Bible Study

all right all right good evening good evening good evening we certainly are thankful to god for you on tonight joining us for our time of pastors bible study we have been excited because of what the lord is continuing to do on this spot of ground here at pilgrim rest as the lord is continuing to add to our church and how he's continuing to lead us even the more to higher heights and to deeper depths as we what occupy all streets we praise god for you and speaking of occupying all streets we want you right now to take this opportunity virtually to share this bible study with someone you can press their name if you're in on facebook in the comments or you can begin to share this particular bible study with others because certainly i know it will be a blessing to you tonight as it has been to me in the preparation of it you know it's a sad cook that won't try first their own cooking to see how good it is first and so i want to let you know i've tried this meal i've tasted this meal and i know it's going to do our souls very good on tonight so i want you to share this with someone as you're coming on tonight as you're coming on begin to speak and begin to spread uh jesus joy to the other members that you see that are online with you and begin to share with them just how blessed you are that they have joined you virtually join the church virtually corporately so we are just thankful to god tonight for what he is doing through with and for us we're not going to waste any time we've got a lot of ground that we need to cover on tonight concerning this particular subject of half time half time why do we bring this up because we're at the halfway point we're at the half wave mark because we are in the month of june and we know that june is the halfway point of the year and since it is the halfway point then that means that june is in some respects our half time and when you think of have time i i know some of you think of the halftime show for the super bowl every year but i want you to think more about half time of the sense of what goes on not on the field but off the field with the coaches and with the staff and with the players when they return back into the locker room because they return back to the locker room because not only is the time of respiratory for them but it's also a time for them to re-evaluate what's going on with their particular team before i delve more into that let me define for you what half time is half time is the time at which half of a contest game or a project is completed especially when marked with an intermission and speaking of this let me take a half time real quick to say to you that if you have not downloaded our handout for tonight it is available on our social media streams is available on our app right now you have the pilgrim rest app it's already been downloaded for you likewise it has been listed on our facebook page and emailed to you so you should be able to follow along with us on tonight we know what halftime is it's that halfway point and what happens at halftime teams use this halfway point to reevaluate to refuel so that they can re-attack if they take full advantage of they have time they can end up victorious even if they have been down prior to the halftime i've seen so many games i've seen so many basketball football games where people were down and they looked as if the commentators were saying that there was no way they could come back but when that team went back and got that train on the track and they began to reevaluate what they were doing they were able to refresh themselves refuel themselves they came back out ready to re-attack i know some of you all watching lebron james and los angeles last night i know they had a half time but nothing nothing really happened differently for them but what i'm saying is in most respects when people and teams go back for that period of half time they're able to refresh themselves get a new perspective and come out and win the game my prayer is that as we're in this month of june i know that many of you had new year's resolutions at the beginning of the year i know that many of you were saying in 2021 that this was going to be the one in 2021 and many of us had many catch phrases concerning this year many of you said that this is the year that you're going to get out of debt this is the year you're going to lose that weight this is the year that you're going to let go of those so-called friends this is the year that you're going to grow spiritually in god this is the year that you're going to reconnect back with family and friends this is the year that you're finally going to get your finances in order i've heard you i hear you even in the spirit that these are some goals that you have for yourself you're going to get back in school these are some goals that you started out with in 2021 and for many of us yes we still want to achieve those goals but we've lost our our zest for those goals we've lost the purpose for which we have those goals that that seal that we once had for those particular goals have seen mingli have left us but i want to say to you tonight that just because you have lost your zeal it seems if you lost your zest for those particular goals you in this period now in the month of june it's time for you to go to your own spiritual locker room even if you have to go by yourself because you know when you get in there that god the father god the son and god the holy spirit is with you and begin to reevaluate where you are and as you reevaluate where you are get that perspective that you need get that time of respite that you need get that time to re-energize yourself and re-attack the purposes for which you set those particular goals for yourself for your family even for those in your concentric circles of influence tonight i know that when i've laid this out i said that when we have a time of half time we can reevaluate we can refuel so we can re-attack but there are some other reas that that can go on right in that particular time of half time i i've seen some coaches they reduce their players during that time they they say some stuff to them that that's not in the 23rd psalm or the lord's prayer but it's all for the purpose of trying to get them back on track trying to encourage them in some kind of way to tap into that power to tap