The scripture today is found in the book of Ezra, chapter 3.
Please follow along in your bulletin.
Now, when the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities,
the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
Then Yeshua, the son of Yosedach, and his brothers the priests,
and Serebabel, the son of Shatiel, and his brothers arose
and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it.
As it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.
So they set up the altar on its foundation,
for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands.
And they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings, morning and evening.
They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written,
and offered the fixed number of burnt offerings daily,
according to the ordinance, as each day required.
And afterward there was a continual burnt offering,
also for the new moons, and for all the fixed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated.
And from everyone who offered a freewill offering to the Lord.
From the first day of the seventh month,
they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord.
But the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid.
Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters,
and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians,
to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa,
according to the permission they had from Cyrus, king of Persia.
Now in the second year of their coming to the house of the God at Jerusalem,
in the second month,
Serbabel the son of Shatel,
and Yeshua the son of Yosedach,
and the rest of their brothers, and the priests, and the Levites.
And all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem,
began the work,
and appointed the Levites from twenty years and older,
to oversee the work of the house of the Lord.
Then Yeshua, with his sons and brothers,
stood united with Catmiel,
and his sons, the sons of Judah,
and the sons of Hanadad,
with their sons and brothers, the Levites,
to oversee the workmen in the temple of God.
Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord,
the priests stood in their peril with trumpets.
And the Levites, the son of Esra,
with symbols to praise the Lord according to the directions of King David of Israel.
They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,
saying,
For he is good,
for his loving kindness is upon Israel forever.
And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord,
because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Yet many of the priests and Levites,
and heads of fathers' households,
the old man who has seen the first temple,
wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes.
While many shouted aloud for joy,
so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy
from the sound of the weeping of the people.
For the people shouted with a loud shout,
and the sound was heard far away.
This is the reading of God's Word.
Thank you.
Okay, we wanted to see who would be daring enough to come down up front,
you know,
and hit these chairs right here instead of kind of hitting back there.
Guys, it's an incredible honor to be here.
Let's really pray for us.
The kids,
when we started the church,
we dreamed about a church that had all the family involved,
not in worship and in as many things as possible,
not just the adults,
but the kids,
because Scripture says very clearly that kids see what we do,
and we model for them as singles,
as married,
wherever God has you,
you're modeling Christ for the younger generation.
And so let me pray for those kiddos
and for the teachers who are about to handle them.
They need a lot of prayers,
and then they will be dismissed.
Father, we thank you for this day.
We thank you for these children here.
They are a blessing to us.
They cause chaos and craziness,
but that's what your kingdom is like,
and I know that's what you feel when you see us.
We cause chaos and craziness even as adults.
And so we pray for them.
We pray that they would come to know you.
We pray that they would do mighty things for your kingdom.
We pray that you'd open their eyes to your son Christ.
We pray for the leaders as they lead and love and care for them,
that they would see Jesus in words and actions and deeds,
and that maybe not even just through the message of the time in the class,
but through the caring and the love and just the gentleness
that they would see within this family,
they would see your son,
and they would come to know him.
So we pray for these kiddos and for these teachers,
for these many blessings you've given us.
We pray these things in your son Jesus' name.
Amen.
God bless you.
Watermark kids,
you're dismissed down these stairs right here.
Find your teacher in what classroom you're in,
and they'll tell you where to go, okay?
How you guys doing?
This is the birthday.
You can say,
Happy birthday.
Great.
We're doing well.
How you guys doing?
Hey, I woke up this morning,
and my wife's going to kill me.
She always kills me when I use her as an illustration.
But I said to her, you know,
Happy birthday.
We've made it two years.
And she's like,
I can't believe we've made it this long.
So you can always pray for us and in our marriage
and things like that.
But as we've learned in a marriage video last week,
but isn't it amazing to be here on this journey
to see what God's doing in the church
and in the lives and the community of people here
on this side of the island?
And we have a very special,
where we're heading is,
I'm going to share a little bit about the sermon,
and then I want to introduce three people
that are going to share their stories
about how God's been changing their life.
We realize that as you hear their stories,
that every one of us has a story.
Every one of us,
God has come into our life.
He's speaking to us.
He's changing us.
And so our hope is,
as you hear these stories,
that you would reflect back on your story
and that you would just praise the Lord
and you would thank Him
for what He's doing in your life
because it's all about Him
and it's about giving Him glory and honor.
In my house,
birthdays and celebrations are huge.
They're massive.
They're very important.
You're terrible if you ever forget a birthday
or anybody's birthday.
There are certain members of our household
who will let you know a month in advance
when their birthday is,
and they continue to let you know every day
up until the day of that birthday.
I don't know if you have a wife like that.
I mean, I don't know if you have anybody like that.
But there's somebody in our family like that
because birthdays are very, very important.
Celebrations are important.
New beginnings are important.
It was 1979, May 14th.
It was my birthday.
I will never forget it.
My parents threw my birthday party
at a video arcade in Montgomery, Alabama.
The place is no longer there,
and none of you want to go to Montgomery, Alabama.
Trust me.
But I remember this birthday
because on this birthday,
I got my first album ever.
It was my first album.
No, Ed, it wasn't one of these big albums.
They actually had cassettes back then,
and so I'm not that old.
But I got a cassette,
and I remember the cassette.
It was a Michael Jackson cassette,
Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson,
and I played it till it wore out.
On that day, I also met this person
who changed my life
and in some ways molds me even today.
His name is Jerry.
Jerry was the owner of the video arcade.
Jerry was about this tall.
He looked Arab or Israeli.
He was an alcoholic.
He often came to work drunk.
He was a drug user.
I think pretty sure that he actually sold drugs
out of the arcade.
It's why the cops were always at the front of the arcade
checking people in as they came in and out.
He was married at least one time that I know of.
I kind of think that Jerry worked for organized crime.
I'm not sure because I was only 16 years old.
I didn't have the guts enough to ask him that.
But over the next couple years,
I took a chance
and started to develop a relationship with Jerry.
And I got to play a lot of video games.
