Nehemiah 7:1-73

Nehemiah in a unique position to be trusted by King Artaxerxes as his cupbearer.

We have seen King Artaxerxes give permission and a sort of blank check to Nehemiah for the rebuilding of the wall.

Chapter 1, verse 8 says,

For the good hand of God was upon Nehemiah.

We have seen Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem, his observation of the wall,

his report of God's sovereign goodness for the task, and the beginning of the building of the wall.

We have seen the way that the Israelites worked in the face of opposition,

for God had given them a mind to work.

That's chapter 4, verse 6.

And we have seen the work completed, and the surrounding nations afraid

because they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of their God.

Chapter 6, verse 16.

So the wall has now been finished.

But the work is far from over.

The building of the wall was just the very beginning of the work that needed to be done in Israel.

Notice here my careful language.

As I said to you that God brought the news.

That God moved Nehemiah's heart.

That God placed Nehemiah in a unique position.

We've been talking a lot about providence

and the way in which God brings about His purposes.

As I first read chapter 7 this week,

I actually had a mind just to skip over it altogether.

In fact, I spent the week preparing in that way

and looking at chapters 8, 9, and 10

at the spiritual revival that began to come.

But I realized something in my study,

and unfortunately, yesterday morning,

I realized this and had to start all over again.

But it's not that the work began,

that there was a work happening during a period of time,

these 52 days,

and that was the work of rebuilding the wall,

and then things changed.

And now it's the spiritual work.

And you'll hear many people preach

and commentate on this in that way.

There was a physical work,

and then the spiritual work began.

But in fact,

the spiritual work had already begun.

The people had already been moved to work.

Nehemiah had been moved to lead in this way,

not simply for the sake of the building of a wall,

but because of God's glory.

You remember, I've been telling you all along,

the reason Nehemiah was so grieved

is that the state of the nation of Israel

was the visible manifestation of God's goodness,

God's character to His people.

And they were in shambles.

They were languishing in the land.

And Nehemiah wanted God to be seen

as big as God actually is.

Wanted to ascribe to Him

the proper glory that is due Him.

And that is why this work goes on

as it begins.

And we see the people not failing in this.

They falter at some times in chapter 4.

We see them falter.

They think the work's too great for them.

But they don't fail.

Under Nehemiah's leadership,

they continue to build.

And it seems like everything is just right.

Pretty rare in Scripture we get that.

Glimpse of people doing it all right.

And guess what?

In this case,

there's a failure on their part.

I'm going to show you that in chapter 7

and hope that it speaks to your life today.

Join me in a word of prayer

before we read in chapter 7.

Father God, I thank You again for this day

and I thank You for Your Word.

And I pray that this morning

You will bless the preaching of it.

The miracle of this is not that I can get up here

and say words that make any sense.

It's that You, by Your Spirit,

apply them to our hearts.

I need this as much as anyone else this morning.

And so I pray that You will bless the reading

and the preaching of Your Word.

I pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Now, I am not going to read to you

all of chapter 7.

I would encourage you to take a look at it

on your own

when you don't have to properly pronounce

all of these names.

We're going to make a little bit of a jump

and I will go back

and I will recap for you

the section that we skip in our reading.

But let's begin chapter 7, verse 1.

Now, when the wall had been built,

I had set up the doors

and the gatekeepers, the singers,

and the Levites had been appointed.

I gave my brother Hanani

and Hananiah, the governor of the castle,

charge over Jerusalem,

for he was a more faithful

and God-fearing man than many.

And I said to them,

Let not the gates of Jerusalem be open

till the sun is hot.

And while they are still standing guard,

let them shut and bar the doors.

Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

some at their guard posts

and some in front of their own homes.

The city was wide and large,

but the people within it were few

and no houses had been rebuilt.

Then my God put it into my heart

to assemble the nobles and the officials

and the people to be enrolled by genealogy.

And I found the book of the genealogy

of those who came up at the first

and I found written in it.

Jump to verse 73.

