Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] It.
[00:00:01] So when I call Craig, I always end the phone call with love. You do? And he never says it back, ever.
[00:00:09] And I think that might have been the most awkward he has ever felt in a long time. And I love that it's recorded. So I'm going to go home and capture that little video, and I'm just going to send it to you, like, every week. Don't forget. Don't forget. And for a my extra delight. I'm not a germaphobe. I don't care about germs. He does. So it's just my extra delight to hold on a little bit longer. This is going to be the weirdest thing that has ever been posted online. Okay. I do want to tell you one funny story, though. When we went fishing that day, we were fishing for salmon, and he said to me, you can't catch salmon with a net. And I was like, challenge accepted. And I've never actually fished for much of anything in my entire life. So he's my rabbi when it comes to all things fishing. So he's like, 100 yards down the river, and I'm shouting. I'm like, I got one. I got one. And he's like, what did you get? I'm like, I got one in a net. And I'm like, come here. I don't know what to do with it. And he's walking toward me and he's shaking his head. You know that headshake that says, you're such an idiot?
[00:01:18] And I'm like, why are you disappointed in me? I won. I literally did the thing you said I couldn't do. And he said, no, I didn't mean it's impossible. I meant it's illegal. You can't do that. And I was like, oh, I get it. And that was a great day. All right, I want to take a moment, and I just want to pray for our time, and then we're going to open up. God's word. Father, we love you. I am thankful for a brother in Christ, for sister churches. I am thankful for what we have in common, which is Jesus, most importantly. Lord, I pray this morning that you would encourage us, you would challenge us, you would convict us. Father, we want to have the mind of Christ. We want to think the things he thinks, and we want to have the heart of Christ. We want our heart to beat for the things that Jesus, your heart beats for. And we want the life of Christ. We want our lives to look more and more like you. And so, Lord, sin in all of us makes each one of those uniquely challenging. And so, God, if today we could walk away being just a little more like our savior, that would be an incredible win. And, Lord, for all of the moments and all of the times when we have sinned and fallen short, thank you for the blood of Jesus that covers us, the holy spirit that reminds us of the truth, that we didn't get our salvation by being good and we don't lose it by being bad. And so I thank you that what you have given us in Christ is the most secure thing in our life. When we are faithless, you are faithful. So, God, we are so thankful. Remind us of your truth, encourage us, and help us be a little more like Jesus. We pray this all in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. All right, so I bring you greetings from the village church of Bartlett. We love you guys. And whenever Craig comes to, just everybody tells me, like, he's a better preacher. And so I go, okay, fine. That's fine. But I love when I get to be with you guys. So every time I come, there are new faces. There's actually a handful of you I have never seen before. So on behalf of our elders and our staff and our people, we just say, we love you. And I bring you greetings from them. Can I tell them next Sunday that you say hi back? Okay, good. All right. Wouldn't that be funny if you're like, no, we're not going to do that.
[00:03:32] All right, so, really important lesson that I have learned, and it basically goes like this. And I'll put on the screen because I want you to see this. The greatest things in life are almost always the most difficult.
[00:03:47] You may have been wondering, how does Pastor Michael and Pastor Craig have such incredible physiques? I know that that has been a question that has been lingering. And bodies like this don't just happen. I mean, this is years of labor and work and consuming unbelievable amounts of food. No, but if you ever looked at somebody and you're like, that body, dude, you must spend hours and hours every single day. But if you're going to be even just remotely healthy, let alone really fit, that is a lot of work. Or if you're going to become a doctor or do anything past, like, I don't know, any education, it's really challenging. But I've never met a doctor who was like, yeah, that was easy. Yeah, piece of cake. Yeah, I could do with my eyes closed. No big deal. The greatest things in life really are almost always difficult, like a strong and healthy marriage. I have met one couple in my entire life who said, we don't fight and we don't disagree. And I believe they're liars. And if you're going to have an awesome marriage that is going to be birthed over years, and pain and heartache and hard conversations and working through stuff like the greatest things in life, they are almost always the most difficult. Very few people end up having the privilege of building something great, and it is not because they have a lack of opportunity to do it. The vast majority of people never build something great because they give up way too soon. Now, Craig, and everybody tells me you are a responsive crew. So I will say amen. And if you do agree, you can go amen. So, amen. Amen. And it's heartbreaking because the moment you trusted in Jesus, you were given a calling by God to be a part of a local church and to build Jesus's kingdom in that local church, when you realize that you were a sinner and you're like, wow, God and I are not okay, and you realize Jesus is God. He died for your sins and he was raised from the dead. The moment you're like, God, I'm sorry for my sin. I believe in Jesus. You weren't just given forgiveness. You weren't just given eternity. You weren't just given the holy spirit. You were given a job to do. And it is an awesome privilege to be about building the kingdom of Jesus on earth when there is a fallen world. And I want to just tell you that it is really, really hard to build the kingdom of God on earth when you have sin, sinners and the devil just rampant working against you. I again, have never met a pastor who's like, it's easy to be a pastor. It's easy to be a volunteer in a church. It's easy. Everything is just easy. It just all comes naturally. It's actually really, really hard work. Can we just take a moment and can you just give like a round of applause for the people who set up and tear down every single week?
