November 3, 2025 • 53 mins
We follow Ezra through anxiety, fasting, and a risky journey with sacred wealth, then pivot to a piercing call to reject syncretism and return to Jesus as Lord. Practical steps help us guard the garden at home, in marriage, and in singleness, ending with consecration and a fresh filling of the Spirit.
• Ezra’s fasting, humility, and strategy under pressure
• Stewardship lessons from weighing sacred wealth
• Faith decision to refuse royal protection
• Syncretism defined and unmasked in modern forms
• The “compassion gospel” versus love with truth
• The “me gospel,” lordship, and daily presence with God
• Power and policy idols alongside justice idolatry
• Guarding the garden in marriage, parenting, and home life
• A vision for singles: undivided devotion and holy purpose
• Corporate repentance, consecration, and fresh filling of the Spirit
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week.
For more information about ourchurch, please visit
therockfamily.tv.
Now join us for a message fromour special guest speaker.
SPEAKER_01 (00:19):
I pray that we are growing in our knowledge of
Jesus through Build This Houseseries.
So today I'm excited about thetext.
Today we're in chapter 8 and 9of Ezra.
And so just right out of thegate where this story picks up
is Ezra is in a major place ofanxiety.
I think we can all relate tothat.
(00:41):
Ezra is in a serious place ofanxiety where this is gonna pick
up today.
And it's because, you know, heis the one.
I know if you need to go backand watch past sermons to catch
up, go do that.
But he's the one leading thissection of the rebuilding of the
temple.
So he is in charge right now,he's the leader, and so he's
(01:01):
actually been asked to oversee avery important part of the
assignment.
All of the wealth that has beenlaid up from the wicked for the
righteous that the PersianEmpire is going to be sending
back with God's people to buildthe house of God.
He is actually the one leadingthis transportation.
(01:22):
He is the one that isresponsible to get all of the
items and all of the peoplesafely back to Jerusalem.
Anyone could say that would be alittle a little much?
And he knows that there is a lotat risk.
He knows there's a lot at stake.
Um, so we're gonna pick up umactually before I read verse 21,
(01:43):
I just wanted to like research.
I'm like, exactly how much moneyare we talking?
Anybody think like that?
You've got any number people?
It's like, so exactly how muchmoney?
What would that be today?
Anybody wonder about that?
So it says that the Persian kinghad made a substantial
contribution of gold and silver,and Ezra is the one entrusted
with this.
It equated to 25 tons of silver,almost four tons of gold,
(02:04):
various vessels, including 20gold bowls, weighing about 21
pounds, precious metals.
It was estimated in the preciousmetals that it would be equal to
a total annual income of 100,000people to 500,000 people, their
annual income.
So this was a pretty big deal.
And so the cool part about Ezra,and I think you may relate to
(02:27):
this.
Have you ever had an assignment?
It's already big in the natural,but you actually feel the
spiritual weight on it.
Can anybody relate to that?
I think some of you know whatI'm talking about.
Something you're dealing with atwork.
It's it's already a lot just inthe natural.
But because you have eyes in thespirit, you understand what
God's trying to do, you also arefeeling the spiritual weight and
(02:51):
responsibility of this.
And so um, he knows exactlywhat's at stake, and he knows
the journey that he's gonna haveto go, and the amount of bandits
and robbers that would just benormal for them to be attacked
and for this to be stolen.
So let's pick up with verse 21,Ezra chapter 8.
He says, Then I proclaimed afast there at the river Ahava
(03:12):
that we might humble ourselvesbefore our God to seek from him
a safe journey for ourselves,for our children, and for all
our goods.
So I'm gonna pause right there.
I love to just learn from otherpeople.
Does anybody else do that?
Like, if I can lean in and learnsomething from you, I could
(03:32):
learn something that's good todo, I could learn from your
mistakes.
Like, I'm always leaning andlearning.
And so the first thing thatjumps out for me here with Ezra
is that in a place of anxiety,what is his go-to?
He humbles himself before theLord and begins to fast.
So, right out of the gate, I'mlike, I can think of several
(03:54):
areas in my life where I havehad anxiety over the assignment.
I've had anxiety over what's atstake, what could be lost, what
could happen to my family, to mykids, to the possessions, to the
responsibility.
I want to be like this.
I want my go-to to be fasting.
(04:16):
I want my go-to to humble myselfbefore the Lord.
Now, I I just I'm gonna say alot of things today, and I'm
just gonna put this out there.
Um, if you go like a whole yearto a church and you never get
offended, maybe something iswrong with that church.
I don't know.
I just think, I think when youhave diversity of voices and you
(04:38):
have scripture, which is meantto offend our flesh, if you went
a whole year and you never heardanything that you didn't, I
don't know if I like that ornot, there might be something
wrong with the church.
So, you know what?
You might have gone a wholeyear.
Today could be your day.
I don't know.
Here we go.
So, what what we normally see,what's normal to us when we face
(05:02):
anxiety, is fasting and humblingourselves might not be our first
thing.
Nothing wrong with medicationand therapy, but it shouldn't be
our first thing.
It shouldn't.
Because what's at risk there ismaking sure that we can clearly
hear what God needs to say tous.
(05:26):
Anxiety comes because I thinkI'm in charge.
Anxiety comes because I feel outof control.
Anxiety comes because this istoo big for me.
This is too hard.
Well, the last time I checked,everything the Lord has ever
asked me to do was too hard forme to do.
And then I spin up in a cycletrying to fix me so that I can
(05:48):
be big enough to do the hardthing.
Not the plan.
What is hard for us is easy withhim.
What you can't do is what hedoes, right?
It's our dependence on him.
So let's make our go-to in thesemoments, humbling ourselves
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before the Lord.
The other thing I love aboutthis is he didn't just get all
spiritual.
See, some of you think, oh, see,she's a pastor, and so she just
wants us to pray abouteverything.
Actually, that's not what Ezradid.
Ezra had a strategicadministrative plan to go with
the humbling of himself beforethe Lord.
Do I have any people with thespiritual gift of
(06:33):
administration?
See, that means you hadn't takenyour next steps.
Your next steps spiritualgifting, you'd know this.
That's actually one of thespiritual giftings from the Holy
Spirit in the New Testament.
The gift of administration.
People with the gift ofadministration, does this sound
like you?
You have a natural skill fororganizing tasks and people.
(06:53):
You have a desire to streamlineprocesses.
Where's Justin Gibbons?
He's like doing a lab right now.
Do you have an ability to keepmultiple projects on target?
And do you enjoy managingdetails?
That's a gift of administrationthat's actually from the Holy
Spirit.
So stop taking credit for it.
Stop.
If it's a grace gift, it's fromHim, right?
(07:15):
But so Ezra operates in this.
He doesn't just fast and prayfor the safe passage of the
kids, the safe passage of thegoods, but he also pulls down
from the Lord a strategicadministrative plan and he says,
to prevent theft.
Now, this was going to beentrusted to 12 priests and 12
Levites, and he's worried abouttheft.
(07:36):
Okay.
So he has a strategy ofstewardship.
He weighs every single item andinventories every single item.
He entrusted it to the 12priests, the 12 Levites, and
then when they get there safely,guess what he does again?
He weighs it again.
Sounds like an audit, right?
Holy Ghost audit right there.
Making sure.
(07:57):
So he's just done thisincredible task.
Verse 22, that's also up there.
I love this about him.
Verse 22, he says, I was ashamedto ask the king for a band of
soldiers and horsemen to protectus.
So the king is like, You sure?
You don't need some armedsoldiers to help you make a safe
(08:18):
passage with this amount ofmoney through all of these roads
that are covered with bandits.
You're sure.
And he like deep down wanted to.
You ever been there?
Like, I actually would really,really, really like to know that
I've got some armed guards.
But he couldn't because it wasactually going to diminish the
reputation of God that he hadalready preached to say that,
(08:39):
look, all this that's happenedto us, this is Yahweh.
This is God's provision.
This is God's resources, he'sthe one that's got us here, he's
the one that has provided.
Oh, but you know what?
He's not strong enough toprotect us to get there.
But don't we do this?
Look at our own lives.
Look at what he's done in yourown life, in your own family.
Look at from time and time againthat he's provided, he's
(09:02):
protected.
And then wherever we're at rightnow, like me last week, I don't
know.
I don't know.
Just discouraged.
Discouraged.
I sent one of those texts thatyou hit sin before you reread it
because you know you'll youwon't send it and you just need
to like bottom out with somebodya little bit.
Like, I'm crashing, I'mcrashing.
(09:26):
Why?
Ezra's like, yeah, I wouldreally like that.
Because you know what?
Then I wouldn't have as muchanxiety, but I already know who
God is.
So I'm going to put my faith inaction that He is going to get
us from point A to point B.
So I feel like Aren't youalready already feel like that's
the story?
Like, oh, but as soon as Hemakes it safely, nobody stole
(09:50):
anything, they didn't put somein their pocket.
He notifies 120 governors andsad traps, but look what God has
done.
That's when there should be anafter party.
It's kind of like mom's after wehave finished the women's
conference.
We have warred, we have prayed,we have sought the Lord, we have
cried, we have encouraged eachother.
And you're on your drive homethinking, I am gonna go and I'm
(10:14):
gonna put my feet up.
We have swept this room, we havecleaned, and the kids are
waiting on you.
Right?
Yeah, yeah.
I'm hungry.
You know, all the stuff.
Anyway, Ezra finishes this partof the mission, and instead of
an after party, Ezra 9, verse 1and 2.
(10:35):
After these things had beendone, the officials approached
me and said, The people ofIsrael and the priest and the
Levites have not separatedthemselves from the people of
the lands with theirabominations.
