Guys, welcome across all of our locations today. Man, we're excited to continue in our sermon series called Rebuild.
So, if you have a copy of scripture, you can take it and turn with me to Nehemiah chapter 5 is where we're going to be today. We're going to keep marching right through. As you guys are turning to Nehemiah 5, I've got a really exciting announcement and an ask for you today. This is really a cool moment at Mercy Hill 2026. We just mentioned fortifying the family, but at the same time, we get a chance as part of that to reset our vision around adoption and foster care.
Okay, we get a chance to reset what we call our chosen ministries here at Mercy Hill, and it's just an incredible thing. We're going to be setting a vision, and I'm not telling you exactly what it is today, okay? But we're going to be resetting a vision early in 26, January 26, a five-year vision for where we want to see our church have effect in these areas. And as part of that, we also have, and this is really exciting for me, we have a book coming out in January. And I say we, y'all, because it is a book that is born.
Of the story of what God has done here. It's my family's story of adoption. It's also just a gospel-centered view of adoption that was curated with content right here in these sermons. Many of you are in this book. I mean, it's a story of rope holding and just, and here's the reason I want to bring it up to you: the prayer for this book is that it would catalyze tens of thousands of Christians to get off the sideline and onto the front line in adoption and to catalyze thousands of churches that are not yet engaged in this ministry to this vital ministry, okay?
Whether it be adoption, foster care, rope holding, families count. We're just hoping that this book is catalytic for all of that. Not just here at Mercy Hill. Like, we understand, man, at Mercy Hill, we're going to use it to continue to kind of galvanize us towards this vital mission, but we want to see what it will do in the larger kingdom in terms of other churches getting on board. And you say, okay, that's awesome.
That's fun. But what does it have to do with me?
Well, here's what it has to do with you. When we think about a church like Mercy Hill, we probably know thousands and thousands of thought leaders and churches that are not Mercy Hill that have champions for this ministry, but maybe they don't have it formalized or they don't have a vision for it or whatever. I'm asking you guys, if you're really interested in being part of the movement, kind of the greater chosen movement, that you would jump into ground war with us, okay? And you have an opportunity to do that. We're building a launch team to try to get the word out about how churches can be involved in this ministry through this book.
And if you want to be involved in that and throw your hat in that ring and be involved in the ground game of this. You can text chosen to 87217, and that's going to give you a prompt. It's going to just give you a sign that's not signing you up, it's giving you the link to sign up.
Okay, so then you can go to the link and you can figure out what's being asked of you basically to pray and to get the word out about what God is doing through this ministry. And so, if you're interested in that or you know somebody who might be, I would invite you to do that. All right, all right, Nehemiah chapter five: here's where we are today. Um, guys, you know, this is true, man. The old adage really is true: everything rises and falls on leadership.
And it's, man, the older I get, the more true that seems to become in my life. And here's what we're going to talk about today: for God to rebuild what looks irreparably broken, it's going to take some godly, selfless, sacrificial Leadership. From people. From all of us. Listen, if you're a believer, God has given you some measure of influence, and the question is gonna be.
Are we gonna lead that sphere of influence in a God-glorifying, self-sacrificing way? Or are we going to use that position of leadership and authority and influence? Whatever it is, as big as it may be, guys, we have politicians, we have principals, we have owners of large businesses, we have people that are managing hundreds and hundreds of people. That may be where you are, that might be the assignment that God has given you, or it may be that you have a much smaller team, or you're a teacher of a classroom, or maybe even it's like, hey, I got two or three of these little kids in my home. I don't, God divvies out who's gonna do what in the assignment of his kingdom.
But we all have the responsibility. To take on this godly aspect of leadership, which is self-sacrificing. You guys know this to be true. When you're talking about politics or or your kids experience on a ball team, or you're talking about the health of a home. How much of it comes down to the attitude of those in authority towards those who are called to be in submission?
I think about it like this. Proverbs 29:2, it says that when the righteous are in authority, what happens? The people flourish. The people rejoice when the righteous are in authority. They're not rejecting or throwing off the idea of authority.
It's that when the righteous are there, the people under them have an opportunity to flourish and rejoice. Here's my question to you today, all right? Here's the thing. How many of you, you don't have to raise your hand, but how many of us at some point in our life we played for a coach? that we would have absolutely run through a brick wall for.
