And, lots that we want to talk about today. Brother Don and I were talking, and he said, the slides you sent me this week are are different. You put the words first instead of the title screen. I said, yes. I know.

I did that on purpose. He said, I’m not sure what to do with that. Just play them in order, brother. It’ll be good. So, you know, it’s a wonderful day when we can join together in the house of the Lord.

We can come together for a common reason to worship our savior. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what it’s all about. And today, we’ve had the events with the children. We’ve had choir.

We’ve had specials. We’ve had all of this go on. Already, I hope that your heart is tuned to worship. And so I want us to move forward from what we talked about last week. If you were here last week, you know that we talked about rebuilding.

We talked about rebuilding. Now I used scripture for Nehemiah, and and the rebuilding of the wall, but we talked about rebuilding of God’s kingdom. What do you mean rebuilding of God’s kingdom? I didn’t know what needed to be rebuilt. Well, all we must do is look around and see the deterioration that has happened in this country for those that are serving God.

We look around this church today, and we know that it should be full. We can go to just about any church across the country and find the same problem, that it’s not near the number of people here that there used to be. The problem is people have gotten, well laid back and kinda think somebody else can do it. There’s gonna be somebody else that could do it. So last week, we talked about rebuilding.

We saw as God’s people worked. When Nehemiah tried to rebuild the wall, God’s people began to come together and work for a common purpose. They came together, pardon me, to rebuild the wall. Some people worked while some were praying. Some couldn’t do the physical work, but they were praying.

In our country today, we see there are some that can’t do the physical work, but they can still pray because they know what is at stake. And so they can pray. Some can work. Some can pray. We also saw some were guarding.

Some weren’t doing the work, but they were guarding against the enemy and those that were trying to come and tear down the wall. And so as some were working, some were praying, some were keeping the guard to make sure that those who were working were able to keep working and that they weren’t being deterred from what they were doing. It took more than one person to rebuild that wall. It took more than one person to rebuild that wall. It wasn’t just one.

So I want you to understand this. This week, I want us to see, it takes all, and all means All. All. All of us. All means all.

There’s no exception to the word all. When you say all, it’s not all except, it’s all. It takes all of us, all of God’s people to rebuild the kingdom of God. It takes all of us working together just like we saw the children. They couldn’t stretch all the way across here.

There was a gap left. You know what happens when there’s a gap? The enemy shoots the gap. The enemy comes through the gap. The enemy comes in and starts to tear things down from behind.

We have to have all of us, not just some of us. It takes all of us if we’re going to rebuild the kingdom of God. Because make no mistake, in the world today, the kingdom of God has been deteriorated. It’s been deteriorated by the enemy without Satan and the enemy within people. People who are not stepping up and doing what God has called us to do.

People who are say they know God, but they’re not serving him. They’re not trying to do what needs to be done. It’s simply, well, I know God, and I hope that everything works out, but I have something else to do. It’s not how it’s going to work. It takes all of us.

Any task that is as massive as rebuilding God’s church will take us all. Not just us, but it take all of God’s people. But if you’re one of God’s people and you know him, then it’s going to take you. It’s going to take you. We can’t sit back and let somebody else do it because too many people are sitting back to let somebody else do it, and there’s not enough to do the work.

We need all of us in order to rebuild the kingdom. Listen. I know that some of you are gonna be surprised when I say this. The preacher can’t do it alone. The preacher can’t do it alone.

Neither can other ministers or teachers or deacons. In fact, no one can do it alone. No one can do it by themselves. The only one that could do it by themselves is Jesus. He’s coming back one day and he will do it by himself, but before then we need to get it built back up because we don’t know when he’s coming back.

We don’t know when that’s gonna happen. So I want you to look with me today to Exodus chapter 31, and we’re gonna start with verses one through three. If you have your copy of god’s word, please turn there so that you can keep up. If you don’t have it, it’s gonna be on the screen for you. Alright.

