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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
This is the Sandals Church Podcast, a place for real people with real struggles learning to follow Jesus. Wherever you are right now, driving, working, or trying to make it through the day, we are really glad you're here. Let's get into today's message.
Pastor Matt Brown:Hey, Sandals Church. It's so good to be back, man. I've enjoyed my break. How many guys have ever had a vacation where you went nowhere and did nothing and it was the best vacation of your lives? Amen?
Pastor Matt Brown:Oh my gosh. We went people were like, where'd you go? Nowhere. And it was wonderful. We did welcome our second grandson.
Pastor Matt Brown:I don't wanna brag. Yep. But, born on the July 4. Pretty sure there's a movie about that. Anyways, had a great time, great break, did some writing, finished my next book.
Pastor Matt Brown:You can be praying for that. I'm gonna be shopping it around. I'm no longer with Harper Collins. So if anybody has connections to publishers, that'd great. Let's become best friends.
Pastor Matt Brown:But it's something that's been on my heart. I mean, how many of you have a friend that's just not happy? And I think that we need to deal with this from a biblical perspective. And so that's what I wrote on. And, we're gonna talk today though, as we wrap up Nehemiah about how to remain where you are.
Pastor Matt Brown:We've been talking about rebuilding our lives, working on this. And let's be honest, it's a whole lot easier to be broken than it is to be rebuilt. Amen. I mean, it's a whole lot easier to fall than it is to get up. But we're gonna talk today about living rebuilt in a broken world.
Pastor Matt Brown:So here's the thing, the world is not gonna get fixed. Okay? So get off Fox News, get off MSNBC, It's not gonna be fixed tonight at eleven. We're still broken. But here's the thing is God wants to rebuild you.
Pastor Matt Brown:And so what we've been doing is we've been in this series and can we just give a hand for all of our speakers and our preachers? I've been watching, I've been watching each and every week tracking with the messages and it's just, we're just so blessed here at Sandals Church to have so many just gifted communicators and teachers. And I liked all of them except for the Irishman. Everyone was great. Amen.
Pastor Matt Brown:Can I get an amen? No, I know you guys all. I got the emails. He's my favorite. Now I don't like you.
Pastor Matt Brown:But here's the thing is, everybody loves write a building story. It's an amazing story, right? I mean, he builds a wall and it's his part time job, right? He's got a day job, fifty two days against all odds. And he builds a wall around a city.
Pastor Matt Brown:That's why pastors love this story, love this series, and it preaches itself. But if you stop at chapter eight, you're gonna miss the whole point. The problem isn't on the outside homeschool parents. I love you, but you can build a huge wall around your house. You can have your fort in Yucaipa.
Pastor Matt Brown:I've seen some of your guys houses. It's nice, real walls. But here's the thing, the enemy just isn't on the outside, he's on the inside. Just because we finish a wall doesn't mean we're not broken people. So you can rebuild the structure, listen to me and still be a mess.
Pastor Matt Brown:Still be a mess on the inside. So what we're gonna look at today is chapter nine through 13. And we're gonna summarize this because there's lots of lists, lots of names. There's lots going on. But here's what I want you to get.
Pastor Matt Brown:Okay, the walls up. Now let's talk about what's really going on with you. We're all protected. We're all safe. And I wanna walk you through six specific steps where you look at what did they do and what should I do?
Pastor Matt Brown:What can I do to ensure that I remain rebuilt while the world is still broken? So point number one, I want you to write this down. I want you to learn to own my own brokenness. Quit worrying about everybody else. Anybody got kids, multiple kids?
Pastor Matt Brown:Men, they're all little reporters, policemen telling you constantly what their sibling has done. Look, that's what children do. Mature Christians own their own stuff. So many of you listen to me. If you're one of those people that runs around believing you're always misunderstood.
Pastor Matt Brown:You're the one that misunderstands yourself. If you're constantly having to explain why you really didn't offend someone, hurt someone, do the wrong thing, then what you need to learn to do is look, all you're doing is building a wall and you're never allowing God in your heart to actually change your life. So let's look at Nehemiah nine one through two. Notice on October 31, sorry, got the beastie boys in my head. That is my date of birth, He went to the party and he did this murder.
