life, you can take it out of you sometimes can't it? Sometimes if you look at the scoreboard of life, it feels like you start the day down a couple points alright, if you're woken up that way. A recent example, actually just this week back to school, everyone posts their back to school pictures. Well there is a lady posted a before and after photo of her daughter lucy of just how crazy her first day of school was. Here's a little lucy first day of school, this is how she came off the bus on the way home. Let's go and show the next picture. Mhm. That little girl is getting a lesson in life real quick. They're real young. This picture kind of represents us at times right where we start the day with hopes and dreams and we're all put together and by the time we get home and we put our head down on the pillow, it's just taking it out of us. Well, we are in a series that we are wrapping up this morning called revival and we're talking about how to win the battles that are in front of you and how to answer that God's calling in your life and we're talking about the potential of a spiritual revival breaking out in this community and we know that's possible by studying a revival that broke out 2500 years ago in the city of Jerusalem led by a guy named Nehemiah and revival can really be defined this way or rival is really when you are awakened back to life to the point that it sparks a movement of God, something was alive. Life entered or situation or circumstance entered and so you were away. But that you get brought back or awakened back to life that is contagious and ignites a movement of God. And we saw how in week one of this series that the first part of revival is that Nehemiah had a renewed passion for God's people and how he left his comfortable lifestyle of working for the king and went out and challenged and inspired his people to rebuild the wall of the city and to reclaim their identity as sons and daughters of God. And then last week we talked about the actual battles he faced while he was rebuilding the wall and that when you are under attack, you have to remember that you were built to overcome and we have even a greater power that we have access to. And that jesus overcame death when he rose again from the grave and he gave us the Holy Spirit and when he gives us the Holy Spirit, that means the same power that conquered the grave now lives in us. And so that when we are under attack, we can remember that we were built to overcome. Well this morning, we're going to finish the story and talk about the theme of what does it mean to be restored. The wall is completed, Nehemiah in Chapter seven actually gathers the people together for those that like excel spreadsheets, he actually lists the families by name and number and even included who gave what to the wall? We're not gonna do that this morning. We're not just gonna list out everybody. But um but for those that love the numbers, I love that because he didn't just count people, he realized that every person counted in the mission of God and that it wasn't just him doing it. That it was really a group of people giving of their time, giving of their talents, giving up their efforts united together with a common vision that rebuilt the wall, reclaimed their identity and restored the city of Jerusalem. And so we he lists all those names and the numbers and the gifts there in Chapter seven and then they gather in Chapter eight and you see that they respond to God. And so how do they respond? How do they actually complete this restoration project? If you're taking notes, you can write this down, that that the key to a restored perspective. His worship. The key to a restored perspective. A change of mind is worship. Now, the story goes on really through the remainder of the book, chapters eight through 13. So we're not going to read that entire passage, but we're gonna highlight some along the way and highlight what is it that Nehemiah and then also Ezra together, there's a book called Ezra and it's right next to Nehemiah and they're actually originally written together. And so you have two men that are there and together unite the people and restore their identity and perspective through worshiping him. So how is it that they corporate lee responded? How do they gather together and respond to God? Well the first thing they did is that they responded to God by reading together God's word. They had gone through a long period of time where they neglected the stories of their past. And so they gathered together and I'm gonna read to you chapter eight, I'm gonna read verses two and 35 and six and then verse eight, just verses in between there, just listing all the people that are involved in that location. But let me just read these verses to you. So Ezra, the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard on the first day of the seventh month and he read from it facing the square before the water gate from early morning until midday. So if you thought in our church services long, hey, they were there all day. Okay. And so they kept going. So in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand and all the ears of the people were attentive to the book of the law and then jumping down and Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was above all the people, not literally above like in terms of position, but he was actually