HEART FOR THE HOUSE - Week 02 - Mike Saathoff

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Wow, wow.

Hey, y'all can go ahead and sit down.

And uh if you're home and you're standing, that's weird, so go ahead and sit down.

Uh no, it's not weird.

It's okay.

We want you to be involved, you know.

Let's let's do that.

Hey, I love you all.

Thank you all so much for just being the church.

I just want to say that off the off the top.

Throughout this whole pandemic, I actually get to say it um, you know, to everybody now.

Thank you so much for being the church.

You know, when we have put out their text the word care to 25101, you all have met people's needs and it has blown our minds.

In fact, we hear stories about how you all as the church have met needs before we even told you there was a need.

And so when we hear those stories, it's just proof that the community that we have is not only vital uh to each other, but vital to this city.

So thank you all for being who you are at being the church.

And so y'all can give it up for yourselves for being the church in this time.

Hey, so I just also want to give honor now.

Pastor Keith did a phenomenal job, but what he doesn't know is how much I love him.

I think he knows that.

They probably know that.

I love the Pittman so much.

I've known the Pittmans for years, going back to when I would make some bread pudding for them.

Yes, I can cook.

If you ever wondered, look at me.

This is not all Taco Bell and Burger King.

This is from my own kitchen.

So let me tell you, I can throw down.

And so I love the Pittmans.

They are faith-filled people.

Um, love them so much.

This isn't like, you know how you always go to a church and somebody always gives honor to somebody?

This isn't one of those things that I had to like wonder what I'm gonna say.

Legitimately, my heart, um, everything, I love you all so very, very much.

They will literally move anything out of their schedule to come check on me, see about me, be there for me in any moment, and that means so much to me.

Um, I'm very excited to preach uh today and to share this message that God, that I truly believe God had gave me.

We are in our second week of Heart for the House.

In this series, what we're doing is we're diving into the book of Nehemiah.

And if you have not listened to or watched last week's service, I strongly, strongly encourage you to go ahead and do that and to do that because it's it's like I'm piggybacking off of it.

Um, because as we go through this series, everything is gonna build upon each other.

And so um, if you haven't done that, make sure you do.

And I'm just gonna give you a brief synopsis.

Pastor Keith told us that we need to first, when something is on our heart, we've got to pray about it.

We've really got to trust.

Um, not only do we pray about it, we gotta ask what is our part to play in that, and then we've got to trust God that He's gonna do His part, amen.

That's always a big key.

We've got to trust that God's got it.

And so if you have not watched that, I really do encourage you to do that.

And so this week, we're actually continuing on this journey with Nehemiah, and and what we're gonna do this week as we unpack it, we're gonna see what he does with the action steps.

So now that he's prayed about it, now that God has stirred his heart, now there's gonna be some things that he's gonna start activating his hands, he's gonna start to put some things in action, and that's where we pick up.

So if you have your Bible or uh or your app, so whether it glows or whether it folds, it doesn't matter in here.

Just go ahead and pull it up.

And if you're at home, you will also see that on your screen.

We're going into the second chapter of Nehemiah, and I'm gonna start at the sixth verse, and we're gonna go all the way down to the 12th verse, and then we're gonna be able to unpack that today.

So are you with me?

Awesome.

And it says this, and the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, How long will you be gone?

And when will you return?

So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.

And I said to the king, if it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah.

And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.

And the king granted me what I asked for the good hand.

You know, that just I don't know about anybody else, but not just thinking about one of those movies like shake my good hand, but it's the good hand.

When you know you have the good hand of God upon you, there is nothing that can stop you, there is nothing that can hinder you.

It is a favor that just keeps giving and giving and giving.

So the good hand of my God was upon me.

Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river and gave them the king's letters.

Now the king had sent me with officers of the army and horsemen.

But when Sambalat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

So I went to Jerusalem and I was there three days, then I rose in the night.

Three days, then I rose in the night, and a few men with me.

And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.

There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.

So right out the gate, and before we're gonna pray in a moment, but right out the gate, what we see, and what I want us to see, is what we saw with Pastor Keith when he talked on last week was that Nehemiah was in such close proximity to the king that the king could see his demeanor had shifted.

