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[00:00:24] Speaker B: All right, well, not everything they sing in the honky tonk works in church, but that did.
Bubba's a mess. All right, great to see you this morning. We're kind of wrapping up our series in Nehemiah. So we've been talking about beginning again. And kind of the overarching idea is the fact that God has a plan and a purpose for everyone's life. I don't care if you're a very young person in the room, if you're a retired person in the room, the fact that you're here, the fact that you're alive is proof positive God has something for you to do.
And I think everything that we have been through prepares us for the things that we're going to go through. Good, bad, happy, sad, whatever you've been through, God will use that to help prepare you for life at the next level. And what's great about Nehemiah is it reminds us that God uses ordinary people, just ordinary people to do the extraordinary thing. Sometimes we make the mistake when we read the Bible of thinking about characters in the Bible like they're superheroes, right?
Like they were people that were beyond what any of us could ever imagine or do, that they weren't ordinary people.
Some of our Bibles even set that up by having the chapters identified or the books identified in the gospels. This way, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, and we go, oh, my, they're saints. That's something I'll never be. I could never aspire to be like Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. And Catholic. Can I tell you, really, when you study the Bible, you find there's really only, only two classifications of people.
They're the saved and the lost, the saints and the ain'ts.
You either know Jesus or you don't. And just because you know Jesus doesn't mean that you are some super species of spiritual personality that you don't struggle with the things that other people struggle with.
The Bible is the most honest book in the Bible. It shows good examples of good examples and it shows good examples of bad examples.
And you can learn from both. So I'm just setting the table to tell you that Nehemiah was just a guy like we are guys and girls this morning. He was just an ordinary person who at the midlife of his life, discovered a new plan and a purpose for his life. And it impacted generations to come.
So Nehemiah is a man who reminds us of the fact that God does indeed have something for all of us to do.
And then not only when you study Nehemiah, but you study it in context of God's word. It reminds me that the Bible is so practical.
It is the most practical book in the world. When you open God's Word, you can understand it. When you open God's Word, you can comprehend it. He doesn't, you know, he doesn't hide the ball.
When you read the Bible, God always puts the cookies on the lower shelf so we can all reach them.
He talks about very profound things in very simple terms.
And so the Bible is a practical book. And yet, at the same time, the Bible is a powerful book. It has the ability to change my life and to change how I think and to change the direction of my life. And so this morning, with those two ideas in mind, I just wanna bring kind of a practical message to you today that I hope will help you in your family, I hope it'll help you in your business and help us as a church to understand the practical things, the practical principles that Nehemiah did that made him so effective.
In fact, as Corey mentioned last week, that wall was built in 52 days.
It's incredible. The wall had been destroyed for over 100 years.
When King David was the ruler of the land, he had a powerful nation, he had a powerful army.
And once David's reign ended and his son Solomon took over, there were trouble. There were problems within the kingdom. And eventually, after Solomon's reign, the kingdom divided.
You had the northern kingdom, which was Israel, and the southern kingdom, which was Judah. And so in that division, you had kind of a departure from God. They had walked away from their commitment to follow after God.
And so what God did is he sent the Assyrians in and they attacked Israel to the north. And the Chaldeans went in and attacked Judah to the south.
And before it was all said and done, the people of God were carried away captivity into Babylon. And they would remain in captivity for 70 to 100 years.
And now throughout their captivity, you have them crying out to God. In fact, Jeremiah the prophet wrote a book. It's in the Old Testament. It's gonna be back there where the pages of your Bible are stuck Together. But it's a book called Lamentations.
Lamentations, the lamenting of the people of God weeping. To lament is to weep. And so here's an entire book about weeping. It is about sorrow. It is about realizing what I had and what I've lost because of what I did or what I failed to do. And so it is there as a warning to all of us. In Jeremiah, the weeping prophet was heartbroken over the state of Israel and the state of Judah and the condition of the walls at Jerusalem. So after all that time had passed, the walls were broken down. No worship is happening in the most religious city of the world.
Even in the temple was gone.
God began to stir the hearts of some very ordinary people to do some extraordinary things.