built a platform so that he stood on it so that they could actually see him when he was reading the Torah which is another name for the first five books of the bible. So he's above all the people and and he opened it um as all the people stood and Ezra blessed the Lord the great God and all the people answered amen, amen lifting up their hands. See it's okay to talk back when you hear a good point. It's okay, I like feedback. So if I know we're kind of conservative background but it's okay, it's okay to interact a little bit. So if you if you like a point or something, talk back at me, let me know, okay, what, because when you say amen what that means is that let it be or I believe this, I agree with this. Amen, thank you Bill! And so the people shouted amen and saying, I believe this, I agree. And so they would read the scripture and they would respond to that and it says and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. And then in verse eight it says that they read from the book from the law of God clearly and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading the first thing that people did to restore their perspective to restore their their view of worship is that they read scripture together, There are views of scripture that that come in where you can either stand on scripture or stand underneath scripture, standing on scripture sounds good in the sense that but what I mean by that is when you take one verse out of the bible, you put it on the ground and then you step on and say, see I was right. There are some people out there that pull a verse and they try to use scripture as a weapon for their lifestyle, not a key to unlock a spiritual lifestyle. And so they pull one verse and they stand on that verse, they stand on that soapbox and they try to yell at you and then, or they say, oh nope, you can't judge me, you can't do this because I got my one verse in my pocket and this is what I'm claiming and the reality is is that person is claiming their own authority. And then they look for the bible to affirm what they already want to hear. But the alternative to just standing on top of the bible is actually to stand humbly underneath the bible. Think of a picture of like an umbrella. Is that together, collectively, myself included, that all of us are under the authority of God. That by submitting to what his word has for us, we have a standard, we have truth, but also we have protection and we have freedom. And so that when we preach, so you know those that want to plug into mission group, we're gonna preach through scripture. Sometimes we're gonna walk through restore e like we are right now. Sometimes we're going verse by verse. Sometimes we're taking a topic and looking at what scripture all across the board says about a particular topic. But I can promise you that every time you gather here with us together, that you will hear the word of God and that we will sit collectively under the authority of God. Because the most important thing you can hear is God's words, not my own. We are equally under the authority of God. And there is power. When we read scripture together, it's not just about highlighting passages of the bible, but it's about actually highlighting the bible into your heart, right? This is not a far distance, but sometimes it seems to be the farthest distance that anyone in pursuit of a relationship with God has to make. Okay, I read that. I know that. I agree. I've heard that story. I've read that before. But has it ever moved from your head to your heart and then ultimately to your hands and then you actually live that out. And your amen is actually in your life choices and in your obedience, the story goes of the famous boxer George foreman Before his famous fight with Muhammad Ali 1970 for the rumble in the jungle. Someone came up to him and gave him a bible and called it a lucky bible. And so some of you are laughing because you know what happened in the fight. And so he said, okay, I got lucky charms like not the cereal but actual gold and then I had bracelets and everything's, I'll take a lucky bible. So he took it with them to the rumble in the jungle. But those familiar with boxing history, it was knocked out by Muhammad Ali. So you know what George foreman did when he return from the fight, he threw the bible away, he threw it away and he said it didn't do me any good. And in his book, got in my corner, George foreman rights that I never opened. It says the bible didn't help me win. So why did I need it? And he said I was foolish to think that I'd get power simply from owning a bible. I didn't realize that I needed to read it and actually believe what it says. Since then I've come to understand that the bible is my roadmap, not my good luck charm. And then he made some grills that we all love him. Okay, on the bottom side of every grill, there's a verse. No, okay, that's, that's not in and out. But George foreman noticed that he said I didn't realize that just owning a bible didn't count for anything that had to actually read it and believe it and live it for it to change my life and that the bible is not a good luck charm, it's a roadmap to life. First thing we can do corporately to respond and renew our perspective and worship is that we can read scripture together. The second thing we can do is that we can rejoice in God's power. We can rejoice