[00:06:37] Guys, it is work. Like, I come here and Pastor Craig is sweating. He's got to bring changes of clothes. But this is a lot of work and it is worth it. But I'm telling you guys, it is easy. It is easy to give up. And as church members, regular attendees, whatever you are, village church, you do have the opportunity to be a spectator. And I'll give you two reasons why you should be a spectator. It's easy and it's cheap.
[00:07:09] And this is the route that many will take in churches all over the world throughout history. I'm just going to speak for myself and if you want something more than easy and cheap, maybe give me an amen. I don't want easy and cheap.
[00:07:23] I'd like to be a part of something bigger than myself. I'd like to actually work with the king of the universe and build his kingdom on this earth. Like cheap and easy. Yeah, it's cheap and easy, but it's overrated. I would much rather be a part of something that is difficult, that requires sacrifice, that I can look back at and say, God, it is my joy to be a part of building your kingdom. And it costs a lot. It costs a lot of time, talents, treasure, it costs a lot of nights out, it costs a lot of heartache because when you're in ministry, volunteer or paid irrelevant, you're dealing with your own sin and you're dealing with other people's sin. It's hard work, but I'm telling you guys, the greatest things in life are hard. So villager Jesus, the Bible is a word for something every one of you are going to need if this is going to make it for seven more years. And the word is perseverance. And perseverance, it's the strength and the determination to keep going despite. And you can fill in the blanks. Hardship, pain, loss, enemies, unmet expectations, discouragement. And here's what I've known. I've known village church east very closely, very well for the last seven years. I've been at the village church of Bartlett now 20 years on staff. Right? Let me tell you, we have dealt with hardship, pain, loss, enemies, unmet expectations, discouragement. This is what it's probably going to cost just to be about building the kingdom of Jesus in a fallen world with fallen peoples, people and the demonic realm that opposes you. Right again, that's going to be a little clip you just pull out, isolate you send back to me when I send you the hug clip. Of course, I want to just share with you three. There are so many scriptures on this, but really quickly I want you to see three of them. Colossians 111.
[00:09:08] Paul writes to the Colossians, may you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience. Oh, by the way, with joy. Why do the Colossians need strength and endurance? Because building Jesus's kingdom in a fallen world, it's really hard. But is it worth it? Everybody give me an amen. Amen. Galatians six, nine. Let us not grow weary of doing good for induced season. We will reap if we do not give up. Why were the Galatians weary of doing good? Because building the kingdom of Jesus in a fallen world, it's hard work, but is it worth it? Absolutely. To the Hebrews, in Hebrews ten six, for you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. Why are the Hebrews getting tired spiritually? Because building the kingdom of Jesus in a fallen world, it's really hard work, but it's worth it. Amen. So we have two choices all the time. Give up or press on. Open your bibles. Nehemiah, chapter two. And I want to set up the context of Nehemiah for you. As we talk about perseverance.
[00:10:21] Nehemiah has the privilege to go back to where his people are from, Israel, specifically the city of Jerusalem, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Now, what I want to do is I want to help you, bring you into the emotional context of what it would have been like for Nehemiah to go back to Jerusalem to build the walls. I want you to imagine with me, I want you to imagine that China invades the United States of America. Or if you want to fill it in with Russia, that's great, too. But I want you to imagine a world where they invade and they win, and they strip America of our wealth, and they take our young, our brightest, our best, and against their will, ship them across the world, rename them, give them new identities, and basically force them to learn a new language and a new culture or be killed. And I want you to imagine, as they leave the United States, they destroy every single aspect of our infrastructure. Water, sewage, power, satellites, gas, you name it. Every part of the infrastructure of our world is obliterated. Now, imagine 140 years pass. What do you think the state of America is going to be in that after 140 years?