Ezra goes back and he begins to build the temple. And then God puts it on Nehemiah's heart to go back and let's get these walls built. And so in the story of Nehemiah, those first six chapters are so powerful and practical because we see what he did to keep that thing organized and what he did to keep that thing moving in such a way that. That they achieved an incredible feat. And they did it in 52 days.
Let's reset the table. If you'll look in Nehemiah, chapter two, look at verse 17, just a couple of verses. Nehemiah said. I said to them, you see the distress that we're in, how Jerusalem lies waste. Its gates are burned with fire. He said, do you see the problem? I mean, you know, this is a terrible condition that the old city of Jerusalem is in.
And I love that. Not only did he have the ability to see the problem, but he also could see the solution.
I don't know. In your business, I don't have trouble seeing the problem, do you?
The problem is, and you don't want people on your team that all they do is see the problem.
We always talk about it on our staff team. We always say, look, when you bring a problem in, bring a solution right next to it.
Bring a way to resolve the issue, right?
Because if you get just problem conscious, if you're just staring at the condition of the city, that can be depressing if you don't do something about it, Right?
I remember when they. I were reading when they were laying tracks, railroad tracks going across the western parts of the country, going to the coast, that several of the crew got bit by rattlesnakes. And it wasn't long until they became so preoccupied looking for snakes that it affected their ability to lay track.
So they Got behind on their schedule because they thought the crew is so busy looking for snakes for not laying track. Well, you can become so problem conscious without a solution attached to it that it's paralysis by analysis. You don't get anything done.
So I'm just saying he was honest. He's saying, I see the problem here. I just didn't want you to miss that. I see that Jerusalem lies waste, its gates are burned with fire. But. But notice he moves to the solution.
Come, let us. I can't do this by myself. Let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach. I mean, let's just move the city of God back to where it needs to be so the people of God can be blessed again. And I told them, look, God's hand is on me.
It has been on me. I have the king's word that he had spoken to me. Now understand what he got from the king when he went to the king to ask for permission to do this.
Well, I stepped on the lead there. He gave him his permission. That's the first thing he got.
The second thing he did is he got the king's provision. It was going to take a lot of money to do this, so you need resources. So he got the king's permission, he got the king's provision, and then he got the king's protection. He said, we're going to go through some hostile land. We're going to need some supplies from these surrounding countries, so we need someone that can protect us. And the king said, I have your back.
I'm for what you're trying to do and you have my full support. So he's telling his team, I've got the financing to do this now. Financing is in place. I've got the protection necessary. We've got all the permits in place, we've got everybody to sign off. There's no reason why this can't happen.
And then they said in response, let us rise up and build. And they set their hands to this good work. And then go to the end of the story. Here's the second passage. I'll leave with you. Look at Nehemiah 6, verses 15 and 17. So the wall was finished. It was finished on the 25th day of Elul, in 52 days. Now, what about the 25th day of Elul? Well, that is, it is a very sacred time for Jewish people in that they were celebrating the creation of all things, Rosh Hashanah. And so it was in that window that this time period took place. So that was a significant day for the Jewish people. It was a time of great celebration. And in 52 days they finished the wall.
And he went on to say, it happened when our enemies heard of it. The nations around us saw it. They were disheartened in their own eyes. Cause they wanted them to fail, but yet they perceived that this work was done by our God. In those six chapters, I'm gonna give you seven principles that I found that I believe will make your family, will make your job and make our church even more efficient. Here are the practical principles that Nehemiah followed. Number one. He followed the principle of simplification.
Simplification. One of the things that he did is he did not create difficult structures in organization in order to get what he needed done done.
He did not randomly assign tasks. He didn't create a whole new structure. And he didn't force any complex charts our systems to try to get things done. He kept it simple.
You remember that little acronym, KISS K I S S? You remember what that means? Keep it simple, stupid.
I mean, sometimes we have to remind ourselves, keep it simple. What? You know, when you're up to your eyes and alligators, you got to remember the initial objective was just to drain the swamp.
And so when things get complex, one of the brilliant things that a leader will do is try to keep it.
Nehemiah was a great leader. Look at. Listen to some of the things he did to make it simple. He organized people organically.
I mean, when you read this, he took priests and he took millers and he took craftsmen and he took families and he put them working side by side based upon their organic relationships.
