Let’s Build Something | Pastor Earl McClellan | Elevation Church

Should I tell them? Do you want me to tell  them? Yeah. Okay, I'll I'll tell I'll tell them.   Elevation nights 2026. Uhhuh. October 9th through  October 18th. What is Elevation Nights? Oh,   it's only the greatest night of your life.  All your favorite songs. Believe in God with   thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm  going to bring a word. Yes, you are. Holly's gonna   bring a word. He's coming. And I'm bringing you  elevation worship. Elevation rhythm. We're all   you. All right. Give them the cities. We're going  to Lubbock, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Houston, Kansas   City, Memphis, Birmingham, San Antonio. That's  October 9th through 18th. Now, you got to get   your tickets right now. elevation.com. And in the  comments, let us know if you're coming, thinking   about coming, or going to regret not coming for  the rest of your life. ElevationNights.com. We'll   see you soon. Come on family, we ready for a great  day today or what? Come on, we ready for God to   move in our hearts and our lives today? Come  on, let's clap our hands a little bit longer.   He's been faithful, he's been good. He's been  merciful. He's been kind. He's given us another   day. The goodness of God has been chasing you and  me our entire lives, and today's going to be a   day of victory and breakthrough, hope and life. So  glad you are here at every location. Stay standing   for just a moment, if you wouldn't mind. Love  you all so, so very much. My better two-thirds,  

my wife, is not here with me. She's preaching  back at our church today. But she sends her love.  This is a very, very special place. What God is  doing here at Elevation, it's not the buildings,   it's the people. It's that God has been moving  in everyday men and women, and you are a part of   a much larger story, that God is pouring out  His spirit and His grace in our day and age.   And I'm so, so honored to be here today. But I  want to make sure, as you are in this church,   you don't take it for granted. You don't take  for granted all the team that showed up early   to roll out the red carpet for you today. You  don't take for granted all the people who are   leading worship. You don't take for granted all  the people that are watching your kids. Shoot,   you don't even want to watch your kids. But I pray that you definitely do not take   for granted the amazing pastors that God has  given you. Can we put our hands together for   Pastor Steven and Holly Furtick? Who they are and  how they live their lives is quite remarkable.   Humility, kindness, surrender, generosity. You get  all this love from the campus pastors and all the   people who are volunteering and serving.  It's because your pastors, your leaders,   that's the heart that they have. So whenever  you're being prayed for, just so you know,  

that's the culture and the heart that they set  here. So this place is holy ground. Not a perfect   church. There isn't one. You're here, so it's not  perfect. I'm here, it's not perfect. You're not   going to find perfect, but you found healthy. You  found Christ-centered. You found God-glorifying.   You found Bible-believing. You found grounded in  faith. So let's continue to see God do something   transformational and powerful in our lives. I want to read, while you're already standing,   let's read our Bibles together. If you have  your Bibles, turn with me to Nehemiah 1, and   I'm going to read these verses together. I like  how holy Elevation is, too. You all stand for the   reading of God's word. My church, it's ratchet.  They're sitting. They're sitting when we read.   We're going to fix it, though. I think it's me. Nehemiah 1. If you didn't bring your Bibles,   we're going to put the verses on the screen so  that you can follow along with us. I'm going   to jump down to verse number two. "Hanani, one of  my brothers, came from Judah with some other men,   and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant  that had survived the exile, and also about   Jerusalem." Verse number three. "They said to me,  'Those who survived the exile and are back in the   province are in great trouble and disgrace. The  wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates   have been burned with fire.' When I heard these  things, I sat down and wept. For some days I  

mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of  heaven." Skip with me to verse number 10. "They   are your servants," this is part of his prayer,  "and your people, whom you redeemed by your great   strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear  be attentive to the prayer of this your servant   and to the prayer of your servants who delight  in revering your name. Give your servant success   today by granting him favor in the presence  of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.  If you are ready for today, I have  a title for us, and it's Let's Build   Something. Let's Build Something. Turn to  somebody next to you, say, "Let's build   something." And you may be seated, my friends. Let's build something. I am so, so excited to   have these moments together as a family. God  is moving and working in beautiful ways. And   when Chunks had texted me, and I was texting  with your amazing pastor about serving here   at Elevation this weekend, and campuses all  over the place in our whole eFam, we love you   so very much. I couldn't help but feel in my  heart a high level of anticipation about what  