From the Canaanites, theHittites, the Parasites, the
Jebusites, the Ammonites, theMoabites, the Egyptians, the
Amorites.
They have taken some of thedaughters to be wise for
(10:57):
themselves and for their sons.
This holy race has mixed itselfwith the people of the land.
And so what we're gonna read inEzra, what we're gonna learn,
his heart sinks.
He is so low, he's crushed tosee all that God has done, and
(11:19):
now he's looking at this groupof people.
And the very thing that they didfor hundreds of years, which God
warned, he sent prophets, hebegged with them, he pleaded
with them, but they would notseparate themselves from the
defilement of the land, and theyhad to be exiled, and they lost
Solomon's temple, and they gotpulled into slavery in Babel.
They're doing it again.
(11:42):
Like, seriously.
And I need to say this because Iwant to make sure nobody's
confused.
Nothing about what God wassaying is that he did not like
interracial marriages.
Thank God.
Look around you at this church.
We are the place where we gotall the flavors.
This had nothing to do withrace, it had everything to do
(12:05):
with being unequally yoked andworshiping other gods.
And he said, as soon as youmarry, as soon as you marry into
these ungodly pagan groups, yourchildren are going to be lost.
It was always about the nextgeneration.
Pure worship being passed downfrom generation to generation.
(12:26):
Let's read verse 3.
As soon as I heard this, I toremy garment, my cloak, I pulled
hair from my head and beard.
I sat appalled.
Then all who trembled at thewords of God of Israel, because
of the faithlessness of thereturned exiles, they gathered
around me while I sat appalledin the evening sacrifice.
(12:46):
And at the evening sacrifice Irose from my fasting with my
garment and my cloak torn, and Ifell upon my knees, and I spread
out my hands to the Lord my God,saying, Oh my God, I'm so
ashamed.
Why does Ezra have this extremereaction?
(13:10):
I think it's a little extreme topull out your hair and your
beard.
That sounds painful.
Especially because he's not theone that even did this.
So if we do just a little bit ofshort, short history, not gonna
take a lot of time.
Canaanite people, the fertilitycult, it was the most immoral,
(13:35):
it was the most vile religionknown to man.
All of their worship to theirgods involved prostitution, it
involved sacrificing children,they had Baal, they had a whole
group.
They had Baal.
It was all about ritual sex,self-mutilization.
There was Ishtar, which was allabout being gender fluid.
She was supposed to be themother of this.
(13:57):
Um, still more and moreprostitution.
Then you had Moat, the god ofthe underworld, it was death, it
was destruction, anythingdevouring what was good.
Like that was what theyglorified, and that was what
they worshiped, and that waswhat like their whole world was
unto.
Right?
And so um each of those deitiesrepresented forces that were
(14:24):
there to distort God's order.
So many times, and I know you doit, I do it too sometimes, it'd
be like if you saw somebody whomade a little statue out of
wood, and then they're gonna doa little ritual to it, and
you're like, yeah, I think it'sit's wood.
It's wood.
(14:44):
That's not what this was.
These were actual demonicforces, ancient spirits that are
still at work.
We don't have time to talk aboutit, but if you want to Google it
and research it, most of thethings that you find, the little
details of pride months, go backto things that they did to these
(15:04):
deities.
So God's command to say, I needyou to be separate, I need you
to be distinct, I need you notto entwine, not to bring these
religions into your home, intoyour household.
It's not because he wanted totake away fun or freedom.
He didn't want that defilingspirit to come in and to pervert
(15:28):
destiny, what he had planned.
Alright, so the overarching wordfor today on the screen is this
the word syncretism.
So y'all might think I'm smart,you might not.
I actually had not heard thisword until we entered the
series, so I'm learning newthings with you.
I knew what it meant, but I hadnot heard that word.
Syncretism is when we mix.
(15:48):
Oh, we love Jesus, yes, we loveto come to our church, the rock.
We love Christian principles, welove conservative values, but
then we mix in other stuff.
We mix in a little bit of this,we mix in a little bit of this
TikTok religion over here, wemix in a little bit, oh, that
sounded good, and mindfulnesssounds good, and so it's like
(16:10):
this hodgepodge of God's word,his commands, his order, what he
set in motion.
But you know what?
We're in 2025, and there's likea lot of new things out there,
and it's just like reallyhelpful, you know, so you could
just kind of so there's you likethree main areas of syncretism
(16:30):
that we we allow in.
This room right here.
Now, the main the first one, Idon't think there's that much
going on here, but there'sprobably a little, and that's
actually mixing in formalreligions with Christianity.
I don't know, Buddhism,Hinduism, Mormonism, um, I'm
drawn blank, but you get whatI'm talking about.
(16:52):
Some some areas of Catholicism.
So it's like a mixing of thesethings.
So um, let me find the otherone.
Let me find my notes here.
The second one is mixing inspirituality.
This one is much more common,right?
Um, spirituality.
(17:13):
So we may like, you know, wantto get tarot cards read.
We want to talk to a psychic.
We've got our crystals, we'vegot zodiac.
Um, everybody's manifesting,right?
So it's almost a word, just kindof like sometimes slips in.
You don't even mean what theymean it to mean, but it's still
like just in the soup ofculture.
Witchcraft, sorcery, things ofthe occult, witchcraft.
(17:38):
Any supernatural power.
You're trying to get power orjust trying to get insight.
I just need some wisdom.
I just need to know what to do.
I'm stuck.
I just I need to get, you know,find something else that's
that's I'm not thinking of.
If I am pursuing that insightfrom any power that is not from
Jesus, not from the Spirit ofJesus, Holy Spirit.
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That's syncretism.
We're mixing in the things ofthe land into our worship to
Jesus.
The third one is misusing sex,money, or power.
All three of those things intheir context, they're fine.
But when we misuse, abuse, thesecan be idols in our life.
(18:23):
So I love this quote from KGBeale.
He said, Adam failed at hispriestly service, and I would
add Adam and Eve failed at theirpriestly service.
His work was not just to workthe soil.
So remember, he's supposed to betending the garden.
So his work wasn't just thephysical toiling of the soil, it
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was serving God, keeping thegarden, but also guarding it.
Adam and Eve failed in theirpriestly assignment, to which we
still have the same today,because they did not fiercely
guard the garden from the otheridea, from the deceiver, from
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the serpent, from the one whocame into defile and to question
God.
So as we are in this series ofbuild the house, today what
we're talking about is it lookslike guarding the garden from
these other gospels.
Really?
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Like there's other gospels thatwe've got mixed in 100%.
Every single it's just coming atyou every day.
You're not bad.
You're not bad.
It's coming at you every day.
We have to be on guard.
Deception is sly, it's subtle,compromise is sneaky.
Nobody in here woke up todaysaying, you know what?
(19:51):
I just want to be like notdevoted to Jesus.
You know what?
I don't want to have allegianceto the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords.
Nobody came in here saying thattoday.
So we have to be on guard.
So maybe this one's come.
This other gospel's come to yourdoor.
It's what I would call thecompassion gospel.
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It comes every, it's always inthe form of a question.
It's where it starts.
That's why I said be carefulwhat questions you're
entertaining, what conversationsyou're having when it's not from
Jesus.
See, Eve didn't have to enterthe conversation.
The servant could have come in,asked the question, and she
could have just been like.
Right?
So we gotta be careful how we'reentertaining, how we're
(20:36):
engaging.
So this one comes to you as thecompassion gospel.
It sounds like this.
Isn't it more like Jesus to justlove everyone?
Like, it's not really like Jesusto hurt people's feelings.
And you know, you know what?
I already can tell about you.
You're not like those otherChristians.
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You know, those otherChristians, oh, they're bigots.
You're not you're better.
You're you're better than thembecause you have compassion and
um you know, you don't saythings that are harsh, and you
kind of let people decide ontheir own.
I've heard that one.
You've been in a conversationwith someone and heard that
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right here.
I don't want to be like thoseChristians.
I'll be better.
Standing publicly with what Godsays is good is right.
Standing publicly with what Godsays is his order, marriage
(21:43):
between one man and one woman,the way that he wants one man
and one woman to have a covenantfor their lifetime, for children
to come after the covenant, forGod in his creative power to
choose the gender of everyperson that is born.
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God said this is good.
So when, but but isn't can'tthis be good too?
So it's not up to me to definewhat is good.
It's not my preference, mydesire to define what is good.
God already said what is good.
(22:27):
I can't mix that in.
It's not the compassion gospel.
But you know what the truegospel is.
The true gospel says everysingle person in this place
struggling, confused, ashamed,hiding, not able to really lay
(22:53):
out what's going on because theywon't, they don't want to be
ostracized, they don't want tobe discarded, they don't want to
be labeled.
The true gospel is just what wedid at communion.
Chris, where's Chris?
So good, so good.
Thank you for leading us incommunion.
That the blood of Jesus is thesign of love, that he loves you,
he sees you, he knew you beforeyou ever knew him.
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He paid for you before you wouldever even know his name.
Nothing is too vile, nothing istoo gross, nothing is too far
gone, nothing is too twisted,nothing is too perverted for the
blood of Jesus to forgive and tocover.
But you know what?
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But we have to be the kind ofpeople that don't just look down
on people who are struggling.
We have to be the kind of peoplethat say, I know a man and his
name is Jesus.
And I love my Jesus.
I love my Jesus because my Jesussees value in every single human
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being, sees value, put his imagein you, and there's nothing that
we can't work through if you'rewilling to follow and obey what
God says.
And guess what?
Your desires, he's a powerfulGod.
And he can actually reformdesires, he can actually remake
what's broken.
