#370 IMAGINE Series# 2, Side By Side

#370 IMAGINE Series# 2, Side By Side
By: Pastor Karl Thomas

Picture Of Billboard!!!

Vision gives pain a purpose. Those without vision spend their lives taking the path of least resistance as they try to avoid discomfort. The level of sacrifice that a vision requires will determine the size of people who follow. Sacrifice separates the small from the great. Kris Vallotton

Numbers 10:29-31 “Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the Lord has promised good things to Israel. … and you can be our eyes. And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be— that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.”

A transformed, authentic, generational, multicultural, community of believers consumed with the mission of God.
Impact is a community committed to bringing Glory to God by exposing people to the transforming power of the Gospel of God’s Grace!!!

Habakkuk 2:14“For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.”

Acts 20:24“…the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

Acts 3:21 “Whom heaven must receive [and retain] until the time for the complete restoration of all that God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets for ages past [from the most ancient time in the memory of man].”

“Restoration” (Apokatastasis) :– restoration of a true theocracy of the perfect state before the fall

Psalm 102:16 “For the Lord shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.”
Hebrews 12:22-23“But you have come to Mount Zionand to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, … to the general assembly and churchof the firstborn…”

Ezra 1:1-6“…that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus …and build the house of the Lord God of Israel … all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.”

“Moved”(uwr) :– to move by force, to rouse, incite, to stir up.
Ezra 9:8-9“…now, for a brief moment, grace has been shown us …to give us some reviving to set up the house of our God,…”
rega:– Brief moment, specific time, limited time, with fixed boundaries.
Karois Moment – Fullness of time.

Ezra 4:4-5 (Message)“So these people started beating down the morale of the people of Judah, harassing them as they built. They even hired propagandists to sap their resolve. They kept this up for about fifteen years, throughout the lifetime of Cyrus king of Persia and on into the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

Ezra 4:23-24“…and by force of arms made them cease. Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

Ezra 5:1-2 “Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied … in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So Zerubbabel … Jeshua … rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them.”

Zechariah 4:6-7“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!’”
We have a ceaseless living flow of God’s power!!!
Nehemiah 1 “…in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire. …When I heard this, I sat down and wept and mourned for days…prosper, I pray You, Your servant this day…”
Nehemiah:– (yah nacham) Divine Comforter.

Nehemiah 2:6 “So it pleased the king to send me;…”
The Spirit Comes With:
1. Authority (2:7) “may I have letters to the governors”
2. Abundance (2:8) “so he will give me timber”
3. Angels (2:9) “officers and cavalry with me.”

Nehemiah 2:10“…it distressed them exceedingly that a man had come to inquire for and require the good and prosperity…”

Nehemiah 4:7-8“…they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem, to injure and cause confusion and failure in it.”

Nehemiah 6:2-13“‘Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.’ But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?’”

Nehemiah 3 “Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate …Next to(28x’s)Eliashib … And next to them … And next to them … Next to them … And next to them … Next to them … And next to them…” (44 Groups)

“Cooperation is working together agreeably… Collaboration is working together aggressively; and there’s a world of difference between those two.” John C. Maxwell

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” Michael Jordan

“Playing for yourself wins trophies, playing for your team wins championships.” Tommy Lasorda

Romans 16:3-4“Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me.”

SYNERGY PICTURE … 1+1 is always more than two.

Synergy is everywhere in nature. If you plant two plants close together, the roots commingle and improve the quality of the soil so that both plants will grow better than if they were separated. If you put two pieces of wood together, … … they will hold much more than the total weight held by each separately. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. One plus one equals three or more. Stephen R. Covey

PICTURE OF HORSES WITH LOGS ++++++++++++++
A single draft horse can pull a load up to 8,000 pounds. The strength involved in this is hard to imagine. So then we can speculate what would happen if we hooked up two draft horses to a load.

If you instantly thought two draft horses could pull 16,000 pounds if one draft horse can pull 8,000 pounds, you would be wrong. Two draft horses pulling together cannot pull twice as much as one. They can actually pull three times as much. The two draft horses that can each pull 8,000 pounds alone can pull 24,000 pounds working together.

The horses are teaching us a very clear lesson in teamwork, but they still have more to teach us. If the two horses that are pulling together have trained with one another and have worked together before, they can’t just pull three times as much working together as they can by themselves. The two trained horses in tandem can actually pull 32,000 pounds, which is a load four times as heavy as either of the horses could pull by themselves. (World record of team in Belgium — 50,000 pounds)

The powerful lessons that these magnificent draft horses can teach us involves not only teamwork but coordinated and trained collaboration. No one lives or works alone as the proverbial island unto themselves.

“Cooperation is working together agreeably… Collaboration is working together aggressively; and there’s a world of difference between those two.” John C. Maxwell

7 Observations From Nehemiah 3

1. God’s Hand Must Be On It “…hand of my God which had been good upon me.”vs 2:18

2. Leaders Always Go First “…the high priest rose up…”vs 1

3. God Uses All Kinds Of People “…goldsmiths… perfumers,”vs8

4. Some Refuse To Get Involved“…did not put their necks to the work…”vs5

5. Some Work As Families “…he and his daughters.”vs12

6. Some Work With Passion “Baruch …earnestly repaired another portion…”vs20

7. Some Do More Than Others “Tekoites repaired another…”(27)

“There are many who are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.”
D.L. Moody

370 IMAGINE Series# 2, Side By Side, PowerPoint Slides