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Hey everybody, this is Pastor 
John Ewart from Inglewood 

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Baptist Church in Rocky 
Mountain, North Carolina. 

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Thank you so much for tuning in 
to our podcast. 

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You're going to hear from God 
today as we share from his word 

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about important issues facing 
your life that can guide you 

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according to the Bible. 
Well, good morning, Inglewood. 

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Good to see everybody this 
morning. 

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I know that some of you are 
fighting it off. 

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We've had several reports of 
folks with flu still and the 

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weather's weird. 
Somebody told me some snowflakes

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are possible this afternoon. 
Have you all heard that? 

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Let's just, let's just cast that
off, cast that out, pray against

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that or something. 
But what was it, 75 yesterday 

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and now we're going to anyway. 
North Carolina, That's it. 

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Listen, let me give you an 
update. 

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Turn to Nehemiah Chapter 8. 
I'll catch up to you in just a 

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second. 
Let me give you a quick update 

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on our friends overseas. 
So our friends in South Asia, if

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you're a guest here today, and 
we do have some guests here, 

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some friends of ours or even 
here from another church, we 

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appreciate you being here and 
appreciate the rest of you 

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coming. 
So, so our friends were facing 

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some legal issues overseas and 
they had two legal issues 

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they're dealing with. 
I can't go into a lot of detail 

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about all that. 
One of the issues was whether or

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not they could leave to renew 
their visa, which was a big deal

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there. 
They had passed the expiration 

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date on that. 
And because of some of the other

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issues, they didn't think they 
were going to be allowed to do 

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that. 
In fact, when they went into the

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judge, the chances of that being
approved were very, very low. 

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Well, they were stunned. 
We are stunned in the fact that 

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the judge did approve it. 
And so, yeah, you can clap for 

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that. 
So what that means there's still

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some other things that are going
on legally there. 

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But what that means is they're 
going to be able to leave to get

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that visa renewed and they'll be
more to that story. 

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But that's all the part of the 
story I can share right now in 

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this situation. 
So come Wednesday night, and 

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I'll share a little more with 
you and I'll keep you updated on

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that. 
But just continue to pray that 

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the judge hadn't written the 
ruling yet. 

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This was done on Friday. 
The ruling gets written 

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hopefully by tomorrow. 
Hopefully nothing happens in 

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between those two times for that
to continue to move forward. 

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So we've been praying for that 
and thankful for that. 

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So there you go. 
All right. 

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So several years ago, my oldest 
son, our oldest son and I were 

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on a trip to Brazil and we were 
going through the Miami airport.

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And so we had to get to get from
Oklahoma to Florida. 

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We did that part and we're in 
Miami. 

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We get on the plane, it's an 
overnight flight. 

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And I remember being really 
happy because we had good seats.

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Now that may not seem like a big
deal to you, but when you're 

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shaped like I am, it's a big 
deal. 

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And so I was very happy we had 
good seats. 

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I was excited. 
I was telling Josh, I said, man,

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this is going to be great. 
So we're going to go to sleep 

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because it's, you know, going to
be an all night long thing to 

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get down there. 
They're about 30 something in 

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the group I was helping to lead 
scattered around that airplane. 

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And so we start to take off. 
It's night time dark already. 

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So, you know, just get me in the
air and let me go, you know, see

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if I can sleep, which I don't 
ever do on planes anyway, but 

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we'll pretend like I do. 
So here we go. 

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Front of the planes, off it, off
the ground. 

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I mean it's and you're leaning 
back the front of the planes off

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and then suddenly something goes
wrong. 

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It's the only time I've ever 
experienced this out of I don't 

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know how many hundreds or 
thousand flights I've been on. 

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He hits his brakes, the front of
the plane comes slamming down, 

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and we're kind of skidding down 
the runway in this big. 

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I mean, it's a big jet, you 
know? 

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And when he did that, one of the
tires underneath one of the 

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wings blew and caught on fire. 
Now, I don't know if you know 

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where the fuel tank is on a big 
airliner, but it's in the wing. 

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And so now there's a live fire 
underneath the gas tank on this 

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airplane. 
And so today I think the 

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procedure would have been quite 
different. 

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Even though there was a fire and
you could see the light from 

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the, I wasn't on that side of 
the plane, but some of our group

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was and they were expressing to 
me quite, quite loudly that 

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we're on fire. 
Now, I don't know what the 

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decision was to do this, but we 
were casually taxiing back to 

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the gate. 
In today's world, I'm sure that 

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we would have been sliding down 
some slide and they'd have had a

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foam truck out there, but that's
not the way it was in those 

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days. 
So we're we're taxing back the 

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gate while we're on fire. 
Underneath the fuel tank, smoke 

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is visible. 
Smoke is now beginning to fill 

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the cabin of the plane. 
I'm yelling out orders of 

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everybody grabbed their passport
because I knew we weren't going 

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to be able to grab all our 
luggage. 

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But get your passport. 
You might need that later. 

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So make sure you get that. 
People are starting to scream 

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now. 
People are starting to panic 

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now. 
What? 

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What are we going to do now? 
And that was just the beginning 

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of the journey. 
Don't you want to go on a 

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mission trip with me to Brazil 
in the fall? 

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No, I heard, I'll come back to 
that story later. 

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Listen, I preached from today's 
passage back in September. 

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I'm very aware of that. 
September 14th when I was 

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introducing the Come Live, the 
Church's vision series, and I 

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was talking about our seven 
essentials of discipleship. 

