True Grit | Week 2 | Full Service

By a show of hands, how many of you have ever heard of a guy named Walt Disney?

Alright. About 20% of you raised your hand. That means the other 80%, I can do math, are lying in church. Alright? Let's try that one more time. How many of you have heard of the name Walt Disney? Here we go. Yeah. Who who you might not have heard of, it is his daughter,

Diane Disney. And what I find so fascinating about Diane Disney is she talks about what it was like growing up with Walt Disney as a father. Can you imagine? Walt Disney being your dad. I don't care how good of a parent you are. Your kid would trade you in for two seconds for Walt Disney as his parent.

What I find so interesting about her story is she did not realize he was Walt Disney until she was about eight years old. She tells a story that she went to school for the first day and they do roll call. And the teacher says, is Diane Disney here? She stands up, she raises her hand and says, I'm here.

And the classmates start laughing and chuckling because they recognize the last name. But she thinks they're laughing at her and she doesn't understand what's going on. So the teacher says, Your name is Diane Disney? She's like, Yeah, that's my name. And again,

the kids are laughing, they're chuckling. And the teacher says, What's your dad's name? And she says, Walter.

And at this, the kids in the class erupt. They're giving each other high fives. I'm thinking they're getting tickets to Disneyland for life. Like I don't know what they're thinking, but they're so excited that she's in the room. She thinks again they're laughing at her, so she sits down because she's so insecure about what's going on and then the teacher quiets everyone and says,

your dad is Walt Disney? And she says, yeah. That's what I'm telling you. And the teacher says like, like Walt Disney. Like Mickey Mouse is your cousin, Walt Disney. Pluto's your nephew, Walt Disney. She had no idea. She talks about on her way home from school she had some words she wanted to say to her dad.

She walks into the house, she sees him on the couch reading the newspaper and as any eight year old girl can, she storms up to him. She grabs the newspaper, rips it out of his hand and says, you didn't tell me you were Walt Disney.

And storms away. And then she returns with a pen and paper to get his autograph.

Why? Because she thought her father was just an ordinary man. And the moment she realized who he actually was,

changed everything. She writes how this moment changed her life forever. She didn't have more access to a powerful man, she just realized whose presence she was in. And this is my prayer for you today, that you will understand who your heavenly Father really is. Because if we're gonna be people of character,

it starts by first understanding who our God actually is. And that is how we can have the courage to live a life of character. For taking notes, what we're gonna unpack in our time together is this. Character is living like God is who he says he is. Godly character is living like God is who he says that he is.

Because if God is who he says that he is, if what this book says about God is true, why do we live in fear? If what this book says about God is true, if God is who he really says that he is, why would we live our life trying to control everything around us rather than surrendering? If God is who he actually claims to be,

why don't I trust him with decisions in my life, in my own life? I'm a pastor. I get paid to be a Christian. But yet, there are times where I have a hard time trusting God. There are times of fear. There are times of control instead of releasing. In those moments, it's because I have forgotten who God really is in my life.

I have forgotten who our heavenly Father really is and what that means about me because I'm his child. This is the direct tension that Nehemiah is facing in Nehemiah chapter two. Because God has asked him to do something significant. He has a choice to make. Am I gonna believe who my God actually is or not?

See, Nehemiah is in a palace. He is the cup bearer to the king. Now cup bearer was a really good job until the one day it's not. Are you with me? But until that day happens or if that day happens, it's a very good gig because he, as the cup bearer, he has influence, he has access to the king, He has financial wealth.

He has a very comfortable life as a cup bearer. And while Nehemiah is comfortable in his life,

something is burning. Nehemiah's in a comfortable state, but God's city, God's people are burning a 100 miles away. And Nehemiah receives the news of what's happening back home. And I believe he wasn't getting this information simply to inform him. I believe God wanted to not inform him but he wanted to interrupt him.

