Walls of Protection

Friday Morning worship--March 29, 2013

Pastor Jay opened the Friday worship with a question:  "How many of you were at the construction site and saw the Morada family making that wall?  The whole family was working at the one spot, each one doing their part."  He went on with a Bible story:

"There's a similar story in Nehemiah where Nebuchadnezzer had blasted down the walls and they were going home to rebuild.  Chapter 3 there's a whole list of people who were working on the walls.  There was a man and all of his daughters working.  That was different enough to list the fact that his daughters were working.  The city walls had been pushed over and each family took a section of the wall to rebuild.  It's kind of interesting because when you go in the OT and look at why the wall was broken down in the first place, you see that it was because of the breakdown of the family in the first place.  When society is going south, it's because families are going south.  When the family broke down that's when the enemies could break down the wall.  But the families worked together and were able to rebuild the walls.

"When you have a strong Christian Jesus-loving family, then you are a building block in the walls of society.  Some walls are good.  But there are also bad walls--like the wall of separation that Jesus broke down.  In Jerusalem there was a wall in the sanctuary and a foreigner could not cross it for fear of your life.  Archeologists have found the plaque that warned people not to cross the walls.  That's why in Galatians Pauls says good news:  God has broken own the wall of separation.

"In the next several years when you get married, you are going to need to build a wall around your family.  You will have gates, and choices about what you will allow to affect your family.  Keep out bad and let in good.  Here we are...a little family.  We have built some walls.  Those are good walls.  Those are walls that will keep people in a relationship with Jesus for years to come and surround us as a family of God.

"There are bad walls that make us feel like we're better than anyone else, then there's the good kind of wall that keeps the devil out and will keep us safe and strong.  Be building those walls in your own life so that when you are married and have children you can build the good walls and tear down the bad ones.

Let's work together in rebuilding the walls--the walls of protection."

We then sang the "Maranatha Song" before going on our way to work for the day:

"Good Morning, it's God's morning whether it's sunny or gray

Good Morning, it's God's morning, I hope you have a wonderful day."