Pastor Matt Brown:Sorry, this 1980s. I want you to notice this, all my homeschool moms, oh my gosh, October 31, the devil's day. Here's the thing, when you got God on your team, the devil loses every day. Can I get an amen? Every single day.
Pastor Matt Brown:So on October 31, the people assembled again. Isn't that interesting? On Halloween, or it wasn't Halloween yet, but they gathered together on this date where we all feel like the devil wins. No, no, no, Jesus always wins. He's undefeated.
Pastor Matt Brown:On October 31, the people assembled again and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap. So last week, pastor Fredo talked about that they celebrated. It's one of my favorite verses in the Bible. The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of my Lord is my strength.
Pastor Matt Brown:He said, no, no, let's party. Let's celebrate. So they had this huge celebration. Hey, we built this wall and then they said, hey, let's get real. Let's get real.
Pastor Matt Brown:And I want you to notice this, this is so important. They sprinkled dust on their heads. That's a symbol of Jewish grieving. And those of the Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners. So I want you to underline this first in your Bibles because this is really important.
Pastor Matt Brown:If you wanna live a Christian life, you are never called to be like everybody else. You're never called to act like everybody else, believe like everybody else, think like everybody else. Here's what you need to know about being a Christian. God is different and he's calling you to be different. And if you're a young person, this is the new radical.
Pastor Matt Brown:This this is the new rebel. Live for God. Live for Jesus. Don't follow everybody else. Who cares what TikTok says?
Pastor Matt Brown:Who cares what Instagram says? Listen to God. And look what they did. As they confessed their own sins, and I want you to underline this, and the sins of their ancestors. This is really, really important.
Pastor Matt Brown:So we had a party in chapter eight, it just ended and immediately we're back fasting, burlap, dust on their heads. Look, this is not a mood swing, get I get an amen? This is reality. This is a people who know that celebration isn't the same thing as change. And look what they confess, not just we messed up, we're all sinners, but they own their own sin and the sins of their ancestors.
Pastor Matt Brown:They own the whole pattern, not just their most recent mistake. But listen, this is what being real looks like, not a vague, nobody's perfect. Anybody got that friend? Well, nobody's perfect. Yeah, but you killed somebody.
Pastor Matt Brown:But they actually name it. So I wanna challenge you, I want you to work through these steps to own your own brokenness. Look at this. You've got to stop confessing in general terms. We're all sinners, right?
Pastor Matt Brown:Amen. You ever been to a church the pastor's like, I almost sinned once. He's sinning right there. It's called pride. Stop confessing in general terms.
Pastor Matt Brown:Listen, if you want the doctor to heal you, they have to name your illness. You can't just walk into the hospital, I'm sick. We know now you're healed. They got to diagnose your disease before they can diagnose a treatment plan. Name the actual thing.
Pastor Matt Brown:Now this is huge. This is gonna be hard for some of us. Except what you've inherited. Anybody come from some wackadoodle families? You know, you're the only one not incarcerated.
Pastor Matt Brown:Can I get an amen? You're the only one in your family who got to decide what they wear today? We all come from this. Now listen, that's not your fault. But it does affect you.
Pastor Matt Brown:Okay, this is just for the older people. Are you noticing as you age, the more you look like your parents? Is anybody noticing that? It's the weirdest thing. Like when I was young, used to look at my family and be like, you guys are ugly.
Pastor Matt Brown:And now I'm like, I look like exactly like that. Come on, is there any old people in here where you walk by the mirror and you think you see your dad? How did he get in here? We don't just carry our family's DNA, we carry their traits. And if we're not careful, they're sins.
Pastor Matt Brown:So here's what you gotta learn to do, especially if you just got married. It doesn't matter how your family did it. If your family is crazy. Well, that's how I was raised. Well, maybe you weren't raised or maybe you were raised by wolves.
Pastor Matt Brown:So let's own that and just say, you know what, maybe there's a new way to treat, to talk, to listen, to share. Okay. One of the things when I first got married, I noticed that Tammy's family did things differently. Differently, some were good, some were sinful. Let's just talk about the sinful one because she's not here.