One of the things that has to happen in church world is the relationships that are formed have to be organic. I can't say everybody in this section over here, I want you guys, when service is over, to plan a lunch date sometime this week with everybody over here.
I mean, you might play along, but that's not how it works.
The relationships you have are organic. Your kids go to the same school or they're involved in the same activities or you have the same job. You live as a neighbor. My point is, when Nehemiah began to put people to work on the wall, they. He used a very simple process. He let the people work organically based upon where they fit with one another. He didn't create complex structures and complex systems in order to rebuild the wall.
Now, personally, I've learned through some experience I always like it when I have to get people together to do a task. I like to call Them a team as opposed to a committee.
A lot of businesses have committees. A lot of churches have committees.
I've just found that a committee tends to lend itself to a standing group of people that are gonna be there, self perpetuating group. And they're just serving on a committee where a team is there for a task and when the task is done, they disband until there's a new task. So I like teams as opposed to committees. I've had some negative experiences with committees and so that may be a little bit of where I'm coming from too, because I found that oftentimes a camel is a horse that a committee put together.
So you're better to have a team. And that's exactly the concept that he went after. He went after this team concept. And so they began to build. So you have simplification. Here's the second word I would give you. The second principle when you study these chapters is not only simplification, but participation.
Participation. He got buy in.
Now, what's interesting, and this is important, he didn't get buy in from everybody.
Can I tell you, not everybody's gonna be excited about your new business idea. Not everybody's gonna get excited about how you're wanting to restructure. Not everybody's gonna get excited about the opportunity to expand. Not everybody's gonna get excited. So here's what he did. And this is important. Are you ready for this? He moved with the movers.
He moved with the movers. He picked the people who were on board. He wasn't trying to talk people into doing something when they're not on board with it. Boy, that will just die. Beat you down into your shoes.
I've tried to do that before. To try to talk somebody into something that they're not motivated to do. And you can look, it's like kickstarting a 7:47. You can spend a lot of time doing that.
My dad used to say, I'd rather calm down a fanatic than try to warm up a corpse.
I mean, I'd rather pull back the reins on somebody chomping at the bit to do something than to try to get somebody. I can't get them out of the barn to do anything.
And so this idea that Nehemiah was so smart, he put the vision out there of simple structure and then he pulled for participation. Nehemiah, 4, 6, they had a mind to work. And yet Nehemiah 3, 5, not everybody helped him. So you have the contrast. Some of them did, some of them didn't. And what he did is he didn't allow the work that God had put in his heart to be hurt by. Are hampered by the people who were not on board. He just moved with the movers. So you put it together. Number one, we have simplification. Number two, we have participation. Here's number three. This is important, too, delegation.
He knew how to delegate important tasks to the right people.
Sometimes the best way to get something done is to give it the task to the busiest person. Cause they've proven they know how to get things done. I told you a few weeks ago, when I talked a little bit about delegation, that there is a difference between delegating and dumping. Dumping. Dumping is when you give someone an assignment or a task to do because they're serving under you. And they have to do it because you're their overseer, you're their boss, you're their manager. But they know you would not do that yourself. They resent that. They may not tell you that, but they resent that. That's dumping. That's when you're saying, I want you to do this. I wouldn't do it. I'm better than that. I'm better than you. Right. That's how they're reading that. But when you delegate, you're saying to someone, this is important.
It has to be done. I would do it. I just don't have the time.
Nehemiah was looking at the wall going, guys, I can't. I'll get in there with you with a trowel. As Corey said last week, a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. I mean, I'm all in with you guys, but I can't do this by myself.
So I gotta go with the goers and move with the movers. And there's gonna be some things that I'm gonna have to delegate. I'm gonna have to hand some of this off to people that can get the job done if it's going to get done.
And so, guys, in your line of work, there's gonna be some things that you're gonna have to learn how to delegate. And I know some people are kind of. That goes against. We got people that are kind of control freaks, you know, and they want to control everything.
And I'm telling you, the problem with a control freak and that kind of person that's just into control is nothing will grow beyond you. It just will not get beyond you because you're gonna stifle the organization. Because you're not gonna let it get beyond what you're able to do.
