Sermon: Focused on God’s Work, Together.

Theme: Being Real and Walking in God’s Power

Key Bible Verse: “Two people are better than one, because they get more reward for their work.” Ecclesiastes 4:9.

Date: June 28, 2026

Introduction: What Is God’s Work?

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for being here today on this beautiful Sunday, June 28, 2026. This whole month, we have been focusing on a powerful theme: Being Real and Walking in God’s Power. We have learned that God does not want fake faith. He wants us to be honest about our weaknesses so that His true power can fill us. Today, as we close this special month, we look at the ultimate way to use that power: by focusing on God’s work together.

Let us start by asking a very simple question: What is God’s work?

Sometimes, when we hear the words “God’s work,” we only think of big things. We think of pastors preaching on a stage to thousands of people. We think of missionaries traveling across the ocean to live in wild jungles. We think of people who write holy books or build giant church buildings.

But the Bible tells us that God’s work is much closer to us than that. God’s work is everything that brings His love, His light, and His truth into this broken world.

• When you comfort a neighbor who is crying, you are doing God’s work.
• When you feed someone who is hungry, you are doing God’s work.
• When you tell your children about the love of Jesus, you are doing God’s work.
• When you forgive someone who hurt you, you are doing God’s work.

God’s work is the work of healing what is broken. It is the work of sharing the Good News that Jesus Christ saves us, loves us, and wants to give us eternal life.

But there is a problem we face today. The world is very busy. There are so many distractions. It is very easy for us to lose our focus. We get focused on our own problems, our own money, our own comfort, and our own small plans. We forget the big plan of God.

And even when we want to do God’s work, we often look at ourselves and think, “I am too weak. I am too small. The world is too dark, and I cannot fix it alone.”

If you have ever felt that way, I have good news for you today. God never intended for you to do His work alone. From the very beginning of time, God designed His people to work as a team. He created us to be connected. The Bible shows us a beautiful pattern: When we focus on God’s work, and when we do it together, God does miracles that we could never do by ourselves.

Part 1: The Danger of Losing Focus

Before we look at the beautiful examples of teamwork in the Bible, we must understand why we need to stay focused.

Imagine a soldier who goes to war. If the soldier stops looking at the battlefield and starts playing games on his phone, what happens? He gets defeated. Imagine a farmer who wants to plant seeds. If he spends all his time looking at the sky and worrying about the clouds, he will never plant, and he will never harvest.

In the book of Haggai, the people of Israel lost their focus. They had returned from being prisoners in a foreign land. God told them to rebuild His Temple. That was God’s work for them at that time. But the people got busy. They said, “It is not the right time to build the Lord’s house.” Instead, they spent all their time, money, and energy building their own beautiful houses. They focused only on themselves.

Listen to what God said to them through the prophet Haggai in chapter 1, verses 5 and 6:

“Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.'”

This is a powerful picture of what happens when we lose our focus on God’s work. When we live only for ourselves, we are never truly happy. We collect money, but it feels like putting money into a pocket full of holes. It disappears, and we do not know where it went. We buy things, but we are still empty inside. Why? Because we were made for more than just survival and comfort. We were created to do the work of the King of Kings!

When we focus on God’s work, our lives find true meaning. We realize that our time, our energy, and our money belong to Him. And when we give them to Him, He fills our hearts with a joy that the world cannot give.

But remember, the task is big. God’s work in this town, in this city, and in this world is massive. There are thousands of broken hearts to mend. There are many poor people to help. There are many lost souls to reach. If you try to do it all by yourself, you will burn out. You will become tired, sad, and ready to quit.

That is why God gives us the church. The church is not a building made of bricks. The church is a body made of people. And just like a human body needs the eyes, the hands, the feet, and the ears to work together, God’s family must work together to get the job done.

Part 2: Four Powerful Examples of Working Together

Let us look deeply into the Word of God to see four amazing stories of people who focused on God’s work by joining together.

1. Moses and Aaron: The Gift of Support

Our first story takes us back to the desert of Egypt, thousands of years ago. The people of Israel were slaves. They were beaten, they were crying, and they were carrying heavy bricks under the hot sun. God heard their cries, and He chose a man named Moses to be their leader.

God spoke to Moses from a burning bush and said, “Go to the King of Egypt and tell him to let my people go.”

Moses was terrified. He did not see himself as a great hero. He looked at his own mouth and his own speech. He said to God in Exodus 4:10, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent… I am slow of speech and tongue.” Moses was focused on his own weakness instead of God’s strength. He felt completely alone.

But watch how God responded. God did not get angry and tell Moses to just go and figure it out by himself. God said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you.”

