Rise Up and Build (Part 6):
We Cannot Come Down
Nehemiah 6:1-19
Series Recap: - LOGO SLIDE 1
A) The Current Situation – Wall are down! The walls in our own lives have been crushed by our sins. The walls of our community have been destroyed by the enemy and because Christians have abdicated their responsibility to fight against a sinful culture. The walls of our church are down too. Somewhere along the way we took our eyes off of what makes a family of faith and before we knew it we were looking around wondering where everyone went.
Of course Nehemiah knows where we are cause he's been where we've been. When he saw the broken walls of Jerusalem he was broken to his very core. And while many others would have just ignored the situation... he determined to place himself in the hand of a gracious God and do something about it.
B) We must be Broken - In order to rebuild we must do the ame thing. We must be broken over the situations in us, around us and in our church.
C) We must rely on the Hand of God – We must, through brokenness, place ourselves in the hand of a gracious God. Remember, by yourself you are pretty much useless but in the hands of a gracious God you can do anything.
D) Rise Up and Build – When you are broken and in the hand of God then you are able to withstand the onslaught of opposition that the enemy will bring against you. You don't let naysayers get in your way, instead you RISE UP AND BUILD. You don't let your enemies frighten you, instead you hold the shovel of the Spirit in one hand and the Sword of the Spirit in the other and declare... LET US RISE UP AND BUILD!
I. Sermon Intro: -
PASSAGE SLIDES 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
A) Nehemiah 6:1-3, 10-11
TITLE SLIDE 7
B) Space Race – You may not recognize the name of Yuri Gagarin, but he was the most famous person in the world in 1961. He was famous because on April 12th 1961 he was the first person to ever enter space. Up to that point President John F Kennedy was not interested in the space race, but after he saw Gagarin and the motivation and resiliency of the Russians, he made it his mission to put the first man on the moon. In fact in March of 61, one month before Gagarin took orbit around the Earth, JFK had just rejected a NASA budget to put a man on the moon, but quickly changed his mind after Russia beat the USA into space. JFK then famously vowed to the American public this - “we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
And boy were they hard. The next few years would be marked by the Assassination of Kennedy, and the many failures of the space program to actually achieve their goals. The most fatal moment came in 1967 when the Apollo 1 crew were killed due to an electrical fire in the spacecraft during a test. This event almost ended the moon race. Fortunately NASA had the resolve to continue and placed a plaque at the Apollo 1 launch site in memorial of the lost astronauts. This is what it says; “In Memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice so others could reach for the stars... A Rough Road leads to the Stars”
“a rough road leads to the stars”... Do you see it... NO matter how rough the road... the stars were still the objective. For America, and in obedience to our beloved president JFK, we could not come down from trying to reach the moon... We had been called to a great work... how could we ever come down?
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C) We Can't Come Down – I hope you've seen what a great work we've been called to. To rebuild the spiritual walls of our own lives. To rebuild the spiritual walls of our community. And to rebuild the spiritual walls of our church. Yes there will be outside opposition against us and against our faith... We cannot come down. Yes there will be interior opposition by those who choose to complain and claim their rights... We cannot come down. Yes, Satan will bring every trick and every obstacle he can in our way, but we are doing a great work and we cannot come down!
II. Body: So lets look at Nehemiah 6 and see how we can persevere in the great work we've been called to.
SLIDE 9
A. DON'T BE FOOLED, THERE ISN'T ANYTHING DOWN THERE (vs1-9)
a) The Scheme – Obviously Sanballat, Tobiah, & Geshem are back to their old tricks. Except this time they are hoping to lure Nehemiah out so they can kill him. Their ploy was to get Nehemiah to a very important meeting.
b) Nothing is that important – But Nehemiah knows something they don't know... that the great work (the kingdom of God) is greater than all other endeavors. There is nothing important enough for Nehemiah to come down for. Not lack of funds, not everyday problems...
SLIDE 10
Nothing is more important that pursuing building the kingdom of God!
c) The Lie – the next trick is to lie about Nehemiah and cause him to worry about what people think about him.
SLIDES 11
d) Stop Defending Yourself – Don't come off the wall to defend yourself against lies. Jesus is your shield and defender. Let Jesus deal with those people... you keep your focus where it belongs. Defending your honor often comes at the cost of losing sight of your goals!
Rather than coming off the wall to defend himself, Nehemiah simply rebukes his oppressors, tightens his grip around his sword and shovel, and prays... “O God, strengthen my hands.” Your response should never be...”but I and innocent” rather.... “but now God strengthen me”
SLIDE 12
B. DON'T RUN AWAY, THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR BUT GOD (vs10-14)
a) Shemaiah Sells Out – Nehemiah keeps losing allies to the oppressors. No matter how many turn away, or if I go by myself, Nehemiah will not quit.
SLIDE 13
Though none go with me – still I will follow
b) Nehemiah knows his unrighteousness (vs11) – Shows he fears God way more than man. I could hide from man in the temple, but I can't hide from God.
c) Should such a man as I run away? - Nehemiah can't run.. there is work to do. Nehemiah won't run because he fears God and not man.
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If you fear God you will be burdened to rebuild the wall, if you fear man you will be content to abandon the call.
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C. DON'T QUIT UNTIL THE LORD IS ESTEEMED (vs15-16)
a) The wall is finished – 52 days
b) When all heard – they new it was the Lord and they fell greatly in their own esteem.. for God had done the work! We must decrease, he must increase. We must be humbled so he can be lifted up.
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you will know you are a part of something amazing when the power of God is the only explanation
Remember, we are not working for our achievement, we are working for the kingdom and glory of our God
III.Conclusion–
SLIDE 17
a) You cannot come down – therefore choose to stand on the wall! - Now is the time to choose whether or not you are going to stand with the endeavor of Third Avenue Church or whether or not you need to come down off the wall. Or perhaps you have seen that this is a worthy endeavor... to rebuild the walls of our community and church.
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b) what does it mean to stand with Third Avenue –
- It means that you will covenant with us to depend on Christ in all things!
- It means that you will covenant with us to reach our world with the Gospel!
- It means that you will covenant with us to the work of transformation through discipleship!
WE ARE DOING A GREAT WORK... DON'T COME DOWN!