Living Without Walls

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SERIES DESCRIPTION: In this message titled Living Without Walls, Pastor Shawn explores the book of Nehemiah and the reality of Jerusalem’s broken walls, which left the city vulnerable to invasion and outside influence. Through Nehemiah’s leadership, we see how rebuilding begins. Ask yourself, “what’s at stake if your walls remain in ruin?”

Altar Instructions: Please make your way up when I begin the 2nd of the last sub point (Get DELIBERATE) during point 2 (Setting Your Focus).

Pre-Message Welcome

Grace Place family! It’s awesome to have you here with us today, whether in person or online.

I’m Shawn, and along with my wife, we serve as the Co-Pastors of this great group of people.

Krista had to make a last min trip to OK- she sends her love

At The Grace Place, our mission is clear: we are Caring People, Caring for People.

We pray that you experience God’s care in our time together.

To our Spanish speaking families

Spanish Welcome

A nuestra familia de habla hispana .... Bienvenidos… es-pera-mos que usted… y su familia.. se-sien-tan bien a-tend-idos también.

To our Spanish speaking family... welcome, we hope you and your family feels cared for as well.

Before we get into the message today….

Pastor Plug: Thanksgiving Offering

Thanksgiving offering:

Im excited to report to you guys that our Thanksgiving Offering total for Total 2025 Thanksgiving Offering: $25,322 (Largest in the history of our church-

Thank you for your faithfulness and caring for your church in this way.

Lets take a moment and thank God for this.

How many of you are ready to get into the word today..

Introduction

Today we’re looking at the book of Nehemiah from a 1000’ view as it tells the story of how God used a great Leader named Nehemiah… to rebuild a city that had been in unprotected for over a century.

Without walls … Jerusalem was left vulnerable to invasion and destruction.

Transition: the title of our message today is...

Sermon Title | Living Without Walls

Here is the big question for today:

QUESTION FOR TODAY: What is at risk…. if you…. continue to live without walls?

Living exposed is dangerous, sloppy, and reckless…. It doesn’t take much of an imagination to see where your life might be headed without walls.

Consider… whats at stake for your… Marriage, Finances, Health, career, Family Relationships, emotional and spiritual maturity?

Having broken down walls in itself is not a bad thing… but doing nothing about it is. (REPEATE)

-This message is not for neighbor.. this message is 1st for you…

***Feel free to encourage people to listen to the Holy Spirit speak to them personally as the message is preached

LETS PRAY

YOU CAN WALK OFF THE STAGE WHEN YOU SAY AMEN

Were talking about…

Sermon Title | Living Without Walls

Let’s look to Nehemiah to see what we can learn about rebuilding the broken walls of our life.

IN YOUR NOTES… REBUILDING starts with…

SEEKING the Lord Neh. 1:4-11, Prov. 23:7

In the opening of this story.. Nehemiah got word about the destruction and invasion of Jerusalem… and He knew what the future of the city would be like… if left without walls

So what did he do?

Lets look at Neh. 1:4…. on the screen…

English Standard Version Chapter 1

4

HE SOUGHT THE LORD, HE PRAYED… and HE FASTED

This is the 1st step to rebuilding your walls…

Its to get serious… grief over your broken walls… pray and fast in seeking the Lord for help.

Skipping down to v. 11 He prays these words to..

Nehemiah 1:11 NIV

Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant(I am yours-I am devoted to you) and to the prayer of your servants (Hear the cry’s of those left like me who still fear you)who delight in revering your name. GIVE YOUR SERVANT SUCCESS TODAY by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah prayed… he fasted… and he took the sucess of the city personally.

Notice… He wasn’t interested in blaming… he was only interested in BUILDING (You can do one or the other but you cant do both)

Today if you have a life without walls or damaged walls… its time to let go… stop blaming… and start building.

I believe God is inviting you today to get before him in prayer and fasting if needed… so you can begin the process of rebuilding what has been torn down.

Your prayer must begin with believing GOD is big enough to GIVE someone like you… SUCESS.

In Krista and my… early years of ministry, we traveled with teams to schools all over the US… teaching in Public school assemblies. We couldn’t preach the Gospel… so we would preach biblical truths… without quoting chapter and verse.

IN YOUR NOTES… We would often say this…

If you think you CAN, you can; if you think you CAN’T your right to.

If we can’t believe God will do it - we’ll settle with our broken walls… and never pray a bold prayer such as Nehemiah.

But if you think you can… you will you will step up and pray for Him to do MORE.

Let me encourage you today…

If your in the room… it tells me you have a measure of faith today… you are here… hoping that in 2026 with God at work in your life… . your BROKEN walls could be REBUILT.

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: If you keep living life without walls, whats at stake?

Take a moment to imagine where life could lead if nothing changes.

What might it cost you spiritually, relationally, physically, or financially?

Friends… this isn’t a scare tactic… it’s a real possibility unless you begin seeking the Lord.