And then at some other time in our life, we played for a coach that we couldn't get away from fast enough. Right? What was the difference in those two things? There's a lot of difference. You made leadership is a vast, I understand.
Okay, we could talk about books and principles. A big difference in those two things is did that guy just see you as a cog in his wheel to get his thing done? Or did he say, Man, we're all on a mission, and I'm here to make sure I bring the best out of you. I think about that right now with our work and our job.
Some of you guys right now would not take a 20 or 30 percent pay bump to leave your job and go do something else. Others of you would probably be willing to accept a 20 or 30 percent pay decrease to get out of the job that you're in. Right? What's the difference? Think about it many times.
Is the difference not the environment that is being created? By the people who have authority at the very top. I mean, for many of us, and in America, I've seen poll after poll. It's not, pay is not even the number one thing of why people wanna stay or leave. It's culture and environment and purpose.
The difference many times is the people that are in authority, do they see their employees as a cog in the wheel to be churned and burned to get their thing done? Or do they see themselves as I've been put in this position of authority for us to all get the mission done? We gotta get the job done, but to do so in a way that I am promoting the gifts. Yeah. Cultivate and steward the people that are around me.
Here's the big idea this weekend: godly leadership. I'm talking about if you are a coach, if you are a father in a home, if you are the CEO of a massive business, okay, whatever it is, whatever you've been given to lead. Godly leadership is marked by sacrificing for others. It's our willingness to let, you know what it comes down to? Godly leadership says, you before me, not me before you.
Godly leadership that we see, and man, we get it right from the gospel. I'll go down in order to promote you. Like I'm here in this position. To cultivate, steward, and see the flourishing of those that are around me. And that's how we're going to get the mission done.
Well, we see that from Nehemiah. Look in Nehemiah chapter 5, verse 14. Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king. 12 years, neither I, and this is the point, nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people.
and took from them their daily rations, 40 shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of the Lord.
Now, one of the things that we see in the book of Nehemiah is an incredible leader. I mean, he is.
Okay, I'm not saying perfect, but I'm telling you, you see a lot in this man and a lot in this book that we can glean from. And one of the things that we see today is something that Paul would pick up later in 1 Corinthians 9 and talk about the Christians' willingness to lay down rights, especially if they are going to be burdensome for the people that are around them. See, Nehemiah had this principle in his heart, I think, that comes from the fear of God. And it's something like this: Nehemiah believed that governing for the glory of God. would be good for the people of God.
That some kind of way, there's a way that we go about getting the thing done that creates flourishing, it cultivates and stewards the gifts of those around us. rather than seeing someone else as a little cog in my wheel. Instead of that, we say, Hey, I'm not going to lay a heavy burden on you, but I'm going to try and promote your well-being. And that's what we're going to see in Nehemiah chapter 5.
Now, let's sort of walk across the contextual bridge about 2,500 years ago, and here's what we're going to find. Nehemiah is in a position where leaders in the day often Would be the type of people who would lay all of the burdens of their luxurious and pampered lifestyle right on the backs of the poor and struggling.
Okay, so these guys that were in power, and he even says this, right? They would place a heavy tax burden on the people in order to support the luxurious lifestyle that they had. His mission, many times, you know, a governor's mission would have been ease and comfort and power. You could say it the exact opposite way that Jesus would say it. All right, I want my burden to be light, so I'm going to make your burden heavy.
And this is what Nehemiah steps into. He steps into a place where, listen, even the servants... Would Lord their position over the people. It wasn't even just the governor. The governor was creating a culture.
The governor was creating an attitude of domineering. and harsh and burdensome leadership. You know, and this is true. Listen, if you are in a position of authority where you, and we all are in some way. Where you look in.
And you think to yourself, All I've gotta do is get my thing, that job done. And whatever I have to lay on these people around me to do it, that's fine. If that's where you're at, You're kind of there. And what Nehemiah is trying to do is say, no, there's got to be another way to do this. There's got to be another way that is more God-honoring.
I think the difference in Nehemiah and the others that come before him, apparently, or maybe even the other nations that were around him. Is Nehemiah is thinking, look, you got two options. Either you're going to do what is right in your own eyes for the sake of your own mission. Or you're going to do what is right in God's eyes for the sake of the mission that He has called you to. And one thing I want to say quickly, and then we're going to continue to pick this theme up.
