with 

710
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,960
this question years ago, but 
like, when we come to church, 

711
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,480
like, what are we doing right? 
Like what, what is the point? 

712
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,120
What's the point? 
Like, we gather, we sing, we 

713
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:17,400
listen to a sermon, and then we 
leave. 

714
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:18,400
Like, then what? 
Right? 

715
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:23,160
But if it's discipleship, it's 
growing together as Christ's 

716
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,960
church, building his Kingdom 
that we're growing as disciples,

717
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,280
right? 
Getting rooted in Christ, you 

718
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,320
know, being connected to the 
vine, bearing fruit through him 

719
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,800
is growing us as disciples so 
that we're healthy and we're 

720
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,760
bearing fruit and that the, and 
that good news can spread to 

721
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,200
other people, right? 
That other disciples grow and 

722
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,960
that people who don't know 
Christ are seeing the fruit of 

723
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:47,040
our lives or, or we're sharing 
the gospel. 

724
00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:50,040
And it's like they're coming to 
faith in Christ and knowing him.

725
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:54,280
And it's like we're building 
God's Kingdom and and showing 

726
00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:56,720
what it means to to love the 
Lord with all your heart and the

727
00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:58,960
blessing and the joy and the 
peace that comes from that. 

728
00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,960
Yeah, One thing that stood out 
to me when you were talking, you

729
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,440
were you were, I thought you may
have been confusing. 

730
00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,160
You said there's like the fruit 
of not doing something or the 

731
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,560
fruit of so the negative fruit. 
So, but it made me think like, 

732
00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:15,800
no, we're producing fruit all 
the time like we are. 

733
00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,120
It's not that we're withering 
and dying. 

734
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,120
We're producing either good 
fruit or bad fruit, right? 

735
00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:25,720
Like a a non Christian can't 
produce good fruit. 

736
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,560
You can't. 
It might look good, right? 

737
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,280
But when you bite into it, it's 
rancid, sour, terrible. 

738
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:36,720
Or it's like those those fake 
fruits you put on the table. 

739
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,800
It's like you bite into that's 
just a big like crack of tooth 

740
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:43,200
because it's just a solid brick 
of wood or something. 

741
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,520
But yeah, we're always producing
fruit and, and you're right, it 

742
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,120
is, it is definitely a product 
of of the root system. 

743
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:53,040
What is the, what are, what are 
your roots in? 

744
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,640
I'm just thinking like, are 
they, are they buried in 

745
00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:00,200
whatever the world is trying to 
tell me right now on social 

746
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,600
media or whatever? 
Or are they buried in like the 

747
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:04,880
whatever the world is trying to 
tell me through the stories that

748
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,639
they tell on television? 
Or you know what I mean? 

749
00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:11,320
What, what is it that we're 
like, we're giving our time to 

750
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,199
swipe right on your phone and 
look at your screen time and 

751
00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:15,600
find out where you're putting 
your time. 

752
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:19,920
It's it's revealing to you. 
And then, and then the other 

753
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:25,000
thing is like whenever I see 
someone who has good fruit, What

754
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,239
does it make you want? 
It makes you want good fruit. 

755
00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:30,040
And so the community aspect of 
that, when we come, what are we 

756
00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:34,440
doing when we come here? 
If we're just coming here for to

757
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,239
hang out together, sing songs, 
listen to a sermon and go home. 

758
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:39,520
And we're not after 
discipleship. 

759
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,440
If we're not after like growing 
closer to the Lord, if that's 

760
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:47,760
not our goal and becoming more 
godly in our lives, then we're 

761
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:50,280
producing bad fruit. 
And so I would encourage anybody

762
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,480
coming to church on Sunday or 
Wednesday night, like what is 

763
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:57,720
like check, check your motives. 
Is my motive here to, to grow in

764
00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:00,800
godliness, right? 
Like we discipline ourselves for

765
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,000
the purpose of godliness. 
And that's what my class is 

766
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,360
about. 
Is our purpose godliness or is 

767
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,640
it this is duty? 
This is what we've always done. 

