Untitled Sermon

Leadership Principles from Nehemiah

1. Godly Leaders share God’s Passion (1:4)

2. Compassionate Leaders have concern for the needs of others. (1:4-10)

3. Christlike Leaders Humble themselves and Repent, on their own behalf and also for others (1:5-6)

4. Responsible Leaders take Action (1:5)

5. Leaders under God’s Leadership Pray and get God’s Heart and Will before taking Action!(1:4, 2:4-5)

6. Successful Leaders think through the essential and important details of a plan before promoting it. (1:5-8)

7. Wise Leaders think through and get the blessing and permission of the proper authoritiesbefore working in their jurisdiction. (1:11, 2:7-8)

8. Leaders see what others don’t see (2: 11-15)

9. Leaders of Men must have Faith in God. Nehemiah trusted that with God’s help and the King’s resources and the People’s unified whole-hearted labor, they could accomplish what seemed to all others to be impossible. (2:17-18, 20)

10. Effective Leaders figure out how to motivate people to work together in unity (Neh. 3)

11. Practical Leaders expect opposition and unexpected challenges to arise (the whole book!)

12. Determined Leaders meet challenges head-on and find ways to overcome (4:16-18)

13. Righteous Leaders ensure Justice is done under their command (5:4-13)

14. Christlike Leaders fear God and do not take advantage of their position, but instead pour out generosity. They GIVE instead of TAKE! (5:14-19)

15. Focused Leaders do not allow themselves to be hindered or drawn off course by possibly good but unnecessary distractions or relationships. (6:2-4)

Note on Prophecy – 6:12, “I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.”

16. Multiplying Leaders Delegate. (7:1-2) They are careful to give authority along with responsibility. And they choose wisely, according to God’s standards rather than men’s. (compare 7:2 with 13:28)

17. Spiritual Leaders ensure their people are growing in the Lord (8:1-8) Ezra reading from the Law

18. Godly Leaders help their people to enter a Covenant with God (Neh. 10).

19. Good Leaders are organized and organize people, assets, and projects well (Neh.11-12).

What happened after Nehemiah, the good leader, left? And what did he do when he returned? How did he confront it?

A. The Priest gave a place in the Temple complex to a politically connected gentile who was trying to undermine them and take over control. (13:4-9)

B. The people stopped tithing, or the Priests stopped paying the Levites. (13:10-14)

C. The people began working on the Sabbath Day (13:15-22)

D. Intermarried again with foreign heathen women, as in the days of Ezra. (13:23-31)

20. Thus, we learn at least one more lesson on leadership from Nehemiah. A Responsible Leader does not allow evil to continue under his watch. He confronts it, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it may be. (Neh. 13)