We’re talking about…

Sermon Title | Living Without Walls

Rebuilding begins with seeking the Lord…

The next thing we can learn… IN YOUR NOTES….. REBUILDING happens by …

SETTING your focus (Neh. 2:4-5)

We see this in Neh. ch 2… After he prays… he gets back to work… and his boss who happened to be the King of the region notices something is off… and he needs help.

Lets look at it together.. Neh ch2 verse 4 and 5…

Nehemiah 2:4–5 ESV

Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves…. WHY… that I may rebuild it.”

Nehemiah got focused… and had one thing on his mind… REBUILD THE CITY.

And He God to work.

What happened as a result of his FOCUED?

Skipping down to v8b… it says…

English Standard Version Chapter 2

And the king granted me what I asked, for

It’s important to pray and fast… but it’s likely you won’t see the hand of God on your life unless you get off your knees and get to WORK.

This Story of Nehemiah is full of WISDOM when it comes to learning how to rebuild… and getting focused… here are a few nuggets of wisdom for us

First… IN YOUR NOTES we need to…

Get DIRECTION . Neh. 2:4

Just kike Nehemiah, we must get clear and Bold when God speaks.

We see here v.4 of Ch 2

After seeking God, Nehemiah became focused on one thing… rebuilding the city …by restoring its walls.

How about you… What is God specifically asking you to do?

Get clear and do that.

PERSONAL STORY: Early on in setting direction or goals for my life - I would have too many targets…. and I would hardly get one done with very low success. I had my eyes set on TOO MANY TARGETS.

James Clear say’s in his book Atomic Habits… said this…

“When people try to plan and pursue multiple goals at once, they don’t commit deeply enough and are much more likely to fail.” -James Clear | Book Atomic Habits

Whats your ONE thing …. it’s time to GO DEEP WITH IT.

FULLY COMMIT… and see what God can do.

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Here is another nuggets of wisdom for us next… IN YOUR NOTES

Get DELIBERATE. Neh. 2:7-8

Just like Nehemiah got deliberate… we too should get deliberate… we should get intentional.

We see this in v. 7-8 of ch. 2

Nehemiah developed a strategic plan to rebuild the City walls..

In this he got deliberate about two things:

1. Nehemiah got deliberate about his GIFTS:

He had to use the gifting, abilities, and leadership that God had given him.

Here is what we learn…

God will not do it… FOR you, but He will do it… THROUGH you.

You might want to right that down…

God will not do it… FOR you, but He will do it… THROUGH you.

We see this over and over again in scripture… God does does the miracle of rebuilding broken things… but most often he does them through a person.

You are NOT an exception to this rule…

Here is the good news..

He won’t ask you to do it like Shawn, or Krista…

God will use you through your unique gifts

and if you’re unsure what those are, take the spiritual gifts assessment linked in the notes.

You’ll simply go to

https://spiritualgiftstest.com

The 2nd thing he did in getting deliberate was…

2. Nehemiah got deliberate with his Connections:

Friends… God WILL NOT ASK YOU TO DO IT ALONE…

When we arrive in ch 3… we see him mobilizes the people in the city to get to work with him.

You will have a unique set of relationships that God has given you to leverage for his Purposes.…

We see Nehemiah use his relationship with the King to get access to Governors, land, and the forest tress so he could get the supplies needed to build…. he gave him favor with his neighbors, and people of the city.

Over and over scripture says… FAMILY after FAMILY stood next to one another and BUILT… both sons and daughters as they all worked… to get the JOB DONE>

How about you.. who has he placed around you to help you rebuild?

PLEASE PUT UP DIAGRAM (See attachment in text WHEN I SAY THIS…

Church if you want to build your walls…

Your greatest help is in the HOUSE of God, w/ the people of God… it’s the only way to re-build your walls.

You hear us talk often about the importance to

Gather - Grow - Give and Go… as a church family..

Why?…

Becuase IT’S HOW WE BUILD YOUR WALLS…

Thats why it’s important to Be In Church… and GATHER with the family of God…

This is why jumping on a serve team… is important …

Getting in a C-Group - by the way they will open up next Sunday.

Growing in Cultivation classes on Wednesdays

This is how you build your walls.

How you position yourselves next to each other… working… praying…. encouraging one another as you build

Here is the last nuggets of wisdom for us IN YOUR NOTES

Get DILIGENT. Neh. 1:4, 2:4, 4:9, 6:9, 6:15

We notice through out the book of Nehemiah He stayed diligent…

We see over and over until the completion of the Walls that Nehemiah… was diligent to…

Pray - I put the references here in your notes…

He Continued to stay the course

He Continued to lean on others

Until the wall was FINISHED.

Friends, it was not just prayer and a good plan.. at the end of the day… DILIGENCE - GOT THE WALLS BUILD…

Here is something you might want to right down…

What you do every day… mattersmore…. than what you do every once in a while.

