Sunday Morning Worship & Word | Pastor Anthony “If You Build It, They Will Come!”

i have two verses of scripture this morning and if you would stand for the reading of god's word two verses of scripture the first one exodus chapter 40 verse 34 it states then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the lord filled the tabernacle next verse of scripture that i'll get onto a later on in this sermon ezekiel 43 13 states and these are the measures of the altar after the cubits the cubit is a cubit and an hand breath even the bottom shall be a cubit and the breath of cubit and the border thereof by the edge thereof around shall be a span and this shall be the higher place of the altar i want to preach to you minister to you i hope for a few moments this morning on the title if you build it he will come if you build it he will come let's lift up that name at the ongoing of this message mighty god we thank you today we thank you for the the lives lived and the generations that's poured into us that we have the opportunity that we have here today lord we've lifted up every need and every request and celebrated what you've already done and right now father we ask that your words sink deep into our hearts let it be an encouragement let it be with us not only today but tomorrow as we go out into this world and fulfill your great commission that we be the examples that you would have us to be and live a life called live a life anointed where your light just is shown through us this is our prayer and in jesus name we pray amen you can be seated if you build it he will come this quote is taken from the 1989 classic if you will film field of dreams the lead character hears a voice when walking through his almost foreclosed and just about bankrupt cornfield and it says if you build it he will come later he sees a vision of a baseball field he builds the field and shoeless joe jackson a long dead professional baseball player turns up and asks to play a game of catch all of these events unfold as to bring a dose of nostalgia to people of the town that they relive their childhood experiences which also consequently build closer community with one another this great deal of community use and rediscovered value of the cornfield result in saving the close to foreclosed land all of this a product of a farmer who would use his skills and use his talents and would pour his heart and soul into his work this quote if you build it he will come is often times restated if you build it they will come and it has been adapted into a business setting and is often used in corporate mission statements hammering home the philosophy that if you build something of quality if you build something worthwhile if you will pour your heart and i'll use that word often today about pouring yourself into something if you will pour your heart and soul into an idea or into a service or into a product a business then people will in turn support it people will in turn arrive and your efforts will be rewarded because of the work and not just a work in the negative connotation that we often hear it in our society or just a mundane job but something you poured yourself into and there will be a confirmation because of your talents and there will be confirmation as the results of your skills as you made your vision into reality your literal blood sweat and tears into the task at hand and this confirmation by means of customers or perhaps revenue or maybe even notoriety is a type of mutualistic relationship that sustains and also progresses the work that you entered into of the business we see this same concept throughout his word but with the confirmation being much higher and from god and he says by faith if i build it he will come and he he says if you'll follow my leading and use this as your navigational tool any when you put your plow to the hand in any arena of life when you build it i'm going to show up and i'm going to place the finishing touches of anointing and the finishing touches of protection and the finishing touches of blessing upon it we see this same parallel and this same spiritual truth throughout the lids of our bible and the building of the tabernacle is one of the most powerful and also symbolic stories and one of the most in the old testament it's filled with foreshadowing of things to come and the very materials used to construct the portable building would have implications for millennia much of the tabernacle was constructed out of acacia wood this was a rough prickly material but then it was overlaid with gold and you could just go online and hear many sermons about any particular portion of the tabernacle because it's filled with metaphors and allegories and symbolism and foreshadowing to the future but in addition to the materials of the building being spiritually significant and indeed they are the individuals who built the tabernacle were also of great importance the israelites at the time were a mobile people they would not just simply plant a temple in a ground in an arbitrary spot but in a day and age they lived obviously contractors and professional building companies were essentially non-existent and even if there were local individuals who were interested or perhaps had a had the trade of of being in construction many of the inhabitants of the land were hostile toward the israelites and would not have desired to help them build anything obviously as most of the time they were fighting against them hence it was necessary for god to raise up spiritually gifted people from among them to overseeing the building everybody say building the building of the tabernacle and before the construction of the tabernacle could begin god selected wise and skilled workers to oversee the process they were not only talented in their professions but they were also anointed by god they were anointed to do the work of the kingdom two of the men god chose to lead the work were beziele and ahalab their calling is recorded in exodus 35 30-35 bezalel is the first worker listed and it states that he could cut and set stone and carve wood and that both men had complementary skill sets that were perfect choice to lead the work these men let me reiterate were not just skilled in their specific area of labor the bible also makes a note that these two men were also granted a