So the priests, the Levites,

the gatekeepers, the singers,

some of the people, the temple servants,

and all Israel lived in their towns.

And when the seventh month had come,

the people of Israel were in their towns.

I want to draw your attention to two verses.

And this kind of arrested my attention

as I was really preparing yesterday morning

to give you a little brief summary of chapter 7

so we can move on to chapter 8.

And that's where I was at.

And these two verses caught my attention.

Verse 4 and verse 73.

The city was wide and large,

but the people within it were few

and no houses had been rebuilt.

So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers,

some of the people, the temple servants,

and all Israel lived in their towns.

So what's happening here

is that now the wall has been rebuilt.

No one or very few people

had lived within Jerusalem

because it wasn't a safe place to be

and they were in their country homes.

They were out in the suburbs

living.

And now that the wall has been rebuilt,

the houses still haven't been rebuilt,

and people are back

in their nice suburban places.

That's where they are.

They're in the comfort of their homes.

And what struck me

is that they missed the point altogether.

God's glory is not found in buildings,

but in His people.

And they didn't see that the state of Jerusalem

was the real point.

How is it that the people of God

are thriving?

They did a great work.

They built a wall in 52 days

and they all headed back

to their comfy homes.

They didn't come to occupy the city.

The people of God

living in community

as the people of God.

The same problem existed

a number of years later

as the temple was being rebuilt.

And Haggai,

who prophesied during this time,

chapter 1,

verse 3 and 4,

says,

Then the word of the Lord

came by the hand of Haggai the prophet.

Is it a time for you yourselves

to dwell in your paneled houses

while this house lies in ruins?

And speaking of the temple,

is it the proper time for you

to be living in your nice homes

in the suburbs

while this house lies in ruins?

Now, in this day,

a paneled house

is a very fancy thing.

Sam and I are painting

our dining room right now,

which at one time

was paneled and painted

and painted and painted

and painted

and I'm very frustrated

because it's so hard

to paint a paneled wall

with all the little grooves

and such in it.

But in this time,

it meant that they had lumber.

They had paid the high price

for wood

and they had had it milled

and they had placed it

along the walls

inside their homes.

These were nice homes

that they were dwelling in.

And we find them here

in the same condition.

It's as if they completely

missed the point.

Entirely missed the point

of why they were

to rebuild Jerusalem.

A revival comes.

We're going to see that

beginning next week.

Truth.

The Word of God is open.

They called Ezra

and he begins to read

from the law

and the Spirit of God

comes and gives them conviction

and we see at the end

of this process

8, 9, and 10.

The very beginning

of chapter 11

says,

Now the leaders of the people

lived in Jerusalem

and the rest of the people

cast lots to bring

one out of ten

to live in Jerusalem,

the holy city,

while nine out of ten

remained in their other towns.

And the people blessed

all the men

who willingly offered

to live in Jerusalem.

So recognize

that a revival happens

and what do they begin to do?

They begin to send people

back into Jerusalem

to live and dwell

in a community.

So what does that say

to us?

I've been saying to you

all along

that the parallel here

is that we're building

a spiritual house.

It's not such a far stretch.

I kind of missed it

myself.

I wanted to draw

this comparison

between the building

of a wall

to the building

of a church.

But in fact,

what they were really doing

was building

a community of faith.

Those who were gods

who worshipped Him.

It's the very same thing

we're doing today.

In John chapter 13,

John 13:34

verse 34 and 35,

Jesus says,

A new commandment

I give to you

that you love one another.

Just as I have loved you,

you also are to love

one another.

By this,

all people will know

that you are My disciples

if you have love

for one another.

Now the word used here,

no, Jesus didn't say this

in Greek.

Jesus would have said this

in Hebrew

more than likely.

But the Greek word here for,

excuse me,

the Hebrew word for new

actually means renewed.

So we could read it,

A renewed commandment

I give to you.

A restating of the commandment

found in Leviticus 19.18.

You shall love your neighbor

as yourself.