Pastor Matt Brown:We had chicken pot pies. Anybody ever had one of those? In my family, we ate it like mature, normal people. Tammy, the first time served it to me, she threw it on my plate, smashed it and cut it up all into pieces like I'd done something wrong. Clearly, that's not the Lord's way to eat a chicken pot pie.
Pastor Matt Brown:Amen. But listen, there are differences. But here's what I learned over time. There were some things that her family did better than my family. There were some things that my family did better than her family.
Pastor Matt Brown:And there were some things that Jesus was calling us to that neither of our families did. And we had to grow up. Okay, this is huge. We live in a world that loves to point the finger. This is why politics is the new religion.
Pastor Matt Brown:Politics is what's wrong with everybody else. Christianity is what's wrong with me. It's very, very different. So look at this, confess before you compare. So many of you guys, you are scrolling Instagram rather than going through God's scroll, His Word.
Pastor Matt Brown:And you're judging your real life against everybody else's fake life. I don't know if you've heard this new statistic, but they've said, and they're tracking this, Google's actually tracking this, that ninety five percent of all millionaires on social media are broke. Do you know what that means? They're fake, it's not real. And some of you are following them and giving them money and going to their seminars and you're gonna become as broke as they are.
Pastor Matt Brown:Listen, that whole thing is fake. Before you compare, confess your own sins. Come to church, quit worrying about everybody else. Okay, old people, this generation, can I get an amen? Oh my god.
Pastor Matt Brown:That's what they said about us. That's what they said about us. And can we talk about this generation? Anybody see that 15 year old rescue that kid? Nobody saw that.
Pastor Matt Brown:That's the bravest thing I've ever seen risking his own life pulling that 10 year old in not letting go. That was fantastic. Can we give it up for teenagers? Come on. I mean, you wanna be rescued by that kid, not by me because I'd be like, hope you know Jesus.
Pastor Matt Brown:You know, we did our best. You know, I'd be like, see you when I get there, you know. But that was that was powerful for me. Listen to me old people that shows you that there's still hope. There's still hope.
Pastor Matt Brown:There's somebody that raised that young man right. Can I get an amen? I mean that kid, I I it moved me to tears watching that kid hold on and save a life. But before you say anything about what's wrong with someone else, could you just do this? Don't say it out loud because you might embarrass yourself.
Pastor Matt Brown:But name one thing that you did first. And let me ask you this, when's the last time you confessed to God? When's the last time you came to church and you just said, you know what, God, I'm not in the right place today. Instead of coming to church going, why did she wear that? Lord, she needs the Lord clearly pray over here, Holy Spirit.
Pastor Matt Brown:I mean, do that, right? We do that. When we come into church, let's make sure that we don't build a wall around our heart, but we invite God to deal with this sin that's still in us. Now this next one is controversial. This is huge and this is gonna impact and affect a lot of people.
Pastor Matt Brown:But I wanna encourage you, make a binding commitment to God. We live in a world that's way too casual. Some of you are living together and you say a piece of paper doesn't matter. Oh, I think it does. I think there's something special about standing in front of your family, standing in front of your friends, standing in front of a judge and signing the dotted line saying we're one.
Pastor Matt Brown:There's something about that. So they own their sins. Look in Nehemiah ten twenty eight twenty nine. Look at verse 28. All who had separated themselves from the pagan people of the land in order to obey the law of the God.
Pastor Matt Brown:So what they're saying is we don't want to be like everybody else. We want to be like God. Together with their wives. Listen to me. If you if you if your parents with their sons, daughters, and all who were old enough to understand.
Pastor Matt Brown:Isn't that huge? Parents, your kids need to know what they need to know. Here's what they need to know. They were made by God and they're loved by God. And they got to know that that's the most important thing in this world.
Pastor Matt Brown:Verse 29, they joined with their leaders and we don't like this language, right? And they bound themselves with an oath. And they solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our God. Let me tell you why this is important. Feeling bad about something and actually changing something are two different things.
Pastor Matt Brown:Here's what they did. We're not gonna feel bad. We're gonna do something good. We're gonna write our names down. We're gonna sign this.
