← ArchiveDanny CoursonDateFebruary 16, 2020SpeakerDanny CoursonText—Passages in this sermonNehemiah 41:59Nehemiah 11:59Nehemiah 1:33:39Nehemiah 311:09Nehemiah 4:613:42TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Good morning. It's good to be with you this morning. I appreciate Josh giving me the invitation to come and share God's Word with you today. And on behalf of the other 68 Southern Baptist churches in St. Clair Baptist Association, I bring you greetings. We are all worshiping the same Lord, the same Savior. There's only one way to heaven, and that's for Jesus Christ. So this morning, in 69 different locations around St. Clair Baptist Association, people are gathered worshiping just like we're doing here. And one of the things that I think I have the most exciting job in the0:29world, getting to work with all these different churches. If you look at the model of Paul in the New Testament, what you see is Paul wasn't just concerned with the church at one location, but he was concerned about the church at Rome, the church at Galatia, the church at Ephesus, the church at Thessalonica. He traveled around to worship with all those different groups because Paul recognized what I believe we need to recognize today. Jesus Christ established one church. He's coming back0:57for one bride. And when you get to heaven, you don't get to say, send me to the Southern Baptist section. You don't say, show me to the Methodist section. And you can't go up and say, show me to the Bethel section because it's going to be the saved of all the ages. And I believe if it's going to be that way in heaven, we need to practice it that way here on earth. We need to work together. And that's what the association is all about. There's not a single congregation in St. Clair Baptist1:24Association who could fund their own full-time missionary. But by combining our gifts through the cooperative program, last year St. Clair Baptist Association took up enough to sponsor 11 full-time missionaries. That's the power of cooperation. It's the power of combining our resources and working together. This morning, I'm going to be talking about the importance of sharing in that work together. If you have your Bibles, if you'll turn to the book of Nehemiah, I'm going to give1:53an introduction of Nehemiah chapter 1, 2, and 3 pretty quickly. And Nehemiah chapter 4 is where we're going to hang out most of this morning. Let's go before the Lord in prayer as we prepare to look at his word. Father, as we come before you this morning, we thank you so much for the opportunity to gather, the freedom that we have to worship you. And Lord, we thank you for each person here. We believe you have us here for a reason, and we believe there's something you want to teach us. So open our hearts2:21and minds to be receptive to your word and speak to us through the power of your Holy Spirit this morning. This is our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. If you've studied the book of Nehemiah before, you know Nehemiah is all about rebuilding. And what happened is in 586 BC, the Babylonians came in and destroyed Jerusalem, took everyone captive. They destroyed the temple. They destroyed the buildings all through the2:48city. They tore down the wall around the city, and it was just piles of rocks left. And as they did in those days, when they took over a civilization, they moved them. They left behind the sick and the weak, but the majority of the people were taken into exile, and it was a four-month journey to the place where they were going. So imagine, if you can, it's hard for us as American citizens to understand being taken3:15over and forced to go somewhere into exile in another country. It's hard for us to connect with that. But imagine how broken these people had to feel. As Nehemiah thinks about his people and what's happened to them, he's concerned. And in Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 3, we find the foundation for what we're looking at this morning. He asked some people who had been to Jerusalem what the condition was.3:45And this is what he said in verse 3. They said to me, the remnant in the province who survived the exile are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem's wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned. That was the condition of Jerusalem. Imagine if that's the report from your home, where your family's from, where your history is, the God that you serve, everything is placed around Jerusalem, and you4:12hear, after all these years, it's still in great trouble and disgrace. I believe if we were to look at the church in the world today, I think our condition is great trouble and disgrace. I think we're broken. And why do I say that? Back when I started seminary, we were told that 65 to 70 percent of churches were plateaued or declining.4:42After all these years since I was in seminary, you would think we would have improved. But the latest surveys now say that it may be as high as 85 to 90 percent of churches are plateaued or declining. You know what that means? We're burying people faster than we're baptizing people. And as our society continues to grow and our population increases, the population within the5:07church continues to decline. And so based on that, I would say that we are broken. We are a disgrace right now in the eyes of our Lord as far as the mission that he sent out for us to accomplish. If we were to look at ourselves as a church and see ourselves as God sees us, are we boldly sharing the gospel with the lost?5:37Are we doing everything we can to make Jesus Christ first in our lives and serving our community and reaching people with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? I think if we look at ourselves, we would have to be