And I can't help but wonder from where we pick up today, is the conversation that the king is having with Nehemiah is only indicative because of his vulnerability before the king.

So in my mind, as I read the text, I can't help but wonder are we vulnerable enough with our king that he knows exactly where we are and what we're facing?

Or do we kind of come into a space where we dress it up, we make it look all good, we come to church, we put our Sunday best on, we do whatever we can do, and we just pretend before the king as if he doesn't know what's already on our heart.

Are we vulnerable before our king?

See, when when when God really does stir something, when God really does challenge us, you know, just the same thing that Pastor Keith said, when God starts to stir something inside of us and that challenge that we feel on our heart, it should then activate our hands to do something.

There's there is an action step that has to take place.

It's no question about it, it it has to take place.

You know, it is it is it's it's it's us transitioning from the me attitude to the we attitude.

It's about the whole.

It's about it's no longer about me, myself, and I, but it is now about the whole and who we are as a community, as a people, as a group.

That is what we see here with Nehemiah.

You know, as as we all understand with COVID, you know, we're so happy now to see sports actually taking place.

It's so crazy to see how many people were watching sports, and it didn't even matter, they're like, oh my gosh, we're happy.

I don't even care what they do.

It could be a football game and they could be throwing a soccer ball for I care.

Just get out there and do something.

And it is so amazing that the team understands the important importance of the we, us as being in the crowd so much that they pipe in crowd sounds.

Now, I actually asked Pastor Keith that he could pipe in some crowd sounds today, and then he looked at me, punched me, and told me to get out of his face.

That didn't happen, just kidding.

But I would like some crowd sounds.

But here's the thing it is so important to understand that the we holds a place of value in our everyday life, so much so that the world even understands the importance of we.

We had a series a couple weeks ago, we had a message in there that talked about cancel culture.

It is the power of the we.

And so once we understand that power, once we understand who we are in Christ, then we can't just be about ourselves.

So what impacts one of us becomes now impacting all of us.

And so we've learned that through COVID, and it may be funny with sports, but it's so true.

So today I actually want to unpack what we just read in the second chapter of Nehemiah because I really want to kind of look at three things.

Um, honestly, I'm not a three-point Pete preacher.

I'm usually like a one-point, and you'll just find me somewhere.

Um, but there were three things that I really want to touch on.

Um, and so it was just it was just so distinct.

And it was what God had actually put on my heart.

I actually started feeling that same burden that Nehemiah started to feel, where it was just like, man, God, this is this is right in front of my eyes.

And so before we go ahead and we unpack that and see how that can be applicable into our everyday lives, um, let's pray.

God, we love and we praise you, God.

Thank you so much for being God.

Yes, God, you sit on the throne, but God, you are ever present every step we go.

God, we fill you even in this place, God.

We fill you in every trial, we fill you in every tribulation.

God, there is not one fire that you are not standing behind beside us in.

And God, there is not one flood that you're holding us up above the waves.

So, God, we thank you for who you are.

And God, I pray right now, God, that as we dive deeper into your word today, as we as we come before you boldly, God, God, I pray that you move me 100% out of the way.

Because God, there is no room that I can fill when you are in it.

It is all for you, it is all about you.

So speak to every heart in this place.

Speak to every heart that's watching online.

God, do what only you can do, and we'll be forever grateful to give you the praise, the glory, and the honor.

And the faithful people said, Amen.

Well, I just want to jump right into it.

I'm gonna do my level best to squeeze a quart and a pint.

Um, yes, they did give me a time, but that's only because they understand that, well, it is what it is.

I'm a black preacher, and so we can go.

I'll be keep y'all here till like three o'clock.

There may not be a wedding in here today, so we are gonna probably like we could stay to three o'clock.

Just let me know how you feel.

We'll have snacks for you.

Don't worry about it.

The first thing I want to look at is that Nehemiah has this thing where he's looking at the temple and the temple surrounding area.

Now, I can't help but understand, like, yes, that is a physical thing, but but when I think about it in our context, in my context, I can't help but wonder about what my temple looks like.

See, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us.

We are literally, we are, we are, we are, we are the temple.

We we carry the presence of God wherever we go.

And if we didn't know that before COVID, we know that now.