It went kinda crazy. I got it, Don. Hold on. Here we go. See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uriah, the son of Hur, the tribe of Judah.

I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship. God filled the people with what they needed. Now think about this. God called the people, and he filled them with exactly what they needed. When you come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, you don’t come because you decided I should do that.

You come because God called you and put it upon you that you knew you should come and do that. Who God calls, he equips. Who God calls, he fills. Who God calls, he gives a mission. When God called you to be a child of God, he filled you with everything you needed at that moment.

He filled you with it. The spirit of God filled you with whatever you needed to do the mission that he had for you. Now here’s the thing. You need to be searching for what that is. What did god give you to use for him?

What is it that you have to use for god? Because everybody doesn’t have the same thing. You see, God didn’t call everybody to be a preacher. Even though he did say everyone should share the word of God, he didn’t call everyone to stand up before a congregation and preach. He didn’t call everyone to be a teacher.

He didn’t call everyone to be a construction worker, but he called some to do all of it. And so God filled all the people with everything they needed at that moment. In this passage, God filled the people, with the Holy Spirit. God filled the people with wisdom. God filled them not only with the spirit, but he gave them wisdom.

Now listen. Wisdom, he gave them. Also, he gave them knowledge. Wait a minute. What’s the difference, brother George?

Wisdom and knowledge, ain’t that kinda the same thing? Well, ask someone who’s 20 and someone who’s 60 what’s the difference between wisdom and knowledge. Someone who’s 20 knows it all. Someone who’s 60 has the wisdom to know they don’t know it all. Wisdom comes from life, from the things that you need, things that have happened.

God gave them wisdom beyond their years, but he also gave them knowledge that was the absolute understanding of what to do. So he filled them with the spirit. He gave them wisdom. He gave them knowledge. He also gave them understanding understanding of what he wanted them to do.

Understand, God gave you a mission the moment that you accepted him. If you’re not sure what that mission was, you can look right over there. Go and make disciples. God gave you a mission the moment you accepted him. Now your part in going and making disciples might be look different than mine or his or hers or someone else’s.

God gave us all part of the mission. He also gave in this case, he gave them he filled them with craftsmanship. Craftsmanship. You know what this means? It means that when God called for this temple to be built, when he called for this tent of meeting and everything that was gonna be put together in it, when he called for all of this to be put together, the people that he called, he filled them with craftsmanship, which meant that before that, they couldn’t do this task.

They didn’t know how to do that, but God filled them with it, and he gave them the ability to do that. People say, well, I’ve never been good at doing whatever. When’s the last time you tried it? Have you tried it since God gave you, the assurance of salvation? Have you tried whatever do you have a desire to do it?

Now I know everybody says different things. We used to have a a man in our congregation that, he said he always wanted to sing. But after getting kicked out of three choirs, he decided that wasn’t what God was calling him to do. He wanted to sing, but that just wasn’t what God wanted to do. But you know what?

God used him in so many other ways. The reality is God gave every one of us the abilities that we need to perform the task that he calls us to. What is that task? Have you sought that out? Have you looked to see?

What do you want me to do, god, with this life you gave me? What skills and talents? What do I have that you’ve given me that you want me to do? I don’t know. Look at verses four through six.

He gave them all the skills and the talent and the craftsmanship to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. And behold, I myself have appointed with him, Holyab, the son of, Ashimirok, of the tribe of Dan, and in the hearts of all who are skillful, I have put skill that they may make all that I have commanded you. Everything god was commanding, he already had anointed the people to do it. He’d given them the skills that were needed to do the task in order to complete the mission. Everything God was calling him to do, he already had called people to do that.

It was already there. He gave him the ability to be workers. He gave him the ability to be blacksmiths and work in gold and silver and all of those things. He gave him the ability to be carpenters. He gave him the ability to be artists, and all were filled with skill.