768
00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,560
I'm going to go because if my, 
if, if they don't see me there, 

769
00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:16,160
then they're going to think I'm 
backslidden, which you may be 

770
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,280
backslidden and showing up. 
Just so you know, I'm talking to

771
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,720
myself too. 
But what am I coming? 

772
00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:24,400
Check your motives. 
Am I coming because I want to 

773
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:28,280
grow ungodliness and because I 
want to like help Joe with his 

774
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:31,560
like, fruit making? 
Or or is it because I just want 

775
00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:33,400
like something for myself? 
Or maybe I just don't want I 

776
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:34,920
just don't want to disappoint my
family. 

777
00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:36,800
I don't know. 
Those are things to think 

778
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,480
through. 
Right, absolutely. 

779
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,640
Well, and Jesus in the Sermon of
the Mount, actually, like he, he

780
00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,720
tells us, you know, beware of, 
of false teachers who come to 

781
00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:48,600
you in sheep's clothing but 
inwardly are ravenous wolves. 

782
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:49,760
Yeah. 
And it's like, how do? 

783
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:51,120
Well, and then it makes you 
wonder. 

784
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,360
It's like, well, how do we do? 
How do we be aware of that? 

785
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:55,720
You will know them by their 
fruit, by their fruit. 

786
00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:56,880
You'll recognize them by their 
fruit. 

787
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,320
It's good or it's not good, but 
they're they're you're making 

788
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:01,520
fruit. 
Exactly. 

789
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:07,560
It's like a healthy tree can't 
bear bad fruit and a diseased 

790
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:08,960
tree can't bear good fruit, 
right. 

791
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,680
And so it's like, that's how you
know, you look at people, you 

792
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:15,200
look at their life and you look 
at the fruit of their life and 

793
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,840
you go, that person is not 
producing good. 

794
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:19,160
Fruit. 
And sometimes it takes time. 

795
00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:21,640
Yeah. 
And it's hard, right? 

796
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:25,440
And I think sometimes we can be 
convinced by the world. 

797
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,800
I mean, the world that we live 
in right now is, is pushing so 

798
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,720
hard against like, don't you 
dare judge anybody else in their

799
00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:34,360
life and what they do. 
It's like, man, your own truth. 

800
00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,080
And, you know, you watch these 
interviews of people going 

801
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:39,600
around, like interviewing people
on the streets, asking them, you

802
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:40,840
know, well, do you believe in 
this? 

803
00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:42,800
Do you believe in that? 
And it's like, I just, I just 

804
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:44,960
stay out of it, right? 
They can do whatever they want. 

805
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:46,520
They can. 
That's what they want to do. 

806
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,600
And that makes them happy. 
Fine, do whatever you want to 

807
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:50,280
do. 
It's like we're called to a 

808
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,160
higher standard than that as 
believers. 

809
00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:56,000
It's like, not only are we 
supposed to to look at the world

810
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,520
and to be able to judge what is 
good and what is not, but we're 

811
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:00,480
actually supposed to be judging 
one another, right? 

812
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:02,560
When we went through the book of
First Corinthians, it's like 

813
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:06,800
that's our responsibility to be,
to be testing people's 

814
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:08,240
genuineness of their faith, 
right? 

815
00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:11,280
If you profess to be a follower 
of Christ, you profess to be a 

816
00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:14,120
disciple, right? 
And your life doesn't match up 

817
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:15,800
with that. 
And then we need to be holding 

818
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:17,800
each other accountable. 
And that's what groups do, 

819
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:19,760
right? 
The discipleship groups help you

820
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:23,080
with that, right? 
Like it helps you confirm you 

821
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:25,200
will find out if you're 
producing good fruit or bad 

822
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:27,400
fruit, right? 
Like Yep. 

823
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:29,280
And you will, dude, you're 
right. 