honest and say, we're not where we need to be. We've got to do better. But when Nehemiah heard the condition in Jerusalem, in verse 4, we see his response. When I heard these words, I sat down and wept.6:05I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. I wept. I mourned. I fasted. And I prayed. And that's my challenge to you today. As St. Clair Baptist, I think we need to look at the condition of the church in the United States and the church around the world. And I think we need to fall on our knees before God and say, God, we have let you down.6:32I think we need to weep over our condition. We need to mourn over our condition. And we need to fast and pray. And then the next verse we see in verse 6, actually, it says, I confess the sins we have committed against you. Both I and my father's family have sinned. Nehemiah's heart was broken over the condition of the city that represented his God, the temple that represented his God,7:02the wall that verified the protection of the people of God. And Nehemiah's heart was broken over that to the point that he confessed his own sin and the sins of his father. That's what it takes for change to happen. We first have to recognize the reality of our condition. And then when we see the reality of our condition, we have to consider what our response is going to be. And my question this morning is,7:31when we think about the job that God has given us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, are we truly doing everything we can to make that happen? Are we putting our lives on the line sharing the love of Jesus Christ with others? As a result of the condition of the city, his heart was broken and he had a request of God after he confessed his sins. In chapter 2, verses 4 and 5, we see his request. Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the city.8:01He asked God for permission. He went to the king and asked the king for permission. And you have to understand, this is the same kingdom that destroyed Jerusalem and took his people into exile. It's just a different king now. It's years later. And he goes before the king. And in verse 4 and 5, it says, Then the king asked me, What is your request? So I prayed to the God of the heavens, and I answered the king, If it pleases the king,8:29and if your servant has found favor with you, Send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I may rebuild it. Send me. He didn't say, God, send them. He didn't say, God, send someone else. He said, God, send me. He goes to the king and says, Please send me. I want to rebuild so that my God will be honored. And people will no longer look at that8:59and see us as a disgrace and a broken people, but they'll see us as a triumphant people who are protected by our God. Nehemiah wasn't trying to bring fame to himself. He wanted to bring fame to his God and to his Savior. Now, here's the interesting part of the story. Fifty years after the exile happened, a guy named Ezra took 40,000 people back, and they were going to rebuild. They rebuilt the temple. But after they rebuilt the temple,9:29there was so much opposition around them, they didn't get to finish reconstructing the city. They didn't get to finish constructing the wall. And so for years and years and years, after they finished the temple, they were still in a state of dishonor and disgrace. So Nehemiah wants to take a group now. Another 50 years has passed. And Nehemiah gets permission and takes the group so that they can rebuild what the other group had already started years before.9:55In verse 8 of chapter 2, it says, When we take our request to the Lord and our requests are to do his will, won't his gracious hand be upon us? If we, as the people of God, were to come before him and say, we recognize the state we're in, we confess our sins,10:25we want to build your kingdom, we want to build your church, we want to fulfill the great commission with all the strength we have, with all the energy we have, with all the enthusiasm we have, until Jesus comes back again. I think it's something God wants to do in this day and age. He is ready for his people to repent. He is ready for his people to return to him. The church today is broken. We are in disgrace.10:56We should be weeping, mourning, fasting, praying, and confessing. And our goal should be simply to bring honor and glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Nehemiah chapter 3, Nehemiah chapter 3, I just want to give you a brief summary. It's all the people working behind the scenes whose names and faces you don't recognize, but their contributions were critical to the success of the project. How many of you know your pastor's name?11:26What is it? Josh. Why do you know Josh's name? You see him all the time, don't you? He's always standing up here. He's preaching God's word. He's up here and he gets a lot of attention and he does a great job sharing God's word and I appreciate him giving me the opportunity to share today. I love your pastor. But do you realize that it's not just Josh who's called to carry out the Great Commission? It's every single one of you here.11:57And here's the thing. Sometimes in church we focus up on the platform and we know those names, but we don't know the names of the people all around us. But what I'm here to tell you this morning is your name is important in building the church. Because in chapter 3 what we see are all these names that you can't even pronounce. You've never seen them before, you've never heard of them before, and you don't hear of them again. But the wall around Jerusalem would never have been completed if it weren't for those men and women, boys and girls.12:26It was families working together to build the wall. And we are called as a church today to build the church, to