God was going to do. Now, I know I recognize  there are people tuning in today and people   coming to Elevation for the very first time. And  you're going to want to come back next week when   Pastor Steven is preaching and declaring God's  Word because he is one of the best of the best.   There is no doubt about it. God is good. So I was praying, "Lord, what do you want   me to share? What do you want me to share?" This  passage of scripture dropped in my heart. Let's   build something. Now, let me give you a little  bit of backstory on me. I've been married. I'm   an unc. I've been married now for 29 years,  okay? So it has been a minute. And I call my   wife my sexy piece of dark chocolate, okay? And  I say this with a big smile on my face because   that is who she is. She is my best friend.  We have three amazing kids, and I even have   a daughter-in-law now, y'all. I can't even  believe that. And I like my daughter-in-law   more than I like my son that she married. I think I have a picture of our family,   too. I'll put it on the screen for you real  fast so you can see. I just love these guys   so very much. Our oldest son is now 21 years old.  I remember the day he was born. I couldn't wait to   be a dad when I was growing up. I couldn't  wait to be a husband and a father. So my   wife is pregnant. She's pregnant, pregnant.  The belly is out there and it ought to be,   right? She's carrying another human being. This  belly is out there and she's got the waddle that   you get and the swollen ankles, and she looked  beautiful to me. But people were rude, of course,   like, "Whoa, your nose got big." I punched those  people in the face whenever they said that. But  

she looked beautiful, wonderful, and amazing. We were at Gold's Gym. I don't even know if   Gold's Gym still exists. Maybe it does. We're  at Gold's Gym. This is 21 years ago. She's on   the elliptical and fully pregnant, getting after  it on the elliptical. And I was not there with   her because I don't love to do the elliptical,  especially 21 years ago. I'm like, "No, I'm not   doing the elliptical. I'm going to lift," right?  So she's on the elliptical and she's feeling all   these pains in her stomach. And she's like, "Man,  I got all these pains." I'm like, "Okay, honey,   let's go ahead and we'll go home." We go home.  She's like, "I still got all these pains." But   she still just does her whole workout. We get back  home. We talk to some friends of ours. We're like,   "Oh, yeah, she's got some pains." And then they  say, "You should go to the hospital." We go to the   hospital. Come to find out Onika was in labor. My  wife was in labor while she was on the elliptical.   Now she's just thinking, "Oh, I got some little  pains." There's a baby about to come out and   she does not even recognize it. And Parker was  born that day. It was beautiful. We had to have   a C-section because his heart rate was going down  every time a contraction happened. But he came out   healthy and wonderful. He was ugly when he came  out as a baby. But now he's handsome. I showed   you the picture. He's handsome now. But he came  out and it was like, "Ooh, whoa." I love him with  

my whole heart, but dang. We'll dress him cute. So we bring him home and it's wonderful. But I was   remembering this moment when I was thinking about  today. That my wife, we knew she was pregnant, but   we did not know that she was in labor. There were  some signs that she was in labor, but we didn't   totally recognize the signs. Now, we knew at some  point in time this baby was coming, but there was   a disconnect in our brain a little bit between  where she was and what the next season and the   next thing that God was about to do in our lives. And I was thinking about you, Elevation Church,   thinking about every family, every man, every  woman, every son, every daughter, every teenager,   every young adult. Even looking at, thinking about  the old heads in here, the uncs and the aunties,   people in other countries and people here that  are in the States. I was thinking about you,   that there are many of you, you know you're a  Christian, but I don't know if you know you're   a builder. You know Jesus has saved me of my  sins. He's made me brand new. He's taken me from   darkness to light, and we might have some friends  today, you might not know that yet. Maybe you're  