Pastor Matt Brown:We're gonna make an oath. We're gonna say today, I'm gonna be different. And this is important. Put it in writing, a binding sworn commitment. One of the first Bibles I ever bought for myself.
Pastor Matt Brown:It's just really, really sad because in the old days people used to give you Bibles. Anybody ever have somebody give you a Bible and it says, this Bible is presented to so and so by this person. And it's so sad in my Bible, it says presented to myself by myself. That's what it says. Cause you know, I didn't know back then, you know, that you didn't have to fill out the front page.
Pastor Matt Brown:But do you know what I did? I signed a commitment to God. And I said, I'm gonna live for you. Now listen to me, I didn't do it perfectly. It's not about perfection, it's about direction.
Pastor Matt Brown:I said, God, I've lived for myself. I'm gonna live for you. And I put it in writing, I still have that Bible to this day. You see binding myself to God doesn't just mean I'm sorry. It says I'm actually committing to live differently.
Pastor Matt Brown:And it's specific, not I'll try to do better. Anybody love that one? It's specific. So let me give you five areas that I think oaths could help you out. I wanna challenge you to commit yourself and bind yourself to God in five ways.
Pastor Matt Brown:The first one is this relationally. How many of you guys have ever met a jerk who claims to love Jesus? We don't, yeah, all the time. One guy's honest. He's probably talking about some of you over here.
Pastor Matt Brown:We don't need any more jerks for Jesus, do we? One of the things that I think is most missed by Christians is that Christianity is not a religion, it's a relational movement of God moving towards you, of God teaching you to move towards yourself and ultimately God teaching you to move in love towards others. So relationally, how do you treat people starting with those closest to you? Can I just confess? Sometimes I'm nicer to total strangers than I am to my own family.
Pastor Matt Brown:And that's how many Christians are. Christianity starts with yourself and it moves with those closest to you. So make a relational commitment. I'm gonna be nicer to people. Starting with the people that annoy me the most, amen, my family.
Pastor Matt Brown:But it starts with grace. Next, this is hugely controversial and I know a lot of you are starting your journey in Christianity. Or some of you this your very first time, but I wanna be upfront with you. God has something to say about your sexuality. I know the world has a lot to say, and part of that is in reaction to their rejection of what God has said.
Pastor Matt Brown:So let's look at sexually. We need to learn to honor ourselves and other people as image bearers of God. That's huge. Every single one of you is an image bearer of God. Okay, why do I not look at pornography?
Pastor Matt Brown:Because those people are image bearers of God. And for me to watch them sin is to remove their identity in God to satisfy my desires. So if you're single, this is challenging, but know this, it's also challenging for married people. But I wanna encourage you, make an oath and say, you know what? I'm gonna do this.
Pastor Matt Brown:A guy in the Bible named Job says, I've made a covenant with my eyes never to look at a woman with lust again. That's what he's talking about. I'm gonna do this. This is who I'm gonna be. I'm going to change and listen to me, you can do it.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but I've done it. Thirty years, thirty years married to one woman. I've been faithful not because I'm awesome, but because God is awesome and he gives us strength. Amen. You can do it.
Pastor Matt Brown:You can do it. All right. If you're not offended, get ready. Okay. Financially, you know why so many people don't wanna come to church?
Pastor Matt Brown:Oh, they're all about money. You know what I wanna say? I think you're all about money. It can I just tell you if there was one thing I never had to preach on again, you know what it would be? Money, I wish we never had to address it, but we do.
Pastor Matt Brown:And why is that? Because for most of us, it's our God. So I want you to notice as you read through chapter nine, chapter 10, chapter 11, chapter 12, I want you to notice that on two separate occasions, the people in Jerusalem make a commitment to financially honor God with their tithes and offerings. So financially, here's what I want you to change. What you give, what you save and how you handle money.
Pastor Matt Brown:Listen to me, if you're a young person. If you start trusting God now with your money, you will be where you wanna be when you're my age. Nobody's ever gone broke by trusting God. People go broke by following their own whims and wishes and spending things that they don't really need on things that they don't really need. Look what they said in Nehemiah ten thirty nine.