I'm going to go to Ezekiel 34 in just a second. I think it's really important. But I do got to say this. Guys, we live in an ever-crumbling, ever. I mean, it feels like every five years, the culture around us is just softer and softer and softer.
Okay. I mean, the grit and all that. And I mean, I'm not above it. We're all in it. I mean, we're just, you know, the culture wants to turn us all into house cats.
Okay. That's what it wants to do. And you got, I mean, just fragile, and we can't even, you know, I can't take any kind of critique. I just feel like I need to say this. When pastors bring up, Harsh, domineering, lording, you know, type of behavior in authority and leadership.
There is such an unhealthy culture that we have curated in our culture.
Society right now, where people want to run to that, and they want to call anything that they don't like that. Anything that they don't like, they want to say, well, that's domineering and harsh. When it may be helpful and truthful. It's like what we need to understand is: a boss or a CEO or a coach. Getting on your case, and I'm even speaking to some of our younger people right now, like a boss or a CEO or a coach getting on your case because you're not doing the right thing or trying to get the best out of you.
And sometimes that comes out with a little bit of an edge to it. That's not abuse, okay? That might just be them doing their job.
So we've got to understand that there's, you know, everything is not, but go back 2,500 years ago and understand what Nehemiah is talking about and realize, man, we can be in the same situation. If we have people in authority that are just saying, man, everybody around me is a cog in the wheel to get my thing done, I'm going to do whatever I got to do, churn and burn them. in order to get what I want done. You know, they are here to serve me. I'm not here to serve them.
Then yes. This is ungodly leadership and not what we are called to do.
Now, I wanna take you to Ezekiel 34, real quick. You don't have to turn there, I'm gonna have it on the screen. But the idea is that the nation of Israel Is actually in the predicament that they're in, in exile, in part. because their leaders started to take a me before you attitude towards the people. They had become predatory towards their own people, and I don't just mean the spiritual leaders.
When we say the word shepherd, pastor comes to mind because that's a dominant theme in the New Testament, which is totally right. But even in Israel, it wasn't just the spiritual leaders. I mean, it's kings, it's people in authority, it's the wealthy, and they begin to turn all that influence on the people. Look what it says in Ezekiel 34:2. Ah, shepherds of Israel.
who have been feeding yourselves. Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourself with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you don't feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back. The lost you have not sought.
And with force and harshness, you have ruled them. I think it has every, I understand, man, the spiritual implications of this. I mean, you know, man, I'm the pastor of a church. If you don't think that I have weighed the words of this sermon, and if you don't think that I have prayed, Lord, this absolutely starts with me, with our elder team, this is where it starts. That is totally true, and I take that, but it's not where it ends.
It is where it starts, not where it ends. Because what he's saying here is, I mean, we all have a part to play. You have ruled them with harshness. You have been forcible on them, domineering and harsh. I'm just gonna ask you the question: in whatever areas of leadership you have, A parent over a child.
an employee, a boss over an employee, a teacher over a student. A coach over a player. We could just go on and on and on and on. We all have these measures of influence. Harsh Domineering.
Forcible are these words that come up in the way that you are conceiving your own leadership. And maybe we look back on it, you're honest, and you just open your eyes, and you're like, man, I'm there. That's listen. That's why we're talking about it. Don't in shame go run away.
Like, let's look at it for what it is. I know for a fact that I have not failed in these areas. I fail in these areas and will continue to do so. My heart is deceitfully wicked.
So, me above all. Like I need to be able to say, okay. This is a good heart check. Man, what areas of my life and my leadership do I need to start? But we all need to have that posture today.
You know, are we using the things that God has given us for our own mission, leveraging them for us, burning people around us, or is it for the mission of God? You know, I was at. A camp. A couple years ago with my daughter, it was really awesome. It was like a father-daughter camp.
And it was an incredible thing out in California. And some of our folks here have gone out there. They really encouraged me to go. And I'm glad I did. And one of the nights, one of the afternoons we're there, we're doing all these like outdoor kind of, you know, it's like what you do at like a business retreat or something.
They're like lessons, but they're a game. And it's these kind of, you know, there's a wall we're trying to get over. You know, all the, we got to get all the dads and the girls over this wall because the volcano just erupted and you got a timed thing. And it's all these team building activities, right? And so, man, we get, we get to the one and it's this tall wall that you got to get all of the girls and all the dads up over the wall.