still trying to figure out this whole God thing,  and we're glad you're here. You're in a safe place   that you can belong even before you believe. Jesus  sat with sinners, and we're happy to sit with you   because we all came in the exact same way, not  knowing anything. So we are glad you are here.  But understand, there are some people at  Elevation that fully understand that the   cross of Jesus Christ took us from lost to found,  from dead to alive, took us from blind to seeing.   That we understand that through his death, burial,  and resurrection, not by our own merit and our own   works, but by the finished work of Jesus Christ,  I have been made new. I'm not who I used to be   anymore. I'm not walking how I used to walk.  The grace of God picked me up and carried me   and brought me to a brand new place and put me  on a firm foundation that if it was not for God,   I don't know where I would be. He found me.  Man, there are some times I still think back   and I'm like, "Jesus, thank you so much for  interrupting my life. Thank you so much for   finding me. Thank you so much that if I didn't  know what to pray, you still kept pursuing me."  This has been the grace of  God that we have experienced,   and as we have experienced this grace, I know  I'm a Christian, but do I know I'm a builder?  

Do I know that God didn't just save me just to  save me? That God didn't just rescue me so I   could have a testimony. But there is something  that God is wanting to do in me and through   me to reach the generation that he put me in,  that I could've been born at any time, but God   decided that you were supposed to be born right  now. You're looking at this world, you're like,   "This world is crazy." Hey, and that's why God put  you here, because he recognizes that the spirit   of God living on the inside of you is greater  than anything that this world can throw at you.  So here, do you know you're a builder? Do  you know that you have been called for such   a time as this to be a part of something that's  bigger than you are? In this text, Nehemiah,   he's one of my favorite Bible characters.  Not my favorite, that's Jesus, got to be.   But Nehemiah's one of my favorites because when  you read through his book, he does no miracles.   There's no healings. No one's raised from the  dead. There's nothing spectacular like that, that  

happens. Your boy's just got a job. He's going to  work. He's cupbearer to the king. He's essentially   the head of security, the head of the secret  service for the king. He has an important job,   but he goes to work each day. His job is to make  sure nobody poisons the king. His job is to make   sure that the king is safe. He's got proximity to  the king. So he's got a trustworthy job, and he's   a loyal individual, but he just works. Like you.  Some of you all are like, "Wait, not right now,   actually. I'm in between. I got a situation right  now." God knows that, too. He can answer that.  But he just wakes up each day, does the same  thing. Wakes up the next day, does the same   thing. Wakes up the next day, does the same thing.  And then all of a sudden, his brothers come to   visit him, and when his brothers come to visit  him, he discovers that there's a problem that's   taking place with his people. Now he, Nehemiah,  his job is about 1,000 miles away from where the   problem is. They were in exile for years, his  people. Nehemiah was not alive when they came   out of exile. It's about 100 years after they get  out of the exile that Nehemiah comes on the scene.   So this is a problem that he was not all that  involved in, but he hears that there's an issue  

going on in another part of the world with  his people, and God gives Nehemiah a glimpse   into the heart that God has for his people. So now Nehemiah begins to have a burden on his   heart for people that he has not met yet, but  he is connected to, and he's got this regular,   everyday job. And then all of a sudden, God  interrupts his regular, everyday job to say,   "I'm going to put a burden on your heart for  people you have not met yet because you're called   to go there and rebuild the walls that have been  torn down." And Nehemiah mourns, and fasts, and   prays, and he's in his room going back and forth.  And you can read his prayer later in your eGroup,   all of chapter one. And he cries out to God, and  he confesses his sin, and the sin of the people,   and the sin of his father's family. And then  he begins to call on and remember Moses,   and the promises that God gave to Moses. And he  also remembers the warnings that God gave him.  And then he says, "God, I'm going to need you to  do something here. God, I'm going to need you to   move somehow, some way. God, I know that my  sister is on drugs right now, and I'm going   to need you to do something in her life. God,  I know that my high school friends, right now   they're not living for you, and they don't know  the truth of the gospel, so I'm going to need  