Every one of them. Here’s the thing. There’s people here in our congregation that are amazing singers. Oh, they can make everything sound. They could sing the phone book.

It would be beautiful. Right? They can sing so well. There are others that that just is not what is good for them. They they can’t sing.

I try to sing with the choir sometimes and they say, you’re on the wrong key. And I say, I got a pocket full of keys. Which one do you want me to use? I I don’t know what that means. I try to sing, but, you know, I’m not always on the right key or the right tune or at the right something called octave, whatever that is.

The whole point is that’s not necessarily what God called me to do, but God called me to use my mouth. I’ve been accused of talking too much since I was probably two years old. You talk all the time. God said, I got a job for you. I got a job that you gotta talk to do the job.

Right? You have to speak to do that. God gave me that gift even though some of you may not think it’s a gift. You’re like, just quiet. God gave me that gift, and I’m trying to use that.

But God didn’t only give me that gift. There are other things that God gifted me with that I still need to use for him. For you, think about this. What is it that you just love to do? How can it be used by God?

What is it that you know you’re good at? Can you paint? Can you build? Can you sing? Can are you great with money?

Are are you a leader? What can God use the skills that he gave you? How can you use them for him? How can you use them for him? You see, he gave all of those skills.

He made some of them carpenters, some of them blacksmiths, some of them artists. He gave them all the skill, and he filled them with that skill. Verse seven through nine says, the tent of meeting and the ark of testimony and the mercy seat upon it and all the furniture of the tent. That’s what they were building. The table also and its utensils, and the pure gold lamp stands with all its utensils, and the altar of incense.

The altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and the labor and its stand. God gives each of his people talent and gifts for serving him. None of them knew exactly what God wanted built, but God gave the wisdom and knowledge to one to tell them this is what you need to build, and this is the dimensions that it needs to be in. These are the materials that you need to use to build this. They’d never built these things before, but God gave them the wisdom to be able to do it.

They were willing, and they went and they built it. And it was pleasing to God. Why was it pleasing to God? Because they used the skills he gave them to do exactly what he called them to do. God gives each of us talent and gifts for serving him.

I know I’ve talked to plenty of people that say, I just don’t have any talent. I don’t have any talent. What that really means is you just haven’t found it yet. You haven’t searched for it. You don’t know what is your talent.

Oftentimes, you say, I don’t have any talent, but there’s something that you really love to do and you’re actually good at it, but you just hadn’t figured out how it works to serve god. Some people might say, well, you know, I’m I’m I don’t really have any talent. I I cook pretty good. I mean, I enjoy cooking, and I I like to make meals. People need to be fed.

People need to be fed. Sometimes people need to be fed that don’t have any other way to eat. Sometimes people need to be fed while they’re working on the wall, while they’re doing whatever it is that God’s called. They need to be fed. Maybe that’s the talent that you need to use for God.

Some people would say, well, I’m you know, I I don’t I don’t really know how I can use my skills. I’m I mean, I can paint. Well, guess what? You can paint for God. You can do those things and make beautiful things that people can see.

And as you paint them, they may see the picture of God. Understand that some people can look at a picture and get more out of that picture than five sermons. There’s a picture on the wall in my office, and all you can see is the waist down, the feet of Jesus on the cross. And beside it, on the ground, there are people dressed in modern day clothing, and they’re holding hammers in their hands. Some are crying.

Some have dropped the hammer, and they’re falling on the ground at their feet. And it’s the realization that all of us is what put Jesus on the cross. And by seeing that, the conviction could be very strong. Whoever made that picture, they painted that. It’s a painted picture.

Whoever did that, God used that to show them something in a picture that can strike home faster than five sermons. God uses every single one of us. Listen. I know I’ve said that 10 times today. I’m gonna say it 10 or 15 more before we’re done.

God uses every one of us to serve him somehow. Well, I don’t really know how to do anything. Can you drive? Well, yeah, I can drive. You know, we got a bus.