You see it in church world a lot. That's why I told you a few weeks ago, the average church in America runs about 120 people. Because it has been determined that that's about the only. That's about the number that the average pastor can take care of on their own. In other words, one pastor can pretty much minister effectively to about 120 people.
So if a church is going to grow, the only way it can grow is you gotta Follow the Ephesians 4 model of church growth. And that is you gotta equip saints to do the work of the ministry.
So pastors become selective people who are gifted to serve in a certain way. But they have to find people, volunteers that they can then hand off ministry and hand off ownership and delegate work or the work won't get done.
And a church becomes about five miles wide and half inch deep.
So in order to build a church or build an organization, you have to see the power of delegation and you have to see the wisdom behind delegating.
All right, track with me now. We've dealt with delegation. Here's number four. How about motivation?
Motivation, man, you gotta keep people motivated. And that starts with yourself.
I mean, if you're in leadership, sometimes you just have to motivate yourself. I like what Paul said in what Acts 26, he said to King Agrippa, he said, I think myself happy. I love it in that translation. I think myself happy. Sometimes you just have to think yourself happy.
Sometimes you have to encourage yourself because there may not be anyone else around to encourage you.
So you encourage yourself.
And so that motivation begins there. But one of the tools that he used to motivate the people on the wall, this is important, is he gave them ownership.
Ownership.
Here's a great principle. Think about this. Nothing will become passionate until it becomes personal.
When something is personal, it becomes passionate. If you're looking for passion in your work, I just can't get my heart into that. But, well, find something that you know that is personal to you. This makes a difference. This is something I feel a calling toward. I feel this is important and significant. It's making a difference. And all of a sudden, man, the passion will follow when you make it personal.
And these guys were serving on the wall. Some of them worked on the gates and some of them, they worked in concert with their organic affinity groups that they had. They all had that in common. And they owned section of the walls. They were proud of what they were doing. It fit with the overall design. But each of the Guys felt a sense of ownership.
Here's another thing to think about.
You will either be a person that tries to feel their way into a behavior, or you'll be a person that tries to behave their way into a feeling.
Now we're talking motivation, right?
Some people just say, well, I'm not feeling it. And if I can't feel it, that's what motivates me, is my feelings. And if I'm not feeling it, I'm just not going to do it.
Well, most grownups will tell you that if we only did what we feel like doing, we wouldn't get much done.
And that's true as you get older, trust me, I can walk across the room and something and my body will break down.
I talked to my doctor one day, I said, man, every now and then I get up and my right knee just goes out on me. He goes, yeah, it's called old age.
I said, well, you're fat. Well, you ought to work on that.
I didn't say that. I thought it.
But the point is, it's just if I'm saying, do you love. Can I just be honest? Can we sit down, talk a minute? Do you love everything about your job? Really?
No. Thank you. No. No. You don't love everything. There's parts of your job you love, and you probably love what you. I love what I do, but there's parts of my job that I love less.
I mean, I do it, but I don't always love. And I'm not gonna tell you which parts it is, so you can't dog me about it.
But I'm just simply suggesting that that's just part of being. That's part of adulting.
We get it, but I'm saying if you're not careful, you can build an organization with people who go so much on their feelings that it will affect their behavior.
Think about it. Our emotions are so important, and it's important that we have healthy emotions. And, man, that ought to be a priority of your life, to get healthy emotionally. But have you ever thought about it? Our emotions are probably the most fickle part of us.
Seriously, I don't know about you. I can be all over the page emotionally. I can wake up good. And then all of a sudden, I'm not good and trying to get on 35, and some guy won't let me on. And Now I'm not 50, feeling good, and I pull up to the light, and somebody's on their phone, and we're cycling through the light again. Cause somebody would, you know, you have a responsibility when you're first in line, right? And so all of a sudden, I'm not feeling it, right? I'm just not feeling it. And we get up here and we run into something going on around here, and I'm not feeling it. But I've learned that if I can just set my feelings aside and do what I know to do, whether I feel it or not, I just do what I know, the feeling comes.
It's amazing. I feel satisfaction, I feel contentment. I feel like I've done a good job. You see what I'm saying? So if your motivation is feeling is my whole point, then you're not gonna be motivated long because the feelings are gonna fluctuate. But if your motivation is to get the job done, then the feelings will come and there'll be good feelings that will follow.
