Signature Service Myself Made Easy

Signature service myself

well good morning missio day or good afternoon or good evening whenever it is that you're participating watching this we just want to say welcome to our online worship service we're so glad that you're here that you would choose to worship with us this week as we begin our service i want to share with you these words of jesus from matthew chapter 11. this is our reminder that in him we find rest listen to this i praise you father lord of heaven and earth because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children yes father for this is what you were pleased to do all things have been committed to me by my father no one knows the son except the father and no one knows the father except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal him come to me all who are weary and burdened and i will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for i am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light today i pray that we would find rest in him that through this worship service we would take a break from our day-to-day lives from the pandemic from um from current events from anything else that's going on that might be stressing you out i just pray that we would take a moment we would take a deep breath and that we would find rest in him because his yoke is easy and his burden is light so let's worship together let's lift this up together praise god praise oh man oh man god we praise you god we praise you sing praise god for all he's done praise god for all that he has done praise him amen god we praise you god we praise is praise god for my blessings praise god from praise him all creatures hear me praise well let's continue on with this service and the reading of the justice creed now this is something historically we've done that's formative for our church and something we've chosen to do every single week through this series as we trek out into a new day and new season in our church and in our in our country now my expectation is not that you are bellowing out this justice creed with me in your home though if you are make sure you let me know i would appreciate that but certainly it's hard to follow along so my hope is that this creed would give you some unction would invigorate you would would give you a passion for the greater things that have been prepared for us to walk in in this time so let me read when justice is done it brings joy to the righteous and we who call jesus lord devote ourselves to defend the oppressed to take up the cause of the fatherless to plead the case of the widow and we believe that the spirit of the lord is upon us to proclaim the good news to the poor to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim freedom to all those in bondage and to comfort all those who mourn we desire to be quickened to a life that pleases god by acting justly by loving mercy by walking humbly with our god until justice rolls down like a mighty river in righteousness like a never-ending stream amen good morning missy o'day we are here in week two of our new series in nehemiah and we're looking at the theme of rebuilding david wagner set us up last week to place our purpose for this series in the context of this book in the old testament let me give us a really quick recap here so we're feeling this longing to rebuild to um have the old uprooted and to see what god would build now in its place we have that longing especially as we are just so done with 2020 and we're ready for something new as a church we long to be a place of hope and hospitality and healing that would be here for a world that is longing for some kind of renewing work but especially in recent weeks we see that the perception of the world might be anything but that when they think of the church the flying of jesus flags at a political rally suggesting that god sides with a political party was so angering to me the threat of christian nationalism that lie that god would bless one country ours over and against another lies to threaten the credibility of our very witness our testimony our living testimony to the world as disciples of jesus we long to live a different witness a different testimony that speaks to god's greater truth so our world needs a better encounter with the faithful people of god i got right on my soapbox in the beginning i'm gonna step back off that for a minute and let's get back to nehemiah that's the longing that we feel and why we want this to actually be an equipping series that we would open our hearts to spiritual formation not just learning in this series so really quickly on uh the book of nehemiah the books of ezra and nehemiah actually together tell a story of god rebuilding the people of jerusalem from the nation of judah so david last week gave a great old testament summary of this whole story but the really quick version for those who missed it that god throughout the old testament had a theme saying i will be your god and you will be my people but people kept falling away and failing their part of their god-given identity the israelites ended up falling the nation of israel ended up falling into two nations israel and judah and the people of judah were based in jerusalem there was a temple there for the presence of god to be in their midst to mark them so in around 587 bc uh jerusalem was actually overtaken by babylon and a lot of the people of god were sent into exile but then around 539 there was a transfer of power as persia overtook babylon and some of the exiles were free to return to jerusalem now quick couple of notes on exiles not everyone was taken the elite for sure were taken royal families administration priests prophets the peasant farmers those without power or influence were actually left behind to tend to the land when the exiles were encouraged or allowed to return to jerusalem some chose not to they were sitting