build the kingdom. And it takes every single one of us to do the job. You ever watch a movie and you go home and you say, you know what, I'm really glad that I know the person who did the lighting on that movie.12:54I'm glad I know the person who wrote the music for the soundtrack. I'm glad I know the guy who was running the sound and recording everything. You don't remember that, do you? You remember the actors and the actresses who starred in the movie, but do you ever actually stay at the end and read the credits? Yet, if all those hundreds of names listed on the credits at the end of the movie, if they weren't involved in the production, what would have been accomplished?13:20Nothing. You may be a person who works in the background and you can say, nobody knows my name, but I want you to know your job, your calling and your ministry is important in doing the work of the kingdom of God. He wants all of us involved in his work. In Nehemiah chapter four, verse six, this is what I call halftime. It says, so we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height13:47for the people had the will to keep working. This is a major accomplishment. Why would you stop at the halfway point and say, yay, we're halfway done? Think of a football game. What happens at halftime? The team goes into the locker room. They look at what's been accomplished so far. They talk about how they need to reorganize and come out for the second half. They celebrate what has been accomplished in the first half.14:16But then they go back out and get to work for the second half. That's exactly what happened here. They actually accomplished taking a bunch of piles of rocks and building a wall all the way around the sea of Jerusalem up to half of its original height. That's progress when you consider over the past 50 years, nothing had been accomplished. Over the past 50 years, because of the opposition of the people in the area, they just gave up and quit working.14:41Now, let me ask you, when we try to carry out the mission of the church and we try to share Jesus Christ with our communities, do we face any opposition? Yeah. Will we continue to face opposition? And I want you to think about this seriously. Have you experienced persecution? Not really.15:12Not really. You may have had somebody cuss you out. You may have had somebody slam a door in your face. You may have had somebody tell you they're not interested. They don't want to hear what you have to say. But persecution like the disciples faced, persecution like Christians in other nations face, we have not even begun to see persecution in the United States. But I believe before Jesus comes back, we're going to. And that's when we're going to see who's really living for Christ and who's not. We're going to face opposition. And when you face opposition, if you just give up and quit, how genuine is your commitment to Christ?15:41These people faced opposition and they kept on doing what they went to do. In face of the opposition, in chapter 4, verses 9 and 13, here's what we see. So we prayed to our God and, and is important. We prayed to our God, but we also took action. First, we stationed a guard day and night.16:09People said they were going to attack them. They were going to tear up the work that they had done. So they stationed a guard. They stationed people at the vulnerable areas. They looked at the areas that were most likely to be able to attack. And they placed extra security details there. And they stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows. Now, there's some wonderful strategy here. And God has to get the credit for it. Because Nehemiah wasn't an expert on anything.16:38He was a cupbearer to the king. You know what a cupbearer to the king did? He tasted the food and drink to make sure nobody was poisoning the king. Isn't that a wonderful job? Wouldn't you like to have that? If they're trying to kill the king, they've got to go through me first. You eat it and die? Well, the king's safe. That was his job. All the people who went back with him to rebuild the wall, none of them worked for construction companies. They weren't architects. They weren't designers.17:08They were common, everyday people who simply wanted to bring honor and glory back to God. And so they said, we're going to go and we're going to work. Now, these first things, they stationed a guard day and night. I hate that we're in a day and age where we have to have security forces in church. But we do. It's just a reality in our day. While we're here worshiping, somebody's standing guard. They're watching the doors to make sure that we're in a safe environment. They stationed people at the vulnerable areas.17:37There are some areas that we know are more likely to face opposition, so we put extra people there for those areas. But here's the beauty of God's plan that I love. They stationed people to work by families. Why is that important? If you're fighting for a country, you're fighting for a cause, and you face opposition, you may get discouraged and give up. But if you're fighting for the lives of your family, you're going to dig in your heels and18:04you're going to stay. They were willing to fight with their families by their side. Men, women, boys, girls, grandparents, they're all together working side by side. If opposition comes, are you going to run or are you going to fight for your family? We are called to work together with our family to build the kingdom of God.18:28In face of this opposition, the people could easily get discouraged. But in chapter 4, verse 14, and this is where we're going to be the rest of the time, chapter 4, verses 14 and following. Here's what Nehemiah told the people. Yes, we're facing opposition, but don't