So I'm saying he was a genius in how he kept people motivated by. He gave them ownership, so they felt a responsibility to get the job done. Okay, motivation. That was four. Here's five.
Cooperation.
They learned how to work together as a team.
They were willing to work together. They realized, again, as I said a moment ago, not any one of them could do all of it, but together we could get this wall built.
So there was a spirit of cooperation. I read where Henry Ford once said, coming together is a beginning.
Staying together is progress.
Thinking together is unity.
Working together is success.
Now it takes all of that. It takes coming together. It takes staying together. It takes thinking together. It takes working together. But all of that put together is success.
So, man, this idea of cooperation and learning how to get along. In fact, have you noticed in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, how many times it talks about one another? How we're dependent on one another, pray for one another, love one another, serve one another, forgive one another, lift one another's burdens, one another? There's this interaction that we have, an interconnectivity that we have. That's why the Bible refers to the church as the body of Christ. And it even. I don't know why I did that. But anyway, it's. We're the body of Christ. And when you look at First Corinthians 12, it said, no healthy eye ever looked at the hand and said, I don't have any need of you.
Meaning that there aren't any unimportant parts. Every part is important. The eye's a tender part. Hand's a tough part. Parts are parts, and you need all your parts.
And if a body is dysfunctional, if it's not working. That means the hand is not working with the arm, and it's not working. We go to the doctor and we say something's not right.
I mean, because the body should work harmoniously. When I'm walking, this foot needs to go in this direction, and it doesn't. If it starts going over there and I start, you know, you guys are gonna go, I think he's having a stroke. I mean, something's wrong, right? It's dysfunctional. Doesn't work.
So we're the body, we're the church, and other organizations should work like that. Listen, what you strive for According to Ephesians 4, is unity, not uniformity. This is important. Uniformity is military, and you gotta have that. They have that for structure. They have a uniform of the day. They'll tell you how you're supposed to dress and how you're supposed to cut your hair and how you're supposed to look and what you're supposed to do. That's uniformity. But that's not the order of the day for the church.
The church is diversity and unity within diversity, meaning that we have different races, we have different cultures, we come from different places, we have different viewpoints, we have different political viewpoints. We have all kinds of diversity within a church, and that is healthy.
Only God can take diversity and create unity. That's why it's called the unity of the Holy spirit in Ephesians 4. It's not the unity of the pastor. I can't create that. I can't take people who are on polar opposites opinions of any issue and try to get them to see eye to eye. That's not even my job.
My job is to protect the unity once God creates it. But my job is not to create unity. He does that.
He takes these people who are very diverse in their opinions and very diverse in their backgrounds, and all of a sudden, here's how it works. The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you.
You're my brother, you're my sister.
And so we have a connection with one another. We're in the same family. We're gonna be in heaven together one day.
I mean, have you ever thought about there's gonna be people in heaven with you one day that you might not even speak to down here?
I think God might have a sense. He might put you right next door to them in heaven.
And every time you have to go get the heavenly paper, you'll look out your blinds to see if your neighbor's walking out to the street. Now that's really crazy. But I'm just suggesting that we fall out with people over the most ridiculous things.
And yet the Bible speaks of unity. It speaks of the unity of the Holy Spirit. And I'm saying there were probably people on that wall that didn't agree with a lot of stuff.
There's gonna be people today cheering for New England. There's gonna be people today cheering for.
What's the other team? Seattle. Thank you. See, cowboys. I'm 30 years out where I don't even think about it anymore back in the day, you know. But, yeah, there's going to be people on both teams. But are they bad? No. And did you know both sides are going to be praying for God to let them win?
Do you really think he cares? Honestly? I mean, I don't think he cares.
So I'm just suggesting to you that you have people on the wall who are for, you know, for the Seahawks and people on the wall who are for the New England Patriots. Right. I just. Can I just chase this rabbit? I don't care about the Patriots. Cause I just don't want them to win another Super Bowl. That's just me. That's just me. That's my Dallas Cowboy bitterness coming out right there. But that's all I'm gonna say about that.
But my point is this morning that one of the things that he did that was so genius with all the other principles I'm sharing with you this morning is he knew how to get cooperation.
Here's number six for my note takers. Administration.
