Skip to content The Secret Sauce to Satisfaction: Work and Worship - Nehemiah, Part 12 Apr 27 · 50 min ...more
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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You are listening to Waters Church podcast. Waters Church is a multisite, multigeneration community of faith on the East Coast of America. Now for a message from our pastor.0:13 Nehemiah part 12. We're back in the book of Nehemiah. And I was just kinda kidding around when I was reading those names. The names are, you know, they're heavy to read because they're old ancient names, but I have0:24 thoroughly enjoyed teaching you this book. I don't know if you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed teaching it, but it's been a wonderful privilege to teach you this book and just to go chapter by chapter, verse by0:34 verse. But I wanna talk to you on the subject of work and worship, the secret sauce to satisfaction. Work0:47 and worship. Somebody say work and worship. Work worship. And then take out your notes. They look like this in all of our locations. I want you to fill in the blanks and follow along. And if you do not have paper notes0:56 or if you're watching us online, we want you to go to waters church dot guide. It looks like that on your app or on your computer, and then you can click on today's message and you fill out the blanks digitally that1:08 way. I know I know that there are some people who say, don't wanna talk about work on Sunday. You know, that's Monday. In the words of the great theologian, the Bengals, Sunday is1:20 my fun day. My I don't have to run day. Please don't bring up manic Monday. But I I think that you have to understand and hear it from me that God1:31 is not against work, And that's actually a very, important part of our lives. You will spend 86000 hours of your life working. 86000 hours.1:43 If you put it all together back to back, 86000 hours adds up to 10 and a half years. A decade or more of your life will be spent at the job.1:55 And when I look at the scriptures, I I realize that God is not apt at all against work. Some of you hate work, and I'm gonna tell you why you hate work is because work2:07 has been cursed. Some of you are like, that's not news for me, pastor. My work, I yes. It's cursed. In fact, when I go to work, I curse to prepare for the curse that is work. But2:19 work is cursed because of sin. God put Adam in the garden to work it. Genesis 2 15, it is not a curse to work, but work has been cursed because of2:30 sin. Sin brings 3 emotions to all of our hearts. Just let me know, you know, you don't have to raise your hand, but you know this. Every 1 of us feels this. 3 results of the curse of sin. Guilt, shame,2:42 fear. Guilt, I'm not where I should be. Shame, I need to cover myself. I need to cover for myself my mistakes. I need to make myself appear better than I am. And fear, I'm afraid that God is not gonna provide. I2:54 don't know if I'm gonna pay the bills. I don't know if I'm gonna make it. How do I make ends meet? Those 3 things were not supposed to be part of your existence. Those were introduced because of the eating of the tree of3:04 the knowledge of good and evil. So we're we're dealing with the frustration of this culture, the the frustration of creation. It is subjected, Romans 8 says, to frustration. If you've ever been frustrated at work,3:16 that's because of the curse. You were you were actually supposed to thrive at work. You were supposed to really produce with absolute harmony and the presence3:27 of God in your job. And I I think some of us need to hear this. You've never maybe put this together before, but whenever God shows up3:39 to call somebody, I've noticed this, He shows up at their workplace. Some of you think you gotta go to church to get to meet with God. God is not limited to meeting with you in the3:51 church. He'll go and find you at your work. Adam was a gardener. The original the first occupation was landscaping.4:03 Gardening. That's what his job was. When God wants to restart, well actually, yeah, no. When God wants to restart, he hires himself a carpenter named Noah. Noah's4:15 a builder, builds the ark. He he turns from builder to sailor. These are multiple, occupation people. God calls Abraham. Abraham is a shepherd, but he's also a4:27 war, a warrior. He fights a war and he wins that war. And then his son is a shepherd and his son is a shepherd. And and I don't know if you've ever heard of a guy named David, but but David was a mighty man of4:38 God who was called by God to great things to become a king. But where was he called? He was called when he was in the field watching over his father's4:50 sheep. His other brothers were vying for the kingship. He's out in the field watching his father's sheep. By the way, some of you are there or you need to get there and5:02 I believe this, when you're young, you should be in the game of side hustling. Nothing wrong with a side hustle.5:14 And in fact, David, I believe, is the first official side hustler. Because the scripture says