Don’t Be A Drifter Nehemiah 13:6-31 Pastor Daniel Reese

Good morning. Good morning to all of you. If you have your Bibles, Nehemiah 13 is where

we're going to be. We're going to finish up our study of Nehemiah today. We've taken

eight themes that we found throughout this book and just tried to develop them over the

last couple months. And just so you know, I'm going to give it away real quick, just

so you know the book ends in a very peculiar way. What I mean by that is Nehemiah ends

in a way that a lot of independent films end. It's kind of always disastrous. The main

line movies that everybody watches, they all have a happy ending. But the ones that win

the Academy Awards that nobody actually saw is where everybody dies and the end is just

awful. That's kind of what we're looking at this morning. What happens in Nehemiah is

that things don't end on a high note. They end on a low note. And here's what Nehemiah

13 is going to do. If you're a Christian in here, it's going to tell us who we are. That's

what's going to happen. If you're not a believer in here, it'll help you understand our inconsistencies.

And what we've read and what we've learned in the book of Nehemiah to this point is that

the world is broken. Nobody really wants to argue with that. Nobody really can argue

with that. Whether you're secular or religious, everybody can look at the world around them

and go, okay, something's broken. Something's not right. What you think is wrong varies

from tribe to tribe, but everyone would agree that the world is broken at some level and

it needs some repair. What we've looked at from the book of Nehemiah is that we, as the

people of God, as the Christian church, as cornerstone, are to be a people of empathy

and compassion. We enter into the sorrows of others. We enter into the loss of others.

We care deeply about one another as believers in Christ, first and foremost, and then flowing

out of the walls of the church onto the rest of the world. We are people whose lives should

be marked by compassion. Then we're people who have a relationship with God. This should

be said of us as believers that we have a relationship with God. God is not just an

idea to us, but we have a relationship with God and that relationship works itself out

through the word of God and prayer. Then we are people who act upon our prayers. That

should be us. We are people who act upon our prayers. We're not just people who just sit

around and hope. We pray and then we act upon the prayers that we have prayed. We don't

just pray that God would encourage you, but we encourage you. Then from there we looked

at and learned there will be opposition towards us as the people of God. We should expect

it. We should be ready for it. Then from there we said that there will be a great need for

grace and mercy inside the household of faith because I'm not sure you know this or not,

but there's a lot of sinners in this room. There's a lot of sinners in this room which

means we shouldn't be surprised when somebody disappoints us. We shouldn't be surprised

that we need to extend mercy and grace. That we shouldn't be surprised that we need to

receive mercy and grace. What that means is we're not people who are perfect by any means.

But we are people who rest in the forgiveness of God. Then from there we looked at the fact

that we are a people defined by and directed by the Word of God. We are very serious about

the Scriptures. We don't pick and choose what we want from the Scriptures. We don't apologize

for that. It is what it says. The Bible is what it says it is. We are people of the Word.

We're shaped by the Word. We're guided by the Word. Directed by the Word of God. It's

a divine book. It's sacred literature for us which is why it should cause a response

in us. Then we said last week as we live to rebuild the broken world around us bringing

glory to God we are fueled by and empowered by the faithfulness of God towards us despite

our circumstances. What we've marveled at up to now at this point in EMI 13 what we're

going to find out about us is what's always been true about us as the people of God. We're

prone to do the same things over and over and over again. That's what we're looking

at this morning. Let's get to work. Tanner is going to read our passage this morning

out in EMI 13. He's going to pick it up in verse 4. I'd encourage you to stand if you're

able as we honor the Lord's Word together. Now before this, Elisha the priest who was

appointed over the chambers of the house of our God and who was related to Tobiah prepared

for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense,

the vessel and the tithes of grain, wine and oil which were given by commandment to the

Levite singers and gatekeepers in the contributions for the priests. While this was taking place

I was not in Jerusalem for in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the

king and after some time I asked leave of the king and came to Jerusalem and then I discovered

the evil that Elisha had done for Tobiah. I prepared for, had done for Tobiah preparing

for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God and I was very angry and I threw all

the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I gave orders and they cleansed

the chamber and I brought back there the vessel of the house of God and with the grain offering

in the frankincense. Amen. Good job buddy. Let's pray Father we're so grateful for Tanner

and I love how you're growing him and I love how you're developing him and I pray that

you continue to give him a strong desire to know you and your word. I pray Father as we

look at this text that you'll speak to our hearts that we will be able to see ourselves

in this passage. So God we give you this time. Your name we pray. Amen. Thanks buddy. So here's

what Tanner just read. Here's what has just occurred. It's Nehemiah as he's going through

this book, as he's going through rebuilding the wall he sets up these reforms. Alright.