So there was kind of different motives there
and all those things.
And as I started to pray for Jerry
because I was a young believer
and I didn't know any better,
I started to share with him
about what God was doing in my life,
how God was changing me.
And over a period of time,
I kept coming to the video arcade
on Saturdays
and sharing with Jerry
what God was doing
and teaching in my life.
I always remember those times
because Jerry's response disarmed me
and it freaked me out.
He answered in such a way
about the gospel and Jesus Christ
that me as a 17-year-old
had no idea how to answer him back.
As I shared my story,
Jerry would say things like,
God would not want me.
I'm too bad.
I'm too dirty.
I'm unredeemable.
I have made too many mistakes in my life.
My life is rubbish.
The one that always stuck to me
is he would say,
God would never give me a second chance.
And you know,
I tried everything I could
to share with him as a young Christian,
but I just could not get past that response.
And I would walk away so frustrated
and praying and not knowing
how to answer him
because no one taught me
how to do those things.
And I would walk away
not knowing what to do.
And then one day I came to that arcade
and Jerry was gone.
I asked the owner
who was his father,
said that Jerry went to Florida
and I never saw Jerry again.
And I think about that time a lot.
And as I think about Jerry
and talking to him
and about life change
and people being in a rubbish heap
and making mistakes
that they can never feel like
they can get out of
and never feel like
God's going to give them a second chance.
As I think about that,
I think about passages like today.
Because passages like today
take people who are
in the middle of the rubbish
and God changes their life.
God gives them new beginnings.
God gives them do-overs.
God gives them second chances
that Jerry never thought
that God would give him.
The passage that we read,
you heard here today,
is from the book of Ezra.
It's in the Old Testament.
It's almost at the lowest point
of the people of God
in a transition from the lowest point
to the highest point.
In Exodus 27,
God commands his people,
the followers of Christ,
to build an altar.
This altar was about five meters
by five meters by three meters tall.
And on this altar,
sacrifices were made to God.
One of the things you're going to learn
as you walk with the Lord
is that true worship
almost always demands
a sacrifice in our life.
I think some of the times
we get in trouble as a church
is we think that worship
demands no sacrifice from us.
But the Bible is pretty clear
that worship always demands
some kind of sacrifice in our life.
And so you see altars
throughout the Old Testament.
And in Exodus 29,
we are told that
as you come to the altar
to lay your sacrifice,
there God meets his people.
In Exodus 29,
it says,
as you come and you worship
at the altar,
there God meets you.
At the altar,
you're supposed to get right with God.
At the altar,
you're supposed to get clean with God.
At the altar,
you're supposed to worship the Lord.
At the altar,
God gives you second chances
and he gives you do-overs.
And the people of God listened
and they built that altar
really quickly.
And they started to worship
and they met God
and they changed
and their lives were changed
at that altar.
Hundreds of years later,
King Solomon builds
this big temple in Jerusalem.
And so he decides
to take that altar
and he moves the altar
into the temple
so that people can worship there.
And it goes pretty well
until this king,
King Ahaz,
comes along.
The Bible tells us
that he's this wicked,
evil king.
And Ahaz comes
and he's on vacation one day
and he says he's vacationing in Damascus.
He walks into the temple there
in this foreign land
and he sees this altar
and this altar looks really cool.
And he says,
well, that's a really cool altar.
And he took some designs
and he went back to Israel
and as he went back to Israel,
he basically changed
the altar of the God,
of Yahweh,
the God of people,
our God.
He changes the altar there.
He shapes it a little differently.
He makes it look sexier
and cooler.
And as he does that,
he changes how people worship.
He changes how people see God
people from that point on
worship and see God differently
because the place that they meet God
is very, very, very different.
The Bible tells us
that it's not too long afterwards
that more and more cool altars
to different idols
and different gods
start getting put into the temple.
And these new altars
get put into the temple
and the scripture tells us
that so many new altars
to idols
get put into the temple
into the temple
that people don't have time
to worship at the altar
of the true God
because they have so many
other altars and idols
in their life
that they're so busy
worshiping and serving
at those altars
that they don't have time
for God.
And as I think about that story,
I think that that story
relates a lot to our life.
That every one of us
on our journeys,
we have these idols
and these altars
that we put into our life
and sometimes they take up
so much space in our life
that we don't eventually
have time to worship
the true God.
And the Bible says
that it became so bad
that the people of God
finally took the altar
of the Lord
and they moved it
out of the temple
and they put it
in a rubbish heap.
And instead of worshiping God
at the altar
that he commanded,
they worshiped idols
and other gods there.
The scripture goes on
and it tells us
that in 587 B.C.
the Babylonian king,
he comes in
and he destroys Jerusalem.
He wipes it out.
There's not a stone
left on it
and we're told
that he takes
all of the people of God
and he takes them in chains
and he moves them
to captivity to Babylon.
Time passes
and Babylon
is taken over by Persia.
And for two generations,
over 70 years,
the people of God
aren't allowed to worship.
They're not in their land.
They're not given access
to God.
They're not given access
to the altar of the Lord.
They're just wandering,
much like many of us
are today.
And then we're told
in this passage
that you just read
that a foreign king,
King Cyrus,
one day has a prophecy
that is 200 years old
read to him
and in this prophecy
he's told
that there's going to be
a king named Cyrus
who rules over Persia
and he's going to release
God's people
and allow them
a new start,
a new beginning,
a fresh start.
And so Elijah
hears those words
and he wants
to realize
that prophecy
and so he takes
all of God's people
and he gives them
a fresh start
back into Israel.
He gives them
all the things needed
to build the temple.
He gives them
all the things needed
for worship.
He sends them back
and he gives them
a second chance.
This is a pagan king
doing that
for God's people.
And I realize
as I think
of this passage
I realize
that this passage
speaks a lot
to our lives today.
I think that many of us
in our whole life
or in certain areas
of our life
are living
in rubble
and living
in rubbish heaps.
