Stand in the Gap

Welcome some church in our campuses around Raleigh-Durham area.

If you have a Bible and might you take it out right now and open it up to the book of second Chronicles 2nd Chronicles.

I was tempted to have them open the service by telling you to find the book of second Chronicles because I know some you might take about that long. It's on page 379 of my Bible that helps you out any given table of contents or is no shame at all.

In looking at that. If you don't have a Bible at any of our campus locations in the next steps area. You can pick one up for free.

We love to give you one I on an iPad with the Bible in its actual real Bible, but we would love to give you that is a gift of you will have one day I'll put them self-care of the screen as you are finding that there are number of you that have started to read the Bible through with us in the course of the year which will encourage by invite more you do that, we have one your Bible reading plan that's available.

The website if you're super cool. You were skinny jeans and you're on Twitter follow us in at read the Bible or do you if you want to do it that way.

But if you are doing that with us last Monday you read this from the prophet. He's equal time God says to Ezekiel, and I look for someone among them who would stand before me in the gap on behalf of the Lamb so that would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. So I will bring down on their own heads. All they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. Ezekiel wrote those words during a time when Israel was wandering pretty far from God. And so God is looking for someone some man or woman of faith that would stand between him and the people in the gap of faithlessness and disobedience and he would obey God righteously, and he would pray for the people he would believe God on behalf of the people had there been, even one.

He said one man or woman of faith, then he would not have destroyed the people, but there was no one, not even one in all of Israel will today you're going to look at the story this week and next week of someone from a different period of Israel's history who actually did stand in that gap and because of this man's faith and his radical all in obedience his people Israel. The southern kingdom of Israel, to be exact was preserved from the structure and experienced a great revival during his generation. This man's name was Hezekiah.

He lived 123 years before I'm Ezekiel wrote those words. So in a sense, you can think of him as his obedience, his faith, preserved Israel for about three generations. My encouragement. My hope for you today is that you were going to begin to see your selves as that man or woman one man one woman that's going to stand in the gap for your family for your group of friends for a college campus for us as a church as we stand in the gap for our city historian Thomas Carlisle famously said that that that societies are shaped by one great man a great woman that ends up doing something that decisively changes the trajectory the entire community is a lot of historians that kind of you know him, will they disagree. So I was so many factors that control you to the shaping of a society, but you can't get away from the fact that there are times when you obedience or the actions the bold actions of one person changes the directory of of a group like a family or community, and I want you to begin to think about where God has you as that man or that woman that is the fate instrument that connects God's generosity. What he wants to do with with their great need it say it because I was think about this.

Something about that scene in that great movie back to the future in the 1980s where member Dr. Emmett Brown at the moment that Michael J Fox is trying to drive his DeLorean. It 88 miles an hour so that he can get the lightning strike 1.21 Gen. Watsons go to strike at exactly January 27, 1955 at 1004-to strike the clock tower and on these got all set up so we can the flux capacitor with the energy that Michael J Fox need to get back to the future. The wire comes undone in the jumps up their number. This meeting cannot sit in them that you know it's everything. That's the same writer hung all the great movies are in the 1980s right so he come, he became that person that stood in the gap and connected that that's kind of an image that I think you need have in your mind as you think about Hezekiah because that's what he does and that's what you and I are supposed to do a little trivia before we get started here by the way, I'm just killing time for some of you to keep finding second Chronicles Hezekiah story Hezekiah story is the most often told story in the Old Testament it's holding kings of solar Chronicles is told in Isaiah which shows you that it was really formative and how Israel understood their history. This is like there. Go to story Jordan started second Chronicles 28 if you haven't found it by now just quietly kosher closure Bible and set it to the side.

No one will judge you and you will get it on the screen here Hezekiah was born into the southern kingdom of Israel, a time of great moral degradation. His father, Ahaz had been one of the worst most ungodly kings ever invite.

Here's how the author Chronicles summarizes Ahaz's reign. Verse 22 in his time of trouble. King Ahaz became even more and faithful to the Lord God sent him some mild trouble to try to wake him up and bring them back to God.