God gave Moses a partner. Moses had the vision and the word from God, but Aaron had the voice. Together, they walked into the palace of the most powerful king on earth. They did not go alone; they went as a team. Because they stood together, they spoke the truth, performed signs, and led millions of people out of slavery.

But the teamwork did not stop there. Later, while the Israelites were traveling in the desert, a fierce enemy attacked them. Moses went to the top of a hill to pray. He held the staff of God up high in the air. The Bible tells us that as long as Moses held his hands up, the Israelite army won the battle. But whenever he lowered his hands because he was tired, the enemy started winning.

Moses was a great man of God, but his arms were made of flesh and bone. They grew heavy. He could not keep them up anymore.

Look at what happened next in Exodus 17:12:

“When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.”

What a beautiful picture! Moses was the leader, but he needed Aaron and Hur. Without them, his hands would have dropped, and the battle would have been lost. Aaron and Hur did not say, “Well, Moses is the prophet, let him do it all.” No, they saw his weakness, they stepped in, and they lifted his arms.

In the church today, we have many people who are tired. Your pastor gets tired. The Sunday school teachers get tired. The parents get tired. The people who serve the poor get tired. God’s work requires us to be like Aaron and Hur. We must look around and see who is growing weary, and we must stand beside them to hold their hands up in prayer and encouragement.

2. Paul and Silas: Partnership in the Darkest Night

Let us move to the New Testament, to the book of Acts, chapter 16. Here we find the apostle Paul. He was a man completely focused on God’s work. He traveled from town to town, sharing the gospel of Jesus. But he did not travel alone. He had a ministry partner named Silas.

One day, they were in a city called Philippi. They cast an evil spirit out of a slave girl, which made her masters very angry because they could no longer make money from her. The leaders of the city grabbed Paul and Silas. They stripped their clothes off, beat them severely with wooden rods, and threw them into the deepest, darkest part of the prison. The jailer even locked their feet in heavy wooden stocks.

Imagine the scene. It is midnight. The prison is cold, dark, and smells terrible. Paul and Silas have open wounds on their backs. They are bleeding and in great pain. It would have been very easy for them to complain. Paul could have looked at Silas and said, “This is your fault!” Silas could have looked at Paul and said, “Why did we come to this city?”

But they did not blame each other. They did not lose their focus on God. Even in the dark, they remembered that they were partners in God’s work.

Acts 16:25 tells us exactly what they did:

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”

They didn’t just pray silently in their minds. They sang out loud! One started a song, and the other joined in harmony. Their voices echoed through the dark hallways of the prison. They encouraged each other’s faith. When Paul felt weak, he heard Silas singing. When Silas felt pain, he heard Paul praising God.

And because they worshipped together, God responded with power. Suddenly, there was a violent earthquake. The foundations of the prison shook. At once, all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose!

The prison guard woke up and thought all the prisoners had escaped. He drew his sword to kill himself because he was terrified of the punishment. But Paul shouted out, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

The guard rushed in with a light, trembling with fear. He fell down before Paul and Silas and asked the most important question in the world: “Devoted men, what must I do to be saved?” That very night, the guard and his whole family washed the wounds of Paul and Silas, listened to the gospel, and were baptized with great joy.

Think about this: If Paul had been alone, he might have been too broken to sing. If Silas had been alone, he might have given up hope. But because they were together, their praise became a weapon. Their unity brought the power of God down into a dark prison cell, and a whole family was saved for eternity.

In our lives, we will experience “midnight” moments. We will face times of grief, financial trouble, or sickness. When you are in the dark, do not isolate yourself. Do not stay away from your brothers and sisters in Christ. Find a partner like Silas. Find someone who will pray with you and sing with you until the chains break and the doors open.

3. Nehemiah and the Families: Rebuilding Side by Side

Our third example comes from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a servant to a foreign king, living far away from his homeland. One day, some travelers came from Jerusalem and brought terrible news. They said the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, the gates were burned with fire, and the people living there were in great trouble and shame.

When Nehemiah heard this, he wept and prayed. The walls were important because, in those days, a city without walls had no protection. Enemies could come in at any time to steal, kill, and destroy. God put a big vision in Nehemiah’s heart. God’s work for Nehemiah was to go back and rebuild the giant stone walls of Jerusalem.

When Nehemiah arrived in the city, he rode around at night and looked at the damage. The piles of stones were huge, and the gates were nothing but ash. It looked impossible. If Nehemiah had picked up one stone by himself, he would have made no difference at all. The work was too heavy, too dangerous, and too big for one man.

So, what did Nehemiah do? He gathered the people together and said, “Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” And the people replied, “Let us start rebuilding!”

If you read Nehemiah chapter 3, you will see a long list of names. It might seem like a boring list at first, but it is actually one of the most beautiful chapters about teamwork in the whole Bible. The text uses a specific phrase over and over again: “Next to them…” or “Beside them…”

• The high priest and his fellow priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate.
• Next to them, the men of Jericho built another section.
• Next to them, a man named Zakkur built.
• Further down, a man named Malchijah, who was a goldsmith, fixed a section.
• Next to him, Hananiah, a maker of perfumes, worked on the wall.

Think about that! Goldsmiths and perfume-makers are not professional builders. Their hands were used to making fine jewelry and mixing sweet oils. They did not know how to mix heavy mortar or lift giant rocks. But they didn’t make excuses. They didn’t say, “This isn’t my job.” They stood under the hot sun, got their hands dirty, and worked right next to their neighbors.

Every family took responsibility for the piece of the wall that was directly in front of their own house. They kept their focus on the work, even when enemies threatened to attack them. They worked with a tool in one hand and a sword in the other.

Because they worked side by side, each doing their small part, something miraculous happened. The massive wall around the entire city of Jerusalem was finished in just 52 days! Even their enemies were shocked and realized that this work had been done with the help of God.

This tells us a powerful truth about the church. You do not have to do everything. You just need to fix the part of the wall that is in front of you.

• If God has given you the gift of cooking, use that to feed the lonely.
• If God has given you the gift of encouraging words, use that to comfort the broken.
• If God has given you extra money, use that to support missions.

When the goldsmith, the perfume-maker, the priest, and the builder all work side by side, God’s work gets completed with unbelievable speed.

4. The Four Friends: The Power of Unified Faith

Our final example is found in the New Testament, in Mark chapter 2. Jesus was visiting a town called Capernaum, staying inside a house. The news spread quickly that the great Teacher and Healer was there. Soon, hundreds of people packed into the house. It was so full that there was no room left, not even outside the door. Everyone wanted to hear Jesus speak.

In that same town, there was a man who was paralyzed. He could not move his legs or his arms. He spent every single day lying on a small mat on the floor. He could not work, he could not visit his friends, and he could not walk to see Jesus. He was completely stuck in his misery.

But this paralyzed man had something very precious: he had four faithful friends.

These four men looked at their friend on the mat, and then they thought about Jesus. They focused on a specific piece of God’s work: bringing their broken friend to the Savior. They didn’t just sit around and feel sorry for him. They acted.

Each friend took hold of one corner of the mat. Together, they lifted the man up and started walking toward the house where Jesus was preaching. When they arrived, they faced a massive wall of people. They tried to push through the crowd, but nobody would move. The door was completely blocked.

A single person trying to carry that mat would have given up and gone home. But these four friends were unified. They refused to quit. They looked up at the sky and saw the flat roof of the house.

They carried their friend up the outside stairs onto the roof. Then, they started pulling up the tiles and digging through the clay and wood. Imagine being inside the house, listening to Jesus preach, and suddenly dirt and pieces of the roof start falling on your head!

The friends made a large hole in the ceiling. Then, using ropes, the four men carefully lowered the mat down, inch by inch, right into the middle of the room, directly in front of the feet of Jesus.

Look at what the Bible says in Mark 2:5:

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.'”

Notice that the Bible does not say Jesus saw the faith of the paralyzed man. It says He saw their faith—the faith of the four friends working together. Jesus was so moved by their love, their teamwork, and their determination that He healed the man completely. Jesus told him, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” And the man stood up, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of everyone!

This story reminds us that there are people in our community who are spiritually paralyzed. They are trapped in addiction, trapped in depression, or trapped in sin. They cannot find their way to Jesus on their own. They need a group of friends who will catch the corners of their mat. They need a community that says, “We will carry you in prayer. We will drive you to church. We will love you until you can stand on your own two feet.”

One person cannot carry a paralyzed man easily, but four people can lift him with joy. Teamwork opens up roofs and brings people to the feet of Jesus.

This Week’s Reflection

As we look back on this week, let us be completely real with ourselves. Have you been trying to run this race entirely alone? Have you kept your deepest problems a secret because you are afraid of what others might think? True spiritual power comes when we finally drop the mask and become honest with God and each other. Take a moment right now to reflect on the people God has placed around you in this community. Think about the conversations you had this week and the people you passed by. Did you notice someone who was struggling under a heavy load? This week, I want you to intentionally think about one specific person in this church whose hands you can lift up, or someone whose heavy mat you need to help carry.

Being real means admitting that we cannot do life by ourselves. It means looking past our own small world to see the needs of our brothers and sisters. Let us use this reflection time to let go of our pride. If you are the one carrying a hidden burden, allow someone else to help you. If you see someone else falling behind, step in and offer your shoulder. God has strategically placed us in this church family so that no single person has to walk through a dark valley without support. Let us pray that God opens our eyes to see each other clearly, making our unity real and powerful.

Challenging Session

I challenge every single person here today to stop being a spectator in the house of God. God did not call you to just sit in a comfortable chair every week and watch a few people do all the hard work. The wall of our community is broken down in many places, and there is a specific section right in front of your house that desperately needs your unique, God-given gifts. I challenge you to step completely out of your comfort zone today. If you have been distant from the church family, make a decision to get connected right now. If you have been silent and isolated, challenge yourself to find a prayer partner and start sharing your journey. Let us boldly break the spirit of spiritual laziness and cold isolation today!

God’s work is not a game for a small group of leaders; it is a mission for the entire body of Christ. When you choose to remain silent, a piece of the wall remains unprotected. When you choose to hide your talents, the body of Christ lacks a necessary part. Stop making excuses that you are too busy, too young, or too unqualified. The perfume-makers and the goldsmiths in the Bible were not professional builders, but they worked with passion anyway. Stand up, take your place on the line, and let us build together. Your family needs your faith, your church needs your service, and your community needs your light.

Deliverance Session

Right now, the Holy Spirit of God is moving powerfully in this room to break every heavy, generational chain. Many of you are secretly bound by the heavy spirits of loneliness, deep depression, and crippling fear. The enemy has lied to you for years, whispering into your mind that you are entirely alone, that no one understands your pain, and that nobody truly cares about you. We stand against those lies today. In the mighty and supreme name of Jesus Christ, we command every spirit of division, every wall of emotional isolation, and every stubborn chain of addiction to be completely broken right now!

We break the power of dark thoughts that tell you to give up. We cast out the tormenting fear of rejection and the shame of past mistakes. Satan, your hold over God’s people is canceled by the blood of the Lamb. We speak absolute freedom into your mind, your emotions, and your physical body. Receive the true, raw power of the Holy Spirit to walk in supernatural freedom and divine unity today! Let the fire of God consume every root of bitterness and anxiety. You are no longer a slave to fear, and you are no longer isolated. The shackles are falling off your feet, and the heavy iron gates are flying open. Step forward into the bright light of your deliverance, for whom the Son sets free is free indeed!

Altar Call

If you are here today and your heart is beating fast, that is the Holy Spirit calling you. If you want to say, “Lord, I am finally ready to be real, I want to walk in Your true power, and I want to be an active part of Your great work,” I invite you to step forward to this altar right now. Do not hesitate, and do not look at who is sitting next to you. If you need a faithful team to help carry your mat today because you are hurting and broken, come forward and let us stand with you.

If you want to dedicate your entire life to serving God side-by-side with His family, make that choice and come now. Jesus is waiting for you at this altar with wide open arms, ready to wash away your past and give you a bright new purpose. This is your moment to step out of the dark and into the family of God. Coming to the altar is an act of holy boldness. It tells the world and the devil that you are no longer hiding. Whether you are giving your life to Christ for the very first time, or you are returning to Him after being away for a long season, this altar is a place of unconditional love and new beginnings. Walk down these aisles right now. Let the church lift your hands, let the Savior heal your heart, and let us begin God’s work together.

Prayer

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, Almighty God, we come before You today on this twenty-eighth day of June. We thank You for teaching us this month how to be real and how to walk boldly in Your divine power. Lord, we confess that we cannot do Your great work by ourselves. We reject the spirit of isolation and loneliness right now. We ask that You pour out a fresh spirit of love and perfect unity upon this church family.

Lord, strengthen the hands that are tired today, just like Aaron and Hur lifted up Moses. Give us faithful partners like Silas to sing praises with us in our darkest midnight moments. Help us to build your kingdom side by side like the families in the days of Nehemiah. Give us the deep love of the four friends, so we will never stop carrying the broken and hurting people straight to the feet of Jesus.

We pray that You destroy every single weapon of division that the enemy tries to bring against us. Remove all jealousy, pride, and hurtful gossip from our hearts. Fill us with a true desire to serve You and to love one another with pure hearts. May Your holy power flow through our combined hands to heal this community, to save the lost, and to bring great glory to Your holy name. We commit our lives, our families, and our ministries into Your hands today. In the mighty, precious, and matchless name of Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

God bless abundantly.