be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives, and your homes.18:53Yes, we have enemies. Yes, we have opposition. But don't be afraid of them. Why? Because we need to remember the power of our God. We serve a great and awe-inspiring God. That's what Nehemiah told the people, and that's what I want to tell you again this morning. Our God is an awesome God. Do you believe that? Our God is an all-powerful God.19:22Is there any force in the earth or heavens that could defeat our God? As a matter of fact, you look to the end of the book. Has anybody read the end of the Bible? Does anybody know how the story ends? Who wins? God wins. You could say that with a little more enthusiasm, a little more certainty. God wins. So don't be afraid of the opposition. I don't care who it is. I don't care what their threats are. They can threaten your life.19:52But doesn't the Bible tell us, don't be afraid of those who can take your life, but they can't take your soul. There's only one who can do that, and that's Jesus Christ. That is our God. That is our Lord. That is our Savior. So what Nehemiah said is, yes, you're going to face opposition, but don't keep your eyes on the opposition. Keep your eyes on Christ. Think about when Peter walked on the water. They thought it was a ghost coming across the water. When they realized it was Christ, Peter said, if it's really you, let me come out on the water to you.20:20And what did Jesus say? Come on. So he steps out of the boat. And as long as his eyes were on Christ, what happened? He walked on the water. But when he got distracted by the wind and the waves and he looked away, what happened? He began to sink. He began to sink. It's the same way for us. If we keep our eyes on the distractions and the opposition, we will never complete the task God has given us to keep.20:46But if we will keep our eyes focused on Jesus, he is able to do all things through us, through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. There is nothing our God cannot accomplish through us. In Nehemiah 4, verse 15, it says, When our enemies heard that we knew the scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall.21:14Now, let's make sure we get this. Their enemies were Sanballat and Tobiah, leaders who lived around the Jerusalem area. That was their opposition. But let's break it down to one simple thing. When we're trying to fulfill the kingdom work, who is our opposition? It's Satan. It's not people. It's not other denominations.21:44It's not government. It's Satan. We have one enemy. Does Satan know how the Bible ends? Does he know who wins in the end? So Satan already knows that God has frustrated his plans. And in the end, God wins and God's people will be victorious. So don't keep your eyes focused on the enemy. Get back to work. Do the work that God has called us to do.22:12And that's building his church. It continues in verse 16 and says this, From that day on, half my men did the work, while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. Yeah, we knew there was opposition there, but we put people out to watch. Half of them watched. Half of them protected. Half of them did the work. We need to partner together in ministry. Anytime we have a group who's out serving in an area, we need to have a group who's praying for them.22:39Anytime there's a group that's serving in one certain ministry, we need to have a group praying for them and supporting them. We can all support the cause in one way or another. We have to have that offensive mind and defensive mind. Yes, we're going to spread the kingdom of God. We're going to share the gospel. We're going to reach people. But we also need to have our defenses up so that we can be the best that we can be in serving our Lord.23:02It goes on and says, The officers supported all the people of Judah who were rebuilding the wall. All the people who were rebuilding the wall. The people whose names you can't pronounce. The people whose names you don't know from chapter 3. They were all on the same team and they all received the support because they were all doing the work. Verse 17. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.23:31You know what that symbolizes? Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have in Jesus Christ. We are on duty for Christ at all times. You know, you've got a job and you can clock in and you can clock out. But as a Christian, there's never a time when you clock out. Once you accept Christ, you are a Christian 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 and a quarter days per year.24:00There's never a time when you're off duty for Christ. It goes on and says this in verse 18. Each of the builders had his sword strapped around his waist while he was building and the trumpeter was beside me. Now, I love this thing about the trumpeter. What was the role of the trumpeter? To send out a warning.24:30To send out a warning. Let me tell you how our association works. Our association is 69 different congregations. But we're all part of the same family. We're building the same church. And my job as an AMS or director of missions, whatever you want to call me, my job is to sound the trumpet. If we've got a church over in Asheville that's having a difficult time and they need help and you're able to provide that help, my job is to sound the trumpet and you respond.24:54We work together. We help one another. And there are times when we need our brothers and sisters from other congregations to help us. Sometimes it's with physical needs. Sometimes it's just additional workers. Sometimes it's sharing resources. But there are ways we can work together. And that's exactly what they did.25:23The beauty of the plan when they built the wall is you had one family who built this section here right in front of