We know that the temple is not a building.

We understand that that what God wants to inhabit is his people.

He wants to inhabit us and we we take them everywhere we go.

So if you see me in the grocery store and I see you looking down, then I've got to be able to go ahead and put it into action.

The Holy Spirit in me should be able to connect with what you're going through and be willing to pray for you, or be willing to go, man.

I bet that that single mom right there, she just may need somebody to pay for her groceries, or or just get the little candy for the child, and she may not have enough for it.

The Holy Spirit in you should be active and alive to witness it.

So, one of the things that that I found is like, you know, in this time of COVID, we have a lot of time where we just sit on our own and we sit by ourselves, and I can't help but wonder, what does our temple look like?

When we inspect our own temple, what do we see?

What do we see when we look at the beams in our lives?

What do we see?

Is there some integrity issues?

Is there some flaws?

Is there fracture in our foundation?

And I can't help but wonder, man, if I do a full-on inspection, would I say that my temple is in ruin?

If we all do a full-on inspection, would we say that our temple is in ruin?

You know, I um uh we all have this thing and this notion where we all know that a terror uh a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

We hear it all the time.

It used to be commercials, we would see it in school.

And um we all, and don't look around if somebody's sitting next to you, but we all know somebody who is absolutely brilliant, but they are not using any of it.

And if you don't know who that person is, it just might be you.

But don't look around, don't point any fingers, don't text anybody.

We all know that a brilliant mind is a terrible thing to waste.

And you know, when I was a kid, um, funny thing, but when I was when I was a kid, I was in my elementary years.

Do y'all remember being in like school and um they had those math tests, it was these speed math tests, and they would come out on these shit, it's like a hundred math things on there.

And I remember one uh vividly, and I used to hate it.

I used to be to the point where I have this internal meltdown because of the fact that I would like look around, everybody was going faster than me.

I'm like, I don't know what this is, it's just numbers everywhere.

And so I thought I just needed to complete it.

And so I would literally just start it when everybody, as soon as the teacher would go ahead and change the timer, I would immediately just start writing numbers all the way down.

I didn't even care.

I just needed to finish it and beat everybody in the room.

And now it was just amazing to the teacher.

She couldn't figure out maybe this boy is just dumb because one plus one times one is definitely not nine.

So I don't understand how this could be possible.

But but she took the time to inspect what it was that I was doing and realized that it wasn't because I was dumb, it was because I was comparing myself to everybody else in the room.

It was because I was basing where I was at to what I thought I should be at.

And now I don't know about anybody else, but but sometimes I do that even still to where I start looking to see what other people may have and start inspecting what I don't have in comparison to what they do have, and it ends up making me trip over myself time and time again.

I mean, it just does, you know, it's like American Idol, like you look like a fool with your pants on the ground.

Like, I mean, it's just one of those, it's one of those moments.

Like, stop comparing yourself to somebody next to you.

And all it took was her to inspect me and go, no, this boy isn't dumb.

Let me see what's going on.

Slow down, take your time.

How many times for us do we just need to slow down and take our time, especially when it comes to things of God?

We want God to do it now.

We want to sit here and start our Bible reading plans, and we want to be able to read the entire Bible and know all the secret things of God in a week.

We only have a week.

But one thing that I do know is that COVID definitely taught us that you have a lot more time on your hands than you ever thought you did.

To the point that we are like, I don't want to be in the house anymore.

I will go and do the things I've never done before, like walk around a park.

I do not walk around parks, I do not look at lakes.

I want to just go out and have a good time and be with friends.

This is not the things I do.

I don't pay attention to statues and artwork in the park.

Like, I mean, I don't know.

Do y'all know that there's art in Lake Yellow?

Like, I mean, it's like, oh, oh my God, when do they do this?

This is new.

I mean, who none of us do that?

And it's if we take our time, if we inspect those things, then we can actually be able to address them.

We can actually be able to see what needs to shift, what needs to change.

So the first thing that we always have to do is we've got to look internal.

The problem is we don't always look internal, we always like to look external.

But see, we first have to look internal before we can go external.

The second thing I want to talk about is us actually going externally.

See, the next thing that we see Nehemiah doing is he's looking around at the walls of the city.