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We were talking about how do we 
engage the Bible with a humble 

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and teachable spirit out of this
passage. 

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But there's so much here. 
I need to come back to that and 

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I will in just a moment. 
And, and, and, and we've been 

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teaching the same thing on 
Wednesday nights about how do we

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engage the Bible that now 
available on podcast. 

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This Wednesday, we're going to 
continue what Pastor Charles 

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started last week. 
Appreciate Pastor Charles doing 

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that. 
We're talking about abiding in 

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prayer with dependence and 
anticipation this week on 

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Wednesday night. 
We had great crowds on Wednesday

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night. 
Appreciate you coming. 

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And we're going to talk about 
why do we even pray? 

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What, what is why, how does 
prayer even matter? 

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And so you need to come back. 
I'll be sharing about that, but 

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there's so much in chapter 8. 
We've got to come back and I 

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need to share more from a 
totally different angle than I 

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did back in September because we
need to listen to the learn from

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God concerning his restoration. 
And so God sent Nehemiah back to

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build the walls. 
We've been talking about that 

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for weeks. 
He obeys in the face of this 

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great opposition and and the 
mission was accomplished, but 

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now what? 
So what to what was that 

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supposed to lead the the walls 
done. 

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Now what? 
Listen, every great calling from

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God, every mission from God, 
every purpose from God leads to 

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something more, leads to 
something even greater, leads to

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something that lasts. 
And so this was there was 

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obviously a very practical side 
to building the walls. 

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They needed protection from 
their enemies. 

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They also need to create. 
You needed to create a livable 

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space for all the people who 
hadn't come back from the exile 

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yet. 
There are a whole bunch of 

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people still coming, and they 
needed to clean up the mess. 

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It was a mess. 
I mean, there are rocks in front

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of the gates, the roadways are 
destroyed, things are burned 

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down. 
They got to clean up that mess 

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up. 
So there's some practical side 

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to it, but there was also this 
spiritual testimony of what God 

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promised prior to the exile, 
fulfilling the fact that he was 

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going to bring his people back 
and restore them in the city. 

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So there's this incredible 
spiritual dynamic, and God's 

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promises are always sure, 
they're always guaranteed. 

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But now what? 
Here we are. 

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We have the city again. 
We have a temple again, we have 

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some cool walls. 
Now what do we do? 

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Is that it? 
Is that all there is to it? 

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Well, quoting the great 
theologian Andy Griffith, he 

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once said you don't milk a cow 
just to get strong fingers. 

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So there had to be more. 
There's more to it than that. 

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What should all of this effort, 
all of this work, all of this 

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time, all of this effort, what 
should this actually produce? 

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Is there not something that 
ought to come out of this? 

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God, I worked hard. 
I prepared all I can for 

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whatever you want might want 
next. 

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So what's next? 
If you're at Inglewood, you say,

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you know, you sent this crazy 
preacher who screams at us all 

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the time about 100% 
participation. 

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He talks about the future that 
that you have for us and how we 

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move forward. 
I mean, he's even made me go to 

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a connect group. 
And don't you love it? 

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Thank you very much. 
I mean, we're seeing people say 

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we're seeing people baptized 
every week. 

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More people are here than there 
were a year ago on average. 

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I mean, is that it? 
Is that all this? 

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Have we arrived? 
Surely we can just rest now? 

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Surely we can relax a little 
bit. 

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Surely we can just get 
comfortable. 

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Surely we're big enough. 
We we have enough. 

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I mean, we have new mission and 
vision statements, We have cool 

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wall art, we're making funny 
videos on social media. 

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I mean, we got the seven 
essentials, we got the core 5, 

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we got 100%. 
I mean, what, what else would we

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want? 
We're done, right? 

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Surely this is this. 
What else could we we seek out? 

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We've arrived. 
I mean, the reason you build a 

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wall is just have a wall, right?
So what do we do now? 

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Well, this is just the beginning
of our journey. 

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Less than a week after they 
finished the wall, they gathered

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the people for their next steps.
They they gathered for revival. 

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And that's what we need to talk 
about for a minute. 

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What does that mean? 
What does it look like for them?

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Look at chapter 8, verse one. 
It says and all the people 

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gathered as one man into the 
square before the Watergate. 

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And they told Ezra the scribe to
reading the book of the Law of 

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Moses that the Lord had 
commanded Israel. 

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So Ezra the priest brought the 
law before the assembly, both 

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men and women and all who could 
understand what they heard on 

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the first day of the 7th month. 
And he read it from, read it, 

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read from it facing the square 
before the Watergate from early 

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morning until midday, in the 
presence of the men and the 

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women and those who could 
understand. 

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And the ears of all the people 
were attentive to the book of 

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the Law. 
Pay attention to that last part.

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See the first thing if if we're 
going to experience revival, 

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we're going to experience the 
future that God has for us. 

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We're going to experience who 
we're supposed to be. 

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The first thing we've got to do 
is connect to and with the word 

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of God. 
There's nothing clever about 

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that, nothing fancy about that. 
It's just the truth. 

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All the people came, all, all of
them. 

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Every seat was full, 
anticipating, eager for what was

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next. 
Notice that phrase in the ears 

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of all the people were attentive
to the book of the Law. 

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That word attentive means to be 
toward it, means to be into it. 

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They were into it. 
They were toward it. 