you to do something in their life. God, I know my  family has been bound in alcoholism for years and   years and years, and I'm going to need you to  do something for my family. God, my community,   I've heard what's happening back home, and the  drugs are going crazy, and everybody's vaping,   and everybody seems to be addicted to porn. And it  seems like everybody is getting a divorce. So God,   somehow, some way, I'm going to need you  to move in might and in power so that these   people don't stay where they are any longer." And God begins to give this man a burden for   some people. And I'm telling you that this is  what God is wanting to do in you, is give you   a burden for this world that would say, "God,  would you move in might and in power? Would you   bring revival? Would you send your Spirit? Would  you pour out your love and your grace? Because   there's people whose walls are broken down." The problem, sometimes even we start praying   for people whose walls are broken down, is when  you're the person whose walls are broken. It can   feel like I don't even have space to be thinking  about anybody else, because this is where I'm   finding myself. My own walls are broken down. And  I know it looks to everybody like I'm good. I got  

the car, I got the house. I got the gear. I've  got the pictures to post. But beyond the pictures,   there's something else going on in my family.  Beyond what everybody else sees, there's some   things that we're just navigating and fighting  through right now. Me and my wife, we're just   not clicking. We're trying to figure out, but  it's just not clicking. It's not clicking with   me and my siblings. I don't know what's wrong.  It's just not clicking. I've been trying to get   this business off the ground. It's not clicking,  and now I've got to pay my mortgage, or I got to   pay my rent, and I also got to pay this, and I  got to pay that. My own walls are broken down.  And I just need you to know you're at a church  where you actually don't have to fake it. You're   at a church that you don't have to pretend  like you have it all together. You're at a   church that is not asking you to be perfect  and look some certain part and do some song   and dance. You are at a church and you are  under the leadership of people who are like,   "Hey, you can take off your mask here. You  can be exactly who you are right now. You can   navigate the pains and the difficulties of  life. If you're crying at home, you can cry  

here. If you're suffering at home, we want to  know about it. Your eFam, your eGroup wants to   know about it. Your campus pastor wants to know  about it. Your leadership wants to know about   it." You're not in some place where you have to be  perfect. You can say, "My walls are broken down."  I also want to say thank you to everyone behind  the scenes who are serving to help put people's   walls in place. Everybody with kids right  now, they may be able to hear this message   right now because they're serving in kids.  Thank you, because what you're doing when   you're playing with kids and playing with toys and  sitting on the ground and reading Bible stories   and telling them about Moses and Joshua, is you're  helping rebuild walls in families. That's really   what you're doing. Those of you who are parking  cars, really what you're doing when you're smiling   when everybody comes in, is you're helping to  rebuild walls because they haven't had anybody   smile at them the whole time they came in all  week. All week people have been mean-mugging them,   and this week they happen to see somebody going...  You're bringing life, you're rebuilding walls,   and you don't even know it. Individuals that are  behind cameras, you're rebuilding walls right now.   I want to say thank you to every single one that  is helping to rebuild walls. Even while things   might not be perfect in your own life, you're  still helping rebuild walls. I want to say   thank you to those of you even giving financially  when you got your own struggles and you have your  

own debt and you have your own problems and  you have your own weights and you're saying,   "God, I trust you anyway," and you keep on  giving. You're rebuilding people's walls.  And you're part of a story that is bigger than  anything you could possibly imagine. Let's   build something. Let's build something for the  glory of God. The culture is trying to tell you,   the culture is trying to tell all of us, "Hey,  chill. Relax. Take a step back. Get your me time.   You need your me time." Here's one of the lies  of culture. How are you going to pour out unless   you're filled up? Ask everybody who's a parent of  a newborn if you're filled up every time your kid   cries at 3:17 in the morning. Parents, help me  out here. Are you filled up? No, I'm dead tired.   I'm trying to figure out what is going on with  this child. I've already changed a diaper. I   have already given milk. Shoot, I'm trying to  breastfeed myself, and I can't even breastfeed.  I'm trying to figure, how do I get this child  just to sleep tonight? God, would you give me   90 minutes? Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus  for 90 minutes of sleep. Just help me sleep   for 90 minutes, Lord. You're not filled up during  that time, but you still have to pour out because  