that God called him when he was in the sheepfold watching his father's sheep. He is anointed king. He's got the oil5:26 dripping down his face. The next scene, he's in Saul's castle playing the harp. He's he's this hired musician. That's his side5:38 hustle. He goes back to watching the sheep. The scripture says he goes back and forth between his father's house and the king's castle, the throne room of Saul. Meanwhile, he's anointed. You need to learn5:50 to serve God in the low places even when you've got the anointing on your life. See, the anointing is not for you to get on Instagram and brag about all you got.6:03 That's posing. That's not producing. Get into the business of humbly serving wherever God has you. Then he picks up a second,6:15 a second side hustle. Because the bible says that his brothers go to war with Saul and you know what leads David to the valley of Allah where he actually sees and hears Goliath and then he takes him on and6:27 beats. Do you know what set that moment up? His father goes out to the sheepfold and says, I've got some bread and cheese. I need you to bring this to your brothers at the front line. So he picks up another side. I6:39 want you to know, before he was ever king, before he was ever a warrior, before he ever slayed Goliath, David was doing Uber Eats.6:52 Nothing wrong with any of that. We've got a problem in our culture. It's a work problem. A a couple of weeks ago, I talked to you about the fact that we had a we have7:04 a revival going on. And this is not just Waters Church, this is globally, the church is on the rise. The worship problem is being solved.7:17 Young and especially, this is the greatest part about it, the gen z are making up a large portion of this revival. I'm so thankful7:29 college age kids. You're coming out of the woodwork to worship Jesus. But there's a problem in the generation of gen7:40 z. I read about it in the Wall Street Journal. It's called the disengaged generation. And and you're coming to God. But look, you gotta understand that God wants to accept you, but then but then sends you out into7:52 the workforce. So let's add to the work of God in your life and remind you that God pours into you so that you can leave here filled up and you can pour out to other people8:04 all week long. Come on, somebody. Either there's a group of people, individuals aged 15 to 24 who are classified as NEETs, n e e t. This it stands for not in employment8:16 education or training. And in 19 89, our country reached a high watermark for workplace participation at 80 percent. That meant 80 percent of working age8:28 people were working in 19 89. It has slid in all the way down to 60 percent as of 20 24. There's a disengagement happening8:40 with work. And I and I got news for you. You're made to work. See, the culture is gonna come to you and tell you that it's easy. It's not easy.8:54 I my heart goes out to young people. I have 2 in my home that are in that transitionary stage, and I don't know if you remember this parents. I remember that it was really hard9:07 to get out of being educated and then to get into the workforce. You you feel like a freshman all over again, only that that freshman year is more like 5 to 7 years. You know what I'm talking about? And nobody9:19 believes in you, and you gotta prove your worth, and you don't get paid enough, you don't make ends meet, that's why you pick up side hustles, that's why you do other things, because you gotta pay the bills. And the9:29 culture has been lying to our young people for generations, go to college, get the degree, and you'll and you'll and you'll live the American dream. And what our young people have realized is that you go to college and9:39 you get in debt. And now you're enslaved. And then you think about it, like, I could have bought a house for that money. Now I have a degree in gender studies. What do I do?9:51 That's I guess I'll go serve coffees at Starbucks. That's And then the politicians come along and say, don't worry, we'll pay off your loans for you. This is a Ponzi scheme that has been10:03 pushed upon young people, and I'm calling on you young people. Listen to me. God wants to empower you here so that you can be blessed out there, but it's not gonna happen without a work attitude10:15 and a hustle culture and to know that God is for you. No man can be against prosper you, but you gotta get engaged in the business of work. Nothing wrong with that.10:27 Nothing wrong with it at all. There's a cycle that God has set up. It's a cycle that he actually lived out in the first chapter of the bible. God Genesis chapter 1, the bible opens. God goes to work. He10:39 creates. He separates. He names. Oh, by the way, after he creates 7 times in the book of Genesis chapter 1, 7 times it says, and10:51 God saw that it was good. And there's this rhythm. This rhythm of investment and reflection. Investment and reflection. This is what you're made to do. Go out there and11:03 do something, then look back on it and celebrate that you did something. A lot of our depression, this is