in God's power In Chapter eight, the second half of verse 10, we're going to put the verse on the screen here. Um, and it says this, go ahead and put the first up. It says here and do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength. They have just gone through all kinds of battles and in fact the battles weren't done, they were still surrounded by enemies. There were still overruling arching oppression and persecution. But yet in the middle of the storm, as we sang about, they could raise a hallelujah, they could sing because they said, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Louie giglio defines worship this way. He says, worship is simply giving God back his breath. That if God breathes life into you when you worship what you're doing is that you're taking that and giving it right back to him. And what I found is that if you don't turn a good situation into praise, you will by default turn it into pride. If you don't thank God for the good things, you're gonna start thinking yourself right. If you don't turn it into praise, you'll turn it into pride. And then if you're going through a difficult circumstance, if you don't turn that into worship, ultimately, all you have left is worried. But if it's big enough to worry about, it's big enough to pray about and God says to bring even in those things, you can find the joy of the Lord to be your strength because prayer to God might not change your problem immediately. But prayer to God does change your perspective. Does give you a different angle, a different look at that. That even in the middle of a storm, even in the middle of a battle, you can praise him because the joy of the Lord is your strength when you feel like jesus is all that you have, you recognize that Jesus is in fact all that you need and that's why paul being beaten up in prison In Philippians, Chapter four writes the command rejoice and they had a worship set right there in prison right there in the middle of their difficulty, they can rejoice why? Because God is powerful and God can heal and God can change and God can restore. And so in the middle of whatever you're facing right now, just worship and praise and give that up to him. And if you're struggling with the what? Like, you're struggling with the situation, you're struggling with what to do, you're struggling with your next move and you can't worship God for the what? Because it's not honest, right? God wants you to be honest. In fact, a third of the book of psalms is filled with people lamenting or saying God, I don't know what's going on, I can't trust you, where are you? Why do you forsake me? And so if you cannot find yourself praising God for the what? Then spend time praising God for the who? Because he has not changed and he is a god that is good and he is a god that is trustworthy and he is a god that can heal and he is a god that saves and he is a god that loves beyond anything this world can throw at us. So if you're struggling to rejoice in the what choose to rejoice in the who I know there are times and and just being transparent with you guys is that, you know, there are times where in this church plant journey, you got to get this little negative voice in your head, this isn't gonna work. You're gonna be found out, you're not good enough, who do you think you are? No 1's going to go with you, No 1's gonna show up, your words have no power, this isn't gonna happen. And I'm like, oh my goodness, I'm trying to lead this group and I don't know if I'm even leading myself just being honest with you. But it's in those moments of doubt and those moments of question that I remind myself that God didn't call me this because I was worthy. He called me to this task of starting a church with a group of people because he is worthy. And that if God has called us, he's gonna sustain us and complete his mission. And so if you're struggling with the what then focus on the who and choose to rejoice because if you do that, you will be restored. And that is worship 3rd. If you're taking notes, the third thing we can do to restore our perspective and worship is to repent of our sins. Repent of our sins. A natural flow of progression in this process is that when you read God's word together, you naturally respond in praise and worship. But when you start to praise God for who he is, you start to recognize and identify the sins and how bad you really are. And in this case, they were reading the old testament the first five books and Ezra and Nehemiah together with the people they were seeing, oh my goodness, God was faithful. We failed. God was faithful. We failed. God was faithful. We failed. The whole reason we got taken into captivity in the first place was because we had given up on God and turned to our own way. And so they repented of their sins. Let's let me read this first to you in Chapter nine verse 2 and it says here that the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and iniquities of their fathers and they go on to confess their sins of themselves and how they continue to fall short. But when you can confess your sins and and give forth an honest, an accurate and specific identification of what you're battling, It says in first John 19 that if you confess your sins, that he is faithful and just to cleanse you from all on righteousness that you can be forgiven, you can be healed, you can