Now, I couldn't even escape this one.

This one was like, man, what's around me?

I mean, you really have to think, what is surrounding me?

Who is around me?

This is critical, y'all.

Like, you know, Pastor Keep Mr.

Jay just mentioned in announcements about groups, you know, you've got to inspect the people who are around you.

And sometimes you might be in a place where you see a ruin right now because you don't have community.

You've got to inspect that because the walls that are around you, the walls around a city do what?

They protect that city, they they even provide at times safety for for everybody who's even outside that city at times.

And so if you don't know who's around you and you haven't fully inspected it, then what you could end up doing is finding that you have some people who are with you but not for you.

Don't make me preach it.

You can find that somebody is with you but not for you, and they are completely two different things.

It is not the one in the same thing.

And so um I can't help but understand that that this is real.

This is this is a wall that has to be built.

See, you've got to be careful who's with you because just like you inspected yourself to make sure your mind is right, you've got to check to make sure the people around you minds are right, because you know, when I read James 1 and 8, it says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

So if I allow people in their instability to be around me, then guess what?

I am now going to be unstable.

It's going to impact me because that is just what happens.

Osmosis takes place.

So you've got to inspect the walls.

In fact, it's so important that we inspect who's around us.

Do you remember in Acts chapter 16 when Paul and Silas were going and they were doing the work of the ministry, and a woman was actually behind them going, hey, these are the men of the Most High God, and they're gonna show you how to be saved?

Acts 16 · chapter mention

Do you remember?

Like, show you how to be saved.

It sounds good.

But then Paul, after a while, turned around and goes, I rebuke that spirit that's on you.

What do you do when you come across a situation where some of the people around you are boasting you up, telling you all things you really want to hear, but there's a secret motive lurking in there.

Oftentimes there could be something in the dark around the people who are around you, and you have to inspect it.

It is critical.

And don't be fooled by the fact that somebody may be telling you that you're this, that, and the other that is great and brilliant and awesome.

You have to see what the motive is, what is making you say that.

You have to use discernment.

So if there's anything that you can pray about, pray to have discernment.

It is critical because these are the ones who are helping you get to where you're going.

And so you need to make sure that those who are around you, like I said before, are truly for you, not just with you.

Because what will happen is oftentimes, from what I have seen and what I have even encountered personally, is that if you are with me and we're walking, we are in step with each other.

But at some point, when your true nature comes out, now we start going into different areas.

Now we start having this dichotomy.

Now the vision is now division, it gets split.

And then I'm trying to go this way, you're pulling the other way, and then whatever it is that we're pulling behind us is now freaking out.

It's going all over the place.

Nobody knows which way is what.

It is critical for you to inspect the ones that are around you.

So critical.

In fact, every time the enemy comes, and here's the crazy thing: when we are alone as we have been, oftentimes, even in those quiet and lonely moments, the enemy will come and will whisper all kinds of crazy things.

What I have come to learn in life, even at my awesome young age, I know I have gray hairs, but that's just the wisdom.

So you're hearing the wisdom from those gray hairs.

Don't worry about it.

I will not cut it.

My fiance wants me to cut it, it's not happening.

Listen, when you end up having some of those things and the enemy comes and he starts telling you things, keep in mind that anything the enemy says is a lie.

It is not true.

There's no truth in him.

So if the enemy tries to tell you something, then you immediately need to know I am not that I'm exactly the opposite of it.

So when he comes and he tells you, even with the people around you, and you can sometimes, this is why I say motive is essential.

This is why I say the walls are essential because they can sometimes tell you who you are.

And if you just like the woman who was behind Paul and Silas, like they didn't rebuke the woman, they rebuked the spirit that was in the woman.

So it's not that we are coming against the person and the people around us, is we need to come against what's in them because they may not be right, they may not have had internal inspection.

And so now it is indicative and definitely important upon us to do that, to have that inspection upon the people who are around us, because what could happen is that then they are being used and they're telling you all these things that you clearly are not.

Like you can hear things of the enemy telling you that you are not are not good.

No, no, no, no, or that you are not beautiful, you're not wonderful.