the cycle of depression and anxiety for young people, you you go to your boss and you say, I need a mental health11:14 day, and then you take the mental health day, and then you don't work. And you get on your phone, come on, let's be honest, you get on your phone and you and you doomscroll all day, and then your mental health is worse,11:24 and you go back to work, and you're more depressed than ever before. Some of our problems is because we're just not busy enough. There's an old adage that's not in the bible, but I believe it's true, the idol's hands11:36 are the devil's what? Playground. Young men, the worst thing that you could have is too much time on your hands. You you wanna gotta pick up another job. You gotta pick up extra hours. Get yourself11:48 busy. Don't give yourself time to think. You don't need time to think. You need time to work and increase and develop yourself. Work in the job, work on yourself, develop11:59 yourself, strengthen yourself. I thank God for the jobs that I had that had nothing to do. I thought, I thought, had nothing to do with this job. My first foray into work, I12:11 was 14 years old when I started working. 14. It can be done, you will survive. This is back when we actually expected people to grow up.12:24 And and I worked and my friends, they went to, you know, all kinds of parties and they had all kinds of things after school. I was working and I hated this job. And I worked at a job where everybody in the company was12:35 related and I was the only outsider. I even wondered why did they hire me? They all hated me. They all mocked me. I kid I was bullied in that facility. I was They would lock me in storage rooms for a whole day.12:47 This is not a joke. I'm not lying. This was my first foray into work. It was miserable. I hate it. And I look back and I thought, I for many years, I thought it was trauma. No. It wasn't trauma. It was training.13:00 You you need to learn. See, I I was I was bullied and locked into a closet by those people in my first job because God knew that 1 day13:11 I'd have to deal with church people in this job.13:24 Not that you people bully me. No. I bully you. Come on somebody. I bully you right into Jesus. Okay? Don't leave here and leave with that. That's just a joke.13:36 Got got out of got out of high school, went to college, had to wait tables, bus tables, clean up other people's junk, nasty, did it for years. I kinda like that job and13:48 I I I remember I I worked with some middle aged women who are also hater waitresses. You you know, I had to learn, keep my eyes off of lady because they got a little14:00 frisky. A little frisky. The good news is that they weren't that attractive, so it was pretty easy to just keep my eye. I'm not in I'm sorry. I'm not interested in you. Delilah, you just walk your way. I'll14:12 walk this way. They would ask after sheriff. They'd ask me, Tim, have a drink. They would call me father Tim. Father Tim. Because they knew I was studying for ministry. Come and have a drink with them. I'm set. I'm all14:22 set. I I heard about a guy named water Potiphar who had a wife named Potiphar who tried to dissuade Jacob, Joseph, from his part from his purpose. I don't I don't wanna give my attention to14:34 wayward women, and the Lord taught me how to do that. But then I thought about it. You I was feeding people food and paying attention to customers' needs, and I was standing up and doing this job and I didn't realize14:45 that it was training for 1 day standing in front of you and not feeding you physical bread, but heavenly bread and giving you the menu of heaven and bringing you what you need. My14:56 friends, listen to me. Your workplace, especially young people, it's not trauma, it's training. It's good for you. And your parents are all15:08 thanking God I'm saying this right now. Because frankly, they want you out of the house. And they won't say it, but I'll say it for them. God goes to work. He calls workers into15:20 his ministry. Jake, Joseph was a worker in the Potiphar's house, in the prison house, and then ultimately in the palace. But you can't get to15:32 your palace without going through prison. We live in a generation that expects the palace immediately. Doesn't work that way. You know, I was watching the15:44 NFL draft this week, and I was captivated by the fall of Shadur Chanders. I was captivated. This guy was supposed to go number 2, number 3 overall. He went in the15:56 fifth round. It was, him, humiliating. But then I looked at his Instagram, and I looked at his ex, and I saw every other post was legendary legendary legendary legendary legendary. That's like his phrase, and he built16:06 himself a draft room to celebrate being drafted, and and and and I'm thinking to myself, you know what? Maybe falling for him could be the best thing that ever happened to him. To bring him to that place of16:18 humility because calling yourself legendary before you've worked, not a good idea. Maybe the Lord's trying to chisel away some arrogance to bring16:29 him to a place of humble dependence on