Anything Is Possible Pt. 1 | Chris Gross | Radiant Life Church

Well, this morning I am excited because

we're going to be jumping into a new

kind of sermon series kicking off the

new year. And I just believe so strongly

the Lord has a few different words and

different things that are coming that I

believe are going to be encouraging to

you and to us as we think about being

the family of God. We're together. We're

united. We're going hopefully in the

same direction. And we want to start

2026 off with that focus and that

commitment to the things of God, to who

he is, and then to what he has for us.

And so I want to give one more

announcement. On the 18th, we're going

to do something a little different than

we've done in the past. And we're going

to have our vision meeting. You could

think our business meeting. It's an

exciting, it's a vision day. It's all

about what God is doing as we move

forward. And I want to invite you to be

sure you are here for that day. What's

going to be different is this year we're

going to make that one of our one

services. We're going to have service at

10:00 so that everyone can come to

church and then everyone who would would

you stay and be a part of our vision

meeting lunch. We're going to have you

can bring sides to be a part of that.

We'll bring the main dish. We'll supply

that. Uh it's just going to be a fun

day. But we're going to talk about some

things that are happening, some changes,

some updates as we look to 2026. And I

believe it will be an important uh

meeting, an important time. Some of

those things you'll hear in services and

some of that, but there's going to be

things that we want you to be a part of.

And the 18th, would you stay with us?

So, come to church at 10:00 on the 18th

and then stay uh and we're going to have

a great lunch together and just talk

about all that God is doing. And I

cannot wait. I'm looking forward to it.

Believing for a mighty uh move of God

even in that vision meeting. And so once

again on the 18th going to be a part of

our our

January series really focusing on the

fact anything is possible. I want to be

sure you hear that anything is possible.

Now as we look into this morning and you

can even turn in your Bibles today.

We're going to be in the book of

Nehemiah. But what is a thing maybe or

when is a moment that life has thrown

you a curveball? Uh, I would guess most

of us in the room have been alive for a

few minutes at least. So, we've all had

a curveball of some sort, right? There's

been things, there's been moments,

there's been days, weeks, maybe even

things that have seemed a lot longer

than that that you would say, "This is

not what I was hoping for." In fact,

could I I just want to see a a hand from

if you've been in a spot where you're

like, "Man, that did not go how I

thought sometime in your life." Would

you raise your hand up for me? I want to

be sure you're alive. Because if that's

all of us, I'm pretty sure. And if not,

come on. You need to come talk to me.

Give your wisdom. Right? When we think

about this thought of something, a

moment, something that took place, maybe

you would be here today and you say,

"Man, I went I thought my job was going

great and all of a sudden I didn't have

a job anymore. There was a layoff. There

was a company change, right? A bunch in

the room." You say, "Yeah, I've been

there before." Maybe you're even walking

through that right now. Maybe you

thought everything was fine and you went

to the doctor for a checkup and all of a

sudden found out, "Oh no, I'm not fine."

Maybe somebody around you that you love

that they're walking through a problem

or they have walked through a problem.

When we look at Nehemiah, we're going to

see he is in that sort of place. The

people around him are in that sort of

place. And I can look back a few years

and there was a moment when we were I I

would even say the most exciting time of

my life. I was so pumped. I was so

looking forward to all that God had and

what was coming, trying to be obedient,

trying to take a step forward as he

would lead. And did you know that even

sometimes when we think we're doing

everything right, we're trying our

hardest, sometimes it still it's like

you hit a brick wall and it doesn't go

like you expected it to go. And all of a

sudden the dreams or the visions or the

plans you feel like I'm not sure what's

happening. I'm not sure what's going to

be next. I don't know how to get out of

this problem or out of this situation.

I can say a few years ago I was in a

place where that's exactly how I felt.

It's like Lord I have been trying to do

what you've called been praying and

believing been fasting been asking Lord

do a work trying to follow your guidance

but it just didn't quite go how I

thought it would go.

When we look at the story of Nehemiah,

and we're going to read it and over the

next several weeks, jump throughout the

book of Nehemiah,

I think we will see something starting

today that is vital for your personal

life in whatever situation you have. but

also as a church, if we are going to be

together, if we're going to be united,

if we're going to see Dublin, one for

Jesus, if we're going to see the world,

one for Jesus, and we're going to do our

part, I believe we see in Nehemiah

several things that are going to just

jump out at us. Say, Lord, what do I

need to do? What do I do when life's not

going how I thought it should go? And to

be honest, what and what do I need to do

when it is going how I thought it should

go? These things are principles and

truths and real life things that if we

do and we're a part of then you can make

it through literally anything. You can

get from the difficulty to the other

side. You can get from the place of Lord

I don't even understand to the place of

Lord I don't necessarily understand but

Lord thank you for moving. Thank you for

speaking. Thank you for showing yourself

in our lives in our situations.