God wasn't simply there to inform him. God wanted to interrupt his comfortable life. And Nehemiah had a choice. Is he gonna believe who God is or stay comfortable? And godly character chooses to walk out of comfort into what God has for us. And Nehemiah chapter two,

it says, he's writing this, he writes in first person, he says, earlier the following spring in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was serving the king his wine. Pause. This is important to understand what's happening here because last chapter

we saw it was a different month. It was the month of Kislon, which is four months apart here. So for the past four months, he has been praying to God, yet nothing has changed. For four months, Nehemiah's been praying to God, and the city's still on fire. For four months, he's praying to God, and his circumstances

haven't changed. I don't know about you, but in my life this is where I can get frustrated with God. Because I pray for change, but nothing is actually changing. I pray, God, why won't you fix this? I look at it and go, God,

what's your problem? You know there's an issue. Why won't you fix it? We can pray for months and months and not see any results. That's where Nehemiah is at. He's praying for four months and nothing is changing, but I believe in those four months everything's changing.

His circumstances aren't changing, but I believe Nehemiah is changing. I believe in these four months God needed to do something in Nehemiah before he used Nehemiah. This is how God will often work in your life and in my life. God doesn't just want your hands, he wants your heart. He wants to change who you are,

not just what you do. For four months Nehemiah's reaching out to God. For four months Nehemiah is praying. I believe he's beginning to change. So much so, he's able to go into the king's presence. In verse two, he said, I had never appeared sad in his presence. That's a big deal. We're gonna see why in a second.

So the king asked me, why are you looking so sad? You don't look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled. Then I was terrified. Then I was terrified. Here's why Nehemiah is terrified, and he had every right to be terrified. This was a brutal king. You can look him up. We have a lot of information about King Artaxerxes.

He was a brutal king. He became king by killing his own brother. Right? Your family has conflict. It ain't nothing like that. Like, that is brutal. He was a king that showed no grace, no mercy, no love, and did whatever he wanted. The reason why it said that, hey,

face was sad and why the king noticed is because in that day and age it was illegal, illegal to be sad in front of the king.

You were not allowed to be sad in front of the king. He didn't want your bad vibes in his area. So if you were sad, he would often behead people who would come into his presence sad. This is why you see some ancient writings and you see a king sitting on on on a throne and you see the people covering their face.

The reason why you'll see this in ancient writing is because they're so afraid the king is gonna think they're sad, they don't want the king to see their face just in case the king's like, hey, you're bumming me out. I'm taking your head. So the fact that Nehemiah walks in and the king notices something's wrong

and says, what's wrong? And Nehemiah is terrified to say what he's about to say. And he had every reason to. But here's why this is so relevant to you and I today. The things God is gonna ask you to do are going to be terrifying. The things God is gonna ask you to step into, the conversations

God's gonna ask you to do are going to be terrifying. God is going to call us out of our comfortable position and to do something that is terrifying. Godly character doesn't mean you're not afraid. Godly character often is going to take courage. You cannot have courage without being afraid. Nehemiah is terrified.

I think the next three words are the most important words in the entire book of Nehemiah.

Then I was terrified. Look at these three words. But I replied. That's character. But I replied. That's true grit. Character is not letting fear get in the way of the decisions that you're making. That's what it means to be a man or a woman of character. That when you're afraid, you do it anyways. When you don't want to,

you do it anyways. Why? Because we believe who God is. We believe God is who he says that he is and if that's true, then we're gonna do what he asked us to do. And Nehemiah was terrified, but I replied. And look what he says to the king. It's pretty bold. Long live the king.

That's our modern version's like, all due respect, right? Long live the king. How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins and the gates have been destroyed by fire. This is remarkable what Nehemiah's doing. His character is unbelievable in this sentence. The reason why Israel, the reason why

Jerusalem, the reason why the gates are on fire is because of this king. In the book of Esther, this king said, you are not allowed to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. A city without walls is a broken city. Anyone can come in and steal whatever they want.

And the king said, you can build the temple, you cannot rebuild the walls. So here is what Nehemiah's saying. Long live the king. Because of what you did, my people are burning. That's bold to say to a king who'll cut your head off if you frown at him. Are you with me? That is a bold statement to say. Next verse.

But the king said, off with his head. Sorry, wrong translation. The king asked, well, how can I help you? Kings don't usually ask for things. Kings demand things.

