Rise Up Week 2 - Facing The Ruins
Read
Nehemiah 2:11-20 Christian Standard Bible
11 After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days, 12 I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was riding. 13 I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent’s Well and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but farther down it became too narrow for my animal to go through. 15 So I went up at night by way of the valley and inspected the wall. Then heading back, I entered through the Valley Gate and returned. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work.
17 So I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18 I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and what the king had said to me. They said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and their hands were strengthened to do this good work. 19 When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked and despised us, and said, “What is this you’re doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 I gave them this reply, “The God of the heavens is the one who will grant us success. We, his servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”
Summary
Welcome back to Community Group, last week we kicked off our Rise Up Series in the book of Nehemiah. This week’s sermon was entitled Facing The Ruins. Let’s read Nehemiah Chapter 2 verses 11-20.
Our first point, which is found in verses 11-16, is EVALUATE. Nehemiah has a 4 month period where he had time to process what God had placed on his heart. Most of the time we evaluate once a year and then forget about what was placed on our heart. We should always be evaluating our lives to take the steps needed to rise up. He saw the damage up close, and he also saw a solution. There are times when we need to look at the problem from a different perspective, this helps us effectively evaluate the situation. Evaluation will require sacrifice & solution. For Nehemiah, that meant an 800-mile trip, acquiring letters from the king, and provision.
Our second point CULTIVATE, is found in verses 17&18. This is what the church does, it cultivates concern, commitment and community. This is what the church does! Nehemiah cultivated concern by communicating the depth of the problem to the people. To Nehemiah this wasn’t just about broken walls. He wanted to rebuild it because God hadn’t broken his promises. Nehemiah cultivated commitment by making it personal for the people. Folks walked by the broken wall everyday thinking “somebody needs to do something”. Nehemiah showed them they were the someone. Passionate people pull others with them. Nehemiah cultivates community by using words like “we” & “us.” We are not as strong as we think we are by ourselves. Zebras have stripes not so they can stand out individually, but so when they are running together it confuses the enemy so the enemy looks for a different lunch.
We find, ELIMINATE, our final point in verses 19 & 20. Nehemiah faced outside noise from people who were comfortable with the reality of the ruins. Nehemiah's reply was one of faith. We eliminate the outside noise in our lives with faith and focus. We don’t need to give energy to people committed to our ruin.
Thanks for joining us today. I pray all the fathers and a great Father’s Day! We will see you again next week.
Discussion
What have you had to evaluate recently?
Are there issues that you did not see until they were pointed out to you? How did you accept it?
How do you cultivate a spirit of concern so that you can address an issue?
How important is it to have a group behind you rather than addressing an issue alone?
How do you eliminate the wrong voices from speaking into an issue?
Announcements
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Pastor Isauro Medina
Isauro.medina@bt.church
Cell: (956) 984-9380
