Seeing the Big Picture

Introduction (5m)

Trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle without the picture

1,000 piece puzzle / Put together / Pour out pieces on table / Box top — "isn't that pretty" — throw it away / Need to get started — two "nice" pieces / "Might" fit together / Try > try harder > bang them with fist, etc. / Stop in frustration. / Solve problem? - Not working harder to put pieces together, but seeing the bigger picture.

Trying to build future without big picture

- Don't know where you're headed - Inevitably leads to frustration. - No idea what future is supposed to look like. / You need to study the path you're taking, but you also need to step back and see big picture:

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV 1900)

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Explanation (5m)

Nehemiah undertakes reconnaisance

Nehemiah understood importance of seeing big picture. / Knew details but had to be sure what success would look like:

A good leader doesn’t rush into his work but patiently gathers the facts firsthand and then plans his strategy (Prov. 18:13). Warren Wiersbe, Bible teacher

> Reconnaissance.

Can only guess at route of night survey, from various things archaeology has uncovered

We know Valley Gate and Dung Gate were 500 yards apart. We can be fairly certain Dung Gate was at city's southern or southeastern end, and led to the city's rubbish tip, the Valley of Hinnom (or Gehenna). / Fountain Gate led to a spring in the south-eastern corner where the Hinnom and Kidron valleys meet. / Another gate further up the eastern side (the Water Gate) gave access to the other main spring, Gihon. / The King's Pool probably refers to the Pool of Siloam at the southern tip of the eastern ridge of the city.

So Nehemiah appears to have set out from the west side of the city, out of the ruined gateway, turning left towards south and round to the eastern side

Here he had to dismount and proceed on foot along the ridge besides the Kidron Valley before turning back and reentering the city at the ruined gateway.

No doubt as he proceeded on this journey, he would have been making notes

— "we're going to need specialist builders to repair this gate, we'll need a carpenter to replace this burnt out gate, we'll need stonemasons here to repair the wall" and so on. Would have been planning what finances, human resources and materials that would be needed. Perhaps even prioritising what needed to be done.

All the time whilst he's focusing on these details he's keeping an eye on the big picture

He knows that repairing the gates and walls of Jerusalem, of making it a city that can be defended again is the final goal. / As he tells Jews, priests, nobles, officials and workers:

Nehemiah 2:17 NLT

But now I said to them, “You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!”

Application (5m)

Nehemiah was prepared for the future. Are you?

UKI Big Picture: Love God, Love Others. / Might want to dig deeper into that for our specific location. But big picture.

God is going to give us even more opportunities — believe? You will be able to spot them if you keep your eye on big picture - Love God, Love Others.

The devil will try to get you to focus on the here-and-now

Ageing congregation, small number of workers, your age, those who haven’t returned after worship, etc. Why? Because devil wants to keep you from seeing how God is working in your lives. / There is loads to enjoy about what's going on here today, much to be hopeful about, if you trust that God has long-term plans for this place. God wants you to focus on his vision before us:

Colossians 3:1–2 NLT

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

You work hard here each week because you believe this is God's vision for Maidenhead Citadel. Vision = power that motivates you to do great things, to give so self-sacrificially here each week, to love God and love each other and others we come into contact with, however hard that is sometimes. / Vision keeps you going when there seems to be no point other than pushing forward towards that goal:

Hebrews 12:1–2 NLT

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

God Supplies the Vision

When you focus on God's vision for your life — the big picture — then it becomes the most powerful force in your life. It will sustain you. When you want to give up, retire, take the easy life, it will keep you going. It will guide you. What's the most important thing about the service you give to others? Why do you do the things you do? Vision will help you go in the right direction and not be diverted from the God's path for your ministry.

Have you signed up to this vision? Do you know what God's vision is for Maidenhead Citadel?

Do you know what God's vision is for your life? You don't have to make it up — Love God, Love Others. / Grasp it today and the pieces of the future will fall into place as you allow God's power to work through you.

Next Steps

SOF3-1377 Jesus, be the centre

1 Jesus, be the centre, be my source, be my light, Jesus. 2 Jesus, be the centre, be my hope, be my song, Jesus. Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails, be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus. 3 Jesus, be my vision, be my path, be my guide, Jesus. Michael Frye © 1999 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire)/Admin. by Song Solutions CopyCare, 14 Horsted Square, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 1QG, UK. [e-mail] Used by permission Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 30158 Copied from HymnQuest: Copyright Licence Users' Edition HymnQuest ID: 76357 CCLI#: 2650429