But rather than coming back to God. Ahaz just got worse. The offer sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him because he thought well for you know that they they helped him beat me then maybe if I get them on my team will help me to but they were his downfall. The downfall of all of Israel. But then chapter 20 verse 26 Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king. Chapter 29 verse one Hezekiah was only 25 years old when he became king. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Chapter 29 goes on to describe how Hezekiah not only got himself right with God, but ended up leaving Israel national awakening coming back to God. I want to break down this revival that's revival just means that awakening back to God. Known to break down this revival into five different steps to show you what an awakening in our city would look like to show you that we really are part of one right now and then show you how you can continue to foster this and we can see it going here is number one. Awakening happens when God's people, clean out the junk from their lives.

Awakening happens when God's people, clean out the junk from their lives. Verse three in the first month. Chapter 29 of the first year of his reign. Hezekiah reopen the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them during Ahaz's reign. They had closed up the temple to become like a junkie, so Hezekiah reopens the temple and brings in the priest and the Levite to be soliciting the Levites remove all the defilement from the sanctuary and many of them consecrate themselves with me to purify themselves and then purify the temple. Hezekiah started this revival listen with himself. Then with the Levites of the priest and then with the house of worship. Here is what you're supposed to get out of that revival always begins in the house of God always begins. We typically think that the problem is out there right, the media is to liberal Hollywood is to immoral.

Our politicians are idiots. College professors are too cynical, the Supreme Court has failed us again but God never looks.

Albert is the primary problem for why his spirit is not coming in bringing great awakening. It's us in here. It's what God's people in his community. It's the junk in their lives and their temple.

If you will. When we harbor secret sins, we have things in our heart and lives we know are right. We keep our community from the presence of God is listen to me there is nothing that grieves and drives out the presence of the Holy Spirit like Harvard unconfessed sin in the church God not surprised the world he knows what's going on Albert. He's not expecting them to be holy, but it is when God's people have secret sin in their lives. They extinguish the presence of the power the Holy Spirit, like water does to a flame.

Tim Keller said Pastor New York City says that when he reconnect with the college student grew up at their church has gone off to college and lost their faith. This is whenever I reconnect with them. The first question I asked them if you sleeping with this. It always had a stuttering and kind of splendor say what I got to do with anything you say it's got everything to do it.

It because the presence of God is imperceptible to you when you are in willful sin.

Sin extinguishes the presence of the Holy Spirit like water does to a flame. So God's awakening in the community always begins in the church. With God's people getting rid of the things that Greven dried out his spirit. One of the greatest revivals.

Every church history happened in Korea in the early 20th century before the North and South split in Korea.

Historians always trace the beginning of this revival back to a small prayer meeting with her were just a couple hundred believers present you the really only a couple hundred believers in all of Korea. At that point there was hardly any Christians there couple hundred believers were together and during the middle of this prayer meeting in prayer meeting that was supposed to last about an hour to hour and 1/2 for the church leaders Korea leaders. Mr. King stood up trembling and said, and in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper. He said to these believers I have something to confess.

I have for weeks harbored an intense hatred in my heart for Mr. Lee our friend in missionary. I confess before God and before you. I need forgiveness and I need to repent people that were there. So the room fell deathly silent. Did this man, and a shame-based culture to dismantle publicly admit to hating the host of the conference where every I turned to Mr. Lee to see how he would respond.

They say he was visibly taken back. He could not hide his surprise, but he quickly answered Mr. can I forgive you. They say what followed was a scene that they called a poignant sense of mental anguish due to the conviction of sin.

Church members one by one begin to confess their head and sends their junk to begin to weep over them to pray for forgiveness this meeting, which was scheduled for only about an hour and 1/2 stretched on until 5 AM the next morning that led to a massive outpouring of God's Spirit on that country listen to this and in one your 50,000 Koreans I come to faith in Christ and a country were bopping to this point, it only been a couple hundred of the local college campus there in Pyongyang 90% of its students came to faith in Christ. 90% today. Now that the nation is divided.