People are serious about God. They're following God. They've lined themselves up back up with

obedience to God. So he sets all this thing up. Then he heads back to King Artaxerxes

800 miles away. The king of Persia. He heads back to his kingdom and then while he's there

for a while then he comes back to Jerusalem and when he gets back to Jerusalem he realizes

that so many of the reforms that he put into place have become brittle if they haven't already

begun to fall apart completely. And if you don't remember Tobiah he had actively worked

against the reforms of Nehemiah since the beginning. In fact in Nehemiah chapter 6,

Nehemiah 6 · chapter mention

Tobiah actually hired a false prophet to prophesy to Nehemiah that God had told him that Nehemiah

would be murdered and that he should leave. And so Tobiah has been undermining the people

of God and the seriousness about pursuit of God amongst God's people. He's actively working

against them. So Nehemiah leaves and then we have one of the caretakers of the house

of God making a house for Tobiah in the middle of the house of God. Clearing out aspects

of worship to God in order to make room for a man who's actively working against the things

of God. That brings me to the first point, which we are all prone to drift. Check in on

us at any point in history. Check in on us here today. We all have a tendency over a

period of time to grow less and less serious about holiness. We tend to allow things into

our lives that shape us in a way that does not motivate us towards God but rather pulls

us away from God. We have a tendency to allow things in our lives that are kind of morally

neutral, that do not have good effects on us in regard to our relationship with God

and our desire to know Him better and follow Him. For the most part, what's going on, what's

going to get us most isn't some horrific thing. Most of us aren't struggling with heroin.

That's not where most of us struggle. It'll be in these morally neutral areas. That thing

that isn't blatantly evil or wrong, but for whatever reason, we give it room in our hearts

and it distracts us and it pulls us away from the things of God. There are morally neutral

things in your life and in my life that rob us of our affections for Jesus Christ. What

happens is over a period of time, as we make room for these things in our lives, rather

than being serious about eradicating those things or keeping those things in check, we

drift away from holiness. God has been very gracious to us in this drift. In fact, again,

if you check in on us at any point in Christian history, you will find us to be people who

were prone to drift away from holiness. God gives us a couple of things to help us. He

knows this is our tendency and so He's given us a few things to help us avoid this drift.

One is the Word of God. The reason you have the Scriptures in your lap. This reason you

have the Word of God on your device right now is once again so that God might guide

you. But that's not all that He gives us. He also gives us a community of faith. He

has given us the Word of God and He has given us each other, which is why we lay before

you all the time. It's not good for you just to show up here on the weekend. You will not

pull from the community of faith. What you should be pulling from the community of faith

is sermons and songs are all that you're getting. We need one another and we need one

another honestly. We don't need perfect you. In fact, that's the last thing we need. The

last thing we need as a church is perfect you. The one who's all put together. The one

who never struggles. Like where cape right? The Christian that never has a doubt whose

marriage is perfect. Whose kids obey you with just a look. Some of you all are out there.

I don't know how you do it. But reality is we need honest you. We need you. I'm telling

you, one of the greatest paradoxes of the Christian faith is that our weaknesses edify

and encourage one another to greater holiness. Our weaknesses edify and encourage one another

to greater holiness. Isn't that strange? It's strange that strengths or perceived strengths

can actually at times hinder growth in the things of God. Whereas honest weaknesses have

a way of stirring us towards greater holiness, creating safe places for us to experience

the grace of God. This is what God has given to you in our tendency to lack seriousness

about holiness. We have this thing where we drift from holiness and we don't think we're

doing anything wrong. Because whatever we're struggling with isn't necessarily bad, but

it's robbing you of your affections for Christ. Over time that's going to help us drift. Let's

keep reading. This is verse 10. I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not

been given to them. So that the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled each

to his field. So I confronted the officials and said, why is the house of God forsaken?