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You're not bad, but this is notgood.
Amen?
Like, that's the true gospel.
I'm gonna skip.
There's more scriptures in thenotes that we will move on.
The next gospel we have to guardour garden from is the me
(24:44):
gospel.
The me gospel, professing faith,faith in Jesus without
obedience.
So it comes a little bit likethis.
Like, church is good.
Church is good.
I love the events.
I love when we do like funholiday stuff.
I love the kids' ministry.
(25:07):
Drop them off Wednesday andSunday.
Um, I really like it when I'mstruggling because I need
prayer, and the people just,whoo, they just, this is a
praying house.
It's so nice.
But you know, sometimes it'sjust a lot.
Like, church can be a lot.
Um, like they wanted us to go tobed early on Saturday so we
could be on time Sunday.
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And they're always talking aboutlike tithing?
Like, what's that up?
Like giving 10%?
Seriously?
Giving 10%.
Okay, y'all just y'all just runwith that one.
And then serving, serving,serving, serving, serving.
(25:54):
I'm really still seeking theLord.
Um I know that, I know, like I'mvery unique, really, really
unique, and like giftings arevery um, they're they're
special.
They're very special.
And so the rock hasn't likereally crafted a role that
(26:14):
really um it's life-giving, andthey're a life-giving church.
I know they wouldn't, theywouldn't want me to serve, you
know, until I can really findsome um and freedom, like I
loved the video, the freedomvideo, it really just moved me.
(26:38):
But um, that's a big commitment.
That's like multiple Wednesdaysin a row, and they make you scan
in.
Um, like, what's that about?
Um I am feeling because of allof what's on my shoulders, that
I kind of just need like amassage and a master class.
(26:58):
So um, John 3 30.
John 3 30, the true gospel, notthe me gospel.
He must increase.
I must decrease.
Let's say it again.
He must increase.
I must decrease.
(27:19):
We're not the center of thestory and our potential.
I'm telling you right now, I'mleading a Wednesday night small
group where the ladies.
The ladies are not in freedom,they're in there or various
places.
If I did a small group on ourEnneagram or building our
personal brand, I can probablydouble those numbers.
(27:40):
And guess what the Lord had usdo?
We're doing 12 weeks onhumility.
We love to talk about me, butthe me gospel skips right over
Lordship.
And I want to apologize,actually, I truly, this is like
genuine heartfelt, I want toapologize for any person in this
(28:03):
place that what you were taughtand what you were sold in your
salvation experience was that hewas going to just make
everything easy for you and thatyou had to do nothing.
Um God is amazing, and I I lovewho he is.
Everything about Jesus.
(28:24):
I love who he is.
But coming and following Jesusis about making him Lord.
Say that L word, Lord.
Making him Lord.
He's in charge.
He's in control, his way is theright way.
(28:44):
His word is the period.
I tell this with my kids on ournight prayers, we say this all
the time.
Jesus, I thank you that you arethe Lord of my life.
You are the king of kings,you're the king of our family,
you're the king of this house,you are the king of our city,
you are the king of our nation.
Like we're going through justtrying to make sure we don't
(29:05):
miss mix in a little me gospel.
And I hear it in their prayers.
Like, I haven't done a good job.
I'm I'm up to try a new HolySpirit.
Give me a new strategy.
Because the prayers are still,God, thank you that you would
give us a great day.
And like, no injuries, and likemy birthday's coming up, and I
(29:29):
have a lot of work to do.
Discipling.
Um, the me gospel.
The me gospel justifies poorchoices because you're tired.
Anytime I need to decompress.
So when we let our flesh decidewhat we eat, I'm gonna say that
(29:54):
again.
We let our flesh decide what weeat, what we drink.
What we watch, how we relax.
What is the is it Galatians?
The things that are born of theflesh lead to do you know your
(30:15):
Bible?
Death.
And the things born of theSpirit lead to life.
Poor choices when we're tired.
You know, when you're tired, youlet your kids just do whatever
they need to do.
They get a screen, they justwatch whatever they want to
watch.
When you're tired, you justbinge-watch that streaming
(30:37):
service.
We get desensitized from thethings that we take in.
And so what I want us to do, thetrue gospel says, you know, when
you need to come alive, when youneed your soul to be restored,
(30:59):
when you need to be brought backto life and resuscitated, when
you need the heaviness and thepressure to lift, come to my
presence.
Jesus says, Come and drink.
Come.
My yoke is easy, my burden islight.
Let me refresh your soul.
I love how the rabbis, when youread about it, they would grab
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all the four-year-olds andthey'd bring a jar of honey and
they'd have them dip their pinkyin it, taste the honey, and say,
This is what God's word tasteslike.
It's like honey to your soul.
See, the me gospel sends yourunning every widget direction
to get replenished, except God'sword.
(31:43):
Except spending time with thispresence.
So something is mixed up here.
Something's mixed up.
When you can't bring yourself towant to do that because you're
tired to sit with Jesus, to takea day, to have a Sabbath day to
be with Jesus, and you wonderwhy you're so exhausted.
You're so stressed.
We got to learn how to find thatin his presence again.
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So whatever your idea, I gottago sit in a hard wooden chair
and I gotta read King JamesVersion of the Bible.
No.
Spending time with Jesus canlook like a lot of things.
He's creative.
I love to go walk.
I love to go walk, get my littlehalf run on.
(32:29):
It's spending time with Jesus.
That is the true gospel.
Revelation 3, 15 and 19 says, Iknow your works, and you're
neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either coldor hot?
So because you're lukewarm andneither hot or cold, I will spit
you out of my mouth.
You say, I'm rich, I haveprospered, I need nothing.
(32:53):
Not realizing you are wretched,pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
This verse comes to mind when wego, oh, you know what?
No, I do that.
No, I spend time with Jesus.
In fact, he just illuminated hisword to me.
When was that?
That was like um back in March.
I was reading.
(33:13):
Um can't remember, but it wasgood.
It was good.
We cannot live on yesterday,last week, last month, last
conference, last year, lastprophetic word.
No, no, you are not gonna befully alive, joyful, secure,
(33:40):
strong, steadfast, stable,without feeding on the word of
God, without spending time withhim.
Go sit on your patio, go take awalk, go skip lunch with the
coworkers.
Come here on Wednesdays at 12and pray with us.
Spend time with Jesus and lethim refill you.
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Alright, you ready for one more?
Am I wearing y'all out?
It's like it's 11:30.
I got one more.
Build the house is guarding thegarden from other gospels.
Here we go.
There's two sides of this one.
It's a coin with two sides.
One side we have the power andpolicy gospel.
We need to make America great.
(34:24):
We need to build the empire, weneed to have financial security
and military might.
That's the most important thing.
On the other side, we got thejustice gospel.
We need activism.
We need to see injusticeoverturned.
We need to see equal equality.
We need to see equal pay.
All the girlies out there, wewant to have equal pay.
I want equal pay.
But that's the most importantthing.
(34:46):
So let's just think about this.
Paint your picture.
Close your eyes, paint thispicture.
You live in a world where yournation has superior military
might, economic success, lowinterest rates.
You can go get that house you'vebeen wanting, soaring 401ks.
Also, systemic racism is nomore.
Hatred of people based on thecolor of their skin is gone.
(35:09):
We have equal health care, equalpay.
The marginalized are recognized.
Sounds amazing.
Did you know that those samepeople still will not spend
eternity with Jesus if they donot receive the true gospel?
He said, Seek my kingdom first.
(35:30):
We're talking about mixinggospels, mixing allegiance.
Things can be important and youcan work in areas, but it cannot
come before the King of Kingsand the kingdom that we are
building.
Acts 1, 6, and 8.
I love this.
Remember when the disciples wantJesus to overthrow the unjust
(35:54):
Roman Empire?
He redirects.
He redirects.
Acts 1, 6 through 8.
So when they came together, theyasked him, Lord, will you at
this time restore the kingdom toIsrael?
And he said, It's not for you toknow the times or seasons that
the Father has fixed by his ownauthority, but you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit hascome upon you, and you will be
(36:18):
my witnesses.
The call is to be his witness.
A lot of things that we'd liketo fix here.
A lot of things you may get tobe a part of reforming, but they
are not the primary call.
The primary call is being awitness to the kingdom of God.
(36:43):
We're building the house.
Building the house.
We have to protect the gardenfrom these subtle compromises
that want to come and mix in.
They want to twist up.
They want to come and pervertwhat is true.
Alright.
Where's all my men?
(37:03):
I'm gonna talk to you.
Are you ready?
Are you protecting the garden?
Remember, Adam and Eve had aphysical garden in Eden.
We are now the garden.
We are the temple where thepresence of the living God
(37:23):
dwells.
You are the garden.
Are you fiercely protecting thegarden of your heart?
You are also the head of yourhousehold.
Are you fiercely protecting thegarden of your home?
Let's read Ephesians 5, 23 and25.
(37:46):
For the husband is the head ofthe wife as Christ is the head
of the church, his body of whichhe is the Savior.
Husbands, love your wives asChrist loved the church and gave
himself for her.
You are going to stand beforethe Lord and He is going to hold
you accountable because He'salready given you the grace to
(38:09):
do it.
He wouldn't hold you tosomething that you could not do.
He would only hold you tosomething that He's empowered
and wired you to do.
And that is to be the spiritualleader of your home.
So what does that look like?
You know, like you can't beresponsible and fix every last
(38:30):
little detail, but you know, youcan take responsibility for the
climate, for the spiritualclimate of the home.
You can take notice becauseyou're not so busy with things
at work that you don't look intothe eyes of the people that live
in your home, that you canactually notice when something's
off.