South Korea is one of the most thriving missionary sending hubs in the world and it goes back to God's people to go back to the Korea people changing figures back to God's people in Korea getting serious about the things that will grieve the Holy Spirit. I read a book on revivals recently that said that true revivalism is true revival is not noisy wickedly things noisy people saying in a dance around a lot and shall not revival true revival it says is never noisy, at least not at first. He usually begins in a hushed all people weep over there send before they shout with joy. I am personally tired of people who sing loudly and smiled broadly and scribbled on lots of notes in church when they harbor secret sin, which really something to grieve the presence of God because not excited about your enthusiasm on Sunday. What he's looking for is your consistency, your holiness of life. Some church. I think this behooves us to ask the question, listen to this. One of the reasons God spirit was not pouring more out of our community and your family would've had nothing to do with their unbelief and had to do with your sin. I'm talking about is being a center because on them and we all continued trouble send the things that you know are wrong that you just refuse to deal with one of the times I think I experiences most was told you part of the store before when I was in college it was, in fact, I didn't know the story from Korea but it's eerie how similar my experience was to back we were others. A group of us is about 8080 of us to work, going to Bible study Bible study/prayer meeting and a friend of mine was speaking that night and got up and he did a 2025 minute talk on how sin grieves God it wasn't like it was a great oratory didn't know what a great story to discuss ramble that out. Many get to be any says anybody here have something to say why believe the Bible study and they can get this it was really awkward and just come up there without there and I was like, this is where I counted to Mississippi and into Mississippi.

I get up in a closing prayer so you start at nine Mississippi there's a kid stands up in the back until years eerie how similar it is. I could see him trembling is one of our worship leaders stood up and he said it's me is of the Holy Spirit says it's me.

He says I just need you to know that there are a lot of you.

I don't know when you were four but II hate different ones of you with this will have a mild heart. He said I have have slandered you talk bad about you reset it all goes back to jealousy. I think it's in my heart and he says I need forgiveness and people pray for him and it's hard to describe what happened next but it was like whatever's the spirit was doing to him, and suddenly grabbed a hold of my heart. And God revealed to me is like you know what your pride. That's when the reasons are not working because you're as concerned as you know what you're going about you is what they think about me. You're more worried about your name get made on this campus than mine, and God resists the proud, when you save thy kingdom come, what you mean is, my kingdom, and I stood up and I said all think it's me, because I confess that people pray for me. What followed was a prayer meeting/Bible study. It was supposed to last an hour that went on about 3 AM.

There were students who said I got pornography back in my dorm room that I've got to get rid of people begin to confess and they got serious about the junk in their lives and that led to an outpouring the spirit of our campus that resulted in hundreds of college students.

Again, the price of the course the next couple years. It never starts out very all extortion here. Here's my question. What is it you for the reason God not working in your children has to do with your sin.

What if it has to do in our community, with the fact that you and I are not serious about the things agreed to Holy Spirit she would have.

We could probably just stop there, but I had few other things to say but I want so much what I go by. What's the Holy Spirit say that's you, I would imagine are people here that are in adultery. I would imagine are people here that you talk about other people there. Pornography habits that have never been dealt with. There's all kinds of things a God says you know what the reason is not Raleigh-Durham's wickedness is not the college professors and all cynical they are is not politics you move it was. Keep going for 25 chapter 29 Hezekiah admin begins to reorganize the temple and the phrase it keeps getting use in these next verses you'll see in the way prescribed by David December 25 minute says what was eatable was commanded by the Lord in terms of their worship. King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord to the phrase with the words of David the Psalms in Asaph is another psalmist what's happening there was in this Hezekiah is reestablishing Scripture as the center of their lives in worship, rather than as number two. Awakening happens when churches re-center themselves on Scripture to set ourselves on Scripture.

The Bible lesson is the churches life. Without it we die. I hope you notice how seriously we try to take the Bible here in my sermons built the largest timeslot we give to anybody during our service is for whomever stands up here and opened up the Bible and hope you noticed that our custom is to teach the text of Scripture you want to know why it's not because I can't think of enough stuff to say on Sunday morning.