God. How many know that's a good place? And in your life too, let God chisel you. God goes to work. Genesis chapter 2 sums it up and says this, and he rested16:41 on the seventh day and he creates this cycle. Work 6, rest 7. This is written into the law. Exodus 20 verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day. You work 6 days. Now how many days does America tell us to16:53 work? How many days? 5. And I think even after the COVID pandemic, some of us are, like, down to 2 and a half. We still haven't recovered. I I I I just I you know, we've17:05 lost we lost a lot of people to COVID, and they didn't die. They haven't come back yet. You know who17:17 they are. They're in the car alone with a mask on. That's who these people are. It's 20 25. You're still wearing a mask. They're they're still under the cloud17:29 of that insane season in history where we were lied to and deceived, and they shut down our what?17:41 Work. Ain't it amazing? That's what they shut down. How many people lost businesses? Lost their jobs? Lost their livelihood? It was an attack. You see, sometimes the enemy17:53 attacks you by taking your work. And I I just I feel bad about it, but 6 days we're supposed to work. 6. So if you're working 5 and you're in debt, you need the18:05 sixth day. Are you hearing this? I'm about to end that Gen Z revival right now. They're not coming back to church. You pick up that sixth day18:17 hustle. I thought about most of my teen and twenties were working 2 jobs, and there's nothing wrong with that. Ministry for me was my side18:28 hustle. When I first broke into ministry after graduating college, I suddenly woke up to the realization that nobody wanted to hire a 21 year old kid full time to be a pastor.18:40 And so I had to work as a at a bank, my day job, and I gave my nights to youth ministry, and I did that for 6 years. For 618:52 years, I did this. I thought at the time it was trauma. It wasn't trauma. It was Praying. Come on. Taking on more responsibility, being able to be, you know, in 2 places in in a week19:04 and and learning how to navigate all the intricacies of working with pagans and then dealing with young teenagers and dealing with all that kind of it just trained me to take on more. Listen.19:15 If you're feeling like you don't have enough to do, it's because you don't have enough to do. And you gotta ask God or intentionally get yourself before you're done with church,19:27 download the Uber app and get yourself a side hustle. And start paying off some bills, paying off some loans, and get yourself free. The borrower is slave to the19:38 lender, and get yourself free from that so that you can flourish later in life. Gotta set your thirties up with your twenties. This is a life skill that no 1 will tell19:50 you. And and that's why the church exists. We'll tell you what other people won't tell you. So you're meant to rest, but you're also meant to work. You're meant to cease and stop and worship God as in the law. 6 days20:01 work, but then the seventh day you honor God and you worship him and then you go back to work. This is the cycle you're meant to live in. But you rest 1, you work 7, and these things20:13 are meant to go together. Write this down so we can set set a table for us today. Without worship, work is draining, but without work, worship is dead. Both go together.20:26 If you're all work, be prepared to be stressed out, wiped out, and drained. But, and this might sound crazy coming from20:38 a preacher, I love that you're here. I love Sunday morning. But in about 45 minutes, I'm gonna tell you, get out. You can't stay here.20:51 You're you're not meant to live in this place. This place has a specific purpose in your life, to fuel you up so that21:02 what you get here can be carried out there. James said it like this, faith or worship without works is what?21:14 It's dead. It's it doesn't matter what happens here if it doesn't get carried out there. So I say all that to say this, that there is this moment in Nehemiah 12 where the21:26 work of rebuilding the wall is done. And now, they have to dedicate the wall. And when they do, the scripture says in Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 43, they get up there and they21:38 offer sacrifices. And look at this, they rejoice. God had made them rejoice with what? Great joy. You picking up a theme here? Rejoice. Great joy. Then notice21:50 this, the women and children also rejoice. You got the picture here where the men, the women, and the children were all rejoicing at the same time. Man, Disney World can't even do22:01 that. And they do this when the wall, the work is done and the joy was heard far away. Now to understand the book of Nehemiah, which if you're new22:13 here, let me give you the synopsis of Nehemiah. Israel had been punished by God because they disobeyed him. So that so what God does is22:25 he brings the Babylonians into their land. This is in 5 86 BC. The Babylonians come in, they wipe out the land, they destroy their temple, tear down their walls, and carry their young men and