God has given you an assignment in that moment.  You and I can't be waiting till we're all filled   up. Now listen, does that mean you don't rest?  Of course you rest. Sabbath? Yes, Sabbath. Do   you go on vacation? Yes, go on vacation. Go on  your walks. Do the things that you need to do   to refill yourself up. No doubt about that. But  do not believe the lie that you have to wait,   that everything is in order in your life  in order to be a part of the move of God   that is happening all around you. I'm going to  get this fixed. I'm going to get that fixed,   and when I get done with this and I get done  with that, and then I'll get involved. No,   you get involved right now. You can play keys? Get  involved right now. You can help lead worship? Get   involved right now. You can be a prayer partner?  Get involved right now. Let's build something.  What are we waiting for? For everything to  be in order? I don't, honestly, I don't know   anybody's life who's all in order. I haven't met  them yet. I haven't met a person that's like,   "You know what? Everything in my life right now  is perfect. I don't have one prayer request. I'm   not asking God for anything." I haven't met  a person like that. The people that I meet,   even when they're on the mountaintops, they  got something else. They got something going on   with the kid. "Everything's great, but if I can  just get this one kid to act right." That's not  

smacking the kid, that's smacking the air because  we don't smack. My mother did. She whooped my   behind. I told my mom, I said, "Mom, just so you  know, I could have had you in jail." She goes,   "Earl, get over here right now. I'll whoop your  behind right now, Earl." Put me right in the line.  Have one kid, one friend, one issue, one struggle.  So if you're waiting for everything to be perfect,   it's really just an excuse that you and I like  to hold onto. So we won't obey what God is   calling us to do to live for the glory of God. Now, here's the thing. At Nehemiah chapter two,   I'm going to go to verse number 10. I'm not going  to go through the whole book today, okay? Nehemiah   chapter two, verse number 10. I do want to show  you this. "When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah   the Ammonite official heard about this, they were  very disturbed that someone had come to promote   the welfare of the Israelites." I'm skipping here.  Nehemiah prays, has a moment with the king. Again,  

you can read it on your own during your Bible  study time. Beautiful, just clear book. He didn't   know what to say. He just pauses for a second and  answers. He prays, and then he answers the king,   and then the king gives him resources to go and  accomplish his mission to rebuild the walls. And   now he's on assignment from God to do something  on behalf of God, to serve the Kingdom of God,   to lift the lives of people, to remind God's kids  that God is still good and God is still faithful,   and God has not forgotten about them. To take  them from a place of being utterly vulnerable and   bringing them into a place of safety and security  that is found in God, not just in the walls,   but found in the God that loves them and serves  them. And as he has all of these resources and   he's about to take this step, something happens  to him that inevitably will happen to all of us.  Opposition. Any time you begin to take steps to  rebuild walls and to be the man or the woman that   God is calling you to be, you can expect, don't be  surprised, you can expect that the enemy of your   soul is going to bring opposition into your life.  These individuals come in and they go, "What are  

you doing?" They're trying to stop him. They're  trying to push him back. And the unfortunate thing   is, in today's day and age, not here at this  church, just some places, there's a narrative   out there that if you're getting resistance, then  somehow, some way, you must not be in God's will.   And I say the scriptures seem to teach that when  you are smack dab in the middle of God's will,   there are winds coming against you  because you are now trying to move   forward to be who God has called you to be. If you're a teenager, if you're a young adult,   if you're at school and you're saying,  "Hey, I'm going to start a Bible study. Hey,   I'm going to live for God. Hey, we're not partying  anymore," don't expect everybody to applaud you.   You can expect some people to go, "Oh, yeah,  man, that's great. Good job, bro. I love that."   And they'll dap you up, and there's going to be  some people talking about you behind your back,   thinking that you're better than everybody else,  thinking that you're holier than thou. But don't   let their words stop you from moving forward to  build what God is calling you to build. You keep   on standing strong and you keep on moving  forward. This is the DNA that you have as a   follower of Jesus Christ. You're not a pushover.  You have the same spirit that raised Jesus from   the dead that's alive on the inside of you. I'm going to show you this verse. I'm going to   show you one of my favorite verses. I can't get  away from this verse. I love this verse. Luke,   chapter 13. Look at this verse. This verse might  surprise some of us. This is Jesus, the meek and  