I got give different ones of us gives you one. I guess you brought me a beautiful press about my golf for hours about the subject of your choice is not I can think of and of the substations that I noticed that whenever pastors don't discipline themselves work detection Scripture. They don't talk about the same seven or eight things all the time and I thought you probably need to hear from more than my seven rate personal sticks, so I'm a let God decide what you should learn and so I'm going to work my way to the Bible because that's God's will to you and what you need in the week. It is not leadership lesson from uncle JD. What you need are the words of Scripture. Thank you, thank you for not wanting leaders. It wasn't from uncle JD that's going to put a lot of money and what that you need what God's word has to say because it's your life and I don't want to bring you here and entertain you. I want to open up the words of life to you. We try to make center Scripture the center of the songs that we sing like they did.

We try to use the words of Scripture as we sing a lot of her songs are essentially just quotations and paraphrases of Scripture. That is why, in our worship service, we will stop in worship and reflect on Scripture you want to know why we do that because the most important thing you need in worship is to be reminded of the promises of Scripture and have God to be revealed to you, you will be sitting here just come in and explore your feelings. You need to see God in your feelings will follow.

Getting a pet peeve of mine is that the relatively little do its own thing to be blasé with my pet peeves is when I'm somewhere in worship leader walks out of state and the first thing out of his or her mouth is feeling feel-good all right and was praise the Lord, how do I feel I feel spiritually cold. I feel simple I sometimes I feel lost. Sometimes I don't know if God exists, I'm thinking right now the got a copy of a traffic and am about the beauty in the promises of God.

So I do not want to start my worship with how I feel. What I need in this moment is to be reminded of who God is, because worship is a rhythm of revelation in response, God reveals himself first. We respond to what he has revealed.

So when we come in here. We don't try to start with. How do you feel and insert sing and Barry Manilow or John legend love songs written to Jesus and repeating the words of thousand times until you work yourself up into a lilting stupor and then somehow feel affectionate toward God.

We do start with the revelation of God and then we respond back to the beauty of who he is and by the way, one ways you know that you actually seen God and ours and his promises. If you start worship by David.

So they worked with joy and gladness men would have their hands in their pockets and the board look on their face there there there see God not because worship leaders up there with a crazy electric guitar with anybody emotion. It is happens when you see God you'll need a charismatic worship leader up here trying to play on your emotions. It just comes out and if you're not worshiping with joy, gladness because you're not seeing that you are on the throne of God right now will all be angels that are seen God's face. I promise you there is not one of them with his hands in his pockets and a coffee cup in his hand on the board look on his face what's on the surface through and so what's happening is that I promise you there is not an angel in heaven right now that is around the throne of God would afford look on his face in his hands in his pocket and a coffee cup and is and one went on the surface going to get out.

I because when you see God you respond. So it's a rhythm of revelation response in our prayers. I hope you see that we try to base even our prayers on Scripture. Why Scripture teaches us how to pray.

I told you that basically affected prayers is figuring out what God wants and asking them for. That's why prayers that are heard by heaven. They start from heaven you get up in the Bible say the same table 7 is my time with God. This week there was a David is telling God he wants to build him. It's a house and got this today, but I want you to do that. And God make some promises to David to build you a house. §727 I never seen this before. David says solicitors by your promise, your servant has found the courage to pray literally in Hebrew, what it says is by God's promise, he found the heart to break God's word gave him the desire it gave him the drive and he gave him the direction to pray you want to know how to stitch your prayers heard by heaven. You start with what heaven reveals to you because prayers are based in Scripture verses starting heaven or by heaven, Scripture is the life of the church so we put it everywhere. It's in our small groups in her sermons. It's written on our walls.

If you remove the centrality of Scripture from the church. We die no matter how entertaining your speaker, no matter how good your music you remove the centrality of Scripture from your life, your marriage, your family, your job, and it will die to you are to cling to Scripture's favorite its depths saturate yourself in it so that everything that comes out of your mind and your heart is Scripture proverb says as a man thinks in his heart so is he. You want to become somebody that God pours his spirit into then you let your mind and your heart be captivated by Scripture combat number three awakening happens when Christians re-center themselves on the gospel.

