Life Community Church
Life Community Church
Day 3 | Dream Big Devotional | Jessie Hankammer
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Opening And Psalm 127
SPEAKER_00Good morning. I am so excited to be on this journey with our whole family here at Life Community Church. The scripture that I'm going to be sharing with you guys today is actually one that means a lot to myself. I am very fortunate in the fact that I grew up in a home with parents that built a very firm foundation, which I know is a big deal, that it kept me on this awesome journey that I get to call life with my relationship with Jesus. So I hope that what I read with you today, that it brings some things to light for yourself. The scripture that I have here to share with you guys is Psalm 127 begins with this simple but deeply challenging truth. Unless the Lord builds the house, the builder's labor is in vain, which is Psalm 127, verse 1. At first glance, I feel like this verse sounds pretty obvious. Of course, we want God to be involved, but if we're honest, many of us spend a lot of time building while only in case while only occasionally inviting the Lord into the process. We build careers, we build families, we have schedules, reputations, plans. We work hard, we stay busy, and we often in those seasons of life feel very exhausted and yet still wonder why things don't seem to be settled or secure. Psalm 127, I feel, gently reminds us that that effort alone is not the problem. The effort without the dependence on God is the problem. Not having God in those moments with you. The schedules, the reputations, the plans. In fact, scripture honors that diligency. What he's warning us against is kind of that striving that leave that leaves Gods out. That leaves God out. We rely more on our own strength and our own wisdom and our own control than the Lord. I know I myself, and I feel like that's something that a lot of us struggle with, just being able to hand it over and say, God, take this. I know that that's a hard thing for a lot of us to do. Um in verse two, it says, if you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat, for he grants sleep to those he loves. And I know how many of us feel that way. Um early mornings, late nights, full calendars. I know my family, we're in a season with busyness with sports and just having younger children. Um, and yet in those times, God says that rest is a gift that he gives to those who trust in him. This isn't about necessarily physical sleep. It's about the rest that comes from knowing God is in control even when we are not. Um, and I know that that can be a challenging thing in itself, too, um, when you're in the a situation dealing with something, just knowing that, God, I know that you're in control. Psalm 127 invites us to ask a hard but freeing question. Um the question that I'm taking from that is: am I building with God or am I asking him to bless what I have already built? There's there's a difference in those. Um, when the Lord builds the house, it doesn't mean everything is easy at all, um, but it does mean that our labor has purpose. It means our efforts are rooted in obedience, prayer, and trust rather than anxiety and pressure. Um, and we know that those last two things are not things that are from God or that God would want us to deal with, the anxiety and having the pressure that we feel like we have to deal with in the world that we're in. The psalm then shifts to talk about family and children. Um, children are a heritage from the Lord. Offspring, a reward from him. That's verse three. Um, this reminds us that the most meaningful thing, the absolute most meaningful thing that we're building, relationships, faith, legacy. Um, that's kind of one of the things that we've talked about here a lot at Life. Obviously, we're have our 57 acres, and it's still a lot of questions of uncertainty of what's going to happen. But one of the things that we know and believe that with what we're building, it's gonna be something that's going to affect generations to come. Like we know it's going to be things that we I feel that we can't even fathom or even imagine the wonderful things that are going to come from that. Um our children, they are entrusted to us. They are not owned by us. The truth changes how we approach them and we move from control to stewardship to fear and to faith. Psalm 127 ends by pointing towards security, not the kind that comes from walls, wealth, or hard work alone, but the confidence that comes from a life that aligns with God. So I would like, I know I'm doing this for myself and I'm sharing this with you all, um, to just ask your ask yourself a few things and to think about this in regard to this psalm. Um, it's really an invitation to pause and to reflect. And you might ask yourself, like, currently in your life, what are you building right now? And that's the same question we could ask with what we have going on right now here at Life Community Church. Like, what are we building? Yes, we have our property, but our church itself is not just a building. We are the church, which just like Pastor Jeannie says, we're in the community. That's one of the reasons that it's in our name. Where have I been trying to do it all on my own instead of trusting in God? Um, I know on this journey that we're going on for the month of February, I feel like that's a good question to ask because it's kind of stretching things and like maybe putting you in a position of uncertainty of God, what can I do here? Um, whether it be with what we have going on the month of February, like I just said, with the devotions we have each day, with taking the time every day to pay to pray at 256, um, coming here on the Wednesdays when we have the hour of prayer, um, coming to the 24 hours of prayer that we have on the 21st, um, the walks in the park to walk around the community. Um, I feel like that's something to bring to God as well. Um, how would it change things if I invited him to be a part of every single step of the process? So again, bringing that to God and having the conversation with him of where do I start? Where should I start this process? And bringing it to him to get the answers. Um, the amazing truth is that God isn't asking us to stop building, he's asking us to build with him. When he is the foundation, our work has purpose, it has meaning, and it has lasting impact, which again brings me back to saying, even with what we're doing here at Life Community Church, I truly believe, and I know a lot of people around us all believe the same thing: that what we're going to do here over the next few years is going to have such a lasting impact for generations to come. Um, stuff even I myself won't see, but I know that with what we have here is such a blessing, the 57 acres is going to be beyond imaginable with what is going to be done with it. So, with that, let's be people who work faithfully. We rest when needed and trust fully, because when the Lord is building the house, everything we do has internal value. So knowing that the Lord is the foundation of what you're doing and bringing it to him and praying where you're at on this journey and just letting him help you with those answers. Um, I know that the Lord is gonna do amazing things through you and through all of our family here at Life Community Church. Um, before I close, I'm gonna say a prayer for all of us for the day. Um I truly enjoyed the time that I got to spend with you, even though it was only a few minutes. Um, so I'll close us in prayer. God, I thank you for the day that all of these people who have listened are going to have, God. I pray that you would be with each of them, that you would continue to show them answers and let them know how they can build a house on you, God. I thank you for all of the wisdom and provision that you will bring to all of us as we come together this month of February with all of the different areas that people are able to get involved. I know that you're gonna do big things, God. Big, big things. And we thank you for that, and we pray in your name. Amen.