into that potential that the coach knows that the player the players have not not only that but but not only could they sometimes they reduce the players but this time is used for the players to help them to remember you have to remember because sometimes we we lose sight along the way and remember we have to keep the main thing the what the main thing so sometimes this this particular time is used to help those players remember but tonight what we want to focus on looking at this text that we have before us is not only is this time the halftime used to reevaluate and refuel and re-attack sometime to reduce sometimes to remember but for us tonight we want to use this period of half time that we have tonight to rebuild and and no i i couldn't find a referee a uniform this is the best thing that i can find it's your pastor i'm going to be your coach and we're going to be going through this particular lesson tonight in our own huddle in our own spiritual locker room and help hopefully you'll get the helpful holy hints you need you can capitalize on this halftime you ready to go let's do it let's do it we're going tonight to the book of nehemiah nehemiah on number two of the handout we found that they are experiencing a halftime who is nehemiah pastor nehemiah was the cup bearer for king artaxerxes and he returns to help rebuild the walls of jerusalem those who studied this biblical terrain before you know that the children of israel have been placed in exile and now as they're returning home from babylon they have to begin the process of rebuilding yes they're going to rebuild the temple but although they're rebuilding the temple what good is it to rebuild the temple where they will minister and worship unto god if they have yet to rebuild the walls of the city because if there is no fortification there is no protection for the city and so nehemiah chapter 1 tells us that although he was with king arthur xerxes that it had been put upon his heart to return back home to jerusalem to help them to lead them if you will in the rebuilding of the wall and while he is making his way back to the city of jerusalem chapter 2 tells us that they already begin the work of rebuilding the wall they are just about to complete the wall and that's where we find our text today in nehemiah chapter four where pastor where is this connection with nehemiah and the children of god rebuilding the wall and halftime where is that connection i'm going to show it to you now turn to nehemiah chapter 4 nehemiah chapter 4 and i want to look at verse seven verse six i'm gonna start at verse six nehemiah chapter four verse six it says so we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height for the people worked with all their heart i love the king james version um rendering of this last clause of the verse that says for the people had a mind to work if you grew up baptist like i did whenever we were getting ready to start a campaign of any kind and they were looking for a scripture to use they always use nehemiah 4 and 6 that the people had a mind to work because when people have a made-up mind they are unstoppable but i want you to focus on the a-clause of that verse that nehemiah tells the story that they were rebuilding the wall and they built it until it reached half its height all right that's what's it said in the new international version the message translation says that it was halfway to its intended height so if they have built the wall until it's halfway to its height they built the wall if it's half its height if they're half way there this in essence is their half time halftime they still have another half to go in order for them to complete the construction of the wall and so in nehemiah's halftime we see some helpful hints to us with our halftime point number one we learned from nehemiah at his halftime is you don't have to find trouble it's gonna find you i know that's true you don't have to find trouble it's going to find you because we read in verse 6 that they are they're halfway to their goal right and many of us we are halfway to our goals we're we're at the halfway point before the year has concluded but watch verses seven and eight it says but when sin ballot tobiah the arabs the ammonites and the people of ashdod heard that the repairs to jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed that they were what very angry i need to start uh right here a minute i need to put a quarter in the meter while i'm on this spot to tell you that everybody is not going to be happy with your progress you better be very very very extremely careful of who you share your progression with because some people will take your progress and try to make you regress they'll try to do i need to say that again i felt somebody's saying to me pastor you need to say that again you said that too fast that some people will take your progress as an invitation for them to help you to regress to go backwards and we talked about this sunday that we have to continue to move forward you don't have to go looking for it will come looking for you these people are already plotting trying to attack them the word of god says they they've already plotted together to make their demise you don't have to go looking for trouble it will go looking for you john 16 and 33 john 16 and 33 the word of god is very clear that that the trouble is going to come as a byproduct of just living in this world you're going to have trouble look at what jesus says in 16 and 33 of john i have told you these things so that in me you may have peace in this world you may have you might have no he makes it crystal clear that you will have trouble but here's the part but take heart he says be of good cheer king james says i have overcome the world so please know that sometime and the reason i put that 16 and 33 that you're going to have trouble because what is done sometimes to protect you from attack can make you vulnerable to attack because look they're building the wall to protect them from the attacks of the enemy that's why they're building the wall in the first place they haven't completed the work they're at halftime they're half way there but it's strange that sometime in this life that the things we do to try to protect us from attack will be the very things that cause attacks to come our way if you know what