When you see rebellion comingin, you can step in and
(38:53):
discipline.
You have a responsibility tolove your wife, to be committed
to her, to be faithful, and tolead your home spiritually.
Are you perfect?
That ship sailed a long timeago.
No one is expecting that.
But you know what your wifewants to see?
(39:14):
She wants to see you reading theword of God.
Do you know what your childrenwant to see?
They want to see their daddypraying, depending on Jesus.
It's more about how you modelthan what you say.
(39:34):
Fiercely protecting the garden.
Whereas my ladies, my wives, allthe wives.
Genesis 2.18 said, the Lord Godsaid, It is not good for the man
to be alone.
He said, Amen.
I will make a helper suitablefor him.
(39:56):
We have a responsibility and arole to be the helper in leading
the home.
To be a helper and an encouragerto our husbands.
Scott loves that joke.
You know, Adam and Eve, it's thehelp that opposes.
Do y'all remember that weekwhere he talked about?
That was like low-key kind ofthrowing me under the bus a
(40:19):
little bit.
I'm here for it.
I am very aware that often myhelp could feel like opposition.
But you know, ladies, it's not.
It's that men and women seethrough different lenses.
We have a different perspective.
So when the enemy is at work andthe husband is seeing it from
(40:39):
this side, sometimes the wife isseeing it from this side, and
we're both wanting the sameoutcome.
And we're both wanting the samevictory, and so it's actually
help.
Our job is to encourage, our jobis to set the atmosphere of our
home.
Are we perfect?
No, we are not.
(41:04):
He has graced you.
You say, I don't, I don't feelthe grace.
I do not feel the grace to bemarried to this man.
I do not feel the grace toparent these children.
I do not feel the grace.
So, what what are we gonna comeback to that we've already
talked about the whole message?
We're gonna humble ourselveslike Ezra.
If you need to fast, fast, Lord,I need grace, I need your help,
(41:25):
and He's gonna empower you to dowhat you're called to do.
Where are my singles?
First Corinthians.
Some of you, there is actually aspiritual gift of singleness.
(41:46):
There is actually a spiritualgift of singleness and celibacy.
Now, many people are just, theyhaven't yet found their spouse,
so they are stewarding theirsingleness, but some people are
actually called to a lifetime ofthat.
1 Corinthians 7, 32 through 35,he says, I would like you to be
free from concern.
An unmarried man is concernedabout the Lord's affairs and how
(42:08):
he can please the Lord.
When a married man is concernedabout the affairs of this world
and how he can please his wife,so his interests are divided.
But an unmarried woman isconcerned about the Lord's
affairs.
Her aim is to be devoted to theLord in both body and spirit,
but a married woman is concernedabout the affairs of this world,
how she can please her husband.
I'm saying this for your owngood, not to restrict you, but
(42:31):
that you may live in a right wayin undivided devotion to the
Lord.
So if you're single today, thisis an act of worship that you
get to bring Jesus.
That you don't have to, youdon't have to make four
different dinners every nightbecause people, I don't eat, I
don't eat none, I eat chickennuggets.
(42:56):
Y'all, just today, what is itabout Sunday morning?
I wake up thinking about Jesus.
I wake up early so that I canget in his presence.
But no, you're having a meltdownbecause your pants are too
short, you're criticizingeverything, you're spinning
around the island and runninguntil you fall and you know hit
your face.
Then the car didn't start on theway here.
(43:20):
Think about that singles.
You can just wake him up.
You can I'm a mission.
I don't know, but someone'sgonna fill me in later.
You get to wake him up focusedon Jesus.
(43:42):
Alright, could I have the uhJohnny?
Would you mind coming up?
He's already there.
He's already there.
He's ahead of me.
You're amazing.
Love you.
Love this man.
1 Peter 2.9.
We're chosen, we're royal, we'reholy.
(44:04):
That's why we made that thetheme of Kingdom Heights.
Chosen for what?
For what?
To be just like everybody youwork with?
Be just like all the other kidsin school?
Chosen for his presence.
(44:25):
Chosen for his presence.
We're actually gonna kind ofenter a time, because it's only
1142, where we're going toconsecrate ourselves.
And we're gonna seek the Lord toask him if there's any area of
our life that we have grievedthe Holy Spirit.
(44:47):
Does every one of you in herelove God's presence?
You love God's presence.
That's why you came today.
But when we grieve the HolySpirit, when we bring in things
that do not match his way, hetemporarily steps back.
(45:09):
And we have a separation of bothhis power and his presence,
which is why you see powerlesschurches.
Powerless churches, becausethey're doing the things, but
they haven't consecratedthemselves to be undefiled
before the Lord.
So if you're okay, just stand upwith me.
(45:30):
And we're just gonna go to theLord altar team if you want to
come down.
I just want you to close youreyes.
(45:55):
You and Jesus.
Lord, we just want to say howmuch we love you.
God, we love who you are.
We love who you are.
We love the sacrifice that youmade for us.
(46:16):
We love that you're so patient.
You're so kind.
God, we love that you are soforgiving when we come to you
and we bring things to you.
God, we love that you havegraced us.
You chose to dwell in us.
You could have been anywhere andyou said, I don't want to be in
a temple made with hands.
I don't want to be in thisbeautiful, all-in, all-flame
(46:39):
designed building.
I want to be in hearts.
So, God, we just come to you andwe bring you our heart today.
We bring your heart.
Holy Spirit, you're the one whoilluminates.
You're the one who bringsconviction.
You're the one who helps us seeclear when things are cloudy.
(47:00):
So today, we just ask you toshine your light.
Shine your light any area of ourthoughts, our decisions, our
go-tos, the way that we've beenstewarding our time, the way
that we have been just feedingon things that they're not from
(47:23):
you.
And Lord, we just come just likeEzra, God, with open hands, open
hearts today, God, and werepent.
God, I repent.
God, I bring myself, Lord, withall the frailties, God, with all
of the weaknesses, God, with allof the distractions.
(47:46):
God, and I just come and I say,Jesus, I need help.
I need your help.
I need your strength.
I need your guidance.
God, we repent for every falsething that we've mixed in.
God, we repent for just evenentertaining ideas that do not
(48:09):
match your word.
God, we repent for trying tofeel smarter than your word.
We repent for needing anexplanation for your word.
God, we come as hungry children,poor, miserable, blind, and
naked without you, without yourpower, without your presence.
God, I thank you today.
(48:30):
You showed me that every singleperson coming in here feeling
disconnected from the power andpresence of Jesus could leave
different today.
God, I thank you that nothingcan separate us from you when we
are willing to lay ourselvesbefore you.
God, we thank you that you arethe one who lights the fire
(48:52):
within us.
God, would you light it again?
Would you light the flame withinus again to burn for purity, to
burn for holiness, to burn forwhat pleases you?
God, would you fill us againtoday, overflowing?
Just begin to ask him, say, HolySpirit, I need a fresh filling
today.
Holy Spirit, fill me up,overflowing rivers of living
(49:14):
water.
Everything that I've let intothis house, I've let into this
garden.
Would you wash me in the bloodof Jesus?
Would you forgive me?
Would you make me new?
Would you make me clean again?
Let's make him Lord today.
God, today we sign up again foryour Lordship.
God, you are the King.
You are the one in charge.
You are the Lord.
(49:35):
God, above every other lesserthing that tries to win our
affection.
Today we say, Jesus, be Lord.
Jesus, I choose you.
I choose you.
I choose you.
And Holy Spirit, just begin togive him permission.
Say, Holy Spirit, this is greatand all.
But when I leave here today,when I go back to my normal
(49:58):
world, when I go back to mynormal life, God, I give you
permission to check me.
When I go to turn on somethingon the TV that isn't glorifying
you, and it is wretched.
It is, it is everything that youhad to die for, and I'm being
entertained by it.
Would you check me?
God, would you call me up?
(50:19):
Would you bring me into agreater place, a greater
standard that your presencewould not be grieved?
God, I pray over every manleading his household today.
Holy Spirit, would you fill himup, overflowing?
Would you grace him today to bethe man you've called him to be?
God, I thank you for fullstature over the men of this
(50:43):
house to lead because they areconnected to your presence.
God, I pray over every wife,every helper, every mom.
God, I thank you right now thatyour Holy Spirit would be the
one giving permission.
Say, Holy Spirit, correct mewhen I'm checking out and I'm
missing things that are slippinginto the garden of my children's
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heart.
Check me, Holy Spirit, wake meup, alert me.
Holy Spirit, give me the graceto be the mom that I need to be
in 2025.
God, I pray for our singlesright now.
God, I pray that they would giveyou permission to speak to them
in ways that married peoplecannot receive.
(51:25):
Because of their devotion toyou, because of their service to
you, because of them layingtheir sexuality on the altar as
an offering to you.
God, I thank you right now for agrace of purity to fill their
heart, fill their body, filltheir mind.
God, I thank you, Holy Spirit,that you have empowered us to be
(51:45):
your witness.
Right now, today, as a church,we come before you.
We want to be your witness.
God, I thank you right now, allstriving, we lay it at your
feet.
We don't have to do great thingsfor you.
This church doesn't have to toutall the great things we're doing
for you.
All we have to do is be the lampstand.
(52:09):
Oh, not the lamp.
Oh, no, no, no.
Jesus is the lamp.
Jesus is the light.
We're just the stand that holdsthe light.
We bear witness to you, Jesus.
Let our marriages, let ourhouseholds, let our work ethic,
God, let our finances, the waywe spend money, let everything
about us speak as a witness tothe king of the kingdom.
(52:34):
And God, we just thank you forwhat you're doing in us today.