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They were to it. 
In other words, they were. 

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They were focused upon it so 
much. 

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They were drawn to it, directed 
to it, focused upon it, 

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connected to it. 
They understood it's great 

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value. 
They were hungry for it, wide 

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open for it, desperate for what 
God would tell them next through

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His Word. 
They'd missed it. 

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Some of them didn't know it 
because of the exile. 

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Some of them need to be reminded
of it because of the exile. 

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Just like maybe some of us, some
of you. 

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So they were mesmerized to hear 
the truth. 

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Their attention could not be 
broken. 

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I mean, they were as much into 
something as somebody can be 

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into something. 
So focused, soaking, feeding, 

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being nourished by the word of 
God. 

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Nothing fancy, nothing clever, 
no funny stories, no 

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illustrations, no fantastic 
purple shirt. 

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Just the word. 
I don't know why you all like 

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00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:54,320
this shirt so much. 
I get more compliments. 

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00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:55,560
Purple. 
I don't know what they do. 

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00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:02,440
When was the last time you were 
that into it? 

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Starving, longing, listening 
just for a word from God. 

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00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:13,560
I don't know how you came here 
this morning. 

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Are you bored? 
And with what I would call 

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static redundancy. 
Static means there's no movement

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00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:19,600
redundancy. 
We're just going through the 

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same old, same old. 
We're just running through the 

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same old cycles. 
It's it's church. 

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00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:26,920
It's church, check. 
Sunday, check. 

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I went to Connect group because 
I'm scared not to because he 

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might bite me, check. 
Just one more thing on the 

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schedule, check. 
Just one more choice among 1000 

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00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:43,600
choices, check. 
Is this all that it has to 

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become? 
Or, or maybe that's all it ever 

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00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:48,320
was. 
Maybe you've been raised in this

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your whole life and it's frankly
boring. 

248
00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,160
There's nothing to it anymore. 
It's kind of like signing up to 

249
00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,640
be a volunteer at the concession
stand at the ball game. 

250
00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,680
You know, it's something you got
to do when you're a parent or 

251
00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,400
something you got to do when you
volunteer. 

252
00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,880
You sign up to work at the 
concession stand and and you 

253
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:06,960
enjoy the free snow cone every 
now and then. 

254
00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:08,760
But frankly, you're kind of glad
when it's over with. 

255
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,480
It's my time. 
It's our turn to go work because

256
00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:15,480
it's our turn to go work the 
ticket booth. 

257
00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,960
It's our turned. 
It is. 

258
00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,200
Do we take all this for granted?
Do you take Joseph for granted, 

259
00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:26,040
his baptism for granted, his 
life change for granted? 

260
00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:28,520
Is this just old hat because 
it's happening every week? 

261
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,680
Are you focused, connected, 
ready to soak it all up and in? 

262
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:43,200
Are you really ready for His 
Word to change You, you, us? 

263
00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,200
Their past was really painful 
when you think about it. 

264
00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:48,160
I mean, they've been through a 
lot. 

265
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,040
Their past was painful and maybe
yours is too. 

266
00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:52,800
You know, maybe the past is 
hard. 

267
00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,840
I, I fight a lot of ghosts from 
the past in my ministry. 

268
00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:59,280
It's a part of it, especially 
when I come into churches, I 

269
00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,120
fight a lot of ghosts from the 
past, but I also know how to 

270
00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:11,440
bust ghosts and I know who I'm 
going to call feed each day on 

271
00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,320
His word. 
Take full advantage of every 

272
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,480
word opportunity. 
Take it every advantage of every

273
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,800
word opportunity you possibly 
can in your life and here at 

274
00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:22,400
this church. 
Be here. 

275
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,040
Be engaged in every opportunity 
you can to engage this word. 

276
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,160
His word is alive, it's 
transformative, it's life 

277
00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,640
changing. 
So in your home, in your private

278
00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:36,360
time and your corporate time, 
unite around it and join others 

279
00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,240
because of it. 
Grow as a disciple in it. 

280
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:43,120
Serve because of your obedience 
to it, because we're all in this

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00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,960
together. 
And so you find your connection 

282
00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:49,880
with the body of Christ. 
You find your connection with 

283
00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:54,520
the body of Christ not, not in a
person, not in a performance, 

284
00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,360
not in a program, not in a 
perceived past. 

285
00:14:57,520 --> 00:14:59,160
You've got to find that 
connection. 

286
00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,240
Because of the principles of 
God's Word and God's will. 

287
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,160
People will have good and bad 
days. 

288
00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,600
They'll fail you. 
Some performances will be better

289
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,080
than others. 
Programs alone can become very 

290
00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,960
boring and and the past will 
fade away. 

291
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,160
And if that's all you're 
judging, then this becomes a 

292
00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:18,200
competition rather than a 
commitment. 

293
00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,040
This one was better than this 
one, so I'll go to that one. 

294
00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:23,200
I like that better than this 
one. 

295
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,560
So. 
So living for them will become 

296
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,440
roller coasters rather than 
passive righteousness. 

297
00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:33,120
There must be more that brings 
us together and binds us with 

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00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,240
Him and His bride. 
So if you're not experiencing 

299
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:42,520
that sense of awe about God's 
Word, whose fault is that? 

300
00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,200
Listen to and long to hear from 
Him. 

301
00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:50,400
The revival of God's people, the
movement of God's people, 

302
00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,640
demands it. 
It always begins with it. 