pretty in their new land nehemiah for example sits in a place of great comfort and influence as the cup bearer to the king of persia he would have been in some translations or some commentaries they would say this is a position of not just influence but like advising the king and there's a sense of camaraderie he's there in a moment where the king is dining with his wife and they're in conversation with nehemiah so there's there's a um there's a place of influence that he sits in so the exile system by taking the elites is actually an intentional process of assimilation whereby the conquered people lose their old identity and become loyal to their their captors the superpower thus benefiting the new superpower and remember the time between exile and freedom to return was about 50 years so a lot of people were born in exile they don't have a familiarity or like a tie to jerusalem so to speak but it wasn't just about the city it was about their identity as the people of god god's people marked by god's presence and the books of ezra and nehemiah together talk about the rebuilding of the temple meaning god's presence the renewal of the spiritual identity of the people with the reading of the law and the call to repentance and the rebuilding of this wall now a quick note about the wall we think of walls as barriers ways to isolate have privacy um a way to avoid interacting with the other um in the ancient near east the wall around the city was very seriously needed for protection against very very real dangers in the absence of a wall being around jerusalem the remnant the peasants who remained would be more vulnerable and spread out more like a vast uh vulnerable village than any kind of city where a lot of people would have been just working for the good of themselves not like a corporate identity and a sense of being for one another so that's part of the reason that the walls were really important but another reason to to know in that culture is that that wall had uh became a beautiful symbol of the city of jerusalem a strong and secure center for this people of god it's a sign that the the church and state so to speak were not separated religion and politics weren't separated and so your national identity was tied to your god and the wall and the city would represent the provision of your god for that people group so it means a lot more therefore when nehemiah hears that the wall is in ruins he weeps he fasts and he prays and that gets us to where we are in chapter two um and we're going to read from the nlt version chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. early the following spring in the month of nissan during the 20th year of king artaxerxes reign i was serving the king his wine i had never before appeared sad in his presence so the king asked me why are you looking so sad you don't look sick to me you must be deeply troubled then i was terrified but i replied long live the king how can i not be sad for the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins and the gates have been destroyed by fire the king asked well how can i help you with a prayer to the god of heaven i replied if it pleased the king and if you are pleased with me your servant send me to judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried the king with the queen sitting beside him asked how long will you be gone when will you return after i told him how long i would be gone the king agreed to my request i also said to the king if it please the king let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the euphrates river instructing them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to judah and please give me a letter addressed to asaph the manager of the king's forest instructing him to give me timber i will need it to make beams for the gates of the temple's fortress for the city walls and for the house for myself and the king granted these requests because the gracious hand of god was on me when i came to the governors of the province west of the euphrates river i was i delivered the king's letters to them the king i should add had sent along army officers and horsemen to protect me but when sanbalat the horonite and tobia the m ammonite sorry guys official heard of my arrival they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of israel so a couple of things to note as we look at this story and the radical faith of nehemiah in this moment number one nehemiah was terrified yes he was close to the king but this move took incredible personal risk verse two he admitted i was terrified when the king saw this distress why would that be it was actually dangerous to show sorrow before the king the king had the right to execute anyone who displeased him in esther 4 2 we learned that anyone wearing morning clothing was banned from the palace it needed to be a happy place where there were no troubles and so this was actually at great risk to nehemiah i point this out because conviction and willingness to act doesn't need to come out of a sense of solid footing or confidence the fact is nehemiah moved faithfully forward into action despite the fact that he was in fact terrified there's an important humanness in this to me a reminder that as through this whole thing we'll see that nehemiah is an incredible man of faith nehemiah is a great leader as one description read he's able to win the permission of those who are over him and ignite the passion of those who were beside him yes but he's still terrified he's a regular person faith perseveres in the reality of threat and he is willing to move forward trading his influence and wealth and comfort to head into a messy place he risked offending the people in power over him and facing opposition when he arrived at his destination oh that we would be willing that i would be willing to do the same what an example of radical faith even when he was terrified number