Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Welcome once again to the year 2023!

The same God who got us through 2022 with its ups and downs is the same God who is with us today on this first day of January, 2023.

As Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

2022 had many ups and downs with stresses, anxieties, births, deaths, surgeries, health issues, reunions and partings.

As we start this new year I want us to refocus back on our relationship with Jesus Christ and the Word of God.

It is so easy, even for me to get distracted tossed around.

It is always good at the beginning of the year (in reality at the beginning of every day) to see where you are at and get your bearings.

When finishing up 2019 and beginning 2020 I had a sermon series entitled “Vision 2020 for Jesus” where I encouraged all of us to Scripture reading, prayer journaling, Scripture memorization, and evangelism.

We do these things, not to check off a list (though they do help sometimes), but to grow our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

If we are children of the King of kings and the Lord and lords, we want to know Him.

To know Him better and to make Him known to those around us.

If your and mine redemption from our sins is truly important to us, are we living it out in our words, actions, and thoughts?

How in 2023 can we as individuals and as a body of believers grow in our walk together to continue to be a light in the darkness of the world we are in.

Today as we begin this new year I want us to jump ahead in the story of Daniel before we go back to Daniel next week.

I want to jump the return of the exiles to Jerusalem and how can the response and reaction of the exiles serve as an example for us as we enter this year.

The Reading of the Word

As the writer of Hebrews says: Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The exiles had returned back from Babylon to Judah and Jerusalem.

The temple had been rebuilt and the walls under Nehemiah had also been rebuilt.

There was much opposition and struggles, but God using Nehemiah worked through the people to rebuild.

Nehemiah 4:17-18 “Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.

Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built.

And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.”

Even with the opposition the wall would be complete.

Nehemiah 6:15-19 “So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.

And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them.

For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him.

Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.”

Yet, one of the first things that was done after the walls complete and the temple rebuilt there was a time of refocusing.

Turn over to the end of chapter 7 of Nehemiah.

Look back at Nehemiah 8:5-8

This might have been the first time they had heard the Torah like with King Josiah.

The people in Exile had very little access to the Word of God, but also one other thing that had happened.

They lost their Hebrew language in those 70 years that they had been in exile.

They knew more Aramaic than ancient Hebrew and needed the Hebrew translated by others so that they could understand the reading.

For 2023 be let us dig into the Word of God.

If we do not understand what something means in one English translation we have a wealth of good English translations and many tools to learn what something means and share with others.

Yet, not only learning the Word of God through reading, studying, and memorizing the Word of God, but also prayers.

Prayers of Confession

Chapter 9 of Nehemiah we have the people confess their sins.

If you remember chapter 9 of Daniel, Daniel prayed and confessed the sins of his people before the return to the land.

Now in Nehemiah 9 we have the people confess their sins.

Let us read this chapter.

This prayer remembers the past (they have just read the Torah) and they took the Word of God and remembered their past and look toward the future.

Conclusion

As we start this new year it is good to look back at our past.

What has gotten us to this day.

What sins have committed?

Confess them and let Christ’s blood wash them away and look toward the future!

In this new year let us keep in the Word of God as He speaks to us and in prayer as we speak to Him!