These are some personal critiques that have lifelong impacts, and you can begin to stand on the word of God and say, No, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

The enemy will oftentimes tell you that you're poor, and you have to say, No, no, no, no, no, no.

I may not have it today, but trust me, my father in heaven owns a cattle on a thousand hills.

You got to know who you are.

And when it says that you don't have, you just know that you do.

When it says that you you're lacking anything, then you realize that you may not see what I have, but the problem is what I really have is not even on this earth.

What I really have is eternal, and that's where you have to take a stand.

So it is critical that you end up having people around you who are for you, not just with you.

You must inspect the walls.

Now, after you do some internal inspection and you do some external inspection.

You know what we see Nehemiah do?

And this was kind of bold.

And I was like, God, why did you do this?

It says in the Bible that Nehemiah asked the king that he needed to build a house.

And I had to go, this makes no sense.

This man wants to go, help a city, do all those rebuilding things, and what he says is, I want to build a house.

I was like, God, I don't understand that.

This is confusing.

Because that is bold.

Just give me something to build a house.

And you know what?

The way God unpacked it for me was, of course, he needed to build a house because I sent him there to occupy.

And I don't know about you, but whatever God has called you to, when you go ahead and you occupy a house, that word occupy means to feel or to take.

So whatever God has called you to, you have to take the ground and you have to literally occupy the region.

You have to occupy the territory.

This is what we are called to, church.

We are called to go into some dark places and set up shop, occupy, and bring restoration back.

That is what we are called to as the people of God.

There are some people who are hurting, lost, and broken.

And what we have in us is what that area and those people need.

We see it all the time.

You wonder why, man, God, why am I even in this job?

It's it's not just you're there just to get a check.

You're there because you need to occupy.

You're there because somebody needs to hear what it is that you have to say, or better yet, somebody needs to see what it is that you are doing.

What makes you different?

Because oftentimes the best messages we'll ever preach are the ones that are never spoken.

So, what does that look like when you occupy a territory or a region and you feel it?

And now God is shining brighter and bigger and better.

Now, I want you just to look over at somebody, I know we're not in the state of touching anybody.

Just look at somebody and just say, I'm just getting started.

Now look over to somebody else and tell them, I'm just getting started.

Now, I'm saying that for a reason because at the end of the day, it oftentimes feels like setbacks will keep popping up, and you feel like, man, I'm I'm doing the thing where I'm looking internally, but but what does that mean for me?

Why does it feel like, why does it feel like I'm just getting started?

See, starting, the starting point is not a bad thing.

We have made it seem that because we want to get to the end result.

But the see, the true joy comes in starting something.

I know that doesn't seem right, I know that seems a little bit odd, but trust me, I love starting something.

And here's why.

Because I understand that if I start something for God and it was what he put on my heart, well, guess what, church?

He is faithful to complete it.

For my Bible says that he who has begun a good work is faithful to complete it.

So all I'm saying is, I am so happy when he says, Go over here, you're gonna start something.

Go over here, you're gonna start something.

Listen, when you look, and when you look to begin to inspect the temple, to your inspect your temple, you're it's a starting point.

No matter what that starting point is, he is faithful to complete it.

He's faithful to get you where you need to go.

Listen to me right now.

What was so powerful about this whole passage was that not only was it that Nehemiah had to actually put some things into action, not only was it a brilliant plan, and not only can we pull some things from it, but Nehemiah had to be strategic.

He had to be strategic in what God put on his heart.

Make no mistake about it that when God begins to put something on your heart, you cannot go and run and tell everybody about it.

You can't run and tell everybody about your dream, especially if you don't know who is in your camp.

Nehemiah did something strategic.

If you remember when we read down, it was in the nighttime that he went to go and look throughout the whole city.

And he only took a few men with him.

Now, why did he do this?

He did this because oftentimes when God calls you to a place, do not be dismayed when it is met with opposition.

Immediately he was met with Sambalat and Tobiah.

Immediately, and they did not want him in the city.

Now I can't help but just kind of say, wow, this is this is this is not unique to just Nehemiah.

How many times do we all get called to go and do something for God and it seems opposition says, good morning, here I am.

We could sometimes you can't even roll out of bed before you look at your phone and there's opposition awaiting you.

How many of you all have gone to work and you thought that that day was gonna be a great day?

