How to Start Again..

Good morning, welcome to our online Service… We have good news share with you in regards to our services.. on November 1st- We are planning to return to in person services…

We will be sending you all an email with details and the guidelines of what you can expect we go forward..

Over the past several weeks we have been in a Series in the book Nehemiah, entitled the Good Work..

-- The book of Nehemiah is the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem that had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 bc..

Nehemiah and Ezra have been at the forefront restoring and bringing reform to Judah… They have faced all kinds of challenges and obstacles and in just 52 days the gaps and breaches in the wall have filled and the gates have been hung..

We have seen over the past few weeks the faithfulness of God in the lives of His people....

It reminds me what the apostle Paul said to the Church at Philippi.... that He who began a good work…in you will be faithful to bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ… God is not only a starter… but He is also a Finisher.. He is the author and the finisher of our Salvation...

When we talk about the Good work… it was much deeper than brick an mortar…

The good work was about Restoration of the People of Judah to their God.. It was salvific in that it was about repentance and restitution --- — the saving of His people...

Not only was it mending this vertical relationship between Judah and their God, but it was also horizontal relationships.. repentance and restitution between neighbors and friends.. healing relationships and bringing unity to them as a whole nation.…

We learn from Nehemiah of what can be accomplished, when we get back to the foundations of Faith..

Your could sum up the book of Nehemiah by saying ..it is about a turn around Nation… This is about 180 degree turn of a nation…

They were all heading in the wrong direction… divided, displaced, disgruntled, dissatisfied and distant from God and they were despising one another…

To be honest Not unlike the restless political and social climate we find ourselves in today..

But here in these verses we find the potential of change, the Possibilities of change, the power of Change when people set aside their difference and acknowledge themselves as part of the problem... a people willing to change.…

They have Experienced healing as a people moving from Exile to Acceptance. From being aliens and strangers to the promises of God to

now .. they have peace with God and one another… They have one heart… and One mind…

There was such a transformation…To the point that surrounding nations took notice…. and started to treat them differently... They had looked down upon the people of Judah… and the scripture says… when they saw what God had done… they no longer esteemed themselves higher than the people of Judah...

They stand before God as One man… no longer divided but United... Together they are longing to know their God, desiring to understand his ways and to apply His Word.....

The People of Judah are presented with a gift… an opportunity... it was the gift of starting over… you might wonder how starting over could be called a gift?

Over the years, I have written sermons, papers and then something mysteriously happened to the file… it either got lost, corrupted… or just some how got deleted…There have been a few times we have been recording and lost all the recordings..

and starting over is no fun in fact it can be overwhelming...

As we look at our text we need to ask... … What is it enabled Judah to start again? How do we begin again?

T/S How to deal with our past hurts and failures and how do we even get the strength to start again?

We are going to find some of these answers to some of these questions...in our text .. firstly. … Any meaningful change in our lives...

1. Starts with Our Confession.

We live in this Digital age where we communicate in sound bites of information.... We no longer have to write letters or even and emails…we can send a short text… we POST thoughts on Social media… and in a few sentences we have communicated…an idea.. a thought.. Sometimes this not the best way… because texts can be easily misunderstood..

Have you ever thought about the messaging of your life? What is the messaging of your life? what is the message that your life communicates? What are those sound bites? If there was a way to record your thoughts and them have them played back ..… what kind message would those messages say about you?

Messaging starts with our personal confession…

Pam has been sharing with me lessons she has learned from Elizabeth Benton…a Christian inspirational speaker author…and life coach..now.. She is a person who speaks clearly in sound bytes just about everything she communicates… has real world application

Elizabeth Benton challenges us to ask… What the Story we are telling ourselves?……Each of us everyday is telling ourselves our story about who we are…

We frame our lives around the stories we tell ourselves …for example..

We say things like:

I am an emotional eater,

I have no self-Control… I’m bad with money,

I am the fat one…

Im inconsistent..

I am a procrastinator...

Benton tells us the problem is that we begin to act out the story that we tell ourselves … we begin to live out the messages we tell ourselves..

In Chapter 9 Judah has gathering again, but this time it is for the purpose of having a solemn assembly- They are there to meet with God — the are ready for real change and to start again...