i'm talking about you are the same man in the comments because when you make a valiant attempt to to fast and pray the devil hasn't seemed to bother you at all but as soon as you say i need to pray more i need to fast i need to read my word more why because i want to shield myself from the wiles of the devil from the schemes from the strategies of the devil it seemed like as soon as you tried to put yourself in a position to ward off the attacks of the enemy you find yourself because of what you're doing to protect yourself sometimes makes you vulnerable for the attack even the more trouble is going to come how do you know pastor joe 14 and 1 told me i don't really even have to look at that i know what it says it says that man that's born of a woman is of a few days and those days are what full of trouble isn't that amazing that we've got not full days and few troubles job says that we have few days but the days are already full of trouble now now i just love the word of god watch this that's job 14 and 1 right but here's god's remedy for job 14 and 1 is john 14 and 1. what does john 14 and 1 says let not your hearts be what troubled job just said you could you're going to have few days but they're going to be full of trouble but jesus comes back and said i know what job 14 and 1 say but john 14 and 1 says let not your heart be troubled don't let your heart be afraid dismayed if you believe in god jesus says believe also in me because in my father's house uh many mantras if it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you and if i go and prepare a place for you i'll come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there you may be also thomas said unto him lord we don't know where you're going and how can we know the way verse six jesus says i am the way the truth and i am the life no man comes to the father but by me troubles gonna come yes it's gonna come but jesus says when it comes don't don't don't let it get the best of you because you've got a belief in me regardless of the mess believe in the master he's going to work things out for you i put here on the handle of the first law of thermodynamics i'm not going to go into all of what thermodynamics is but let me tell you the first law of thermodynamics that when there is motion there is friction i need to get that over to you again because many of you think that you know because i'm i'm trying to achieve and i'm i'm trying to bring my goals to fruition that things ought to be easier than that no children of god the currency for progress is pain the currency for promotion sometimes it's feeling as if you are less than you have to understand that when there's motion there's friction i'll put it to you this way dogs don't chase parked cars don't chase parker they're they're chasing the cars that are moving and i want to let you know that the devil loves a moving target he he likes to see you moving but you have to realize one thing see he thinks that he likes to see you moving he likes to see you progressing but the good thing is that he has a slimmer chance of hitting the moving target see see you got a better chance of hitting you when you're standing still but but if you keep on moving as god is leading you you keep on moving as god is directing you that you're giving the devil of less of a chance to strike you because you're moving in the right direction and let's be clear a lot of times when we're facing things in our life they're not always the devil sometimes god puts these things in our life these hurdles in our life to strengthen us because he knows if it's if it's not going to kill us it's certainly going to make us stronger listen at the text again in nehemiah chapter 4 these particular people are building the wall and they've done such a tremendous job in the rebuilding of the wall they're halfway home but while they're halfway home their their their opposition got upset with them so much so that they had begin to join together to bring about their demise oh brothers and sisters don't you give up though don't you give in god still has something in store for you if you don't give up the fight brothers and sisters let's keep on looking at this particular story of nehemiah nehemiah chapter four let's return to it because in nehemiah chapter four we've read seven eight but now they may read nine to you because after they plotted and planned against nehemiah during this half time watch this what what did nehemiah says they've always plotted together to come and fight against us in jerusalem and stir up trouble against us verse 9 but we prayed to our god and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat don't you miss this i say all the time when they go low you supposed to what you're supposed to go high and i'm not just not talking about being nice to people even when they're not nice to you i'm saying you've got to go high and realize that you've got to take your particular concerns to a higher plane you've got to take them before the lord through the vehicle of prayer and not only did he pray but watch this prayer is important but i want you to see this as well in the text they prayed to god and they posted a guard day and night to meet this threat in other words they were saying look we're going to pray to god but we also going to keep some people some some guards at bay just in case they want to come over here where we are and because i like that because it lets us know that when you really pray to god when you really prayed to him that prayer shouldn't be your only recourse they prayed and there was some action with their prayer prayer is the preamble to action if you truly believe what you prayed for brothers and sisters you can act upon that particular prayer because i don't understand how many of us we pray for god to give us a job but we never fill out an application prayer ought to lead you to a particular action we pray that god would take us higher and deeper in him but as soon as trouble comes we want to fold our hands we want to retreat we want to surrender when god may be using that particular trial to bring about a deeper level of our faith whether james 1 2 says count it all joy when you fall in diverse temptations various trials knowing this that the trying of your faith works patience brings about perseverance you've got to act on the prayer