You're moving on, but hey, opposition, there was promotion waiting for you, but man, opposition, there was there were some dreams and some visions that were, you were right on the precipice of it actually taking place, but opposition.

Opposition does not mean that God is not in it.

Opposition does not mean that you're supposed to run and flee.

No.

This is why he had to make sure that he was going to have enough stuff to build a house to occupy.

You stand flat footed and you look at the enemy and you tell the enemy exactly who you are and whose you are because it's in you.

So, yeah, getting started is a good thing, not a bad thing.

You know, here's the thing: it does not matter what that starting point looks like.

Just know that if God called you to it, he will be there with you through the thick and through thin of the gate.

And now, here's the thing: what I love about God is that there is nothing too hard for him.

What I also love about God is that he is more than the world against you.

I dare you to look at some giants and some opposition in your life and just put God in front of it.

Just let God go before you.

Just let God have a seat at your table enough to be right there to be like, no, God called me to it.

I am here, this is what I'm doing, and this is where I'm headed.

Let God stand before you.

For if God be for you, who could be against you?

So, yeah, you can find me at a place where I'm just getting started.

And in fact, you might be working some stuff out, but I'm just getting started.

It's okay for you to say that over yourself every day to say, you know what, I may have a low bank account right now, but I'm just getting started.

You may look at some things and say, you know what, my friend's circle, I don't know what that looks like, but I'm I'm just getting started.

You may say I'm not in the job that I want, but I'm I'm just getting started.

You may you may say, I don't, I know what God has called me to, but I don't think I'm at the end point right now.

I'm not even in the end zone yet, but I'm just getting started.

And and all we have to do when it comes to God is just say, Here I am, God.

Here I am, I'm available.

Because the moment you say, Here I am, God, I'm available.

The moment you become vulnerable before him is the moment that he will begin to stir your heart.

He'll stir your heart for the things that then burden his heart.

And and when you feel that and you sense that, then you can understand where it is.

Man can actually come up right now if they want, and uh, and I'm closing.

But I just want you to understand that there's purpose and there's destiny inside of you.

It's locked inside of you.

Now, if we are gonna complete what God has called us to, church, we've got to inspect what's going on inside of us individually, and then we've got to be able to look to see what's around us and who's around us, and that we've got the right circle, that we have the right people all around us, and then we've got to be prepared to go in and occupy, to go in and take ground.

Pastor Keith talked about that all this year, that we are taking ground.

We don't stop taking ground.

We don't stop.

You know why we don't stop?

Because the enemy doesn't stop.

The enemy is constantly taking ground.

It doesn't take much, all you have to do is just turn on the news.

Just turn on the news, and you will see that the enemy is constantly taking ground.

So, as people of the sovereign God of the universe, what are we doing?

What are we saying?

What is our impact?

Now, when I think about what allows us to continue to go forward, I can't help but also give you this that none of this that I even talked about today matters if we are not doing it first on a foundation that is Jesus.

He is our foundation.

You cannot inspect any of those areas without understanding that the temple, the foundation has to be Jesus.

The walls, the foundation has to be Jesus.

The house, the foundation has to be Jesus.

There is no scenario where Jesus is not the foundation.

I was actually just at a memorial service yesterday for a really good friend of mine.

And if I'm honest about you, about it, my heart is still broken.

It's still in a place that is trying to find mending, still in a place that's trying to figure out closure.

I tell myself all the time that that I'm good, that it's good, that it's great.

But you know what brings me the most closure?

You know what brings me joy?

True joy.

You know when it says in scripture, this joy I have, the world ain't give it, the world can't take it away.

You know what's true about it?

It's knowing that the person whose memorial I was at, it was a memorial for someone who I know personally received Jesus Christ as his Savior.

So in this moment, I don't know if that's you, but but but I can't, I get excited knowing that one day I'll see him again.

I get excited about it.

Now the truth of the matter is, what about for you?

What about for you?

Because if you inspect your walls and the right people are all around you, one day they want to see you too again.

And one day you want to see them again.

We are here on this earth, but just for a brief moment.

And and listen, Jesus, if you ever wondered, when I tell you this, he is real, he is more real than the clothes that you're wearing on your back.