be set free, but you won't as long as you cling on to it. Sandra Bullock in 2010 won the Academy Award for Best Actress in her role in the movie. The blind side, The blind side portrays the to a family who adopted Michael or brought him into the family and then he went on to be very successful in football and then having a successful NFL career and played for the Baltimore Ravens. You can see the actual picture of the actual leah and TUI and then Michael or on the right and senior. But Bullock on the left. But there was a powerful moment in the movie where the two of family, Liane was in the car and they were driving and it was pouring down rain. The movie, the movie portrayed it as evening, I guess the real story, this happened in the morning. But Michael, big old lineman, Michael or was just walking down the street and it was downpour and he was just soaked and his head was down and he was just walking and he was just walking and they drove past him when two words ultimately changed that family and that man's life forever. When Leigh anne Tuohy just turned to the family and said, turn around, Turn around, two words, turn around, they turn around, picked him up, brought them into their home, started this incredible inspirational story and that those two words change their lives forever, and those two words can change your life forever, whatever path you're down, running down, whatever path is taking you whatever choices, however far away you are from God. The truth is that God is never far away from you and that to repent means literally to turn around to change your mindset, to change direction. That if you're willing to confess, to turn from your ways that God is ready and faithful to forgive you because the next thing they did and they are connected together is that they recognize God's grace, they recognize God's grace, repentance of sins, and recognition of God's grace are really two sides of the same coin that when you realize that you no longer have to pay for those sins and that they have already been paid by the blood of jesus, by dying on a cross. You want to talk about a weight that is ultimately lifted and you're amazed, They got us good and that he loves you and there's nothing you can do that would make God love you more. But then there is nothing you could do for God to love you any less. And that's why you see in the bible, you see people falling to their face on the ground because they cannot believe how holy and how amazing and how gracious God is. Or you see Peter in the New Testament, he had denied Jesus three times. He was like his closest brother, his closest friend and he denied Jesus three times. But Jesus is walking along the shore of a lake where they were fishermen and he was in a boat and they were close and and they performed a miracle. And so he recognized that it was jesus and so he tore off his garments must have looked really awkward and then dove into the water and sprinted to jesus. No, it was funny because if you read the story that the boat really wasn't that far out and so by the time you got to jesus, the rest of them had already pulled in, it would be like pulling into a store and you're in a car and you're in the parking lot and the car is going and you're looking for a spot and you see the loved one that you've been waiting for and like, I can't wait any longer and you just jump out of the moving car to go like their family like hey, we're, we'll just park, you know, just give us a minute. But he was so moved, so enamored by the grace of God, the power of God that he had to jump. He had to move. And in the same way when we recognize the great listen, listen to this verse in verse 31 let's go ahead and put it on the screen here. It says, Nevertheless, in your great mercies, you did not, you did not really make an end of them and that really that you did not forsake them for you are a gracious and merciful God. We have failed our fathers, our mothers have failed. We failed repeatedly. But God, you are great. You are gracious and you are merciful and we recognize your grace and that it is good in the victorian area their era. There was a guy named Sir Edwin Landseer. He was a famous painter and he went to see a fam family and he entered the home and the family felt embarrassed because one of the servants in the family had made a huge spill of drinks on the wall. And so there was this huge stain on the dining room wall of his home. And so they went out to take care of some family business and while the family was gone, this painter, Edwin Landseer had some charcoal and some other tools and actually created a mural around the stain so that when the family walked in, they saw trees and a waterfall and this incredible priceless work of art on the wall, Edwin Landseer was an artist that took a mess and turned it into a masterpiece. And in the same way the Grace of God can use whatever mistakes you've made in your past to actually become a platform for you to read and share the love of God in your future, there is no sin too deep, that God's love is not deeper still. And it is available to all who receive. The last thing is that they, that we can actually recommit to God's promises. We can recommit to God's promises. It says here in verse 38, this is ultimately at the end, I read the scripture to you in verse 38 they're getting down and they see the power