[00:11:36] It's going to be devastation. And so I want you to imagine now that you are given the privilege to go back and to rebuild the capital city. And all you've ever heard are stories from your great grandparents about all the glory and the wealth and the prosperity of our nation. And you go back and you hear these stories, and you know it's destroyed. But in your brain, you're like, how bad could it actually be?
[00:12:07] And so you go back and you meet complete devastation.
[00:12:13] But is it worth it to rebuild your nation? And the answer is, yeah. And is it going to be an excruciating amount of work? You better believe it now, not just once, but over and over again. Nehemiah, he's going to be given a project by God to do, to rebuild the city and its walls. And do you know how many times these people are going to want to give up over and over and over again? Everything is against these people. Their own sin is against them. Foreigners are against them. The demonic realm is against them. Nobody except for God and the jewish people want this city to be rebuilt. And so we're going to do is we're going to look at in Nehemiah chapter two, the three main hurdles that stand between Nehemiah, the Israelites and persevering and actually winning at what God is calling them to do. Now, here's the first hurdle for perseverance. I call this losers.
[00:13:06] Now, I am not advocating that you go call people losers, but I think you'll understand what I mean here.
[00:13:13] There are people and there are forces who stand to lose big. If village church east wins at your mission.
[00:13:25] There are people and forces that if you make disciples, if people start meeting Jesus, if people's lives are transformed, there are people and forces who stand to lose big. And they don't want you to win because building a healthy, God glorifying, Christ centered church that opens up the word of God and deals with reality and culture and all the stuff that there are a lot of forces in this world that do not want village church east or the village church of Bartlett or any like minded church to thrive, let alone survive. There are people and forces. If they could snap their fingers and use their power and their leverage, they would make sure that this church and my church and every other like minded church never opens its doors again. And I call them losers. Now, why do I do this? Because they are going to lose. Now look at verse nine with me. Nehemiah. He arrives in Israel. It says this. Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river and gave them the king's letters. And so the king actually gave Nehemiah letters to say, go back to Jerusalem, rebuild the walls. This is my commission to you. Now, the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. So why might a king send Nehemiah back to Israel with a small army?
[00:14:45] Because what he's going back into is an incredibly dangerous place. And what he represented, Nehemiah represented was a threat to every governor in the region. He would represent a threat to their power. Now Nehemiah arrives, these governors are rebuilding. These governors are not happy about it. He comes with this job. And here's what they don't want under any circumstance. They do not want a strong jewish nation. Everybody in the region hates the Jews. They don't want this wall rebuilt. They want them subjugated, they want them devastated, they want them weak, they want them discouraged, they want them hopeless because they have heard the stories about Israel's glory. So these governors have power and they are not about to give this power up. Now, verse ten. These losers are named personally for all of history to take notice. You don't want to be these guys. By the way, verse ten. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the ammonite servant heard this, that Nehemiah was going to rebuild the walls, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. Remember, the Jews were hated by everybody. And if you are the governor or you're in power, the best jew is a dead jew. Or if you got to keep them alive, it is beaten down, discouraged and enslaved. So these losers, they show up all over the book. If you get bored in this sermon, pull out your digital Bible, go to your digital Bible app. Just type in Tobiah or sandballot and start reading. In Nehemiah, all the different times they come up, these guys are terrible. They are mean, they are evil, and they are always like a thorn and Nehemiah's side just constantly antagonizing him and discouraging him. And here's what it says in verse 19 when Sambalat the Hornite and Tobiah the ammonite, a servant. And then there's another guy, Gesham, he shows up, another loser, the Arab. Heard of it. They jeered at us and despised us and they said, what is this thing that you're doing? Are you rebelling against the king? Like, if you kind of read their despising attitude, like, they are not a fan of Nehemiah or any of the Jews. Sanbalat was a Samaritan, historical arch enemies of the Jews. Tobias was an Ammonite also long standing archenemy of the Jews. This guy Gesham shows up. He is an Arab, also enemy of the Jews. And these are the power brokers in the region. They hate the Jews and they are going to get in the way. Now, I want to share with you, it's a fun diagnostic that I call the three signs of a loser.
[00:17:33] If you're going to do something great, you will never be able to avoid losers. You will never be able to get away from them. They will kind of just creep up and be around you. And that is normal. You don't want to be this person amen. Amen. But a loser is three things. Number one, they are a discourager.
[00:17:52] They use their words to slow down your mission. And sometimes when you're around the discourager, what you feel like is, I don't really want to keep going.