women off22:38 into exile. And Jeremiah is a prophet around that time, and he says, this is gonna last for 70 years. And just like clockwork, there's a king who is in charge of22:50 a nation called empire called Persia named Darius I'm Cyrus, and Cyrus writes an edict saying, 70 years later, the Jews can go back and they can23:01 rebuild their nation, their temple, their their livelihood. This is unheard of in the ancient world. In the ancient world, when a nation was conquered, it was wiped off the face of the earth. This was23:12 unheard of. This is because God keeps his promises. So this nation that God called and said, I'm always gonna be with you. I'm always gonna bless you. By the way, they're still there.23:24 They're still there thousands of years later, and they're still thriving thousands of years later. And every time I see Israel conquering and winning, I'm reminded that God's promises are true and23:36 yes and amen. So he brings them back, and there's 3 waves of exiles who return. Not everybody goes back. Do you know why? Because some of them got comfy in23:48 Babylon. The first wave is with a guy named Zerubbabel. The second wave is with a guy named Ezra. Ezra is a scribe. He's kinda like a pastor. He comes back and he teaches them the law. And he's kinda like the worship24:00 guy, bringing them back to worship. But they aren't satisfied. There's still a lot of work to do. You can't just worship. So God brings a guy named Nehemiah back, and Nehemiah gets them to work. And and this is what24:11 we've been studying in Nehemiah, whole book. It's about work. It's not just worship. We can't just sit in here and worship God all week. We have to get out there and work. And and so he puts them to work to build this,24:22 wall around the city to bring the safety, protection, and security back to the people of God. And and by the way, while they're attacked by their enemies, while they're attacked by their they're doing the work of God and24:32 they're attacked. Sometimes you'll be doing what God wants and the enemy will still be allowed to attack. So so Nehemiah says, want you to put a trowel in 1 hand and I want you to mortar up the wall, and I want you to24:44 put a sword in the other hand. And you know what that's called? That's called a side hustle. Their day job was masonry. Their night job was fencing. Get the heck away from me. So you gotta learn24:56 how to do this. Multiple tasks. Multitask to empower your life. And when they finally complete it, there's joy, there's satisfaction, and it's heard all over. How do we get25:07 there? 4 points and then we're done. Write this down. We experience satisfaction when worship is our foundation. Lay a foundation of worship25:19 before you get to work. I wanna say that again. Lay a foundation of worship before you get to work. Now, like I said earlier, Ezra25:31 is the scribe there's a book before Nehemiah called Ezra. Ezra is kinda like the prequel, the backstory to Nehemiah. And I wanna take us back about25:43 13 years before this moment. Actually, even earlier. 90 years earlier. Go with me on a little journey through Ezra. Ezra chapter 3. This is way back when the first25:54 exiles came back to the land. It says, they came with Zerubbabel, the son of Sheetal, and they built the what? Right? Circle that word. They built the what? The altar.26:06 The God of Israel. What does Abraham do when he first gets to the promised land? He builds an altar. What does Isaac do after his dad dies? He builds an altar. What does Jacob do as he's running from Esau? He builds an26:18 altar. Listen to me very carefully. Some of you gotta learn, you've gotta start with an altar. An altar is where you call out to God. Where you say, God, I'm following you now. God, I need to26:30 connect with you. And this is what they were doing. They built the altar. The scripture says, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the land. That same fear that was in Adam when he sinned, fear was on them26:39 there. So they come, they call out to God. If some of you are struggling with anxiety and worry and stress, your answer is an altar. You call out to God. I got a question for you. Do you have a time26:51 in your day where you cry out to God first? Or do you let the devil come and pile on all the troubles and then you cry out to God? You got a choice. Start with an altar and27:02 learn that God empowers you at the altar so that you don't get altered by the trouble that's coming your way that day. Who's gonna alter who? Get to the altar, you'll alter with the world. Leave the27:14 altar, the alt the world will alter you. Come on somebody. That's good word play right there and I made it up on the spot. Amen somebody. They appoint the verse 8 says in in Ezra 3, they appointed the Levites. These are27:25 the ministers, the pastors, the leaders, the spiritual from 20 years old. They put back into place the worship structure. This is how Israel first starts out when they come back to the land after is after exile. They27:37 start with worship. Fast forward to chapter 6, the