that you have prayed matthew 7 and 7 we quote it a lot of times ask and it shall be given but it didn't stop there it goes on to the next action seek and ye shall find goes on to the next action knock and the door will be open don't just ask without giving an action that begins to correspond with that which you have asked god for so i say again to you my brothers i say again to to you my sisters that in this huddle we're in in this spiritual locker room that we're in and i know that the devil is bringing about opposition in your way but at the same time after we have prayed together you get up off your knees and you begin to walk in faith for that which you have already prayed for point two in this halftime you've got to watch for trouble not only on the outside of the locker room but watch for trouble even on the inside of the locker room what do you mean pastor i'm going to tell you just a minute let's read nehemiah 4 10 through 12. it says meanwhile the people in judah said the strength of the laborers is giving out and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall eleven also it gets worse our enemies said before they know it or see us we will be right there among them and will kill them and put it in to the work 12 keeps going then the jews who live near them came and told us 10 times over wherever you turn they will attack us let's unpack this for a minute now these are the children of god they have heard about the impending threats of attack by san bala tobiah the arabs the ammonites and the people of ashe in verse 7 right that's on the outside of the locker room but now when they come together during that time of half time together brothers and sisters the bible now says that the people of judah a part of the team they begin to speak up and say man hey hey nehemiah the strength of the laborers is given out we're we're overworked and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall ah you don't see the significance of this brothers and sisters judah out of all of the tribes that could say something it was judah that was known for rebuilding the people of israel it was judah who with the exception of king saul all the kings of israel had come from this one particular tribe judah judah was known as the tribe that you at least expect with any criticism but the text says out of all the other tribes it was judah the main one you think would be leading the the marshal will be leading the charge for the people are the main ones who are talking about these criticisms they said we the laborers have lost their strength and we can't we cannot do it for all this rubble for all this garbage here's my problem with this they said we cannot do it okay okay i hear you i hear you that's in verse 10 right they said we can't do it but in verse 9 then we just pray about it we just prayed about god helping us to rebuild this wall regardless of the possible attack of our enemies we just prayed about that we we've left that we we've been there done that it's all over with now we put it in the hands of the lord you would expect it to be over with because we've prayed about it we've dealt with it but in the very next verse the very next verse the same people that were praying with nehemiah is now praying against nehemiah oh i need to stop there a minute because you have to realize again that there are two types of praying p-r-a-y-i-n-g and p-r-e-y-i-n-g and you have to be very careful because the p-r-e-y-n-g usually does not come until after the p-r-a-y-i-n-g they are praying against this word and they use the excuse saying that we're overworked we're overworked there we know that's that's not true when you look at all that was going on that nehemiah was very skillful he was making sure people got everything that they need but they tried to bring about an excuse to stop this work at halftime and let me say this to you is that even in your halftime even as we're in this month of june and we know the particular goals and plans that we wanted to achieve by this year's end what happens brothers and sisters we prayed about it we've left it in the hands of the lord and we know that things are going to come to pass according to god's timing however after you have prayed about it don't be like the people of judah that after we have put it in god's hands we snatch it back out of god's hand because we're worrying about all the things that won't work brothers and sisters don't you be one of those people that put stuff in god's hand and then snatch it back out of his hand you know that the best hands for any situation to be in is in the hand of god because god can take an obstacle and make an opportunity he can take a burden and make it a blessing he can take tragedy and make it a triumph in his hand so don't snatch it back out of his hand if you pray to god about it leave it in his hand and don't worry about all the reasons why you can't do it look at what they said we cannot do it but remember brothers and sisters and to some degree i agree with their statement that we cannot because the truth of the matter is with the goals that many of us have we cannot do it in and of our own strength but remember faith is only as strong as the object to which you put it in and many of us are putting all of our faith in ourself to complete these particular goals i'm here to tell you you won't get it if you're depending on solely your intelligence your strength your might your power the bible says it's not by might oh my goodness it's not thy power but by my spirit saith the lord by his spirit not ours that particular goals are made manifest we cannot let me tell you something cannot cannot be in your vocabulary i'm gonna say it again you you miss it i know you let me say it again cannot cannot be in your vocabulary at this point of your halftime if you're going to make advances on the second half and turn this thing around for your good cannot cannot be in your vocabulary i look at what i say here on number one on the letter c can't is the culprit of completion can't is the culprit of completion listen if you're worrying and using all of your energy worrying about why you cannot do it you'll never achieve it it's time to take that same energy that you feel that you cannot do it and begin to say that you can do it success comes in cans failures come in cannots success comes