I don't know if Nehemiah is shocked by this, but when I read it, I'm shocked by it. Because a king like this, they don't ask for things, they demand things. And the king says, All right, how can I help? If I'm Nehemiah, I don't know if this is a joke.

I thought I'd be dead by now. I didn't even have a plan to get this far, but hey, I'm gonna go for it. Because it says, With the prayer to God in heaven, that's not a, I'm gonna run away for six months and pray and come back. That's a, oh, we have a pop quiz today in school, God help me, right? It's that kind of prayer.

With a prayer to God in heaven, I replied, if it pleases the king and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me. Send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried. Here's what he doesn't say. King, send them. I got a list of volunteers who are willing to go.

Which he could have done. He had that influence. No, what'd he say? He said, send me.

God wants me to do something about this. So often in my life, I see something that's broken, whether that's a behavior, whether that's something in our world, and I say, Man, someone should do something about that. Often in my life I go, But not me. Someone should fix that. It's just not gonna be me because I'm too comfortable

in where I'm at. Have you ever prayed, God change my spouse

while we're not willing to change? Do have something at work in your company that you're like, man, that feels a little unethical, but it's easier for me to stay where I am than to actually address it? And I want someone else to fix the problem, but not me. Godly character says, I think it's me. Godly character says,

I'm gonna be the one to fix this. And Nehemiah goes to the king and says, send me. And he's terrified to have this conversation. Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, How many know that's a good move by Nehemiah? If I'm gonna go ask dad for something, I'm gonna make sure mom is right there.

Because dad's got the money, mom's got the power. Right? So the king with the queen sitting beside him asked, how long will you be gone? When will you return? After I told him how long I would be gone, this is amazing, the king agreed to my request. What I find so relatable about this story is Nehemiah for four months has been

terrified to have this conversation. For four months Nehemiah is dreading this conversation. He's so built this up in his head, he's so afraid of what's gonna happen, he gets in front of the king, he finally has the courage and he says, here's what I'm gonna ask. And the king says, all right, cool, do what you gotta do man.

He's probably thinking, that's it? Four months of build up, it was that easy? I could have done this four months ago and it would have been, what? But it's because Nehemiah was in alignment with God, and when you and I are in alignment with God, God will open doors for us.

What I found in my life, the hard things God is asking me to do look terrifying. But then when I do them, they're often a lot easier than I ever expected. Why? Because we're in alignment with God. It looks terrifying, but if God is with you, he's gonna see you through it. Nehemiah

is terrified just to find out, oh yeah, God's really in this. God really is who he says that he is. So whether you're in a season of waiting or a season of frustration, do you believe God has called you to something? If so, stay in alignment with it because God is gonna use that. And Nehemiah

has gotta be shocked that the king just says, okay. Now this is where, if I'm Nehemiah, the king just granted my request, I'd be like, all right, king, thank you. I'm out of here. I'm going home. Right? But that's not what Nehemiah does. He sends up a bold request. Look what he says next. I also said to the king,

if it pleases the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, instructing them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to Judah. And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king's forest, instructing him to give me timber.

I will need to make it I will need it to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress, for the city walls, and a house for myself. And the king granted these requests. Why? Because the gracious hand of God was on me.

Nehemiah says, alright, I'm gonna take my shot. He says, alright, king, since you seem to be in a good mood today, can I have twelve years off paid? That's what he asked for. Promise Can me safe travels? Can you make it a government approval that I stay safe? While you're at it, can you buy me a home?

And you know what? Might as well say it. Can you just fund my entire project? And the king's like, yeah. Go live your life, man. Like, how What? This brutal king, this brutal

individual who has no grace on anyone is writing a blank check to him and says, Yeah, I know I said you can't do that, but you're cool, Nehemiah. Here you go. Go live your life, dude. How did that happen?

It's because when God gives you a burden and God gives you a calling, heaven will move open to make it happen. So whatever God has called you to, he's gonna be with you through that process. Even if it doesn't feel like it, if it feels like God's not with you, God is in it.

And this is what I find so amazing about the story of Nehemiah, that his character was so strong, he was willing to go in front of the king and say, here's what I need. Because he believed who God actually was.