mild Savior, the kind, loving, warm Jesus, okay?  And he is loving, he's kind, he's all those   things, of course. But he also has that dog in  him. Luke chapter 13, verse 31. Look at this. "At   that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and they  said to him," the religious leaders come to him   and they say, "Leave this place and go somewhere  else. Herod wants to kill you." Death threat.   Government coming at him. What does Jesus say?  "Oh, so scared." So I'm so, ooh, Herod, ooh. Oh   my gosh. Oh my gosh. Wait, they posted what?  They said what? Ooh. Wait, they don't like me?   Is that what Jesus does? No. Watch this. Look what   your savior says, okay? "He replied, 'Go tell  that fox.'" I'm not making it up. This is in   the Bible right here. "Go tell that fox, I will  keep on driving out demons and healing people   today and tomorrow, and on the third day,  I will reach my goal. In any case, I must  

press on today and tomorrow and the next day." Go tell that fox I'm going to drive out demons   today and tomorrow and the next day. You think  I'm taking steps back? You think I'm stopping? You   think I'm not going to serve in church? You think  I'm not going to be found in the house of God?   You're wrong. Cancer can come. Diabetes can come.  The lies can come. The fear can come. You'll find   me ten toes down, lifting up the name of Jesus,  living for his glory, and building his kingdom. Go   tell that fox. I must press on. Is there anybody  that's like, "I must, I must, I must. I must press   on. There's a lot of things trying to tell me  to stop, but I must press on. There's a lot of   things coming at me, but I must press on. There's  a lot of things trying to confuse me, and a lot of   things I don't understand, but I must press on." Okay. Back to Nehemiah. Man, you all got me more   fired up than I want to be. Nehemiah. You get to  chapter number three. In chapter number three,  

I'm fast-forwarding here, everyone takes their  section of the wall. Different people take   different sections of the wall. Everyone has  to do their part. The walls are broken down,   and each family has to do their part. Here  at Elevation, each family has to do their   part. We can't keep thinking, "Oh, it's Elevation.  Everything is done." It's not done. I promise you,   each week we're figuring it out. We're like,  "Lord, in Jesus' name, bring it together, Lord."   Doing all these Elevation nights and reaching  the world and putting out songs, it's all so   beautiful. It's wonderful. You can be tricked into  thinking everything must be done. There must be   no more holes in the wall. And I'm just telling  you, there are holes in the wall because some of   us aren't doing our part. No guilt, no shame at  all. You're loved exactly how you are. But also,   God loves you too much to let you stay that way.  So we got to rise up and understand, I'm not just   a consumer here, I'm a contributor to be a part  of the mission to reach people who are far from   God and to bring them to life in Jesus Christ. In chapter three, everybody did their section  

of the wall. I got my section, got my section,  got my section, got my section, got my section,   got my section, got my section. And as everybody  did their part of the wall, though, a miracle   happened and in 52 days, these walls were rebuilt. Can I say this? I put it like this in my head.   What you build now, someone you love will  live in later. My wife, holiest person I know,   but before she got saved, she was crazy. She was  out there. She'll tell you. Crop tops and all. And   got the pictures to prove it. I don't hold onto  any of those pictures. This is what she told me,   okay? I only know her as perfect and holy and  pure, but back in the day, she was like, "Oh,   yeah, I could drink a whole 40." I'm like,  "What? I did not need to know this." And   neither are we recommending that at all.  Anybody say, "Well, she did it." No, no. 

Well, she ends up giving her heart to Christ  in college. She's working in a clothing store.   This young lady that she becomes best friends  with, one day they're talking and Onika finds   out that she's 21. She goes, "Oh, you're 21? Oh  my gosh, I can't believe you're 21 years old.   That means you don't have to get carded when  you go to a club." And she goes, "Oh, I don't   drink. I'm a Christian. I don't go in club. I'm a  Christian." And Onika said she heard that and now   she understands that the Holy Spirit put like an  arrow straight into her heart of conviction going,   "Hmm, what's different about her? Than me." She  gives her heart to Christ, this young lady, Jory,   and her sister mentor, pour into, my wife,  and now we're living happily ever after.  But Jory was a part of a college ministry,  and then there was this guy that Jory knew,   and Jory asked him if he would be willing  to sow into her, give her money for this   missionary endeavor that she was on. That guy's  name was Philip. Philip gave her money to help   her be at this college ministry, where she  met Onika, and Onika gave her heart to Christ.   Now Onika and I are building Shoreline City. Well,  Philip Wagner was a pastor at a church in LA. And  