I mean often
we come to church
and we come to people
and we realize
that there are things
that we've made
mistakes in
that we've failed
that we've been
disappointed
that we've had
all these trials
in our family
and in our life
and in our friendship
and in our work
and even sometimes
in our relationship
with God.
But this passage
says that no matter
where we are
no matter what
we've done
no matter how bad
we are
no matter how dirty
or unclean
even after we've
decided to walk
with the Lord
and we've made mistakes
and we've fallen back
this passage says
that in the end
God does
something amazing.
He speaks to us
he brings us
back to him.
The Bible says
that God has
two purposes
and it's the purpose
that we're here
as a church
the first purpose
in God's plan
of creation
is to glorify himself.
His purpose
is to make his name
great
to make his name
above every other name
because he's God
he's the creator.
the second purpose
we see in scripture
and I don't understand
how and why
I'm going to ask God
if I ever get a chance
to see him
in person
in heaven
I don't know
what that's going to look like
that's another sermon
another time
but for some reason
God has chosen
to also glorify himself
by coming into
your and my life.
He's chosen
to glorify himself
by coming into
your life today
and giving you
second and third
and fourth chances
and I think sometimes
we don't realize
how amazing it is
the fresh starts
and the new beginning
God wants to give us
but he's doing it
all the time
and so what I thought
we would do
in this sermon time
is I wanted to bring
a couple people up
to share their testimonies
of what God
has been doing
in their life
and how God
has been changing them
and the things
they've been learning
from him
in this process
some of them
have had bad experiences
some of them
have had great experiences
and they're all
just like you here
so I wanted to ask
Graham and Irina
to come on up
Graham and Irina
you guys
you're on the hot seat
first
so
so Graham
you preached
last Sunday
and people went
who was that guy
I don't know
if it's good or bad
but
I thought
we just used this time
you guys
can you share
a little bit
about yourselves
would you guys
well first of all
Millen didn't say
that to me
this morning
he had quite a few
things to me
to say about
last week
but anyway
we're
Graham and Irina
and we've got
this little guy
Elijah
who keeps us
on our toes
I became a Christian
like I said
when I was at
university
God just had
mercy on my life
and yeah
we've been walking
with him then
since then
and I met Irina
when she was
studying in Korea
and I chased her
like God chased me
and
but
it took a long time
but eventually
my charm
won through
and
yes
I got her
I convinced her
to move
and come to Hong Kong
and we got
we got married
and
yeah
that's our story
so far
and what
as we think about
you know
coming here
what brought you
to Watermark
this church
this community
this family
well
I mean
we heard about
a church
that has free
Starbucks coffee
so
how can we not come
but seriously
Irina
she was part of
the moms group
at ECC
and she got to meet
Christina
and a couple of
the other moms
and she
heard about
the idea of
Watermark
and what it's about
and we
we actually
went along
to the first
service
the 10-10-10
one
just merely
to support
right
the moms
that Irina
knew
and
it
deeply
impacted us
and after
the service
we
sat down
together
and we
asked
God
is this
a place
you want
us to be
a part
of
and
a lot
of time
and we
spoke to
the elders
and leaders
of the church
we were involved
in
and they
said
yes
this is
right for
you to go
I don't
know if
they were
just keen
to get
rid of
us
but
it was
really
right
and we
felt
God
speaking
to
us
and
that's
what
brought
us
to
Watermark
we've
been part
of the
family
ever since
Irina
you have
anything
to
so as
you think
about
what God's
been doing
in your
life
as you've
been here
would you
like to
share
something
that
he's
been
changing
in you
or something
that you've
been learning
in this
move
well I
think
for all
these
two years
that I've
been going
to
Watermark
Church
I was
really
struck
by
humility
of
leadership
and not
only
leadership
but also
serving
people
and
I
think
it
really
talks
to
my
heart
it
encourages
me
it
convicts
me
it
changes
my
heart
and
also
makes
me
also
want
to
serve
and
be
humble
and
I
think
this
is
a
great
thing
in
Watermark
Church
great
so as
you guys
have been
here for
two years
now
and sorry
we don't
have
Starbucks
this morning
so
we'll try
to get
you next
week
so
what would
you say
are some
of the
things
because
we're
talking
about
we've
always
talked
about
we're
on
this
journey
and
we're
going
with
the
Lord
what
would
be
some
of
the
things
that
you
feel
like
you've
been
learning
about
God
during
this
time
or
what
are
some
of
things
that
he's
been
showing
you
about
himself
and
his
journey
and
that
process
I'll
go
first
ladies
first
I think
it's that
word
you just
used
the word
journey
I think
for me
it's been
a real
picture
of
being
part
of
the
body
of
Christ
and
exactly
what
that
means
and
that's
a
journey
we're
on
and
we're
on
it
together
as
a
family
and
just
like
any
journey
there's
people
on
different
paths
of that
journey
and
at
different
times
but
the
most
amazing
thing
and
we keep
on
hearing
it
again
and
again
is
the
words
journey
and
family
and
I
think
those
two
things
anyone
who's
been
part
of
a
family
and
anyone
who's
been
on
a
journey
know
that
can
be
the
most
exhilarating
thing
and
it
can
also
be
the
most
challenging
thing
but
with
family
you
really
draw
alongside
people
who
support
you
and
who
you
have
the
chance
to
support
and
I
think
through
it
all
the
message
that
we
keep
on
getting
is
that
Jesus
is
walking
with
us
and
I
think
that's
something
I
often
forget
that
