0:00:05.287,0:00:07.579
What is it that causes us to

0:00:07.579,0:00:11.340
fall out of ranks?

0:00:11.340,0:00:13.905
Brethren, it's petty indifferences

0:00:13.905,0:00:17.575
that we make into huge deals.

0:00:17.575,0:00:19.634
It's our own pride

0:00:19.634,0:00:22.431
seeking to set ourselves up over others.

0:00:22.431,0:00:23.869
Brethren, I'll tell you what

0:00:23.869,0:00:25.417
keeps the ranks in order

0:00:25.417,0:00:26.906
is humility.

0:00:26.906,0:00:29.004
What keeps those ranks tight

0:00:29.004,0:00:32.075
is when we're willing to be stepped on

0:00:32.075,0:00:34.153
that Christ might be glorified.

0:00:34.153,0:00:35.912
We're willing to be passed over

0:00:35.912,0:00:38.784
in honor, attention, recognition

0:00:38.784,0:00:40.871
that Christ might be exalted.

0:00:40.871,0:00:42.693
We can't build churches.

0:00:42.693,0:00:44.926
It's God that builds churches.

0:00:44.926,0:00:49.076
It's Jesus Christ that [br]establishes churches.

0:00:49.076,0:00:52.623
But as the weeks and[br]the months went by,

0:00:52.623,0:00:55.144
because I was here so often,

0:00:55.144,0:00:59.414
I developed a sense[br]that God was here.

0:00:59.414,0:01:02.457
No matter how small it was.

0:01:02.457,0:01:05.095
No matter how many[br]discouragements came,

0:01:05.095,0:01:08.201
there was a sense that[br]God was here,

0:01:08.201,0:01:11.285
and really, isn't that all we need?

0:01:11.285,0:01:14.214
To know that God is with us[br]and among us?

0:01:14.214,0:01:15.783
Brethren, I'll tell you what,

0:01:15.783,0:01:17.706
you start trying to start[br]a local church

0:01:17.706,0:01:21.935
full of nine members

0:01:21.935,0:01:24.872
here in the middle [br]of Satan's battleground.

0:01:24.872,0:01:26.317
He is going to seek to come in

0:01:26.317,0:01:28.372
and cause division in the church.

0:01:28.372,0:01:30.417
It's going to happen.

0:01:30.417,0:01:31.902
Brethren, you need to be committed

0:01:31.902,0:01:34.381
to something bigger than yourself.

0:01:34.381,0:01:36.193
You need to be committed to something

0:01:36.193,0:01:37.523
bigger than your own honor

0:01:37.523,0:01:38.812
and your own recognition.

0:01:38.812,0:01:40.630
There's absolutely no reason

0:01:40.630,0:01:42.761
that a new little church

0:01:42.761,0:01:44.046
on the edge of the ocean

0:01:44.046,0:01:45.313
down in Corpus Christi

0:01:45.313,0:01:47.748
cannot have an incredible impact

0:01:47.748,0:01:49.675
on the world.

0:01:49.675,0:01:52.572
Because Jesus Christ is[br]the Lord of the harvest.

0:01:52.572,0:01:54.171
And if we pray to Him

0:01:54.171,0:01:57.094
and He promises to give what we need

0:01:57.094,0:01:59.736
there should be no reason

0:01:59.736,0:02:03.454
that He cannot do very great things

0:02:03.454,0:02:04.828
for this church.

0:02:04.828,0:02:08.872
Lift up your eyes on Christ.

0:02:08.872,0:02:11.106
Love Him supremely.

0:02:11.106,0:02:12.370
Treasure Him.

0:02:12.370,0:02:14.135
Above all else.

0:02:14.135,0:02:16.900
Abandon yourself to Christ.

0:02:16.900,0:02:20.485
Strive to maintain unity

0:02:20.485,0:02:22.824
for the sake of the Gospel.

0:02:22.824,0:02:24.329
Shoulder to shoulder, brethren.

0:02:24.329,0:02:27.414
When your shoulders are together,

0:02:27.414,0:02:29.914
one is not way above the other.

0:02:29.914,0:02:32.142
You're side by side.

0:02:32.142,0:02:35.186
You've been chosen by the [br]God of heaven

0:02:35.186,0:02:38.386
to be His representatives at[br]this time and this hour,

0:02:38.386,0:02:43.458
this day, this age, [br]in this city.

0:02:43.458,0:02:45.761
I guarantee you, that there are

0:02:45.761,0:02:49.547
not massive numbers of people

0:02:49.547,0:02:53.549
in this city faithful to the [br]faith of the Gospel.

0:02:53.549,0:02:55.701
You are some of them.