Their restart begins with Confession..…

The word ‘confession’ has a few meaning in Scripture..

First confession is the ..Admission of guilt and the acknowledgment of sin…

There is a story of a shoplifter wrote to a department store, saying, “I’ve just become a Christian, and I can’t sleep at night because I feel guilty. So here’s $100 that I owe you.” He signed his name then added a little PS: “If I still can’t sleep, I’ll send you the rest.”

This kind of confession is more than saying your are sorry.. but it leads to repentance and then faith in God.…

The Secondly, Confession is a statement or a declaration of belief… for example.

We see these kinds of Confessions through church history, councils, denominations, and individuals have developed confessions that outline their beliefs. In the early church, such confessions were termed creeds (e.g., Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed). Early Christian confessions of faith were primarily oral, and were rooted in the Old Testament Shema- that Israel confessed daily… The Lord God of Israel was one God..

Don’t miss .. What we confess is what we believe!! Whether it is a creed or a thought that we tell ourselves..

So in our text…we see that Judah had gone from Celebrating the feast of tabernacles.. a joyous occasion into this time of confession…the bible calls it a solemn assembly.. part of the reason they are going to make some commitments..its part of the restart.

Let’s Read Neh chapter 9.

Nehemiah 9:1–3 ESV

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

Judah has gather for a solemn assembly- they come with sackcloth and earth on the heads.. looks a little bit like ash Wednesday — where people have ash sprinkled ash on the their foreheads… they have come for the purpose of confession.

They tired of doing things in half measures… half heart worship— shallow commitments… shallow faith.. They wanted more.. they weren't satisfied with surface religion...

Nehemiah tells us that they spent 1/4 of the day.. . in the scriptures and a 1/4 of the day they made confessing sin....

This was intentional time of consecration.. They separated themselves from all foreigners…They come in garments made of burlop..(sack cloth) — They come have before God and each other in humility… They have come to Confess sin and seek mercy and grace.

In the OT Grace is found through the Mosaic law… In the NT Grace is found in the cross of Christ…

In the NT we we come to Christ and his Cross— we identify with the humility and the Sacrifice of Jesus.… It as the foot of the Cross — that we can bring every trouble, every hurt and every failure.. It is at the cross where things are turned around.. We are made righteous or Justified.. The cross is where we are going to find peace with God, ourselves and others... us peace… ..

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So first of all we the first kind of Confession the confession of sin… There is the Confession of Faith...

2. As they focus Focus God on the Greatness of God’s name..

We are told that several of the Levites stand up on the stairs… and they -Call the people to worship.... .

This is a beautiful text.

vrs 9

Nehemiah 9:5 ESV

5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Can you imagine 50 000 people joined together p.... and the Priests call them to Worship… Stand up and bless the Lord… and the crowd are on their their feet praising God..

Then they say..

... He is the everlasting God.... who is exalted about every other name... He is above blessing and praise... he worth more than any of our praise that could be offered….

… There is something awesome about confessing the name of our Lord…

The first time that worship is mentioned in the Bible .. is in the book of Genesis 4:6 it says that there was a time when man began to call upon the Name of the Lord.

The Word Lord is Yaweh — Everlasting Covenant keeping God....

Ephesian 1:21 tells us that Christ is seated far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but in the one to come...

Phil 2:9 God has highly exalted Christ… and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name...

Proverbs 18:10 ESV

10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

When we praise God… WE remembering that His name Yahweh God… He is a covenant keeper… His promises are alway yes and amen… He never goes back on his word…

We see the first Steps in starting again is to..

b. Confessed our Sin

c . Confess the Greatness of God

T/s How to deal with failures and how to start again? Starts with right messaging

1. Start with Our Confession

2. Trace God's Dealings in our lives..

A few weeks ago our garbage disposal died… and I tried to remember how to fix it…I had forgotten that all that was needed was to get an Alan Key and turn it a couple of turns and it would dislodge whatever was stuck… I ended up calling a repair guy — paying for the house call… and soon as he told me what he did… I remembered how to fix it !! little too late.. The good news is Pam just told me that it is still not working…I get a second chance at it.. I get to start again...