And we love you, we praise youin Jesus' holy name.
Let's say amen.
SPEAKER_00 (52:45):
We hope and pray this message was encouraging and
impactful.
Join us live on our website orFacebook on Sundays at nine and
eleven AM.
You can stay connected with uson Facebook and Instagram at the
Rock Family.
Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week.
For more information about ourchurch, please visit
therockfamily.tv.
Now join us for a message fromour special guest speaker.
SPEAKER_01 (00:19):
I pray that we are growing in our knowledge of
Jesus through Build This Houseseries.
So today I'm excited about thetext.
Today we're in chapter 8 and 9of Ezra.
And so just right out of thegate where this story picks up
is Ezra is in a major place ofanxiety.
I think we can all relate tothat.
(00:41):
Ezra is in a serious place ofanxiety where this is gonna pick
up today.
And it's because, you know, heis the one.
I know if you need to go backand watch past sermons to catch
up, go do that.
But he's the one leading thissection of the rebuilding of the
temple.
So he is in charge right now,he's the leader, and so he's
(01:01):
actually been asked to oversee avery important part of the
assignment.
All of the wealth that has beenlaid up from the wicked for the
righteous that the PersianEmpire is going to be sending
back with God's people to buildthe house of God.
He is actually the one leadingthis transportation.
(01:22):
He is the one that isresponsible to get all of the
items and all of the peoplesafely back to Jerusalem.
Anyone could say that would be alittle a little much?
And he knows that there is a lotat risk.
He knows there's a lot at stake.
Um, so we're gonna pick up umactually before I read verse 21,
(01:43):
I just wanted to like research.
I'm like, exactly how much moneyare we talking?
Anybody think like that?
You've got any number people?
It's like, so exactly how muchmoney?
What would that be today?
Anybody wonder about that?
So it says that the Persian kinghad made a substantial
contribution of gold and silver,and Ezra is the one entrusted
with this.
It equated to 25 tons of silver,almost four tons of gold,
(02:04):
various vessels, including 20gold bowls, weighing about 21
pounds, precious metals.
It was estimated in the preciousmetals that it would be equal to
a total annual income of 100,000people to 500,000 people, their
annual income.
So this was a pretty big deal.
And so the cool part about Ezra,and I think you may relate to
(02:27):
this.
Have you ever had an assignment?
It's already big in the natural,but you actually feel the
spiritual weight on it.
Can anybody relate to that?
I think some of you know whatI'm talking about.
Something you're dealing with atwork.
It's it's already a lot just inthe natural.
But because you have eyes in thespirit, you understand what
God's trying to do, you also arefeeling the spiritual weight and
(02:51):
responsibility of this.
And so um, he knows exactlywhat's at stake, and he knows
the journey that he's gonna haveto go, and the amount of bandits
and robbers that would just benormal for them to be attacked
and for this to be stolen.
So let's pick up with verse 21,Ezra chapter 8.
He says, Then I proclaimed afast there at the river Ahava
(03:12):
that we might humble ourselvesbefore our God to seek from him
a safe journey for ourselves,for our children, and for all
our goods.
So I'm gonna pause right there.
I love to just learn from otherpeople.
Does anybody else do that?
Like, if I can lean in and learnsomething from you, I could
(03:32):
learn something that's good todo, I could learn from your
mistakes.
Like, I'm always leaning andlearning.
And so the first thing thatjumps out for me here with Ezra
is that in a place of anxiety,what is his go-to?
He humbles himself before theLord and begins to fast.
So, right out of the gate, I'mlike, I can think of several
(03:54):
areas in my life where I havehad anxiety over the assignment.
I've had anxiety over what's atstake, what could be lost, what
could happen to my family, to mykids, to the possessions, to the
responsibility.
I want to be like this.
I want my go-to to be fasting.
(04:16):
I want my go-to to humble myselfbefore the Lord.
Now, I I just I'm gonna say alot of things today, and I'm
just gonna put this out there.
Um, if you go like a whole yearto a church and you never get
offended, maybe something iswrong with that church.
I don't know.
I just think, I think when youhave diversity of voices and you
(04:38):
have scripture, which is meantto offend our flesh, if you went
a whole year and you never heardanything that you didn't, I
don't know if I like that ornot, there might be something
wrong with the church.
So, you know what?
You might have gone a wholeyear.
Today could be your day.
I don't know.
Here we go.
So, what what we normally see,what's normal to us when we face
(05:02):
anxiety, is fasting and humblingourselves might not be our first
thing.
Nothing wrong with medicationand therapy, but it shouldn't be
our first thing.
It shouldn't.
Because what's at risk there ismaking sure that we can clearly
hear what God needs to say tous.
(05:26):
Anxiety comes because I thinkI'm in charge.
Anxiety comes because I feel outof control.
Anxiety comes because this istoo big for me.
This is too hard.
Well, the last time I checked,everything the Lord has ever
asked me to do was too hard forme to do.
And then I spin up in a cycletrying to fix me so that I can
(05:48):
be big enough to do the hardthing.
Not the plan.
What is hard for us is easy withhim.
What you can't do is what hedoes, right?
It's our dependence on him.
So let's make our go-to in thesemoments, humbling ourselves
(06:11):
before the Lord.
The other thing I love aboutthis is he didn't just get all
spiritual.
See, some of you think, oh, see,she's a pastor, and so she just
wants us to pray abouteverything.
Actually, that's not what Ezradid.
Ezra had a strategicadministrative plan to go with
the humbling of himself beforethe Lord.
Do I have any people with thespiritual gift of
(06:33):
administration?
See, that means you hadn't takenyour next steps.
Your next steps spiritualgifting, you'd know this.
That's actually one of thespiritual giftings from the Holy
Spirit in the New Testament.
The gift of administration.
People with the gift ofadministration, does this sound
like you?
You have a natural skill fororganizing tasks and people.
(06:53):
You have a desire to streamlineprocesses.
Where's Justin Gibbons?
He's like doing a lab right now.
Do you have an ability to keepmultiple projects on target?
And do you enjoy managingdetails?
That's a gift of administrationthat's actually from the Holy
Spirit.
So stop taking credit for it.
Stop.
If it's a grace gift, it's fromHim, right?
(07:15):
But so Ezra operates in this.
He doesn't just fast and prayfor the safe passage of the
kids, the safe passage of thegoods, but he also pulls down
from the Lord a strategicadministrative plan and he says,
to prevent theft.
Now, this was going to beentrusted to 12 priests and 12
Levites, and he's worried abouttheft.
(07:36):
Okay.
So he has a strategy ofstewardship.
He weighs every single item andinventories every single item.
He entrusted it to the 12priests, the 12 Levites, and
then when they get there safely,guess what he does again?
He weighs it again.
Sounds like an audit, right?
Holy Ghost audit right there.
Making sure.
(07:57):
So he's just done thisincredible task.
Verse 22, that's also up there.
I love this about him.
Verse 22, he says, I was ashamedto ask the king for a band of
soldiers and horsemen to protectus.
So the king is like, You sure?
You don't need some armedsoldiers to help you make a safe
(08:18):
passage with this amount ofmoney through all of these roads
that are covered with bandits.
You're sure.
And he like deep down wanted to.
You ever been there?
Like, I actually would really,really, really like to know that
I've got some armed guards.
But he couldn't because it wasactually going to diminish the
reputation of God that he hadalready preached to say that,
(08:39):
look, all this that's happenedto us, this is Yahweh.
This is God's provision.
This is God's resources, he'sthe one that's got us here, he's
the one that has provided.
Oh, but you know what?
He's not strong enough toprotect us to get there.
But don't we do this?
Look at our own lives.
Look at what he's done in yourown life, in your own family.
Look at from time and time againthat he's provided, he's
(09:02):
protected.
And then wherever we're at rightnow, like me last week, I don't
know.
I don't know.
Just discouraged.
Discouraged.
I sent one of those texts thatyou hit sin before you reread it
because you know you'll youwon't send it and you just need
to like bottom out with somebodya little bit.
Like, I'm crashing, I'mcrashing.
(09:26):
Why?
Ezra's like, yeah, I wouldreally like that.
Because you know what?
Then I wouldn't have as muchanxiety, but I already know who
God is.
So I'm going to put my faith inaction that He is going to get
us from point A to point B.
So I feel like Aren't youalready already feel like that's
the story?
Like, oh, but as soon as Hemakes it safely, nobody stole
(09:50):
anything, they didn't put somein their pocket.
He notifies 120 governors andsad traps, but look what God has
done.
That's when there should be anafter party.
It's kind of like mom's after wehave finished the women's
conference.
We have warred, we have prayed,we have sought the Lord, we have
cried, we have encouraged eachother.
And you're on your drive homethinking, I am gonna go and I'm
(10:14):
gonna put my feet up.
We have swept this room, we havecleaned, and the kids are
waiting on you.
Right?
Yeah, yeah.
I'm hungry.
You know, all the stuff.
Anyway, Ezra finishes this partof the mission, and instead of
an after party, Ezra 9, verse 1and 2.
(10:35):
After these things had beendone, the officials approached
me and said, The people ofIsrael and the priest and the
Levites have not separatedthemselves from the people of
the lands with theirabominations.
From the Canaanites, theHittites, the Parasites, the
Jebusites, the Ammonites, theMoabites, the Egyptians, the
Amorites.
They have taken some of thedaughters to be wise for
(10:57):
themselves and for their sons.
This holy race has mixed itselfwith the people of the land.
And so what we're gonna read inEzra, what we're gonna learn,
his heart sinks.
He is so low, he's crushed tosee all that God has done, and
(11:19):
now he's looking at this groupof people.