them. And next to them, there was another family that built that section. And next to them, they had a group of priests who worked and built a section. And then they had a group here that were musicians that worked on a section. Chapter 3 gives us the name of 38 families and 43 different groups who were spread out across the wall building what was right in front of them. God has called you as members of Bethel Baptist Church to build the kingdom of God right here where he's placed you.25:51But he's calling churches in Pell City to do the work of God right there in Pell City. And some in Springville and some in Asheville and some in Steele. All through St. Clair County, we are all doing the work. And as long as each one does their part, the wall will be the same height. But what happens if this group does their section, this group does their section, and this group in the middle does nothing?26:16Your wall is going to be penetrated by the enemy. We need to work together to support one another so that we can all, all build that same kingdom. Verse 19, it said, I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, the work is enormous and spread out, and we are separated far from one another along the wall.26:44To me, this describes associational missions. This verse just lays it out. We're building the same church. We're all trying to share the gospel with people in St. Clair County. And the work is enormous and spread out. There's 635 square miles in St. Clair Baptist Association. We're spread out from Steele and Chandler Mountain up in the north, all the way down to Leeds and Moody in the south.27:08You've got Pell City over on this side. You've got Asheville and Springville over on this side. You've got Odenville in the middle. We're divided by two interstates and one major highway. We've got a river that runs through, and we've got a mountain right down the middle that some people like to use an excuse. I was told that the mountain has been used for years to separate people. And they said, well, that mountain's just an inconvenience, so this group over here does their thing, and this group over here does our thing.27:34So at the associational meeting, when I had my chance to speak, I had them play Ain't No Mountain High Enough. If the mountain ain't high enough to keep the man and his woman from getting together, the mountain's not high enough to keep us in the church from crossing over to work with one another. My vision of ministry is 69 churches knowing what the others are doing, praying for the others, helping any way they can, joining together in missions, joining together in ministry to make sure first that every person in St. Clair County hears that Jesus is the only way to heaven.27:56He is the only one who can save. And then I want to see us pair together on ways that we can meet the needs of this community, the physical needs, the spiritual needs, the medical needs, whatever they are. When we combine our resources, we can accomplish so much more.28:25We can't let distance become a barrier. We can't let the fact that we're in different communities become a barrier because we're all working together to build the same kingdom of God. So in verse 20, what Nehemiah says is, since we are separated and spread out like this, wherever you hear the trumpet sound, rally to us there, our God will fight for us. So this is the message I tell churches as I get the opportunity. We got to rally together.28:54We got to rally the troops. The word rally means this, to come together again in order to continue fighting after a defeat or a dispersion. It means to reassemble, to regroup, to reunite. We spread out all across this association and we meet as individual congregations. But whenever it's necessary, we sound the trumpet and we come together and we work together to make sure the gospel is spread to every person here.29:16Back in October 2019, there was a fire in Atala. Do any of you remember that story in the news? The biggest fire in the history of Atala. It was a warehouse fire and of all the things in the world, it was a warehouse, huge warehouses connected that stored paper products. When the fire alarm was first sounded, the Atala Fire Department responded, then the Rainbow City Department responded, then the Gadsden Department responded.29:43And as the fire continued to grow and get out of control, more than 125 fire departments came to help with that fire. Some driving as far as 150 miles to help their brothers and sisters who were fighting a fire that was out of control. When it first started, they thought they were okay with the full-time firefighters who were trained and that's exactly what they do all the time.30:09But the longer it went and the more out of control it got, they were more than happy to welcome the volunteer fire departments. And the fire became so big and there were so many workers, they had to have people who volunteered to bring food in. Restaurants started making meals and getting people to deliver them, so the firefighters had something to eat. There were volunteers who had to bring drinks in so that the firefighters could run in shifts and get something to keep themselves refreshed and strong enough to continue working.30:35They had to provide areas for them to sleep and rest. They needed volunteers to help out in many, many ways, and it ended up with hundreds, even thousands, showing up to help in different ways. If the fire department can apply that principle, why can't the church? If we've got a situation where we've got a certain segment of the population that we need to reach, but we don't have the people to do it, we don't have all the resources to do it,31:01why can't we sound the alarm and let our brothers and sisters in Christ come together with us