Awakening happens when Christians re-center themselves in the gospel same grotto 30 gives you a pretty linking description of how Hezekiah reinstituted the Passover feast, managing time to read the chapter, but the Passover was basically the celebration where they commemorated when God had delivered them from Egypt. God said he was going to kill the firstborn in every household. We told the Israelites to take the blood of the Lamb and they put on the doorpost that when the death Angel saw the blood he would pass over them its regular Passover from what in the New Testament, Jesus uses this as the picture of what he was doing the cross that when he died for us. The curse of death that was coming up on our house, our lives that when God sold the blood of Jesus on the doorpost of our heart that God would pass over its when Hezekiah comes into power, they haven't celebrated this feast in years. It's completely out of the consciousness of the mind of the Israelites.

So what is Hezekiah do he puts it back into their consciousness. Listen, because awakening occurs when you re-get reacquainted with the power, the beauty of the gospel in your life if you go back and study Israel's times of spiritual decline when they fell away from God to do it sometime find this phrase repeated over and over and over again Israel forgot what God had done. Israel forgot his mighty works in the past. So how God brings them back is not by teaching them new stuff but simply reminding them of their great salvation. The same is true for us.

Second Peter 19 Peter says that when we grow cold spiritually. Second Peter 19 it's because you have forgotten that you were cleansed from your first sentence forgotten that mean that you'll know that it happened.

This is not real to you. It's not fresh to you, Jonathan Evers described it like no, we actually about sweetness, but never having tasted it when suddenly sweetness like honey is put on your tong you didn't learn factually anything new to suddenly burst alive in your mouth.

He said that's what it's like to reawaken the gospel. It's not new things you learned suddenly become very intimately aware of how great a salvation you have listened for you to experience personal awakening. You don't usually need some new precept, you need to become more intimate with how great a salvation God is giving you and Jesus are you cold spiritually. Then ask God to you because we don't go to learn about the new Bible facts and that's great but it's not you figured out whether or not Kirkham is right. You left behind. It's in no way can you spiritually.

What's in a way, can you spiritually is when you plumb the depths of behold what manner of love the father is bestowed on us that we could be called the children of God is not new information that that's what we say the gospel like a well if you want the best water well.

You don't go wider you go deeper. You want the best awakening spiritually. It's not new things need to learn it's asking God to open your eyes to the how great and rich a treasure you possess in Jesus Christ journalism. If I have one goal in my preaching one. It is to help you behold each week. The wonder of the gospel.

I don't you leave and just for the page 4 notes now love you take notes and encourage all the time there's a notetaking gate in heaven. I'm pretty sure that will get you is like a fast pass line at Disney World able to get you in quicker so I would encourage his children have with your notebooks full, but I don't. You distantly hear the bunch of notes I want you to leave with action steps about ways you gotta change the goal of a motivational speech is that you lead with action steps the global lecture is that you leave for the page 4 notes the goal gospel message is that you leave worshiping because when your heart is full of the love of God you'll figure out the action steps on your own and then you'll study the Scriptures and you got notes that are coming out your ears. You want to the dimension of this before I go on the number four this really important verse 17, chapter 30 it says that there are many people who showed up who didn't have their own Passover lamb, so Hezekiah told the priest to kill the Passover lamb for each person that came about one what's listen call me on which you confuse what significant listen is that the sacrifice has to be applied individually to everybody now that's a ceremony so the priest could do it for the people who didn't bring one. I listen I cannot apply the sacrifice of Jesus to you, but the point is the same. The sacrifice pass to be individually applied and there are many of you listen were listening to me right now you been caught up in the movement but you never actually made the decision that happens all the time where you come you can't get into it. You learn the songs us are going to small group leaders, going along, but you never actually made a decision to personally trust Christ and my fear is that many of you were to show up never having trusted Jesus as your own. There is no salvation by association with the right group to choose yourself to trust Jesus.