And the very thing that they didfor hundreds of years, which God
warned, he sent prophets, hebegged with them, he pleaded
with them, but they would notseparate themselves from the
defilement of the land, and theyhad to be exiled, and they lost
Solomon's temple, and they gotpulled into slavery in Babel.
They're doing it again.
(11:42):
Like, seriously.
And I need to say this because Iwant to make sure nobody's
confused.
Nothing about what God wassaying is that he did not like
interracial marriages.
Thank God.
Look around you at this church.
We are the place where we gotall the flavors.
This had nothing to do withrace, it had everything to do
(12:05):
with being unequally yoked andworshiping other gods.
And he said, as soon as youmarry, as soon as you marry into
these ungodly pagan groups, yourchildren are going to be lost.
It was always about the nextgeneration.
Pure worship being passed downfrom generation to generation.
(12:26):
Let's read verse 3.
As soon as I heard this, I toremy garment, my cloak, I pulled
hair from my head and beard.
I sat appalled.
Then all who trembled at thewords of God of Israel, because
of the faithlessness of thereturned exiles, they gathered
around me while I sat appalledin the evening sacrifice.
(12:46):
And at the evening sacrifice Irose from my fasting with my
garment and my cloak torn, and Ifell upon my knees, and I spread
out my hands to the Lord my God,saying, Oh my God, I'm so
ashamed.
Why does Ezra have this extremereaction?
(13:10):
I think it's a little extreme topull out your hair and your
beard.
That sounds painful.
Especially because he's not theone that even did this.
So if we do just a little bit ofshort, short history, not gonna
take a lot of time.
Canaanite people, the fertilitycult, it was the most immoral,
(13:35):
it was the most vile religionknown to man.
All of their worship to theirgods involved prostitution, it
involved sacrificing children,they had Baal, they had a whole
group.
They had Baal.
It was all about ritual sex,self-mutilization.
There was Ishtar, which was allabout being gender fluid.
She was supposed to be themother of this.
(13:57):
Um, still more and moreprostitution.
Then you had Moat, the god ofthe underworld, it was death, it
was destruction, anythingdevouring what was good.
Like that was what theyglorified, and that was what
they worshiped, and that waswhat like their whole world was
unto.
Right?
And so um each of those deitiesrepresented forces that were
(14:24):
there to distort God's order.
So many times, and I know you doit, I do it too sometimes, it'd
be like if you saw somebody whomade a little statue out of
wood, and then they're gonna doa little ritual to it, and
you're like, yeah, I think it'sit's wood.
It's wood.
(14:44):
That's not what this was.
These were actual demonicforces, ancient spirits that are
still at work.
We don't have time to talk aboutit, but if you want to Google it
and research it, most of thethings that you find, the little
details of pride months, go backto things that they did to these
(15:04):
deities.
So God's command to say, I needyou to be separate, I need you
to be distinct, I need you notto entwine, not to bring these
religions into your home, intoyour household.
It's not because he wanted totake away fun or freedom.
He didn't want that defilingspirit to come in and to pervert
(15:28):
destiny, what he had planned.
Alright, so the overarching wordfor today on the screen is this
the word syncretism.
So y'all might think I'm smart,you might not.
I actually had not heard thisword until we entered the
series, so I'm learning newthings with you.
I knew what it meant, but I hadnot heard that word.
Syncretism is when we mix.
(15:48):
Oh, we love Jesus, yes, we loveto come to our church, the rock.
We love Christian principles, welove conservative values, but
then we mix in other stuff.
We mix in a little bit of this,we mix in a little bit of this
TikTok religion over here, wemix in a little bit, oh, that
sounded good, and mindfulnesssounds good, and so it's like
(16:10):
this hodgepodge of God's word,his commands, his order, what he
set in motion.
But you know what?
We're in 2025, and there's likea lot of new things out there,
and it's just like reallyhelpful, you know, so you could
just kind of so there's you likethree main areas of syncretism
(16:30):
that we we allow in.
This room right here.
Now, the main the first one, Idon't think there's that much
going on here, but there'sprobably a little, and that's
actually mixing in formalreligions with Christianity.
I don't know, Buddhism,Hinduism, Mormonism, um, I'm
drawn blank, but you get whatI'm talking about.
(16:52):
Some some areas of Catholicism.
So it's like a mixing of thesethings.
So um, let me find the otherone.
Let me find my notes here.
The second one is mixing inspirituality.
This one is much more common,right?
Um, spirituality.
(17:13):
So we may like, you know, wantto get tarot cards read.
We want to talk to a psychic.
We've got our crystals, we'vegot zodiac.
Um, everybody's manifesting,right?
So it's almost a word, just kindof like sometimes slips in.
You don't even mean what theymean it to mean, but it's still
like just in the soup ofculture.
Witchcraft, sorcery, things ofthe occult, witchcraft.
(17:38):
Any supernatural power.
You're trying to get power orjust trying to get insight.
I just need some wisdom.
I just need to know what to do.
I'm stuck.
I just I need to get, you know,find something else that's
that's I'm not thinking of.
If I am pursuing that insightfrom any power that is not from
Jesus, not from the Spirit ofJesus, Holy Spirit.
(18:01):
That's syncretism.
We're mixing in the things ofthe land into our worship to
Jesus.
The third one is misusing sex,money, or power.
All three of those things intheir context, they're fine.
But when we misuse, abuse, thesecan be idols in our life.
(18:23):
So I love this quote from KGBeale.
He said, Adam failed at hispriestly service, and I would
add Adam and Eve failed at theirpriestly service.
His work was not just to workthe soil.
So remember, he's supposed to betending the garden.
So his work wasn't just thephysical toiling of the soil, it
(18:48):
was serving God, keeping thegarden, but also guarding it.
Adam and Eve failed in theirpriestly assignment, to which we
still have the same today,because they did not fiercely
guard the garden from the otheridea, from the deceiver, from
(19:10):
the serpent, from the one whocame into defile and to question
God.
So as we are in this series ofbuild the house, today what
we're talking about is it lookslike guarding the garden from
these other gospels.
Really?
(19:30):
Like there's other gospels thatwe've got mixed in 100%.
Every single it's just coming atyou every day.
You're not bad.
You're not bad.
It's coming at you every day.
We have to be on guard.
Deception is sly, it's subtle,compromise is sneaky.
Nobody in here woke up todaysaying, you know what?
(19:51):
I just want to be like notdevoted to Jesus.
You know what?
I don't want to have allegianceto the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords.
Nobody came in here saying thattoday.
So we have to be on guard.
So maybe this one's come.
This other gospel's come to yourdoor.
It's what I would call thecompassion gospel.
(20:13):
It comes every, it's always inthe form of a question.
It's where it starts.
That's why I said be carefulwhat questions you're
entertaining, what conversationsyou're having when it's not from
Jesus.
See, Eve didn't have to enterthe conversation.
The servant could have come in,asked the question, and she
could have just been like.
Right?
So we gotta be careful how we'reentertaining, how we're
(20:36):
engaging.
So this one comes to you as thecompassion gospel.
It sounds like this.
Isn't it more like Jesus to justlove everyone?
Like, it's not really like Jesusto hurt people's feelings.
And you know, you know what?
I already can tell about you.
You're not like those otherChristians.
(20:56):
You know, those otherChristians, oh, they're bigots.
You're not you're better.
You're you're better than thembecause you have compassion and
um you know, you don't saythings that are harsh, and you
kind of let people decide ontheir own.
I've heard that one.
You've been in a conversationwith someone and heard that
(21:17):
right here.
I don't want to be like thoseChristians.
I'll be better.
Standing publicly with what Godsays is good is right.
Standing publicly with what Godsays is his order, marriage
(21:43):
between one man and one woman,the way that he wants one man
and one woman to have a covenantfor their lifetime, for children
to come after the covenant, forGod in his creative power to
choose the gender of everyperson that is born.
(22:05):
God said this is good.
So when, but but isn't can'tthis be good too?
So it's not up to me to definewhat is good.
It's not my preference, mydesire to define what is good.
God already said what is good.
(22:27):
I can't mix that in.
It's not the compassion gospel.
But you know what the truegospel is.
The true gospel says everysingle person in this place
struggling, confused, ashamed,hiding, not able to really lay
(22:53):
out what's going on because theywon't, they don't want to be
ostracized, they don't want tobe discarded, they don't want to
be labeled.
The true gospel is just what wedid at communion.
Chris, where's Chris?
So good, so good.
Thank you for leading us incommunion.
That the blood of Jesus is thesign of love, that he loves you,
he sees you, he knew you beforeyou ever knew him.
(23:18):
He paid for you before you wouldever even know his name.
Nothing is too vile, nothing istoo gross, nothing is too far
gone, nothing is too twisted,nothing is too perverted for the
blood of Jesus to forgive and tocover.
But you know what?
(23:41):
But we have to be the kind ofpeople that don't just look down
on people who are struggling.
We have to be the kind of peoplethat say, I know a man and his
name is Jesus.
And I love my Jesus.
I love my Jesus because my Jesussees value in every single human
(24:02):
being, sees value, put his imagein you, and there's nothing that
we can't work through if you'rewilling to follow and obey what
God says.
And guess what?
Your desires, he's a powerfulGod.
And he can actually reformdesires, he can actually remake
what's broken.
(24:22):
You're not bad, but this is notgood.
Amen?
Like, that's the true gospel.
I'm gonna skip.
There's more scriptures in thenotes that we will move on.
The next gospel we have to guardour garden from is the me
(24:44):
gospel.
The me gospel, professing faith,faith in Jesus without
obedience.
So it comes a little bit likethis.
Like, church is good.