Pastor Matt Brown:We promise, do you understand what that is? It's an oath. They're putting their name on the line. We promise together not to neglect the temple of our God. They're saying we're gonna do this.
Pastor Matt Brown:We're gonna support this. And if you're taking notes, can write they also do this in chapter 12 verse 44. Next vocationally, how many have jobs? Raise your hands. Okay, isn't it amazing how much easier it is to be a Christian at church?
Pastor Matt Brown:Amen, brother. Amen. Good to see you. All right, yeah, praise the Lord. Then you go to work and you're surrounded by morons.
Pastor Matt Brown:Yeah. I used to say it's hard to soar like an eagle when you're surrounded by turkeys. Amen? Okay. Vocationally, integrity at work, whether anyone's watching or not.
Pastor Matt Brown:Whether anyone's watching or not. You know what I've had to say to so many young people in our church that have applied for jobs at Sandals and they're so excited to work for us. You know what I tell them? Every interaction is an interview. Yeah, some of you got to, every interaction is an interview.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm always interviewing people to see how you really are. Because we're all better on interview day, amen, dressed up looking smooth. I mean, you wouldn't wear this because you wouldn't get hired, amen? You wouldn't. I wouldn't hire this.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'd be like, you don't wanna work. But listen to me, some of you, your greatest testimony will come from your integrity at work. It matters, it matters. I've had to sign checks for things I wish I did not commit to, but do you know why I signed the check? Because I committed to them.
Pastor Matt Brown:I committed to them. And my yes is yes. And listen to me dads, you may think it doesn't matter, but when your wife knows your yes is not a yes at work, it will cause her to question your yes to her at home. You see the thing about integrity is we can't have it in areas. We either have it or we don't.
Pastor Matt Brown:Okay, last one, I promise it'll ease up physically. How you treat your body since it's not yours. It's not yours. Make a commitment, get healthy, exercise. My son was making fun of me.
Pastor Matt Brown:We were surfing together. He's like, your arms are tired. I'm like, if you add both my arms up, they're one hundred and ten. But listen, here's my wife and I's commitment. We lift weights in our 40s and 50s, so we don't have to be lifted in our 70s and 80s.
Pastor Matt Brown:Do you understand that? I wanna serve God as long as I can and be as healthy as I can to the very end. And I wanna encourage you, treat your body like it's God's, treat it that way. So let me ask you, what would it look like for you to put something in writing this week? What would it look like?
Pastor Matt Brown:Not a feeling, but a commitment that is actually going to cost you something. All right, next point. Take my place in God's house. I was coming out of the water this week exhausted. And by the way, no surfer looks cool trying to get out of the water.
Pastor Matt Brown:You got a leash tied around your your your leg, you know, the waves are crashing. You're trying not to drown. And I got boogers probably coming out of my nose. And some lady's like, oh, I go to your church. You know?
Pastor Matt Brown:And I'm like, dear God, hope my pants are on. You know what I'm saying? I'm just like, right? Has anybody ever come out of the ocean? Things are in different places.
Pastor Matt Brown:But she was so sweet, right? As I'm trying to, you know, go into pastor mode, you know, because I was just like, didn't wanna be fish food mode. And did you hear what she said? Oh, I go to your church. I hope that you quit saying that.
Pastor Matt Brown:It's his church, but it's also our church. And here's what she said. She said, we're getting involved, we're plugging in. And I appreciated that. I appreciated that.
Pastor Matt Brown:Nehemiah eleven:one-two. The leaders of the people were living in Jerusalem, the holy city, a tenth of the people from the other towns of Judah and Benjamin were chosen. Look at this by sacred lots to live there too. This is huge. While the rest stayed where they were.
Pastor Matt Brown:And the people commended underline this, everyone who volunteered to resettle in Jerusalem. What good is a city if nobody lives in it? Somebody's got to actually live inside the wall that they just built. So people, what did they do? They packed up, they left their towns that they were comfortable in and they moved.
Pastor Matt Brown:They volunteered to plug in. Let me say this commitment to God isn't just what happens in your head. It shows up where you show up. We live in a culture where volunteerism is dead. Anybody tried to coach anything?