Have you ever done that right and at night I'm reading my kids would be up but were in Pilgrim's progress before they go to bed as a kids version of it called dangerous journey and so in the story get the cunning Christian is leaving the city of destruction to go to the celestial city, which represent seven and along the way he he comes to faith in Christ. And so I get apartment which is like the certificate of his salvation, and so as you go as long as you getting close to having another guy joins him and Kristin asks him where his parchment is because of God's not important. I never in would bother with that as a Christian asking about a two or three times in the got boredom all it's a Christian quit asking them but they go to the whole rest of the journey together side-by-side. They come out to the gates of heaven.

And then John Bunyan, the author says that the Angels, the strong ones come out and asked for the parchment and Kristin has his this other guy does and has his Bunyan said that angels take this one, and they throw him in the outer darkness and what Bunyan was trying to say.

Listen, is that there's a lot of people in a church like this one who were making the journey with us, but they make the mistake of thinking that it salvation by association with the right group. Do you know that you have trusted Christ personally and received the sacrifice for yourself. You know I'm not real big on value. Gotta have a day another day in the hour you have a card in your Bible summa Billy Graham with the tear stains of your grandmother on it that signifies the second but you trust him out like that. But I do know that you ought to know that there was a time when you personally receive Christ as your Savior. Do you know that that is happened because the salvation sacrifice has to be individually applied.

Don't make the mistake God has no grandchildren, just children. Number four. Awakening happens when God's people devote themselves to intercessory prayer throughout these chapters, we find Hezekiah praying for the people.

So, for example, chapter 30, verse 18. Hezekiah prays for them. Verse 20 the Lord heard Hezekiah and heal the people. Verse 27 the priest of the Levites stood to pray for the people and their prayer reached heaven awakening happens when God's people devote themselves to prayer. The measure of the awakening is not given. According to the talent of the preacher.

It's not given according to the resources of the church. The quality of the worship bands. They did the amount of books, the amount of commercials.

It is solely based on how people pray Jonathan Edwards to lead in the first great awakening in this country. The largest revive our country's ever seen said that the primary characteristic of the great awakening was not great preaching.

It was extraordinary prayer. There is no awakening. He set apart from prayer and that he said I would go so far as to say that prayer does not bring the awakening prayer is the awakening a missionary to China worked in China during the great revivals thereby the way churchgoing doctor in China than any place in any time in history. He said this was on this. I used to think the prayer should have first place in teaching the second I now feel it would be truer to give prayer the first place. The second place and third place in teaching the fourth when I read that I thought about what I point out you got the book of acts that in the book of acts you find Jesus go up to heaven, and the disciples go up into a room and for 10 days. They devote themselves to prayer 10 days. Peter stands up and asked to preachers for 10 minutes and 3000 people get saved number. I point out to you. We pray for 10 minutes. I preach for what feels like 10 days and three people get saved is because we are zeros in the wrong place. God gives awakening. According to the measure of how we pray. Here is the question you pray daily for our church to pray daily for our city. Do you pray daily for your own kids.

It is inconceivable that you would say you want the power of God and don't pray and plead with God because he doesn't give it according to the measure of your parenting because according to the measure of your prayer or is not aware of asked you when you do pray if God were to answer all your prayers that you played in the last week at 1 o'clock today exactly will say, 5 o'clock since her Blue Ridge campuses meeting at five.

Listen to got answered all your prayers for the previous week at 5 o'clock today, he knew people would be in the kingdom of 505, your food might be blessed.

You have traveling mercies coming to be will be in the kingdom when God says he's going to bring awakening. He raises up people to pray summa church. We have a chance to apply this this Friday to do a massive altogether. Prayer and worship night at the Berkeley campus. If I were to do our best to re-create this chapter that I was reading this and I found whichever twin number 30 of the let's get picture to overnight. They sing praises with gladness you have or acquire here and they make us glad you have a great worship teams or to make us glad they bow down and worship. This is not a time of their hands in their pockets with joy and gladness got hurt and for the prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place is not a casual time of casual prayers its prayers and engage the presence of God go I think you're probably her best event of the year. If this is your church. You need to be there so we can seek the presence of God together. Why because that's how God gives awakening about city I get a little discouraged.