Church is good.
I love the events.
I love when we do like funholiday stuff.
I love the kids' ministry.
(25:07):
Drop them off Wednesday andSunday.
Um, I really like it when I'mstruggling because I need
prayer, and the people just,whoo, they just, this is a
praying house.
It's so nice.
But you know, sometimes it'sjust a lot.
Like, church can be a lot.
Um, like they wanted us to go tobed early on Saturday so we
could be on time Sunday.
(25:29):
And they're always talking aboutlike tithing?
Like, what's that up?
Like giving 10%?
Seriously?
Giving 10%.
Okay, y'all just y'all just runwith that one.
And then serving, serving,serving, serving, serving.
(25:54):
I'm really still seeking theLord.
Um I know that, I know, like I'mvery unique, really, really
unique, and like giftings arevery um, they're they're
special.
They're very special.
And so the rock hasn't likereally crafted a role that
(26:14):
really um it's life-giving, andthey're a life-giving church.
I know they wouldn't, theywouldn't want me to serve, you
know, until I can really findsome um and freedom, like I
loved the video, the freedomvideo, it really just moved me.
(26:38):
But um, that's a big commitment.
That's like multiple Wednesdaysin a row, and they make you scan
in.
Um, like, what's that about?
Um I am feeling because of allof what's on my shoulders, that
I kind of just need like amassage and a master class.
(26:58):
So um, John 3 30.
John 3 30, the true gospel, notthe me gospel.
He must increase.
I must decrease.
Let's say it again.
He must increase.
I must decrease.
(27:19):
We're not the center of thestory and our potential.
I'm telling you right now, I'mleading a Wednesday night small
group where the ladies.
The ladies are not in freedom,they're in there or various
places.
If I did a small group on ourEnneagram or building our
personal brand, I can probablydouble those numbers.
(27:40):
And guess what the Lord had usdo?
We're doing 12 weeks onhumility.
We love to talk about me, butthe me gospel skips right over
Lordship.
And I want to apologize,actually, I truly, this is like
genuine heartfelt, I want toapologize for any person in this
(28:03):
place that what you were taughtand what you were sold in your
salvation experience was that hewas going to just make
everything easy for you and thatyou had to do nothing.
Um God is amazing, and I I lovewho he is.
Everything about Jesus.
(28:24):
I love who he is.
But coming and following Jesusis about making him Lord.
Say that L word, Lord.
Making him Lord.
He's in charge.
He's in control, his way is theright way.
(28:44):
His word is the period.
I tell this with my kids on ournight prayers, we say this all
the time.
Jesus, I thank you that you arethe Lord of my life.
You are the king of kings,you're the king of our family,
you're the king of this house,you are the king of our city,
you are the king of our nation.
Like we're going through justtrying to make sure we don't
(29:05):
miss mix in a little me gospel.
And I hear it in their prayers.
Like, I haven't done a good job.
I'm I'm up to try a new HolySpirit.
Give me a new strategy.
Because the prayers are still,God, thank you that you would
give us a great day.
And like, no injuries, and likemy birthday's coming up, and I
(29:29):
have a lot of work to do.
Discipling.
Um, the me gospel.
The me gospel justifies poorchoices because you're tired.
Anytime I need to decompress.
So when we let our flesh decidewhat we eat, I'm gonna say that
(29:54):
again.
We let our flesh decide what weeat, what we drink.
What we watch, how we relax.
What is the is it Galatians?
The things that are born of theflesh lead to do you know your
(30:15):
Bible?
Death.
And the things born of theSpirit lead to life.
Poor choices when we're tired.
You know, when you're tired, youlet your kids just do whatever
they need to do.
They get a screen, they justwatch whatever they want to
watch.
When you're tired, you justbinge-watch that streaming
(30:37):
service.
We get desensitized from thethings that we take in.
And so what I want us to do, thetrue gospel says, you know, when
you need to come alive, when youneed your soul to be restored,
(30:59):
when you need to be brought backto life and resuscitated, when
you need the heaviness and thepressure to lift, come to my
presence.
Jesus says, Come and drink.
Come.
My yoke is easy, my burden islight.
Let me refresh your soul.
I love how the rabbis, when youread about it, they would grab
(31:21):
all the four-year-olds andthey'd bring a jar of honey and
they'd have them dip their pinkyin it, taste the honey, and say,
This is what God's word tasteslike.
It's like honey to your soul.
See, the me gospel sends yourunning every widget direction
to get replenished, except God'sword.
(31:43):
Except spending time with thispresence.
So something is mixed up here.
Something's mixed up.
When you can't bring yourself towant to do that because you're
tired to sit with Jesus, to takea day, to have a Sabbath day to
be with Jesus, and you wonderwhy you're so exhausted.
You're so stressed.
We got to learn how to find thatin his presence again.
(32:04):
So whatever your idea, I gottago sit in a hard wooden chair
and I gotta read King JamesVersion of the Bible.
No.
Spending time with Jesus canlook like a lot of things.
He's creative.
I love to go walk.
I love to go walk, get my littlehalf run on.
(32:29):
It's spending time with Jesus.
That is the true gospel.
Revelation 3, 15 and 19 says, Iknow your works, and you're
neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either coldor hot?
So because you're lukewarm andneither hot or cold, I will spit
you out of my mouth.
You say, I'm rich, I haveprospered, I need nothing.
(32:53):
Not realizing you are wretched,pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
This verse comes to mind when wego, oh, you know what?
No, I do that.
No, I spend time with Jesus.
In fact, he just illuminated hisword to me.
When was that?
That was like um back in March.
I was reading.
(33:13):
Um can't remember, but it wasgood.
It was good.
We cannot live on yesterday,last week, last month, last
conference, last year, lastprophetic word.
No, no, you are not gonna befully alive, joyful, secure,
(33:40):
strong, steadfast, stable,without feeding on the word of
God, without spending time withhim.
Go sit on your patio, go take awalk, go skip lunch with the
coworkers.
Come here on Wednesdays at 12and pray with us.
Spend time with Jesus and lethim refill you.
(34:02):
Alright, you ready for one more?
Am I wearing y'all out?
It's like it's 11:30.
I got one more.
Build the house is guarding thegarden from other gospels.
Here we go.
There's two sides of this one.
It's a coin with two sides.
One side we have the power andpolicy gospel.
We need to make America great.
(34:24):
We need to build the empire, weneed to have financial security
and military might.
That's the most important thing.
On the other side, we got thejustice gospel.
We need activism.
We need to see injusticeoverturned.
We need to see equal equality.
We need to see equal pay.
All the girlies out there, wewant to have equal pay.
I want equal pay.
But that's the most importantthing.
(34:46):
So let's just think about this.
Paint your picture.
Close your eyes, paint thispicture.
You live in a world where yournation has superior military
might, economic success, lowinterest rates.
You can go get that house you'vebeen wanting, soaring 401ks.
Also, systemic racism is nomore.
Hatred of people based on thecolor of their skin is gone.
(35:09):
We have equal health care, equalpay.
The marginalized are recognized.
Sounds amazing.
Did you know that those samepeople still will not spend
eternity with Jesus if they donot receive the true gospel?
He said, Seek my kingdom first.
(35:30):
We're talking about mixinggospels, mixing allegiance.
Things can be important and youcan work in areas, but it cannot
come before the King of Kingsand the kingdom that we are
building.
Acts 1, 6, and 8.
I love this.
Remember when the disciples wantJesus to overthrow the unjust
(35:54):
Roman Empire?
He redirects.
He redirects.
Acts 1, 6 through 8.
So when they came together, theyasked him, Lord, will you at
this time restore the kingdom toIsrael?
And he said, It's not for you toknow the times or seasons that
the Father has fixed by his ownauthority, but you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit hascome upon you, and you will be
(36:18):
my witnesses.
The call is to be his witness.
A lot of things that we'd liketo fix here.
A lot of things you may get tobe a part of reforming, but they
are not the primary call.
The primary call is being awitness to the kingdom of God.
(36:43):
We're building the house.
Building the house.
We have to protect the gardenfrom these subtle compromises
that want to come and mix in.
They want to twist up.
They want to come and pervertwhat is true.
Alright.
Where's all my men?
(37:03):
I'm gonna talk to you.
Are you ready?
Are you protecting the garden?
Remember, Adam and Eve had aphysical garden in Eden.
We are now the garden.
We are the temple where thepresence of the living God
(37:23):
dwells.
You are the garden.
Are you fiercely protecting thegarden of your heart?
You are also the head of yourhousehold.
Are you fiercely protecting thegarden of your home?
Let's read Ephesians 5, 23 and25.
(37:46):
For the husband is the head ofthe wife as Christ is the head
of the church, his body of whichhe is the Savior.
Husbands, love your wives asChrist loved the church and gave
himself for her.
You are going to stand beforethe Lord and He is going to hold
you accountable because He'salready given you the grace to
(38:09):
do it.
He wouldn't hold you tosomething that you could not do.
He would only hold you tosomething that He's empowered
and wired you to do.
And that is to be the spiritualleader of your home.
So what does that look like?
You know, like you can't beresponsible and fix every last
(38:30):
little detail, but you know, youcan take responsibility for the
climate, for the spiritualclimate of the home.
You can take notice becauseyou're not so busy with things
at work that you don't look intothe eyes of the people that live
in your home, that you canactually notice when something's
off.
When you see rebellion comingin, you can step in and
(38:53):
discipline.
You have a responsibility tolove your wife, to be committed
to her, to be faithful, and tolead your home spiritually.
Are you perfect?
That ship sailed a long timeago.
No one is expecting that.
But you know what your wifewants to see?
