WEBVTT 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:11.359 It has been a fast three years, somebody. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.240 How many of y'all know time flies? 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:23.920 So thankful for what God is doing in the life of our church, three years old, to see all the things that He's done so far. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:29.519 Just this year alone, we've baptized 186 people this year. 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:31.920 I love it. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:40.000 I love that, I love that that is just one year, that in the life of our church over three years, we've baptized over 450 people. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:45.039 And every time we baptize someone, it is a sign on the outside. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:50.479 It is a picture of the kingdom of God coming alive right here among us. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:54.320 And I'm just so encouraged by what he's doing. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:01:02.719 And I've titled this morning's message, if you're ready for it, see it, own it, and build it. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.519 You're like, that's not a title, those are your three points. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:06.480 You're right. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:09.680 See it, own it, and build it. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:18.400 For those of you who were here a little over a year ago, you know that in the life of the church, the church has doubled in the last 365 days. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:24.560 And you know that because the wall 365 days ago was right here, and all y'all got left behind. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:29.920 But I'm so thankful for what it raise your hand if you're new to the church in the last year. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:31.200 Come on, give it up for him. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:31.920 Raise it high. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:32.400 Let's go. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:33.280 Come on. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:41.280 Seeing what God can do and um just watching him move in our midst is exciting. 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:42.640 It's encouraging today. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:52.239 My heart is this it's a little bit of a vision Sunday and a little bit of a message, and I'm gonna do my best to combine them together because how many of y'all know I can't just give vision? 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:59.599 I mean, we could stand up here all day and talk about what would happen in five years, but if we would have gone back three years ago and I had done that, none of that would have happened. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:03.840 We would be where we are today because of where the Lord wanted to take us today. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:20.240 So my heart and my hope for today is that as we talk about the vision in the life of our church, that you would know this, it actually has nothing to do with the church as a building, the church as an organization, and everything to do with what I believe God wants to do inside of you. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:26.719 It's not just vision for a gathering, it's a vision for your life and for your heart. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:33.199 As we celebrate these things, it they're just testimonies of what God can do in such little time. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:46.479 In our three years as a church, we've already given over$200,000 away just to church planners, just to people just like we were three years ago, who said, Hey, I have a vision and a dream in my heart. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:53.919 I believe God wants to lead a new church in a place, and we've been able to come behind a church planning organization. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:03:02.080 You know, we've had four or five church planners come in, but to see what God can do, not just in our place, but in other places. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.000 That's what that's what excites me. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:10.800 As we celebrate these moments this morning, though, I want to encourage us with something more than just a moment. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:14.319 Who's thankful for a few moments you've had in your life? 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:19.360 I'm thankful for the moment I had my kids, I'm thankful for the moment I got saved. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:29.360 I'm thankful for the moments, but our heartbeat behind today's vision talk is this that this wouldn't just be a moment, it would be a movement. 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:50.800 That this wouldn't just last right here for us, but that actually a next generation church is a church where it's not just the kids that are in the room today, it's the people who will come after us that because of your faithfulness and your giving and your serving and your investing and launching this church, we believe God is going to do things for generations to come. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:58.479 And as we celebrate that, my heartbeat and my hope is we would understand a little bit of how God has worked among his people. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:08.800 I've been telling our team lately that when you look back to the Old Testament, you had the Hebrew people, God's chosen people, and they were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.759 How many of y'all have ever been a hard place in your life before? 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:16.319 And I don't even have to tell you today the kind of prayers you pray when you're in a hard place. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.040 And in that hard place, here's what they're praying for. 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:20.959 They're praying for a moment. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:22.639 God, would you deliver us? 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:24.240 God, would you rescue us? 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:29.519 God, would you take us out of this place and put us in our next place? 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.079 And they began to pray for that, and so here's what God did. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:38.000 God supernaturally, through Moses, delivered them out of slavery and brought them up to the Red Sea. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:43.759 And every time they got to the next thing, they began to wonder how they were gonna make it out of that place. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:52.959 And as they're staring at the Red Sea, we know that Moses puts his staff out in the water and the Red Sea parts and they cross through on dry land walking. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:54.079 What's up, Nemo? 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:55.279 How are you doing? 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:00.240 And the waters fold up over the Egyptian armies. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:05.680 That if God did something back then, it must be because he wants to do something right now. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:11.439 And if God's doing something right now, it must be because he wants to do something tomorrow. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:19.519 That God didn't just deliver them out of Egypt so that they could stand on the banks of the shore of the Red Sea and their life be taken from them. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:27.279 If God did a supernatural move in their life then, it's because he wants to do a supernatural move in their life now. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.279 They get through the Red Sea and they wander around in the wilderness. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:37.040 And they're wandering, and as they're wandering, there was no Chick-fil-A, there was no Texas Roadhouse, bless God. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:41.680 They needed a manna from heaven of their own. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:47.040 God didn't part the Red Sea so that they could die of hunger in the wilderness, did he? 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:50.879 He brought them out into the wilderness because he was up to something. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:53.040 He was doing something in there. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:06:00.639 And so, how many of you know all of these moments started to grow into a movement? 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:05.759 They got through the wilderness and God didn't bring them to the wilderness so they could die of hunger. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:06.560 So, what did he do? 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:08.480 He took them into the promised land. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.560 The place that he had promised their people long ago. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:14.800 That God is faithful to complete it. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:16.800 So he's bringing them into a place. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:21.600 But how many of you know just because it looks good doesn't mean there's not still hard days ahead. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:25.519 Just because there's a promise didn't mean they didn't have a battle to fight. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:32.560 And so when they showed up in the promised land and there's giants in the land, they start to ask themselves a question: Is this it? 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:34.240 Is this the end of the road? 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:37.759 Did he bring us out here all of this way just to die? 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:39.839 And the answer was no. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:45.680 That if God did all that he did before, then what must he do today? 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.560 What can he do tomorrow? 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:59.040 I want to paint this picture for you because it's this idea that with a supernatural moment, you have an opportunity to give birth to something more. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:04.639 With a supernatural moment with God in your life, it always has the potential. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:09.680 It's pregnant with the opportunity for God to do immeasurably more. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:14.560 As I prayed this week over the life of our church, that's exactly how I feel. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:20.399 I feel like we are a church, a group of people, the Hebrew people, God's chosen people. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:25.600 And we've come to the place where we're saying, God, you did this, what's next? 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:28.639 God, you did that, now what's next? 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:40.480 It's the idea that God works in moments, but he also has this opportunity before us to do something that lasts, to do something that makes a difference and an impact. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:44.000 Listen, how many of y'all know I married out of my league? 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:46.720 Put your hand down. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:55.519 I remember for a long time after I got married that I would tell people, I got married. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:58.319 You know, like, and I would celebrate. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:07:59.360 What was I celebrating? 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:06.399 I was celebrating the fact that I just pulled the biggest prank or biggest one over on her that she had no idea what she was getting, you know? 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:10.160 I'm I'm celebrating the fact that we had a very special moment. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:14.000 I would tell people there was all this amazing food we paid all this money for. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:15.680 I didn't even get to eat it. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:17.199 But I was there. 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:20.480 I I I was recalling a moment. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:27.920 And I was thinking this week because we've been married almost 15 years this year, and and I'm as I'm recalling it, I realized something. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:31.680 I no longer tell people about my wedding day. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:42.720 Somewhere along the way, I stopped talking about my wedding day as a day that I got married, and I started telling people the story of we're still married. 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.799 I stopped celebrating the moment. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:47.600 Why? 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:54.080 Because it was never designed to be a moment that we spent all of our money and and performed our vows. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:59.279 It was never designed to be a moment, it was designed to be a life. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:05.039 It was never designed to be a moment, it was designed to do something more. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:09.679 And as we go as a church, I think that's exactly the place that we are. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.519 At three years old, the Lord is not just saying, Look what I've done. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.080 The Lord is saying, look what I'm getting ready to do. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.759 That if God can do this in three years, what's he gonna do in 30? 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:26.559 That if God can do this in a short amount of time, what are the things that he has next? 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:31.519 Now I know every good vision talk comes with a bow and a good sermon illustration. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:33.200 I don't have any of those for you today. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:38.720 I don't have five points about all the things we're gonna do in the next five years because here's what I really believe. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:48.960 I believe that the greatest key to our moving from a moment to a movement is the very thing that it took to get from steps one to step two, and that is this. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:53.039 Are we listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit? 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:56.080 Are we following the Lord? 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:02.799 I'm going to be thankful for what he has already done, but I'm not going to build a platform around it. 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:13.440 And we're not gonna stand there and say, look, this is amazing, us four and no more, because here's what I believe: that if God was doing something, he was setting us up for something more. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:17.039 And if that's true of us as a church, here's what I want you to know today. 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:18.799 That's true of you in your life. 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:26.720 That if God brought you in, if God saved you, if God healed you or restored you, I love how many of y'all love their testimony videos. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.960 You're like, I didn't stand in front of the camera, it's scary. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:30.799 I know these people are crazy, you know? 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:35.120 Here's what I believe: that every one of them has a story. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:37.759 And that story is not the end. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:42.799 That that story is not the finish line of just look what God has done for me back then. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:45.679 Here's what we choose to believe as the people of God. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:48.559 That if he did it yesterday, he can do it today. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:52.000 That if he walked with me then, he can walk with me now. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:55.440 And how many of you know that's the hard part about following Jesus? 00:10:55.679 --> 00:11:00.159 Is it not just a moment in time, it's an everyday decision and choice. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:06.159 Jesus, I chose you yesterday because you chose me first, and today I'm gonna choose to follow you again. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:09.919 And tomorrow I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna go at it again. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:15.120 But if you're anything like me, you get to these moments and time in your life where you can't see it. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:16.960 You can't see the picture. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:22.960 You get to these moments and times where you're like, I don't know if I can be all in because this is harder than what it looked like. 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:31.919 I've been telling people, they've been asking about uh the art church in Magnolia, some pastor friends, and and I tell them what God is doing, that it's the Magnolia miracle. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:38.720 Because listen, most people in in when they start a church, the first three years, they lose all their hair. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:42.559 I had a benefit. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:44.320 I had already lost mine. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:12:00.559 Most people that tell you that starting a church is so much work, and I'll sit around the circle and I listen to their testimony, and here's what I'll I uh my heart is just bleeding over to say, yeah, and it's so much fun. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.879 Because this story and this testimony is full of fun. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:05.440 Why? 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:11.120 Because God's the one writing it, because there is a story to be told. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:15.200 And so this morning I want to ask you, do you see it? 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:19.360 And and I'm going back to how we started the church. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:30.080 In fact, this is a message, I don't repackage my message, but there is multiple parts of this message that we preached on August 20th, 2023, on our very first Sunday. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.879 And if it was true then, it's true now. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:40.960 Uh my kids brought this to me this week uh because uh their memory verse this week came out of Nehemiah chapter 4, verse 11. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:42.720 You want to hear their memory verse? 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:44.240 Okay, I'm gonna give it to you. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:44.799 You ready? 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:45.360 Okay. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:47.360 I'm gonna do the actions too, okay? 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:48.320 I get real nervous now. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:50.960 I preach all the time, but this makes me nervous, okay? 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:57.759 Those who carry the load put their weapon in one hand and a tool in the other. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:00.000 You like my little action to remember it? 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.399 Those who carry my kids are going around the house. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:04.559 My son takes it to a whole nother level. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:05.519 He's five. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:06.639 He says, Dad, wait. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:07.279 I said, Why? 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.360 He said, I gotta get my sword. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:15.440 All week long, my son has been reminding me what God has been trying to tell me all along. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:21.679 And he runs to his room and he runs around the house like he's slaying dragons with his sword. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:27.039 And every night as we're having this battle, here's what the Lord is impressing on my heart. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.440 Clayton, don't put the sword down. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:33.360 Clayton, don't put the tools in your hand down. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:41.679 Because when you partner with the Lord with a tool in one hand and a sword in the other, wherever he's going, you're going. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:45.919 I want to tell you that Nehemiah was how we started the church. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:47.679 And Nehemiah's story is this. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:51.440 In 586 BC, Babylonians took over. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:57.600 They destroyed the temple, they destroyed the walls of Jerusalem, they took the people of God into exile. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:01.679 Now, how many of y'all would wake up that day and think, this isn't what I had planned? 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:04.480 This isn't what I had going for myself. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:14.320 And for 40 years they're in exile until somebody bigger and badder comes and takes over Babylon and they get permission to go back and to begin rebuilding the temple. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:16.879 And 40 years later, they rebuild the temple. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:23.200 Now, how many of you know three years is a short amount of time because it took them 22 years to rebuild the temple. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:23.919 Why? 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:29.279 Because they're using the sword in their hands and the tools in their hands and they're rebuilding and they're rebuilding. 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:34.240 Nehemiah steps on the scene another 70 years later. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.600 We're talking about a period of time of about 130 years. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.919 Now, I don't know how many of y'all plan on living until you're 100, but this is a long time. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:44.399 And in this story, here's what's happening. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:47.039 They rebuilt the temple, but they never rebuilt the walls. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:52.559 And Nehemiah steps on the scene and he looks at the picture and he says, There's work to be done. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:01.919 He celebrates the fact that there is a temple, but he he is grieved by the fact that the walls are still laying on the ground. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:06.399 And what I love about that story is the Lord was reminding me this week the life of our church. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:09.679 We're in the same boat, we're wearing the same shoes. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.600 And that is this that there is still work to be done. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:19.759 That when we think about what God has done, we celebrate what he has done, but we look forward to what he is doing. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:24.240 And the way that we do that is we take the heart and the posture of Nehemiah. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:28.559 Nehemiah could see things that nobody else was seeing. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:30.399 How do I know that? 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.799 Because the walls had laid on the ground for 130 years. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:40.879 And yet it was Nehemiah that had a heart to say, God is birthing something in me. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:45.840 I see something that my neighbors aren't seeing, and I'm gonna do something about it. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:50.320 And in Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 3, we read our scripture for today. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:51.759 It says this. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.200 Nehemiah's heart begins to break for this. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:41.200 And verse 4, he says, As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and I wept and I mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:43.919 What's happening to Nehemiah in this moment? 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:48.480 His heart is becoming burdened for the things that burden God's heart. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:54.799 When he looks and he sees the condition and the disrepair, his heart says, That's not right. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:58.960 In other words, he wasn't just looking with his eyes like everybody else. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:05.440 Something inside, he had what I had a pastor tell me when I was 15 years old, is called a holy discontent. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:07.279 Write it down, a holy discontent. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:12.480 My question this morning is this if we're gonna get to where we're going, then it starts with a holy discontent. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:15.759 At 15 years old, I remember a pastor telling it to me like this. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.119 He said, Nehemiah had a holy discontent. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:24.079 In other words, when he saw what he saw, something in his spirit was not right. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:26.240 His spirit said, That's not okay. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.319 This isn't going to work. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:31.039 It's a holy discontent is this idea. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:35.039 It's that what frustrates heaven starts to frustrate you. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:43.440 It's the idea that when you wake up in your home and there's a lack of peace, you say, something about this isn't right. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:45.680 This is not the way heaven intended. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:51.680 And so something inside of your heart as a mom and a dad says, peace has to come to our home again. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:55.039 There's a holy discontent birthing inside of you. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:59.839 It's the idea that when you get in a fight with your spouse and there's disunity. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:12.000 It's not that you just know that it's wrong, and it's not just that that's not what you wanted to do or how you wanted to say it, it's that there's something deep in your spirit that knows this is not the way God intended for me to live. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:19.039 It's the hunger inside of us that says at times in our life there has to be more to the life that I'm living. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:29.279 There's this holy discontent, and when I was 15 years old, I'll never forget it because the message that I heard when I was 15 is the reason that our church of Magnolia is right here, right now today. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:37.599 Because I remember him talking about a holy discontent and God dropping a seed in my heart that says, It's not okay for people not to know me. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:42.319 It's not okay for people to walk around and live a life of bondage. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.759 The Lord says, I have more. 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:44.319 What is it? 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:46.480 It's a holy discontent that begins to grow. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:50.559 And he said it reminded him of Popeye, not the chicken. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:52.000 The sailor man. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:52.880 You remember him? 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:55.200 I'll never forget him. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:59.359 He said, Popeye would get to this place where is it Bruto? 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:02.000 Is Bruto picking on olive oil, right? 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:08.000 And you remember the story, and you remember all these altercations and things that they would get in, and what would Popeye say? 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.319 He'd say, I just can't stand no more. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:19.039 It's the idea that something inside of him is saying, I'm not okay with the way that things are. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.599 I want to tell you the life of our church, listen, we're building something right now. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:28.640 The Lord is building something in our midst, and it starts with what you see. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:30.319 Well, preacher, that's your job. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:32.400 Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, it's not. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:34.799 Well, preacher, you're here to do the ministry. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:36.640 Nope, nope, nope, nope, I'm not. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:45.839 It starts with what the Lord says when the people gathered together get a heart for the things that break God's heart, here's what begins to happen. 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.160 Something can be built on the other side. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:50.559 And Nehemiah had a holy discontent. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:53.599 I see what I see, and I'm not okay with the way that it is. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:58.240 So Nehemiah says, I'm going to do something about it. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.640 So, what does he tell the people around him? 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:07.920 He says, Pick up a sword in one hand to fight off anyone who would come against us and put a tool in your other hand. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:08.400 Why? 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:10.880 Because there's still work to be done. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:14.720 The question today is this What is the picture that you see? 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:17.599 What is the picture that you see? 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:26.319 As I think about this, I'm reminded I went to uh I made the one of the worst decisions of my life one day when I went to IKEA. 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:28.400 If you know, you know. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:29.200 Amen. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:33.839 My wife and I for a while had been um working on our closet. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:35.839 We didn't have many organization things in our closet. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:37.200 It was starting to get out of control. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.440 And and so we had been looking, but I'm cheap. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:40.319 How many of y'all like it? 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:40.720 Amen. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:41.680 Come on, let's go. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:44.799 And uh and I said, Look, this is our closet. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.319 We don't need to buy a nice dresser, nobody's gonna see it but us. 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.160 And she said, Fine, we'll go to IKEA. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:57.599 And so we went for IKEA for a day because we had nothing better to do, and 12 hours later, I came out with two dressers. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:04.960 Now they don't tell you this when you're buying it, but you get to the end and you realize the package you chose comes in 5,000 boxes. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:22.799 We loaded up those boxes in the back of our car and we get home and we we take it out and we set it in our living room, and and as we set it in our living room, we go and and and I opened it up and I grabbed the instructions and I said, Not today. 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:26.880 I left the box right in the middle of the living room floor. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.440 I walk into my bedroom and get in bed. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:32.000 My wife comes over and says, What are you doing? 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:34.000 I thought we were gonna build it and do it all tonight. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.519 I said, Baby, I still want to be a Christian by the end of the night. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:42.720 The next day I get up and I go to the living room and it's still there. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:50.400 I open it up a little bit more, pull out a few more pieces, realize there's no way in the world this thing will ever do what the instruction says it will do. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:56.000 So I leave it there for a day, and my strategy is this I wonder if she'll say anything about it. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.759 The next day I come by and she hasn't said anything about it. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.319 So I took that box, I taped it up, and I put it right back in her car where it belonged. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.000 And it went straight back to IKEA, and we got our$40 back. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:08.400 You know? 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:09.920 You know what I'm saying? 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:12.240 What's the deal? 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:17.440 Well, the deal is there's a picture on the box, but it didn't look anything like the picture. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:19.440 What's the deal? 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:24.480 I wasn't gonna own the responsibility to put that thing together. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:25.759 What's the deal? 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:28.480 The deal was I wasn't willing to build it. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:31.519 And so it went right back to the place in which it came. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:33.759 Here's my burden for us as a church. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:37.119 I don't want to be a church that can't see the picture on the box. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:44.319 I don't want to be the church that when you open up the instructions and don't understand, says, well, let's just tape it all back up and send it right back to heaven. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:46.400 Maybe he'll send someone else. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:55.680 See, I want to be the kind of church that says, if this is the job that the Lord has laid before us, then we will see it, we will own it, and we will build it. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:23:02.000 If that's not at the heart of who we are as individuals first, then we will never be that as a church. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:06.559 We can stand up as a church, we can put whatever value we want to on the wall. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:09.440 We can put whatever we want on our website. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:22.640 But if it's not in the fibers of who we are to be a church that says, God, I see what you see, I'll own the things you tell me to own, and I'll build what you tell me to build, then we'll never get to the place that the Lord has destined for us. 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:25.039 As a church, that's where we start. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:28.319 So my question is, what picture do you see? 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:32.799 Because the Lord has given us as a church a holy discontent. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.599 I know I look nothing like Popeye. 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:38.000 But I know this. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:39.839 I don't need spinach. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:41.119 You know what I mean? 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:46.880 I need a vision from the Lord about how he sees things. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:51.039 And I know that it is not just a phrase on the wall, it's a scripture. 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:52.960 Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7. 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:57.920 By faith, Noah built an ark for the saving of his household. 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:02.400 In other words, Noah could begin to see what God was seeing. 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:03.039 How? 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:04.400 Because God told him. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:07.839 It's not because he was smart, it's not because he came up with it on his own. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:16.079 But listen, Noah was living in a day and age where everybody was doing everything but following God, and Noah said, I'm gonna be different. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:25.519 Noah followed the Lord, and the Lord spoke to him, and the Lord gave him an assignment, something to own, something to see that nobody else could see. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:33.440 Can you imagine with me for just one moment the people that are ridiculing Noah as he's building a boat in a place where there is no water? 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:47.200 Can you imagine with me for just one moment the conversations that he had, but yet he had the determination and the strength and the power of the Lord to say, I don't care if you don't see it because I see it. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:51.200 I don't care if you're not gonna own it because I'm gonna own it. 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:52.880 The Lord has given it to me. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:54.000 And what did he do? 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:56.960 He built a boat that saved his household. 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:06.319 The holy discontent of the church is this that God is as much in the business of saving souls today as he was the day Jesus crawled up on the cross. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:12.720 And our heart and our passion and our burden as a church is we won't stop until the boat is built. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:16.000 We won't stop until Jesus comes back. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:18.559 There's a holy discontent in there. 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:26.000 And before you think it's just about people raising their hand and saying yes in a service, I want to tell you it's not about a moment, it's about a movement. 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:27.440 So what does that mean? 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:30.079 That means salvation looks a lot of different ways. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:35.839 That means that God doesn't just about the only thing that he's about is about you going to heaven. 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:37.759 He's also about your life right here, right now. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:39.039 He cares about you. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:41.920 Which means he wants the salvation of your home. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:48.559 There's a peace in your home and marriages restored, and he wants you to have confidence in your walk with the Lord. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:51.440 He he wants to make you whole. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:53.920 And that's the holy discontent of our church. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:57.279 That we want to help you build a stronger faith, a stronger family. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:02.559 We want you to have stronger friendships of people who love God and can encourage you and support you. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:07.519 And ultimately, here's what we believe: that just like Noah, God is doing something more than we can see. 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:09.599 We're building a stronger future together. 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:16.160 And as we do that, here's the reality of this: that other people get on the boat with us. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:19.039 We do a grocery giveaway every month. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:21.440 Bless people in the community with groceries. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:21.759 Why? 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:25.680 Because we believe they don't really care about how much you know until they know about how much you care. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:29.440 And our heart is to be here as a blessing to people in our community. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:34.799 That it's not just about packing sardines in the middle of these walls, it's about taking it out there. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:36.319 And so, what do we do as a church? 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:37.279 We give away groceries. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:37.680 Why? 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:43.680 Because we believe it's the love of Jesus meeting people in the meat of one of their greatest needs. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:48.240 And a couple began coming to church from grocery giveaway. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:53.359 And last Sunday I stood up here and said, I talked about getting your life right with God. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:58.319 And they came down front at the end and they tapped me on the shoulder and they said, We're ready. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.319 And I said, Ready for what? 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:02.079 They said, We're ready. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:07.359 They said, We've been living together for 20 years, and the Lord has laid it on our heart in the middle of your message. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:10.000 I squeezed her hand and I let her know, now is the time. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:11.440 We're gonna make it right with God. 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:15.599 And right here, while y'all were scurrying on out to your car, they're getting married. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.759 On the spot. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:20.160 No wedding planner. 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:23.599 It's great, and it's free. 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:27.359 And I can do as many as you want right here after service. 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:30.799 Because here's what we're celebrating. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:34.319 In their heart, they knew what the Lord was asking them to do. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:36.799 They could see something they couldn't see before. 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:42.960 And they said, it doesn't matter if it's been 20 years, because listen, how many of you know it's not about where you've been or what you've done? 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:47.839 It's about what God wants to do right here in the now, in the next, and they made it right before the Lord. 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:49.680 That's our holy discontent. 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:51.279 But it's not just us as a church. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:54.160 What does God want to do in you, in your family? 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:58.240 So start asking yourself the question, what picture am I seeing? 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:01.519 And you might start thinking, well, I don't know how God sees things. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:03.519 I got a place you can find it. 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:05.200 It's called the Bible. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:08.000 As you begin to read his word, here's what you're gonna do. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:10.799 Your heart is gonna begin to align with his heart. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:14.880 You're gonna begin to see things not the way you see them, but the way that he sees them. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:20.319 As you spend time in prayer, listen, I know sometimes you're like pastor, this is what you're supposed to say, you say it all the time. 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:23.920 But listen, as you say, spend your time in prayer, it's not just a discipline. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:30.559 It's not just a box you check, it's not a ritual, it's not just a rhythm that you have, it's a relationship that grows. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.359 And the more you spend time with him, guess what happens? 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:36.480 The more your eyes open, the more you can see things. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:39.440 And listen, I want you to value this above all else. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:39.839 Why? 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:43.920 Because your family needs it, your spirit needs it. 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:48.640 God wants to show you things that the world is not even looking at. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:55.039 But when you stop and spend time with him, here's what happens: he will start to show you things you couldn't see before. 00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:00.799 And one day you'll look up and you'll say, I don't know how I got here, except that the grace of God led me there. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:05.119 Three years ago, it looked like our family wasn't gonna be together. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:07.200 Listen, I love my spot. 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:11.119 Because all y'all are looking at one place, but I'm looking at all y'all. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:13.519 All y'all, I'm from Texas now, okay? 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:15.039 Listen, listen. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:20.640 And when I look out here on a Sunday morning, as many people as I can know, I see testimonies. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.319 Last service on the third row, right here, was a family that moved from Missouri. 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:28.000 And as I'm preaching this, I'm thinking, they moved here from Missouri to go to M.D. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:28.799 Anderson. 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:31.440