In Chapter 1 we learned what we had to do if we are to accomplish great things as Christians and as a church for our Lord. Like Nehemiah, we must possess positive passion, pray asking for God’s help and then make ourselves completely available to God. Now, I want us to focus on how to actually begin. How do we turn our positive passion into ministry? How do we bring our dreams to life? How do we begin to renovate our facilities to accommodate our growth? How do we grow and meet our budget in a sluggish economy so we can to do missions and ministry in this community and throughout our world with continued excellence? How do we begin to become the church which God is calling us to become? How do we begin to accomplish great things as a church in the name of our Lord?
I want us again to look at Nehemiah for some answers. I believe the first thing we learn from Nehemiah is patience. In chapter one we learn that it is in the month of Chislev that Nehemiah discovered the wall of Jerusalem was still not rebuilt and the gates had been destroyed by fire. Now it is the month of Nisan. Which is four months from Chislev. Along with positive passion, Nehemiah possessed something else which is rare in today’s churches. Nehemiah possessed patience. One of our problems in the twenty first century 65 miles per hour world of fast food, microwaves, Direct TV and High Speed Internet, is that when we do become positively passionate about doing something, we want to do it now and we don’t want to wait. And if we have to wait any period of time at all, our passion quickly fades and we often end up doing nothing. Nehemiah teaches us that if we really want to do something and do it right, we need to pray, and then be patiently wait on the Lord for our opportunity to act.
The second thing we learn is that as soon as opportunity knocked, Nehemiah boldly acted. One day when he was delivering some wine to the King which he had already tested, the King asked: “Why is your face so sad?” Nehemiah recognized this as opportunity knocking at the door sent from God. And although he was afraid, Nehemiah told the King why he was sad and asked the King if he would send him to Judah. Along with being impatient, fear is often another roadblock to our successes. Nehemiah teaches us that when opportunity knocks, we must be willing to have a courageous faith and take some risks in order to accomplish the things God is leading us to accomplish.
The next thing we learn from Nehemiah is that when we really want to accomplish something, when given a chance to speak, we must be ready to articulate our dream or vision or plan as led by God. Nehemiah was able to tell the King exactly what he wanted to do, how he was going to do it and when he wanted to do it. There are some committees and groups in every church which are never able to accomplish anything because they are simply unable to articulate what they would like to accomplish.
Another thing we learn from Nehemiah is that when resources are needed, instead of giving up, we should simply ask and have faith that God will provide. Nehemiah did not possess the resources to rebuild the Jerusalem wall and repair the gates, but Nehemiah wrote a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the King’s forest and asked for enough timber to get the job done. And he had faith that God would provide.
This is another factor which keeps many churches from bringing their dreams to life. People say, we can not build that, we can not renovate this, we can not hire him or her and we can not start that, because we simply do not have the money! Where is the money going to come from? Nehemiah teaches us that it comes from God. And we need to ask and have faith.
Nehemiah also teaches us the importance of planning. When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, the first thing he did was inspect the broken down walls and the burned up gates. Any project needs adequate planning. Sometimes people in the church place it all in God’s hands with faith, but then forget that God has given them a brain to plan and strategize thoughtfully and thoroughly. Nehemiah teaches us that accomplishing great things, bringing dreams to life takes both faith and brains.
Nehemiah then teaches us the importance of enlisting others to join in the process. He said to the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were there to work: “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us rebuild the walls…” So with Nehemiah, I say to all of you who are present today, “Come, come and let us make First Christian Church great. Come, let us possess a first-rate youth and children’s program, let us continue to love one another superbly, and let us continue to grow exceedingly And let us make our facilities able to accommodate this growth. And let us break new grounds of ministry and make plans to meet the needs and challenges of this community in which we live.
Come, and as we make the start to make our church great, as we begin to bring our dreams to life, may we be patient, may we act boldly when opportunity knocks, may we articulate our dreams, may we step out on faith and ask God to provide, and may we be thoughtful planners as we transform our positive passion into ministry.
It would be nice to be able to end the lesson here. But there is one more very important thing which Nehemiah teaches us about transforming our positive passion into ministry.
There is one more thing which Nehemiah does which I believe is essential to accomplishing anything. Nehemiah ignores his detractors. He overlooks the nay sayers. Nehemiah pays no heed to his adversaries. Doing anything else is why many churches fail or flounder—why so many dreams stumble and are never realized. As I mentioned last week, churches often allow five or ten percent of the congregation with negative passion keep the other ninety to ninety five percent from moving forward.
Like anyone who is acting on the behalf of God, Nehemiah had his detractors. There names were Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem. However, when they tried to thwart Nehemiah’s ministry, Nehemiah was undeterred, saying, “The God of heaven is the one who will give us success, and we his servants are going to start building.” The sad truth is Sanballats and Tobiahs and Geshems are in every community, every church. And, like Nehemiah, we must be undeterred and work together for the common good. The ninety or ninety five percent must stand up to the five or ten percent and say, the God of heaven will grant us success, and we his servants are going to start building.
Come, let us start today.
Just Love 