303
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,640
Look at verse 5 it says and Ezra
opened the book in the sight of 

304
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,240
all the people for he was above 
all the people as he opened it 

305
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:04,320
and all the people stood and 
Ezra blessed the Lord, the great

306
00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,360
God and all the people answered 
Amen, Amen. 

307
00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:10,880
Lifting up their hands and they 
bowed their heads and worship 

308
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,400
the Lord with their faces to the
ground. 

309
00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,400
We've not not only do unite 
around the world the Word, but 

310
00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,320
we've also got to respond and 
worship with all and surrender. 

311
00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,080
This is actually one of our 
seven essentials of 

312
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,440
discipleship. 
We got to respond in this kind 

313
00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:29,320
of worship, to focus and to 
connect, to truly listen to God 

314
00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,760
will lead us to acknowledge who 
God really is. 

315
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,000
Ezra gives praise. 
He gives thanks. 

316
00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,760
Notice the phrase to the Lord, 
the great God, and the people 

317
00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:41,880
bowed and the people praised him
and worship. 

318
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,120
This isn't just some God. 
This is just not another God. 

319
00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,440
This is not just the God we 
happen to choose to serve today.

320
00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:54,560
This is the Lord, the great God,
the one and the only, no one 

321
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:55,800
else. 
Nothing is greater. 

322
00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:57,440
No one is greater. 
Literally. 

323
00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:02,520
He is both Jehovah, the Lord, 
and he is God, Elohim. 

324
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,280
He is both. 
He is great. 

325
00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,640
He is literally higher. 
He is literally more. 

326
00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,720
He is literally mighty. 
There's nothing that compares to

327
00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,760
him, nothing that can compete 
with him, but he'll guide you 

328
00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:17,839
and direct your steps if you'll 
listen to Him. 

329
00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:20,880
So the people respond with the 
only appropriate response. 

330
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,160
They cry out, Amen, Amen. 
So be it. 

331
00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:27,720
So be it. 
Yes, yes. 

332
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:29,640
Turn to somebody and say so be 
it. 

333
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,160
They reached their hands up. 
Notice what they did. 

334
00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,560
They reached their hands up and 
they bowed their heads down, 

335
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,360
both honor and submission all at
once. 

336
00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,880
Overwhelmed, they continued to 
worship that way with their 

337
00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,240
faces on the ground. 
That's how they worshipped. 

338
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:55,560
Have you really biblically, 
honestly worshipped yet today? 

339
00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,840
Or if you just kind of gone 
through the static redundancy? 

340
00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:05,040
We sang a song like that one, 
like that one better than the 

341
00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,160
last one. 
They sang that one better than 

342
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,560
they did the other one. 
Can't believe he's wearing that 

343
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:19,400
purple shirt again. 
AW, Tozer once wrote, Keep your 

344
00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,960
feet on the ground, but let your
heart soar as high as it will. 

345
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:27,520
Refuse to be average and to 
surrender to the chill of your 

346
00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,120
spiritual environment. 
When we're prepared to 

347
00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:33,400
acknowledge and hear from God, 
our response is going to be this

348
00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,000
teachable and reachable spirit. 
It's amazing that it's ready to 

349
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,320
have communion with Him. 
Are we ready to hear? 

350
00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:42,360
Are we ready to respond or, or 
do we just take it all for 

351
00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:44,080
granted? 
I went to church today. 

352
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:51,560
Didn't get much out of it. 
Well, that's the wrong question.

353
00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:58,680
How much did you put into it? 
Did did you come with yourself 

354
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,000
sitting on the throne of your 
life, hoping to be pleased? 

355
00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,240
Well, I liked that part. 
Didn't really care for that 

356
00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:10,080
part. 
He just preaches the same thing 

357
00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:11,280
every week. 
I don't know why he didn't do 

358
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:16,880
something different. 
Or or or or do you come 

359
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,800
submitting yourself completely, 
desperately? 

360
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,360
Listen to these words 
desperately, passionately to the

361
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:28,760
one who really sits on the 
throne, hoping to best learn 

362
00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,280
from him and to actually please 
him instead of yourself. 

363
00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:37,280
Where are you? 
They were hungry, they were 

364
00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,840
starving, they were seeking. 
Look at verse the second part of

365
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:42,120
verse seven. 
I'm not going to read all those 

366
00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:43,760
names today. 
I did that back in September, 

367
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:53,160
and I heard your judgement. 
Hebrew names, the Levites help 

368
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:54,640
the people to understand the 
law. 

369
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:56,800
While the people remained in 
their places. 

370
00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:02,920
They read from the book, from 
the law of God, clearly, and 

371
00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,520
they gave the sense so that the 
people understood the reading. 

372
00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:07,960
We got to unite around this 
word. 

373
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:12,160
We've got to respond and worship
to Him, but we also need to help

374
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,920
one another with discipleship. 
We're in this together. 

375
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:17,560
They helped one another to 
understand. 

376
00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:19,400
And I talked a whole lot more 
about that in September. 

377
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:23,640
But sometimes the church and 
even the Bible uses terms or 

378
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:25,920
images that are hard to 
understand for some people. 

379
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,000
For some, they can't understand 
them yet because they're lost. 

380
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,360
They have spiritual blindness 
and they need the Holy Spirit to

381
00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:33,600
help them even understand some 
of these things. 