And it's like, it's really high, you know? And so you're trying to strategize how to do it.
Now, I'm sitting there with a group of probably five, you know, seven guys and seven daughters. They're all about the same age. And they all look at me and they say, Hey. You're the biggest and the strongest. Which shows you what a sorry group of men this was.
Okay, I'm just gonna be honest with you, all right? And so I'm like, well, I'm looking around at them, like, well, okay, you know, so. Anyway.
Now, here's what I want you to imagine. And I want you to imagine this because it didn't happen this way. And Thursday night, I felt like some kind of way when I was preaching this, people started to think this is what I actually did, and they were aghast. Imagine this, okay? Imagine if I said to myself, okay.
You're right. I'm the tallest one here. I'm the strongest one in this sorry group of men here. And so here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to save myself from the imaginary volcano lava, okay? And I'm going to get my daughter and a couple of these other girls.
Hey, girl, hey, you guys get right down there so I can step on your back. And I can jump and grab because I can pull myself up. And I didn't do that, okay? But imagine if that's what I did.
Now, we all know what we should do, and that's what we did, right? It's like, okay, wait a minute. You're tall and somewhat strong in this group.
So you should be the base. that is pushing everybody else up, right? Like get one of your guys up there and start feeding them up. That you shouldn't use what God has given you to pull yourself up. Listen, this to me is as simple as it is.
God has given us all authority and influence in some area. Church, are we using it to pull ourselves up or are we using it to push others up? Are we using it to say, man, look at me, look what I have? I can get out of this situation. I can pull myself up.
Or are we using it for the sake of others? You know, Jesus talks about this in John 10. That he is the good shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep. I want you to think about that for a moment. I know that we've talked, you know, if you've been around church, I know some of us are brand new, some of us, our campuses might be our first time.
But think about this with me. Even if the shepherd was the lowest dude on the totem pole of all society, it is still a breathtaking thing to die for a sheep. Right? I mean, that's still kind of a big deal. To lay your life down.
for the sheep. And yet Jesus said that's what the good shepherd does, not like the hired person. The hired person is going to use whatever influence they have to get theirs and be gone. But not the shepherd. The shepherd who's there, and it's his sheep, he's going to lay down.
And John 10 talks about this, he's going to lay down at the gate. Where they're going to be in a pen and if and say, Hey, my strength. What God has given me, my wits, my staff. You got to come through me if you're going to get to them. I'm not like Ezekiel 34.
I'm not using them and abusing them to get myself somewhere new. I'm gonna lay my life down so that they can thrive and be healthy. And that's the picture of a shepherd.
Now, I want you to understand. I get it, okay? The shepherd metaphor in the New Testament, Peter talks about this. We shepherd the flock. That's what a pastor does.
I get that. But every one of us as parents, as hey, as college students that have been given influence, some of you guys at High Point at Clifton that have been given influence on your dorm room or been given influence within a Christian ministry. Every one of us that has a job and a team, a coaching. Teachers, we all have some bit of influence. And I'm not saying this is a direct line, but what I'm saying is, think about it like this.
You've been put in a position to sort of be a shepherd there with some sheep around you. That's kind of the image. Are you going to promote them in that way? Are you going to lay your life down for them? In that way, or use them to get where you wanna be.
Or is it, no, no, no, you before me. I'm gonna put you before me. And the great thing about the shepherd analogy, too, is because, and you guys know this from being around church, if you've been around church, you know, Jesus calls us the sheep. It's not a flattering look. Sheep are pretty dumb, man.
Sheep find. Very creative ways to die. You you two thousand five, no, no joke, in two thousand five. There's a flock of 1,500 sheep. One of them falls off a 40-foot cliff in Turkey.
The other 1,499 jumped willingly. I'm serious. It created the world's largest pillow right there in Turkey. I mean, 1,500 sheep. 400 of them died.
And the other ones are falling on top, they're just gonna do whatever is right in front of them.
Now, it's a very flattering look that the Lord gives us: we're the sheep, right? And he's the shepherd. I'm the sheep. He's the shepherd. I get that.
But like that, think about that. That's how much the shepherd is needed. For those areas where we are like the shepherd with sheep around us, we have to lead them and use our influence for them.
Now, look what he says in verse 16 also. I also persevered in the work on this wall. And we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.