I gathered them together and set them in their stations. Then all Judah brought the tithe

of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses. And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses

Shalmaia, the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pidea of the Levites. And as their assistant,

Hainan the son of Zekor, son of Mataniah, for they were considered reliable and their

duty was to distribute to the brothers. Remember me, oh my God, concerning this. And do not

wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service. Okay,

this is going to sound self-serving. But I'll try to turn it at the end so it doesn't, maybe.

It's one of those awkward times where I just have to handle the text. The second way that

we as people of God, as the church historically are prone to drift out of safe waters and

into dangerous waters is over a period of time we drift from godly biblical authority.

Let me read you a verse about the church that will sound so counter cultural and so strange

that it might kind of rub your heart the wrong way. I want you to pay attention to how this

verse sounds to you so that you might see if some drift is occurring in your life.

In Hebrews 13 verse 17 it says, have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority.

Hebrews 13:17

Now we're going to finish reading this verse, but I want to lay this before you. Nobody joins

a church based on that verse. No one. No one reads that verse and says, oh, I got to get

plugged into a church. People join churches like this. Oh, I love the music. That guy

makes me laugh. But the Bible just said when it comes to joining a church, you are submitting

to and agreeing to obey the elders of that church. The word obey sounds crazy, doesn't

it? Nobody thinks that when they join a church, I'm going to obey the men that God has placed

over my care. When they weigh in on wisdom or my life, I'm going to obey. I'm going to

submit. When they preach and proclaim the word of God, I'm going to obey. I'm going

to submit. Nobody thinks that way anymore. In fact, if we do something they don't like

or try to weigh in on their lives, we'll just find another church that will stay out of

our business. That's what is tending to happen in our culture today. Do you see how that

puts you in harm's way? What the Bible says about the people of God, particularly those

who are Christians who have joined this church, is what you have to do is obey and submit.

But listen, there's far more weight on the elders than there is on you. Watch this. So

this is have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority because they keep

watch over you as those who must give an account. So here's what the word of God has just said.

You are to obey and submit if you're a covenant member and we are as elders of this church

held accountable for how we cared for you. That's terrifying to me. I think about this

verse often. I have to stand in front of God with the elders of this church and give an

account for how we shepherded you, how we cared for you, how we laid tracks for you,

how we held you accountable, how we stirred your affections for Christ, and whether or

not we served you or just leached off of you. Then the verse continues, do this so that

their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. This is

a great turn on words here. He's like, it's no advantage to you. It's no advantage to

you as a member of this church. If you beat your leaders down so badly, they're like,

gosh, I hate this job, but I'm going to remain faithful to what God has called me to. It's

no advantage to you if a pastor has a long list of people he wished God would take home.

It's no advantage to you if you're on a death list in your pastor's office because you beat

him down and nag him to death. Now, I just want to tease this out a little bit more for

you. Enough that I would say this. It is God's will and command that you find a church and

join it. This, I love Jesus, but not the church nonsense has to stop. I feel bold enough to

say that I believe that if you are not a member of a local congregation, you are walking in

disobedience. I'm not saying you're not a Christian, but I am saying you're in sin.

And I want to say this, we're not doing some sort of membership drive here this morning.

We're not having a membership push here today, all right? I'm not going. So membership class

in a few weeks, y'all join. What I'm saying is find somewhere that's serious about the

Word of God, that's serious about caring for your soul, a group of men and women who are

willing to pour themselves out for your benefit and join. There are no perfect churches. And

if that's what you're holding out for, you're going to be holding out forever. It's in most

of us, a rebellious spirit that would have us not joining anywhere, not belonging anywhere.