And this is what I want for you. I want you to have a life that you look at and say, this wasn't possible unless God gets involved. If you don't have an area of your life that you can look back on and say, this would have never happened without God, I think you're living an ordinary life and God has called you to more.

Because God wants to intervene in a way that we have to look and say, that only happened because God's hand was on my life. That is the kind of life God wants us to live, and that happens when you and I step into godly character. Because character seeks God when it would be easier to rely on yourself.

This is what it means to have godly character. We seek God when it would be easier to rely on yourself. This is what we see in Nehemiah chapter one verse one. It says, in late autumn, in the month of Kislev, it was the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was in the Fortress Of Susa. Kislev was December,

and the month that Nisandar, and now it's around March or April. It's been four months, and Nehemiah is praying to God, and he's seeking God. Why? Because that's what character does. Character seeks God rather than rely on yourself. I'm learning this in my own life. How many of

you are extroverts? You love people. You love being loud. You love extroverts. Yeah, yeah. Really easy for you all to raise your hand because you're like, attention, that's me, yeah, cool. If I said, how many of you are introverts? You guys would be like, yeah,

no attention please. I'm with you, I'm introverted so I feel that. I've discovered something on my phone recently that extroverts you probably don't even know exist.

And after I tell you that this is a function on your phone, you're gonna wonder why anyone would invent it. For me, when I learned that my phone can do what I'm about to tell you, it changed my relationship with my phone completely.

Because my phone used to scare me a little bit, but once I learned about what I'm about to tell you, I love my phone. You ready? Some of you, you introverts, you already know what it is. It is the do not disturb button. Can I get a witness? Extroverts,

I know it's hard to believe. There are times I don't want you talking to me. I know. There are times where I don't get excited when my phone rings. I have a friend of mine, he doesn't even just call me, he FaceTimes me all the time. I'm like, dude, you're a monster. I'm not FaceTiming you.

There are moments where I'm saying, you don't get access to me. So I put do not disturb on. My phone basically lives on do not disturb now. Drives people crazy. And I put my phone on do not disturb, but I realized that also meant my wife was now on do not disturb. And when you're married, that's not good. So

I don't check calls. I'll check texts from time to time. And she texts me and she said, why are you ignoring me? And I'm like, because I'm praying to God.

I said, I'm not ignoring you. She's like, I called you four times and you haven't answered. I'm like, you haven't called me four times. And then she called me four times. I just wasn't receiving the message. So then I figured out this dysfunction that you can pick certain people that

do not go on do not disturb. So now in my phone, every one of you that's in my contact, you're on do not disturb. There's one person that's not. That's my wife.

That that got someone. Yeah. I spoke to you. I think as followers of Jesus, we often have the wrong thing on do not disturb. It's easy to look at God and say, I don't want you to disturb me right now. It's easy to look at God and say, God, I'm busy. God, I have a lot going on. I don't want you to interrupt my life right now.

We wouldn't say it out loud, but we say it with our actions. God, you cannot interrupt me. I have a plan for my life. I have everything mapped out. I know exactly how my life is gonna go. God, you cannot interrupt my life and change my direction.

Again, we wouldn't say it out loud, but if we're really honest, that's how a lot of us feel. I believe there are things that we should put on do not disturb, but it's not access to God. If God is who he says he is, why would we not want him to interrupt our life? How could we say no to God if he is who he says he is?

We should put some things on do not disturb. Like, you shouldn't let fear have access to you all the time. You shouldn't have anxiety have access to you all the time. You shouldn't let other people's opinion have access to you all the time. There are things that we should say, no, you don't have access to me. But God,

the creator of everything who loves me, who went to a cross for me, who died for me, yeah, you can interrupt my life. That is a posture of someone of great character. I'm on the phone analogy. Anyone willing to let me borrow their phone? No. Thank you. What's your passcode?

Yeah, do not disturb, yeah. Look, she's even got Nehemiah chapter two up. She's a good Christian, okay. To real practical, I'm preaching to me as much as I'm preaching to you right now.

God wants to speak to me, God wants a relationship with me. The biggest thing that gets in my way of actually having relationship with God is this, because I walk around all day doing this. Instead of looking at God, I spend all day on my phone.