824
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:31,440
And the community matters. 
So like a thinking about like 

825
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:35,240
like this chapter in Nehemiah, 
like the result of them all 

826
00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:38,200
doing this work together 
collaboratively and like it's a 

827
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,680
diverse group. 
Like we had a lot of people 

828
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:41,840
weren't named. 
There were a lot of names, but a

829
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:43,960
lot of people weren't named. 
Like you don't know who most of 

830
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,680
them were, right? 
Like we don't know. 

831
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,480
Just gives like big groups. 
Of big groups, Goldsmiths, the 

832
00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:51,880
people, like, but like, that's 
something like everybody knows 

833
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:55,280
that everybody has the same 
interest. 

834
00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,720
Like I can count on you, right. 
You built your section of the 

835
00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:00,640
wall, right. 
I can count on you. 

836
00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:02,480
Yeah. 
Like if you're the Taco men of 

837
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:05,080
Taco, you built 2 sections of 
the wall to make up for your 

838
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,240
nobles not coming right. 
Like you, you really, you 

839
00:38:07,240 --> 00:38:08,880
recognize, hey, we got to do 
something, right. 

840
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:10,680
You built 2 sections of the 
wall. 

841
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:13,720
Like we can count on one 
another. 

842
00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:17,240
And so like, that's the thing 
like if we like, I just like the

843
00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:20,160
desire in my heart to look 
around my church and know that 

844
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:24,400
like the people who are coming 
to our church, who are who we 

845
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,840
consider our church, we can 
count on them because they're so

846
00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:31,240
not count on them to to help me 
not count on them to provide for

847
00:38:31,240 --> 00:38:33,360
me. 
I can count on them to point me 

848
00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:37,960
to God like when my life is 
going astray or when I am like, 

849
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:41,320
yeah, I can count on them to 
point me back to who is 

850
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:43,320
protecting us, you know, for 
real. 

851
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:45,600
So anyway, yeah. 
Well, that's so good, right As 

852
00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:47,520
you were talking, it just 
reminded me of like some of the 

853
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:49,120
practical nature of this 
chapter. 

854
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:51,480
I think a number of times it 
mentions it's like, man, these 

855
00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:53,720
people started building in front
of their house, right? 

856
00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:56,760
And it's like, OK, so it's like 
very practical in a sense. 

857
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,400
It's like you're not going 
across town to work. 

858
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:01,040
It's like I'll just build a 
section right here. 

859
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:02,680
What's the most efficient way to
do it right? 

860
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:04,640
Stay where you are and let's get
your section done. 

861
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:06,320
Right. 
And as I think about these D 

862
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,840
groups again, like I something, 
you know, I just started another

863
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,960
one recently and 11 very 
practical thing that I did was 

864
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,000
like, you know what, Hey, you 
know what? 

865
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,920
I, I have a few people in mind 
and I'm like, I might just find 

866
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:20,560
people that are in this area, 
right? 

867
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:22,720
They're all in Wheatley. 
And so I'm like, OK, I'm going 

868
00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:24,600
to find more people in Wheatley 
and I'm going to find those 

869
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:26,240
people in I know. 
As I was thinking about somebody

870
00:39:26,240 --> 00:39:27,720
who said, no, they live in 
Wheatley, I'm taking them. 

871
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:31,080
Well, it's like there's a very 
practical thing, right? 

872
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,520
And it's like, so for anybody 
out there who's like, well, I 

873
00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:37,040
don't have time, I got to drive 
really far or whatever it is, 

874
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:38,680
it's like, hey, just be 
practical about it. 

875
00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,320
It's like the whole, again, the 
whole goal is like you're 

876
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:43,240
meeting weekly. 
And So what I tell people is 

877
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,760
like, if, if you feel the Lord 
is calling you to do this and, 

878
00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:47,840
and maybe the Lord is really 
putting it on your heart that I 

879
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:50,440
need, I need to join a group. 
I need to be involved in Group. 

880
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:52,960
I need to start a group, begin 
praying about it. 