when he was a pastor at this church in LA, he led  it for 30 years. He's now given the church over,   but then he moved away from his church in LA.  Lived with integrity, character, great people. He   and his wife, Holly, moved from LA to Dallas, and  now they're actually sitting on the front row at   our church every single week. So now I go, "Wait,  all those years ago when he sowed into Jory,   he was actually sowing into himself." Because he  says, "Earl, I'm here at the church, and my light,   my heart is coming alive. I know I'm not running  this church, but I feel as alive as I did when   I was running my church all those years ago."  If you sow now and build now, someone you love   will live in later. Are you serving and giving and  praying and involved in a way that your kids will   still want to be a part of this church 10, 15,  20 years from now? Let it not just be good for...  Okay. I'm going to shut this party down.  Go with me to Nehemiah chapter 6. Band,   everybody, you can get ready to come in place.  Okay, look at this. I'm honored my time.  Nehemiah chapter 6, verse number 1. Chapter  4, beautiful. You got to read it. Chapter 5,  

intentional, caring for the poor and the  needy, like we do here at Elevation. Chapter 6,   verse number 1. It says, "When word came to  Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest   of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and  not a gap was left in it—though up to that time   I had not set the doors in the gates—Sanballat  and Geshem sent me this message:" So here are   the enemies DM'ing him. "Come, let us meet  together in one of the villages on the plain   of Ono." Whenever you get a DM from someone and  they want to meet you in a place called Oh No,   we ain't got to pray about that. Okay? The answer  to the question is in the name, okay? Oh, no.  "But they were scheming to harm me; so I  sent messengers to them with this reply:   'I am carrying on a great project and cannot go  down. Why should the work stop while I leave it   and go down to you?' Four times they sent me the  same message, and each time," I love this, "I gave   them the same answer." Four times. "Hey, you want  to come off that wall? Hey, come out here. Hey,  

stop living for God. Hey, that's not who you are.  Come on, stop pretending. Stop acting like you   live for Jesus now. I know who you are. I remember  who you are. I got the pictures. I got the   Facebook posts to show you. I got the Instagram  to show you. I've seen your TikTok. Come on,   now you're acting saved. Come on back down.  Come on back down. Come on back down. Come on,   I'm your frat brother. Come on back down to  who you used to be. Come on, let's talk how   we used to talk, live how we used to live, act  how we used to act." And they keep on pressing,   keep on pressing, keep on pressing. Four times,  four times, four times, four times, and each time   he gave the same answer. Each time he gave the  same answer. Each time he gave the same answer.   Opposition, same answer. Opposition, same answer.  Opposition, same answer. Opposition, same answer.  "Then the fifth time Sanballat..." Now it's five?  "The fifth time Sanballat sent his aide with   the same message on this handwritten note." Five  times? Are you serious? And Nehemiah stands strong   because this is the DNA of a follower of God. I  stand strong, not in my own strength and power,   but in the grace and the power that  He provides. So now he goes back and   forth. But look at this in chapter 9. I'm all done here. Can you bring out   my microphone? My microphone stand, rather.  Nehemiah chapter 6, verse number 8. It says,  

"I sent him this reply." Thank you so much. I'll  take that. "I sent him this reply: 'Nothing like   what you are saying is happening. You are just  making it up out of your head.'" Verse number 9,   "They were all trying to frighten us." They  were all trying to frighten us. Do you have   anything in your life that's trying to frighten  you? Anything in your life trying to tell you,   "Stop. It's not going to work for you. God's not  on your side." Anything trying to lie to you,   tell you, "You're not going to make it. It's  over for you. The divorce, it did you in,   you're done. You're finished. We know you  already made the mistake. It's done. It's   over." It's trying to intimidate you, trying to  frighten you. They were all trying to frighten us,   thinking their hands will get too weak  for the work and will not be completed.  I'm not going to sing because I can't. I'm not  going to sing. Put the rest of that verse up   there for me real quick, if you wouldn't mind.  It says, "They were all trying to frighten us,   thinking their hands will get too weak for the  work and will not be completed." But I prayed. Had  