[00:18:05] Actually, if I gave up now, it might be easier and I might be happier. And these people are just always like, yeah, but what if you didn't? Are you sure? That sounds really hard, but that's not how we used to do it. And so what you're going to find is that if you're going to ever do something really wonderful for the kingdom of God, the evil one will find a discourager to rise up and just to speak discouragement to your soul. It happens all the time. A loser is number two, a complainer. They can only see the problems they can't overcome. There's never a solution. They can't see any way out. And it's always, no, never, no, never. It cannot happen. And when you're part of something great, here's what you're going to run into insurmountable hills and mountains, and you're going to look at it and you're going to say, I have no idea how we're going to get around this thing. I don't have a clue how we're going to do it. But the Lord, when he is in it, he just shows up over and over and over again. And have you ever noticed he shows up at 11:59 p.m. At the very last second, right when you're like, I think I'm going to give up. And then he shows up. He's got a way of doing this. But the complainers, they're just always slowing down the mission and it's never going to work. And God will bring in complainers to kind of slow down this mission. Now, God will, the devil will. God will allow it. Number three, losers are trash talker. They can't see the best in others, but only the worst. They often use division and they're just gossiping and talking trash about people behind their back. And so for them to win, I want you to catch this, you need to lose.
[00:19:37] And if you win, they've structured their life so that they lose. And here's the deal.
[00:19:44] Losers feel threatened because they truly believe that if you win, they're going to lose. And I'll be honest, I don't want discouragers, complainers or trash talkers to win because those people are not about building the kingdom of Jesus. Those people are about building their own kingdom, and I want them to lose. I don't want to be about building my own kingdom if that's what I'm about.
[00:20:09] In my better moments right now, I hope I lose. What I want to be about is building the kingdom of Jesus. That is what I want. Now, I want to introduce you to an incredible kingdom principle that, guys, I just wish every christian in the world could get, believe, and embrace. And here it is in Jesus's kingdom. When one of us wins, we all win. Amen.
[00:20:35] We're not competing with other churches. We're not competing with nonprofits. And it's really easy. You can look at some people and you're like, how do they keep winning? And here's the deal. If they are building the kingdom of Jesus, every time someone wins, we win, because there's not different teams. There might be different local churches. That's the way God designed it. He decentralizes the body of Christ into every city and multiple in different cities all over the world. It's a genius strategy. But there is one team, and it is team Jesus.
[00:21:07] Verse 20. Now, in Nehemiah two, it brings us right into the mind of someone that perseveres. And I want you to listen carefully to what Nehemiah says to these losers. Verse 20. He says, then I replied to them, because they're all discouraging and saying terrible things.
[00:21:25] The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we, his servants, will arise and build.
[00:21:34] But you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem. And let me give you just two antidotes to losers. Number one, good theology.
[00:21:48] Here's what good theology says. If this vision is from God, nothing can stop it.
[00:21:56] God determines the winners and the losers. And here's how you can be a winner.
[00:22:02] Build Jesus's kingdom. Because guess who wins in the end? Jesus. And here's how you can be a loser. Build your own kingdom, because your kingdom will crumble in the end. It will only be the kingdom of Jesus that wins. And so if I'm about building the kingdom of Jesus, that's a vision that's from God, and nothing can stop it. But here's the second antidote. It's strong character. Strong character is convinced that I don't need to sin in order to win.
[00:22:34] I don't need to step down and become like the losers in order to win. And here's what I want. I want to win. But winning is not worth losing my integrity. Amen. And so when you're interfacing with losers, you're going to be tempted to act like them in return because they're not for you or for the kingdom of God. But here's the deal. Like, if this is from the Lord, they can try whatever they want. And what I have to do is be faithful. I have to have my integrity and my character, and the Lord will fight these battles. This is the story, by the way, of every church, all throughout history, everywhere. It's the same story over and over again. You have a group of people who want to build the kingdom of Jesus, and then you have the evil one who raises up losers to try to stop it because they want to build their own kingdom.
[00:23:21] And so you're in really, really good company. I can tell you this, that over the next seven years that if you are going to be committed to building the kingdom of Jesus, you are going to have to trust in the sovereignty of God with really good theology. And you're going to have to have your character and your integrity with you the entire time. As the world gets darker, right, as the world starts to glorify more and more evil, keeping your character as names are being called to you by people who are not believers out there, like holding your integrity and trusting in the sovereignty of God, it's going to be absolutely essential if you're going to be a church that perseveres for seven more years. All right, three hurdles to perseverance. Number two is unmet expectations.