881
00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,200
And I, what I tell people is 
this is supposed to be as 

882
00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:59,200
convenient as possible, right? 
So a lot of men are going to 

883
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:01,960
say, I know a lot of men's 
groups that will be like, I'm 

884
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:04,320
just going to meet very early on
a Saturday morning so I don't 

885
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,880
take time away from my family. 
And so it's a bit of a sacrifice

886
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:11,000
for you, but you can make it 
work to what you want, right? 

887
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,080
It doesn't have to be at a 
certain time on a certain day or

888
00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,280
whatever. 
Pick a day and a, pick a time 

889
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,680
that works for you. 
Maybe a Monday night at set from

890
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,000
seven to seven, 7:00 to 8:30 
works for you. 

891
00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:26,160
Now you go, I'm going to find 3 
or 4 guys maybe who live close 

892
00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:29,240
to me and we can all meet at the
Tim's down the street. 

893
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:33,080
But I'm going to tell them I'm 
meeting on Monday nights at 

894
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:34,800
7830. 
If it doesn't work for you, then

895
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:36,680
that's fine, right? 
I'm sorry I can't make that 

896
00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:37,960
work. 
Or maybe someone else like yeah,

897
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:40,240
I can make that work. 
And so just be very practical 

898
00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:43,560
about it and find fun. 
And those would be the people 

899
00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:45,240
that the Lord wants you. 
That's right. 

900
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,560
Just trusting that it's like for
in this season of my life, this 

901
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,560
is the time that works. 
This is the day that works. 

902
00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:52,360
This is where it meets for me to
work. 

903
00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:54,720
And just trust that the Lord is 
going to bring you the people 

904
00:40:54,720 --> 00:40:56,280
that that works for too. 
It does. 

905
00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:58,800
Yeah, that's true. 
Valerie's, my wife's group is 

906
00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:00,440
one of those Monday night 
groups. 

907
00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:04,360
Monday night from 7:00 she what 
happens is I come home from work

908
00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:07,080
and I I'm helping out with 
whatever the dinner is and then 

909
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:09,320
like what? 
We have dinner and then and then

910
00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:11,880
she leaves and then, you know, 
I'm there to help take care of 

911
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,720
the kids and clean up the 
kitchen and do all the different

912
00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:16,320
things. 
And it's like it's convenient 

913
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:17,600
for her. 
Like I'm home. 

914
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:21,240
I can take care of the kids. 
Men, take care of your children.

915
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,600
Don't just like throw it off on 
your wife. 

916
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:25,560
Take just say, Hey, I'm going to
do this for you. 

917
00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:27,920
Like I'm it's a sacrifice for 
both of you. 

918
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:30,920
But I get it at some at times 
because parenting by yourself is

919
00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,480
not easy. 
And sometimes we need to see 

920
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:35,920
that as men, we need to see what
our wives go through all the 

921
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:37,960
time with all of our kids. 
But absolutely. 

922
00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:39,880
But yeah, so just I love that 
point. 

923
00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:43,000
Make it convenient for you. 
Like, just like just like 

924
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:45,480
Nehemiah 3, right? 
Just go right outside the door 

925
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,440
of your house and and work 
there. 

926
00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:48,520
Yeah, yeah. 
That's good. 

927
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:52,400
And maybe there are people who 
who are interested in in joining

928
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:54,480
a discipleship group, but don't 
really know where to start or 

929
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:56,640
don't know what to do. 
And you know, we do actually 

930
00:41:56,640 --> 00:42:00,080
have a forum and maybe we can 
share it in this podcast link if

931
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,640
you're interested, you know, 
maybe you don't know where to 

932
00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:03,880
start, maybe you don't know what
to do. 

933
00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:06,760
Maybe maybe you're interested in
starting one, or maybe you're 

934
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,800
just interested in joining when 
you're not quite ready to start 

935
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:10,960
1 yet. 
Well, we have a form or just an 

936
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,160
interest form, right? 
If you're interested, I think 

937
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:15,200
you even promise that you'll 
give people a coffee if they 

938
00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:15,960
come. 
I will. 