We need help with that. Sometimes we need you to go pick people up. You know, sometimes the bus has been so full, praise God, the bus has been so full for the last several months that they’re having to make two trips most of the time. Because we can only put so many people on the bus, so they’re having to drive and pick them up and drive and pick more up, and most all of these are children. Right?

But we have some adults that might need some help getting here. They may need someone to come and get them. Well, if the bus is busy picking up the children and for insurance purposes and all of that, we need to have them on the bus. But as adults, you can go pick up another adult. You can bring someone to church that needs a ride.

You can go and get maybe they’re on your way already. Are you willing to do that? Look for ways that you can serve God. Look for ways that you can do that. Amazing skills that God gave people were for his work.

They were for his work. He didn’t give them those skills just for them to enjoy. He gave them those skills for his work. Each one played a part in putting everything together. Understand, when he gave them the ability, he gave those that could work in gold and silver and ability, and they could work in gold and silver, but they had to have someone who could work in the wood to design the article that was going to be covered in the gold and the silver because they couldn’t make it out of just gold and silver.

They needed something else. They had someone who knew how to sew the things together. They were someone who knew how to have a artistic eye to put everything exactly like God wanted them to do. They needed everybody. If one group of those workers didn’t do their part, the whole project would have failed.

If the carpenters just said, yeah, we’re we’re not feeling it. We’re we’re not going we’re not gonna do the woodwork part of this. We’re just not failing it. Then all the rest of the stuff would have failed because they needed the stuff made out of wood in order to put it all together. If they put it all together, but those who worked in the gold and silver said, yeah, I’m just not gonna do it, then it would have just been wood.

It wouldn’t have been what God called it to be. It couldn’t have all come together if everybody wasn’t doing their part. Here’s the thing, the church today universal, the only way the church universal works is if everybody’s doing their part. The reason that people aren’t coming to know the Lord is everybody’s not doing their part. Only some people are doing it.

God gives each person talent and gifts for the purpose of serving him. One of the biggest reasons the church universal of God is in decline today is his people his people, not lost people, his people are not using their gifts to serve him. His people are not. How do I know that? Well, to be honest, there are things that God’s given me that I haven’t used as I should.

So I know that I haven’t done everything I can do. Chances are neither has anyone else. We know that there are many people that call themselves Christians. They call themselves believers of God. They call themselves children of God, yet we don’t ever see them doing God’s work anywhere.

So when that happens, that means that the the church universal of God is in decline because everyone is not doing their part. God gave them gifts to serve him. That’s why the church is in decline today. If his people are not using their given gifts for him, it’s not going to work. God’s people must seek how to use their time, their talents, and, oh my goodness, I’m gonna say this word, money for God.

Oh, the preacher’s talking about money. Yeah. The preacher’s talking about money because we live in a world where money is required. We no longer barter for everything. Money is required.

God gives us money. Make no mistake. The money that you have, God gave it to you. God gave it to you. It wasn’t given to you by you.

You didn’t make it all on your own. God gave it to you. God owns it all. He owns your money before you ever saw it. God’s people must seek how to use their time, their talents, and their money for god.

Because if we don’t do that, then how is the church going to ever grow? The church universal. How is God’s people ever going to reach the others for him, the ones that don’t know him? How are we going to carry out the mission of going and making disciples if we’re not using the gifts that God gave us, the talents, the skills, everything that God gave us, if we’re not using that for him, then how are we going to do that? How are we going to do that?

If any of the people of God do not do their part, the church falls. If the people of God waste their talents on selfish gain, the church falls. If God’s people waste their time doing everything but serving God, the church falls. If God’s people keep all the money God gives them for themselves, the church falls. You see the pattern here?

God gave us all those things to serve him. But if we become selfish, and we hold all of that for ourself, the church is not going to make it. That hole that we saw today, that’s what’s there. And that hole, let me explain to you, is big enough right now that that Satan could drive a convoy of 18 wheelers through and never touch anything. That hole is huge.