god-given ability to train and to teach others which is another sermon in and of itself they were anointed they had a skill set that just didn't pop into them overnight but it was many years of training many years of work many years of maybe asking an older generation above them how to cut stone how to lay brick how to make sure this tabernacle is in the right condition and they didn't just keep that skill set to themselves but they also saw the importance of training others underneath them because at the time the tabernacle was mobile and there had to be a place for god's name to be set there had to be a place for god's presence to dwell talent skills anointing training all of these characteristics bundled up in these two builders exodus 36 and one through seven records that bells alio and ahilab and all other skilled artisans were granted wisdom and they were granted understanding and god fine-tuned their skills and abilities to do the work necessary the work necessary to build the tabernacle however the workers were not the only ones with responsibilities to contribute to the process all of israel was called to help through the work of giving their offerings no matter what type of commerce they might have been involved in or however the transaction was made every single person was responsible to give whatever it is they had whether it be talents or skills or or whatever type of provision so the tabernacle could be built their giving was so generous that eventually the workers reported to moses that they had way more than was needed to complete the work and the story reiterates a very deep revelation i'm really going to crack the biblical code here this morning yes the church has spiritual leaders pastors and uh department leaders and we have musicians and singers and there's different staffs and all of these things are important this is revelatory truth right now but the church is equally made up of great men and great women that know what in the world they are doing and i praise god this morning for people that know how to get stuff done okay i praise god for people that know what they are doing that will train in a craft that will work in a vocation that know how to build that know how to paint that know how to serve that whatever their hand finds to do they do with all their mind and i thank god for people that know what in the world they're doing [Applause] and my aspiration this morning is to point out that whatever it is you do it is the work of god and the work that you do in this world even if it doesn't fit into our limited defining of characteristic of ministries it is a ministry and it does matter and it is not like right below here it is equally as important because there's no church if there's no saints there's no temple if there's no people working out in this world deep revelation this morning i i hope you can comprehend that oftentimes and i am chief guilty of this when we we we talk about examples or different ministries and we talk about how this person plays and sings or preaches and all this training and all those things are important and i'm the product of that as well and i know many many everyone up here works by vocationally and i again understand my heart this morning but there's no church without the people of god working the fields and the work that they do and supporting with their tithe and supporting what they're offering and what you pour your heart and soul into is a ministry let me not be too blasphemous this morning so maybe as i'm the one up here preaching that that i can say this and you know if you've listened to any of my sermons that i believe in the impact and the power of the preached word of god so let me build a foundation off of that so don't purposely misinterpret what i say but sometimes a sermon doesn't do too much when there's some dry wall that needs to be hung uh sometimes an exegetical inquiry if you will over a specific portion of text isn't going to get the wall painted sometimes we need somebody who's trained and who's given their life and pours their heart and soul into a vocation or a trade or a craft this past week a gentleman shows up elevator company pastor and bishop's out of town he's wanting to see the stuff so i'm like okay here we go so i'll go down there to meet him take him down and i go just as far as i can go the whole time i'm like you probably need to talk to bill sherwin you probably need to talk to bullet sherwin you probably need to talk to brother sherwood and luckily as i don't want to waste the guy's time because any contractor that shows up this isn't directed at them personally but any contractor that shows up you want to make sure they you make good use of their time and i'll leave that there so they come back again uh but we have an elevator that's going to be delivered tomorrow praise god for that oh i'm done altar call and i got outside and thank god brother courtney harvey was out there and he started talking lingo to this guy and i'm just like man that's that's fantastic yeah absolutely sounds great and he got on the phone with brother sherwin yes that sounds that that sounds good we'll set that up for then we'll deliver it there and i'm just like perfect gentlemen i thank god for people that know what they're doing i didn't go out there and bless god elevator i want you to be installed thus saith the lord no god gave people wisdom god gave people skills god gave people vocations and whatever your hand find it to do it's important to the work of god even if it doesn't directly translate to our limited skewed view of what ministry looks like we're called to go out into this world and there's a special anointing on your life in whatever whatever it is you do eleanor became ill the other night it really scared us did we pray the prayer of faith absolutely oh and i mean i love a worship service i love singing and music i uh i didn't get on spotify though and and put a playlist together and say eleanor listen to this i'm believing you're going to be this is going to make you better i didn't call brother jeremy up and say hey could you get the praise team on a zoom call eleanor's sick no you know what we did we took her to a clinic i said we need a nurse we need a doctor we need somebody that knows what in the world they're doing god give me somebody that knows