It's the high calling

of Christians

to love God

and to love people.

The commandments

that are given to us

in this way.

And how is it

that they're going to know

that we're Christians?

By our buildings,

by our signs,

by our radio stations,

by our t-shirts,

by our bumper stickers,

I hope not,

but by our love

for one another.

The Greek word

translated here,

alelus,

one another,

has no singular form.

There's no way

to say this

in the singular,

meaning that it is never used

in reference to me,

but it is always used

in reference to us.

It is the very paradigm word

for community.

That is what we are called to.

I fear there's a form of thinking

in the Christian church

in America

that's very radically independent.

There's a little phrase

that kind of encapsulates it,

although I wouldn't give

all the credit to the phrase,

but you've heard this,

personal relationship

with Jesus Christ.

Found nowhere in the Scriptures.

Now it's true,

we do each have

an individual relationship

with Jesus Christ.

He is my brother.

We are friends.

He is my Lord.

There's a relationship there

between me and Him,

but the more proper way

to speak about it

would be to say

that I have been saved

not to a personal relationship

to Jesus Christ,

but to a community relationship

with Jesus Christ.

We have been saved

in order to be together

for the glory of God.

You cannot miss this point.

It's an axiom.

Everything swings on this

for your Christian living.

Your Christian life

cannot happen

apart from the context

of the church.

Notice the epistles.

All of the letters written,

Paul, Peter, John,

all of their primary concerns

is correcting the community of faith.

They do so doctrinally.

They bring truth.

Praise God for it.

Much of it is commentary,

setting us straight

about our thinking.

But they do so in order

that the community of faith

will live rightly.

Let's take, for example,

1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

Chapters 1-4.

Paul addresses the disunity

that's happening amongst them

because they're dividing

over worldly criteria.

chapter 1, verse 16 and 17.

Do you not know

that you are God's temple

and that God's spirit

dwells in you?

That's not chapter 1.

I don't know what chapter it is.

You can find it.

Verses 16 and 17

of one of those chapters.

I think it's 3.

Do you not know

that you are God's temple

and that God's spirit

dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God's temple,

God will destroy him.

For God's temple is holy

and you,

being the church,

are that temple.

chapter 5,

he addresses concern

for immorality that's happening.

There's, in fact,

a sexual relationship

that's happening.

And he says in verse 2,

let him who has done this

be removed from among you.

Chapter 6,

lawsuits.

There's these lawsuits

happening between Christians.

And in verse 8,

he says,

you yourselves wrong

and defraud

even your own brothers.

Chapter 7-10,

he addresses issues

of Christian liberty.

10-32,

it says,

give no offense

to Jew or to Greek

or the church of God.

Just as I try to please

everyone in everything I do,

not seeking my own advantage

but that of many,

that they may be saved.

The way we live matters.

Chapters 11-14,

the worship practices

of the Corinthian church.

Chapter 14,

verse 23,

he says,

will they not say

that you are out

of your minds?

It's the major concern

of the epistles

as how it is

that we live together

in a community of faith.

Because how we do this,

how we live as a community

of God's saints

will either confirm

the gospel realities

in our life

and attract people

to Christ,

or it will deny

those gospel realities

and repel people

from Him.

This happens

far too much

in the American church.

I can't speak

for the rest of the world.

From my observation,

this happens

far too much.

How will people know

that we are disciples

of Jesus Christ?

By our love

for one another.

How will they see

that our religion

is a farce?

That it is ridiculous?

That it's just a bunch

of rules and laws

that are going to rob

all the temporary fun

of this life?

Because we are just

like them.

Go back to Nehemiah.

Let me sum up for you

really fast

what happens here

in Nehemiah.

It begins with,

starting in verse 6,

a numbering of the

human resources.

The people matter.

The people that were

brought back from exile,

they matter.

They mean something

to the nation of Israel

and therefore

the glory of God.

Verses 6-38,

the laymen are numbered.

Verses 39-42,

the priests are numbered.

