September 15, 2025 • 41 mins
The question that opens this powerful message cuts straight to the heart: "If everything completely goes away, how do you want to be remembered?" For Charlie Kirk, moments before his life was tragically taken, he was answering questions about his faith in Jesus—the legacy he most wanted to leave behind.
This shocking loss, alongside other recent acts of violence against believers worldwide, serves as a sobering backdrop for exploring what it truly means to build something lasting while fighting for what matters. Drawing from Nehemiah's powerful example of rebuilding Jerusalem's walls while facing opposition, we discover a timeless truth: our battle isn't against other people but against spiritual darkness.
"We have never been a political house," the message clarifies, "but what we are is someone who stands for the values that our faith is based on." This distinction reshapes how we approach cultural challenges—not with hatred toward those who disagree, but with spiritual weapons focused on the darkness behind division and destruction.
The workers rebuilding Jerusalem's walls labored "with one hand and held a weapon with the other." Similarly, we're called to build our lives on God's word while fighting spiritual battles through prayer, worship, and unwavering commitment to truth. As Nehemiah encouraged his people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome."
What breaks your heart? Unless something moves you deeply, you'll never take action to change it. When our hearts break for those who don't know Jesus—our neighbors, coworkers, even those we struggle to like—we become motivated to share God's love. Our worship becomes a weapon against darkness, and "the joy of the Lord is your strength" even in life's most challenging seasons.
Ready to build something that lasts? Join a life group this semester and discover how connecting with others can strengthen your faith journey as we build and fight together.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If everything completely goes away, how do you
(00:03):
want to be?
(00:03):
remembered.
If I die, everything just goesaway.
How would you if you could beassociated with one thing?
How would you want to beremembered?
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I want to be remembered for courage, for my
faith.
(00:16):
That would be the most important thing?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
The most important thing is my faith in my life.
(00:38):
Today we're talking about this idea to build and fight.
This week was a sucker punch inseeing a person like Charlie
Kirk get assassinated as he washaving open discourse with
people about his beliefs.
The very freedom that we fightfor in this country, the very
(00:59):
thing that we hold so sacred,the blood that's been shed for
the freedom we have, for him tobe cut short.
It's just evil For theshootings that happened at
schools in recent days and forthe news that's come to us about
our brothers and sisters infaith who, across the world and
(01:19):
other countries that didn't evenmake our news how they've lost
their life because of theirfaith in Jesus Christ.
You know, it hit me that, ofall the things that Charlie was
about and he was a politicalpundit he's someone who was in
the political realm and he'sdoing these things the thing he
(01:39):
wanted to be known for was hisfaith in Jesus, and he's someone
that's faithful to the end.
Be known for was his faith inJesus and the someone that's
faithful to the end.
And I went through a rollercoaster of emotion this week and
so heartbroken just immediately, followed by a wave of anger
scrappling with it.
I told our seniors this week aswe had a, had a brunch together
(02:03):
, man, it just brought back allthese feelings of our time in
Egypt, when they marched outChristians on the beach and
beheaded them for their faith inJesus.
And how they targeted vans offamilies that were headed to a
Christian camp and gunned themdown for their faith in Jesus.
How they bombed the church inCairo and the one in Alexandria,
(02:23):
right beside us all, because oftheir faith in Jesus.
So angry, so angry as I dovedeeper into prayer and into the
word.
I was just so challenged by theLord that this thing that we're
(02:44):
fighting is not another person,it's not another people, but,
friends, it's the spirit behindthat evil, it's principalities
and powers.
It says it in Ephesians.
It talks about it like this inchapter six, verse 12, for we do
not wrestle against flesh andblood, but against rulers,
against authorities, againstcosmic powers over the present
darkness, against spiritualforces of evil in heavenly
(03:07):
places.
Friends, our fight is againstthe demonic and against the evil
in this world.
We've never been a politicalhouse, but what we are is
someone who stands for thevalues that our faith is based
on.
We believe from life, fromconception, and we fight for the
value of a family and amarriage between a man and a
woman.
We're we fight for the value ofa family and a marriage between
a man and a woman.
We're going to stand for theChristian values in this house
(03:29):
because it's upon the Bible andour faith in God.
Moments before Charlie's lifewas taken from him, the very
questions he was answering wasabout his faith in Jesus.
Questions he was answering wasabout his faith in Jesus,
friends, that we too would bethose that have the boldness to
(03:50):
say yes whenever God asks us tolift up our voice to those
around us.
What I love about this is that,in Matthew 25, 21, his master
said to him well done, good andfaithful servant, for you've
been faithful over a little, Iwill set you over much.
(04:11):
Enjoy, enter into the joy ofyour master.
Friends, our fight is not aphysical one against some kind
of leftist woke mob.
Our fight is for the souls ofthose very people.
It's for the souls of thejihadists.
It's for the soul of the personwho's away from God, because
(04:32):
God loves them like he loves youand me.
He wants them to know his love,just like you have said yes,
they, that they would have theopportunity to say yes as well.
Friends, that's what I oncesaid to me Whenever I meet Jesus
face to face.
It's well done.
That's what Charlie got to hear.
(04:54):
It's what our brothers andsisters got to hear.
It's those innocent childrendrawn near to Jesus.
It's well done.
Welcome home.
This is your home, this kingdomof heaven.
Today we have this opportunity.
We want to pray for Charlie'swife, erica, for his children,
for their family, for TurningPoint, for all that they put
their hands to do.
We want to pray for America andfor the hearts of America to be
(05:18):
turned back to the creator,which our country was founded
upon, and now we would havehearts that turn towards him.
That God would give us a unityas the people of America.
Join your hearts with me today,lord.
We thank you so much, lord, foryou are a God who is sovereign.
You are a God who meets us,even the depths of despair, as
you walk with us, lord.
(05:40):
We thank you today, lord, forbeing the comforting peace to
Erica and to the children, theirfamily, to the Kirk family.
Lord, we thank you for beingthe comforting peace to all who
have lost loved ones this weekin violence across this world.
Lord, in these last few days,lord, we ask, lord, for the
peace of God that passes allunderstanding to reach every
(06:00):
single heart.
Lord, you are the Prince ofPeace, and so we pray for the
peace of Jerusalem.
We pray, lord, that you say wesay come, lord, jesus, lord,
rule and reign in us, lord, wepray for our nation.
We're so thankful for America.
We love this nation you give tous, lord, for the blood and the
sacrifice that's been given,lord, to continue to have the
(06:21):
freedom to worship you.
Lord, we thank you.
We give you all the praise,lord.
We pray today for America, lord,for the hearts of her people,
lord, we pray that they wouldturn towards you, lord, back to
the founding ideals, lord, tothe values that we have of this
country.
Lord, that we would have aheart that's after you.
(06:44):
Lord, we pray for our leaders,lord the president.
We pray for the senate.
We pray for the congress, lord,that their hearts should be
turned towards you.
It says that you have the heartsof kings in your hand, lord,
and even in our area, for ourgovernor, for the mayors of the
towns in which we reside, lord,that each and every one would be
directed by the God most high,would be drawn near to you, lord
(07:07):
, we thank you because you putus in this very place where we
are Lord from every differenttribe and tongue that will be
before your throne, lord, I praythat we would be those that
shine in the spiritual darkness.
For you, lord, we pray yourkingdom, come.
Your will be done in us.
We pray this in the name of.
For you, lord, we pray yourkingdom, come.
Your will be done in us.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ, amen.
(07:29):
We have a video for you.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Good morning and welcome to Morning Edition.
I'm Elijah Vance.
We have a powerful story foryou.
Our correspondent, SarahJenkins, is in what was once a
devastated city.
It is now the site of anincredible rebuilding effort.
That's right.
Sarah is in Jerusalem, wherethe city walls are being
reconstructed under theleadership of a man named
Nehemiah.
This is more than aconstruction project.
(07:54):
It's a testament to theresilience of a people.
Let's now go to Sarah inJerusalem.
Good morning.
I'm here in a city of hopewhere the sounds of hammers are
a soundtrack to a remarkablecomeback.
(08:07):
The city walls are rising from the rubble With me is the man
leading this historic effort.
Nehemiah, Thank you forspeaking with us this project is
a massive undertaking.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Can you tell us about the process of rebuilding these
walls?
(08:22):
It has been a difficult task.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
We found the city's walls broken and the people
scattered, but we serve anawesome God.
It is his hand that guides us.
The work is shared by allfamilies, each rebuilding the
section nearest their home.
(08:35):
We work with our tools in one hand and our weapons in the
other, for our enemies seek tostop us.
What is the motivation thatkeeps everyone going?
Speaker 1 (08:46):
despite the challenges, our faith and our
purpose.
We know that this land, thiscity, is a gift from our God.
We are not just building aphysical wall.