939
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:17,720
Did I say that? 
Yeah, I did. 

940
00:42:17,720 --> 00:42:20,800
Say that might be in that form, 
Jonah, we'll buy you a coffee 

941
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:23,200
and we'll share with you sort of
our vision and, and what it is. 

942
00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:25,920
But if if you're just even 
interested in finding more out 

943
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:28,440
about it and having a 
conversation, you know, we'll, 

944
00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:31,000
we'll link this form in there 
and then you can fill it out and

945
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:32,960
we'll connect with you and we'll
chat about it. 

946
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:34,520
Now we can meet at the coffee 
shop, even. 

947
00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:37,280
Yeah, happy to do that. 
That's really good. 

948
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:40,160
Really, really good. 
All right. 

949
00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:42,880
What else from Nehemiah 3? 
Anything else you wanted to 

950
00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:45,800
bring out? 
I think, I think that's all I 

951
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:48,280
have so far that I can think of.
But yeah. 

952
00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:52,320
This the encouragement. 
Like there are tons of hard 

953
00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:54,800
passages in the Old Testament. 
There's some in the New 

954
00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:56,960
Testament that are hard to read.
Yeah. 

955
00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:01,800
Don't skip over them right? 
Like even though, even though 

956
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:04,320
it's difficult, don't skip them.
That honestly, that's a big 

957
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:06,160
lesson that we learn on even on 
Sunday morning. 

958
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:09,800
It's like Pastor Jake had a hard
task, like that's a hard chapter

959
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:11,920
to preach and he didn't skip 
over it. 

960
00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,280
He could have, he had every 
right to do whatever he wants. 

961
00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:15,280
He's the lead pastor of the 
church. 

962
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:16,760
He could say, I'm not preaching 
that I'll preach. 

963
00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:18,920
Go to four. 
He could have done that and it 

964
00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:22,040
was doing fine, but he didn't. 
And so don't skip the hard 

965
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:24,160
stuff. 
Like if you need resources and 

966
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:26,560
you're just curious and you're 
like, hey, I can't get anything 

967
00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:29,080
out of this, I'd encourage you 
to buy a study Bible. 

968
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:31,800
Like there's the ESV study Bible
is amazing. 

969
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:35,400
The CSB study Bible is also 
very, very good. 

970
00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:38,720
Those two by themselves would be
awesome. 

971
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,320
I know a lot of guys around here
use the MacArthur study Bible. 

972
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,760
It's also very good. 
The first two though, that I 

973
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:45,880
would mention are the ones that 
I've used personally and I can, 

974
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:50,280
I can like strongly recommend 
anybody grabbing those. 

975
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:52,800
Yeah, and there are. 
There are other helpful 

976
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:56,520
commentaries too. 
I know some guys were asking me 

977
00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:59,360
and I was sharing some some with
them as well like like Bible 

978
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:04,480
ref.net which is from from Got 
Questions which is a ministry 

979
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:06,680
from John Piper I believe I. 
Think so. 

980
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:09,880
Yeah. 
And so there's other ones like 

981
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,520
Enduring Word, I've heard I've 
gotten that one recommended to 

982
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:14,400
me and I've I've gone through 
that one a little bit, which is 

983
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:16,560
pretty good. 
But yeah, look, find a resource.

984
00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:19,320
Dude, we're we live in a day. 
Where all you have to do is 

985
00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:19,960
Google it. 
It's. 

986
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:24,040
A you do, I would, I would very 
strongly encourage people to go 

987
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:26,880
spend 150 or $200.00 on a good 
study Bible. 

988
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:29,320
Yeah, you don't need to spend 
that much, but you know, you 

989
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:31,160
could probably find a really 
good study Bible from anywhere 

990
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:36,480
from. 50 to $100, the ESV and 
the CSV for between 50 and 100. 

991
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,680
I think it be 55 bucks, but you 
you can get them the paperback 

992
00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:41,400
versions all you need. 
You don't need a leather bound 

993
00:44:41,400 --> 00:44:43,480
version, right? 
You don't need to tote this 

994
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,600
thing around the church and like
like you don't have to do that. 