he's
actually
not
even
just
walking
with
us
he's
walking
ahead
of
us
and
yeah
so
it's
a
lesson
I've
been
learning
and
I
think
it's
definitely
something
watermark
has been
teaching
me
and
for
me
I
think
where's
who
and
I
think
for
me
I've
been
getting
a
great
message
that
Lord
is
a
provider
he's
a
provider
not
only
for
our
family
needs
but
also
how
he
provided
us
with
the
community
and
I
think
in
the
beginning
like
two
years
ago
we
specifically
prayed
that
God
would
provide
us
with
the
community
and
he
did
and
it's
not
only
in
residential
area
where
we
live
but
also
in
church
with
the
community
group
and
I
think
also
how
God
provided
for
the
church
that
we
come
to
with
all
the
people
which
sacrifice
their
time
their
resources
and
it's
been
just
great
to
know
how
God
provides
and
you
don't
have
to
worry
about
anything
Amen
so
I'm
going
to
pray
I'm
not
going
to
ask
you
an
extra
question
like
what
your
greatest
sin
is
everybody
is
worried
when we
interview
them
please
stick
to
the
script
I
would
never
do
something
like
that
maybe
later
Albert
Michelle
you're
next
Albert
Michelle
is
next
but
I
want
to
know
how
can
we
pray
for
you
I'm
going
to
pray
for
you
right
now
but
prayer
is
always
something
we
do
as
you
guys
look
at
your
journey
as
a
family
what
is
something
we
as
a
family
can
be
praying
for
you
for
in
that
process
that
our
son
will
behave
no
but
seriously
I
think
a lot
of
what
we've
been
experiencing
and
being
part
of
is
a lot
of
thankfulness
but
like
a
family
Irina
and I
both
our
family
members
are
not
believers
and
it's
something
that
breaks
our
heart
we've
been
praying
and
we've
been
trying
to
witness
but
I
think
it's
something
that
always
comes
back
to
us
right
there's
okay
go
to
Gasha
yeah
there
really
is
nothing
that
we
wouldn't
give
to
see
them
to
know
the
Lord
and
that's
on
both
our
family
side
so
there's
a lot
of
gratefulness
in our
hearts
for what
God
has
been
doing
but
the
one
thing
that
we
would
really
pray
for
is
that
God
would
have
mercy
upon
them
and
bring
them
to
know
himself
okay
can I
pray
for
you
guys
is
that
good
let's
pray
we
thank you
for
this
day
we
thank you
for
this
dear
couple
we
thank you
for
Graham
and
Irina
and
Elijah
my
kids
love
Elijah
and
so
Lord
we
thank you
for
their
heart
we
thank you
for
what
you're
doing
in
their
life
and
Lord
we
pray
I
think
I
can
pray
this
for
almost
everyone
in
here
for
our
families
we
pray
beautiful
and
wonderful
and
they
would
fall
in
love
with
him
and
come
into
your
family
and
so
we
pray
for
this
dear
couple
that
you
would
be
with
them
as
they
raise
their
son
and
try
to
be
salt
and
light
in
Discovery
Bay
where
you
have
them
and
so
we
pray
Lord
that
you
would
be
with
them
we
thank
you
and
we
pray
all
these
things
in
Jesus
name
Amen
thanks
I've
asked
Lincoln
to come
up
and
share
Lincoln
as we
think
about
changes
and
beginnings
and
new
beginnings
and
you
guys
you
coming
to
Watermark
and
someone
following
you
and
things
like
that
what
brought
you
here
how did
God
bring
you
here
I
didn't
give
you
Starbucks
too
did
I
no
but
I
came to
Watermark
because
I
think
I
was
introduced
to
the
vision
of
what
everyone
had
planting
this
church
and
I
was
part
of
Island
ECC
before
this
and
it
really
seemed
like
it
was
something
that
God
convicted
my
heart
with
and
the
vision
that
you
had
for
this
church
and
to
start
something
new
in
this
area
was
something
that
was
really
close
to
my
heart
and
so
I
felt
like
it
was
in
obedience
to
God
that
I
am
here
what
would
you
say
are
the
things
that
God
has
been
changing
in
you
or
doing
in
you
since
this
move
these
two
years
and
this
time
one
thing
that
when
I
think
about
this
one
thing
that's
really
important
that
I
realized
was
that
I
think
when
we
were
planning
this
church
and
when
we
met
together
in
your
living
room
to
pray
we
had
all
these
different
expectations
and
without
realizing
it
I
had
a
lot
of
expectations
for
this
church
and
you
know
in
some
ways
we
started
with
a
blank
slate
about
what
church
was
going
to
be
and
we
got
to
choose
what
traditions
we
like
and
what
we
wanted
to
keep
but
then
what
ended
up
happening
was
I
think
I
had
my
own
expectations
and
I
wanted
without
realizing
this
is
the
church
I
wanted
and
over
the
course
of
a
year
probably
God
really
showed
me
that
it's
about
planting
his
church
and
not
about
planting
the
church
that
I
want
and
that
was
really
humbling
and
that
was
really
difficult
but
I
firmly
believe
that
we
are
all
here
for
his
church
and
not
for
ours
that's
good
I
think
that's
one
of the
hugest
lessons
for
Christine
and I
we
read
a
billion
books
and
we
went
to
all
the
seminars
about
planting
churches
and
this
is
how
you
should
do
it
this
is
what
it
should
look
like
and
this
is
the
right
way
and
from
family
I
think
as
families
do
as
kids
grow
up
and
kids
are
added
you
change
and
some
of
those
things
as
you
think
about
some
of
the
things
God
has
been
teaching
you
about
himself
and
what
he's
been
showing
you
about
his
character
and
his
nature
and
who
he
is
what
would
you
say
are
some
of
those
things
in
these
last
couple
years
in
this
process
that
he's
been
showing
you
I
feel
like
over
these
last
two
years
I've
learned
a lot
about
his
faithfulness
and
being
on
the
serving
with
the
music
we
always
get
to
choose
what
songs
we're
singing
on
Sunday
morning
and
a
song
that
we
picked
a lot
in
the
beginning
was
a
song
called
Day
After
Day
and
I
don't
know
how
many
of
you
remember
the
lyrics
but
it
says
that
day
he
remains
the
same
else
in
this
world
changes
that
our
God
stays
the
same
and
I
think
we
just
sang
about
that
right
now
so
this
is
a
question
I
had
to
ask
you
so
when
you
come
in
I
know
you
and
Stephanie
aren't
married
but
when
you
come
in
you
have
like
a
ton
of
kids
following
you
right
and
so
I'm
trying
to
figure