Where you look determines what you see and what you see determines how you live. And when our neck posture is looking down not looking up, it'll change our heart posture. But we spend so much time looking down rather than looking up.

Last week, my four year old boy, we have a small trampoline in our, living room, and he wanted to show me this trick that he learned. So he runs up to me and goes, dad, I want you to see my trick. I'm like, yeah, yeah, go do it, man.

Don't judge me. You do it too. Someone's like booing me. Yeah. I see you with you're on your phone when I was up here teaching. You think you're taking notes? You're just playing Candy Crush or something. Yeah. He does the trick. I'm looking at my phone.

He notices I'm not looking at my phone so he comes back over to me. He's like, dad, look at me do this trick. And I'm like, yeah, sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he takes a little bit longer to get to the trampoline. So as I'm waiting, I'm like.

He does the trick, he runs back over to me, he grabs my chin and goes, dad, look at me, do the trick.

I felt convicted. I don't even know what I was looking at. But yet, I'm gonna look at that and not my child who just wants my attention.

God wants your attention. What are you even looking at? If God is who he says he is, why would we not wanna seek him? What is possibly more important on this than the God who created everything? But if I'm honest and if you're honest, we spend so much time looking down

and being distracted when God wants to do something powerful in your life. Because godly character, it seeks God and it doesn't rely on yourself. This is what I find so amazing about Nehemiah. Nehemiah is talented.

Nehemiah is strong. He's good at creating systems. We're gonna see next week. Nehemiah is a very gifted person, but yet he still spent time praying to God. And in my life, it's easier for me to rely on God in my weakness, but not my strengths. There are things I'm good at, and I'm like, God, I don't need you for that.

Come on. Godly character, it seeks God when it's easier to rely on ourselves. Last point, character, it seeks God, but character moves

when it would be easier to stay. There has to come to a point where character happens in you, but then it's gotta happen through you. This is what we see in Nehemiah. Nehemiah two verses two and three. So the king asked me, why are you looking so sad?

You shouldn't, you don't look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled. Then I was terrified, but I replied. He had fear because he knew what this moment could cost him. And character says, I'm gonna do it anyways. There's something God is asking you to do that could cost you something.

Are you going to have the courage to do it anyways? Because following Jesus will cost you something. Because he's gonna ask you to get uncomfortable. And Nehemiah was terrified, but he did it anyways. In verse five, he has this powerful statement.

I reply, but if it pleases the king and you are pleased with me, your servant, send me. Send me. That's the moment. Four months of prayer for one sentence. Send me.

What in your life you know is a problem, but you're pretending it's not. What in your life is currently on fire? And it's far more easier to pretend like everything's okay. That is the thing God is saying, I'm sending you. Godly character sees something on fire and says, I think it's me. I need to go be a part of that.

It's an amazing video that I think illustrates this better than I can say it. So I want you to check out the screen. We've got this, this lady drove into the, area that's flooded out, and she's screaming right now. I just called 911.

Fire department is coming in, but she drove right into the floodwaters. This the Peachtree Creek, and it is rising at the moment. We got you. 911, they're coming. You're good. You're good.

Man, it's it's it's a situation. We will get back to you in a little bit. I'm gonna go see if I can help this lady out a little bit more, you guys. I'll be back. Alright. Bob And then there is Bob carrying her out. So for our viewers, Bob was doing a live shot for Fox and Friends. That's who he was talking to.

The the news reporter is doing his job, reporting on the storm, and and he sees the car stuck and starting to fill with water. If you can't tell what she was saying, the woman was crying for help. And what I find so fascinating and why I find it so compelling is there's a moment in the newscaster's mind where he went from

someone is coming, I think it's me. Help is on the way, I think I'm the help she needs.

Some of you, there's an area of your life that's drowning. Godly character says, I'm gonna go after that. There's something in your marriage, there's something in your company that if you're honest, you know it needs your attention. But you're afraid, and I'm afraid.