We do an event like Christmas in the back which will do again this year. We have 12,000 people show up in your prayer meeting and about 400 show up. I was wrong in our church that will have 12,000 dropper entertainment and 400 show up to pray.

You know what separates our community from the power of God is not more money to do things ID package more people that notice he got a break you get a chance to apply this Friday and I think you should be there. Number five. Awakening happens when God's people give extravagantly. Awakening happens when God's people give extravagantly. Chapter 31 the Israelites generously gave the first fruits of their grain. They brought a great amount of time 10% of everything and I piled in heaps of the were heaps you use were heaps enough times repeated what Hezekiah and officials came as all heaps. They praise the Lord bless the people Israel. Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about heaps of heat users ask about it and as Red Sea pre-Sidwell people begin to bring the contributions of the temple. Since then, we had enough to even play the spirit of the Lord is bless his people in this great heat is left over Hezekiah letter offering and the people were so grateful for what they seen God do in their midst that they poured out so much that not only was there enough to meet the immediate ministry needs.

There were heaps left over summa church are you grateful for what we sing God do here in the last two years. Are you grateful for the 1400 that we sing bad ties. I have a twitter message this week from somebody who said you said 1400 people back to sleep because once you know that my wife was one of the 1400 and I'm immensely grateful. Are you grateful for the 2000 members that we have added in the last two years at this church.

Are you grateful for the individual stories of deliverance and salvation and forgiveness and restoration that we've heard that's represented in the 1400 baptism that we had in the last two years you grateful for how God is working your family and your kids and your kids friends are you grateful for how we seen him do miracles on college campuses.

Are you grateful for incredible ways. We sing God work as we approach the end of this year. We still got some big things in front of us.

We want to do so that we can reach more people. I give you a glimpse of a few of them. Lastly, we had to get the Blue Ridge Was renovated and up and running on Sunday morning we been beaten in a like a fellowship on Sunday afternoon were about to move it to Sunday morning in January and we got a renovate that so we can take our seating capacity.

Were there multiplied by four we gotta do that we gotta get some of her mobile campuses transition from part from mobile once to permanent ones. We got identify want our next campus or two. Most likely another one and carry them and and a couple of places that were looking at. So I want to challenge you summa church. The two things you see them do here in Hezekiah and I the Hezekiah lead to not listen.

Your guests are. You're not a Christian or you're not part of the church. I'm not talking you right now.

Okay I'm talking to him summa church people summa church. I want to challenge you if you made a commitment all in one challenge you to finish strong.

You made a commitment. A year ago, two years ago you made it by faith, the faith you showed to make the commitment. I want you to exercise that faith and finishing it.

Second, I want to challenge many of you to consider a really large sacrificial gift here as we get to the end of this year. There are things we want to do things reach people like renovating and opening new campuses to take us keeping up resources that God is going to use in his work, so I want you to ask the Holy Spirit if there is a particular sacrifice.

He wants you to make and gratefulness for what you seen God do and you to help continue this awakening in our city. Something special that you say God is this what you want me to give an end of year bonus and assess stock saving the car, a house about which you feel like God might be saying keep that up invest that in my kingdom so you can extend this awakening to your neighbors last week I told you that Veronica and I two years ago. Set an audacious giving goal that we never thought we would be able to reach if I forgot to put down what I have no idea how we would get there, but we put it down by faith in. I was ready to come in a bail on and a good excuse but last week I told you that God put his finger on May part of our savings account that we were saving for something legitimate. Anyone like that you select a.collection. I want to start one day and it's it's a legitimate thing that were saving for what he felt like the Holy Spirit, said to us what better thing would you want to see. With that in the sea that extend the blessing in Raleigh-Durham that you yeah bless your family this church.

I bless you one offer this and gratefulness and say God which you just multiply this and extend this joy into our community. Not only will you be able to meet that audacious goal that we set two years ago working exceeded by about $10,000 summit. Listen we got a pile up in a heap, like Isaiah how I Hezekiah have been dues.