[00:24:06] If I were to ask you, create a picture of VCE in seven years, where are you? What are you doing? What are you thinking about? Here's what I know.
[00:24:16] It's probably not going to look like whatever picture comes up in your brain. It's probably going to look really, really different. I can tell you, though, that God is going to superintend the next seven years in a way that brings him the most amount of glory and builds his kingdom. And there's always this kind of clash between my dream and what God wants. You guys ever noticed that? And I am a dreamer. I love vision. I think God births so many really cool things. When people pray about dream and vision, what's going to happen? I think God just uses those in incredible ways. But unmet expectations can deflate your soul so quickly.
[00:24:48] Here's something I'm expecting about Nehemiah.
[00:24:53] When he arrived to the land, I think Nehemiah had a pretty clear vision and expectation of what it was going to look like and how long it was going to take.
[00:25:05] If God is going to go through all of this supernatural, if he's going to watch God do all these supernatural things in the heart of the king and get him to be sent all the way back to Israel. All these big things have happened. Surely he's going to come back and it's going to be easy. But that is not what he found. And I want to share with you something I've learned about vision. Every time God has put something big on my heart, it has always been profoundly harder than I expected and took far, far longer than I anticipated.
[00:25:31] You guys ever noticed that? And that's life. Largely because I'm wrestling between my vision and God's vision. And sometimes my vision gets in the way of hearing what God's actually doing. Anybody else ever experienced that?
[00:25:45] But it's always harder than I anticipated, and it takes far, far longer than I anticipated. I've had a lot of grand visions in my life. I had a 19 year old. Michael had a really grand vision for my marriage. Books were going to be written about my marriage. My wife was going to write this incredible book. I'm positive about what sacrificial servant christlike marriage leadership is going to be. And my picture was going to be on the COVID It was going to be an incredible book because she was going to be in awe of the man that I would become. I mean, I knew it. And my kids, oh, I had grand vision for my children. They were going to be respectful and obedient, and they were going to write books. My kids be like, this is how you discipline children. And my kids were going to hear me and say, no, here's the discipline. And they're going to go, yes, father, you're so loving. A good father disciplines his children, and publicly they're going to be under control all the time. Like, I was going to be the greatest dad in the world.
[00:26:39] And then it didn't happen.
[00:26:41] My wife's not writing a book with me on the COVID about, I am the greatest example of christlike servant leadership. And honestly, I'm trying to figure out parenting like the rest of you guys. And every single year, I'm like, that just got more challenging and more interesting. And Pastor Craig, what did you do when that happened?
[00:26:59] None of them panned out like I thought they would. And with all great things, the Lord kind of has his own way of doing things in his own time. It doesn't mean we give up our dreams and our vision, but he kind of gets his way. And when he gets his way, I want to celebrate because his way is always better. I want you to look at verse eleven.
[00:27:19] I'm just confident that when Nehemiah saw the actual condition of the walls, he was probably overwhelmed by the magnitude of destruction. Verse eleven says, so I went to Jerusalem and I was there three days.
[00:27:32] Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. Verse 13, I went out by night by the valley gate to the dragon spring and to the dung gate and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its been destroyed by fire. And what you're going to find is that what Nehemiah is going to do, he's going to walk the perimeter of the city. He's going to start and he's going to end at the valley gate. In verse 14 he says, then I went on from the fountain gate to the king's pool. But there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. Why? Because it had collapsed. It was destroyed.
[00:28:15] And then in verse 15 he can't get through. So he actually has to leave the city limits and he has to go down into the Kidron valley. Verse 15 says, then I went up in the night by the valley because he couldn't get through and inspected the wall and I turned back and entered the valley gate again and so returned. Well, why did he have to turn back? Because he got into the valley and everything was so destroyed that he actually had to go back the way he came and then come back to the valley gate. And then verse 17, then I said to them, this is the people of Israel. You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies and ruins with its gates burned. And this is a moment where Nehemiah had the opportunity to give up. And instead he leans into the vision that God gave him. I don't know that he has a clear plan for exactly how this is going to go down because the devastation is absolutely more than he imagined. But what he does is he leans into this vision. Now, in 2015 we moved into a house in Bartlett.
[00:29:22] When we looked with our realtor. Our realtors are great friends. They love the Lord. You know, those people who kind of like when they tell you to really think about and consider something, you should listen to them. That's our realtors, Pat. And so I walked up to this house, I looked at it, I turned around and I walked back to the car because I thought it was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen.