what they're doing somebody that will pour their heart and pour their soul into their work into their vocation into their occupation and i thank god for it this mormon and the purpose of every word i say is for you to please understand whatever it is you do it is vital vital vital to the kingdom of god there's no church without the work and giving of every single profession and even if your occupation doesn't fit in some limited overly simplified view describing the ministries of the church don't you think that for one second that every second of every time card punched isn't noticed by god don't you think for one second that he doesn't see your faithfulness in your job and in your work and in your giving and the things that you pour yourself into and the things that you put your heart and soul into it's noticed by god and in fact when you do it he is going to show up in whatever vocation you work in and he's going to work right in the midst of it i'm thankful for electricians i'm thankful for technicians i'm thankful for plumbers i'm thankful for teachers i'm thankful for nurses i'm thankful for police officers i'm thankful for photographers accountants mechanics coaches salesmen i'm thankful for lawyers please keep the stuff we talk about confidential though it takes every single vocation every single skill set to make sure there's a place for his name to sit not only on the parameters of this campus but in the fields and in the jobs where you work because you are the invisible god made visible through the things that you do acts the book of acts acts 2 38 repentance baptism in the name of jesus receiving the gift of the holy ghost man powerful going out into all the world and we come to chapter 18 chapter 17 was filled with the apostle paul one of the greatest thinkers aside from anyone's religious views the greatest thinkers in human history on par really if you if you wanted to really compare it with the great ancient greek philosophers of the past you know you would have this secession of socrates plato and aristotle and then right there would be the apostle paul shortly after you know could speak so many different languages and work in so many different areas and we see the compilation of this where he's attributed to probably about one-third of the new testament are his writings the apostle paul and in chapter 17 we kind of see the the highlight of his his intellectual uh uh experiences if you will for lack of a better terms for he goes to athens greece the cradle of western civilization the birthplace of democracy the philosophers and the great thinkers of the time the epicureans and the and the stoics and we see the apostle paul begin to give them a bible study and begin to give them this this great exploratory preaching on on the on god's existence and how he's not an unknown god and he gives them such a fabulous display of his intellect using their language using their philosophies meeting them where they're at on that intellectual scale but the apostle paul isn't just some public intellectual who was good for nothing but the book of acts now next chapter said after these things paul departed from athens and came to corinth and found a certain jew named tequila born in pontus lately come from italy and his wife priscilla because that claudius had commanded all jews to depart from rome and came unto them and notice verse 3 and because he was of the same craft he abode with them and wrought for their occupation as well were tent makers we see the apostle paul going back and forth with the great intellectuals of that day but equally important just a chapter over he's sitting there sewing and putting tents together with his fellow people the same book of acts that talks about repentance baptism in the name of jesus the infilling of the holy ghost going out into all this world is also the same book that records that it's important as well that you know how to do something that you know how to get something done and sometimes the apostle paul was conversing with philosophers and other times he was putting tents together because it was necessary there had to be a place to sleep at night mighty god i'm thankful this morning for our people like the apostle paul who have yes they're different ministries who yes are able to witness people but i'm also thankful that there's some people in this house that know how to get the work done i'm thankful for it i'm thankful for it i know we've i showed you some pictures earlier of uh the commencement service for bishop and they had some of his things that he brought there that they're going to leave in the museum there like a necktie in his his bible and some there was a pair of glasses and some different things like that i have something from my grandpa that means more than any of those things though and i stole it from him i have a sweatband from him and what that represents to me when i see it is that the church and the work of god this right here this is a small small portion of it but it takes prayer and work it takes fasting and being able to get on a john deere it takes studying this word and also being able to roll up your sleeves and get a job done if we truly want to reach this world yeah we're going to uh we're going to debate and and give our apologetics to the great thinkers of this time and i believe in all of that but then on the flip side i better be able to sit down and work on a tent and not be just good for nothing i better be able to know how to work i better be able to know how to get a job done i better be able to be relevant in this society and this community and anything that your hand finds to do you do it with all your might because god is in it god has anointed it and whatever you build he's going to show up and he's going to use it he's going to use it for his glory whatever it is every aspect of the tabernacle and its construction the materials the workers the function and the use of the tabernacle teaches us these valuable lessons and everything that you do you point to christ the tabernacle served as a important foreshadowing of christ in the new covenant and where john recorded that the word was made flesh and dwelt among us that imagery is of the tabernacle for in the greek it's literally interpreted the word became flesh and tabernacled among them every single