Now, one of the things I want to point out, it's all kind of on this same theme, is that Nehemiah had a one-track mind. The mission of God in his day, his assignment. Build the wall. Bring the people back to Jerusalem and continue the salvific line that would end up birthing Jesus Christ, who would be, as was promised to Abraham, he would be the light to the nations, okay? He's stepping right in line with his assignment.
You and I have a different assignment. We are not called to build a wall, okay?
Now. Our security teams at all of our campuses, I'm now calling the Nehemiah team, okay? Because they do build the wall, all right? They build the wall between the threats and between all that out. You know, they're the ones that are making sure our services go well.
I had a chance to hang out with them the other day, and it was just awesome. You're looking at this team, and it is just nothing but. beards and boots and tattoos as it should be.
Okay. And they're building the wall, all right? But, but you and I, our mission as a church, our mission as Christians, right, it's not, we're not building that wall. We are called to build the church.
Now you say, well, hey, wait a minute. I thought Jesus said in Matthew 16. I will build my church. Yes, Jesus did say, I will build my church, but he said, I will build my church. If you remember Matthew 16, 18.
On the confession of Peter, who called Jesus the Messiah. Jesus builds his church. Make no mistake about that. But he does it as you and I go forward telling people of the Messiah. That's our job.
That's our mission.
Now, I want to make a lesson here, okay? Nehemiah had some ways that he was committed to his mission. I think we need to be committed to our mission in the same way. Look at what it said: three things, really quickly, here, right? Three things come to mind.
Number one, verse 16. Nehemiah persevered in the work. He didn't rise above the work. That's what it says. I also persevered in the work on this wall.
Here's what I want to say very quickly. You never move on from the assignment we have been given. to be used by God to build his church. We never move on from that. I don't care if you're one year into your faith or 50 years into your faith.
One of the things at Mercy Hill that we love so much is our vibrant Fourth quarter, folks. All right, we say fourth quarter, man, you're around 60 and up. You know, the average lifespan in America is 80 years old. Let's just face it. Face what it is.
Fourth quarter is the most important quarter. The only thing more important than the fourth quarter is overtime, okay? And so it's like, hey, that fourth quarter, what we look around in the nation and what we see is.
Some people kind of packing it in. Hey, I did my time. No, no, no. We're not packing it in. We don't say I did my time.
We say I'm in my prime. I'm in my prime for the ministry now that God has given me because it's every day, never rise above, always persevere in. All right, we've been given a job to do. Second thing I will say is this. He says, I acquired no land.
Look, and we acquired no land. What does that mean? Most commentators are saying it's probably connected to this idea of the tax burden that the governors would have put on the people. In other words, I put such a tax burden on these people, they can't pay it. What ends up happening?
Just like tax receipts here, they forfeit their land. And so I can impose the tax on them that they can't pay, and then I can confiscate what they have. I guess what I'm saying is this. Church, we have got to remember we are not building a kingdom of our own. We are building his kingdom.
I'm not saying it's wrong to go, obviously, to go buy land and homes and a house. That's not the point here. The point is, Nehemiah doesn't get so distracted with, oh my, this glitters. And I could go build my own kingdom now. I'm the governor now.
I have all the influence in the world now. I can go do whatever I want now. No, no, no. And 30 says this: I think this is good. And my servants were gathered for the work as well.
Think about how easy it would have been for Nehemiah to say, okay, okay, I'll go build the wall. But my servants are going to go build my kingdom. I'm going to use them to kind of carve out this thing for me and create this estate over here while I'm building. And no, Nehemiah, it's none of those things. Instead, it is focus.
Guys, one of the major themes that we have chased in the book of Nehemiah. is simply this. Hey, they had a job to do, we have a job to do. and we can stay radically committed and focused to that job. Persevere in the work and don't be distracted.
And remember, every one of us, listen, the church is an army, not an audience. We have a very general call. Go build the church. All right, Jesus will build it through us, confessing he is the Messiah from place to place, inviting people to Christmas services, these types of things, okay? And we're going to go out and do that.
But none of us fit into that plan generically. There's all a specific place that we fit into that plan. We talk about this in Romans 12. God has gifted you with passions. He's gifted you with desires.
He's gifted you with spiritual gifts. The Bible says in Romans 12, use those things. Ephesians 2.10 tells us every single one of us that's a believer. There are works that God has for you to do. Your name is on it.