Verse 43,

the Levites are numbered.

Verse 44,

the Levitical singers

are numbered.

Verse 45,

the gatekeepers

who more than likely

were also Levites

are numbered.

Verse 46-56,

the temple servants

are numbered.

Verses 57-60,

the descendants

of Solomon's servants

are numbered.

And then we see

a separating

and an excluding

in verses 61-65,

kind of a sorting.

And they exclude

those who were

unable to prove

their descent from Aaron.

Those whose

Levitical line

was not very clear

and clean,

which was a way

that they were

ascribing to the

proper order

of worship

that God had given

to them.

We could draw a parallel

to the way we pick

leadership for our

churches in this regard.

And then verses 66-72,

there's a numbering

of the other resources,

the other things

that are at their

disposal for the

rebuilding and the

goodness of the people.

And that's chapter 7.

You see why at first glance

I might have jumped

right over the top of it.

But the one anotherness

is important

and they were missing it.

A revival came amongst them

and they got it

and they began to get

about that work.

Now let's talk a little bit

about the one another's

of Scripture

I mentioned to you before.

They're in John.

That we are to love

one another.

You know that the New Testament

is full of them?

I have a cheat sheet

right here in front of me.

Highlighted and ready to go.

Listen to some of these.

This is what we're meant

to do together.

Be at peace

with one another.

Love one another.

Be devoted to one another

in brotherly love.

Honor one another

above yourselves.

Live in harmony

with one another.

Stop passing judgment

on one another.

Accept one another.

Instruct one another.

Greet one another

with a holy kiss

which was to say

you're part of our family.

Have equal concern

for one another.

Serve one another

in love.

Carry each other's burdens.

Be patient.

Bearing with one another

in love.

Be kind and compassionate

to one another.

Speak to one another

with psalms, hymns,

and spiritual songs.

Submit to one another.

In humility consider others

better than yourselves.

Bear with each other.

Forgive one another.

Teach one another.

Admonish one another.

Make your love increase

and overflow

for one another.

Encourage one another.

Build each other up.

Spur one another

on toward love

and good deeds.

Confess your sins

to one another.

Pray for one another.

Love one another deeply

from the heart.

Live in harmony

with one another.

Offer hospitality

to one another.

Clothe yourselves

with humility

towards one another.

And once again,

love one another.

These are the things

we're called to

as a faith community.

You may have hoped

that I was at this point

going to just give you

some opinion

of how I think

we ought to be

living together

because it would be

really easy

to weasel your way

out of that.

But thus speaks

the word of the living God.

This is how we're

meant to live together

for our good

and for God's glory.

This requires

a togetherness.

Do you catch

all those things?

I love texting.

I love it.

I don't like the formalities

of conversation.

Having a phone conversation.

I could skip right over

the hellos.

How are you?

I could just get right

to the point.

Texting allows me

to do that.

It's really hard.

I mean,

to a degree,

some of these things

we can accomplish

this way.

But we need to be

together,

face to face,

spending time

in relationship

together

to do these things.

Community

is incredibly

important.

Beloved,

Sunday morning

is not

enough.

Especially

those of you

who come

right when we start

and leave

right when we end.

That's just

consumer Christianity.

You're coming

for the show.

You sit,

you consume,

you leave.

We need you

as much as you

need us.

We need relationship.

We need to spend

time beforehand

drinking coffee

and talking about

our weeks.

We need to spend

time afterward

encouraging one another

with the preaching

of the word

and the singing

of our songs.

Those things

matter.

The service

itself is important.

You know the reason

we don't turn the music

up super,

super,

super loud

and turn off

all the lights

in here?

Because we need

to hear each

other singing

true words.

If you're not

a singer,

start.

I know it's

terrifying.

I have a horrible

singing voice.

I can hear

a key at least.

I think I sing

the right notes.

I think I sing

the right notes.

But it doesn't

matter when you

sing,

think.

The person in

front of me

and the person

next to me

needs to be

encouraged with

the truth of

the gospel.

I will sing.

Find your heart

uniting with the

words coming out

of your mouth.

That's why we do

that.

If you ever

come to a

concert here,

it'll be much

louder.

You won't be able

to hear yourself

think we're going

to turn the music

up so loud.

But there's a

reason we do

it that way.

Across the

nation this

morning,

there are dark

rooms and people

having these little

silent moments

with God.

Stay home if

that's what you

want to do.

We come together

to meet with the

people of God,

to encourage one

another,

to do all these

things that I

just listed off.

life.

It matters.

It's so,

so important.

Other times

during the week,

if you are just

coming on Sunday

morning to

Christ Family

Church,

you're missing

a huge part

of what church

life looks like.

We do something

called community

groups.

Right now they

meet on Wednesdays.

They don't have

to.

There are two

places they meet

right now.

They can meet

in many,

many,

many places.

Community groups

are key and

vital to what

we do.

It lets us get

together and

really start working

these things out

together,

really pressing

into Christian

life together.

It's hugely

important.

Now look,

some of these

people probably

lived in their

fancy homes out

in the suburbs

and they said,

Nehemiah,

we can't come

live in the city.

There aren't

any houses yet.

The houses

haven't even been

built.

So when you get

a whole city built

for us,

we'll come back

and we'll stay.

In the city,

right?

Make sure you

build me a

paneled house

because I've got

a nice paneled

house out where

I'm at right now.

They didn't do

that after

revival came.

Chapter 11,

they went back

and they worked

and they built.

It takes that.

It takes work

to get together.

Just because you

show up to a

small little Bible

study and you

don't get a lot

out of it,

doesn't mean you

shouldn't go again.

It takes work.

You have to

contribute.

It might be a

mess.

It might be a

total shambles.

Maybe you're the

one that needs

to step in and

say,

this is a mess.

How can we

help sort this

out together?

It's very

possible.

It takes

investment to

live the

Christian life

together.

How many of

you have

said,

don't raise

your hands,

please?

I don't

certainly

get anything

out of that.

What did

you put in?

Did you

contribute in

any way

whatsoever

before you

made that

very comment?

I would

guess not.

These things

take work.

It's hard to

get to places,

right?

Parents, I

understand.

I didn't used

to understand.

I get it.

I get it now.

It's hard to get

them up.

Sam was mentioning

this morning that

there's got to be

some spiritual warfare

on a house on

Sunday mornings because

nothing goes well

on Sunday mornings.

Our boys wake up at

a quarter till seven

almost every day.

It's annoying.

We want one day,

a day off.

We sleep in just a

little bit, 7.30,

come on.

But Sunday morning,

we have to wake

them up almost

every Sunday

morning.

They sleep so

well.

Wrestle to get

them here,

right?

It's hard to go to

community group with

kids.

I get that.

It's conveniently

been at our house,

which makes it a

little bit easier

as of late,

right?

But it's challenging

to do that.

We have to work

at these things.

It's very,

very important.

If you're a member

of this church,

let's find a way to

get you involved in

a community group.

Come to me and

talk to me.

What are the

problems?

What are the

things that are

keeping it from

happening?

I understand that

we have distance

issues.

We have health

issues.

Come talk to me.

Let's find a way to

get you involved in

this kind of life.

Let me remind you

that if you're a

member of this

church, you signed

a covenant with

this church, a

commitment to be

together with us.

The preamble says,

having been led by

the Spirit of God to

acknowledge Jesus

Christ as Savior

and Lord, and in

profession of that

faith, I most

solemnly and joyfully

enter into covenant

with Christ's family

church.

And there are seven

statements that

list it off here.

And the second to

the last one says,

to contribute to

the work of the

church with my

talents, time, and

finances.

Are you doing that?

There's probably a

number of people in

this church that

need a dose of

church discipline

because you're not.

You're breaking the

covenant because you

don't give of

yourself.

The closing paragraph

says, I enter into

this covenant together

with Christ's family

church under the

common goal of

obedience to,

glorification of,

and joyful satisfaction

in Jesus Christ

because I believe and

assert with the rest

of the body that we

need one another's

help to do so.

We were created for

community.

You're spiritually

depressed?

Get with the

beloved.

You're struggling to

walk out your faith?

Get with the

beloved.

Don't just go when

you feel strong and

ready to contribute.

Go when you're

hurting.

That is the place you

need to be.

It's with those who

understand what you're

going through and

want to see you be

healthy.

These things matter.

I listened to a

sermon this week

where the guy was

sharing his shock

at some of the

things that are

happening in our

Christian culture.

The way now you

can watch TV on the

web, which is not

really a new thing

because they've been

doing it on TV.

Excuse me.

TV on the web.

Sermons.

Church sermons.

Church services on

the web.

Right?

It's been happening

on TV for a long,

long time.

But he was talking

about this phenomenon

and he said,

you'll never believe

there is a church in

Atlanta where they

project a holographic

image of the pastor

onto the stage.

And I thought,

oh gosh, I know

exactly what he's

talking about.

That is in our

backyard.

And I won't say the

name of the church,

but I think you know

what we're discussing

here.

He was just in shock

about it.

He just couldn't

believe that these

things were happening.

And he brought up

the doctrine of the

incarnation of Jesus

Christ.

And I really,

really appreciated

that and spent a lot

of time thinking

about it this week.

Jesus Christ came,

God sent his son to

the earth in human

form.

He came and he

dwelt amongst us.

Right?

Physically dwelt.

Now I believe that

God did that at the

perfect time in

history.

Right?

Perfectly sent him

right when he needed

to be sent.

Maybe if he had

waited, he could have

been a little more

efficient.

Right?

Could have sent him

during this time.

We could have

simulcasted Jesus all

over the world.

How phenomenal

that would have

been.

Maybe the reason

he didn't send

him at this time

was so that no one

could simulcast him.

So that it was

impossible for some

guy with a web

phone to hold it

up and try to get

him up on the

internet so that

everyone could hear

the man Jesus

Christ speak.

Right?

I think it's

important that we

take that and we

apply that.

That physical

presence is crucial.

Jesus came to

dwell amongst us.

Do we dwell with

each other?

I'm thankful that

you're here this

morning.

I think for a lot

of you, you get

this.

Like many of you

do.

And I would just

encourage you to let

this stiffen your

backbone.

Put a rod of steel in

there and don't bend

from it.

Some of you don't.

I love you and that's

why I'm telling you.

Some of you don't get

it.

Some of you need to

spend time seriously

considering how to

work your week out

so you can be with

the people of God.

How we function

together and how we

live in this community

of faith matters to

the world.

I want people to see

Christ Family Church.

I don't want them to

know us for the style

of music we have or

that we do verse by

verse exposition.

We're a reformed

church.

We're the church that

meets on 60 and you

can't see the building

from the road.

I don't want to be

known for those things.

I want to be known

for our love.

When people ask me

what I do for a living

and I say I pastor a

church and they say

what church do you

pastor and I say

Christ Family Church

I want all over this

community for them to

go ah your people

love each other.

Wouldn't that be nice?

Be nice.

But what a great grace

of God that would be

to us for that to

happen.

Now I have to ask you

the question as we

talk about some of

these technology things

and why it's important

to be together.

Can you use technology?

Is it an amazing tool?

Yes please do.

I told you that I was

listening to a sermon

online that even got

my mind going about

the doctrine of the

incarnation of Jesus

Christ and how it

applies to the way we

do church.

It's a valuable tool.

It's neat.

You ought to get out

there and listen to

sermons.

There are some good

preachers out there.

Don't let them jade

your opinion of me.

There's some very

very good preaching

at your fingertips.

On your cell phone

it's so incredibly cool.

But what is

we have to ask the

question.

What is the difference

between just a mere

fellowship and a church?

Young people

especially you.

As you get out of

going to church

with your parents

and you come away

to college

and you begin to

question everything.

Why can't you just

have a Bible study

on your dorm hall?

Isn't that enough?

Right?

You're encouraging

one another.

You're doing a lot

of these things

that I mentioned.

You're studying the

word.

You're devoting

yourself to it.

You're praying

together.

Those are good

things, right?

Why can it not

just stop at that?

Why do you need

to be part

of a church?

Because there

are some distinct

differences.

Firstly, a church

has qualified

leadership.

It's important.

Qualified leadership.

We saw the separation

that happened

in Nehemiah

Nehemiah 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7.

There's the practice

of the ordinances.

Baptism.

The Lord's Supper

which we'll take

here in a moment.

Those are an important

aspect of what a church

does together

which are ultimately

about church discipline.

Something that happens.

I would encourage you

to not practice

church discipline

amongst a fellowship.

Continue to encourage.

Continue to teach.

Do those types of things.

In the church setting

though, we must

call people out

when they're living

in habitual sin.

To our application

today, the third

thing is diversity.

It's a beautiful

thing about this

church.

I have discovered

now that I'm being

quoted for one of the

things that I never

would have wanted

to be quoted for.

But apparently a lot

of the college students

tell each other

as I have told them

numerous times.

If you always hang out

with your idiot friend

you'll always be an idiot.

I put myself in that

category.

If I'm always hanging out

with people that are my age

and sharing my same

experiences, I'll never

grow.

I need people that have

gone before me.

And I need to be

passing information down

to those who are

behind me.

These are important

things for us to be

doing.

Diversity in a church

should happen.

If we are preaching

Christ, Christ draws

men to himself.

And there are going

to be men and women

of different ages

and different colors.

That's an important

thing for us to do.

Now granted, we have

a church in an area

and that area is going

to tend to have a

certain demographic.

But we do not have

a Saddleback Sam.

If you're familiar

with the Purpose

Driven Church.

They had a target

person.

This person looks

like this and we're

going to arrange

everything we do to

get this person to

come to here.

income, likes,

dislikes, all of

those things.

That's who we're

going to go after.

Right?

I love some of the

motivation behind some

of the like fringy

churches.

Right?

But they're wrong.

Biker churches?

We're going to

minister to motorcycle

guys.

No.

We all have a common

demographic that we're

trying to minister to

and that's lost people.

Right?

That's people in need

of grace.

That's who we're

meant to minister to.

Right?

I heard recently that a

girl who had attended

here for a while decided

not to come any longer

because our music time

wasn't charismatic

enough for her.

She grew up in a much

more charismatic church

and she wanted to go

someplace else and

that's okay.

Right?

But what I want you to

see is that we didn't

exclude her from our

meeting because of the

way we do music.

Right?

We didn't do music for

people who really have a

hard time swaying at all.

Right?

That's you guys.

The clapping is like,

right?

Clapping and singing is

tough for our group.

Right?

That's not what we're

trying to accomplish.

We didn't write that

down on our list.

Non-rhythmic people.

It wasn't what we were

looking for.

Right?

You guys want to get

super happy in here?

You go right ahead

and do it.

Right?

We just want to minister

to people who need

grace.

That's what we're

here for.

In Acts chapter 4

Acts 4 · chapter mention

we see Peter before

the council.

Jerusalem verses

11 and 12

says,

This Jesus is the

stone that was

projected by you,

the builders,

which has become the

cornerstone.

And there is salvation

in no one else,

for there is no other

name under heaven

given among men

by which we must

be saved.

This is our

Jesus Christ.

The one who draws

men to himself.

And he uses the church

to do that.

This fellowship

of Christian faith.

this community.

So I'd ask you this

morning to examine

your hearts.

Are you playing your

part in this community?

Right?

The analogy is used

that we're a body.

What part of the body

are you?

And is it

dysfunctional?

Is it non-existent?

Does it just not even

show up to some of the

things that it's

necessary at?

Ask God to search

your heart.

Let's pray together.

Amen.