Godly character says, I'm gonna do something about it anyways. There's some of you in the room that you're single, and you would like to get married one day, and there's something in your life now that you know is not okay, but it's comfortable. You have no idea what's

at stake for you to do something about that problem right now. You have no idea what's at stake, and oftentimes we don't realize what's at risk if we choose not to step in. Because everything God asks us to address, this is what's so amazing about God, everything he asks us to address, it is always for his glory,

but also for your good. Anything he wants you to address is us getting in alignment with him.

Where in your life is God saying, I think it's you? You need to do something about this.

Where in your life do you need to say, Not on my watch. I will not let my marriage drown. Not on my watch. I will not let this thing happen at work ruin my character. Not on my watch. I'm gonna have a conversation with my child

because I care too much. Not on my watch. I'm gonna have a conversation with my parent because I care too much. Not on my watch. I will not let this drown. I will live a life of purpose, and I'm gonna step into hard. That is godly character.

Others of you, we we watched that video, and you relate more to the woman in the in the car. There is something that you really feel like you're drowning right now. You're in a season that is incredibly difficult. We saw a video from an amazing story, an amazing testimony, an amazing moment where she goes from brokenness

to healing, where she goes from empty to freedom. How did that happen? She asked for help because courage asked for help. She was willing to say, I'm not okay. We are a church that wants you to know it's okay to say, I'm not okay. It's just not okay to stay that way. Some of you feel like you're drowning in the car,

but that's because you have never met the Savior of saviors. You have never had a moment where you've given your life to Jesus. You've never had a moment where you said, God, help.

I'm done doing it my way. I'm done living my life, God. I'm willing to do this your way. You've never had a moment where you've just given your life to Jesus and said, God, I'm all in on this because you don't understand who your God actually is, that our God, in his love and his mercy and his grace, he saw

the brokenness of humanity because of sin and said, Not on my watch. I'm gonna do something about that. And God came to earth in the person of Jesus, lived a perfect life, died on the cross carrying my sin, carrying your sin.

He was raised from the dead, and from that moment till this very moment, he has been saving anyone who says help, because he is our Savior, and he still saves. And there are some of you in the room who have never given your life to Jesus, and you've never said, God, I need help.

I want to give you an opportunity to do that today. So for everyone, I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes and bow your heads for a moment.

If you're sitting here and you're like, Man, I've never given my life to Jesus. I've never surrendered my life to Jesus. I've never said, God, help. That I understand that I'm broken, and I understand I am in need of a Savior, and his name is Jesus.

If you wanna make that decision for the first time today, I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand. Just raise your hand all across the room. Yeah. All across the room, raise your hand and say, God, I need a savior. I need help. I cannot do this on my own. Yeah, all over the room.

But you can put your hands down. What I'm gonna ask you to do, I'm gonna say a prayer. And I just want you to repeat this prayer in your own heart and mind. There's nothing fancy about the words. It's just us saying, God, I surrender to you. So if you just had your hand up or you didn't have your hand up and you still want to make that decision,

I want you to repeat this prayer in your heart and mind. Say, Father, I understand who you are,

and I understand I need help. I need a savior. And I believe his name is Jesus. So today, I surrender my life to you.

Keep your eyes closed and head bowed. If that's you today, you just made one of the greatest decisions you can ever make in your life. Because there's a God who loves you and a God who cares for you. There's a God who can see you from brokenness to freedom because he does it time and time again.

For everyone else in the room, keep your head bowed and eyes closed. If as while I'm talking, man, something you know there's something God wants you to do. You just know it. As immediately as I'm talking, you're like, yep, this this is the holy spirit convicting.

That you know there's something God is asking you to do and you are terrified. If you want prayer for the courage to do it anyways, I'd love to pray for you. So I'm just gonna ask you to raise your hand. If you know there's something God wants you to do, but you're afraid, I wanna pray for you.

Yep, keep raising your hand. Do you believe that there's something God is saying, I think he wants me to do something about this?

Father, you see the hands, you know our hearts, help us get a better glimpse of who you are so we can walk in the freedom you have for us.

Father, help us be individuals that go after brokenness because we go after your character. Father, give us wisdom of what you want us to do and give us the courage to do something about it. I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Hey, thanks for joining us this weekend for service. Make sure to stay connected with us on rockpoint.io.