See the thing about attendance and not belonging is you can control it. That's why you like

to do that. You like control. Nobody's going to tell you about your business. But what

good is the church if we have no right to get in your business and you have no right

to get in ours? Do you see how you even short circuit all that God has done for you and

calling you to be a part of his people? We've so individualized this thing that we've heard

ourselves. We are prone to kick against godly biblical leadership throughout history. They

hated the prophets. They hated Christ. They hated many of the New Testament leaders. And

to this day you have people who treat the church like an ecclesiological buffet. We take what

we like from this church and then we take what we like from that church and we take what

we like from that church. We have a drift in that way. Let's keep going to the third place

we have a tendency to drill. Verse 15. In those days I saw in Judah people treading

wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys

and also wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads which they brought into Jerusalem

on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. Tyrion's also who

lived in the city brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath

to the people of Judah in Jerusalem itself. Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and

said to them, what is this evil thing that you were doing profanying the Sabbath day?

Did not your fathers act in this way and did not our God bring all this disaster on us

and on the city? Now here's real quick. Here's what's important to know. I'm saying we've

always had a tendency to do this. Do you see what Nehemiah is doing here? Just in that

passage. He's saying, didn't our fathers do this? Didn't Solomon do this? Haven't we

done this before? Haven't we had to have this conversation before? Haven't we already

seen what happens when we drift from God like this? And here we are looking at Nehemiah.

Years of years later and Nehemiah is pointing a thousand years before him and he's saying,

hey, haven't we played this game before? Do you see how this is consistent? Now let's

keep reading verse 18. Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profanying the Sabbath.

As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded

that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after

the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates that no load might be brought

in on the Sabbath day. Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside

of Jerusalem once or twice. But I warned them and I said to them, why do you lodge outside

the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you. How great is that? How great is that?

I want to put that in our church covenant. If you do that again, I'm going to lay hands

on you. It's biblical. It's biblical. Keep going. From that time on, they did not come

on the Sabbath. So it works, right? Verse 22. Then I commanded the Levites that they

should purify themselves and come and guard the gates to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember

this also in my favor. Oh my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast

love. So much, so much of what the Sabbath is, is lost on us in 2024. But here's where

we're prone to drift. And this is significant. We are prone to drift by doing rather than

being. I'll try to explain that. The Sabbath was woven into the fabric of how God created

the universe to work. Because you and I, just by our nature, are going to try to earn what

can't be earned. There's something in me that happens when I complete tasks. When I can

check something off, there's this kind of euphoric feeling, right? Now, I'm sure we've all experienced

it. Have I just accomplished something spectacular? This thing occurs in my soul. And here's what

happens. It doesn't take long for me to then, in turn, become enslaved to those things.

Now I have to turn those things in. I have to get those things done because my whole

identity is caught up in that thing. I have to preach my best sermon every weekend. I

have to be the best husband possible. And now I'm carrying all the weight of what is

impossible. And I am crushed and I'm owned by any and all failures. What God just says

to remind us because we're dumb is once a week, stop and just be. Once a week, stop

and just be. Your identity isn't in those things. Your identity isn't me. Your identity

isn't in what you can accomplish or what you can get done or how you can clean yourself

up or whether or not you're doing this or doing that. Your identity is found in the

adopting work in Jesus Christ. That's what the Sabbath is for. We have a tendency to

forget that. Almost all of us do. We have a tendency to forget that. In fact, most of

us have a default movement of trying to perpetually clean ourselves up so that God might approve

of us. So that God might find favor in us. The Sabbath is going to step right in to that

line of thinking. It's going to step right into that nonsense and God screams from the

heavens, stop. Just stop. And I've said the same thing to you since I've been here. He

doesn't love the future version of you. He does not love the future version. That's not

what he's wild about. You 10 years from now is not who God loves and who is who is rescued.

You right now is who he loves and who is rescued. That's what makes grace so amazing. For you

to go, oh, I got to quit cussing. Okay, I think you should grow in that. I think it's

a good thing to grow in a way of expressing yourself that's not vulgar. That's growth.

That's good. But that doesn't rescue you before God. Well, I have a real problem with lust

and pornography. Well, I think it's a very good thing for you to pursue holiness in that

matter and be serious about the devastation that's going to reap in your heart. It's going

to reap in your marriage. It's going to reap in future relationships if you're not careful.