temple, verse 15, is finished, on the third day of the month of Adar. This is, about 5 years later.27:50 But all they've got so far is a temple. All they've got so far is worship. Fast forward 70 years from that moment28:02 and we get to Nehemiah. We get to this book that we've been studying. And I want to remind you of what Nehemiah, who was in the king's palace serving the king wine,28:14 what he heard about those exiles who had rebuilt the temple, and and that's it. That's where the that's where the work stopped. Here's what it says in Nehemiah chapter 1. How many of you can remember way back to the28:23 first start of this year? That he heard that the remnant there had who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame, and the wall was broken down and his great gates were destroyed by fire. And this28:35 this becomes the impetus for Nehemiah's calling. And a fire is birthed in his heart, and he goes back. He asks for permission from his boss. Can you give me some time28:47 off? Remember remember part 1? How how long did he ask for? 12 years. Wouldn't you love a boss like that? I need a 12 year vacation. It's not gonna be a vacation. I'm gonna go rebuild my my28:59 my homeland, which is actually a, political enemy of yours. We won't talk about that. And, we're gonna rebuild the wall. Can I have 12 years? And he's got such favor before his employer29:12 that he gets it all. He worked well where he was. The you want some some of you people, you want God to start something in you. It starts when you29:24 start working well wherever you are. That's where it starts. It doesn't start on social media. It doesn't start on stage. It doesn't start even in29:35 church. It starts when you get busy in life and do the best that you can where you are. This is this is what gave Nehemiah his opportunity.29:49 But I digress to my point. They had worship, but it wasn't enough. Write this down. Spiritual revival without real world involvement is incomplete.30:02 So you've come back to church, that's great. It's our job to fire you up and send you back out. The blessing that God gives you here is meant to empower your30:14 engagement out there. So you start with worship, but you don't stay there. 1 day in 7. And I would I would say this too. The importance of 1 day in 7. Now some of you work on30:26 Sunday and you can't make Sunday the day. Good news is we're online and you can play this service anytime you want. But give God 1 day where you disconnect from all your work. And this is so important. So30:38 that you can reorient yourself and prepare yourself for the next 6 days. So number 2, write this down, we experience satisfaction when we add work to our worship.30:49 God, thank you for what you've done. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the Holy Ghost. Thank you for the word that was spoken into my life today. And now I pray that I will take this and I will bring it into the31:01 highways and the byways of real life. And people will see you and and they will see Christ in me. And I won't I won't just be a hairdresser,31:13 I'll be a holy ghost hairdresser. I won't just be a waiter. I'll I'll be a word of God waiter. Come on somebody. They'll see that I'm different. Why? Because I've got the holy ghost inside31:25 of me. I got the word inside of me. I got a calling on my life. And so I I wanna re recap chapter 12 here because this is what happens. There's a long list of names, but it31:37 recounts the names from all the way back when they first got back in the land. So verse 1 talks about the priests and the Levites who came with Zerubbabel. Verse 12, the days of Joachim, that's when they completed the31:47 temple. Verse 22, the days of Eliashib. Now that's fast forward 80 years, 90 years to when Nehemiah came in the land. And so he's kind of recounting. We had this long 70, 80 year31:58 period, but all we had was a worship center and we needed to turn our worship into real life work. We need to get out and get busy. And so and32:10 that's what starts here with Nehemiah. He rebuilds the wall and he makes them workers. Put what God puts in you into real life contribution outside of you. And32:22 it doesn't matter what it is. Scripture says Paul the apostle, Colossians chapter 3 verse 23 says, whatever you do. Somebody say whatever.32:33 Whatever. Give me a w somebody. Whatever. Is that dated? It doesn't matter what you do, it matters how you do32:45 it. Your job is a sacred space because you're there. Your your home stay at home moms who32:57 are, in my opinion, cultural heroes, thank god for the moms who can stay at home with parent with their kids. You are shaping the next33:08 generation. Make it a sacred space. If you're at the restaurant, your atmosphere is sacred because you're there. In other words, what I'm trying to tell33:20 you is there's no such thing as secular work for the saints of God. Your hands touching it brings33:32 sanctification to it. It's now a purpose that God has put in your heart because he says, work hardly as for the Lord, not for men. Your boss is not your