out
if
you're
like
the
Pied
Piper
and
you
just
gathered
people
on
the
street
and
you're
bringing
them
here
so
can
you
share
I
mean
I
think
it's
amazing
and
I
think
some
people
here
even
in
our
church
families
like
wow
there's
a lot
of
children
who
come
to
Watermark
from
the
area
and
all
that
and
their
parents
just
drop
them
off
and
so
the
parents
don't
even
attend
church
but
they
want
their
kids
to
attend
which
can
you
share
what's
up
with
that
yeah
hopefully
I can
explain
it
properly
in
some
sense
we
do
just
pick
them
up
on
the
street
and
bring
them
over
but
there's
a
story
behind
all
of
that
about
two
years
ago
a
group
of
friends
and
I
started
volunteering
at
an
inner
city
ministry
site
and
there's
a
center
that
works
like
a
drop
in
center
mainly
we
work
with
the
South
Asians
in
Hong
Kong
and
there's
a
lot
of
Nepalese
families
and
some
Pakistani
and
some
Indian
and
the
background
to
a
lot
of
these
families
are
really
broken
so
there's
a
lot
of
drug
abuse
there's
a
lot
of
gang
violence
there's
a
lot
of
alcoholism
in
the
neighborhood
and
so
our
hearts
really
broke
for
this
community
and
we
saw
the
lostness
and
just
the
great
need
that
these
children
had
and
it was
about
two
years
ago
as
well
that
I
moved
into
the
neighborhood
with
Kevin
Wong
and
we
really
believed
that
God
wanted
us
to
be
present
to
be
their
neighbors
to
shop
where
they
shopped
to
walk
the
streets
that
they
walked
and
as
we
started
doing
that
we
became
really
good
friends
with
a
lot
of
the
kids
and
some
of
my
good
friends
started
taking
them
to
Island
ECC
and
our
heart
behind
that
is
that
we
wanted
to
start
bringing
them
to
church
and
showing
them
and
introducing
them
to
Christ
and
to
God
and
how
important
it
is
to
be
part
of
a
church
and
so
recently
we
started
bringing
them
over
here
to
Watermark
and
I'm
just
very
grateful
for
how
everyone
opened
their
arms
and
welcomed
them
we
had
to
talk
to
Melanie
and
Natalie
they
graciously
welcomed
them
as
well
and
so
we're
really
thankful
to
be
here
and
I
think
my
heart
is
that
we
can
take
these
kids
from
such
a
broken
and
dark
place
and
when
they
come
here
they
will
feel
like
this
is
their
church
as
well
and
that
they
belong
here
when
I
first
met
Lincoln
and
Kevin
we
were
talking
about
this
burden
God
put
upon
their
heart
to
reach
out
to
kids
who
aren't
loved
and
where
they
were
doing
it
and
I
said
if
you
decide
ever
in
the
future
to
come
to
be
a
part
of
what
God's
doing
at
Watermark
that
we
really
want
you
to
do
the
same
thing
in
our
church
because
we
believe
that
there's
a lot
of
kids
that
need
to
know
Christ
and
they
need
family
and
you
whether
you
know
it
or
not
for
most
of
you
guys
you
are
the
only
family
they
have
right
so
seriously
I'm
not
just
saying
but
you
see
these
little
Nepalese
kids
running
around
here
whether
you
know
it
or
not
you're
the
only
family
they
have
and
so
I
think
that's
a
huge
privilege
to have
as a
family
and a
huge
responsibility
amazing
what
God
has
done
so
you
guys
are
doing
amazing
work
there
and
so
we
really
want
to
be
a
part
of
that
and
continue
to
be
a
part
of
that
whether
you
realize
that
there's
a lot
for us
to do
as a
church
in this
part
of the
island
and the
rest
of Hong
Kong
and beyond
so
a lot
of
things
to pray
about
so
can
I
pray
for
you
and
I'll
pray
for
you
in
the
kiddos
here
I'm
sure
they're
going
to be
digging
into
the
food
out
there
like
all
my
kids
will
be
in
a
couple
minutes
so
Father
we
thank you
for
this
day
we
thank you
for
Lincoln
and
Kevin
and
for
all
those
who
have
that
same
burden
I
know
that
Eric
is
there
and
Amanda
and
Stephanie
giving
their
time
and
more
importantly
just
their
love
they're
worshipping
you
with
sacrifice
as we've
talked
about
and that
sacrifice
is
their
time
and
their
schedules
and
everything
else
and so
protect
them
that
you
would
guard
them
I
pray
for
these
little
kids
that
are
running
around
here
like
mad
people
sometimes
help
us
to be
good
parents
to
them
to
speak
truth
to
encourage
to
discipline
correct
all in
appropriate
ways
as we
point
them
to
your
son
and
so
we
pray
for
this
amazing
ministry
and
we
thank
you
for
Lincoln
and
his
heart
and
we
pray
Lord
that
you
would
continue
to
guard
the
frontiers
of
what
he's
doing
in
Hong
Kong
and
beyond
and
we
love
you
we
pray
in
your
son
Jesus
name
amen
thanks
Albert
and
Michelle
how
are you
guys
doing
come
on up
I
want
to
this
is
a
couple
that's
been
a
part
of
our
family
for
a
long
time
and
they've
had
some
amazing
changes
happen
in their
life
and
I
just
wanted
you
guys
to
share
a
little
bit
with
the
rest
of
the
church
family
I
know
this
is
not
too
daunting
but
just
share
how
did
you
come
to
Watermark
what
brought
you
here
so
Michelle
and I
first
considered
ourselves
believers
about
five
years
ago
and
at
that
time
we
have
been
searching
for
home
church
and
we've
tried
many
church
English
church
Cantonese
church
and
even
Catholic
church
but
we
didn't
attach
to
any
of
this
church
and
we
didn't
find
any
sense
of
belonging
at
that
moment
because
I
think
we
didn't
really
understand
what's
the
meaning
of
going
to
church
so
later
on
we
even
giving
ourselves
excuse
and
we
thought
that
as long
as we
believe
in
Jesus
then
we
don't
need
to
follow
the
tradition
and
we
don't
need
to
go to
church
or
reading
Bible
so
after
that
we
have
been
giving
ourselves
excuse
not
going
to
church
that
lasted
four
years
we
were
walking
around
in
circles
around
the
mountain
not
really
knowing
what
we
were
doing
and
we
lost
touch
with
Christ
we
were
just
lost
and
we
gave
ourselves
a lot
of
excuses
excuse
after
excuse
despite
many
friends
had
reminded
us
isn't
it
time
to
go
back
home
should
you
go
to
church
and
I
had
all
the
excuses
in
the
world
and
it
was
no
not
now
probably
not
even
ever
who
knows
there
was
no
there
was
no
click