But you no longer viewing pornography does not save you. Well, I have a real drug and

alcohol problem. Okay, I hear that. I hear you. That's something we definitely want

to see God work in in your life. But you being clean in addiction does not make you accepted

before God. It is by his blood and righteousness alone that you were saved. It's by his blood

and righteousness alone that you are saved. And the Sabbath screams out, stop, just be,

my son, be my daughter. I love you now. We need to let that seep into our heart. My experience

has been like a father who neglects his family in order to buy them trinkets and toys is

we will neglect our relationship with God in order to try to serve him and get things

done for him. And then that that takes all the delight out of ministry because then it

becomes duty bound. And really, when all is said and done harms what makes our relationship

with God flourish. So one of the things you and I have a tendency to do is is drift toward

doing rather than being. It's why we need to continually be reminded of the gospel of

Jesus Christ. We need to just be who God created us to be. We just need to stop, stop

trying to earn, stop trying to outwork him, just be. Then one more drift here I want us

to talk about and we'll conclude our time together verse 23. In those days also I saw

the Jews who had married women of a shot, amen and Moab and half of their children spoke

the language of a shot. And they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the

language of each people. And I confronted them and curse them and beat them, beat some

of them and pulled out their hair. Hello. Yes, please. Right. I was reading through

that as I was getting prepared for Nehemiah and I was like, I'd like to do a whole sermon

just on that verse, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it. Just in case any of you

are overzealous, this is not your life verse. All right. Let's be careful with that. Well,

they were being disobedient. So I ripped out their hair and beat them. Let's keep going.

And I made them take an oath in the name of God saying, you shall not give your daughters

to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Did not Solomon,

king of Israel, sin on account of such women? So here again, he's, he's referring backwards.

Haven't we already done this? Haven't we already been here? Haven't we already made this mistake

yet? Yeah, here we are today making the same mistakes again. Keep going. Among the many

nations there was no king like him and he was beloved by his God and God made him king

over all of Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. Shall we then

listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying

foreign women and one of the sons of Jehoida, the son of Elisha, the high priest was the

son-in-law of Sambalot the Horde. Now you should remember him, right? He was with Tobiah in

the beginning when we started this thing, working against the reforms of God. He says,

therefore I chased him from me. Remember them. Oh my God, because they have desecrated the

priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Thus I cleansed them from

everything foreign and I established the duties of the priests and Levites each in his work

and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me.

Oh my God, for good. So do you, do you see what I mean by this book just ends in a strange

way? He literally shows up, beats half the nation and then the book is over. Let me give

you the fourth drift. The fourth drift that occurs to us historically and to this day

is all of us have a tendency to get very nearsighted and lazy about the things of God. This text

historically speaking was used to preach against interracial marriage. That's how this text was

used. That was an ignorant, foolish hermeneutic. I don't quite even know how they really milked

that out of this passage because it's absolutely not there. This is about inviting into your life

cultures that are adamantly opposed to the things of God. That's what's taking place here. This is

not a black man shouldn't marry a white woman or a Hispanic woman should marry a black man or a

black woman shouldn't marry a white man. That's not what this text is about. It's not what's

happening. He's saying you have invited cultures into the covenant community of faith that are

adamantly opposed to the things of God. And we have this tendency to drift in that way. If you're

in a place, if you're in a place where God is moving in you, he's growing in you, you're growing in

your knowledge of the word and you're finding your marriage and relationship with Jesus Christ

flourishing, I think it would be a foolish thing for you to do to take a job somewhere else for

more money where you're not sure you'd have those things. One is a short-sighted mindset and one is

long-sighted. If you found a place of care where you're growing to leave that spiritual care and

that spiritual vibrancy for another 10 or 20 grand a year in order to get a little bit of a nicer

car, maybe a little bit of a bigger house is short-sighted and foolish. Again, we don't have

categories for that in our day and age. This is one of the reasons why the church is so weak. There's

a kind of laziness that occurs over a period of time when it comes to the people of God. They're

not serious about the things of God and they're lackadaisical in their approach to growing in

holiness. Now none of this, none of this should feel like a heavy weight, a heavy burden to you

because it's actually God just outing you. It should be a bit comfortable. It should feel

comfortable. Oh good, he already knows I'm lazy. Like there's some rest in that. Or we're not having

to pretend. Why I started this sermon saying this will cause us to marvel at who God is is because

God has always known this about his people and yet the text says he's steadfast. He's long suffering.