thing you do the job you work at the things you pour again that word your heart and soul into if you do it unto him he's going to pour out on it and he's going to show up in it and he's going to sustain it he's going to protect it and he's going to elevate it after the tabernacle was finished those workers would look on at the blocks that they laid and the stone that they cut and all the people that might have worked in the marketplace or the people that had traveled and brought their offerings up that said you know i didn't directly hammer a nail into this building but the things that i did i gave to it and they all sat there and looked on at the tabernacle that had been constructed and after the tabernacle was finished a miraculous event occurred that reaffirmed the lord's blessing over all the work they had done as moses and the children of israel looked on we read our key text a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the lord filled the tabernacle and the glory cloud was so thick that moses could not even enter inside the temple structure this supernatural visible manifestation of god's presence was not a one-time occurrence but every time they had achieved this new found building of each set of the tabernacle because that cloud also told them when to move and it directed them they would build it and then god would show up and i want to tell you this morning whether you're laying bricks cutting stone or the transactions of your commerce are just giving and not directly related to how often times we describe ministry as singing or preaching or or playing every single thing you do is noted by god and when you do it unto him you can just sit back and look on and knowing that his glory is just going to come down and visibly manifest himself in your life whatever it is you do when you do it unto him he's going to show up and anoint him that's why when a graduation takes place you see parents or guardians or a teacher just overwhelmed with so much emotion as that student receives that diploma because they know that they had a part and then there's this just there's a divine supernatural moment that you're just overcome with emotions and what that is it's the glory of the lord coming down on the work and the toil and the many years that you've invested into it or or when a coach tears up after seeing uh seeing a team with all of these hours of practice go in and execute the things that they have been working on or the builder looking on at the completion of a structure that was the result of many years of training many mornings of getting up before the sun did many mornings of going into work when they didn't feel like it many mornings of going into work when there was other trouble going on in their life but they they knew they had to get the job done i'm not even talking about working on a church structure or something related to the church campus i'm talking about in whatever occupation you worked on or or whatever the structure was because every single thing you do you do it unto god and when you look at what you've done and you know that you couldn't have done it without him and you do it unto him there is about to be a special moment where god's glory just comes down and manifests himself in that situation because you know if you build it he's going to show up you know if you build it he's going to protect it you know if you build it even in a depression even in a recession he's going to sustain it and he's going to elevate it [Applause] no matter what the statistics of the world say in ezekiel 43 13 it says these are the measures of the altar after the cubit the cubit is in this particular instance it says the cubit is a cubit and a hand breath so the increment of measurement of the cubit in biblical times was four fingers with six measurements from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger that's what represented the cubit that was the increment of measurement in biblical times when noah built the ark the cubit was the standard unit of measurement but when we get to the book of ezekiel we see an altar with a divine command and it says and these are the measures the altar after the cube is the cubit in this instance is a cubit and a hand breath six hand breaths in one cubit but in this instance a cubit and one more the number six in the bible is the representation and the number of humanity it symbolizes human weakness and i don't necessarily mean weak in the sense of not being able to accomplish something but human limitedness if you will understanding that humans can only go to a certain extent not that a human couldn't do something notable but there is a limit on what you could do man was created on the sixth day and nothing represented humanity more than the increment of measurement of the cubit in judaism they would call the arm the cubit of a man but in this divine structure to be built in the book of ezekiel it says in this instance a cubit is going to be a cubit plus one more hand breath when god gives the instruction to build this divine structure it's as if he says you put your cubit in there and then i'm going to provide the divine seventh hand with it it's as to say if you'll put the work into it if you'll put the preparation into it if you'll put the faithfulness into it if you'll pray if you'll fast if you'll use your talents if you'll use your skill set i know there's going to be long nights if you'll even though there's hurt even through the long suffering if you'll put your heart and your soul into it if you'll put your cupid into it i'm going to provide the seventh hand if you'll leave room for me if you'll do whatever you do knowing that you can only go to here and then it's me i'll provide that seventh hand that divine hand and if you build it i'm gonna show up if you musicians and singers would like to come at this time when you build when you work when you pour your heart and soul him showing up is also the determining factor in the sustainability of what you do and the success of what you do in the provision that you have and the progression and elevation of your business of your work of your vocation of your occupation of your talent whatever it is but he says if you'll use your cubit and keep in mind that you do everything that you can and you live a life of faith i'm going to show