Pastor Matt Brown:Oh my gosh, you ask parents to sell candy and they're like, I'm pretty sure that's illegal. You know, it's like, we're not selling drugs. We gotta pay for the uniforms. I mean, it's awful, right? Here's our culture.
Pastor Matt Brown:Our culture says we want it all and we wanna give nothing. That's not church. At church, we have to relearn. This is our house. This is his house.
Pastor Matt Brown:This is where we serve. So let me ask you, are you actually in it? Not just, oh, I went to church, but are you in church? Or are you just cheering from your hometown? Hey, we built the wall.
Pastor Matt Brown:Nehemiah did it again. Woo hoo. Let me ask you, are you present or are you present? Let me ask you a better question. Are you positioned in his church?
Pastor Matt Brown:Signed up, counted on, not just attending. I want you to notice that only 10% of the people who just rebuilt the wall said we'll move. 10%. And in my experience, that's pretty good percentage. That's pretty good percentage.
Pastor Matt Brown:I mean, do you know what I would do if I said, hey, we need volunteers at kids ministry and we got 10% of our church to sign up for kids ministry. I would be celebrating. I would wear this shirt every day. But here's what a lot of us do. In our heads we go, yeah, yeah, yeah, serving is important.
Pastor Matt Brown:No, no, no, you show up, you're counted on, you're dependable. We all have people in our life who don't show up that we can't count on, that are not dependable. We all have that. The church should be different. The church should be different.
Pastor Matt Brown:So let me encourage you, show up, be dependent upon, be counted on, be one of the 10% which by the way it says they were honored to do so. They were celebrated because of what they did. Next, this is huge. Celebrate what God has already done. That's why I wore this shirt.
Pastor Matt Brown:My wife said, why why brought this home? She said, really? I said, I didn't buy this. This shirt bought me. Can I get an amen?
Pastor Matt Brown:Have you ever seen an outfit that just calls you? It's like this was made for you. I was on vacation, but you know what I'm saying? But I wanna wear this shirt in church because sometimes when we go to church, we dress like we're at a funeral. You ever been to that?
Pastor Matt Brown:I just love Jesus so much. Well, tell your face. I don't think your face is saved. You ever been to a church? Frownville?
Pastor Matt Brown:I mean, here's the thing is, we're coming here today celebrating what Jesus has done. So they confessed, right? They commit, but they also they go right back. They don't just don't just beat themselves up. Like God doesn't wanna beat you up.
Pastor Matt Brown:He wants to build you up. Nehemiah twelve forty three, look at this. Many sacrifices were offered on that joyous day. The joyous day. Do you know the early church would fast Monday through Saturday, but never on Sundays, because it was the Lord's day.
Pastor Matt Brown:So Lord's day Jesus rose and they had something to celebrate. And we've got to learn to celebrate when we come in, we gotta learn to sing. We gotta learn to shout. We gotta learn to be excited. Were offered on that joyous day for God had given the people cause for great joy.
Pastor Matt Brown:The women and the children also participated in the celebration. Look, I don't have a lot of memories of church when I was little, but one of the things I remember was people so happy when they were singing. And I think the music was terrible. Anybody go to church for people who couldn't sing lead music? Yeah.
Pastor Matt Brown:You guys have no idea how blessed we are at Sandals. Like, we tell people the truth. We love you, but God's will is not for you to have a microphone and sing. Like in my church growing up, they just turned the microphone way down. That's what they did.
Pastor Matt Brown:But I remember as a kid, singing and celebrating and being excited. And that's what church should be. And the joy of the people of Jerusalem, listen this, could be heard from far away. Isn't that beautiful? I mean, think about at our church campuses of people like, don't know what Sandals is, but those people are happy.
Pastor Matt Brown:I don't know what's going on over there. Look, I want you to notice here, this could have gone somewhere heavy real fast. Confession, oaths, right? Moving your whole family across town instead Nehemiah tells us this was loud. Joy you could hear from a distance.