He hears their cries. He delivers them from evil. He rescues them and despite the fact that all of

us are on this list over and over and over again. God still declares, I know, I know I've made a path

for you. I've granted forgiveness to you. So you and I mature, you and I rebuild. We actively walk in

the world one day at a time, one day at a time. There are no steroid shots in regards to growing

and godliness. There's not a magic pill you can take. It's a day in, day out, living for God in

the full knowledge that God has given me all that I need to be obedient to him today, to what he has

called me to today. He's already given it to us. It's understanding that and knowing that. I don't

know how you work. But if I begin to think about what I have to accomplish this month, what I have

to accomplish this week, if I look at all the things that are coming up, I'll begin to stress out

and not sleep real well. My mind has a hard time shutting down and so when I'm looking at all these

things that need to get done and not resting in who he is, I'll begin to stress out. So really,

my encouragement to you, my encouragement to all of us today is what needs to be done today? What

needs to be done today? What steps of faith need to be taken today? I do not believe that you can

fix you. So if you're going, I'm kind of lazy when it comes to the things of God. What I'm saying is

take steps. Take steps. Those steps don't fix you. They don't fix you, but they put you in some

positions to experience the grace and mercy that God is offering you. If you're struggling with

addiction, get into recovery. That's a step. If you've been lazy about getting connected, then sign up

for a small group. If you've just been showing up here week after week and you have, you know nobody's

first name, then take a step and get to know somebody. Most people here are friendly. The ones

that aren't laughing avoid those people, right? But what I'm saying is those steps, they're not going

to fix you. They're not going to fix you. The only thing that you're better at than jacking up your

life is you trying to fix your life. It's the only thing you're better at. You can't fix you, but you

can take steps that will allow God to move powerfully in your life. So my question is what steps need

to be taken? Since God is clearly warning us, my people have a tendency to do this. Throughout all

of Christian history, my people have a tendency to walk in this way, then we should take to heart

these things and we should consider how we might position ourselves in a better place to experience

the grace and mercy of God in a way that's life giving, that increases our vitality and energy in

our faith, that we might be serious about the things of God, not like a day's ago, but serious. Not

that those things don't really matter, but how can we, how can you take seriously the steps of

faith and the things of God? So many of us are procrastinators, right? Well, I'll start on Monday.

I'll start after the first of the year. I'll get serious then. And we put a date on our calendar,

we put a start on our calendar saying this is when this thing is going to begin in me,

this is when this thing is going to start in me, and then what ends up happening is life.

And life distracts us and that date goes on the calendar. And then we set another date. What I'm

asking you, God has warned us, my people have a tendency to do these things. They have a tendency

to drift from these things. What steps can you take today? If you're not taking seriously holiness,

what steps can you take today to do that? If you're struggling with biblical,

godly authority, what steps can you take today? If you have a hard time taking a day off and not

just doing something, what commitment can you make to yourself today so that you can just be?

And just where have you been lazy? Where have you been lazy? Where have you put things that are

morally neutral ahead of godly things? What steps can you take? And so I'm going to pray for us.

That is it for the book of Nehemiah. We're constantly in this mode of rebuilding. We're

trying to rebuild how God created us to be. And so I hope it's been encouraging to you. I hope

it's been edifying to you. But once again, we're not just people who pray. We're people who act

upon our prayers. So what are you asking God for? And what steps are you going to take? So I'm

going to pray. Our worship team will come and lead us in a couple more songs this morning.

And however the Lord speaks to you, will you walk in obedience? Let's pray. Father, I pray right now

that as we stop and as we worship, as you speak, I pray, Father, that you will soften our hearts to

hear you. I pray that we will not be thinking about this person or that person, but we'll be

thinking about our own selves and how we are prone to drift. I pray you reveal that to us.

Revealing us any ways, any things that are robbing us of our affections for you. And I pray, Father,

that as you speak, it will be made clear that the path that you have made for us, that we will walk

in obedience down that path. So maybe we need to lay something down today. But Father, I pray that we

will be a people of action. That today we will all take steps of faith to take holiness more

seriously. To take the things that you have offered us more seriously. That we will find rest in this

place today. So Father, I give you this time. We ask you to move. Turn in your prayer. Amen.