in cans and i'm not talking about the the chili can i'm not talking about the green bean can no i'm saying success comes in cans by you saying that with the help of the lord you can achieve the goal you can make a difference you can in the year better than how you started the year but you can't say i can't do it because can't cannot be in your vocabulary philippians 4 13 you know it i i can't do all things to christ i can do all things through christ who strengthens me and strengthens me there that that verb in the greek there is in the perfect tense which means that he won't just strengthen me today he won't just strengthen me tomorrow but for all the days of my life he will strengthen me that's why brothers and sisters we sing that song the blood that jesus shared for me way back on calvary the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power because god energizes us with enough strength to make it through the day you have to be encouraged with that with that point that god's going to give you the strength that you need to make it through whatever you're experiencing at this moment i want to bless you i want to take you to another scripture that we know very well but i want to shed some light on something that became evident to me some years ago in the studying of this scripture go to isaiah 40 and 31 many of you already know that scripture by heart but i want to give you some fresh water from that old will to help you in the midst of your halftime isaiah 40 31 but they that what wait upon the lord here it is shall renew their strength shall renew that strength and then they shall mount up as wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint they shall he says that they the first thing you're going to do after after after you continue to trust in god renew your strength and say you're going to mount up on wings as eagles he'll help you to soar you'll run not be weary and help you to sprint then you'll walk and not think he'll help you to stroll you see that he'll help you to soar he'll help you to sprint and he'll help you to stroll and a lot of times a lot of people look at that as our lives going through the particular stages of life you're young you start off soaring right you get middle-aged you can't go as fast as you used to but but you gotta show enough good sprint on you but toward the twilight of your life you start strolling along that's a nice outline but the key to it go back but they that weight upon the lord shall renew their strength what does that mean renew their strength renew their strength i thought it meant for the longest that god when he says renew the strength that god was just going to make my strength new he was going to continue to replenish my strength when you look at this in the hebrew renew their means to exchange your strength for god's strength ah that's why after you wait upon the lord you can renew your strength that's why you can mount upon wings like eagles that's why you can run and not be weary that's why you can walk and not faint looking at your stages of life because you have gone to the exchange booth and realized that that hey i i can't my strength is not at the same level of jesus's strength at the same level of god's strength this is not reciprocity reciprocity is a mutual exchange that that means brothers and sisters that i'm giving you something you're giving me something and it's around the same value no no no no no when god gives you his strength it's not on the same page it's not on the same level it's not on the same wavelength this is the same strength that scoop out of the mountains this is the same strength that calms the raging sea and god gives you that same strength my question is have you gone to the exchange booth to ask god regardless of how herculean the task may seem have you asked god exchange lord my strength for your strength not only must you watch for trouble inside the locker room but lastly you got to keep your eye on the ball you got to do it let's go back to nehemiah 4 13. look at what nehemiah says he does after he hears all of these dissenting voices from people inside the locker room and then he talks about the people they even talk about people on the outside of the locker room the people of judah started first then verse 11 the enemies came back and said that they were going to put an end to the work then the jews had to say something who lived near them came and told them wherever you turn that they're going to attack you look what he does though verse 13. he said therefore i station some of the people wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute oh hold on he stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall before i go any further notice if you please that he doesn't even address all of these dissenting voices oh i feel so strong that i need to park right here a minute because some of us feel like that when people talk us down some of us feel like when people talk against what we're trying to do some of us feel like we have to always give a response somebody talking about what you're doing on facebook you you got to get all mad and silly with them on facebook saying stuff that no christian should even think to say to other people especially knowing that it's seen by unbelievers here you are acting like you're unsaved using all type of language cussing more than a sailor they putting you in facebook jail because of the stuff that you saying on facebook because you trying to prove to somebody else you got to realize at the end of the day you don't have to prove nothing to nobody god has already given you the clearance regardless of the naysayers you got to realize this comes at a part of the journey you're going to have opposition but don't let the opposition keep you from your objective i'll say it this way you can have objections but don't let it keep you away from your objective you don't have to always be the one to fight your own battles remember god said this battle is not yours it belongs to me and because of nehemiah chapter one nehemiah already knew god had already given him the clearance that this battle is mine so that's why in verse 14 he doesn't say anything to the people of judah he doesn't say any contrary word to the jews he doesn't say any contrary word to the enemies because they don't matter you got to get this in the locker room tonight you got to get this you got to before you come out of the locker room tonight you got to get this but you cannot spend unwanted time and attention trying to convince your naysayers and haters that you're doing god's work it's god's work let him deal with your with your negativity keep your eye on the ball ignore negative criticism i didn't say ignore criticism because we all need constructive criticism we're not perfect and god has put people in our life to steer us to become better in our areas of responsibility but i say this to you with gingerly as i can as your pastor accept constructive criticism but be very leery about receiving constructive criticism if a person haven't constructed anything listen listen i'm trying to tell you you you you if a person listen if you trying to get somewhere i can understand if this person has already been where you're trying to go and can give you some some tip bits on how you can get to where you need to go but if that person don't have anything if that person doesn't have some type of evidence to show that what they have done has worked be very very skeptical about accepting advice criticism especially from them but here's what i want to close tonight and we'll pick up the remainder of this this particular talk on next week but but i want you to see something in the lord just i mean just it just came out to be on the page and i want to leave on this note he says in verse 13 therefore i station some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall watch this at the exposed places positing them by families with their swords spears and bows okay let's paint the picture again the wall is halfway up they're halfway completed but but this verse reveals to me that although the wall is halfway completed that there was some areas on the wall that were not closed that was still open and we know it's true because let's go back when you look at verse seven where we started look at what it says that when symbolic tobiah the arabs and ammonites and the people of ashdod heard that the repairs to jerusalem wall had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed it lets us know now in verse 14 it completes the picture for us that as they were completing the gaps that all of the gaps all of the exposed areas in the wall have not been closed here here's where the lord whispered in my ear to you tonight because the new revised standard version says there were open places in the wall now the wall is supposed to provide protection but if they're open spaces if they're gaps in the wall it's leaving them vulnerable for attack it's putting all of their work is jeopardizing all of the work that they've done to get to this halfway point right because they have open spaces exposed exposed i like the exposed places where is the area where you have exposed places i know i know there are some great goals that you have in your life but but please please know that all of us in our walls have some exposed areas things are not closed tight like they need to be and by it being open and not tight like it needs to be it's leaving us vulnerable it's leaving those goals those dreams that we have vulnerable to the point where they could very well not be achieved or accomplished because of us leaving areas exposed i need to say this to you i don't mean to step on someone's toes but i don't want you to feel like pastor mack is talking to somebody else right now because because a lot of us we have the temptation that okay pastor's talking to somebody else right now no i'm talking to you i'm talking to the very person that feels like i'm talking to someone else because those individuals that feel like i'm talking to someone else feels like all that they have is all together and that there are no exposed areas but you are the main person i want to talk to because you're the most vulnerable to attack because you feel like you're impenetrable you feel like it can't happen to you and the very people that feel like it can't happen to them are the very ones to whom it happens to why because you don't put things in place to cover your exposed areas let me give you a slice of bible let's go first corinthians 10 first corinthians 10 and god knows this this has helped me first corinthians 10 because listen it can happen to you it can happen to you verse 12 of first corinthians 10 says so if you think you are standing firm be careful that you don't fall or like king james versus says take heed lest you fall in other words if you don't learn from the exposed areas of other folk and don't learn how that you need to make sure your wall is secure and you just make sure that your business is fixed if you don't do it you could be the very one you could be the next story that people are talking about you could be the next hashtag you could be the next statistic if you don't take heat take advantage of this time in the locker room because you can't here think about halftime you can't stay in the locker room forever you eventually have to come out of the locker room and if you're going to be victorious it's going to be because you took advantage of that which you learned in the locker room during the halftime listen here's some things i want you to think about i've given you a couple of acronyms i'm going to go through them quickly because these are the things i want you to think about as you are really contemplating what do i need to do in order to bring those goals those particular things that god has even laid on my heart to bring them into fruition the first acronym i have is ferpy this is this is a sociological construct that's used to talk about what sociologists call the five most important areas of your life the first one the f stands for family where are some exposed areas in your family what are some things you think you think i will and you even hear the lord speaking to you saying that you you need to tighten up in this area with your family but you think it's all good no the spirit is speaking to you saying you need to do some things to cover up to tighten up that particular area in your family e economics your money have you been looking at stocks lately have you been looking at your portfolio lately are you taking advantage of some opportunities right now are you tithing right now or do you have the curse of your on your finances right now because you have not you keep saying i'm on tithe i'm going to do it but but but you haven't done it yet are i'm gonna come back to our the p stands for politics politics and i'm just not saying politics in terms of you know you're running for office but politics in terms of do you know what you believe do you know why you believe do you know why it's important for this black lives matter movement do you know that they're trying still to cause more laws for our voter suppression are you up to date on all the things that's being done to suppress not only black people but people of color you got to stay sharp on these items as well the other e stands for education there there are and let me say this when i speak of education i'm just not talking about going to school all right because just because a person goes to school does not mean they're educated i've seen a lot of people go to school but they're not educated they they they haven't come to a point a position as my one of my professor says a real position of knowledge and brothers and sisters what are some areas that you need to educate yourself in where are some exposed areas in your life that you need to take an effort to listen anything you want to learn is right here take advantage of it okay i'm going forward swot analysis you've heard that before how we're going to move once the exposed area has been revealed how we're going to move to dealing with that area well some people use a squat analysis list all your strengths your weaknesses opportunities and threats and some say that the strengths and weaknesses that that deals with you what are your strengths what are your weaknesses but the opportunities and threats sometimes those are things on the outside what's what's threatening you what's threatening the opportunities that you have right now before you and then once you have identified that then you move to what they call the smart analysis when you look at you take that particular goal and say i want to improve my credit okay the specific goal is it measurable how can i measure that okay i should be able to do it through looking at my fico score okay a uh when i begin to do these things oh what i've got my specific specific what is measurable a accountable for me who who's who should i be accountable to to help me with these goals some people say accountable some say attainable is the goal that you have before you is it something that you can truly obtain are is it relevant is it real is it realistic and then t you've got to have a time table you got to have timetable you got to have timetable you got to have timetable you got to have a deadline because if you don't have a deadline it's going to end up dead you got you got to have a deadline somewhere to keep you on target real quick please be honest with yourself when you're filling in these gaps john 8 32 you should know the truth and the truth shall set you free don't lie to yourself because the unexamined life is not worth living to thine own self be true proverbs 12 and 15 tells us that only a fool would not take wise counsel some of us need to ask people that we really that's a part of well i said a part of our dream team what i mean by that is there ought to be some people in your life that god has placed in your life that have wisdom that you trust them to tell you the truth that sometimes they could see things about you that you can't even see about yourself it may be good to talk to someone other than just you about where you are at this stage of your life and then of course you need to talk to god he knows jeremiah 29 and 11 he knows the plans that he has for you plans to prosper you not to harm you to give you a hope and a future where if god knows why not ask the person that already knows what's going to happen ask him because he's already ordering your steps in his word this is our first session of being in this locker room we're going to return right back to this text because there are a lot of other things i need to reveal to you in verse 13 of the text that will serve as remedies to help us to take these particular goals that we have things that god has given us and bring them into fruition maybe a goal that you have tonight is being saved being blessed being a part of the church how can i do that pastor you've got to believe that one friday when skull-shaped healing the blood soaked crossed jesus died for your sin but he didn't stay there early sunday morning got up with all power in his hand you can join us virtually on tonight there's a pin there below at the bottom of the page if you're on facebook or in just a moment a particular number that you can text will be appearing on the screen however that particular knowledge is transferred take advantage of it become a part of this ministry that's striving to be what god would have us to be no we're not a perfect church but we're striving to go to higher heights deeper depths as we occupy our streets say pastor i'm saved already but i need a church home even in the virtual space we'd love to be your covering your place where you can continue to grow in the nurturing admonition of the lord won't you join with us tonight come on let's thank god for those that may join with us tonight we praise god for you we praise god for you church family don't forget as we're exiting tonight don't forget that our service times will go back to the original times this coming sunday 7 15 will remain as it is 9 15 and 11 15. i'm looking forward to seeing you uh your face on the in the place or even virtually visible or virtual however way you choose to do it we hope to see you and i'm and i look forward to seeing some of you i haven't seen your faces in a whole year and some change and so i'm looking forward to seeing you as well knowing that we're following every particular taking care of every particular covert 19 protocol that we can to ensure your safety yours and your families well friends have a good night we look forward to seeing you this sunday if not before and may the blessing of the lord be yours is our prayer have a good night you

Channel: Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church

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Id: _74T0m8Lw90

Length: 64min 5sec (3845 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 03 2021