We have not only enough for what we need to do.

We have heaps to spare for the next thing God puts in front of us so that we bring to do is were ready one last little thing that I'll point out here may want to have things was… Part the entire assembly of Judah rejoiced on the priest wishes phrase including the foreigners. Their generosity not only restore the temple their generosity. Bless their neighbors that bless foreigners belong to Israel. I am continually moved at this church to hear how you care for one another and how you care for members in our community that don't belong to this church. Julius's testimony last week on video that we watch is a great example. So my mistress gave him a car. I somehow think you count offering this is you loving people that are beside you in a letter this week from a guy in a prison ministry will read to you. The guy basically says this he says about a year and 1/2 ago was spamming from the summa church essentially adopted me.

The prison is his deal where as prisoners come to the end of their sentence, they can start to get really integrated in society and allow families to take some of these guys in and work with them.

So this is this family basically adopted me is that I cannot describe the impact his family in your churches had on me is that I thought God had forsaken me, and I thought that nobody want to meet with this family show me that I was loved by God, and I was important to the people of God is a valid and leaving the cries for these and here I am on the even when I'm going to be released.

He says in the first thing I'm going to do when I get out is I'm going to join the summa church. He said, and I'm going to leave my family to adopt and love another prisoner so that him and his family can experience the same love is a message that I've experienced the people of your church that is that is a foreigner to let me use the analogy who's been blessed by that that is then himself becoming a blessing to others summa church we stand in the gap.

Awakening will not happen when the people out there get better as can happen when we devote ourselves to these five things and I look for someone among them who would stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I wouldn't have to destroy it, but I found no one. So I will bring down on their own heads. All they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. He still looking for somebody that stands in the gap to the will of most read this passage, the ultimate one who would stand in the gap between God and us was Jesus. He rendered perfect obedience to the father he pray for us. All five of those things.

He gave himself as a sacrifice, listen, and God brought down on his head. The punishment for our disobedience, as are those of us who were saved because of his sacrifice was about to say because he stood in the gap for us to the longer live for ourselves that we should live for the glory of him who died for us. We should live.

For those that he died for them to get to know him as he stood in the gap for us to stand in the gap for others as he pray for us. We should pray for others. As he gave his life as a sacrifice for us to leverage our resources in our lives to help others stand in the gap for them so that they can come to know the joy that we have come to know the standard after you use 85 things and you make them seriously begin to stand again for others want to bow your heads. If you would get all of our campuses. I know that there are a lot of things that the Holy Spirit may have lodged or registered in your heart, all of our campuses write our teams really begin the calm that can again distribute the elements of the Lord's table.

If you're a believer, I want to take the bread of the Coppin. This signifies Jesus stand in the gap for you as you hold it in your hands. Don't take it yeah but enjoy your hands. I want you to think about the Holy Spirit may have said to you. As I spoke, you have unconfessed sin was the Holy Spirit put his finger on in your heart, what attitude what habit. What thing are you doing that grieves the spirit choosing to confess, we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You centered your family on Scripture or maybe need to resolve to do that. Are you a person of prayer.

Maybe you should resolve to begin to have a daily prayer time for you. Pray for others is a sacrificial gift is leading you make in response.

I let the Holy Spirit does have his way with you in this moment about this one you ever personally received Christ you have your personally received Christ if you're not a believer if you will know if you received Christ. Don't take the bread and the cop it's not for you that's for believers, but don't think I'm being exclusive and giving you out when I say that because what's offered to you is something greater than the symbol was offered. He was Jesus himself. So as others around you take the bread and the cop symbolizing how they receive Jesus in the past want you right now for the first time. Trust Jesus as your Savior, Jesus, you are the Lord, I surrender to you, Jesus. I believe he died for me. I receive that gift is my you that right now.

Open your heart and receive him to leave you here with their heads bowed holding these elements, horse, endangerment, or different campuses in there to lead us to leave this right now as they sing a song over you. You hold these elements as a single blood of Jesus over you. What you just said to meditate with the Holy Spirit have his way, and then our campus pastors will come out no, we do the taking of these elements