[00:29:44] And Deanne says to me, just give it a shot. And I looked at her and said, I don't want to. It's ugly. I don't like it. I know this is not the house for me.
[00:29:55] We walk in, and it is disgusting. And I look around, and I said, this is going to take $100,000 and months to even make it livable. And she goes, there's just something about this place. And we go out into the backyard, and it's vile. Everything. Everything was broken.
[00:30:15] So we leave, and she says, just pray about it. Just pray about it. Right, Greg? Just pray about it.
[00:30:24] And one thing leads to another, a burden on my heart to rebuild this house, every valve, every sink, every. You name it, every piece of flooring. We had to rebuild all the flooring, the electrical outlets, everything. The electrical panel. Everything in this house needed to be stripped and taken out. And it wasn't 100,000, it was 150,000. And that's just to get it livable. And I didn't have the money, and so we had a limited amount of funds, and I burned through it in a month. And then I was like, I'm out of money, and I don't know what to do. And then our house flooded, and we got $25,000, and it got me through another month. And then we ran out of that money, and then we had another house flood, and it paid for all the rest. And I got to tell you, the amount of nights I went to bed and I said, God, all I've asked for is a house that I can raise my family in and love people. Well, I don't need it to be big. I don't need to be small. Whatever you want for me, that's all I want. And I'm just asking you to help me with this. And the amount of times I wanted to give up on that dumb house, it was so frustrating. At the same time, I have a different prayer to God. I'm saying, God, I've got these three little kids. I would like to send them to private christian school, but I can't afford it. And so I said, God, could you help us find a way to make money for that? That doesn't actually require us to work a lot, because we already have jobs, but we can't afford private christian school. Well, at the end of this summer, after all the construction is done, I have $3,500 left. And I don't know what it was about this money, but it was like, this is not your money.
[00:32:02] Something has to be done with this. So I prayed. I'm like, God, what are you going to do with this? And I couldn't even believe we moved into the house. And then someone calls and says, do you want to buy a flower shop? And do you know how much the cost of the flower shop was $3,500. And it came with an employee, and it paid for a decade of my kids to go to school. And if I had given up on the front end of this project, if I just said, I'm done with this, this is too much. The amount of heartache, frustration, challenges, overcoming discouragement, complainers, trash talkers, and more that gotten, like, I should have given up 100 times. But just by sheerly persevering. The Lord had so many wonderful gifts along the way, relationships that I never would have had if I had given up a provision of a home where we get to bless people. And also the opportunity, he just doubled it up. And he's like, and out of this, I'm going to give you the funds that you need to buy a flower shop so that you can pay for your kids to go to private education. All of this because I didn't listen to the losers and because I didn't give up. None of my expectations were met. Do you know what my expectation was when I got a house? It's going to be just right. It's going to be living ready. It's going to be perfect. It's not going to require any work. And that was not what the Lord had in mind for my family. Three months of labor and work and heartache. I've just learned there are so many opportunities to give up, and sometimes things are so insurmountable and they are so difficult. And I've just learned, if it is from the Lord, if it is from the Lord, it is worth the heartache and the hardship to persevere.
[00:33:29] You are going to have, by the way, unmet expectations.
[00:33:33] Amen. Especially when it comes to your local church, especially when it comes to the future. But if you are partnering with Jesus, working through all of your unmet expectations is 100% worth it. Look at verse 16.
[00:33:51] Sorry. The third hurdle to perseverance is emotional exhaustion.
[00:33:55] When Nehemiah saw these people, he did not see visionaries. These people were discouraged. They were broken, they were humiliated.
[00:34:03] Verse 16 says, the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. Isn't that funny? Like, he looks at all these people and he's like, you have no idea what God has for you. And I can tell you, there are people that I meet, and I'm like, you have no idea. God is going to ask you to do something really great. It's going to be awesome. And I pray that you rise to this because you meet somebody and you're like, wow, I think the Lord wants you to be a part of building his kingdom. And Nehemiah looks at these people and they're discouraged. They have no category for how God is going to use them. Verse 17, he says, I said to them, do you see the trouble we're in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned? Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.
[00:34:56] Sometimes building the kingdom of God, it is tiring. Sometimes you're exhausted. Sometimes you need a break.
[00:35:05] There are some things that are worth being a little bit tired for.