382
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,200
Others are new believers or have
never been exposed to to 

383
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,800
discipleship or taught about 
some of the churchy theological 

384
00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,680
words that are used. 
We mean we must never assume. 

385
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:49,480
It's fascinating to me with 
these midweek studies, how often

386
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,280
somebody comes up to me after 
whatever we've done, whether 

387
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,680
it's theological triage or it's 
a, it's a doctrinal study or 

388
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,560
it's a practical discipleship 
study that we're doing. 

389
00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,480
And people will come up to me 
and say thank you for doing 

390
00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,560
this. 
Nobody has ever taught me this 

391
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,200
before now. 
Maybe they haven't, or maybe 

392
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,000
they have, but for some reason 
it's sunk in this time. 

393
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,320
Never assume. 
Never take anything for granted.

394
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,840
Teresa will tell you, and I've 
mentioned her vaguely to you 

395
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,640
before, but in one of the early 
churches I pastored, we had an 

396
00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:23,400
older lady named Renee Douglas. 
She's passed away now, but Renee

397
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,160
lived up on the mountain, and 
Renee had no electricity. 

398
00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,600
Renee had no running water, and 
she had dirt floors in her home 

399
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,560
and she sat right there. 
And whenever I preached on 

400
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,920
Sunday morning, I often thought 
to myself, can Renee understand 

401
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,560
this? 
Can she relate to this in any 

402
00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,720
way whatsoever? 
We must never assume a healthy 

403
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,520
disciple of Jesus is going to 
engage the Word of God humbly, 

404
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:53,040
personally with a teachable 
spirit, as we've been discussing

405
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,760
in our midweek and in our 
podcast, etcetera. 

406
00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,360
But they're also going to long 
to sit under teaching. 

407
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,400
And that's why you need to take 
advantage of every word. 

408
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,160
Opportunity. 
Don't take each other for 

409
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,000
granted. 
We're always intended to be 

410
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,880
together, and so we have to help
each other grow in our personal 

411
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,640
discipleship. 
And one of the questions is 

412
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,160
whether you're growing or not, 
why or why not? 

413
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,880
But another question for some of
you who have been Christians for

414
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,120
a long time. 
Who are you personally 

415
00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:27,680
discipling right now? 
Who are you discipling? 

416
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,080
Who are you helping along the 
way? 

417
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:32,800
How are you helping your family?
How are you helping your 

418
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,240
friends? 
How are you helping your 

419
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:35,840
neighbors? 
How are you helping your 

420
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:37,600
coworkers? 
How are you helping your 

421
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,360
classmates to listen to God and 
to learn what He wants from 

422
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,280
their lives? 
How are you helping the next 

423
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,320
generation? 
We've got brilliant workers in 

424
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,680
leadership who work in our 
preschool and children in 

425
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,560
student areas, and they're 
teaching. 

426
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,680
They're not babysitters, they're
teachers. 

427
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,080
They're disciples of the next 
generation. 

428
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:58,760
How are we helping them to hear?
We must help others to 

429
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,200
understand and to observe all 
that He has commanded if we're 

430
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:03,920
actually fulfilling the whole 
Great Commission. 

431
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,320
This isn't about just making 
converts. 

432
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,400
This is about making disciples. 
So revival demands an 

433
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,840
acknowledgement of this truth. 
It demands the recognition and 

434
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,920
submission to the proper person 
sitting on the throne of your 

435
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,480
life. 
So some of you might need to 

436
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:27,520
give up a seat and let the Lord,
the great God take his proper 

437
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,480
place in your life, that that 
might be what you need to do 

438
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:31,880
today. 
Because some of you may have 

439
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,720
been holding him in arm's 
length, thinking somehow you're 

440
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,520
in charge of something, thinking
that you own something, thinking

441
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,000
that something's yours when 
nothing is. 

442
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,920
Life belongs to Him. 
Your heartbeat belongs to Him. 

443
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:48,680
Your ability to breathe belongs 
to Him. 

444
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,480
Listen to verse 9. 
It says, and Nehemiah who was 

445
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,240
the governor, and Ezra the 
priest and scribe, and the 

446
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,920
Levites who taught the people, 
said to all the people, this day

447
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,200
is holy to the Lord your God. 
Do not mourn or weep for all the

448
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,560
people wept as they heard the 
words of the law. 

449
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,800
Then he said to them, go your 
way, eat the fat, drink sweet 

450
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,880
wine and send portions to anyone
who has nothing ready, for this 

451
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:16,640
day is holy to our Lord, and do 
not be grieved, for the joy of 

452
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,880
the Lord is your strength. 
You ought to know that part. 

453
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,880
So the Levites calmed all the 
people saying be quiet, for this

454
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,280
day is holy. 
Do not be grieved. 

455
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,320
Notice how many times they 
proclaim that day is holy. 

456
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,880
Because the fourth thing we just
need to recognize in order to 

457
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,280
move forward, in order to be the
people He wants us to be, in 

458
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:38,040
order to expense the revival and
restoration and transformation, 

459
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,560
we've got to understand what 
conviction, confession, 

460
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:42,200
repentance, and rejoicing look 
like. 

461
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:46,840
The people are overwhelmed. 
The people are just overwhelmed.

462
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,560
God pierces their hearts and 
souls with the truth. 