We are restoring the heart ofour people.
This land is sacred to us.
(09:00):
We will defend it from any outside threat and from any
within who do not honor thecommands of the Lord.
A truly powerful message.
The commitment here isunwavering.
The site of these walls beingrebuilt is a testament to what a
community can achieve.
This is Sarah Jenkins.
Live from Jerusalem.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Back to you in the studio Did you say amen to that?
(09:20):
Amen, amen.
Can we have a hand for all ofour creative arts people that
make these things possible, forJeremy, serena, the other team
that help it?
Man, amazing, they make thesevideos just for us and get a
chance to talk about what we'redoing.
Well, welcome to Cornerstone.
We have this opportunity toconnect.
My name is Jay.
It's a blessing to be able toworship with you today.
We're talking about this ideaof build and we're in this
(09:43):
series together For us.
We see ourselves as those whoare following after Jesus, so
very much like the disciples.
Where we're going, where he'sleading us to go, none of us
have arrived.
All of us are on that journeyfollowing him.
Amen.
And if you didn't raise yourhand, that you weren't perfect,
welcome, we're glad you are now.
So our ambition is to be morelike his image, to be more like
(10:07):
Jesus, and that's why,collectively, we love God, we
make disciples and we reach theworld.
I would challenge you in thisthat we just started a new
semester of life groups.
How many people are excited forthis semester of life groups?
I am, it's amazing, and so letme encourage you in this.
Get involved, make it beintentional, just carve out that
time and to be a part of a lifegroup.
It will be a blessing to yourlife.
(10:29):
It'll help you to connect withothers, to build those
relationships.
It helps you to get involved,it helps you to grow in your
relationship with God, to godeeper in your relationship with
others, and really we always.
Our ambition, our heart, forevery semester, is to see people
take a step closer to Jesus.
So, even if that means thatyou're here and you're wrestling
with trying to figure out yourfaith, get involved, take a step
(10:51):
to find out more about Jesus,what he wants to do in and
through your life, and thenserve with your gifts and
abilities.
Get involved and help with yourtime and your talent, with the
Lord, amen.
So here at Cornerstone we'vebeen talking about those things
and we're in this series calledBuild.
We just stepped off with it.
We started in Ephesians.
Looking to the scripture tokind of speak to us In Ephesians
(11:14):
2, it says that we are built onthe foundation of the apostles,
prophets and prophets, christJesus himself being the
cornerstone, in whom the wholestructure, being joined together
, grows into a holy temple inthe Lord.
We talked about historicallylast week about Solomon building
the temple and how the templeitself was something that the
(11:37):
Lord had.
First, the tabernacle, ameeting place.
It was a way for a holy God tobe with an unholy people by
providing this space where therecould be worship, there could
be interaction and he would beamongst his people.
You can see this diagram.
This one is an example of whatit was built like back in the
day that one was in Israel, andthis kind of gives you a cutaway
(11:59):
of what that would have beenlike, each piece of it, each
gate, each part of it beingsomething of a worship as we
would approach the Lord.
We talked about how hisanointing was upon all that
built it, in the artistry andall the intricacies of the
things that were there in thetemple, and how that place was a
meeting place with God andpeople.
(12:20):
But now, jesus, havingfulfilled the sacrifice for all
people and giving his life andtaking the sin of the world and
paying for it, it split the veiland opened the temple so that
each person can be the temple ofGod and the Holy Spirit of God
resting in and upon your life.
Someone say amen to that.
We see that in Ephesians 2, 22.
(12:41):
In him, you are also beingbuilt together into a dwelling
place for God by the Spirit.
Today, we continue in this ideaof build.
Looking to the scripture again,I'm going to ask you to open
your Bible, your tablet, yourphone.
Nehemiah 4 is where we're goingto be jumping off, starting in
verse 17.
(13:02):
And it says this those whocarried burdens were loaded in
such a way that each labored onthe work with one hand and held
his weapon with the other.
Today, we're talking about thisidea of build and fight.
Lord, we pray over your word,lord, that you would just
(13:24):
breathe upon it, making it aliveto us and challenge us.
Lord, you would speak to us,lord, that we would be
transformed more into your image.
We pray in the name of JesusChrist, amen.
So build and fight.
It picks up here in scripturewith the setting for Nehemiah
and Ezra before him, and it kindof tells the story of what had
(13:45):
happened to the children ofIsrael Following Solomon.
His sons did not agree, and sothere was a squabble and a
scramble for the crown and overtime, as different leaders
emerged, it actually tore thenation into Israel and Judah,
and both of them fightingdifferent kings taking over in a
power struggle as the people ofGod didn't agree with each
(14:07):
other or in worshiping the Lord,and they allowed other things
to come in and worship othergods.
And that actually was openbecause of Solomon and the
decisions he made.
Though the Lord gave him a mind, that was wisdom from God, he
also used that wisdom forhimself.
And as he enlarged histerritory after having built the
temple of God, he also usedthat wisdom for himself.
And as he enlarged histerritory after having built the
temple of God, he actuallystarted marrying into all these
(14:31):
different princesses of all theregion around him.
But he allowed them to come andto bring their worship of
foreign gods into the land ofGod and it started to splinter
and break apart the nationspiritually before physically.
It happened there, and so whatwe have is a setting where the
(14:51):
prophets are risen up and weheard about that this summer
about return back to God, turnyour hearts toward God and
repent.
Different methods, differentmessages, all going the same
direction.
Some of those that wereprophets, they foretold of the
Lord's judgment that was comingsaying listen, you have departed
from me, so I will bringjudgment against you, so that
(15:13):
you will return your heart to me, but you won't be dismayed.
I had promised this land toyour fathers.
I had given it to you throughMoses and then through Joshua
and the conquest of the land.
We've established the king, anda good king, following Saul in
David's heart after God.
But it will be returned backafter a time, and so the Lord
(15:35):
brought in and allowed theAssyrians to come up and steal
away part of the people of Godfrom the land, and then again
the Babylonians came and tookthe rest, and so all of those
who were in high esteem, all ofthose who were in the city, all
of those had been in part of thekingdom, were stolen away, had
(16:05):
come and actually taken overBabylon from Persia, and they
established themselves in thekingdom that were there, and we
find Nehemiah, actually at theright hand of Anaxerxes the king
, being the cup bearer.
Now, how many people know thatyou have to trust the cup bearer
Because if you don't, you'regoing to die?
How many people know that?
So the cup bearer was someonethat would watch over the cup.
They would watch over what'sgoing into the king so that they
wouldn't die from poison in hiscup or in his food.
(16:25):
So Nehemiah got to eat at theking's table, so to speak.
He got first dibs on everylittle bit of what the king was
having.
So the king had to trustNehemiah, and, even though he
had someone who has a heartafter God and worshiped and
longed to be back in Jerusalem,there he served in excellence
before the king.
(16:46):
And it says that the word cameback to him of those who were
the remnant that had returnedback because Cyrus had sent
ahead that they couldre-establish the temple as it
had been ransacked and all theelements been stolen away, but
that it would be re-established.
But the city itself that laidin demise.
All the walls had been brokendown, the gates had been burned.
And the city itself that laidin demise.
All of the walls had beenbroken down, the gates had been
burned and the houses had beendestroyed.
(17:07):
And so, though they had come toa place of worship, the city
itself, the grandeur that we hadknown from David and Solomon,
all of it was gone.
And so this message, it comes toNehemiah and it picks up here
in Scripture as we see it.
It says Nehemiah 1, 3, and theysaid to me the remnant there is
in the providence, whichsurvived the exile and is in
(17:29):
great trouble and shame, and thewall of Jerusalem is broken
down and its gates are destroyedby fire, and so you can imagine
what this might look like adepiction here with the things
being broke down around it andhow the walls were no longer
giving any kind of safety.
There was no sanctuary fromwhich to run, and so it made
(17:50):
them available for any and allthat would come to attack them,
to come and pillage the people.
So they lived in fear.
They lived in shame.
There was no kingdom anymore,and this moved greatly upon
Nehemiah's heart.
You can see it here in versefour.
As soon as I heard these words,I sat down and wept and mourned
(18:11):
for days, and I continuedfasting and praying before the
God of heaven.
Friends, what he wasexperiencing was heartbreak.
He was experiencing heartbreak,and the reason is because he
cared deeply about what washappening.
He had a deep love for hispeople and for Jerusalem and the
(18:32):
stories of old and all that hadbeen.
He longed for his people to berestored back and to be a place
of safety as they worshiped theLord.
And so, as he mourned and as hecried, as his heart was broken
for something, it started tomotivate him towards action.
I can tell you this that unlessyour heart breaks for something
(18:57):
, you're not going to takeaction to change it.
And what that means is that ifyou really care about your loved
one, if you really care aboutyour friend, if you really care
about your neighbor and careabout your sphere of influence,
you care about your friend atwork, then you're going to be
someone who goes and shares themessage of Jesus Christ with
(19:17):
them.
Because that's the heartbreakis that if they didn't go into
eternity knowing Jesus, then youwould be heartbroken.
Friends, if our heart doesn'tbreak for the world, we'll never
do anything about it.
But if our heart breaks for aplace and we live with a passion
for something, then we willtake a stand and do something
(19:39):
about it.
The king he sees Nehemiah's faceand he asks them what's going
on.
And so his response in versefive of chapter two says this I
said to the king if it pleasesthe king and if your servant has
found favor in your sight, thatyou send me to Judah, to the
city of my father's graves, thatI may rebuild it, and you can
(20:03):
imagine what that ask is like.
I mean, this is the cupbearerof the king, after all.
He sits there in his court,he's beside him.
But what happens next is thatGod moves upon the king's heart.
A king that doesn't worship him, a king that doesn't honor him,
but God nonetheless moves uponhis heart and uses him as a tool
(20:24):
of restoration.
How much more can God work onyour behalf, even through those
who don't serve him, to dosomething for you and for the
kingdom of God?
Amen.
We see it here, and it says thathe went out and that the king
didn't just give him just thepermission to go, he also gave
him all the resource to do thework.
It said that he was able to goto the king's forest and ask for
(20:44):
timber, and he was able to gowith the authority of the king,
not just to go yep, you can goyourself.
No, he walked with theauthority of the king to go.
And so he started to go out andlook at Jerusalem.
Once he arrived and he lookedat the different places Nehemiah
2.13, it says I went out atnight at the valley gate, to the
dragon spring and to the dunggate, inspected the walls of
(21:07):
Jerusalem that were broken downand its gates had been destroyed
by fire.
You can imagine what that wouldbe like.
It would be this thing thatjust broke his heart as he
walked between the columns andalongside the wall.
That had been this grandeur.
It had been this amazing place,the city of light and of God,
(21:28):
that had been there.
And he's walking around and it'sin shambles.
The gates are completely burned, there's no way to keep the
enemy out.
And he's walking aroundrealizing the kind of
insurmountable task that he hadsaid yes to.
But here's the thing that heknew is that he wasn't called to
do it alone, that they werecorporately called to do it.
(21:50):
And so he starts to go and totalk to the leaders that were
there in the city, that had goneahead to the remnant that
belonged in Nehemiah 2.17.
When I said to them you see thetrouble we are in, how
Jerusalem lies in ruins with itsgates burned, come In verse 18,
it says for good and also ofthe words that the king had
(22:25):
spoken to me and they said letus rise up and build.
So they strengthened with theirhands for the good work.
Someone say amen to that,friends.
That's what I'm talking aboutis that they were willing to say
yes to the challenge that wouldhave been in for them.
And not just that, but theyalso had a resolve to do it.
See, they started to catch thepassion that had come from
Nehemiah's heart, that hestarted to say listen, this
(22:45):
thing is heartbreaking.
You see it around us.
It's destruction.
We need to do something aboutit.
And, friends, that's the samething he talks to us about is
about being those willing to sayyes, to do something for what
we stand, for, what we live, for, what we build our life upon.
That it would be in alignmentwith the word of God, and then
(23:05):
we would go to hard work to dosomething about it.
It doesn't say it was easy.
It said they had to strengthentheir hands to do the work.
I don't know about you, butthere was a time in my life
where I had really good workcalluses on my hands, you know,
like where you get like a reallyman's handshake, where it's
(23:28):
really gruff and kind of likethings.
And that was because when Igrew up I was a post hole digger
, like.
So my dad would be like here,jt, here's a shovel, dig a hole.
And then my soft, wonderful,smooth hands, friends, they were
so smooth.
Now they're full of callusesand messed up because now I'm
using a, you know, figuring outhow to dig through the hard
Arizona ground somebody andtrying to get a hole dug and
(23:50):
he's like, nope, bigger hole.
I'm like, ah, and you got to gomore.
Why?
Because you have to strengthenyour resolve for the thing that
you have to press through andyou have to be willing to get
some calluses to do the work, toreally hold on to it.
You ever shaken hands with oldman strength, like a guy who's
been running a pipe wrench for40 years.
He can crush your hand.
He's like how you doing?
You're like, ah, I'm good,thank you very much.
(24:12):
And you curtsy you know what Imean Like it's bad, but he has
the Strength from doing theresolve of the work.
Holding on and doing the work,friends, that's what we're
called to do as well to be thosethat build up the strength to
do the hard work in front of us.
So often, I think some of thethings that we go through, the
(24:32):
refining that the Lord allows tohappen, is not that he makes it
happen to you, but allows youto go through it, because you'll
become someone who has resolveto do the hard work he's called
you for, so that we would beavailable to what he wants to do
in and through us.
We see it as it continuesforward here.
They start to talk about howthere's this thing that these
(24:55):
people start to say, oh, I seethat they've come and they're
starting to rebuild the wall.
Well, we'll go and we'll attackhim.
And they start to send threats,and they start to send envoys.
And we see what Nehemiah saysin chapter four, verse 14.
And I look and arose and saidto the nobles and to the
officials and the rest of thepeople do not be afraid of them,
remember the Lord, who is greatand awesome, and fight for your
(25:20):
brothers, your sons, yourdaughters, your wives and your
homes.
Friends, he had a passion to saywe're going to fight for
something, we're going to standup and do something about it.
Man, whenever you catch thatpassion from somebody, man, it
just it starts to rile you up.
I don't know about you, but Iget pumped up.
You start to catch a passionfor something that you're like
(25:41):
wow, this is having effect.
Friends, that's the same thingwith your testimony to those
around you is that when you getfired up for something, you're
like man, there's somethingreally going on in this person
and they start to see it andthey start to catch fire for it.
Let me give you an example ofsomething that doesn't have
spiritual matter into it.
It doesn't really mattereternally.
It's called sports.
(26:01):
You guys talked about sportsbefore.
So you know, like, let's say,you're from here, from the hard
earth of Arizona, you were bornto this land, and then somehow
you are not supporting the teamfrom here, you're supporting
some other terrible footballteam.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout, and we won't point them
out because that would be easy,and so we're not going to do
(26:23):
that.
Instead, what we're going to dois going to say, okay, the
reason that they are willing tofollow something from not from
where they're from, but from apassion, is because the passion
of their parents, who camebefore them, and their parents
are passionate, and so,therefore, you're going to have
this passion and they grow up oh, this is great when the team is
terrible.
But they remember that theirparents said there once was a
(26:44):
time when the team was good.
It was before yourgrandfather's grandfather, many,
many years ago.
And the reason I point at thatis because I checked my sports
scores this morning, before myfirst service, on how my soccer
team was doing back in Europe.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout.
See, we like those things, butthey have no eternal value and
(27:06):
we get fired up.
Man, I can tell you I'mfighting people in this very
room on my fantasy.
So you guys be nice to me, doesit matter?
No, no, it doesn't.
We love it, it's fun, it's good, it's not a bad thing.
But what if we get fired up forsomething that really has
eternal value?
What if we get fired up for thepeople around us?
What if we fight the darkness,spiritually speaking on our
(27:29):
knees and praying for our familyand our neighbors, for the
people that don't like us atwork and we don't know if we
like them, but we value them andthey need to know Jesus?
What if we decide to fightthere?
What if we stand and build andfight?
It says that Nehemiah, he haswisdom in this way.
See.
It says from that day on, inverse 16 of chapter 4, half of
(27:50):
my servants worked onconstruction, the other half
held the spears, shields, bowsand coats of mail, and the
leaders stood behind the wholehouse of Judah who were building
the wall.
That means they were supportingwhat was going on with their
presence and their influence.
Those who carried burdens wereloaded in such a way that each
labored with the work on onehand and held his weapon in the
(28:13):
other.
Friends, they were called tobuild and fight, not just one or
the other.
See, that's what it calls forus is to be those that build our
life upon the values of Christand fight, spiritually speaking,
the spiritual evil that's inthis world.
That means that we need to bepeople of the book and people of
time with God, to abide in thespirit of God and to let the
(28:35):
word of God wash over us andtransform us, to let this thing
tell our own situation andemotion.
Really, what's going on.
The truth of the gospel willspeak to us that we do not need
to fear those who can't kill thesoul, but we live as unto him,
who is eternal, who is the kingof glory.
Friends that we would build andfight.
(28:59):
It says that in the end of it,though they threatened them at
all sides, though they evenchecked against them.
What was going on?
In the end they were successfulin restoring the wall back to
the city of Jerusalem.
They went there and they hungnew gates upon the gateposts and
they made a place that wassecure for the people of God to
(29:19):
thrive, and it was from thatplace forward that set the stage
for Jesus's arrival years later, as the remnants of God had
returned to the place and thecity of God, that it would be
something that happened for theLord, that he would be given the
glory.
It says in Ezra, the bookbefore Nehemiah you could even
(29:40):
see it there as a continuationof this story, the precursor
actually to Nehemiah it saysthat hera, the book before
Nehemiah you could even see itthere as a continuation of this
story, the precursor actually toNehemiah it says that he was
there and he blessed the Lord,the great God, and all the
people answered amen, amen,lifting their hands.
And they bowed their heads andworshiped the Lord with their
faces to the ground.
Friends, they were worshipingthe living God, they were
(30:03):
worshiping the Lord, and that'sour challenge as well, that we
would be those that worship theLord, that the worship of the
Lord would be a weapon againstthe darkness.
It would be something where wesay eyes for me in my house,
we're going to follow the Lord,we're going to worship the Lord.
Then, come what may, hell orhigh water, I'm holding on to
Jesus and I'm going to worshiphim with all that I have.
(30:26):
I love this because it becomesa celebration.
They're in the midst of thischaos, this threat from all
sides, and Nehemiah says listen,this is a celebration day.
We're going to give thiscelebration as unto the Lord,
we're going to provide it forothers around us.
Nehemiah 8 10 says and he saidto them go your way, eat the fat
and drink sweet wine and sendportions to everyone who has
(30:47):
nothing ready for this day isholy to our Lord and do not be
grieved, for the joy of the Lordis your strength.
Friends, it doesn't matter whatyou're facing.
The joy of the Lord can be yourstrength.
In the middle of a fearfulsituation, when you don't have
(31:07):
the answers, the joy of the Lordcan be your strength.
You don't have to bedowntrodden, you don't have to
be depressed, you don't have tosay woe is me.
No, you could say, as for me,the joy of the Lord is going to
be my strength as I walk throughthis.
I trust him, he is our source,he is my father and we draw near
(31:28):
to him.
Friends, we see it, we comeback to it.
Ephesians 2.
In him, you are also beingbuilt together into a dwelling
place for God by the Spiritthat's what you're called to be
is a dwelling place for God bythe Spirit.
Friends, that you would be onethat is heartbroken for those
(31:52):
around you.
That you see the people aroundyou who don't know Jesus and it
breaks your heart.
That you pray for the people inyour family who don't know
Jesus yet.
That you pray for your peoplein your family who don't know
Jesus yet.
That you pray for your familyand your friends, you pray for
your neighbors to know Jesus.
That you'd be heartbroken forthose around you, even in your
work sphere, wherever you'regoing.
That you'd pray for them andpray for them to know Jesus the
(32:15):
person that you don't like themost you need to pray for the
most that they would know Jesus.
That they would know Jesusthat's how I got here is I was
on a bunch of people's lists andthey prayed for me.
I'm not joking.
Praise the Lord, but that theLord would break our heart.
He would break our heart forthe nations.
(32:37):
That would be the onlysacrifice to give so others
would know the love of Christ.
Friends, we're called to buildand fight.
We build our lives upon theprinciples, upon the values that
God has given us in his word,and we fight in the spirit, not
in the physical.
We're against violence thatwe've experienced this week.
What we're talking about is tobe those who fight in the spirit
(32:59):
for the goodness of God tothrive and for the word of God
to go forward.
And we worship the Lord.
See, our worship is a weaponagainst the darkness.
So your worship of God,especially in difficult places,
aligns your heart and youractions with your faith, it says
(33:20):
.
As for my situation, I know whatI'm experiencing, I know what
the details say, but I trust inGod, who's greater than my
circumstances.
I trust in a God who hasanswers outside of my diagnosis.
I trust a God who is myprovision, even in difficult
seasons, and I will worship theLord.
Friends, that Jesus would bethe cornerstone of your life,
(33:43):
that you would build your lifefrom him and use him as the
guiding place, because Jesus isthe only holy sacrifice for all
people and our salvation is onlyfound in him.
We're called to build Friends.
Today we have this opportunityto embrace Jesus, to invite him
into our heart and life.
(34:05):
Earlier today, many peopleraising their hand to say yes to
Jesus, to commit their heartsand lives to him, some for the
first time, some as arecommitment to him, and it's
exciting, because, as you havethis opportunity, just like we
do is that we say yes to Jesus,lord.
There's a real separation atthe end of our life from a holy
(34:27):
God and all of us that's thejustice is we all actually
deserve to be those who are awayfrom him, but for his grace,
extended to us his mercy, whichis rich, he came all the way
through glory and lived asinless life to become a
sacrifice for us, for all people, once and for all.
(34:49):
That's why the symbol of thecross is one that's so
transformative, it's so powerful, because the cross is where my
Savior took my sin and he diedfor it in my place.
He did the same for you, and sothe cross is a symbol of our
forgiveness.
It was used as a thing tothreaten people and to be
(35:11):
subjugated, but it said, jesustakes the very threat of death
and he turns it on his head andsays no, you will live with me
for eternity as we walk togetherin community.
But first, friends, we have tobe those that ask him to forgive
us of our sins, to be the Lordof our life, not just fire
insurance against hell anddamnation, but to draw near to
(35:33):
the Lord and to have him as theLord of our life.
The scripture says it like thisin Romans, paul, writing to the
church, he says Friends, todayit's your day.
It's your day to say yes toJesus, to invite him into your
(36:04):
heart and life.
I'm going to ask everyone inthe room if you'd stand to your
feet right where you're at, bowyour heads as Christians are
praying, people are makingdecisions to follow Jesus.
Today, friends, maybe you hearthis is the first time you've
heard this message about a Godwho loves you, about his
(36:25):
sacrifice for your life.
Maybe you've heard about itarbitrarily, but it's never been
made so clear that Jesus wantsto have a relationship with you.
Today is your opportunity tosay yes to him, to ask him to
forgive you of your sin, toinvite him into your heart and
life and change everything.
He's the answer you've beenlooking for.
Maybe you're here and you havemade a decision in the past, but
(36:47):
you walked away from living forJesus.
Friends, it says the father islooking out for the prodigal to
return, and so if that's youtoday, then he's running towards
you and wants to embrace you,to return back into relationship
with him.
That you would make acommitment to Jesus.
Today, as heads are bowed andChristians are praying if that's
you, you'd say Pastor I want tobe included in that prayer
(37:09):
today.
I always want to make acommitment to follow Jesus.
If you just raise your handright where you're at, I want to
single you out.
I just want to agree in prayerwith you today.
Thank you, jesus.
Thank you, jesus.
People making decisions,reinforcing decisions today.
Thank you, lord.
You see the hands that arethere.
Thank you, jesus.
Amen.
Friends, online, wherever youare, you see your decision
(37:31):
you're making for Jesus today.
Thank you, lord.
I'm going to ask if everyonewould, if they would pray this
prayer out loud after me.
Lord, thank you for loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
(37:54):
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you InChrist's name.
I pray Amen, amen.
Friends, we rejoice with youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Those that raised their handpraise the Lord.
Friends, if you're out there,wherever you are making a
decision, we rejoice with you aswell.
(38:16):
Hey, if you're here in thehouse and you made a decision,
connect with us.
We want to be able to put somematerials into your hands.
If you're online, we want to beable to be in relationship with
you.
Message us so that you don't dothis life alone.
Friends, today we have thisopportunity to respond to this
message of God's goodness, ofhis love for us, that we will be
those that take up the mantleand say yes to him, that we will
(38:38):
build and we will fight and wewill stand for what he wants us
to do, and we will be those whoare obedient to him.
Maybe you're someone who's justin need of a touch from the
Lord.
Maybe you need a physicalhealing, an emotional healing, a
relational healing in your life.
This is available to you todaythis altar.
We'll have people come and prayalongside you.
Maybe you're someone who justneeds the boldness to say yes to
(39:00):
the very thing that God hasbeen talking to you about, that
you would come and make an altarwith God.
Or maybe you just need more ofhis presence.
As we walk out this path thatwe're on.
I open this altar to you as wepray, lord.
We thank you so much, Lord.
We pray over your word.
Thank you, lord, for theexample of Nehemiah.
Thank you for his obedience toyou, for his courage to say yes,
or for his boldness to notretreat whenever people
(39:22):
threatened and to pull back, butinstead they built and did the
thing you called them andprotected all the way.
They were willing to build andfight.
Lord, today, that we would dothe same, lord, spiritually.
That we would be those thatbuild our lives upon your values
, upon who you are, lord.
That we would be those thatfight in spiritual places.
We pray for those around us.
(39:42):
That we would use the testimonyyou've given us, lord, to
proclaim the glory of our livingGod.
Lord, as we come to your altartoday, we do so, lord, embracing
more of your presence and powerand anointing as we live this
thing out.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ, amen.
Hey, just wanted to reiteratewhat Davina was sharing with us.
Then sign up for a life group.
(40:03):
It's not too late.
We're beginning the semesterand so get involved.
You can shoot those QR codes onany of the signs on the way out
today.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
And immediately following this service, we are
going to have a volunteerluncheon in the multipurpose
room and we want to honor ourvolunteers.
So if you are serving in anycapacity here at the church, we
want to honor you today.
In any capacity here at thechurch, we want to honor you
today.
(40:24):
So come and join us, and it's just going to be a great time.
Before we go, we want to praythis blessing over us.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
We'll lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(40:44):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
Pray all this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ.
Amen, amen, know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and have a greatweek.
If everything completely goes away, how do you
(00:03):
want to be?
(00:03):
remembered.
If I die, everything just goesaway.
How would you if you could beassociated with one thing?
How would you want to beremembered?
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I want to be remembered for courage, for my
faith.
(00:16):
That would be the most important thing?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
The most important thing is my faith in my life.
(00:38):
Today we're talking about this idea to build and fight.
This week was a sucker punch inseeing a person like Charlie
Kirk get assassinated as he washaving open discourse with
people about his beliefs.
The very freedom that we fightfor in this country, the very
(00:59):
thing that we hold so sacred,the blood that's been shed for
the freedom we have, for him tobe cut short.
It's just evil For theshootings that happened at
schools in recent days and forthe news that's come to us about
our brothers and sisters infaith who, across the world and
(01:19):
other countries that didn't evenmake our news how they've lost
their life because of theirfaith in Jesus Christ.
You know, it hit me that, ofall the things that Charlie was
about and he was a politicalpundit he's someone who was in
the political realm and he'sdoing these things the thing he
(01:39):
wanted to be known for was hisfaith in Jesus, and he's someone
that's faithful to the end.
Be known for was his faith inJesus and the someone that's
faithful to the end.
And I went through a rollercoaster of emotion this week and
so heartbroken just immediately, followed by a wave of anger
scrappling with it.
I told our seniors this week aswe had a, had a brunch together
(02:03):
, man, it just brought back allthese feelings of our time in
Egypt, when they marched outChristians on the beach and
beheaded them for their faith inJesus.
And how they targeted vans offamilies that were headed to a
Christian camp and gunned themdown for their faith in Jesus.
How they bombed the church inCairo and the one in Alexandria,
(02:23):
right beside us all, because oftheir faith in Jesus.
So angry, so angry as I dovedeeper into prayer and into the
word.
I was just so challenged by theLord that this thing that we're
(02:44):
fighting is not another person,it's not another people, but,
friends, it's the spirit behindthat evil, it's principalities
and powers.
It says it in Ephesians.
It talks about it like this inchapter six, verse 12, for we do
not wrestle against flesh andblood, but against rulers,
against authorities, againstcosmic powers over the present
darkness, against spiritualforces of evil in heavenly
(03:07):
places.
Friends, our fight is againstthe demonic and against the evil
in this world.
We've never been a politicalhouse, but what we are is
someone who stands for thevalues that our faith is based
on.
We believe from life, fromconception, and we fight for the
value of a family and amarriage between a man and a
woman.
We're we fight for the value ofa family and a marriage between
a man and a woman.
We're going to stand for theChristian values in this house
(03:29):
because it's upon the Bible andour faith in God.
Moments before Charlie's lifewas taken from him, the very
questions he was answering wasabout his faith in Jesus.
Questions he was answering wasabout his faith in Jesus,
friends, that we too would bethose that have the boldness to
(03:50):
say yes whenever God asks us tolift up our voice to those
around us.
What I love about this is that,in Matthew 25, 21, his master
said to him well done, good andfaithful servant, for you've
been faithful over a little, Iwill set you over much.
(04:11):
Enjoy, enter into the joy ofyour master.
Friends, our fight is not aphysical one against some kind
of leftist woke mob.
Our fight is for the souls ofthose very people.
It's for the souls of thejihadists.
It's for the soul of the personwho's away from God, because
(04:32):
God loves them like he loves youand me.
He wants them to know his love,just like you have said yes,
they, that they would have theopportunity to say yes as well.
Friends, that's what I oncesaid to me Whenever I meet Jesus
face to face.
It's well done.
That's what Charlie got to hear.
(04:54):
It's what our brothers andsisters got to hear.
It's those innocent childrendrawn near to Jesus.
It's well done.
Welcome home.
This is your home, this kingdomof heaven.
Today we have this opportunity.
We want to pray for Charlie'swife, erica, for his children,
for their family, for TurningPoint, for all that they put
their hands to do.
We want to pray for America andfor the hearts of America to be
(05:18):
turned back to the creator,which our country was founded
upon, and now we would havehearts that turn towards him.
That God would give us a unityas the people of America.
Join your hearts with me today,lord.
We thank you so much, lord, foryou are a God who is sovereign.
You are a God who meets us,even the depths of despair, as
you walk with us, lord.
(05:40):
We thank you today, lord, forbeing the comforting peace to
Erica and to the children, theirfamily, to the Kirk family.
Lord, we thank you for beingthe comforting peace to all who
have lost loved ones this weekin violence across this world.
Lord, in these last few days,lord, we ask, lord, for the
peace of God that passes allunderstanding to reach every
(06:00):
single heart.
Lord, you are the Prince ofPeace, and so we pray for the
peace of Jerusalem.
We pray, lord, that you say wesay come, lord, jesus, lord,
rule and reign in us, lord, wepray for our nation.
We're so thankful for America.
We love this nation you give tous, lord, for the blood and the
sacrifice that's been given,lord, to continue to have the
(06:21):
freedom to worship you.
Lord, we thank you.
We give you all the praise,lord.
We pray today for America, lord,for the hearts of her people,
lord, we pray that they wouldturn towards you, lord, back to
the founding ideals, lord, tothe values that we have of this
country.
Lord, that we would have aheart that's after you.
(06:44):
Lord, we pray for our leaders,lord the president.
We pray for the senate.
We pray for the congress, lord,that their hearts should be
turned towards you.
It says that you have the heartsof kings in your hand, lord,
and even in our area, for ourgovernor, for the mayors of the
towns in which we reside, lord,that each and every one would be
directed by the God most high,would be drawn near to you, lord
(07:07):
, we thank you because you putus in this very place where we
are Lord from every differenttribe and tongue that will be
before your throne, lord, I praythat we would be those that
shine in the spiritual darkness.
For you, lord, we pray yourkingdom, come.
Your will be done in us.
We pray this in the name of.
For you, lord, we pray yourkingdom, come.
Your will be done in us.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ, amen.
(07:29):
We have a video for you.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Good morning and welcome to Morning Edition.
I'm Elijah Vance.
We have a powerful story foryou.
Our correspondent, SarahJenkins, is in what was once a
devastated city.
It is now the site of anincredible rebuilding effort.
That's right.
Sarah is in Jerusalem, wherethe city walls are being
reconstructed under theleadership of a man named
Nehemiah.
This is more than aconstruction project.
(07:54):
It's a testament to theresilience of a people.
Let's now go to Sarah inJerusalem.
Good morning.
I'm here in a city of hopewhere the sounds of hammers are
a soundtrack to a remarkablecomeback.
(08:07):
The city walls are rising from the rubble With me is the man
leading this historic effort.
Nehemiah, Thank you forspeaking with us this project is
a massive undertaking.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Can you tell us about the process of rebuilding these
walls?
(08:22):
It has been a difficult task.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
We found the city's walls broken and the people
scattered, but we serve anawesome God.
It is his hand that guides us.
The work is shared by allfamilies, each rebuilding the
section nearest their home.
(08:35):
We work with our tools in one hand and our weapons in the
other, for our enemies seek tostop us.
What is the motivation thatkeeps everyone going?
Speaker 1 (08:46):
despite the challenges, our faith and our
purpose.
We know that this land, thiscity, is a gift from our God.
We are not just building aphysical wall.
We are restoring the heart ofour people.
This land is sacred to us.
(09:00):
We will defend it from any outside threat and from any
within who do not honor thecommands of the Lord.
A truly powerful message.
The commitment here isunwavering.
The site of these walls beingrebuilt is a testament to what a
community can achieve.
This is Sarah Jenkins.
Live from Jerusalem.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Back to you in the studio Did you say amen to that?
(09:20):
Amen, amen.
Can we have a hand for all ofour creative arts people that
make these things possible, forJeremy, serena, the other team
that help it?
Man, amazing, they make thesevideos just for us and get a
chance to talk about what we'redoing.
Well, welcome to Cornerstone.
We have this opportunity toconnect.
My name is Jay.
It's a blessing to be able toworship with you today.
We're talking about this ideaof build and we're in this
(09:43):
series together For us.
We see ourselves as those whoare following after Jesus, so
very much like the disciples.
Where we're going, where he'sleading us to go, none of us
have arrived.
All of us are on that journeyfollowing him.
Amen.
And if you didn't raise yourhand, that you weren't perfect,
welcome, we're glad you are now.
So our ambition is to be morelike his image, to be more like
(10:07):
Jesus, and that's why,collectively, we love God, we
make disciples and we reach theworld.
I would challenge you in thisthat we just started a new
semester of life groups.
How many people are excited forthis semester of life groups?
I am, it's amazing, and so letme encourage you in this.
Get involved, make it beintentional, just carve out that
time and to be a part of a lifegroup.
It will be a blessing to yourlife.
(10:29):
It'll help you to connect withothers, to build those
relationships.
It helps you to get involved,it helps you to grow in your
relationship with God, to godeeper in your relationship with
others, and really we always.
Our ambition, our heart, forevery semester, is to see people
take a step closer to Jesus.
So, even if that means thatyou're here and you're wrestling
with trying to figure out yourfaith, get involved, take a step
(10:51):
to find out more about Jesus,what he wants to do in and
through your life, and thenserve with your gifts and
abilities.
Get involved and help with yourtime and your talent, with the
Lord, amen.
So here at Cornerstone we'vebeen talking about those things
and we're in this series calledBuild.
We just stepped off with it.
We started in Ephesians.
Looking to the scripture tokind of speak to us In Ephesians
(11:14):
2, it says that we are built onthe foundation of the apostles,
prophets and prophets, christJesus himself being the
cornerstone, in whom the wholestructure, being joined together
, grows into a holy temple inthe Lord.
We talked about historicallylast week about Solomon building
the temple and how the templeitself was something that the
(11:37):
Lord had.
First, the tabernacle, ameeting place.
It was a way for a holy God tobe with an unholy people by
providing this space where therecould be worship, there could
be interaction and he would beamongst his people.
You can see this diagram.
This one is an example of whatit was built like back in the
day that one was in Israel, andthis kind of gives you a cutaway
(11:59):
of what that would have beenlike, each piece of it, each
gate, each part of it beingsomething of a worship as we
would approach the Lord.
We talked about how hisanointing was upon all that
built it, in the artistry andall the intricacies of the
things that were there in thetemple, and how that place was a
meeting place with God andpeople.
(12:20):
But now, jesus, havingfulfilled the sacrifice for all
people and giving his life andtaking the sin of the world and
paying for it, it split the veiland opened the temple so that
each person can be the temple ofGod and the Holy Spirit of God
resting in and upon your life.
Someone say amen to that.
We see that in Ephesians 2, 22.
(12:41):
In him, you are also beingbuilt together into a dwelling
place for God by the Spirit.
Today, we continue in this ideaof build.
Looking to the scripture again,I'm going to ask you to open
your Bible, your tablet, yourphone.
Nehemiah 4 is where we're goingto be jumping off, starting in
verse 17.
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And it says this those whocarried burdens were loaded in
such a way that each labored onthe work with one hand and held
his weapon with the other.
Today, we're talking about thisidea of build and fight.
Lord, we pray over your word,lord, that you would just
(13:24):
breathe upon it, making it aliveto us and challenge us.
Lord, you would speak to us,lord, that we would be
transformed more into your image.
We pray in the name of JesusChrist, amen.
So build and fight.
It picks up here in scripturewith the setting for Nehemiah
and Ezra before him, and it kindof tells the story of what had
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happened to the children ofIsrael Following Solomon.
His sons did not agree, and sothere was a squabble and a
scramble for the crown and overtime, as different leaders
emerged, it actually tore thenation into Israel and Judah,
and both of them fightingdifferent kings taking over in a
power struggle as the people ofGod didn't agree with each
(14:07):
other or in worshiping the Lord,and they allowed other things
to come in and worship othergods.
And that actually was openbecause of Solomon and the
decisions he made.
Though the Lord gave him a mind, that was wisdom from God, he
also used that wisdom forhimself.
And as he enlarged histerritory after having built the
temple of God, he also usedthat wisdom for himself.
And as he enlarged histerritory after having built the
temple of God, he actuallystarted marrying into all these
(14:31):
different princesses of all theregion around him.
But he allowed them to come andto bring their worship of
foreign gods into the land ofGod and it started to splinter
and break apart the nationspiritually before physically.
It happened there, and so whatwe have is a setting where the
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prophets are risen up and weheard about that this summer
about return back to God, turnyour hearts toward God and
repent.
Different methods, differentmessages, all going the same
direction.
Some of those that wereprophets, they foretold of the
Lord's judgment that was comingsaying listen, you have departed
from me, so I will bringjudgment against you, so that
(15:13):
you will return your heart to me, but you won't be dismayed.
I had promised this land toyour fathers.
I had given it to you throughMoses and then through Joshua
and the conquest of the land.
We've established the king, anda good king, following Saul in
David's heart after God.
But it will be returned backafter a time, and so the Lord
(15:35):
brought in and allowed theAssyrians to come up and steal
away part of the people of Godfrom the land, and then again
the Babylonians came and tookthe rest, and so all of those
who were in high esteem, all ofthose who were in the city, all
of those had been in part of thekingdom, were stolen away, had
(16:05):
come and actually taken overBabylon from Persia, and they
established themselves in thekingdom that were there, and we
find Nehemiah, actually at theright hand of Anaxerxes the king
, being the cup bearer.
Now, how many people know thatyou have to trust the cup bearer
Because if you don't, you'regoing to die?
How many people know that?
So the cup bearer was someonethat would watch over the cup.
They would watch over what'sgoing into the king so that they
wouldn't die from poison in hiscup or in his food.
(16:25):
So Nehemiah got to eat at theking's table, so to speak.
He got first dibs on everylittle bit of what the king was
having.
So the king had to trustNehemiah, and, even though he
had someone who has a heartafter God and worshiped and
longed to be back in Jerusalem,there he served in excellence
before the king.
(16:46):
And it says that the word cameback to him of those who were
the remnant that had returnedback because Cyrus had sent
ahead that they couldre-establish the temple as it
had been ransacked and all theelements been stolen away, but
that it would be re-established.
But the city itself that laidin demise.
All the walls had been brokendown, the gates had been burned.
And the city itself that laidin demise.
All of the walls had beenbroken down, the gates had been
burned and the houses had beendestroyed.
(17:07):
And so, though they had come toa place of worship, the city
itself, the grandeur that we hadknown from David and Solomon,
all of it was gone.
And so this message, it comes toNehemiah and it picks up here
in Scripture as we see it.
It says Nehemiah 1, 3, and theysaid to me the remnant there is
in the providence, whichsurvived the exile and is in
(17:29):
great trouble and shame, and thewall of Jerusalem is broken
down and its gates are destroyedby fire, and so you can imagine
what this might look like adepiction here with the things
being broke down around it andhow the walls were no longer
giving any kind of safety.
There was no sanctuary fromwhich to run, and so it made
(17:50):
them available for any and allthat would come to attack them,
to come and pillage the people.
So they lived in fear.
They lived in shame.
There was no kingdom anymore,and this moved greatly upon
Nehemiah's heart.
You can see it here in versefour.
As soon as I heard these words,I sat down and wept and mourned
(18:11):
for days, and I continuedfasting and praying before the
God of heaven.
Friends, what he wasexperiencing was heartbreak.
He was experiencing heartbreak,and the reason is because he
cared deeply about what washappening.
He had a deep love for hispeople and for Jerusalem and the
(18:32):
stories of old and all that hadbeen.
He longed for his people to berestored back and to be a place
of safety as they worshiped theLord.
And so, as he mourned and as hecried, as his heart was broken
for something, it started tomotivate him towards action.
I can tell you this that unlessyour heart breaks for something
(18:57):
, you're not going to takeaction to change it.
And what that means is that ifyou really care about your loved
one, if you really care aboutyour friend, if you really care
about your neighbor and careabout your sphere of influence,
you care about your friend atwork, then you're going to be
someone who goes and shares themessage of Jesus Christ with
(19:17):
them.
Because that's the heartbreakis that if they didn't go into
eternity knowing Jesus, then youwould be heartbroken.
Friends, if our heart doesn'tbreak for the world, we'll never
do anything about it.
But if our heart breaks for aplace and we live with a passion
for something, then we willtake a stand and do something
(19:39):
about it.
The king he sees Nehemiah's faceand he asks them what's going
on.
And so his response in versefive of chapter two says this I
said to the king if it pleasesthe king and if your servant has
found favor in your sight, thatyou send me to Judah, to the
city of my father's graves, thatI may rebuild it, and you can
(20:03):
imagine what that ask is like.
I mean, this is the cupbearerof the king, after all.
He sits there in his court,he's beside him.
But what happens next is thatGod moves upon the king's heart.
A king that doesn't worship him, a king that doesn't honor him,
but God nonetheless moves uponhis heart and uses him as a tool
(20:24):
of restoration.
How much more can God work onyour behalf, even through those
who don't serve him, to dosomething for you and for the
kingdom of God?
Amen.
We see it here, and it says thathe went out and that the king
didn't just give him just thepermission to go, he also gave
him all the resource to do thework.
It said that he was able to goto the king's forest and ask for
(20:44):
timber, and he was able to gowith the authority of the king,
not just to go yep, you can goyourself.
No, he walked with theauthority of the king to go.
And so he started to go out andlook at Jerusalem.
Once he arrived and he lookedat the different places Nehemiah
2.13, it says I went out atnight at the valley gate, to the
dragon spring and to the dunggate, inspected the walls of
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Jerusalem that were broken downand its gates had been destroyed
by fire.
You can imagine what that wouldbe like.
It would be this thing thatjust broke his heart as he
walked between the columns andalongside the wall.
That had been this grandeur.
It had been this amazing place,the city of light and of God,
(21:28):
that had been there.
And he's walking around and it'sin shambles.
The gates are completely burned, there's no way to keep the
enemy out.
And he's walking aroundrealizing the kind of
insurmountable task that he hadsaid yes to.
But here's the thing that heknew is that he wasn't called to
do it alone, that they werecorporately called to do it.
(21:50):
And so he starts to go and totalk to the leaders that were
there in the city, that had goneahead to the remnant that
belonged in Nehemiah 2.17.
When I said to them you see thetrouble we are in, how
Jerusalem lies in ruins with itsgates burned, come In verse 18,
it says for good and also ofthe words that the king had
(22:25):
spoken to me and they said letus rise up and build.
So they strengthened with theirhands for the good work.
Someone say amen to that,friends.
That's what I'm talking aboutis that they were willing to say
yes to the challenge that wouldhave been in for them.
And not just that, but theyalso had a resolve to do it.
See, they started to catch thepassion that had come from
Nehemiah's heart, that hestarted to say listen, this
(22:45):
thing is heartbreaking.
You see it around us.
It's destruction.
We need to do something aboutit.
And, friends, that's the samething he talks to us about is
about being those willing to sayyes, to do something for what
we stand, for, what we live, for, what we build our life upon.
That it would be in alignmentwith the word of God, and then
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we would go to hard work to dosomething about it.
It doesn't say it was easy.
It said they had to strengthentheir hands to do the work.
I don't know about you, butthere was a time in my life
where I had really good workcalluses on my hands, you know,
like where you get like a reallyman's handshake, where it's
(23:28):
really gruff and kind of likethings.
And that was because when Igrew up I was a post hole digger
, like.
So my dad would be like here,jt, here's a shovel, dig a hole.
And then my soft, wonderful,smooth hands, friends, they were
so smooth.
Now they're full of callusesand messed up because now I'm
using a, you know, figuring outhow to dig through the hard
Arizona ground somebody andtrying to get a hole dug and
(23:50):
he's like, nope, bigger hole.
I'm like, ah, and you got to gomore.
Why?
Because you have to strengthenyour resolve for the thing that
you have to press through andyou have to be willing to get
some calluses to do the work, toreally hold on to it.
You ever shaken hands with oldman strength, like a guy who's
been running a pipe wrench for40 years.
He can crush your hand.
He's like how you doing?
You're like, ah, I'm good,thank you very much.
(24:12):
And you curtsy you know what Imean Like it's bad, but he has
the Strength from doing theresolve of the work.
Holding on and doing the work,friends, that's what we're
called to do as well to be thosethat build up the strength to
do the hard work in front of us.
So often, I think some of thethings that we go through, the
(24:32):
refining that the Lord allows tohappen, is not that he makes it
happen to you, but allows youto go through it, because you'll
become someone who has resolveto do the hard work he's called
you for, so that we would beavailable to what he wants to do
in and through us.
We see it as it continuesforward here.
They start to talk about howthere's this thing that these
(24:55):
people start to say, oh, I seethat they've come and they're
starting to rebuild the wall.
Well, we'll go and we'll attackhim.
And they start to send threats,and they start to send envoys.
And we see what Nehemiah saysin chapter four, verse 14.
And I look and arose and saidto the nobles and to the
officials and the rest of thepeople do not be afraid of them,
remember the Lord, who is greatand awesome, and fight for your
(25:20):
brothers, your sons, yourdaughters, your wives and your
homes.
Friends, he had a passion to saywe're going to fight for
something, we're going to standup and do something about it.
Man, whenever you catch thatpassion from somebody, man, it
just it starts to rile you up.
I don't know about you, but Iget pumped up.
You start to catch a passionfor something that you're like
(25:41):
wow, this is having effect.
Friends, that's the same thingwith your testimony to those
around you is that when you getfired up for something, you're
like man, there's somethingreally going on in this person
and they start to see it andthey start to catch fire for it.
Let me give you an example ofsomething that doesn't have
spiritual matter into it.
It doesn't really mattereternally.
It's called sports.
(26:01):
You guys talked about sportsbefore.
So you know, like, let's say,you're from here, from the hard
earth of Arizona, you were bornto this land, and then somehow
you are not supporting the teamfrom here, you're supporting
some other terrible footballteam.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout, and we won't point them
out because that would be easy,and so we're not going to do
(26:23):
that.
Instead, what we're going to dois going to say, okay, the
reason that they are willing tofollow something from not from
where they're from, but from apassion, is because the passion
of their parents, who camebefore them, and their parents
are passionate, and so,therefore, you're going to have
this passion and they grow up oh, this is great when the team is
terrible.
But they remember that theirparents said there once was a
(26:44):
time when the team was good.
It was before yourgrandfather's grandfather, many,
many years ago.
And the reason I point at thatis because I checked my sports
scores this morning, before myfirst service, on how my soccer
team was doing back in Europe.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout.
See, we like those things, butthey have no eternal value and
(27:06):
we get fired up.
Man, I can tell you I'mfighting people in this very
room on my fantasy.
So you guys be nice to me, doesit matter?
No, no, it doesn't.
We love it, it's fun, it's good, it's not a bad thing.
But what if we get fired up forsomething that really has
eternal value?
What if we get fired up for thepeople around us?
What if we fight the darkness,spiritually speaking on our
(27:29):
knees and praying for our familyand our neighbors, for the
people that don't like us atwork and we don't know if we
like them, but we value them andthey need to know Jesus?
What if we decide to fightthere?
What if we stand and build andfight?
It says that Nehemiah, he haswisdom in this way.
See.
It says from that day on, inverse 16 of chapter 4, half of
(27:50):
my servants worked onconstruction, the other half
held the spears, shields, bowsand coats of mail, and the
leaders stood behind the wholehouse of Judah who were building
the wall.
That means they were supportingwhat was going on with their
presence and their influence.
Those who carried burdens wereloaded in such a way that each
labored with the work on onehand and held his weapon in the
(28:13):
other.
Friends, they were called tobuild and fight, not just one or
the other.
See, that's what it calls forus is to be those that build our
life upon the values of Christand fight, spiritually speaking,
the spiritual evil that's inthis world.
That means that we need to bepeople of the book and people of
time with God, to abide in thespirit of God and to let the
(28:35):
word of God wash over us andtransform us, to let this thing
tell our own situation andemotion.
Really, what's going on.
The truth of the gospel willspeak to us that we do not need
to fear those who can't kill thesoul, but we live as unto him,
who is eternal, who is the kingof glory.
Friends that we would build andfight.
(28:59):
It says that in the end of it,though they threatened them at
all sides, though they evenchecked against them.
What was going on?
In the end they were successfulin restoring the wall back to
the city of Jerusalem.
They went there and they hungnew gates upon the gateposts and
they made a place that wassecure for the people of God to
(29:19):
thrive, and it was from thatplace forward that set the stage
for Jesus's arrival years later, as the remnants of God had
returned to the place and thecity of God, that it would be
something that happened for theLord, that he would be given the
glory.
It says in Ezra, the bookbefore Nehemiah you could even
(29:40):
see it there as a continuationof this story, the precursor
actually to Nehemiah it saysthat hera, the book before
Nehemiah you could even see itthere as a continuation of this
story, the precursor actually toNehemiah it says that he was
there and he blessed the Lord,the great God, and all the
people answered amen, amen,lifting their hands.
And they bowed their heads andworshiped the Lord with their
faces to the ground.
Friends, they were worshipingthe living God, they were
(30:03):
worshiping the Lord, and that'sour challenge as well, that we
would be those that worship theLord, that the worship of the
Lord would be a weapon againstthe darkness.