of God, They see all of this and they come to the end and the people are gathered together and Nehemiah says this, that because of all of this, we will make a firm covenant in writing on a sealed document, the names of our princes and leave Icts and our priests and a covenant is this idea of a promise with expectations as we will live this way. Now, Nehemiah finishes building the wall reclaiming the identity, restoring their identity. This story goes on in Nehemiah where he actually goes back to the king And is back with the king for a year or two and when he comes back to the city, he's actually disheartened because they've already walked away from their commitments. And that the story of Nehemiah kind of ends on a sad note actually, is that Nehemiah gets angry, like what are you doing? We just made these commitments and he ends as simply with a phrase, hey, remember me God, I tried and then and you're like, whoa, wait a second john, we're talking about revival and change and all of this stuff. What happened? Well, when left to our own devices, we cannot keep the covenant and the promises of God. But thankfully the prophet Jeremiah says this, He says in Jeremiah 31 verse 31-34, it says behold the days are coming, declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt referring to moses and also the abraham, but I will make them the House of Israel after those days, declares the Lord, I will put the law within them and I will write it on their hearts, I will be their God and they will be my people and no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying, know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. The new covenant that he was talking about was jesus christ himself. We have what's seen as the old covenant or the old testament or the new covenant, he really described as the new testament. The story of jesus is that his promises are better because they're based on him and not on us. And while they sealed the document with the seal of the Governor of the Seal of the King, we learned in Ephesians chapter one that we are sealed on our hearts with the Holy spirit. So that jesus himself says, you cannot keep my commands, you cannot keep my my um just commands and orders. But that that's okay because I will pay the price, I will pay the penalty. And Jesus lives a perfect life, dies on the cross, then rises again on the third day saying for those who believe that jesus is the son of God and that jesus is the only savior of this world, you can receive eternal life And the sign of this new covenant. This ultimate revival that comes is baptism because baptism, when someone actually is dying to themselves and they go in the water, it represents jesus's death and his burial. And then when they come out of the water, it is a symbol of victory and the resurrection and new life and its commitment to him and I'm super excited because we're gonna end our service with the baptism this morning, we have a young woman who's gonna be baptized, you're gonna hear a little bit about her story out there from pastor clark, but she's taking that step and in front of her friends, her coach and just our church family, she is making a public profession of an internal belief and that together corporately as a body, we get to celebrate God's grace and we get to celebrate his commitment to us and our commitment to him through baptism this morning. The key to having a restored perspective is worship. So how do we worship? Ultimately we read God's word, we rejoice in God's power that we repent of our sins, that we recognize God's grace and that ultimately we recommit our lives and commit our lives to him. If you want to close your eyes and bow your heads, you wanna invite the band back up on stage and I just want to challenge if you've never made that commitment, but you're feeling the spirit moved in you right now that I want you to pray with me and if you have, if you have receive jesus, but you're feeling prompted to get baptized? I know we're on this moment, but I want to encourage you to pray through this and when we sing this song, I want you to come and talk to me, I'm gonna be right up here at friends and we can make this happen this morning. But wherever you are in your faith, I just pray that you would give this up to God and that you will worship him to restore your perspective so that your soul can be restored. Dear Heavenly father, we know that we are sinners. We cannot make it on our own. But God, you came down, you died on the cross for our sins. You rose again. So that's through you God. We can receive the forgiveness of sins and have eternal life and God, you did spark revival in the city of Jerusalem and through Nehemiah. But that was temporary. But God, you have given us a greater covenant, a greater power, your son and the holy spirit to live inside of us God, so that we can be awakened back to life, to spark a movement of God in this community. God thank you that we get to read your word together. Thank you that we get to rejoice. Maybe even in the midst of suffering God, we praise you as we repent of our sins and we give our doubts and our struggles and our issues up to you God. We recognize your grace that it is good and that you love us. I mean we just recommit our lives to you. May you use the people in this room to spark revival. We love you God, it's in your sons and we pray amen