two nehemiah was bold so bold in these asks with fear he asked can i go yes and can i get letters for safe travel will you put your name behind my action so no one can touch me yes can i have a letter to get all the timber i need to build this entire thing yes and the king sent extra officers and horsemen for protection i believe the boldness came from a place of conviction not we already know he was terrified it wasn't that he was feeling courageous his boldness name came from conviction that he was doing the will of god we see this we he prayed for favor in chapter one and when he receives the favor of the king he immediately accredits it to god not to himself in verse eight additionally nehemiah was committed and what i just mean here is clearly not everybody was happy to see him the two governors of the region are not pleased but nehemiah does not miss a step he is not deterred that's radical faith so what can we learn from a radical faith that can be bold and committed despite being terrified i want to take a look at what we would call nehemiah's devotional life and i'm going to point out two things and we're going to look at how we can learn from the example of radical faith faith of nehemiah number one he was a man of prayer and number two he knew the story of god and lived into it so number one let's talk about nehemiah as a man of prayer this book records a number of places multiple places nehemiah's frequent response to a problem is immediately to turn to prayer but in this passage there's one specific prayer that strikes me that i want to point out with a prayer to god of heaven i replied if it pleased the king can i go that last part is my paraphrase but he starts before talking to the king and giving his bold request he says a prayer to god now why do i highlight this prayer it's a posture of prayer i think that we can forget about this is not the stop find silence and stillness and focus time of prayer that's important that's beautiful but this is a different prayer this is something that i would call a life that is marked by an undercurrent of prayer let me explain first thessalonians 5 17 is this really short verse that says never stop praying or pray without ceasing and that can feel really daunting i have to go to work i can't just sit in my prayer closet all day i don't live in a convent like i i ca how do you pray without ceasing and i think nehemiah shows this in a different way let's say i'll use this example just pretend you were stuck in a home during a pandemic with a roommate or um a spouse or a family member just pretend you're in a shared space together for a year and you don't need to restart every conversation when you have focus and silence instillment stillness i don't need to sit down and address uh my daughter and say dear gigi i really hope this weekend when your grandparents come they have a safe trip you don't have to do that you're in a constant open conversation a dialogue that in some ways you never close in our prayer life by the way amen is saying yes let it be so it's not a signature sign off it doesn't mean respectfully melissa it's not a sign off to a letter and so what if our prayer life didn't close conversation i think that's what's happening i think about the inauguration today as elijah and i are here we're about one hour out from the inauguration happening i look at the news right before i preach and see national guards lining the streets and i i say a quick prayer to god help peace reign in our nation and i don't even i don't that doesn't mean that's my one prayer or i'm just shooting it like a football hail mary hoping that one sticks it's it's a continuation of all the prayer conversations that we all have been having with god for peace to reign in our nation over the division it's saying that i don't need to stop that prayer to speak now they can happen collectively it's opening up our conversation that we're already having in our mind to have it be a conversation with god that's what prayer is these are areas of prayer that you don't have to wait till everything is perfect to just have your conversation your heart posture engaged with god so number one nehemiah is a man of prayer and number two of nehemiah's devotional life is that he knew the story of god now stay with me for a minute because i want to take an analogy that struck me this week as we honored uh reverend dr martin luther king jr on monday talk about faith in action and calling others to do the same it's absolutely extraordinary even if we can't solve it all we have to do something even when he knew the path ahead was going to be hard he's an extraordinary example of radical faith one quote that i saw he says dr king says faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase that could totally be a theme for what nehemiah was doing in chapter two here he took a radical step even though he did not know how the king would respond or what provision he would have or how to build a wall for that matter taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase now we all know i think a lot of the words of the famous i have a dream speech of dr king in 1963 during the march on washington for jobs and freedom but i point out one thing from within this beautiful call to racial justice uh dr king says now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice what this is is a call to live into something that is not yet a current reality the fact that it's not a reality doesn't mean to accept it it means we need to dive right in to that place where it's broken but listen to this language later in the speech i have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted every hill and mountain shall be made low the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together that is isaiah 40 language dr king knew the story of god he's calling us into god's dream he's holding god's future promises up to