995
00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:48,160
Get out. 
This is a study Bible. 

996
00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:50,440
This is for your study. 
Yeah, buy a paperback version. 

997
00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:52,760
It doesn't matter. 
It doesn't, but but even if it 

998
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:55,000
costs a little bit of money, 
it's like, man, what again? 

999
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:57,880
What a greater investment like 
we we waste money on things of 

1000
00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:01,120
far less value. 
You know God's word, thinking of

1001
00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:03,960
the way the psalmist talk about 
God's word, it's like man, may 

1002
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:08,000
we search for you in your word 
more than silver and gold and 

1003
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:11,640
it's more precious than all that
It's like spend some money so 

1004
00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:13,000
that you can understand God's 
word. 

1005
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,200
That's right. 
Like it's not a shame, it's not 

1006
00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:17,240
embarrassing. 
I read study Bibles and 

1007
00:45:17,240 --> 00:45:19,040
resources and commentaries all 
the time. 

1008
00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:22,000
It's like it's not it's not 
shameful, it's not embarrassing.

1009
00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:23,640
It's like we. 
All need help sometimes that's 

1010
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:26,240
all you that like in order to 
stand and preach, that's what 

1011
00:45:26,240 --> 00:45:28,280
you have to at some .0 
absolutely you have to get help.

1012
00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:31,000
Like right. 
Like I was using a commentary, 

1013
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:34,000
the one like this one's called 
Nehemiah, a pastoral and 

1014
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:37,960
exegetical commentary when at 
the beginning of this thing I 

1015
00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:40,440
was looking at one of those for 
help and like, yeah, like why 

1016
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:42,960
did he start the way he start? 
You have to ask questions first,

1017
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:46,520
come with your questions, yeah. 
And then just dive in. 

1018
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:48,760
Studying is a discipline. 
Absolutely. 

1019
00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,720
And I would actually add to 
like, like not only is reading a

1020
00:45:51,720 --> 00:45:55,360
commentary or some other study 
help, not only is it not an 

1021
00:45:55,360 --> 00:45:57,960
embarrassing thing, I would 
actually say it it it's 

1022
00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:00,320
essential. 
Yeah, because one of the reasons

1023
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:03,200
you need to be reading 
commentaries is because after 

1024
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,080
you've read and studied God's 
Word, meditated on it, and come 

1025
00:46:06,080 --> 00:46:08,440
to what you I think is an 
understanding of what it says, 

1026
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,080
reading a commentary is a really
helpful way of going. 

1027
00:46:11,240 --> 00:46:12,200
Did I get this? 
Right? 

1028
00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:14,320
Right. 
Because if you come to a 

1029
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,320
conclusion and an understanding 
and then you read 10 

1030
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:20,440
commentaries and no one else is 
saying what you're saying, 

1031
00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:21,840
you're probably then you're 
wrong. 

1032
00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:23,400
Probably. 
Yeah, you're probably wrong. 

1033
00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:26,480
And so it's a, it's a really 
helpful way of making sure that 

1034
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:29,280
we are being faithful with, with
how we're understanding 

1035
00:46:29,280 --> 00:46:31,400
Scripture. 
Yeah, if you're ever concerned, 

1036
00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:33,600
if you have a question, all 
right, what do we listen to? 

1037
00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:35,760
What do we read? 
Just reach out. 

1038
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:39,080
We have tons of options maybe in
our office that will loan you or

1039
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:41,120
point you in the right direction
for a resource. 

1040
00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:42,560
We we're happy to help you. 
Yeah. 

1041
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:44,120
Like, that's one of the things 
to keep in mind too. 

1042
00:46:44,120 --> 00:46:46,640
Absolutely. 
So, yeah, I don't, I don't have 

1043
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:48,920
anything else either. 
Just like when you come to the 

1044
00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:50,600
hard ones, don't skip. 
It don't skip. 