Pastor Matt Brown:Something's happened in there. Women and kids included, not just the leaders up front, right? Not just our worship team sweating, trying to get you guys to sing and you're like, I'm not there yet. You see being real, listen to me, with God isn't just about confession and commitment. It's also throwing a party because he actually came through.
Pastor Matt Brown:Can I get an amen? He actually came through. Not just acknowledged, God's good. God is good. God is good.
Pastor Matt Brown:But celebrate it out loud. Celebrate it out loud. And I want you to think about that this week. What's something that you need to celebrate? What's something you need to celebrate?
Pastor Matt Brown:You ever go out to dinner and they say, what are you, are we celebrating anything this evening? And we're all like, no, just misery. We're just miserable people. But you know when I finished my book, you know what my wife and I did? We went out to dinner.
Pastor Matt Brown:You know what we did? We celebrated. The gal said, what are we celebrating? I said, finished my book. You know what she said, what's it about?
Pastor Matt Brown:I said happiness. She said, I'm getting a PhD on happiness and most people aren't happy. She said, could I read it? I said, absolutely. Just leave a positive review.
Pastor Matt Brown:Not just thought about, but celebrated out loud. Man, I mean, I wish we could do this. But if we could just go one by one in our church and people just would stand and say, this is what I'm grateful for. Can I just tell you? I watched my daughter give birth and that's not true.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm not allowed in the room. I was in the waiting room thinking about her giving birth. And so my whole family my whole family has to manage me because I I am not good at being fake. Like, I've taken this vision of being real a little too far. And my wife is like, Okay, when you go in there, don't cry.
Pastor Matt Brown:There's a lot of things going on, and my daughter had some complications, and they had to move her to a special room. And we were really, really scared about my grandson's health and her health. And so my wife's like, Okay, you got it together? Was like, I got it together. She's like, you're gonna be solid.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm like, I'm gonna be solid. And I go in there like, I start crying and I'm hugging her and I'm kissing her and I'm just, I'm so scared. Because let me tell you something, birth is scary. Hug your mom, she almost died so you could be here. But do you know what I'm celebrating?
Pastor Matt Brown:I got a healthy daughter and a healthy grandson. Amen. And I need to celebrate that. Because not everybody gets that. And it's really easy to get caught up and wrapped up in all the things we didn't get, rather than thanking God for what he did.
Pastor Matt Brown:Amen. So I wanna encourage you, maybe when you go home today with your family, sit around the table and just say, hey, what's one thing that you're really grateful for right now? And your kids are gonna be like, This is a lame. Lost my sobriety. You know what he said?
Pastor Matt Brown:I've been here before. He said, I'm so grateful for your church. You welcomed me back. There were men that met me at the church, not on a Sunday. He just said, I'm so thankful for Sandals Church.
Pastor Matt Brown:Listen to me. One of my best friends at this church over the last thirty years, his name is Matt Alby and his dad's not with us anymore, he's in heaven, Rick. And Rick was a spiritual mentor to me and Rick's in heaven. But Rick would always say this, and I always wrestled with what it meant, but he would say an unguarded strength is a double weakness. And what he's saying there is, man, even the things you think you're good at, you got to watch.
Pastor Matt Brown:Because the enemy has a sneaky way of getting back in, doesn't he? He has a sneaky way of crawling back in, you just build that wall, everything's perfect, family's good, boom, he's back. And I think about that young man that I prayed with at the gym. Man, the devil got back in. Here's the good news, Jesus never left.
Pastor Matt Brown:Amen. Amen. Jesus never left. Nehemiah thirteen:seven-nine. When I arrived back in Jerusalem, I learned about Elisha's deed in providing Tobiah with a room.
Pastor Matt Brown:In the courtyard of the temple of God, I became very upset and threw all of Tobiah's belongings out of the room. Now for some of you guys, oh, that doesn't feel very Christian. Tobiah is a bad dude. Okay, Tobiah has been a problem since the very beginning. He's talked smack.
Pastor Matt Brown:He has objected. He's spread rumors. He's done all kinds of things. Nehemiah builds the wall goes back to Persia. Remember about the rumors that he was gonna become king.