and
it
wasn't
until
one
day
out
of
the
blue
a
colleague
that
I
don't
even
really
work
very
closely
with
he
just
came
up
to
me
and
he
said
hey
Michelle
did
you
know
that
there
is
a
church
really
close
by
where
you
live
it's
no
matter
how
well
we
thought
he
came
and
searched
us
out
after
four
years
he
came
and
knocked
on
our
door
and
he
was
at
our
footstep
and
he
was
asking
us
well
isn't
it
time
to
come
home
isn't
it
time
to
come
back
to
church
and
when
you
got
God
knocking
on
your
door
can't
exactly
say
no
and
so
what
we
did
was
we
tried
out
watermark
we
came
and
we
stuck
around
it
must
have
been
the
hot
chocolate
always
about
food
here
right
so
now
watermark
is
our
home
church
that's
great
so
in
this
process
or
this
journey
that
you
been
on
what
would
you
say
are
some
of
the
things
that
God
has
been
changing
in
you
guys
what
has
been
doing
in
you
since
your
move
well
God
has
been
strengthening
my
faith
through
the
people
surrounding
me
and
he
continues
to
remind
me
that
he's
the
boss
and
showing
me
the
perspective
that
my
life
on
earth
is
very
temporal
and
I'm
so
blessed
that
God
gave
me
this
church
and
the
community
group
which
is
very
important
for
my
spiritual
growth
and
we
eat
together
we
spend
time
together
we pray
together
we
encourage
for
each
other
as
for
me
I
definitely
feel
that
God
has
been
growing
me
spiritually
a lot
immensely
and
one
way
through
that
was
through
community
group
prior
to
joining
community
group
I was
very
hesitant
again
tons
of
excuses
nah
I
don't
want
to
commit
it's
a lot
of
work
once
a
week
nah
just
wanted
to
stay
anonymous
I
didn't
want
to
join
but
little
did
I
know
that
it
was
in
community
group
that
a
large
chunk
of
my
growth
happened
that's
where
it
happened
I
knew
that
community
group
was a
place
where
I
was a
very
safe
environment
where
I
could
just
go
and
really
be
myself
be
vulnerable
talk
about
how
I
fail
and
continue
to
fail
talk
about
my
weaknesses
and I
know
that
I
have
my
family
there
who
continues
to
encourage
me
lift
me
up
in
prayer
and
disciples
me
and
so
for
those
of
you
who
are
not
in
community
group
I
strongly
recommend
that
you
do
join
because
it's
so
important
for
you
to be
accounted
for
and
accountability
is what
really
will grow
you
and
six
months
after
having
joined
Watermark
we
felt
the
desire
and
were
led
to
take
the
next
step
which
was
to
get
baptized
and
so
thank
you
for
baptizing
us
and
it's
almost
been
a
year
it's
amazing
how
quickly
it's
gone
by
it's
very
special
thank
you
so
in
this
journey
as we
continue
talking
what
would
be
some
of
the
things
you
would
say
that
you've
been
learning
about
God
what
have you
been
learning
about
his
character
and
who
he
is
in
your
life
as
you've
seen
these
things
live
down
well
I
control
and
I
learned
to
involve
God
in
my
daily
life
and
building
relationships
with
people
surrounding
me
and
I
learned
how
to
live
up
everything
to
him
through
prayers
my
marriage
career
in
finance
and
knowing
that
he
is
the
ultimate
provider
and
as
for
me
God
has
been
teaching
me
a
lot
but
the
one
most
impactful
thing
that
he's
continually
teaching
me
and
I'm
continuing
to
learn
is
love
God
has
been
so
gracious
he
has
continued
to
show
me
his
love
and
how
much
he
loves
me
just
by
the
people
that
he
surrounded
me
with
and
how
he's
growing
me
and
also
through
the
marriage
course
so
we
had
taken
the
marriage
course
and
through
that
I've
learned
and
I'm
learning
how
to
love
my
husband
with
respect
rather
than
the
way
I
think
that
I
should
love
him
or
that
I
think
that
he
deserves
to be
loved
so
all
you
married
couples
in the
audience
go for
this
course
you
will
learn
so
much
not
only
will
it
strengthen
your
relationship
with
Christ
but
it
will
teach
you
how
to
love
your
spouse
more
and
better
and
the
way
you
were
designed
to
love
your
spouse
and
also
because
they
deserve
your
love
too
I
don't
even
have
to
promo
any
of
these
things
later
because
you
just
without
even
being
on
the
same
page
you
promoted
everything
community
groups
and
the
marriage
course
which
starts
next
Tuesday
so
you
guys
have
done
it
all
so
I
appreciate
that
how
can
I
pray
for
you
guys
we
would
like
for
you
to
pray
for
us
that
wherever
God
places
us
that
we
continue
to
shine
very
brightly
for
him
and
that
we
are
a
huge
blessing
to
people
that
he
puts
in
our
path
okay
let's
do
that
can
we
pray
together
thank
you
for
Albert
and
Michelle
we
thank
you
for
the
amazing
changes
you
done
in
their
life
thank
you
for
bringing
them
to
this
family
and
pray
for
all
of
our
hearts
as we
hear
their
story
of
your
goodness
your
patience
your
control
that
you
are
the
ultimate
provider
all
these
things
you
share
over
and
over
to
us
and
we
pray
as a
church
family
that
we
would
understand
that
and
that
we
would
live
that
and
trust
you
that
you
are
good
so
we
pray
for
them
more
that
you
show
them
where
you
want
to
serve
and
how
to
serve
and
what
the
next
step
in
their
journey
is
to
honor
you
in
this
process
and
we
lift
up
all
these
things
to you
and we
thank you
for this
dear
very special
couple
we pray
these things
in your
Jesus name
amen
thanks guys
thanks
you know
to me
it's amazing
I think we
could just
kind of
keep doing
little
testimonies
of what
God's
been doing
in our
lives
and I
realize
that as
you
hear these
stories
that most
of you
are at
some
of these
places
and stages
and things
that we
can learn
and trust
the Lord
for in
that sense
I want
to come
back to
this passage
at another
date
because I
think it's
a massive
passage
it has a
lot of
things
to teach
us
and to
show
us
about
God
and his
character
but in
closing
I just
want to
share
with you
a couple
things
maybe
one
thing
Charles
gives me
the time
and the
thing is
this
if I
could
talk
to
Jerry
one more
time
what I
would share
with him
is how
God