[00:35:09] I have never, ever been a part of or built or done anything that I would look back and say, I'm proud of that. That was not an excruciating amount of work. And as I look back, some of that exhaustion that just goes with the territory of building the kingdom of Jesus in a fallen world. But is it worth it?
[00:35:27] Yes. Now you need to figure out wisdom. What does it look like for your life? I'm not saying sacrifice your marriage, sacrifice your children. That's not what I'm saying. But sometimes as christians, we can be like, it's too hard. Christians do hard things. This is what we do. And if you are building the kingdom of Jesus wisely, there are going to be seasons where it's going to be really exhausting. And I just want to tell you, that's okay. Those seasons do come to an end and refreshment happens. All right, so in honor of your sevens, I have three so whats, and I did not preach a sermon on sevens, but all my so whats are seven words. And so that is how I integrated this. So number one, this is easy. Ignore losers. They're going nowhere fast.
[00:36:12] They're going to show up, they're going to discourage you. They're going to complain. They're going to trash talk. It's okay. The Lord is your defender. Now. Is that seven words? 123-4567 Brent, seven words. Number two, he told me he was going to rebuke me if they weren't seven words. So. All right, be flexible.
[00:36:34] God's vision will become manifest. This word, manifest, it's actually one of my favorite words because it's this idea that it slowly becomes visible. It's like somebody emerging from a cloud. And you're like, who is that? What's going on? And as they get closer and closer, you begin to see it. And God's vision is often manifest slowly. And then before you know it, you're in it. And then you're moving to a new vision. I want to share with you one of my favorite illustrations that a pastor gave to me. His name's Tim Andrews. He's passed away since. But we were on a mission trip with him in New Mexico, and Tim Andrews got all this team together because we were going to lead a vbs with a ton of navajo kids. And it was our first day, and he gives all of us a packet of jello, and we're like, jello? And he looks at us and he says, here's my challenge for this week, be jello. And we were like, we don't get it. He goes, what is unique about Jello?
[00:37:33] It fits whatever mold the maker puts it in. And you can't choose the mold if you're Jell O. But whatever it is, we're going to flex and we're gonna follow, and we're gonna follow and fill whatever mold the Lord has for us in this next season. I am so excited about what God is doing at village church east, but I'm not a prophet and I don't know the mold, but I do know this. Whatever mold he has, our job is to be jello. In this next season, we are going to flex and we are going to fit and be whoever he wants us to be as a local church. If he miraculously brings forth a building, praise God. If you're here in seven more years and that's the mold, praise God, right?
[00:38:14] Whatever he gives us, we're going to bring him glory, and we are going to be flexible because being a kingdom builder requires a ton of flexibility. Amen, Craig.
[00:38:24] And number three, is that seven words? 1234. So far, we're good. Jump in. God is doing something really incredible. I want you to look at verse 18.
[00:38:34] Nehemiah says, I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good and also of the words that the king had spoken to me.
[00:38:45] And then here's how the people responded. They said, let us rise up and build.
[00:38:53] So they strengthened their hands for the good work. And what I love is that these men and women had a vision that they knew was from God. It was going to be a ton of work, but they came together. And I want to show you as we close here something incredible. And so smart that Nehemiah did to mobilize the people.
[00:39:15] He organized all of the people by groups, locations and families. In chapter three, actually, it's a really striking chapter. I'm going to fly through this section here. But chapter three actually tells you all the breakdown of the workers. And so I've got eleven different kinds of workers I'm going to read for you. And they all have names. So number one, be in Eliashib. You don't know who that is and you'll never remember that name. But here's what he did. He was a spiritual leader and he got his hands dirty. Here's what Nehemiah three one says. Then Eliashib, the high priest, he rose up with his brothers, the priests, and they built the sheep gate, which is right near the temple. They consecrated it, set its doors. They consecrated as far as the tower of the hundred and as far as the tower of Hannah. I mean, this is very detailed stuff. But here you have a spiritual leader and this guy leads by example. He gets his other spiritual leaders together and says, we're going to lead the way and do this. Number two, be a Raphael.
[00:40:12] Raphael was a really important person in the community and here's what it says. Raphael, the son of her, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem. He repaired a whole section. In verse twelve. You have Shalom. He also was a ruler of half the district. He got his hands wet. Like, if you're somebody who has influence, get your hands dirty and start mobilizing the people around you. You might have influence in the city of Carroll stream or wherever you live. Use it for good for the building of God's kingdom. Number three, be a shalom. Do ministry with your kids. I love this next to him, Shalom. Ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired he and his daughters. And I love that. Nehemiah is like, this wasn't just a dude. This is a guy who got his sons and his daughters together and was like, this is going to be a family affair. Number four, be a Jericho. Sometimes ministry in your local church. It requires you to pay for your own gas. So these are people who actually traveled from long distances. They came from Jericho, they came from Tacoia, Gibion, Mizpa, Zenoa. Here's what you find living 20 minutes away from the church. It wasn't an excuse. And they had to pay for their own labor to get to the ministry. Be a Jedih.