He is real and he's a good father.

He's a friend to the friendless, he's a healer, he's a redeemer.

Whatever you are lacking, that is him to fill.

We try to fill all these gaps in our lives with the wrong things, and we come up short-handed every single time.

We wonder why we try to build ourselves, we wonder why all these self-help books sometimes don't help at all, even though that's their title.

Because sometimes we remove Jesus from the equation.

Sometimes we look at the friends in our lives and we wonder why we keep falling back to our old self.

It's because Jesus wasn't at the foundation.

Sometimes we can't figure out why we're just showing up to this place and that place, and it doesn't seem like we're getting any traction because we still failed to look at Jesus as being our foundation.

So I'm gonna give this opportunity right now for anybody who has that, because that is a burden on my heart for people all across this world who don't know Jesus.

And those of us in this room, we know him real well.

I can tell, I can feel it.

But maybe there's somebody in this room who doesn't, or maybe there's somebody in this room who wants to know him on a deeper level.

You know, I kind of chuckle because I can't help but think that Jesus is always the same, but it's like you always see a different side of him.

It never gets boring.

It's the relationship that not just keeps giving, it's the relationship that you find out that every time you're in something, he just there's something else to see in him.

There's a different side of him every step of the way.

So if you need that, then I'm gonna just pray for you, but then I'm also gonna pray for those of in here that just need to figure out well, what actually is my starting point.

My prayer is that from last week when Pastor Keith had talked about what's burdensome of our heart and being able to go before the king, I really do pray, and my sincere prayer is that you wrestled with that all week long to figure out what is that that's on my heart.

Some of you know what's on your heart, so I want to pray for you in that regard, but I also want to pray that we can look at some things internal, and when I say those structural issues, yes, I'm also talking mental health too.

You've gotta, it's the whole man that God is after.

We need to be whole, church.

I go to counseling, I love it.

First time I went, I was like, Do I just lay on the couch?

What do you want me to do?

Like, how long do I need to be here?

What are you gonna do?

But trust me, mental health is important.

It's not weird for every man in here.

Trust me, you will still be a man when you walk out.

If not, you will become a better man because now you can be able to kind of see what it is that was going on.

You can actually evaluate some structural integrity issues, some some structural issues inside.

So I'm gonna pray for that, and then I'll pray for all of us.

So if you can just pray with me, God, we love you and we praise you, God.

God, I pray for each and every last soul, God, that wants to dedicate or rededicate their life to you.

God, what we do, God, who we are, all that means nothing without you.

God, we are here, but for just a brief moment.

In fact, it's like a vapor, God.

We are we are here today, gone tomorrow.

But God, when we accept you in our heart, we begin to realize, God, that immediately, God, you meet us right where we are.

And God, that we will we will meet you, whether it be in the air or on the other side, as the old folks used to say, the other side of Jordan.

But God, what I do know is that every day with you, it's better than any day without you.

So, God, I pray right now for each and every soul that wants to dedicate or rededicate their life, God.

Your word says that if we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that we are saved, then we are that we are saved.

So, God, I thank you for every person that's saved.

God, I pray that that they that those individuals, God, that they that they begin to to get into community, God, where people can build them up and begin to protect them and begin to get them on the right track, God, because there is destiny for them.

So, God, in this room, God, I pray for each and every person under the sound of my voice, God, that wherever they are, God, whatever it is that they need to inspect, God, I pray that they can begin to do that starting today.

God, inspect their own selves from the inside out, God.

Inspect who's all around them, God.

Maybe even make some changes, God, but changes that will be able to give them a boost as they go on their journey.

So, God, I thank you for what you're doing.

I thank you for who you are, I thank you for how you built us up, God, and how you've caused us, God, to stand.

God, taking all to do, we stand, God.

Even when the enemy comes, God, what the Bible is so clear about, God, is that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him.

So, God, thank you for be letting us be a standard, God.

Come on, God, give us that ability, God, to represent you well, to be your ambassadors to every corner of this city and to the uttermost parts of this world, God.

We thank you, we love you, and we praise you, God.

Church, we're gonna go back into worship.

Let's have this moment and let God complete what it is that He already began.

Thanks again for listening.

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