463
00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,160
They couldn't. 
They couldn't and they wouldn't 

464
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,640
deny it. 
Taking nothing for granted this 

465
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,040
time, no false throne claiming 
at this point this was 

466
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,440
authentic, this was real. 
This was as clear as it could be

467
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:03,760
be. 
It was honest. 

468
00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,360
I remember years ago being in 
the Cayman Islands. 

469
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:09,520
Now we're originally from 
Oklahoma. 

470
00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:13,760
We don't have ocean in Oklahoma,
so going to the ocean was a big 

471
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,240
deal. 
And I remember being in the 

472
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,800
Cayman Islands and I remember 
standing in water up to my chin 

473
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:22,400
and I remember being able to 
look down and see my toenails 

474
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,560
and I thought to myself, I've 
never seen water this clear in 

475
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,600
my entire life. 
Went scuba diving in the Caymans

476
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,800
and came nose to nose, face to 
face with a 300 LB grouper at 

477
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,080
about 60 feet down. 
That was exciting. 

478
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:43,400
He also made me hungry. 
But that level of transparency 

479
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,320
was amazing. 
That's what he's calling for. 

480
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:52,880
No pretense, no pride, no ego, 
no more worry about what 

481
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:54,240
somebody else is going to think 
about me. 

482
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,600
How do I respond? 
Honestly, authentically, 

483
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,320
transparently before the Lord 
God? 

484
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,720
They wept over their sin. 
I don't know the last time you 

485
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:08,440
ever wept over your sin. 
They wept over their sin. 

486
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:10,440
They wept over the things that 
they had done they shouldn't 

487
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,320
have been doing and the things 
they should have been doing that

488
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,840
they weren't doing. 
Honest recognition, honest 

489
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,440
conviction. 
This was necessary for his 

490
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,560
restoration for revival to take 
place. 

491
00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:24,880
It's not always pleasant. 
It's not what we want. 

492
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:26,080
It's not what we look forward 
to. 

493
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:27,800
It's not what I thought was 
going to happen to me today. 

494
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:29,320
What in the world's happening 
this morning. 

495
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:35,240
But when the Holy Spirit 
strikes, confession and 

496
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:40,560
repentance are prerequisites for
His new movement in your life. 

497
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,680
So they were confronted with the
truth of God's perfect holiness.

498
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,720
Honestly saw themselves. 
They saw their sin. 

499
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:49,680
So they surrendered their 
self-control. 

500
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,040
They surrendered their self 
determined directions and 

501
00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,120
destinations. 
They surrendered any other 

502
00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:56,840
definitions or opinions of what 
they thought was right. 

503
00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,920
They surrendered their will to 
God's will. 

504
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,680
And that is a much bigger deal 
than you might think. 

505
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:11,960
Never, ever take the residual 
strength of your own will and 

506
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,680
how it might hold you back from 
being fully His for granted. 

507
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,760
It's a powerful thing when 
you're confronted by the 

508
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,000
holiness of God's Word. 
Listen to Him speaking to your 

509
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,560
heart and soul and humbly submit
to Him, because that's when 

510
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:30,760
revival is moving closer. 
Englewood The day was holy. 

511
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:32,760
It was holy. 
It was holy. 

512
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,400
Set apart for God. 
What about right now? 

513
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:41,040
Is this a holy moment for you? 
Is this moment his separated? 

514
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,800
Set apart for him? 
Not about what's for lunch, Not 

515
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,560
about what's on, What's the 
weather? 

516
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:53,400
Not about His is it for Him. 
You're ready to receive Him. 

517
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,680
You're ready for joy to 
strengthen you, His joy to be 

518
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:00,320
your strength, right? 
So God wasn't done with him. 

519
00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:01,800
He does. 
He's not done with us. 

520
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,600
They were giving one more 
opportunity. 

521
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:05,480
So are we. 
We don't ever take that for 

522
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,680
granted. 
Surrender control, surrender 

523
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:13,640
pride, surrender ego and receive
His joyous strength in your life

524
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:18,520
to transform you. 
Now that should sound wonderful 

525
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,520
and freeing. 
Many of you may be here and 

526
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:26,360
you're broken. 
You need restoring, you need 

527
00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:31,440
healing, you need empowerment. 
So, so surrender and prepare 

528
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:35,080
yourself for revival to join Him
and His grace and His 

529
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,320
forgiveness and His purpose for 
you. 

530
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:42,600
Grace gave them this moment to 
recognize and receive Him. 

531
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,960
But the story wasn't quite 
overlook at verse 12, it says. 

532
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,520
And all the people went their 
way to eat and drink and to send

533
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,000
portions and to make great 
rejoicing because they had 

534
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,680
understood, Don't miss that they
understood the words that were 

535
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,160
declared to them. 
On the second day, the heads of 

536
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:01,680
the Father's houses, of all the 
people with the priests and 

537
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,600
Levites came together, came 
together to Ezra the scribe in 

538
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,440
order to study the words of the 
law. 

539
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,000
And they found it written in the
law that the Lord had commanded 

540
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,560
by Moses that the people of 
Israel should dwell in booths 

541
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,760
during the feast of the 7th 
month, and that they should 

542
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,240
proclaim it and publish it in 
all their towns. 

543
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,200
And in Jerusalem go out to the 
hills and bring branches of 

544
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:24,200
olive, wild olive, Myrtle, palm 
and other leafy trees to make 

545
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,960
booths as it is written. 
And, and the fifth thing we see 

546
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,400
here, we see action. 
It's simply this. 