One of the painful lessons in life is learning from our mistakes.. but even more painful lesson is repeating the same mistake over and over...…

Albert Eistien said..

'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. '"

In other words we need learn from our History...

it has been said that..

He who forgets his own history is condemned to repeat it. If we don't know our own history, we will simply have to endure all the same mistakes, sacrifices, and absurdities all over again

How do we trace our History… One of the ways is to look at your life.. from the perspective of the Providence of God...

A. Can you trace God’s finger prints on your life...

When we talk about Providence — we are talking about those times God moved toward you with grace and favor.. even is seasons and times you didn’t even realize it…

God’s providence involves His capacity to see ahead of us.. and provide for those times.

One of the name of God is “Jehovah-Jireh,” which means “Yahweh Sees,” “Yahweh Will See to It,” or “Yahweh Provides” (Gen 22:14).

The levites in their Priestly Prayer…Start off at Creation..

As the Priests pray..they begin eternal nature of God.. that he is not within the bounds of his creation.. He stands outside of creation as the maker and creator of all things..

You alone Lord Yahweh were in creation… You were there from the beginning…God is the creator and maker of all things... the heaven of heavens, angels, the earth and land and sea -- Not only are you creator but you sustain and preserve all things....

This reminds us that God’s plan is ultimately and eternal plan… Often we start our History with us… Where we born… where grew up… In God’s providence you and I are part of His Eternal plan.. goes beyond this life..… You are alone are creator of all things and sustainer of all things…

Next the Priests Go to the next major event in their History… That is when God called them to be a Nation.. Starting with the calling Abram from the Ur of Chaldeans — God was going to create a whole nation out of one man…and within Abraham seed was the whole nation of Israel.... talk about Providence… within Abraham contained the very nation of Israel.

Nehemiah 9:7–8 ESV

7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

Abram didn't wake up one day and say, I am going to be the father of nation... We are told that God handpicked -chose him because he was faithful…

Abraham didn't have a clue where he was going... but he had a relationship with Yahweh the creator God…by faith he followed after God.

In Hebrews 11 We told that it was by Faith that Abraham obeyed God

Hebrews 11:10 ESV

10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

It was through Providence that God

made a covenant with Abraham that through his seed God would establish his people...

This Covenant continues in the New Testament… Romans 4 tells us that just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness...

that All who believe in the Lord Jesus are also Children of Abraham.. because we have been justified by faith..

Not only do we look for Providence of God we look for Preservation...

2. Look for God's Preservation

In this prayer the Priests continue to Trace the History of the People… this time they are looking where God showed up… and saved them...

During the time of Moses..

Israel had suffered harsh affliction under the cruel reign of the Egyptians…Pharoah had put taskmaster over the Israelites and kept increasing their work load — until they could no longer bear it.. They cried out to the Lord… God heard their Cries..

God provided a Deliver in Moses..

God prepared a deliver in advance… Moses was was nursed and raised in Pharaohs house… Not only did he provide a deliver but God himself came down to help Israel…

God himself responded to the cries of the people..

Nehemiah 9:9–11 ESV

9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.

.God came down and performed signs and wonders… The acts were so powerful that God was known… Nehemiah say that bGod made a name for himself...

The great miracle was that of the dividing of the Red Sea… When the armies of Egypt were pursuing Israel they felt trapped..

God was faithful and came out to fight for them... God divided the sea.... God cast their pursuers into the sea... God then led them with Pillar of Cloud and fire...

God came down to them... established them as a people... as they came out of Egypt...

what identified the Israelites from all the other nations was that they kept the Sabbath... and practiced the sabbath rest or Jubilee every seven years.. They not only had protection from other nations... but God took of their physical needs.

How many times in our lives has God preserved you…

This could be a literal saving..

Pam and I walked away from an accident in Africa when we talked to the bystanders afterwards couldn’t believe that we had survived… they witnessed the whole thing.. and said we shouldn’t have made it.. .... I don’t understand everything.... this is not always the case…

2. How about your finances

3. How about a family situation..

4. How about Employment..

5. How about being well during covid…

There are hundreds of ways that God preserves us…

T/s How to deal with failures and how to start again?