(39:14):
She wants to see you reading theword of God.
Do you know what your childrenwant to see?
They want to see their daddypraying, depending on Jesus.
It's more about how you modelthan what you say.
(39:34):
Fiercely protecting the garden.
Whereas my ladies, my wives, allthe wives.
Genesis 2.18 said, the Lord Godsaid, It is not good for the man
to be alone.
He said, Amen.
I will make a helper suitablefor him.
(39:56):
We have a responsibility and arole to be the helper in leading
the home.
To be a helper and an encouragerto our husbands.
Scott loves that joke.
You know, Adam and Eve, it's thehelp that opposes.
Do y'all remember that weekwhere he talked about?
That was like low-key kind ofthrowing me under the bus a
(40:19):
little bit.
I'm here for it.
I am very aware that often myhelp could feel like opposition.
But you know, ladies, it's not.
It's that men and women seethrough different lenses.
We have a different perspective.
So when the enemy is at work andthe husband is seeing it from
(40:39):
this side, sometimes the wife isseeing it from this side, and
we're both wanting the sameoutcome.
And we're both wanting the samevictory, and so it's actually
help.
Our job is to encourage, our jobis to set the atmosphere of our
home.
Are we perfect?
No, we are not.
(41:04):
He has graced you.
You say, I don't, I don't feelthe grace.
I do not feel the grace to bemarried to this man.
I do not feel the grace toparent these children.
I do not feel the grace.
So, what what are we gonna comeback to that we've already
talked about the whole message?
We're gonna humble ourselveslike Ezra.
If you need to fast, fast, Lord,I need grace, I need your help,
(41:25):
and He's gonna empower you to dowhat you're called to do.
Where are my singles?
First Corinthians.
Some of you, there is actually aspiritual gift of singleness.
(41:46):
There is actually a spiritualgift of singleness and celibacy.
Now, many people are just, theyhaven't yet found their spouse,
so they are stewarding theirsingleness, but some people are
actually called to a lifetime ofthat.
1 Corinthians 7, 32 through 35,he says, I would like you to be
free from concern.
An unmarried man is concernedabout the Lord's affairs and how
(42:08):
he can please the Lord.
When a married man is concernedabout the affairs of this world
and how he can please his wife,so his interests are divided.
But an unmarried woman isconcerned about the Lord's
affairs.
Her aim is to be devoted to theLord in both body and spirit,
but a married woman is concernedabout the affairs of this world,
how she can please her husband.
I'm saying this for your owngood, not to restrict you, but
(42:31):
that you may live in a right wayin undivided devotion to the
Lord.
So if you're single today, thisis an act of worship that you
get to bring Jesus.
That you don't have to, youdon't have to make four
different dinners every nightbecause people, I don't eat, I
don't eat none, I eat chickennuggets.
(42:56):
Y'all, just today, what is itabout Sunday morning?
I wake up thinking about Jesus.
I wake up early so that I canget in his presence.
But no, you're having a meltdownbecause your pants are too
short, you're criticizingeverything, you're spinning
around the island and runninguntil you fall and you know hit
your face.
Then the car didn't start on theway here.
(43:20):
Think about that singles.
You can just wake him up.
You can I'm a mission.
I don't know, but someone'sgonna fill me in later.
You get to wake him up focusedon Jesus.
(43:42):
Alright, could I have the uhJohnny?
Would you mind coming up?
He's already there.
He's already there.
He's ahead of me.
You're amazing.
Love you.
Love this man.
1 Peter 2.9.
We're chosen, we're royal, we'reholy.
(44:04):
That's why we made that thetheme of Kingdom Heights.
Chosen for what?
For what?
To be just like everybody youwork with?
Be just like all the other kidsin school?
Chosen for his presence.
(44:25):
Chosen for his presence.
We're actually gonna kind ofenter a time, because it's only
1142, where we're going toconsecrate ourselves.
And we're gonna seek the Lord toask him if there's any area of
our life that we have grievedthe Holy Spirit.
(44:47):
Does every one of you in herelove God's presence?
You love God's presence.
That's why you came today.
But when we grieve the HolySpirit, when we bring in things
that do not match his way, hetemporarily steps back.
(45:09):
And we have a separation of bothhis power and his presence,
which is why you see powerlesschurches.
Powerless churches, becausethey're doing the things, but
they haven't consecratedthemselves to be undefiled
before the Lord.
So if you're okay, just stand upwith me.
(45:30):
And we're just gonna go to theLord altar team if you want to
come down.
I just want you to close youreyes.
(45:55):
You and Jesus.
Lord, we just want to say howmuch we love you.
God, we love who you are.
We love who you are.
We love the sacrifice that youmade for us.
(46:16):
We love that you're so patient.
You're so kind.
God, we love that you are soforgiving when we come to you
and we bring things to you.
God, we love that you havegraced us.
You chose to dwell in us.
You could have been anywhere andyou said, I don't want to be in
a temple made with hands.
I don't want to be in thisbeautiful, all-in, all-flame
(46:39):
designed building.
I want to be in hearts.
So, God, we just come to you andwe bring you our heart today.
We bring your heart.
Holy Spirit, you're the one whoilluminates.
You're the one who bringsconviction.
You're the one who helps us seeclear when things are cloudy.
(47:00):
So today, we just ask you toshine your light.
Shine your light any area of ourthoughts, our decisions, our
go-tos, the way that we've beenstewarding our time, the way
that we have been just feedingon things that they're not from
(47:23):
you.
And Lord, we just come just likeEzra, God, with open hands, open
hearts today, God, and werepent.
God, I repent.
God, I bring myself, Lord, withall the frailties, God, with all
of the weaknesses, God, with allof the distractions.
(47:46):
God, and I just come and I say,Jesus, I need help.
I need your help.
I need your strength.
I need your guidance.
God, we repent for every falsething that we've mixed in.
God, we repent for just evenentertaining ideas that do not
(48:09):
match your word.
God, we repent for trying tofeel smarter than your word.
We repent for needing anexplanation for your word.
God, we come as hungry children,poor, miserable, blind, and
naked without you, without yourpower, without your presence.
God, I thank you today.
(48:30):
You showed me that every singleperson coming in here feeling
disconnected from the power andpresence of Jesus could leave
different today.
God, I thank you that nothingcan separate us from you when we
are willing to lay ourselvesbefore you.
God, we thank you that you arethe one who lights the fire
(48:52):
within us.
God, would you light it again?
Would you light the flame withinus again to burn for purity, to
burn for holiness, to burn forwhat pleases you?
God, would you fill us againtoday, overflowing?
Just begin to ask him, say, HolySpirit, I need a fresh filling
today.
Holy Spirit, fill me up,overflowing rivers of living
(49:14):
water.
Everything that I've let intothis house, I've let into this
garden.
Would you wash me in the bloodof Jesus?
Would you forgive me?
Would you make me new?
Would you make me clean again?
Let's make him Lord today.
God, today we sign up again foryour Lordship.
God, you are the King.
You are the one in charge.
You are the Lord.
(49:35):
God, above every other lesserthing that tries to win our
affection.
Today we say, Jesus, be Lord.
Jesus, I choose you.
I choose you.
I choose you.
And Holy Spirit, just begin togive him permission.
Say, Holy Spirit, this is greatand all.
But when I leave here today,when I go back to my normal
(49:58):
world, when I go back to mynormal life, God, I give you
permission to check me.
When I go to turn on somethingon the TV that isn't glorifying
you, and it is wretched.
It is, it is everything that youhad to die for, and I'm being
entertained by it.
Would you check me?
God, would you call me up?
(50:19):
Would you bring me into agreater place, a greater
standard that your presencewould not be grieved?
God, I pray over every manleading his household today.
Holy Spirit, would you fill himup, overflowing?
Would you grace him today to bethe man you've called him to be?
God, I thank you for fullstature over the men of this
(50:43):
house to lead because they areconnected to your presence.
God, I pray over every wife,every helper, every mom.
God, I thank you right now thatyour Holy Spirit would be the
one giving permission.
Say, Holy Spirit, correct mewhen I'm checking out and I'm
missing things that are slippinginto the garden of my children's
(51:03):
heart.
Check me, Holy Spirit, wake meup, alert me.
Holy Spirit, give me the graceto be the mom that I need to be
in 2025.
God, I pray for our singlesright now.
God, I pray that they would giveyou permission to speak to them
in ways that married peoplecannot receive.
(51:25):
Because of their devotion toyou, because of their service to
you, because of them layingtheir sexuality on the altar as
an offering to you.
God, I thank you right now for agrace of purity to fill their
heart, fill their body, filltheir mind.
God, I thank you, Holy Spirit,that you have empowered us to be
(51:45):
your witness.
Right now, today, as a church,we come before you.
We want to be your witness.
God, I thank you right now, allstriving, we lay it at your
feet.
We don't have to do great thingsfor you.
This church doesn't have to toutall the great things we're doing
for you.
All we have to do is be the lampstand.
(52:09):
Oh, not the lamp.
Oh, no, no, no.
Jesus is the lamp.
Jesus is the light.
We're just the stand that holdsthe light.
We bear witness to you, Jesus.
Let our marriages, let ourhouseholds, let our work ethic,
God, let our finances, the waywe spend money, let everything
about us speak as a witness tothe king of the kingdom.
(52:34):
And God, we just thank you forwhat you're doing in us today.
And we love you, we praise youin Jesus' holy name.
Let's say amen.
SPEAKER_00 (52:45):
We hope and pray this message was encouraging and
impactful.
Join us live on our website orFacebook on Sundays at nine and
eleven AM.
You can stay connected with uson Facebook and Instagram at the
Rock Family.
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