547
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:34,560
Now go live it. 
Now I, I described this feast 

548
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,400
back in September. 
I'm not going to do that now. 

549
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,800
I just want to talk about the 
people taking action. 

550
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,440
They rejoiced, they met each 
other's needs, they worship, 

551
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,280
they understood the word of God.
Don't miss that. 

552
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:49,440
They actually got it and it 
changed them and it changed 

553
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,720
their actions. 
Listen, learn and live. 

554
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,960
See, they realized they needed 
to take action and do more that 

555
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,000
they'd not been worshipping or 
obeying the law. 

556
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,640
Well, they knew that. 
And, and, and, and maybe you're 

557
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,840
here and, and you feel like 
maybe you've been in a spiritual

558
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:11,160
exile yourself. 
Distant prayers, not getting 

559
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:16,000
past the ceiling, Word of God 
just seeming like words. 

560
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:22,880
Maybe that's who you are knowing
there are things that you should

561
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:28,160
not be doing and things that you
need to begin, listen, learn, 

562
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:31,320
and and live. 
Look at verse 16. 

563
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,960
So the people went out and 
brought them and made booths for

564
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,560
themselves, each on his roof and
in their courts, in the courts 

565
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,280
of the House of God and in the 
square at the Watergate and the 

566
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,160
square at the gate of Ephraim. 
And all the assembly of those 

567
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,600
who'd returned from the 
captivity made booths and lived 

568
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:50,400
in the booths. 
For from the days of Yeshua the 

569
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:55,360
son of Nun to that day, the 
people of Israel had not done 

570
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,880
so. 
And there was very great 

571
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,320
rejoicing. 
They applied what they 

572
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,680
understood. 
They put it into action. 

573
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,680
True surrender led to true 
obedience. 

574
00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:09,440
And the people lept to this new 
obedience. 

575
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,720
They lept to this new action. 
They were ready to do that. 

576
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:14,720
They were more excited to do 
that. 

577
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:18,120
They were willing to do that. 
And if and if we do not move 

578
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,560
forward in some new ways, I 
promise you we will not only not

579
00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:23,920
move forward, we will not stay 
the same either. 

580
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,440
There will be static decline 
that happens. 

581
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:31,320
It's common in church life. 
Interesting quote that this 

582
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,560
brought to my mind was from a 
very interesting person, Abigail

583
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:37,480
Adams, the wife of one of our 
early presidents. 

584
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:41,000
She was speaking to her husband,
the president at the time and 

585
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:46,240
she said to John, she said you 
cannot be, I know, nor do I wish

586
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,680
to see you an inactive 
spectator. 

587
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:54,960
We have too many high sounding 
words and too few actions that 

588
00:31:54,960 --> 00:32:00,080
correspond with them. 
Healthy discipleship is an 

589
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,960
authentic, progressive, dynamic 
life. 

590
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,280
It's a life that matches our 
words. 

591
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,880
It's an incredibly exciting 
life. 

592
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,360
It's a life that the enemy will 
have to challenge, but a life 

593
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,600
fully surrendered to him and 
part of the problem out here in 

594
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,640
the world. 
This is not a guess. 

595
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,560
This is what the world thinks of
the church in our culture today.

596
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,000
They don't see, they hear our 
words. 

597
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,040
They they hear what we say. 
We believe. 

598
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,400
But then they watch our lives 
and they watch our actions and 

599
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:34,440
the things don't match. 
We live just like they do. 

600
00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,560
They don't see a difference in 
many of our lives. 

601
00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,400
They see our hypocrisy. 
And so the people recognized and

602
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,280
celebrated the blessings of God 
and the opportunities that were 

603
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:46,400
ahead of them. 
They saw this. 

604
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,760
They celebrated restoration and 
revival and so this eternal God 

605
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:52,440
was still at work on His 
people's behalf. 

606
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,600
He saved and sustained and 
called for surrender and service

607
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:58,280
and absolutely nothing has 
changed. 

608
00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,640
Look at verse 18 as we close, it
says in day by day, from the 

609
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,160
first day to the last day. 
He read from the book of the law

610
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,160
of God. 
They kept the feast 7 days and 

611
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,800
on the 8th day there was a 
solemn assembly according to the

612
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,240
rule. 
Listen, when true revival comes,

613
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,800
you can't get enough of it. 
You, you, you. 

614
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:20,680
You don't want to put His word 
down. 

615
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,360
You don't want to stop singing. 
You don't want to stop praying 

616
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,840
and praising. 
You don't want to stop loving 

617
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,160
one another. 
Your world views changed, your 

618
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:32,240
goals are different, your 
aspirations focus on Him and not

619
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,400
yourself. 
And narcissism will find it's 

620
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:39,920
pure and true revival. 
Comfort and complacency, 

621
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,440
believing you're already OK and 
you don't need any of this will 

622
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,800
dissolve in the wake of true 
revival. 

623
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,480
Nelson Mandela once said this. 
He said it's not our deepest 

624
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,240
fear of inadequacy that 
frightens us. 

625
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,960
I'm going to say it again. 
It's not our deepest fear of 

626
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:01,360
inadequacy that frightens us. 
It's our fear of reaching a 

627
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,400
potential beyond our wildest 
dreams. 

628
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,560
We're scared to become who God 
wants us to become. 

629
00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:10,800
And I'm just going to challenge 
you to put up yourself, friends,

630
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,560
and catch the blowing, soaring 
wind of the Holy Spirit because 

631
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:18,639
he, he's blowing right here in 
Rocky Mount, and he wants you to

632
00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:23,719
catch him. 
Well, I obviously got off that 

633
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,239
plane. 
It was a mess. 

634
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:31,520
It was not an orderly exit. 
It was chaos. 

635
00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:36,800
Now, remember, we'd already 
flown from Oklahoma to Florida. 

636
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,520
We'd already waited at the Miami
International Airport and the 

637
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:43,600
International Terminal of that 
airport, where English is not 

638
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,840
the first language. 
So now we've got off the plane 

639
00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:54,880
and and after 13 long hours on 
the tile floor of the 

640
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,560
International terminal of the 
Miami International Airport, it 

641
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,080
was time for us to board another
plane. 

642
00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:04,280
I had to coax a few people to 
get on board that next plane. 

643
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:07,760
They weren't all that excited 
about going on that trip 

644
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,320
anymore, but we got them on 
board. 

645
00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:16,240
We'd already been through a lot,
but we weren't done. 

646
00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:18,880
We were just starting the 
journey. 

647
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,200
We had to get to our proper 
destination. 

648
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:27,200
We had to feel the actual 
purpose of the entire journey. 

649
00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:32,840
So after another overnight 
flight, an hour drive, and a 14 

650
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,360
hour boat ride through the night
up the Amazon, we finally made 

651
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,960
it to Boa Vista de Homos, where 
people needed Jesus. 

652
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:46,080
They heard about him, hundreds 
were saved. 

653
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:52,440
A beautiful little church in Boa
Vista de Hamos today because God

654
00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:57,520
had a plan, just like here, just
like in your life. 

655
00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:03,480
And so I just invite you to 
join, to join us on the journey.

656
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,280
It's just beginning. 
Father, we thank you. 

657
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:15,400
We thank you for the privilege 
of joining you on this journey 

658
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,960
called Your mission. 
It's not ours, it's yours. 

659
00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,480
And Father, I pray this morning,
Lord, we've been praying all 

660
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,240
morning, Father, for somebody 
who needs to be saved. 

661
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,200
Don't know why I felt that so 
strongly today. 

662
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,600
But Father, whoever that person 
is, whether they're here 

663
00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:39,120
physically or listening online, 
I pray right now that You'll 

664
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:42,840
Pierce their heart, their soul 
with the truth. 

665
00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:48,320
I pray, Father, that they'll 
recognize that and and they'll 

666
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,600
even pray to you a simple 
prayer, prayer like this where 

667
00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:53,240
they'll say, Lord, I know I'm a 
Sinner. 

668
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:59,800
I'm sorry for my sin. 
I want to turn from my sin. 

669
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:05,680
I trust in Jesus as my Savior. 
I trust in him as my Lord. 

670
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,840
I want to serve him in the 
church, Father. 

671
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:14,840
Something that simple to get 
them started. 

672
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,320
Father, I pray that if they're 
here that they'll come in just a

673
00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,400
moment and take a pastor by the 
hand or go to our Next Steps 

674
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:27,560
room and share with one of our 
counsellors about what they 

675
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:31,280
prayed. 
For others who are believers, 

676
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:33,640
Father, they recognize there's a
next step for them. 

677
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:35,520
For some of them, that next step
may be baptism. 

678
00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:38,480
They see the testimony of Joseph
today and they say that's 

679
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:40,760
something I need to do. 
Maybe the next step is church 

680
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,440
membership. 
Maybe the next step is prayer. 

681
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,680
Maybe the next step is who can I
disciple? 

682
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:54,040
Who can I help to understand? 
And so, Father, I pray that as 

683
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,520
we sing that Lord, you would 
Pierce our hearts. 

684
00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:59,800
Father, even as we take up the 
offering, Lord, that I pray 

685
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:01,760
you'll bless so it'll be used to
your glory. 

686
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:05,880
But Father, I pray that that the
primary offering today won't be 

687
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:07,640
something we can even put in a 
plate. 

688
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:13,440
It's something from our heart, 
something from our soul where 

689
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:19,120
we're offering you us completely
authentically. 

690
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:23,640
Honestly, maybe someone needs to
come and confess and repent, 

691
00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:32,760
whatever it is. 
No more pretense, no more 

692
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,760
hanging on to a throne that does
not belong to us, but surrender.

693
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:44,440
So, Father, bless us, lead us, 
convict us, inspire us right now

694
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:48,640
as we worship you in Christ's 
name, Amen. 

695
00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:50,160
I'm going to invite you to 
stand. 

696
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:51,600
Our worship team is going to 
lead us. 

697
00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:54,360
There'll be some pastors here. 
You don't have to come talk to 

698
00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:56,160
us. 
You can go right to that room 

699
00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:58,160
over there where there's some 
wonderful counsellors who would 

700
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,200
love to have a private, discreet
conversation and prayer time 

701
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:02,880
with you. 
You can come and pray at these 

702
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:04,880
steps. 
You can come talk to one of us. 

703
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:07,000
There's also a next steps table 
in the lobby. 

704
00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:12,360
Whatever angle you need, I just 
pray that you'll respond. 

705
00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:22,400
Thank you so much for listening 
today, and I also hope that 

706
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:24,920
you'll go to 
ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 

707
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,960
as well as our app and find many
other resources that will bless 

708
00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,160
you and your families. 
Thank you once again.