Pastor Matt Brown:He goes back to Persian says, no, no, I'm here. I'm here to serve you. I'm still the cup bearer. The second he gets there and gets to come back, guess what he finds out? He just built his house up.
Pastor Matt Brown:He just got all clean and the devil's already back. Where is he? In the temple. Verse nine, then I demanded that the rooms be purified. And I brought back the articles of God's temple.
Pastor Matt Brown:Ain't that crazy? We just had this whole story, all these chapters, all this summer about rebuilding the wall, about getting the temple ready. Nehemiah leaves just for a few months and guess what happens? The devil sneaks in. And that's life.
Pastor Matt Brown:I got a phone call from a good friend of mine, been at Sandals for years. She just said, Hey, my husband messed up. And so I went to visit him, he was in a rehab facility. And I don't think he wanted to see me. He battles a lot of shame and I love this guy.
Pastor Matt Brown:And I think what he thought was I was gonna beat him up. I mean, not physically. A, because he's much larger than I am, but B, because that's wrong, write that down, that's wrong. But I wasn't wanna, it wasn't what he expected. And here's what I told him.
Pastor Matt Brown:I said, you already feel enough shame. I don't need to pile on. I just wanna remind you that your wife, your kids and your life is worth fighting for. And I represent Jesus and I'm here with you. Are you ready to change?
Pastor Matt Brown:And you know what he said, I kid you not. He said, I'm so embarrassed. And I said, why is that? And he said, because I'm wearing sandals. And I said, why are you embarrassed?
Pastor Matt Brown:And then I looked at his feet and I had a pretty good idea why he was embarrassed. He said, it's just so hot in this rehab facility. It doesn't have air conditioning. I just couldn't take it. So I'm wearing sandals.
Pastor Matt Brown:And I said, do you know where the name Sandals Church comes from? He said, no, I don't. I said, I used to have ugly feet. They were horrendous. And some of you guys don't know this, but it's the story of Sandals Church.
Pastor Matt Brown:The reason our name is Sandals is because I wanted people to be able to see the very ugliest part of me and still love me. And I want every person in here who doesn't yet know Jesus to know this. God sees the ugliest parts of you and he still loves you. Amen, still loves you. And I just want you to know this is life.
Pastor Matt Brown:The very thing that they fought to rebuild and the enemy just walks right back in because nobody was watching the door. Watch the door. Rebuilding, listen to me, isn't the finish line. What you don't guard, you eventually lose back the exact same stuff that you've already fought off once, because an unguarded strength is a double weakness. Last point, trust that God will remember your sacrifices.
Pastor Matt Brown:We're gonna close with this verse. Think about all Nehemiah has done. Traveled to his hometown, rebuilt a wall, fought off enemies, fought people within without man. He goes through all of this, gets it done, goes back, comes back, it's a mess again. Listen to what Nehemiah says in Nehemiah thirteen fourteen, some of the most beautiful honest words ever spoken.
Pastor Matt Brown:Remember this good deed, oh my God, and do not forget all that I have faithfully done for the temple of my God and its service. Listen, living rebuilt in a broken world isn't a one time decision you make at church camp. It's a rhythm, own it, commit, show up, celebrate it, guard it and trust God that he will see what no one else saw. And if you ever drift, come back, we're always here. I wanna encourage you.
Pastor Matt Brown:And I wanna say thank you to all of our people at our church. We're gonna be celebrating thirty years in 2027. Can you believe that? This is crazy because I'm 25. I'm so grateful for all the people.
Pastor Matt Brown:And here's what I want you to know. God will remember your sacrifice. Galatians six:nine says, So let us not get tired of doing what is good at just the right time. We will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Yep, marriage is hard, don't give up.
Pastor Matt Brown:Raising kids is hard, don't give up. Being a Christian in today's world is hard, do not give up because if you stay faithful, God will be faithful to you and at just the right opportunity, He's gonna lift you up and bless you. Amen, Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you Lord for this series.
Pastor Matt Brown:We thank you for just Lord this message. God, let us Lord live like Nehemiah did and let us guard Lord what we've rebuilt. Come alongside us, strengthen us and encourage us. Fill us with your power, with your presence. We pray this in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen.