God, Faith & Community: Let’s Rebuild!
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— Imagine the city of Jerusalem in ruins, its once majestic walls now reduced to rubble.
— The brokenness of the walls reflects the shattered lives and dreams of the people within.
— Nehemiah, burdened by a divine calling, arrives to rebuild what was lost.
— As the people begin reconstructing the walls, their efforts are met with fierce opposition.
— The broken wall becomes a symbol of their vulnerability and the challenges they face.
— In the midst of this adversity, Nehemiah stands as a beacon of faith. He rallies the people not just to rebuild the physical walls but to reconstruct their lives with God at the center.
— The broken wall, once a symbol of defeat, transforms into a testament of resilience and unwavering faith.
— In this illustration, the broken wall becomes a metaphor for our brokenness—broken dreams, relationships, and spirits.
— However, through Nehemiah's story, we see that God specializes in rebuilding what is broken.
— With Christ at the center, our brokenness can be turned into a masterpiece
Today we will be looking at three main points:
1. Divine Guidance,
2. Resilient Faith, and
3. United Community
Divine Guidance
Divine Guidance
— Neh4.4-5
4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.
5 Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.
— That is the position that the Jews returning from captivity find themselves in.
— The Jews may have thought the return from captivity, the rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of the worship of Yahweh was going to be smooth building…
— It was not… They were challenged, fought with and taunted with every brick they laid.
—What could Nehemiah do? — He Prayed!!!
NT Application — Value prayer. Your journey relies His strength, not yours!!
— Let’s look at those applications
Divine Guidance - Prayerful Leadership
— Nehemiah upon his return to Judah to rebuild the temple was faced with opposition
— His first inclination is to seek out God in prayer,
Nehemiah 4:4 “Hear, O our God, for we are despised”
In Nehemiah 4:5 He asks God to not cover the guilt of the Tobiah and Sanballat and to not “blot out” their sin.
NT Application - Prioritize seeking God’s guidance in rebuilding your life and the the church.
2. Divine Guidance - Reliance on God's Strength
9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
— Nehemiah knew where his strength comes from… It comes from God.
— He also recognized the need for God to intervene as he set a guard to protect them during the rebuild.
NT Application - satan/his minions will distract, defeat and discourage. In Christ, we find strength.
3. Divine Guidance - Have confidence in God’s plan
14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
— Nehemiah says, “Remember the Lord…”
— He is “great and awesome.” God is to be revered, held on high; but yet close.
— God strikes fear in those that do NOT know Him
— While at the same time He is close to those who know Him.
NT Application - Be confident in Christs’ Sovereignty. He give us the strength, to rebuild.
Resilient Faith
Resilient Faith
1. Resilient Faith - Facing Ridicule and Opposition
1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews.
2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”
3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”
— Sanballat thought being angry, getting enraged and jeering the Jews would stop them… It did NOT
— Nothing was going to get in the way of returning, rebuilding and restoring the Temple.
— It was the very presence of God in The Temple that drove them to return to Judah and rebuild.
NT Application - Christ endured much but He remained resilient. SO CAN WE!!
2. Resilient Faith - Overcoming Fear (Nehemiah 4:14)
Nehemiah 4:14 (ESV)
14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them.
Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
— Nehemiah returned from captivity on a bold mission
— God had called him, resourced him and delivered him back to Judah
— For the specific purpose of returning, rebuilding and restoring the Temple to it’s previous place.
— Nothing was going to stop Nehemiah from returning!
— He received the charge from God to return and rebuild.
— But it was also probably true that many of the people that were returning with him where fearful
— Fearful of the unknown, Fearful of Yahweh (because they had turned their backs on Him, His law, His guidance).
NT Application - In Christ, we find assurance that overcomes fear.
3. Resilient Faith - Enduring Amidst Challenges (Nehemiah 4:21-23)
21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.”
23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.
— The tests, trials and tribulations of Nehemiah built His faith in God and in His calling
— Nehemiah needed this and a measure more to fight these battles. To endure amidst the challenges.
— The builders of the Temple remained vigilant even after long hours and multiple shifts, and threats from within and outside the Jews
NT Application - Our faith in Christ should endure regardless of circumstances.
United Community
United Community
1. United Community - Collaborative Effort (Nehemiah 4:6)
6 So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
— The wall was at least partially rebuilt to it’s “half-height”
— The Jews returned to Judah with a goal… To rebuild and restore The Temple.
— The people had a common purpose in mind… That was to restore the worship of Yahweh in the Temple in Jerusalem.
— They remained focused and active, they stayed connected with God and with each other.
NT Application - Rebuilding and restoring worship. It’s time for us to work together to rebuild.
2. United Community - Supporting One Another (Nehemiah 4:16-18):
16 From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah,
17 who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.
18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
— Mutual support begins inside all of us. Is that how you are built? Are you available to step up and step in a variety of situations - YES, YES, YES you are.
— You have been there as we supported and staffed families through celebrations, dinners, smash burgers, potlucks, summer-nights.
— You have been there as we loaded trucks bound for Texas.
— Your Elder Team this year… Cis Kennard, Joe Merry, Nora McBride, and Jim Slinker have all been instrumental in providing a foundation of prayer and service to our church.
NT Application - Christ-centered bodies of believers lift each other up.
3. United Community - Leadership and Teamwork (Nehemiah 4:19-20)
19 And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
— If you were to ask a 100 pastor’s from 100 different churches what is the thing that makes your church “work”
— They would resoundingly say, leadership and teamwork.
— Well that leaves us with… Teamwork
— In the past 2 months I’ve seen more Teamwork than I’ve seen in 5+ years.
— Your Elder Team is meeting weekly, praying daily and are ready to help to the best of our ability.
NT Application - Christ taught us how to be servant leaders, to model our lives after Him
Let’s do some review…
Today we looked at three main points:
1. Divine Guidance,
2. Resilient Faith, and
3. United Community
— All three of these points and many more were part of the leadership gifts that Nehemiah brought with him when he returned to rebuild and restore the Temple
—This is precisely the gift mix that we need to rebuild and restore First Baptist.
— Let’s make a radical change in how we “do” church.
— I’m not necessarily talking the time or order of our Sunday service.
— I’m talking about radically changing how we look at what we do, why we do it and the resources that it takes to do it.
Conclusion
— As we reflect on Nehemiah's journey, we see a narrative of divine guidance, resilient faith, and united community a blueprint for building with Christ at the center.
— Just as Nehemiah faced challenges head-on, we are called to confront the obstacles in our lives and in our church with prayerful dependence on Christ.
— Through resilient faith, rooted in the assurance of God's sovereignty and Christ's victory, we can endure ridicule and opposition.
— Moreover, a united community, working collaboratively with Christ as the cornerstone, ensures that we build not just walls but lasting spiritual structures.
Let’s Pray ——-
God, may the lessons from Nehemiah inspire us to approach our lives with Christ at the forefront, seeking His guidance, relying on His strength, and building a resilient and united community that stands as a testimony to His transformative power. May we encouraged and supported by each other. God, we ask that you come alongside us as we return to the life that you intended for us. God, we ask that you come alongside us to rebuild our church and God, be with us we work to restore worship only to you.