up and i'm going to provide that divine seventh hand noah spent years poured his heart and soul building the ark and as it was time we read that god comes and shuts the door and provides that seventh hand of confirmation elijah in the midst of pagan worshipers in the midst of a drought pours water over an altar because of divine leading that don't make a lot of sense right and what does god do he did what he was supposed to do he gave that cubit and god sent the fire down king jehoshaphat and his army were in a barren desert wasteland and there was no water god told him through this prophet that you need to make this valley full of ditches if you'll do the work if you'll put in that cubit that six that your humanity in it i'm going to come and give that seventh divine hand of provision if you'll give that cupid cupid i'll provide the seventh hand and we read god manifest in flesh jesus christ at his first miracle in john 2 the wedding ceremony they were all out of wine and there were six stone containers empty waiting to be filled symbolizing that there was something there that was about to fill them up and he says use water use what you have use what you're capable of use what's available to you and then jesus would put that divine seventh hand on it and transform that water into one some of you under the sound of my voice have stepped out in your work stepped out in your vocation stepped out in your skill set and you know it was a divine leading by god and you've given every single thing you have you've given that cubit and you've left room you know that hey i've gone as far as i could go but god i need that seventh hand right now i need that glory to manifest itself in this situation some of you have moved cities and moved states by a divine calling and divine leading knowing that if you'll do this he's going to show it up knowing from our title if you build it he's going to come but you're you're at that point and and doubt wants to slip in and skepticism wants to slip in but you know in this instance it's not humanity's cubit but it's a cubit and then one more hand and i know whose hand that is it's the author and the finisher of the faith and i know if i'll remain faithful i know if i will hearken unto his call that when i've gone just as far as i could go that's when he's going to show up stand with me maybe you've started a business maybe you're in a land of indecision that truly feels like a drought maybe you're working multiple jobs and you feel this pressure of god what is it what is it that i actually am doing for you and there's maybe some uncertainty and confusion [Music] please no please no yes yes there's opportunities for you to serve in our strictest definition of ministries from the church and we all understand that but that is the tip of the iceberg and that is a limited view if for one second we think that ministries are defined how we characterize them for every single thing you do every time you punch a time card every hour of overtime you work every extra job that you take while you're going to school and you're working while you're raising the kids and you're faithful to his house everything you do [Music] is done unto him and when you acknowledge that he's going to pour his glory down upon it when you give that cubit that seventh hand is going to show up and it's going to sustain it's going to provide it's going to heal it's going to anoint it's going to elevate whatever it is you do so with every head bowed and every eye closed i want to give this invitation to every single individual under the sound of my voice maybe you've been finding yourself weary and well-doing maybe you find yourself in the desert in the the land of uncertainty i want to open this altar this morning to you to know that there's a seventh hand on its way that you've given everything you had and i want you to know his glory is on its way and i just believe this morning as i invite you to this altar that if you'll lift up your hands to him and you look over the things that you've been able to accomplish i believe his glory is just going to manifest itself in a very special way i believe some answers to questions are going to take place in a very special way this morning because if you build it he's going to come i'm about to let the singer sing but i want to say this as well the reason we have talents the reason we have skills everything we have yes is to be used for his glory but what did he say two new commandments i give unto you turn to god with all your heart and then however much you love me he said is determined by how much you love your neighbor so the most important person in this room is that person next to you and every skill every talent when you do it unto him you're really doing it for each other and we need some modern day nehemiahs which are present in this church body who said i'm going to work on and rebuild the temple walls of jerusalem because the people the israelites have been scattered abroad i'm going to get to work to know that there is going to be a home for them to come to that even though they've been scattered abroad i'm going to have a place that his name is set that even though sin might scatter them abroad there's going to be a house for them to come home to even though oppression might have took them here and took them there i'm going to make sure the walls are in good shape i'm going to make sure they're singing i'm going to make sure there's plan i'm going to make sure the bricks are laid i'm going to make sure the walls are painted because there's some prodigals coming home there's some saints of god coming home that are out there in this city and out there in this region and that are watching over the live stream right now and if you're a nehemiah right now i want every nehemiah to step forward and pray a prayer of confirmation and commitment and say whatever it is i have god it's yours right now if i'm a builder if i'm a painter if i'm a contractor if i'm an accountant if i'm a nurse if i crunch numbers in the office tomorrow i'm doing it for you because i know there's going to be a special outpouring of his glory i know there's going to be a seventh hand show up and i know you're going to use my skills and my vocation in a mighty way for your glory to win more souls come forward this morning yes jesus