For the sake of his mission and his kingdom, and he prepared those things before the foundation of the world. Go find what those things are and walk in them. You fit in very specifically. There is a place. that you are made for.
And I want you to find that place when it comes to God's ministry. You know, I've told my kids this, I've told you all this before, but. The greatest Olympian that ever lived was Michael Phelps, right? I mean, just more gold medals than anybody else. I mean, it's pretty empirical.
And it's crazy because when you look at Michael Phelps, you realize pretty quickly. One of the reasons why he's so good at what he does. All right. He has, you know, Michael Phelps is only 6'5, but he has the wingspan of a man much taller and the leg length of a man much shorter. Which gives him such dynamic pulls in the water.
His hands and his feet are like twice the size of a normal dude.
Okay, I mean they're hu and he's double-jointed in all of his joints.
So he gets 30% more mobility like a flipper. The reason he can swim is because I just described a dolphin to you, okay? That's what he is. And there's no reason why. I mean, you look at him and you're like, dude, this guy was made to do that.
And I want to tell you something, man. Look what he says in verse 16. I persevered in the work. There is a specific way where God has wired you through your background, your spiritual gifts, your passions, your desires, where it's like you say, oh, that person was designed to fit in. To pursue the work and persevere on the wall.
doing that. You you were made for that. And I hope you go out and chase down and find exactly what that is. Let's read this last portion of scripture. It's really nothing more than him just doubling down like crazy.
Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews, and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.
Now what was prop and now Sorry, now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox, one six, and six choice sheep. And birds, and every 10 days, all the kinds of wine in abundance. Yet, for all this, and this is the point, I did not demand the food allowance of the governor because the service was too heavy on the people. Remember for my good, oh my God, all that I have done for this people.
Now, I'm not gonna belabor it because I mean, we hopefully by this point we understand. But this is the point. The mark of Nehemiah's commitment to the mission was his generosity. He doesn't see the people as a way to extract and get his thing done. Let me just put it to you like this.
Parents, I'm gonna say parents in particular, Fathers in particular, all right? Those little kids, the young'uns that God has put in your home. Are they there for you to extract from them the reputation that you desire? Or has God put you in their home to serve and lift them up? That's the way we're thinking about this, okay?
You know, college student. Has has God put you on that dorm room with those people. College student, has he put you in positions of influence in different ways and with Christian organizations and things like that? Are they there for you to get ahead and come out as the number one whatever with the greatest internship opportunities so that you can go get your. Or are you there?
So that you can use what God has given you in leadership, time, and relationships to maybe think about bringing in the outsider. To bring in the one that nobody else is going to be out there for. You understand? The mark is our generosity with time and talent and treasure. You know, maybe you own a business.
Maybe you have people that work under you. Do you view them? As a way that I can extract in order to get what I want, which is wealth and prestige and all that? Or is it like, no, no, wait, no. No, they're not there for you.
You're there for them. Like God put you there for them. You're not supposed to get on their back and pull yourself up the wall to get away from the imaginary volcano. You're there to help push them up. Even if it means that you go down.
You know, I want to give a quick guys that sometimes a shepherd, sometimes it's just like a quick, a sharp kind of goad. You got to do. And I feel compelled to step into it. We need to understand something together. All right.
Think about what God has given you in terms of your resourcing, even, even your wealth, your money. We have, by God's grace, this is really crazy, okay? By God's grace, over the course of the last couple of months, Our church has grown 40% over last year.
Now, I just want you to think about that.
Now, maybe you're in a business, you're in a, you know, something. 40% is a lot to manage, okay? There's a lot going on. I'm not talking about dollars and cents here. The church has grown by 40% in terms of the people.
And yet the amount of giving, the amount of people giving in the last two months is only up 7% over last year. I just want you to think about that for a minute.
So 40% more coming, 7% more giving.
Now, I know that some of you might say, well, man, I'm brand new and I'm trying to figure this thing out. And I totally understand that, and that's okay, all right? You're trying to figure out: is this the week that Andrew starts pulling out snakes on stage and starts preaching? And you're like, you don't know. You know, you're like, is this a weird church and it's an odd?
I fully understand that. Man, if I was ever in a position where I'm looking for a new church, I probably would do the same thing. I would make sure that I'm bought in. And all that before. I get that totally.