boss.33:44 The Lord is your boss. That that doesn't mean you can't ignore your boss. You can't go to him and say, I'm sorry. You're no longer my employer. I'm I'm following the Lord. You can't do that.33:58 But he is God's instrument to shape you for for good, even if it feels like trauma. Because it's not trauma, it's Training.34:10 Training. The bosses that I had you know what that I'm I remember this about my life. The first 3 bosses that I had were all bullies. All bullies. And they would put me down in public and they would,34:22 you know, mock me and and really put like, you know, insult me. Insult. And it was really after a while, but what I what I realized was that at some point I had to stand34:34 up to the bully. And I actually had to say something back. And I can remember the day I was a busboy at a at a restaurant in34:45 Pennsylvania just outside of Philadelphia, and this guy was harassing me again in front of all the weird, you know, wives who are also waitresses. And I34:58 remember I said, enough. I'm not your slave. I'm a human being and I deserve respect. And the35:09 guy never talked to me like that again. You know, it was training to learn to stand up for myself and speak35:21 truth and identify my value and my worth in that moment. Now, again, this is not, again, permission for you to go tell your boss off tomorrow. You know, some of you might be in a position where you just have to say35:33 something that just needs to come out with reason and wisdom and with and I think this, with the saturation of the holy spirit and God will give life and flesh to your words, and it will and35:45 it will birth something. It'll birth a new season in your life. Yeah? So they add work to their worship. And then look what happens. This is how this text came alive to me. Verse 31. And35:57 I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall. Now this is an 8 8 foot thick wall. So there's plenty of space for people to be up on the wall. And I appointed 2 great, what? Choirs. Now notice this.36:09 Verse 36, and Ezra, the scribe, went with the choir that went to the south. Ezra is a pitcher of worship. He's the pastor. He's the scribe. He's the priest. He leads the36:21 choir, 1 choir to the south. Skip ahead, verse 38. The other choir that gave thanks went to where? They went to the north and I followed them. And Nehemiah is a picture of the36:33 work. So you got the worship choir goes south, then work choir goes north. And I gotta so to illustrate, I gotta put this up on the screen. It's a picture of what I of the map of of36:44 Nehemiah's wall. This is the ancient city of Jerusalem. That's the wall that he built. By the way, the choirs start at the valley gate. I I bring this up because the valley gate is where Nehemiah started36:56 this mission. When he came from Persia, traveled 800 miles with the supplies that the king gave him, the first place that he went to was the valley gate. He started to examine the broken down walls around Jerusalem.37:07 But he began in the valley. Can I tell you something? Do not neglect the valley places where God starts you. He starts his best servants in the37:19 low places. The valley gate brings them back to that place. This is where it all began. Puts those choirs up on the wall. And his choir goes north,37:31 Nehemiah's choir goes south, next pitcher, and they circle the entire city. These are their trajectories. They go all the way around in the north and they come to the temple and then Ezra's choir goes all the way to the37:40 south and circles back up to the north and reenters the temple. And and the bible says in chapter 12 verse 40, both choirs gave thanks, stood in the house of God. So what happens is they37:52 encircle the the city with work and worship. And it's a picture for you and for me. And if we're gonna have satisfaction in our life, we have to maintain a healthy work38:03 worship balance. I wanna give you some some pictures from the life of Christ where this didn't happen. The first is in Luke chapter 10 when Jesus shows up at a woman38:15 named Martha and Mary's house. 2 2 sisters. This is also Lazarus' house. They have Jesus over for dinner. And Jesus shows up, and Mary is doing the right thing. She's38:27 sitting at Jesus' feet, and she's worshiping. When Jesus shows up, stop working. Well, where does Jesus show up? He's shown up here today.38:40 He's in this place because you are the body of Christ. We're talking about Christ. It's the word of Christ. This is a moment to meet with Jesus. You're not work I'm working. You're not working. Mary stops when38:52 she she sits at his feet. Martha, the scripture says, verse 40 of Luke 10, was distracted with work. She's in the kitchen. She's preparing a meal for Jesus. She's cooking. She's and you know what?39:04 Anybody ever do this, you married partners? You ever do this when you're doing the dishes and the other person's not? I I just have this picture. You clang the the things together, the the the bowls and the pic clangShow more
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