Friends… Diligence is the secret sauce. Its not a feeling, its not a special gifting… its simply committing to see through what God has put in your hear.

Lets look at Prov. 13:11 we’ll put it on the screen for you…

Proverbs 13:11 ESV

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers LITTLE by LITTLE will increase it.

Here is the biblical principal at work -

Things usually grow little by little over time…

A wall in your life that has been torn open for 5 years, 20 years or a lifetime will NOT be rebuilt in a day.

It will most often happen little by little…

Showing up every day and praying… putting in the work… little by little brick by brick.

I heard someone recently say… when God moves mountains its usually one pebble at a time.

This is exactly how this MOUNTAIN of a TASK got moved….

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: What does setting your focus look like for you?

Here are some great questions to ask yourself… these are all in the growing deeper section of your NOTEs… you don’t need to write them down.

add or take away questions that will help you to get direction, deliberate and a diligent plan…

What am I going to do? PRAY

When will I do it? In the morning, evening, afternoon etc.. WHAT TIME?

Where will I do it? On the couch, porch, in your car before work

How often will I do it? Daily, week days, MWF?

How will you track your sucess? Through a journal?

Who will help you? Who has a prayer life that you admire… ask them about their prayer life, ask them to hold you accountable.

Why do we do all this work… and answer all these questions… becuase its all part of owning the work… taking the building Seriously.

Once you build one section… you will have the confidence to start on the next sesion…

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We’re talking about…

Sermon Title | Living Without Walls

Close

Today we're in a room full of people at different stages in their journey.

Some don’t know Jesus and a living future with Christ is at stake

Some are new to Jesus… and have lots of broken walls….

Some have know Jesus for a long time and have been ignoring some sections of the wall…

It might not be big spiritual or relational implications…

But simple quality of life issues

Diet, exercise,

Maybe you love JESUS but you have been coassting… you need to bolstering your prayer life or digging deeper into the word…

Maybe you have been saying for years…

We need to join a Cgroup, serve team or come on Wed pm’s

Lets get to work together… and build those walls..

If your ready to step up to the plate and do your part in rebuilding some walls in your life I want to invite you to stand all over this room.

SALVATION ALTAR CALL

Transition: As I close today….

So today… if you do NOT know Jesus as your Lord and Savior today is your day…

Salvation Altar Call

I believe Jesus is here today, and He wants to save you. Salvation simply means to deliver or to free. It’s not just about delivering you…

It’s about believing

Believing in Jesus means trusting what He say’s—about sin, and eternal punishment, thats the bad news.

The good news is this… that His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins, making us right with God.

Ephesians 2:8 reminds us: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Salvation requires two things:

1. God’s Grace—His undeserved gift of forgiveness and life because of His love for you.

2. Faith—placing your trust in Him for salvation.

If you’ve never asked Jesus to save you, today is your day. If you’d like ask him… , raise your hand.

I want to invite you to Repeat a prayer after me

· There is nothing magical in this prayer.. it simply is a way of declaring to Jesus what has taken place in your heart.

Here is how I would like to end the service for everyone else….

Call to Action Altar Call

We’re going to end the service with A question as we do nearly every week.

ALL ACROSS THE ROOM – HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT spoken to you in anyway today?

Resources

Book | Atomic Habits, by James Clear

Book | The Power to Change, by Craig Groeschel

Link |Spiritual Gift Assessment: https://spiritualgiftstest.com

Going Deeper

What stuck out to you the in this passage? Nehemiah ch. 1-3

If you keep living life without walls, whats at stake? Neh. 1:4-11, Prov. 23:7

What does setting your focus like for you? Neh. 2:4-5, Prov. 13:11

What wall will you rebuild?

What are you going to do?

When will you do it?

Where will you do it?

How often will you do it?

How will you track my progress?

Who will be help you?

What might the Holy Spirit be saying to you in light of this teaching?

How might the Holy Spirit want to transform you in light of this teaching?

What actions might the Holy Spirit want to take in light of this teaching?

Tongues & Interpretation

1. To STRENGTHEN the Church (1 Cor14:5)

For prophecy is greater than SPEAKING in TONGUES, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be STRENGTHENED.

Believers, God has operated through this gift today to strengthen you today. Let your faith be strengthened and know that God is in control and using supernatural measures to speak to us.

2. Is a SIGN for unbelievers. (1Cor. 14: 21a, 22)

1 Corinthians 14:21–22 (ESV)

In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

22 -  So you see that speaking in tongues is a SIGN, not for believers, but for UNBELIEVERS.

The Bible explains to us God has chosen to use this gift to be a sign for you. A sign for what? It is a sign of his realness for those of you who have been doubting or questioning the existence of God. He wants you to know he is REAL and he wants to bring you spiritual life and health. If you're in here today and you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior... he wants you to know he has gone to great lengths to show you his love today. (Great opportunity for a salvation altar call if it fits).