is amazing
that he's
always at
work
in the
stories
in the
lives
of his
children
that there's
never a
time that
he's not
talking to
us
and speaking
to us
and pointing
us
and going
before us
I would
tell Jerry
that sometimes
God
uses
pagan kings
to give
us
second
chances
and third
chances
sometimes
he uses
200 year
old
prophecies
sometimes
he uses
16 year
old kids
in an
arcade
who don't
know
nothing
except
that Jesus
loves
them
and they
want to
share that
with their
good friends
sometimes
he uses
heart attacks
sometimes
he uses
cancer
sometimes
he uses
beautiful
sunsets
sometimes
he uses
loving
spouses
sometimes
he uses
good food
and good
friends
sometimes
he uses
kind
people
in workplaces
sometimes
he uses
people
in the
watermark
family
at the
right
place
at the
right
time
in people's
lives
and the
question
is
how
what is
God
saying
to you
right now
because
the scripture
is really
clear that
he's always
speaking
he's always
working
he's always
doing things
in our
life
and the
question
is do
we hear
him
and do
we want
to hear
him
or are
we silent
because we're
serving too
many other
idols in
our life
the question
that I would
ask would be
how is God
using you
for his
glory
and how is
God using
you in
other people's
lives
because there's
95% of the
people in
Hong Kong
don't know
him
and they're
worshiping at
different
altars
if I could
talk to
Jerry for
two seconds
more
I would
tell him
that the
only altar
that he can
worship at
that will
truly change
his life
is Jesus
that he
can worship
at the
altar of
drugs
and alcohol
and business
cards
in his
work
in our
family
in our
reputation
in our
relationships
in our
sexuality
and all
these things
are going to
crowd into
our life
and all
these things
are going to
try to
build altars
in our
life
and all
these things
are going
to invite
us and
entice us
to worship
at them
but none
of these
altars
are going
to change
us
I would
tell Jerry
that the
only altar
that's going
to change
him
is Christ
and that
happens every
day
not just
coming to
Christ
but every
day
the passage
I think the
people in this
passage thought
that God was
sending them
back to the
land to
restore the
temple and
restore the
land and
restore the
city but
what I
think he
actually sent
them back to
was to
restore their
hearts
and to
restore the
relationship
with God
I would
tell Jerry
that God's
grace is
so massive
and so
good and
so sweet
that no
matter how
many mistakes
he's done
no matter
how bad
his life
is
no matter
how much
he feels
like he
screwed
himself up
no matter
how terrible
he feels
like he is
and there's
no way that
God would
not want
him
that that's
not true
because the
scripture in
the Bible
talks about
God as a
God of
second chances
and third
chances
and he's
always pursuing
this no
matter what
we've done
I would
tell Jerry
that it
doesn't matter
what kind
of scars
he has
on his
life
for the
bad choices
and the
things that
he's done
in the
lifestyle that
he's lived
it doesn't
matter
those scars
do not
influence
his direction
in life
the only scars
that influence
his direction
in life
are the scars
on Jesus
Christ
and I would
tell Jerry
that he could
trust Christ
to give him
a new hope
and a new
beginning
I've been
praying for
our church
for a long
time
many years
before
there's a
group of
people been
praying for
this congregation
and you
years before
you were even
here
and the things
we continue
to pray
every day
are this
that we
would never
forget that
it's about
God
that it's
about God's
glory
it's not
about the
glory of
Tobin
the glory
of Watermark
the glory
of the elders
the glory
of the community
group
and all
those things
are going
to fade
but it's
about God
and his
glory
and he's
the only
one worthy
of our
praise
and worship
and we
come today
not to have
our needs
met
though it's
fun to have
friends
and do all
these things
all that's
amazing
but we
come to
meet God
and we
come to
worship him
that's why
we're here
the second
thing I hope
we never
forget is
the reason
God has
here's a
church
he has
brought you
here
to enter
into people's
lives
and to
talk to
them about
the possibility
of do-overs
God has
brought you
here to
enter into
the people
in your
work and
in your
family and
wherever you
are so
that as you
talk to
them you
can engage
with them
and you
can talk
about the
possibility
of second
chances
that's
why this
church
exists
for the
glory of
God
and for
those
not in
church
on
Sunday
and my
hope and my
prayers as we
talk to them
about this
potential of
second chances
and do-overs
centered on a
relationship of
Jesus
that God's
spirit will move
and change
people's lives
and no matter
what birthday we
celebrate in here
our second or
our fifth or
our 25th or
our 50th or
no matter
how long
God has
us here
for his
purpose
if we have
those two
focuses
it's for the
glory of
God
and it's to
point people
to Christ
and show no
matter how
much they've
screwed up
that God
wants a
relationship
with them
if we keep
those two
things the
main things
God is going
to be honored
and he's going
to do amazing
things
and we're going
to be on an
amazing journey
five years from
now to see
what he does
as we plant
other churches
in Hong Kong
but we need
to trust him
and to glorify
him
that's what I
would share
if I could
talk to Jerry
one more time
let me pray for us
Father we thank you
for this day
I thank you for
Father I pray for
Jerry
I don't know
where he is
I pray that you
have brought other
people into his
life to point
him to your son
Lord I know
that there are
many Jerry's
in this
sanctuary now
there are many
Jerry's in Hong
Kong
there are many
Jerry's in our
workplace
and I pray
Lord
that through
all of them
that you
would change
their lives
and that you
would use us
as a church
and a community
to point them
to your son
that they would
understand the
possibility of
second chances
and new beginnings
and how all of
those things
are centered
around you
Father I pray
for the rest
of us in here
I think that
so quickly
for me
I can allow
other altars
into my area
of worship
I can allow
the altar
of popularity
I can allow
the altar
of power
and control
I can allow
the altar
of nice
things
I can allow
the altar
of kids
that obey
perfectly
because I
deserve their
respect
Lord I can
allow all
those altars
to flood
into my life
and take
my worship
off of you
because I'm
too busy
serving at
those other
altars
and Lord I
pray for myself
and I pray
for the rest
of us in here
who are like
that
that we would
see you
as you truly
are
that we would
understand your
mercy and your
grace
and that we would
come before you
right now
and we would
just repent
of our sin
that we would
fall in love
with you
and realize
that you're
good
and that your
scars heal us
and change us
so Father we
worship you
this second
anniversary
we thank you
that you brought
us here
we thank you
and we lift up
all these things
to you
and pray that
you are honored
and know that
you have to
take us
the next year
and to the next
year and to
the next week
in fact Lord
we do not
want to go
there
if you're not
taking us
help us never
to do church
and it just
becomes so
automatic
that we forget
why we do it
that we forget
you
and so we come
and we worship
and we praise you
this day
and we thank you
and we love you
and we pray
these things
in your son
Jesus name
amen
yeah
how you guys
doing
are you hungry
okay
now there's only
like five hot dogs
and hamburgers
for each person
so try not to eat
more than five
okay
because we got
a lot of food
here
guys we are so
so honored
that you're with us
today
to worship
the Lord
and what he's doing
in the life
of this church
and the communities
here
one of the sad
things
or hard things
about being
the church
in Hong Kong
is that people
come and go
and so
I wanted to bring
Sydney up here
Sydney here
come here
Sydney
okay
so
what you don't
know about this
is that
Sydney's mom
was one of my
best friends
so every time
we look at Sydney
we're like
wow we could have
a kid that old
too
yeah
Sydney's mom
is Jill Miller
and I'm Tobin Miller
and they always
got us confused
we were in a youth
group
there was 13
people in our
youth group
in Fraser Memorial
United Methodist
Church Montgomery
Alabama
and so Sydney
is actually
an intern
and so we have
several groups
of people
in the church
we have staff
part-time staff
and interns
and church planners
and Sydney
raised all
of her money
to come and
serve Watermark
so we have
paid her
we've
have we paid
you anything
we've reimbursed
everything that
she's used
for ministry
but she
just wanted
to be a part
of what
God is doing
here
and so she
raised a year's
worth of support
airplane tickets
monthly salary
we've given
her amazing
housing
in our house
and in Sylvia
Millen's house
we love you
and so she's
going back
right now
back to the
states
our hope
is that
she'll come
back soon
she's trying
to apply
to art school
here
and so that
we hope
that she
would come
back
but I just
wanted to
bring her
up here
and just
say
for me
this is
one of the
amazing
things of
being a
staff person
at Watermark
is get to
work with
people like
you
so thank
you for
being with
us and
for serving
this family
so well
thank you
so if
you get
a chance
during a
dinner
or lunch
just thank
her
I had to
take good
care of her
her mom
would beat
me up
right
so she
looks just
like her
mom too
so I
don't know
if that's
good or
bad
so it's
very good
so I'm
going to
pray for
Sydney
and I'm
going to
pray for
our meal
and then
we're going
to take
a picture
so we
don't want
you to
leave
we want
everybody
to scoot
in
and Charles
is going
to give
directions
but I'm
going to
pray
and then
we'll
take a
picture
and then
we're
going to
go eat
okay
pray
picture
eat
pray
picture
five
hamburgers
okay
I'll see
you
I'll put
Kip
on you
Kip
will try
to beat
you on
that
okay
let me
pray
yeah
I think
we've got
a lot
of good
food
father
we thank
you for
this day
we thank
you for
what you're
doing in
the life
of this
church
we thank
you for
Sydney
we thank
you just
for her
willingness
to serve
and to
sacrifice
and again
we've said
that worship
doesn't happen
without sacrifice
and she has
sacrificed a lot
to be with us
to raise
support
to come serve
our kids
and our youth
and just us
and so we
thank you for her
we pray that
you'd go before
her smooth
the way
for her
return back
to us
to study
and to
continue to
grow
and be a
part of
our family
so we just
thank you
for her
and Lord
we thank you
for these
kids
we thank you
for all
these family
members
and we
thank you
for this
food
we're about
to eat
may this
fellowship
time
honor you
may we
have fun
and just
rejoice
at your
goodness
in our
life
and so
we thank
you for
this
second year
anniversary
celebration
and we
love you
we pray
these things
in your
son Jesus
name
amen
guys
okay
Charles
take it
so part
of our
family
tradition
here at
watermark
is to
take our
annual
family
photograph
just like
you go to
our
reunion
or whatever
so we have
our family
photo
so we took
this on our
six month
anniversary
we had a
small group
and we took
it on our
one year
anniversary
last year
we got
bigger
and this
year we've
gotten even
more
larger
so what
we're going
to do
is kids
you're going
to stay
right where
you are
for right
now
if you're
in the
blue seats
you'll stay
seated
right where
you are
for right
now
if you're
in the
black seats
if you will
help me
stack this
very quickly
then if you're
on that
half
you're going
to go up
this aisle
and if you're
on this
half
you're going
to go up
this aisle
so let's try
to do that
in about
60 seconds