Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Introduction:

The year is 445 B.C. 1000 years after Moses 400 years before Christ

The years of history the book covers are 445-431 B.C.

Back in the land after 70 years of exile. But the walls are broken down. The people are in trouble and living in disgrace.

But let us not lose our way: What we are tracing here are the steps of recovery from ruin. There are three of them that we have covered so far:

First, a deep concern that leads us to prayer and to sorrow;

Step #1 –without rationalization, self-defense, or shifting the blame Nehemiah makes an honest evaluation before God. The book of Nehemiah is designed to teach us that only with God’s help can we actually change and recover from the damage and ruin of the past. That is the central lesson of this book.

Second, there is an opportunity to change to which we must make

response; Window of opportunity – must be ready.

“Strike when the metal is hot.”

Expect God to do something! Be ready when the opportunity comes. It will likely be a process and will take longer than we think it ought. But the God we worship is an awesome God who answers prayer.

The timing is His.

Use the “in between time” to get ready.

Expect Opposition

But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab [here is a third enemy coming in now] heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?” (Nehemiah 2:19 NIV) Scholars traced 9 generations of Sanb

Whenever anybody says, “I will arise and build,” Satan always replies, “Then I will arise and oppose.” You can count on it! It is a necessary part of the process. God allows it for it is good for us to have opposition.

The form their opposition took is like our struggles.

1. They first “mocked and ridiculed.”

This is usually the first weapon the enemy employs. You may have felt it when you began to recover from your ruin. Your friends laughed at your desires to change. They may ridicule your religious convictions and resent your implied criticisms of their conduct.

2. Nehemiah’s enemies began to threaten and slander him with charges of rebellion and disloyalty. If ridicule does not work, then the opposition stiffens and becomes openly unfriendly and threatening. It is the next level of resistance which those who seek to rebuild

These are but pictures for us…something very real: the opposition and the resistance that we will experience from Satan himself. What was true of these opposing forces in Nehemiah’s case is true also of Satan. He is a usurper. He has no right to possess humankind. He has tricked us. He has bedeviled us and led us astray. He has confused, manipulated and misled us. Yet he has no right to do so. Jesus came to restore God’s property to him and to loose the hold of the devil upon the human race. That is what he does in our lives. So when we face resistance we must see it as allowed of God to strengthen us, but it has no real right to our lives. We do not have to be weak, failing, and unable to function. We are called to be free. That is the glorious note which the epistle to the Galatians states: “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free!” (Galatians 5:1a NIV).

Third, investigate and face the facts of our situation honestly and squarely.

Big Idea: In putting lives back together, we need and must seek help from each other. We cannot do it alone.

Two things we cannot say after you become a Christian

1. you don’t need me

2. I don’t need you.

We are so independent. We so think we can do it ourselves.

We are so unwilling to consider we might need help much less ask for it.

A big job – 220 acres, 2.5 mile wall

Overloaded? Overwhelmed? Paralyzed!

When trouble walks in some you thought were your friends walk out. But some you had no idea were your friends walk in.

Some think and say,

“How could you have done this?”

“How could this happen to you?” WAYNE GRETZKY

They may not say it but they think,

“This would never, could never happen to me.”

A list of names – “God is a great believer in putting names down.”

This chapter has names to difficult to pronounce.

Skim the chapter and discover 4 principles in rebuilding wall.

1. All the people were involved!

Priests, rulers, gatekeepers, guards, farmers, perfume makers, merchants, custodians,

Married,

Married with children.

Bachelors

Daughters,

Students,

Professors,

White collar, blue collar, no collar

And all of there were volunteers

Someone who offers his or her services freely:

1. A person who performs or offers to perform a service voluntarily: an information booth staffed by volunteers; hospital volunteers. 2. Law a. A person who renders aid, performs a service, or assumes an obligation voluntarily.. 3. Botany A cultivated plant growing from self-sown or accidentally dropped seed.

I was elected a Captain of Volunteers—a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. ATTRIBUTION:Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), U.S. president. letter to Jesse W. Fell, Dec. 20, 1859.

“This Administration has declared unconditional war on poverty and I have come here this morning to ask all of you to enlist as volunteers. Members of all parties are welcome to our tent. Members of all races ought to be there. Members of all religions should come and help us now to strike the hammer of truth against the anvil of public opinion again and again until the ears of this Nation are open, until the hearts of this Nation are touched, and until the conscience of America is awakened. ATTRIBUTION: Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973), U.S. president. Compassionate Samaritan,

Friendship is but another name for an alliance with the follies and the misfortunes of others. Our own share of miseries is sufficient: why enter then as volunteers into those of another? ATTRIBUTION: Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), U.S. president. letter, Oct. 12, 1786, to Maria Cosway.

House of Heros!

We are all engaged in the ministry.

No more important truth for accomplishing God’s work.

The pastor is late, He’s forgotten

What’s your ministry?

How to discover: The Ministry Funnel

Servant Heart

S hape

H eart

A bilities

P ersonality

E xperience

Available time

Time in life

The Law of the Niche – all players have a place where they can add something of value.

2. They worked together

“next to him” – 15 times

Leadership

Administration

Organization

Coordination

Supervision

Faithfulness

Responsibility – authority – accountability

The Law of communication – Interaction fuels action.

Verse 13 “they also” above and beyond!

In a team tug of war, will eight people on a side exert as much force as the sum of their best efforts?

3:5 Slackers! God also writes down their names

There are reasonable reasons not to be involved!

But…

Social loafing – the tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable.

Called in psychology – “free riders” people who benefit from the group but don’t give much in return.

3. They worked near their home, 3:10, 28

That’s God’s design for ministry.

He has placed us strategically where he wants us to be.

Neighborhood, office, business, school, class, or home.

He has also placed or will place what you need close enough for you to find it.

Marriage class – tapes – Dr.

John 15:15-16 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” NIV

4. Each one completed his assigned task.

Follow through.

Taking on responsibility is one thing.

Finishing the task is another.

You may have a burned gate or a torn down wall.

First, a deep concern that leads us to prayer and to sorrow;

Step #1 –without rationalization, self-defense, or shifting the blame Nehemiah makes an honest evaluation before God. The book of Nehemiah is designed to teach us that only with God’s help can we actually change and recover from the damage and ruin of the past. That is the central lesson of this book.

Second, there is an opportunity to change to which we must make

response; Window of opportunity – must be ready.

“Strike when the metal is hot.”

Third, investigate and face the facts of our situation honestly and squarely.

Fourth, we need each other. Work together to get the job done.