us and saying live into this now racial justice now love triumphing over evil now light overtaking darkness all in his quotes now he knew the story of god the plans and promises of god and called us into action towards that in our present she had an eternal destination in mind new jerusalem language every tribe and every tongue justice shalom and he lived into that future glory and called others to the same now returning to nehemiah he didn't know the new covenant language yet jesus had not yet come but he knew the faithful promises of god in scripture he knew the old testaments the dream for the rebuilding of this temp of this wall it was not nehemiah's alone he knew what that meant for the safety of vulnerable people he knew it represented identity to the people of god he knew the exile had been foretold by the prophets when people disobeyed and he knew that god promised to rebuild their land when they returned to god prophecies spoke of this rebuilding of the wall in zechariah and daniel last week david referenced ezekiel 36 and i was reading that uh later through this week and he was talking about the portion where um god says i will return i will uh exchange their stony stubborn hearts for tender responsive hearts but if you read further down into um starting around 33 in isaiah 36 the sovereign lord says i will cleanse you of your sins i'll repopulate your cities the ruins will be rebuilt further down the abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people i will rebuild the ruins and replant the wastelands nehemiah knew the will of god was to do this work he already knew this story so here's what i want to suggest there's a theme that i've been hearing lately uh from people a friend outside of missio day talking about i've really fallen away from any devotional life and started to say all the shoulds i i it it's my fault i i should do this better i should do that wait a minute hold on what if it's simpler than that we've also we're talking as a staff team how we're hearing a lot of people along a similar theme it's really hard in this season sometimes to feel like we're hearing from god or to stay focused uh in any kind of devotional time and people are just saying it's not working for me but look at this example of nehemiah and it's wonderful to have a spiritual high to have a long stretch of time in prayer to have devotional books that help us spur us on in our devotional practices yes but for those of you who are feeling like my devotional time just isn't working what if we look at nehemiah and say what if devotional time just means knowing the story of god living into it with an undercurrent of prayer just keeping the conversation open with god maybe there won't be a big answer but god's already told us his story and we get to live into that now in an actionable way like nehemiah did living in to that future that's on our heart when we feel the dissonance between what our reality is what should be and what um is happening in our world the chaos and the hatred and all of that when we feel that dissonance and that tension that is eternity written on our hearts dr king knew that and he stood in the gap and called others to do the same nehemiah same thing stood in the gap this isn't how god intends it to be their devotional life was recognizing that there was a better story of god and that they could call people to action even if they didn't clearly have like a set um moment in a prayerful devotion when god gave them a revelation of what to do next sometimes we seek that what if god has already told us how to live into the story that god has for god's people and yes it's true it won't come to fulfillment right now but we as the church can live into that now and that is how we can be a place of hope healing and hospitality for a world desperately longing for renewal may it be so may we live in devotion to the story that has already been written with open eyes and willing mouths to speak truth into hurting places let us pray oh god i just i pray for moments of ability to do these things to not only learn from nehemiah but to let that seep into our devotional life to have our devotion to you look a lot like an undercurrent of prayer and a willingness to live into your story now and call others to do the same i pray right now for peace over our nation for just something to inbreak and make today go smoothly today sorry being wednesday and i pray that when we are gathered together um having this service time on sunday morning that that we will know that you are a god who just loves us and calls us to act into the broken places here and now give us the strength give us the will give us the eyes to see your will your story and call us into action there we love you lord and pray these things in the precious name of jesus amen the savior of the the weight of every upon the son of god the power of help forever is is is is is we sing hallelujah we sing hallelujah we sing hallelujah we sing sing hallelujah we sing hallelujah is is is he is alive is cheese mission day as we close our time this morning i want to read a benediction over us just first of all because i want us to remember that this life of prayer and devotion into the story of god is rooted in the fact that our god has able to do infinitely more than we could ask or imagine we are partnering with god this is not on us per se but that god would use us as god's church to do the work of christ in our time here and now so as we go forth in a life of devotion to our wonderful god let me read this blessing over us from the words of paul in ephesians 3 starting in verse 20. now all glory to god who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think glory to him in the church and in christ jesus through all generations forever and ever amen go in peace let's lift this up together praise god praise god flow praise him all creatures oh man god we praise you