a lot of weight on my shoulders, but I prayed, and  I prayed something very specific. Now strengthen   my hands. Man, the grace of God, walking up and  down every aisle. But I prayed, strengthen my   hands. I want to do something. I saw this in  my head. But I prayed, strengthen my hands.  So I'm going to say, "But I prayed," and all of  you are going to clap. Then you're going to say,   "Strengthen my hands." But I prayed. Strengthen  my hands. But I prayed. Strengthen my hands. But   I prayed. Strengthen my hands. But I prayed.  Strengthen my hands. I'm crying myself to   sleep at night, but I prayed. Strengthen my  hands. I'm battling cancer right now, but I   prayed. Strengthen my hands. I know this world  seems like it's going to hell in a handbasket,   but I prayed. Strengthen my hands. They said my  kid was going to stay here forever, but I prayed.   Strengthen my hands. I don't know if I'm going  to get through this anxiety and this depression.   It feels like it's going to take me over. It  feels like it's an overwhelming tidal wave, but   I prayed. Strengthen my hands. I don't know which  way is up sometimes. I feel like I'm confused,  

but I prayed. Strengthen my hands. Strengthen  my hands. Strengthen my hands. Strengthen my   hands. Strengthen my hands. Strengthen my hands. Strengthen my hands, oh, God. Strengthen my hands,   oh, God. Strengthen my back, oh, God. Strengthen  my legs, oh, God. Strengthen my knees, oh,   God. Strengthen my faith, oh, God. That I keep  my eyes fixed on you. Strengthen my hands. But   I prayed. Strengthen my hands. Strengthen my  hands. Strengthen my hands. Strengthen my hands,   oh, God. Strengthen my hands, oh, God. I'm not trying to muster the strength up   in myself. Strengthen my hands, oh, God. I don't  have the power in of myself. Strengthen my hands,   oh, God. I lift my eyes to the hills from where  my help comes from. Strengthen my hands, oh,   God. Strengthen my hands. Strengthen  my hands. Strengthen my hands.  The grace of God is available for every single one  of us. And wherever you're feeling weak, you might  

find yourself in your office, going, "I can't deal  with these people." Strengthen my hands, Lord.   The Spirit of God will be right there with you.  In offices, and in schools, and in car lines,   and in e-groups, and in the church, and  at playgrounds, on basketball courts,   in every place God is sending you. For you to  build something, not for your name and fame,   but for the glory and the fame of Jesus Christ. Bow your heads, if you wouldn't mind,   at all of our locations. Lord God, I speak a blessing over your   sons and daughters. I ask, in the name of Jesus,  that you would fill us up with your spirit and   with your power. I ask, oh, God, that you would do  something deep within us that can only be done by   the finished work of Jesus Christ upon that cross.  I ask, oh, God, that over every single family,   over every single young person and older person,  every man, every woman, oh, God, would you pour   out your spirit in might and in power. And  those of us whose walls have been torn down,   I thank you, oh, God, that you're sending in the  right people, and you're rebuilding what needs  

to be rebuilt so that we can live our lives for  your glory. But, Father, I pray a fresh fire and   a fresh passion and a fresh zeal over this entire  church. I ask that the next 20 years of Elevation   would be stronger and better and more filled  with faith than we ever thought possible. I ask   for there to be a unity. I ask for there to be an  anointing. I ask for there to be a strength. I ask   for there to be a resolve. I ask for there to be a  confidence, and I pray that this church would be a   city on a hill. Every family belongs to you, every  heart belongs to you, every mind belongs to you,   every future belongs to you. Jesus, be  exalted and do exceedingly, abundantly,   above all, more than we can ask, think, or even  imagine. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Hey, thank you for watching the Elevation  Church YouTube. I want you to subscribe.   That way you can know when we go live and  post new content. Make sure to leave me a   comment. Let me know what spoke to you today,  where you're watching from, and what we can   pray for you about. And if you'd like to support  the ministry financially, you can click the give   button now and help us continue reaching people  around the world for Jesus Christ. Thanks again.