And if we're going to see as a church

family all that God wants in 2026, if

we're going to reach that one more for

Jesus over and over, if we're going to

see changed lives and develop leaders,

if we're going to share the love of

Jesus, we must start where Nehemiah

started. We have to put first things

first. And so, as we jump in this

morning, we're going to start in

Nehemiah chapter 1, verse one, and read

Nehemiah 1 · chapter mention

through verse 4. And it says the words

of Nehemiah the son of Huckleai. Now it

happened in the month of Chisv in the

20th year as I was in Souza the citadel

that Haniah one of my brothers came with

certain men from Judah and I asked them

concerning the Jews who escaped who had

survived the exile and concerning

Jerusalem. Okay, real fast. Uh none of

the things that just happened there or

the the the truths that's not what you

want. Exile and did they survive? Did

they even make it through it? They were

taken captive. All of this is not good.

In fact, it would be about as bad as it

could possibly be. In verse three, and

it says, "And they said to me, the

remnant there in the province who had

survived the exile is in great trouble

and shame." Okay, well, it it got worse.

Even though what I just said, it got

worse because they're not only there,

they didn't only maybe some of them

survived, but they're in trouble.

They're in shame. The great wall of

Jerusalem is broken down and its gates

are destroyed

by fire. Verse four says, "As soon as I

heard these words, I sat down and wept

and mourned for days. I and I continued

fasting and praying before the God of

heaven." And when you look at this, you

see the situation. They are in a world

of hurt. There's nothing good. They've

been exiled. They've been taken away.

The walls of the city are torn down. And

in their day, walls of the city are a

big deal. In fact, it would be

humiliating to have a city, but the

walls are gone. In other words, it'd be

easy to capture, easy to take uh

whatever they want an enemy from that

place.

When Jerusalem's walls are torn down and

when Nehemiah hears about the situation,

he didn't rush into action. I think this

is an important thing that we must

understand. He didn't say, "Woo, I've

got the answer and I'm going to go do

it. I'm just going to rush." Is that

what it said in verse four? I don't

think that's what we see.

He instead sat down and wept. He instead

felt the situation. And I want us to

hear today that we so often we need to

feel it before we can fix it. We need to

feel what God is doing. We need to feel

what God is saying. Sometimes we need to

feel the situation. We need to

understand what's going on. And not just

in a sadness sort of way. Not just I'm

sad or I'm depressed. I I don't think

that's the helpful thing. But sometimes

we need to sit and understand the heart

of God. And in fact for Nehemiah here, I

think it was a holy grief. It was a

grief saying God's people, they're not

in the situation that they should be in.

In the ancient world, the city without

walls, it was defenseless. It was it was

nothing. It was a a

mocking. Uh people would mock and make

it make it just fun of the situation. It

was vulnerable to attack.

Maybe even more. It was stripped of its

identity. It was like don't have

anything left.

For God's people, Jerusalem wasn't just

a city. It was the center of worship.

The place where God's name dwelt.

Its ruin here symbolized spiritual

decline and covenant failure. It is as

bad as it gets for the people of God.

They're in a place where they need to be

fixed and things need to be revived and

made new.

Here we see Nehemiah's brokenness.

As he sat down,

as he wept, as he mourned, as he fasted,

as he prayed to the God of heaven, Lord,

do something in this situation.

I think something happens in our lives

and we see it throughout the word here,

but also when Moses wept for Israel in

Exodus 32, when David cried out for

restoration in Psalm 51, when Jesus wept

over Jerusalem

in Luke 19, we see that the people of

God, even Jesus himself, put themselves

in a place of holy grief. Holy Lord, I

need you. Holy Lord, I'm going to lay

everything down before you. I'm not

going to just try to do it myself with

my own understanding or my own way. It

is painful. It hurts. And sometimes we

need to feel it before we can fix it.

And in our day and age, I think it's so

easy for us to be people who we say,

"No, I'm just going to mask it. I'm just

going to hide it. I'm just going to not

let anybody know. I'm just going to keep

it to myself. I'm not going to actually

sit in the moment that the Lord might

have brought me to." or may it might it

be the Lord has allowed me to be brought

to

instead of sitting in that moment and

feeling what God would have for us in

his heart. We want to get up and do

something. We want to grab the hammer.

We want to grab the shovel. We want to

grab the the sword in their day. We want

to do something. But Nehemiah shows us

that sometimes the starting point needs

to be one of coming and of mourning and

of weeping, of coming and saying,"Lord,

I'm going to feel what you feel. I'm

going to feel your heart. I'm going to

experience you and what you want to do."

Brokenness, church, it's not weakness.

Brokenness and coming before the Lord

and sometimes what feels like our spirit

being crushed, it's not weakness. It it

it can be strength to come before God

and to let him speak and to move. In

fact, brokenness is where change so

often comes. It's where revival flows

from. Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is

Psalms 34:18

near to the brokenhearted and saves the

crushed in spirit." Sometimes, church,

we need to be honest with ourselves.

Lord, this area, this thing, this this

problem in my life, Lord, I am crushed.

Lord, I need you. Lord, I need the power

of God to show up.

Lord, I need what only you can bring.

And there's this fight between, Lord,

I'm going to sit in your presence and

what culture would say. Move on. Don't

dwell on the problem. Don't don't let

anything even matter. Just move forward

in the things of life and there'll be

something else before you.

Maybe this is a little different, but I

feel like there's people in the room

that in your own life and maybe even in

our own sin, in our own problems, in our

own pain, things we didn't have anything

to do with, that we need to feel the

weight

and that the weight is what will move us

to action. In fact, I feel like there's

some of us who may be struggling in an

area. We've we've been in the spot and

we don't know how to get out of it. And

we need to sit and let the weight of

God, let his spirit sit on us and be

with us. Lord, we need to get into a

place of spiritual mourning.

And we've tried to overcome. We've tried

to move through. We've tried to get to

the other side. But maybe what we miss

is the fact that God wants to sit with

us. He wants us to feel what he feels.

He wants us to experience what he

experiences. And out of that brokenness,

then we can find the strength. Out of

that situation and feeling what God and

where we are and his presence in our

life, then we can overcome. It's not one

more self-help book. It's not I can do

it if I just try harder. It's not in my

power. Instead, it's Lord, I'm broken.

And Lord, it's you and it's your power

and it's your wisdom. It's your word.

It's who you are. And Lord, I need to

feel what you feel. I need to experience

what you experience

so that I can see freedom and wholeness

in my life.

A burden precedes a breakthrough.

As individuals, you need a burden for

what you want to see happen.

Think of the things in your life that

have gone the best that have happened.

What you you cared so much. You wanted

it so much. Maybe you're sitting someone

next to someone today. Why are you

married to them today? Why? Because you

said, "I want this. I want that lady or

that guy. I'm believing for this." And

you fought for it and you went for it

and you did sweet things and all the

stuff. Now, some of us, maybe you don't

do those sweet things as much as you did

before. So, you should ratchet that back

up, right? You you fought for it. There

was a burden. And in our life, we need

the Lord to put a burden on us. And you

know, as a church family, if we want to

see all that God has for Radiant Life

Church to happen, we must be a church

that says, "I have a burden for the

things of God. I have a burden for what

God is doing, not only in his kingdom

globally, not only through his word, but

right here as the Rad fam, that we have

to get a burden to say, Lord, we want to

see expansion. We want to see growth."

Why? Not so we can say we're we're

bigger than we were last year, but

because there's people who need the love

of Jesus, that need the the power of

Jesus that need they're sitting in a

burden place, but they don't know who to

turn to. And we, you

get to be the ones that go and bring the

lost to Jesus.

But do we feel the burden of what Jesus

cares for?

We must sit in the presence of Jesus and

let the burden come upon us. We have to

ask God to give us a heart for Dublin,

for your community, for your neighbors,

for your school, for whatever you are

dealing with, you and I. We must sit

with Jesus and ask him, Lord, give us a

burden.

Vision starts when we let God break our

hearts for what's broken.

We must be a people that feel it

before we can fix it.

My prayer as we jump into this year is

Lord, don't let me just try and don't

let me just strive and don't let me just

do. But Lord, I want to feel your heart

so that the things that we do, the

things that we're part of, they're not

just things, but Lord, everything we do

as a church family is so one more person

can come can feel the love of God, can

experience his power.

church. I just have to I have to say

this is to me the greatest thing that a

a person uh could possibly say. And on

Christmas Eve, we were here and I got to

talk to a young man and uh he was so

excited just to be at church. And he

explained to me that he hadn't been

church in a long time. He had come the

previous Sunday and the only reason he

came back is because when he came he's

like, "You guys are such a family. Like

you just love each other." People came

up to him over and over and over and

talked to him. People said hello. people

said, "Hey, I I I see what you and I I I

feel what you're feeling." Maybe not in

those words, but that's what he felt.

And he said it was so cool. Like he was

telling me this.

He's like, "And I just love being here.

And now I've come again and it's the

same." Like you can't walk 5 feet

without someone saying hi and someone

asking a question. Church, when we feel

it,

that's who we have to be.

We have to be people that no one can get

in the doors without almost being

bombarded by people. Why? Just because

we love people. It's not like we have

to. It's not because we have a lanyard

that says we're going to do it. No, we

just care and we see someone. Church, do

we feel it? That guy, he just confirmed

in my heart. Church, do we love people

so much that not only at church but

wherever we go, we're looking for

people. We didn't know that guy hadn't

been in church. He said in as long as he

could remember but he just felt

something and so he came back

feel it before we fix it. Second thing

today is we have to turn to God first

in our life. When we feel those broken

areas, when we feel those situations,

when we have the problems and maybe even

we sit with the Lord, the question is

what do we do and where do we go and

what are we looking at when we're asking

God to show up or when we're just in

life

in our day and in the the culture that

we live. It is so easy to go and ask and

to find people because you can look in a

phone book. I don't know if there's

anymore, but you can go online and you

can type it in there and you can say,

"Hey, I need help with this. Give me

somewhere near." And if you need your

house fixed, easy. Someone Well, not

easy, actually. If you've ever tried to

get that, sometimes that can be very

difficult. But you can find the person.

If it's health, you can go to the

doctor. And in fact, there's not only a

doctor, but there's a doctor for every

part of your body. So, literally

everything. It might take time, but you

can find them and you can get help and

you can feel uh better about it and you

can feel like you've done the things you

need to do. If it's finances, there are

plenty of people who can give you the

wisdom of what to do and how to save or

maybe how to get out of the debt you're

in. Right? You can go to Dave Ramsey.

He'll take care of all of your needs.

Just cut up all the credit cards and

everything's going to be great. Right?

Whatever area of your life. But my

question is, as the church of Jesus

Christ, is our call to be good Google

searchers to find people and places and

stuff to help us or is it possible that

we need to feel what Jesus feels? And

then we need to run to the Savior and

the creator of the universe and we need

to begin to say, Lord, I there's all

this other stuff, but Lord, I come to

you and I need wisdom and I need

guidance and I need your direction. And

I mentioned house or finances or health,

anything in your life. But what would

happen? I'm just wondering what would

happen if when we even have really

practical situations that we start to be

sure, Lord, what do you want to say? Am

I supposed to just take my car to the

shop and spend $1,000? Or do you want to

do something different? Anybody else?

Something different sounds good to me.

Like really good. And I'm not saying

that every time he'll do something in

the that way. But what happens when we

begin to live our life that even the

things that seem like I just got to take

it. I just got to do it. I just got to

get the doctor. I've just got to find

the person. I've got to find the

counselor. I've got to find the We start

saying, "Lord Jesus, I want you to speak

into my life above anything else. Lord

Jesus, I need your voice to be clear to

to to speak into what my tr what the

truth is, what your truth is for me.

Lord, in my parenting, I don't

necessarily need a new book, but Lord, I

do need a new heart. And Lord, give me

love and give me patience and kindness,

even for the ones I love the most. Lord,

would you help me? And we begin to turn

to Jesus with all the things of life.

In verse five here, it says, "And I

said, oh Lord, God of heaven, the great

and awesome God who keeps covenant and

steadfast

love."

I just have to say real fast. I love it.

I think some of us need to get that as

our heart and understanding when we come

to pray. When we come to seek Jesus,

it's not Lord, here's 57 things that I

need, but Lord, we just come before you.

And I say, oh Lord, God of heaven, the

great and awesome God who keeps covenant

and steadfast love with those who love

him and keep his commandments, church,

that's the truth of the word of God.

That's who he is. He keeps his covenant.

Let your ear be attentive and your eyes

open to hear the prayer of your servant.

Then I now pray before you day and night

for the people of Israel, your servants

confessing the sins of the people of

Israel, which we have sinned against

you. Even I and my father's house have

sinned. We have acted very corruptly

against you and have not kept the

commandments, the statutes, and the

rules that you commanded your servant

Moses.

When we read Nehemiah's heart, we see

the love for the Lord, the the desire

that he has for God and also the

realization to say, 'Lord, I've not been

perfect. I don't know and we haven't

done it all right. Lord, I need you to

guide me and I need you to direct me and

Lord, as I sit with you, you've real

you've confirmed as I'm in your word,

you've shown me,

Lord, I need your salvation. I need your

truth. I need your grace. I need your

mercy. And Lord, even in that I can ask

you to come. I can ask you to move

and things that don't even seem

possible. Lord, I want to turn to you

first.

He adores the Lord. He begins by

acknowledging God's greatness and

covenant faithfulness. He turns to

confession. He identifies who the sins

of the people or what the sins are and

his personal sins.

He owned the brokenness.

It's not somebody else did it or

somebody else's problem or someone else

made me do it. No, he owned it. We have

done this and even me and my family have

messed up and we've gone against your

covenant,

your truth.

Church, when we sit with the Lord, he

will reveal the way that we need to go.

He will reveal our heart. And I pray not

in a judgy sort of way. I don't I want

God's judgment now on right now, not in

the future. So Lord, would you show me

and would you reveal to me my heart?

Would you reveal to me what is not right

as a a people, as Radiant Life or as the

church of Jesus Christ? Anything where

we're not focused on the word of God, we

want to know so we can be all that God

has called us to be.

Church, we must turn to God first. We're

going to see that he then calls it on

the promises of God. He recalls the word

of God, the truth of God. He asks

boldly. And we're going to see in a few

verses, he believes

not that what has happened in the past

has ruined and has made it so that he

can never experience God in the future,

but instead what the word would say,

he's turned to God. He asked for

forgiveness. He asked for mercy.

He says, "Lord, in your hand, in your

call, in your time, Lord, would you do

something that is way beyond myself? And

as we look at 2026, that's my prayer for

us, church.

Lord, we need you. Lord, we have to

experience you. Lord, we need your

heart.

Now, I mentioned at the beginning of our

time that a few years ago, I man, it was

just a rough moment trying to do the

things that God had didn't go how I

wanted at all. Things like everything uh

was falling apart. Uh if you remember a

few years ago, COVID was an exciting

time. That was super fun to be a leader.

Uh some of you made it really difficult

right it was tough why because no matter

who you are we all have opinions had

opinions right I mean that's normal and

when everybody has opinions but then

there were other things and trying to

start new churches and start trying to

to further the kingdom I I had been in

the hospital uh there was a just it was

terrible was in the hospital for eight

days and I believe it was one of the

days. My dad, he would come and he would

sit with me about an hour. He wasn't

supposed to stay too long. Uh but after

about an hour every day, I would tell

him, "Dad, you've you've done your time.

You can go." And he'd be like, "Okay."

And he would get up and leave the he was

like

because I couldn't really talk. I was

really sick. So he would just like talk

for an hour. If you know my dad, he's

not that's not his like thing. Now he

could talk preaching, but just to sit

and talk like that's not his favorite

moment. a little more introverted than

that, but he he did it. It was amazing.

He always would do whatever was needed.

But I remember him saying, it might have

been after I was out of the hospital,

said, "It's like a BB in a trash can at

church that like the people in the room.

It was like nobody, lots of seats, all

of the things." And I was so just

crushed starting a church, all of this,

then COVID, all of these things happen

at the same time.

And I remember actually standing in the

office, the gray house as you exit on

the right. If you don't know, that's our

church office. I was talking to staff

members and I was like, "Hey,

had talked to the board and we were

going to take a few weeks and just get

alone and pray." And I was like, "If I

come back from that trip like I feel

now, well then I have to find

counseling, I've got to do something

because this is not how you should

live." And I'm super optimistic and

like, "Woo, let's do this this in life."

And it wasn't that way. COVID. It was

just bizarre. And I remember going for

three weeks. We went to a church

planning conference to start it off,

which was not the most healthy thing in

the middle of what felt like destruction

all around. It was really difficult. And

then we went out to Arizona, visited

family, and it was just wonderful. It

was in maybe early March, so it was the

weather was beautiful. It was awesome.

Got to pray and seek the Lord. Then went

and got our family and took a week with

them. And it was one of those moments of

Lord, not what people would say, not

what a counselor would say, good things,

good people, but Lord, what do you want

to speak? And I remember coming home

from those three weeks, not with one

single problem fixed, not with one thing

that was like, woo, life's easy now.

That wasn't it. In fact, it took like

six months before the whole COVID like

just down. It was the weirdest thing.

I've never experienced anything like it.

church. It's It's taken four years.

We're almost back to where we were

before all of that. Just weird weird

stuff. But I got back. I had been with

Jesus. I had spent time with him. I got

back and didn't turn to stuff and

others. I turned to Jesus. Got alone

with Jesus. Spent time with my wife.

Spent time saying, "Lord, would you

refresh? Lord, would you make new? Lord,

would you make right?" And it wasn't

anything I did, but it was a little

confession. It was a little a lot of

adoration. Lord, you're good. Even in

the midst of the problem,

I've shared this before and I don't know

why this was my response, but even in

the hospital, my wife would send me a a

song, a a worship song, and I was like,

I can't listen to that stuff. And she

she was like devastated. And I was like

later once I could really communicate. I

was I couldn't listen to it because I

would listen to it and not being able to

breathe, I would start crying because I

just was so thankful to the Lord sitting

in a hospital feeling like dying. That's

what my they kept telling my wife. But

adoration to the Lord, just Lord, I'm

thankful. Whatever you choose to do, I'm

I'm happy.

Because when we sit with Jesus,

when we sit with him and we turn to him

first, we do not know what the future's

going to be. We don't know the work

between where we are and to where we

want to be and where God is going to

have us. We don't know what's going to

happen in our body or in our situation.

But when we turn to him and we give him

adoration and we give him confession,

when we just say, "Lord, we're sorry."

Then anything is truly possible.

Whatever you feel now doesn't have to be

where you end.

But are you trying yourself doing it

your own way? Are you coming to the

Lord? I got back from those three weeks

and I was like, "Let's do it. We're

going to figure out. I don't have any qu

or any answer. I don't know what we're

going to do, but we're going to keep

being faithful. We're going to keep

pushing forward. We're going to keep

believing." didn't mean everything was

easy, but Lord, you're on the throne.

You've got this. You're going to take

care of it. And he's given direction

over the last four years, and I know

it's not going to stop. But it came down

to spending time with Jesus for Nehemiah

in your life. I'm sure I could have, in

fact, I could look out and pull some

people up here that spending time with

Jesus has brought health and wholeness

to areas that it wasn't have brought you

through addiction to the other side of

it. have brought you through anxiety or

depression to the point where now, hey,

that's not where you live anymore

because you've got open hands to the

Lord in these leading and giving

direction. You've walked through

seasons.

And if you're here today and you are

walking one of those seasons right now,

don't try to do it yourself. Even with

all the fixes and the help that there

can be, don't go to AI with for your

answers. Go to Jesus.

Ask him, "Lord, I need you. Lord, I need

to feel what you feel.

Lord, I need to really despise the

things that you despise and love the

people and the things that you love.

Lord, I'm turning to you with everything

I have, I give you all of my life. And

we must, church, make prayer our first

response. It can't be the last thing,

but it must be the first thing. It can't

be, well, if I have to or if everything

else doesn't work. No, we need to come

to Jesus first. We need to give him

every part of who we are. Which is why

when we think of starting a year with

prayer and fasting, I pray that doesn't

give anybody the thought that when we

can be done praying and fasting, but it

is just the start. It's a focus so we

can continue to pray and to fast and to

believe and to ask God to do what only

he can do. To let us feel what he feels

so we can bring freedom as we turn to

him with every problem.

When prayer is your first step, turning

to Jesus, you will have alignment with

heaven. And my prayer, what Jesus prayed

on earth as it is in heaven, that's my

prayer in my life and my mind and our

church and our world. Lord, we just want

heaven to invade earth. We want

alignment with you and your kingdom.

Janelle, if you want to come and play

the piano, do we go to our last point

today? clear the noise so you can hear

his voice

this morning. Maybe you are sitting here

and you're like, "Man, I I like the

thought. I like what you're saying. Yes,

I I want to see forward progression. I

don't want to stay where I've been." And

maybe you feel like you've been locked

in a spot or been in a place, but we

have to clear the noise. In verse 8, as

we continue,

Nehemiah

says,"Remember the word that you

commanded your servant Moses, saying,

"If you are unfaithful, I will scatter

you among the peoples. But if you return

to me and keep my commandments and do

them, though your outcasts are in the

uttermost parts of heaven, from there I

will gather them and bring them to the

place that I have chosen to make my name

dwell there."

They are your servants and your people

whom you have redeemed by your great

power and by your strong hand. Oh Lord,

let your ear be attentive to the prayer

of your servant and to the prayer of

your servants who delight to fear your

name and give success to your servant

today and grant him mercy in the sight

of this man.

He was the cup bearer to the king.

He was close to the one that could take

care of some of these problems. But why

would the king care at all about what

Nehemiah or the people of Israel needed?

He asked the Lord, "Lord, I need you."

And he speaks to scripture to say,

"Lord, you said we would be scattered,

but you said we would be brought back if

we ask for forgiveness. And Lord, we

come before you and we ask you." And I

don't know what you need today. I don't

know what you're believing for today.

I don't know if it's a sickness or a

disease or maybe you've lost somebody

and you just have a hole in your heart.

I don't know. Maybe there's financial

problems or maybe you just thought you'd

be somewhere different and you don't

feel what you thought you would feel.

You don't aren't experiencing life like

you thought you would experience life. I

don't I don't know.

Maybe your job is falling apart. Maybe

your relationships are falling apart.

Maybe life just

stinks is what you feel. It's just as

hard.

I don't know. But what I do know is when

we come before the Lord,

when we help him or ask him to let us

feel what he feels, when we turn to him,

and then when we get rid of the clutter,

we get rid of what the world would say,

we get rid of what culture would say,

and we go to the word of God. Lord, your

word says, Lord, your word, which is

truth, which is what we need, it says,

Jesus, what you did on the cross, you

healed us. You gave us salvation. You

you allow us to be forgiven, healed, and

whole. And Lord, we come to your word,

which means wherever I am, if it's not

in that, Lord, you're still moving. And

we come and ask him, Lord, forgive me.

Forgive us. Make us new. Make us full in

you, Lord. Clear the voices. I don't

want to hear anything else. I want to

hear what you would have to say. And

maybe you know there's a situation or a

thing that you have to ask him, Lord,

forgive me. Maybe you have to come and

ask, "Lord, would you let your servant

today?"

What does it say? Grant him mercy in the

sight of this man. Lord, give me wisdom

in what I need to do. Give me w the

words I need to say. Turn the heart of

those around me. I I don't know what

your thing is today,

but church, if we follow what Nehemiah

did, we're going to come and we're going

to sit before the Lord. We're going to

come and we're going to fast. We're

going to come and we're going to speak

the promises of God over your life and

over your situation. We're going to

spend time with him.

We're not just going to do it our way,

but we're going to lay it down before

him as the early church did. They

devoted themselves to the teaching

and the things of God in Acts 2:42.

Acts 2:42

They got in the word. And today we must

seek first the kingdom of God and his

righteousness. And then all these things

will be gathered to us. And whatever

your need is today, church, we must come

and let the Lord move and let the Lord

speak.

Fasting and prayer clear the noise. The

word sets the direction and we put it

all together. It positions us for action

in your life, in your situation,

whatever it is. Come, let the word of

God bring you wholeness.

Let him speak life to you. Let him make

you new. And this morning maybe a little

different. If you're here and you say

something is just burning in your heart

and you need God to bring healing or

wholeness, you need him to bring

salvation, you need to bring him to do

something and you're like Nehemiah and

you just need to feel him. You need to

turn to him. You need the the noise

cleared. It could be a small thing. It

could be a big thing. It doesn't matter.

But you say, "I need the salvation of

the Lord. I need his voice." I'm going

to ask you just to be bold and just to

stand right where you are. We want to

pray with you this morning. If you say,

"That's me. I just need God to do

something in my life. Heal you, restore

you. Maybe a relationship thing, maybe a

parenting problem. I don't know if

there's somebody that you say, "That's

me." We want to pray with you and

believe.

I'm going to give a minute.

I believe that God wants to do some

miraculous things in some people's

lives. We're going to pray for our

church.

Yes. Thank you. Anybody else in the room

today, you'd say, "I want to join these

that there's just something I need God

to defend me. I need God to to be there

for me. I need him to restore me."

Yes. But we're going to pray right now.

Maybe that's you. Maybe you're at home

today. Let the Lord move and speak in

your life. Anything is possible. So

Lord, right now for this family,

Lord, for those that have stood up this

morning and those that didn't, Lord, we

ask you to come to be healer, to be

restore. And Lord, we pray that we as a

church family would feel your heart.

that we as a church family, Lord, these

individuals, Lord, would would fall so

much in love with you, Lord Jesus, that

maybe where distractions have been,

Lord, that they would be gone in the

name of Jesus, that they would

experience you and experience your

power, Lord Jesus, that you would be

glorified,

Lord. We ask you for healing and

wholeness and direction. We ask you,

Lord, to to get rid of the cloudiness of

things, of what we understand, Lord, as

we sit with you, as we turn to you.

clear the noise so we can just simply

let your goodness and your grace fall on

each one. Lord, bless these today, Lord,

as a church individually. Lord, every

person in this room, I pray that they

would feel your goodness, feel your

love, feel your power, feel your grace,

Lord Jesus, let us have a heart even

more to pray, to spend time with you,

Lord, not just to to pray for things,

but to talk with you and to feel your

heart. Lord, we love you today. Lord, if

there's one here that they need to give

their lives to you, Lord, I pray that

right now, Lord, they would call out to

you. Just some simple words. Lord,

forgive me of my sins and make me new.

Lord, I place you as the Lord of my

life. I repent.

I believe that you are God, that you

rose from the dead. Lord, in their own

way, I pray they would reach out, call

out to you right now. Lord, we thank

you. Church, if we could just stand

together all over this room. I want to

pray for us as a church family

and church. I believe so much that God

has great plans. 2025 was such it was an

exciting year for Pastor Rachel and

myself for the team. God has put

together a team and I am so thankful for

it. In fact, spoiler tonight, if you

have students, you do not want to miss

uh youth group at six o'clock as we get

to talk about who our next youth pastor

is going to be, which we hate that guys

cuz we love you. Uh hopefully you

already know Pastor Matt and Katherine.

They're going to be uh going to the

mission field. And uh we still have four

more months with them here. Then they're

going to be itinerating. They're going

to be gone for a year and a half or so,

whatever that might be. They're going to

be around. But we're going to begin that

transition, which is scary, but also

it's exciting. We believe the Lord has

put the person that's going to be our

next youth pastor, and I think our

students are going to be super excited.

And church family, uh, you can try to

find that out or next Sunday, we'll

announce all that good stuff to the

adults. But we want kids to hear first.

And we are pumped. Our team, we believe

2025 has been a year of vision of of

alignment. We're continuing just to see

incremental growth. But I believe that

God has more for us as a church family,

but it's going to take all of us being

united and being aligned for the things

to come.