so that we can accomplish great things in short periods of time through the power of cooperation? Because they sounded the alarm and the people came to work together, Verse 21 sums up what happened.31:31So we continued to work. While half of the men were holding spears from daybreak until the stars came out. We continued the work. Yes, there was opposition. Their lives were threatened. Their children were threatened. Their future was threatened. Everything was threatened. They had threats from within and threats from without. But they continued the work.31:59Because they distributed the labor. Some people watching, protecting, while others kept the work moving on. And here's the summary. Chapter 6, verse 15. The wall was completed in 52 days. On the 25th day of the month of Elul. The wall was completed in 52 days. Now let's go back to the introduction. Ezra took a group of 40,000 people and over a period of 6 to 12 years they rebuilt the temple, but nothing else was accomplished.32:29For the next 50 years, nothing was accomplished. Nehemiah took a group of people. And because everyone was willing to work, everyone was willing to do their part. Men, women, and children working side by side. In 52 days they accomplished a project that hadn't been completed in the 50 previous years. I'm here to tell you, God still works that way. If the church will come together and work in cooperation, we can see more people come to Christ by sharing our resources, pooling together, working together.32:59We can see this trend turn from churches being plateaued and declining to churches growing, baptizing, and reaching more people. But we've got to understand, we're not independent churches. There's one church. We're all part of that same church and we've got to work together to bring people to Christ, to bring people to the kingdom of God.33:26In verse 16, close with this verse. When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God. It wasn't a job they could accomplish on their own strength and power. The only way they were to finish in 52 days was God protected them.33:55God provided the resources. God provided the strength and the power. God gave them the willingness to cooperate. God is the one who got the honor and glory. They weren't seeking it for themselves. They were seeking it for God and God alone. In church, when we will seek the power and the praise for God and God alone, we'll see great things happen. We see instances in the Bible where 3,000 people come to Christ in one setting.34:21We see other examples where the gospel is preached and hundreds and hundreds of people respond. We see in Acts, the church in Acts, people were coming to Christ on a daily basis. And it can happen again. But it happens when our goal is simply to work together to share the gospel and let God work through us. In summary, in the beginning of this, we saw the people had to understand their reality.34:53And their reality was trouble and disgrace. Their response to their reality was to weep, fast, pray, and confess. And then their request was, let me rebuild. I'm going to give two applications to this. First of all, as an individual, what's your life like? Not the image that people see on Facebook. Not the image that you share with people throughout the day. But what does your life really look like?35:22The reality is, the Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Every person here today has some type of sin. You have some type of struggle in your life. You have some type of difficulty that stands between you and God. Even if you're saved, you still struggle with temptation and you still struggle with sin. If we're honest, as individuals today, all of us would have to say, really, our lives are trouble and disgrace. And what's our response to that?35:53We live in a world that wants to say, you can do what you want. Sin doesn't exist. But God's word tells us that it does exist and it's present in everyone's life. Our response to our sin needs to be weeping, fasting, praying, and confessing. Are you at a point today where you are willing to weep over your condition? Where you're willing to fast and pray and mourn and turn your life over to God? What's your response? And after you confess your sins, if you choose to do that, what's your request to the Lord?36:23Why does He save us? Because He loves us? Because He wants us to be in an ongoing daily relationship with Him? And He wants us to serve Him in His kingdom. As an individual, what's your reality? What's your response? And what would you ask of God today? Once He cleanses you and forgives you of sin, how would you like to serve God?36:51How would you like Him to use you? As a church, Bethel may be a very healthy church. I'm not here saying anything about Bethel. I'm talking about the church universal. The church around the world is in trouble and disgrace. We're not showing the love of Christ. We're being judgmental. We're forcing people away. We're keeping people from coming to Christ because we're focused on doing things the way we want instead of the way God wants.37:20And if we were honest as a church and looked at ourselves, we would turn to God in repentance. But then what's our request? Here am I, send someone else. Or here am I, send me. Nehemiah gave us the illustration, the example. Lord, send me. You know, I've always told people, the Bible says the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.37:50Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will raise up more workers. But if you read that verse and you pray that verse, you better understand that when you do that, God's going to say, you're right, I do need more workers. What about you? Where are you serving? Where are you working? Would you bow your heads in prayer with me?