1045
00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:54,360
It force yourself read it to 
read it slowly and ask God to 

1046
00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:55,880
reveal himself to you through 
it. 

1047
00:46:55,960 --> 00:46:59,040
Yeah, and he will, because God 
always keeps his promises right.

1048
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:03,680
Absolutely awesome. 
Pastor Joe, would you mind 

1049
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,160
praying for us as we wrap up 
this episode? 

1050
00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:07,480
Absolutely. 
I'm always calling on you to 

1051
00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:09,880
pray. 
Sorry, I'm not going to go back.

1052
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:12,640
I'll let you close us. 
It's fine. 

1053
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:16,240
Lord, we thank you so much for 
your word as we've had many 

1054
00:47:16,240 --> 00:47:18,720
conversations about your word 
and, and what it teaches us 

1055
00:47:18,720 --> 00:47:22,960
about you, that you are a holy 
God who is faithful, who keeps 

1056
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:26,520
his promises. 
And Lord, we worship you because

1057
00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:29,120
of that. 
And we can go back and into all 

1058
00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:31,800
these scriptures and we can just
be reminded of your faithfulness

1059
00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:35,280
to previous generations, 
reminded of your promises to 

1060
00:47:35,280 --> 00:47:38,120
previous generations. 
And all of those promises find 

1061
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:41,600
their fulfillment in Christ. 
And we are a part of this new 

1062
00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:45,280
covenant through him and, and we
no longer have to live the way 

1063
00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:47,480
that a lot of the people did in 
the Old Testament. 

1064
00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:50,240
We don't have to offer these 
sacrifices anymore. 

1065
00:47:50,240 --> 00:47:52,960
We don't have to follow the 
letter of the law, but now we 

1066
00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:56,280
follow the law of the Spirit and
we rejoice that that Christ has 

1067
00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:59,880
made a way for us to be made 
right with you through His 

1068
00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:03,080
sacrifice, through his shed 
blood, through His perfect life.

1069
00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:06,080
And we just rejoice, Lord. 
And we, we want to be a people 

1070
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:09,560
who love you with all our heart,
all our soul, all our mind, all 

1071
00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:11,240
our strength. 
We want to be a people who 

1072
00:48:11,240 --> 00:48:15,040
pursue you in your word and seek
to be faithful and obedient to 

1073
00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:16,840
it. 
But we know we fall short of 

1074
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,600
that and and we're grateful for 
your continued grace and 

1075
00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,520
forgiveness in our lives. 
And Lord, we do ask, Lord, that 

1076
00:48:22,520 --> 00:48:25,640
you would continue to strengthen
us as a church as we seek to 

1077
00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:28,160
build your Kingdom, build 
disciples. 

1078
00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:31,880
And, and Lord, as we sort of 
figuratively build a wall of 

1079
00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:35,840
protection for us as a church 
and us as your people, trusting 

1080
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:37,120
that you're going to give a 
success. 

1081
00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:39,000
Or would you help us to build 
disciples? 

1082
00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:42,440
Would you help us to, to raise 
up people who are committed to 

1083
00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:46,560
you, faithful growing in your 
word and and seeking to, to make

1084
00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:49,760
other disciples as we seek to, 
to bring your glory and your 

1085
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:52,880
fame and all the earth? 
Or we are trusting not in 

1086
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:56,000
ourselves, our own effort, our 
own ability, but your spirit 

1087
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:59,480
working in and through us as you
are doing and accomplishing your

1088
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:01,280
perfect plan and your perfect 
purpose. 

1089
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:03,680
And Lord, we just are grateful 
to be a part of what you're 

1090
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:07,160
doing and ask for your 
leadership, your guidance, and 

1091
00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:10,320
in your hand to work in and 
through us as we do that. 

1092
00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:12,520
We ask all of this in Jesus 
name, Amen. 

1093
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:14,960
Amen. 
Well, thanks for joining us. 

1094
00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:17,320
We are praying for you, LEMC. 
Hope you have a great week.