But is that where everybody is? Or is it possible? That maybe sometimes we're looking at what God has given us and thinking, oh, this is given for me, rather than thinking, how can I leverage this for the greater movement? Especially right here at the Ridge campus. Guys, there were many people over years that gave very sacrificially.
for you to have a seat here. And I wonder how many of us are going to give that sacrificially so that people that we don't even know. I mean, people whose names we don't know would be able to come and experience what God is doing through Mercy Heal through other campuses and church plants in the future. All right. Now, I'm going to call you this more of a conclusion than anything else.
All right. Lead sacrificially. This is our application for this weekend. Think about Nehemiah. Think about the example that he sets.
Think about how Jesus steps into that role. of Nehemiah for us. I want you to think about leading sacrificially today. You know, Nehemiah had this posture. His posture was, I will absorb the cost so as not to lay the heavy burden on the people.
You and I, whether you've thought about like this or not, if you're a believer. You and I have benefited greatly. from someone else having a posture toward us like that. I mean, how about Jesus Christ? I'm not going to lay the burden on you.
Instead, I'm going to take the burden for you. What did Jesus end up saying in Matthew chapter 11? Jesus says, My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Make no mistake. The only reason that Jesus Christ could say, my burden is light, is because he took from you and I what was heavy.
Nehemiah says, Hey, I'm not going to put this burden on the people so that we can continue the mission. But Jesus Christ took the burden of all of the sin and all of the shame. And all of the death that is deserved because of the sin in our life. Man, he took the just wrath of God over the sin of the world. He took that burden on himself at the cross.
And he died, and three days later, he was resurrected in order that he could give you what is easy and light. And here's what I would call you to say, all right? If you are a believer.
Sorry, if you're an unbeliever You're not a Christian yet. And you are here today. I want to call you to come and. And get saved, man, however you wanna call it. Admit your sin, believe in what he has done, confess him as the Lord of your life.
And I want you to think about that today because. All of the sin of your life. All the times in your life that you have been domineering and harsh and not led in a way that is right and good. You are a living example of why we need the gospel. And so I pray today that you would come and you would accept him.
Second thing I would say is this. If you are a believer.
You know, where do we need to do some work in this area? Where is it that we need to think about? Is it in the home? Man, I'm using these kids as cogs in a wheel to build my reputation. I'm pulling myself up off their back rather than pushing them up.
Is it in a community group setting? Maybe you're in a college group. Maybe you're in. Adult community group here at Mercy Hill, and you're thinking, Man, I come to this group in order, you know, maybe you're a leader, or I come to this group in order to extract what I need for my. Own kind of identity here: that I'm a leader and that I'm strong, that I'm good.
Or is it like, no, I'm coming here to serve and to promote and to push them up? I know many of you, we draw a lot of very driven people at Mercy Hill. And a lot of you have businesses, you're entrepreneurs, you have people that work for you. Are they there for you or has God put you there for them? Lot to wrestle with today.
And it's very sneaky. Our hearts can be sneaky. I'll close with this. I. You know, I told you guys I had a chance to coach a middle school football team this year.
39, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.
Okay. Imagine getting them all their subway into the game with all of their stuff. Not the easiest thing in the world, okay? Super fun. Um probably one of the funnest things I've ever done, but I just, I just, it was so funny.
And this is a funny example. I mean, even for me. It's like I mean This quick. It can go from. Andrew.
God out of nowhere put this opportunity in your life. To be a male figure, you know, influence, man, you get to coach your son. He has given you this to influence them and how quickly it can become. No, no, no. They're here for me to build my middle school coaching resume.
No, no, no, it's not. I'm not here for them. They're here so that I can win. You know, it can happen that fast. I know that's a little bit light, a little bit funny, but guys Where in your life is it like, oh man?
This thing has gotten switched. And can we go back to the gospel? Thanking God. Jesus didn't have that posture toward us. Man, he came with hey, I'm gonna go down so that you can you guys can rise And if we can have that posture, oh my, what would it change in our families, our businesses?
All the influence that we have around us. Let's pray, Father. We come before you and we ask right now. Lord, that you would move upon the rest of this service to break hearts. God, where are the areas that we need to repent?
Lord, I pray you would do that work, that we would walk out as different employers, different teachers, different principals. different coaches, different fathers and mothers. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