[00:41:29] This is a guy, I love him. He just builds wherever it makes sense. He builds right by his house. You see this, that next to them, Jedidiah, he repaired opposite his house, and he was an example to a whole bunch of others. Benjamin, he repaired opposite of his house, Azariah. And so what they did is they actually found the ministry that was right in front of their face, right where they lived. And they made a huge difference for the project, for doing something great right where they lived. It was amazing.
[00:41:56] Be a tekoite. Some people are called to go above and beyond. This is. I love this. In 327, after him, the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great project. And what they did is they kept doing more and more. And there are some of you where, like, God is going to ask you to do more than others, and that's okay. And if you have the energy and you have the time and you have the resources, I praise God for you. That is amazing. Number seven, be a goldsmith.
[00:42:23] Sometimes ministry means you're taking time off work. And so what these people actually did is they took time off of work and they devoted their time to building the wall. Be a benoi. This is number eight. Sometimes you have to serve in the place of people who won't. Here's what it says.
[00:42:41] After him, Benawai repaired another section from the house of Azariah to the buttress. So, Hannah, he doesn't just build his section, and we don't know why he had to keep going, but he had to go now build in front of other people's houses. They could have been disabled, they could have been rebellious. We don't know. But he looked at that and he said, that wall is not getting done. I've already done my wall. Now I got to go do yours. And I'm going to do it because the mission is worth it. The Tekwites come again. I would say be a tech white again. Sometimes ministry means you're not popular with people that matter. And so it says the Tekwites they repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their lord, and they had a bad reputation. Here's another one. Be a melkaijah. Someone has to repair the dungate, guys. Someone's got to do it. And I love this. It's like they go right in and it's, we're gonna, we're gonna repair. And he was one of the rulers. That's what's interesting. He was one of the most powerful and he did the dirtiest work. And finally, just be a nehemiah. Celebrate the wins of those in your life who are doing great things. Nehemiah is recording all of this, and he is just saying, good job, good job, good job. He's not a discourager or a complainer. He's a champion. And when you see people building the kingdom of God, champion it. Call it out. Encourage them. Now, my time is up, but Vilshra chief, I am so excited about what God is doing in here, and I want to just encourage you. Jump in. You are building the kingdom of God in this space at this time, and it is going to be one of the greatest investments you will ever make. I don't know what God is asking you to do, but I can tell you that it is worth it. I also want to just share with you that maybe you're here and you have never trusted in Christ before. You jump in and do all this kingdom building work, make sure that your soul is a part of the kingdom of God. And the way we do this is that we all, being sinners, have to come before God. Tell him we are sorry and ask him to forgive us. And maybe you are here and you have never come to God and said, I am a sinner. And I believe that Jesus died for my sins and was raised from the dead. God, will you forgive me and will you save me? And if you have never done that, I want to encourage you right now, today. You can do that anytime, but today is absolutely the best day. I don't want to build a kingdom that when I die, I don't get to be a part of forever. And if you want to be a part of the kingdom of God forever, the winning team, you have to start with trusting in Christ. Personally. It doesn't count if your mom did it. It doesn't count if your husband did it or your wife did it or your great grandma did it. Every person individually has to come to this conclusion. I am a sinner, Jesus, I am sorry I've sinned against you. Will you save me? And if that is a decision you want to make today, I just want to encourage you. Tell somebody you came with. Come talk to Pastor Craig, somebody. We would love to just champion you and encourage you as you figure out what does it mean to follow Jesus and to build his kingdom. Amen. Village east. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we love you. We're so thankful. Thankful for your word, thankful for encouragement. Thankful that throughout all of history, everybody who has done something great and built your kingdom has had the same temptation to give up. May we be those who persevere. May we be those who endure. May we be those who are like Christ and God. I pray that whatever the next step is for each man, woman, student, and child who is listening. God, would you, with clarity, show them what it is you want so they can follow your will and be about your vision of building Jesus'kingdom? We pray all of this and so much more, and we do it in Jesus name. Amen.