Just being real, it's going to take, and

I won't take long because we're going to

talk in future weeks, but it's going to

take us all grabbing our tools and

grabbing our spear. We'll look into that

here in a little bit,

but it's going to take all of us. And if

we do, I believe that we are placed in

the perfect position to see

just extra growth to the kingdom of God.

This last year, we had 32 people that

were baptized in water, and my prayer is

way more, double or more this next year.

But how does that happen? It's not

necessarily It's not because of how good

I I preach or don't preach. It's because

you and all of us say, Lord, we're going

to do what you've called us to do. It

might require some Lord forgive and make

new and give us direction. It also is

going to be Lord give us boldness and

direction together. And as we move as an

army, church, we're going to see amazing

things happen. And that's going to

include your family members, your

friends, your co-workers, in fact, some

people you don't even like. They're

going to come to know Jesus

because he's going to give you a heart

like we've never had before. That's what

it's about. Getting the word of God into

us. But it's not going to be because we

come to church and we go home. It's

going to be because we come and we're

united and we band together to say,

"Lord, I need you.

Have to have you." And I want to

encourage you. Would you this week,

would you come maybe Tuesday morning 7 8

Wednesday night is going to be a prayer

night here. Uh we're going to have our

our open house in the the room over

there, but everybody else, we're going

to be praying and believing and asking

God. and would you come spend some time

praying and believing? We're going to

let God move. We're going to start it

out and then we're going to believe

together for all that he has for us. So,

church, I'm going to just close in

prayer for us. But I'm asking us, could

we be a people that we say, "Lord, we're

going to adore you. We're going to give

confession. We're going to ask you for

forgiveness. We're going to speak of

your promises because we're in your

word. And Lord, we're going to ask you

for the things that are on your heart

because we've sat with you. We're going

to see something special in 2026.

Church,

we are in this spot where our team, our

family, our leadership, the leaders in

this next service, we're going to see a

bunch of kids up on the stage. Our kids

are being discipled like never before.

It's so much fun and there's great

things to come and you get to be a part.

I get to be a part. I'm so thankful we

get to do it together.

So Lord, this morning as we close this

time, Lord, we're thankful it's just the

beginning not only of 2026, but Lord, we

believe even a new beginning of what

you're going to do through Radiant Life

Church. Lord, we are just in this

season, Lord, that you've set it up.

You're preparing us, Lord, that we're

moving in the same direction as a

pastoral team, as a leadership team, as

a group of people that would say, "We

want to see the power of God show up."

And so, Lord, turn our hearts to yours.

Turn our hearts to the things that

matter to you. Turn our hearts to that

one more for Jesus. Lord, we're

believing on the other side of the

world, but we also we're asking right

here in Dublin, Ohio through daycare.

Lord, we pray for our soccer ministry

that is going to be kicking off. Lord,

we're so thankful for final approval.

And Lord, we ask you, Jesus, Lord, that

there would be hundreds of kids that

will come to play soccer on our fields.

And Lord, they won't only get some

exercise. They won't only learn how to

play soccer, but Lord, we ask you, Lord,

that these kids would in the end and

their families come and they would get

connected to the God of the universe and

soccer would just be a means to see them

plugged in. Lord, our partner, Revive

Church, Lord, as they continue to grow

on the hilltop. Lord, we ask you, Lord,

that they would only experience more and

what they've been experiencing the last

three years, a supernatural amazing

growth. Lord, we pray it's only the

beginning, Lord Jesus. Let them have to

start wondering what are they going to

do? Too many people. Lord, we ask you,

Lord, that they would have to make tough

decisions because there's so many people

that are coming that are realizing who

you are. are. Lord, we pray for our

family members, for our friends, for our

neighbors, for our co-workers. Lord, we

ask you for the lost. Lord, we pray as

we believe that anything is possible.

And so, Lord, we ask you, would you do

that anything through your church here?

Would you do that anything through us?

We are the church. Lord, let us be bold.

Let us be witnesses. Let us move forward

in you and the things of your kingdom.

Lord, we are so thankful

for what you've done. And Lord, we give

you everything. And so, Lord, we focus

on you. Lord, we love you. Lord, guide,

direct, and be with us, Lord. You are so

good. Let us go in your power and your

love today, Lord. As one army, Lord,

yours, children of God,

Lord, moving in you, we love you. Bless

this church. Bless these people today.

In your name we pray. Amen.

Church, I'm so thankful that God doesn't

leave us, but he walks with us. And

let's go in the power of God. One more

time, Tuesday morning prayer, 7:00 to

8:00. Love to have you come out. And

then on Wednesday night during uh

church, 7:00 to 8:30, we're going to be

praying together. Let's go after Jesus.

Pray, fast at home, spend time with

Jesus. Get in the word. Love you all so

much this week. Be careful what you

watch. Be careful what you listen to. Be

careful what you talk about. Say