It would be something where wesay eyes for me in my house,
we're going to follow the Lord,we're going to worship the Lord.
Then, come what may, hell orhigh water, I'm holding on to
Jesus and I'm going to worshiphim with all that I have.
(30:26):
I love this because it becomesa celebration.
They're in the midst of thischaos, this threat from all
sides, and Nehemiah says listen,this is a celebration day.
We're going to give thiscelebration as unto the Lord,
we're going to provide it forothers around us.
Nehemiah 8 10 says and he saidto them go your way, eat the fat
and drink sweet wine and sendportions to everyone who has
(30:47):
nothing ready for this day isholy to our Lord and do not be
grieved, for the joy of the Lordis your strength.
Friends, it doesn't matter whatyou're facing.
The joy of the Lord can be yourstrength.
In the middle of a fearfulsituation, when you don't have
(31:07):
the answers, the joy of the Lordcan be your strength.
You don't have to bedowntrodden, you don't have to
be depressed, you don't have tosay woe is me.
No, you could say, as for me,the joy of the Lord is going to
be my strength as I walk throughthis.
I trust him, he is our source,he is my father and we draw near
(31:28):
to him.
Friends, we see it, we comeback to it.
Ephesians 2.
In him, you are also beingbuilt together into a dwelling
place for God by the Spiritthat's what you're called to be
is a dwelling place for God bythe Spirit.
Friends, that you would be onethat is heartbroken for those
(31:52):
around you.
That you see the people aroundyou who don't know Jesus and it
breaks your heart.
That you pray for the people inyour family who don't know
Jesus yet.
That you pray for your peoplein your family who don't know
Jesus yet.
That you pray for your familyand your friends, you pray for
your neighbors to know Jesus.
That you'd be heartbroken forthose around you, even in your
work sphere, wherever you'regoing.
That you'd pray for them andpray for them to know Jesus the
(32:15):
person that you don't like themost you need to pray for the
most that they would know Jesus.
That they would know Jesusthat's how I got here is I was
on a bunch of people's lists andthey prayed for me.
I'm not joking.
Praise the Lord, but that theLord would break our heart.
He would break our heart forthe nations.
(32:37):
That would be the onlysacrifice to give so others
would know the love of Christ.
Friends, we're called to buildand fight.
We build our lives upon theprinciples, upon the values that
God has given us in his word,and we fight in the spirit, not
in the physical.
We're against violence thatwe've experienced this week.
What we're talking about is tobe those who fight in the spirit
(32:59):
for the goodness of God tothrive and for the word of God
to go forward.
And we worship the Lord.
See, our worship is a weaponagainst the darkness.
So your worship of God,especially in difficult places,
aligns your heart and youractions with your faith, it says
(33:20):
.
As for my situation, I know whatI'm experiencing, I know what
the details say, but I trust inGod, who's greater than my
circumstances.
I trust in a God who hasanswers outside of my diagnosis.
I trust a God who is myprovision, even in difficult
seasons, and I will worship theLord.
Friends, that Jesus would bethe cornerstone of your life,
(33:43):
that you would build your lifefrom him and use him as the
guiding place, because Jesus isthe only holy sacrifice for all
people and our salvation is onlyfound in him.
We're called to build Friends.
Today we have this opportunityto embrace Jesus, to invite him
into our heart and life.
(34:05):
Earlier today, many peopleraising their hand to say yes to
Jesus, to commit their heartsand lives to him, some for the
first time, some as arecommitment to him, and it's
exciting, because, as you havethis opportunity, just like we
do is that we say yes to Jesus,lord.
There's a real separation atthe end of our life from a holy
(34:27):
God and all of us that's thejustice is we all actually
deserve to be those who are awayfrom him, but for his grace,
extended to us his mercy, whichis rich, he came all the way
through glory and lived asinless life to become a
sacrifice for us, for all people, once and for all.
(34:49):
That's why the symbol of thecross is one that's so
transformative, it's so powerful, because the cross is where my
Savior took my sin and he diedfor it in my place.
He did the same for you, and sothe cross is a symbol of our
forgiveness.
It was used as a thing tothreaten people and to be
(35:11):
subjugated, but it said, jesustakes the very threat of death
and he turns it on his head andsays no, you will live with me
for eternity as we walk togetherin community.
But first, friends, we have tobe those that ask him to forgive
us of our sins, to be the Lordof our life, not just fire
insurance against hell anddamnation, but to draw near to
(35:33):
the Lord and to have him as theLord of our life.
The scripture says it like thisin Romans, paul, writing to the
church, he says Friends, todayit's your day.
It's your day to say yes toJesus, to invite him into your
(36:04):
heart and life.
I'm going to ask everyone inthe room if you'd stand to your
feet right where you're at, bowyour heads as Christians are
praying, people are makingdecisions to follow Jesus.
Today, friends, maybe you hearthis is the first time you've
heard this message about a Godwho loves you, about his
(36:25):
sacrifice for your life.
Maybe you've heard about itarbitrarily, but it's never been
made so clear that Jesus wantsto have a relationship with you.
Today is your opportunity tosay yes to him, to ask him to
forgive you of your sin, toinvite him into your heart and
life and change everything.
He's the answer you've beenlooking for.
Maybe you're here and you havemade a decision in the past, but
(36:47):
you walked away from living forJesus.
Friends, it says the father islooking out for the prodigal to
return, and so if that's youtoday, then he's running towards
you and wants to embrace you,to return back into relationship
with him.
That you would make acommitment to Jesus.
Today, as heads are bowed andChristians are praying if that's
you, you'd say Pastor I want tobe included in that prayer
(37:09):
today.
I always want to make acommitment to follow Jesus.
If you just raise your handright where you're at, I want to
single you out.
I just want to agree in prayerwith you today.
Thank you, jesus.
Thank you, jesus.
People making decisions,reinforcing decisions today.
Thank you, lord.
You see the hands that arethere.
Thank you, jesus.
Amen.
Friends, online, wherever youare, you see your decision
(37:31):
you're making for Jesus today.
Thank you, lord.
I'm going to ask if everyonewould, if they would pray this
prayer out loud after me.
Lord, thank you for loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
(37:54):
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you InChrist's name.
I pray Amen, amen.
Friends, we rejoice with youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Those that raised their handpraise the Lord.
Friends, if you're out there,wherever you are making a
decision, we rejoice with you aswell.
(38:16):
Hey, if you're here in thehouse and you made a decision,
connect with us.
We want to be able to put somematerials into your hands.
If you're online, we want to beable to be in relationship with
you.
Message us so that you don't dothis life alone.
Friends, today we have thisopportunity to respond to this
message of God's goodness, ofhis love for us, that we will be
those that take up the mantleand say yes to him, that we will
(38:38):
build and we will fight and wewill stand for what he wants us
to do, and we will be those whoare obedient to him.
Maybe you're someone who's justin need of a touch from the
Lord.
Maybe you need a physicalhealing, an emotional healing, a
relational healing in your life.
This is available to you todaythis altar.
We'll have people come and prayalongside you.
Maybe you're someone who justneeds the boldness to say yes to
(39:00):
the very thing that God hasbeen talking to you about, that
you would come and make an altarwith God.
Or maybe you just need more ofhis presence.
As we walk out this path thatwe're on.
I open this altar to you as wepray, lord.
We thank you so much, Lord.
We pray over your word.
Thank you, lord, for theexample of Nehemiah.
Thank you for his obedience toyou, for his courage to say yes,
or for his boldness to notretreat whenever people
(39:22):
threatened and to pull back, butinstead they built and did the
thing you called them andprotected all the way.
They were willing to build andfight.
Lord, today, that we would dothe same, lord, spiritually.
That we would be those thatbuild our lives upon your values
, upon who you are, lord.
That we would be those thatfight in spiritual places.
We pray for those around us.
(39:42):
That we would use the testimonyyou've given us, lord, to
proclaim the glory of our livingGod.
Lord, as we come to your altartoday, we do so, lord, embracing
more of your presence and powerand anointing as we live this
thing out.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ, amen.
Hey, just wanted to reiteratewhat Davina was sharing with us.
Then sign up for a life group.
(40:03):
It's not too late.
We're beginning the semesterand so get involved.
You can shoot those QR codes onany of the signs on the way out
today.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
And immediately following this service, we are
going to have a volunteerluncheon in the multipurpose
room and we want to honor ourvolunteers.
So if you are serving in anycapacity here at the church, we
want to honor you today.
In any capacity here at thechurch, we want to honor you
today.
(40:24):
So come and join us, and it's just going to be a great time.
Before we go, we want to praythis blessing over us.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
We'll lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(40:44):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
Pray all this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ.
Amen, amen, know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and have a greatweek.
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