And the devil is using every bit of it to turn the world against God. He’s using every bit of it to tell the world the same lie that he told them in the Garden of Eden that you can be just like God, you don’t need him. And people are believing it Because God’s people are not doing what we’re called to do. We’re not doing that. We’re too busy worrying about hurting somebody’s feelings or maybe somebody won’t think as well of us if they know that you know, we talk about God.

Maybe we lose our job because we talk about God. God didn’t say to use all of that only if it suits you. He said, I gave it to you to use. You need to use it. Let me take care of everything else.

You use it. God’s people have to use it. So here’s what I want you to do today. We need to all, and all is all, examine ourselves today. Are we guilty?

Are we guilty? Are we guilty of using our time, our talents, our money, everything for ourselves instead of the church? Are we guilty? Are we part of the reason the church is failing? Are we, this local church, part of the reason the church universal is failing today?

Because we are selfishly using the things that God gave us instead of using them for him. Is that the case? I said, we all need to be examining ourselves today. Every one of us. We all need to examine ourselves.

Are we guilty? Could we be convicted if we were put on trial? Are we using our talents, time, and money for God? Is can we be convicted of not doing that? You know that and only you know that.

Examine ourselves today. Look at verse ten and eleven. 10 and 11 says, the woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to carry on their priesthood. The anointing oil also and the fragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you. We need to understand that the church is not just this building.

The church is not just this building. You see, we get caught up sometimes. We talk about the church, and it’s at 6960 Overlook Road. That’s the church. We’re part of it.

That’s true. But that’s not just the church. The church is universal. This building is not the only thing. God’s people need to use the skills and the talents that he gave them to build up the servants of God as well.

You see, many people will say to me, well, I used to do this or I used to do that, but I’m physically no longer able to do that. I understand. There’s a lot of things I’m no longer physically able to do, and the list gets longer every day. The reality is we need to build up the service that can. Right now, we’re taking up a collection for the, North American missions.

This is not some foreign country that you’ve never heard of. This is The United States Of America that you know. We’re collecting money to go towards missionaries that are going to all of these locations and serving God. Understand this, The United States Of America today is has has the most unreached people group in all the world. And we have Bibles that you can get in every shape, form, and fashion.

We have television evangelists. We have radio evangelists. We have churches on every corner in the Southern Part of The United States. We’ve got access on the Internet. We have so many ways to hear the word of God today, and instead of growing, the church is declining.

We need to do what we can to build up the servants of God, while at the same time taking care of our little part of that wall. We need to be doing that. Servants of God use their skills and talents for the worship of God, but so do those who help build them up. We need to understand that this building is not the church. It takes all of us to rebuild the kingdom of God in this world.

If this building is not just this building is not the church, and we know that, and we’ve got to work towards that, then why am I preaching so hard about the local church? Because if we fail to use our time, talent, and money for our local church, then we certainly won’t use those things for church universal. Think about that. If we’re not willing to do it for our local body of believers, then how we ever think that we’re gonna do it for the universal body? God called you to be here.

For whatever reason, this is where God put you. He called you and you felt the call to join and be part of this church. This is where we start. It’s not where we finish. This is where we start, but it’s not where we finish.

But if we don’t start, we’ll never finish. We have to use those things that god has given us in our local church first in order to be able to reach the church universal. Here’s a question for you. Several. When is the last time you gave to the church?

And when I say gave, I’m talking about with this. Right? When is the last time you gave as God gave to you? Oh, hold on now. Wait a minute.

You’re kinda stepping on some toes here, pastor. It’s not really your business about what I gave and what I didn’t give. You’re right. It’s God’s business, not mine. But when’s the last time you gave as God gave to you?

What I mean by that is you may say, well, I don’t necessarily think tithing is the way to go. But God’s word said give as it’s been given to you. So guess what? If God has really given an abundance to you, you may be right. A tithe may not be good.

You may need to give 20%. You may need to give more than that. How has God given to you? Well, wait a minute. God hadn’t I just hadn’t gotten that much.

I’m I’m struggling. I’m trying, but, you know, I hadn’t quite okay. But can you give five? Did God give you enough to give 5% of that? What has God given you?

Are you giving back at all? God gave you the money. It was his money. He gave it to you. Are you giving?

We’ve got to keep giving. If we don’t give of our money, the church fails. But that’s not all. When’s the last time that you volunteered to use your talents for God? There are plenty of you here that have all kinds of talents.

When’s the last time you volunteered to use your talents for God? If we don’t use them here, how can we use them out there? How can we use them out there? When’s the last time you have got to be the one to use the talents that God gave you? If we don’t use them, all of us, there’s a hole.

There’s a hole. When is the last time that you gave God your time? That’s a hard one. It’s a hard one for me. It’s a hard one for me.

I’m balancing working at a secular job, and also pastoring the church, and helping with my family, and all the things I have to do, and then something else comes along and I say, God, I don’t have time for that right now. But if I don’t make the time for God, then the time I’m trying to use for everything else is degraded. When’s the last time you gave of your time? You just said, you know what? I know I’m tired.

I know it’s been a long week, but I need to go out visiting on Saturday morning when we’re having visitation. Or I need to get up and I need to go to the the men’s bible study, or I need to go to the ladies bible study, or I need to go to choir practice, or I need to do whatever it is within the church in order that I can help to rebuild the local church, so that we can help rebuild the universal church. When is the last time you did that? These are all questions for you and me to ponder in our own mind, in our own heart and decide what can we do. It takes all of us to rebuild the kingdom of God in this world.

Here’s the question. Are you ready to get busy? Are you ready to get busy? The first thing is, do you know him? Are you one of his children?

Have you ever given your life to him? If he’s called you as a child of God and you’ve given your life to him, then you need to be busy. If he’s never called, you’ve never answered. Maybe he’s knocking on the door, but you’ve never answered that call. Today is a good time to answer.

Do you know him? If you know him, are you ready to get busy? Instead of saying someone else will do it. Someone else will take care of it. The the pastor will do that.

Brother Tim will take care of it. You know, the deacons can handle it, whatever it is. As the church of God, we all are part of it, and we all need to work for it. Whatever it is that God calls you to do. I understand there are physical limitations.

I understand there’s financial limitations. I understand there’s there’s all kinds of limitations. Instead of focusing on the limitations, why don’t we search to find what we can do, not what we can’t do? Because God will honor it. God will honor it.

Today, my question again is, are you ready to get busy? We’ve gotta get busy. We’ve gotta get busy. There’s a there’s people all around us every day that are dying and headed for a devil’s hell. We gotta tell them.

They need to know. We gotta get busy to reach this community. God planted this church here over eighty years ago. It’s still here. That’s not by coincidence.

There’s a reason we’re still here. God still has a mission for this church. So I’m asking all of you today to do self examination. Are there things I can do? Things that I should do?

Things that I’m not doing that I want to start doing. Can god use this in my life? Can I give more and spend less? Can I be more available rather than sitting at home doing nothing? What can I do?

Is I have a talent that I can share with the church that might turn into something that we can reach people? What can I do? Can I give of my time, my talents, and my money that I’m not doing? For many of you, you’re already giving of all of that, but are you giving everything that God’s called you to give? Are we ready to buy in fully and serve God in this church, in this community, in order that we might be able to serve him in the church universal.

Today, if you need to come to the altar and just say, you know what, God? I’m ready. Would you just you just touch me? If you need to come and say, God, I’m sorry. I I failed.

Help me do better. Maybe you need to come and talk to me and say, you know what? I have never felt that call, but today I did and I wanna talk to you about it. Whatever it is, we’re gonna have a time of invitation, just a moment. You come as God calls you.

Let’s pray.