1. Start with Our Confession

2. Trace God's Dealings in our lives..

3 . Track your own Responses -

In an article in todays Christian Woman Sondra Hanson tells how here daughter responded to her teacher when loosing here name badge at a VBS one years... After the recreation time, her daughters name tag had slipped behind her, came she came excitedly to her teacher and proclaimed, "Teacher, Teacher, I lost my price tag!"

I love that response.. How many times does life happen and we react.. and respond in the wrong way... When you see how God came down and rescued Israel over and over.... you would expect their response would be one of gratitude… praise and worship.. but we find the opposite

Nehemiah 9:16–17 ESV

16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

Now this is incredible verse that.. these people were there on the banks of the red sea when God delivered the people… they had a front seat to the miraculous --- and all that God had done… it is amazing how quickly our persepective can be changed… As Israel found themselves in the wilderness…They began to doubt Moses and to doubt God...

.. They acted presumptuously... The began to make assumptions that they had been left in the wilderness to die…

and instead of listening to God and Moses.. they

“they stiffened their necks” - This idiom here is that of a stubborn animal.

This image of a stiffened neck is a great one..

When I was younger had friends that had horses and we would go ridding… I remember one time that I lost complete control… I tried to direct the horse with the reign and the bridal but the horse… stiffened it’s neck and we cantered all the way back to the stable…

The Bible encourages us to seek wisdom in times of need...

Proverbs 2 tells us to make our ear s attentive to wisdom and incline our hearts toward understand… seek wisdom like a treasure.. then proverbs

Proverbs 2:5 ESV

5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

but rather than turning to wisdom… they became stiff necked and gave God the cold shoulder..

Not only did they not listen to God or to Moses, but they appointed leaders who would take them back to Slavery...

We need to tack our responses.

1. When have you Resisted..

Sometimes we see ourselves as Compliant… going with the flow.. easy going… but if you take a good look at the list you see areas that you have resisted.

They refused to obey… ignored the road signs…

They were not mindful - They did not care about God or others..

They stiffened their neck - dug deep into their position or belief...

They appointed their own leaders. - they were going to do it their way..

The hard lesson that we learn fromIsraels disobedience is that caused them to wonder in the wilderness for 40 years.. If we don’t learn the lessons today we will learn the lesson one day…]

Another good question is Why have we Resisted..

In his article titled "Unreasonable Doubt," Jim Spiegel quotes philosophers who have resisted belief in God for personal and not just intellectual reasons. One of them is ..

Thomas Nagel, said that … he wantED atheism to be true … It isn't just that I don't believe in God, and, naturally, hope that I'm right about my belief. It's that I hope there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that."

Here is the thing about resisting God.. it will only be for so long....

The reality is, one day, every single person in this room is going to bow the knee and call Him Lord. That is not up for a decision. That is determined. Every knee will one day bow and call Him Lord. The question is, will you bow the knee now, or will you bow the knee when it is too late?

2. How did God Respond.

Nehemiah 9:31 ESV

31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

This whole time God did not end them.. or forsake them.. Why because God is the faithful Covenant keeper full of Grace and Mercy...

Conclusion

To be honest… Not only was Israel stubborn we too… we can find ourselves preoccupied with our own stuff, unwilling to do change…knowing but refusing to do the things that God has called us to do.

Perhaps we wander away from intimacy with the Lord and prayer rarely proceeds from our mouths, not to mention from our hearts…

After confessing their sin and the Faithfulness of God… Judah make a covenant with God… the bible says they make firm the Covenant… they cut covenant… basically it is a surrender to honor their part and to do follow Gods ways...

1. They will observe the laws and commandments given to Moses..

2. There will be no treaties with foriegn nations - through marriages

3. There will be no buying and selling on the Sabbath

4. They would honor the Jubillee - forgive debts on the seven th year

5. They will pay 1/3 for Tithes temple

6. They would bring in the first fruits of every crop and animal as offering - as part of their ties and offerings

7. They will not neglect the house of God

Here is a people that is ready to start again... …Here are lessons of What can happen to a Nation, a Community, a local Church, A marriage — a family.... when we surrender and start again… We need to give the HS opportunity to work in our lives… identify places of resistance...