Administration. He was very good at administrating. What is it when you administer? You administrative. You administrate. Someone who is gifted in administrating should be adding value to their team. You administer and you should be someone who sees the value of simplification, you see the value of cooperation. You see the value of all these principles I've talked about. But you do well at overseeing the things that are done. I talked earlier about. You learn how to inspect what you expect.
Here's what I've discovered. See if this helps anybody. If you have a good person on your team and they're not doing what they should be doing, and yet you value them and you know their heart's in the right place. They're just not producing or they're not getting the job done. Ask two questions. Ask this first question.
Do they know what's expected of them? Do they really know what their job entails?
Sometimes they really don't. They're just kind of trying to fake it till they make it. And sometimes the best way you could do is sit down with them and go, hey, let me just cover what I see your responsibilities are. This is what we've hired you to do, right? So make sure that they understand what they're supposed to do. And then here's the second question to ask, is make sure they know how to do what they've been given to do. Sometimes you just don't know how to do it. They understand what the job is, they just don't know how to do it.
So sometimes they need to be mentored and you just gotta help them a little bit. I mean, we have business people in our church, and you guys apprentice people, you mentor people all the time. You're teaching and training them on how they can do those things in a better way. And so if someone is not functioning to their ability, say, well, are they clear on their responsibility? And number two, do they really know how to do what we've asked them to do? And that was part of that process of administrating, was overlooking and making sure that the job is done.
Part of the role of a pastor. There's three Greek words that deal with what a pastor's job description is in the New Testament. Number one is the Greek word poimane. We get the word shepherd from the word poinein. A shepherd leads the sheep. He guides the sheep.
He goes after the wayward sheep.
He takes care of the. That's the role of a shepherd. I'm an under shepherd. We have a great shepherd who's the lord of the church, the founder of the churches, Our Savior, Jesus. And so I'm an under shepherd. I serve as an under shepherd under the great shepherd. And so poimeine is part of the job, leading sheep. And I would say to anyone in the pastor world, when you get tired of smelling sheep, you need to get out of the sheep business, right?
Because I didn't want to go there. But the point is, poimein, here's a second word. Presbuteros. Presbuteros. We get the word Presbyterian from that word. It means that you are to be a mature person. Elder comes from that idea. You are to be mature. That doesn't mean age necessarily as much as it means spiritual maturity. You ought to have some wisdom. You need to know when to speak up, when to shut up, when to stand up, and when to sit down.
It's not just knowing what to do, but it's knowing when to do what to do. That's wisdom. And God said, if you ask wisdom I'll give it in, James, and I will not withhold. One of the things, guys, I pray about every day in my personal devotion is, God, give me wisdom for whatever this day holds. Give me wisdom to know how to handle things and how not to. I need wisdom, right? So there's Poumain, there's Prisped, Ross. Here's the third one. Episcopos episcopas. EPI is the idea of overlooking or overseeing. Scopos is to see, like a scope on a rifle. Episcopos is to oversee. You get bishop from that, Episcopal from that.
So we're called to not do everything, but we're called to make sure everything gets done. And all that works in your business. It doesn't mean that you as a manager or you as a business owner, doesn't mean you have to.
It just means you have to make sure everything gets done. Cause right, the buck stops with you, right? It's gonna come back on you anyway.
So Nehemiah was a good administrator. He knew how to walk around and make sure things got done.
There's a book called Passion for Excellence by Tom Peters. And he talks about the management style. He calls it MBWA management. By walking around, he said, I just walk through, I make sure everything's happening the way it's supposed to happen. And, you know, a lot of that is that sometimes you just walk through and you talk to people that are working on the organization and you're just checking on them. How are you doing?
I'm just looking in after you. I'm making sure. I'm checking the gauges. And, you know. And that's an important part of administrating. And here's the last one, and we're done.
The last principle is appreciation, man. You've got all the names that Nehemiah listed in this book. He tried to list everybody, but he named so many people that were absolutely crucial to what they got done. He said, man, I wanna. You know, when you think about it, anything that you appreciate, anything that appreciates, it adds in value, right? To depreciate means it loses value. So when you appreciate someone, you're adding to their value.
You're just saying, I just want you to know I see what you do, and you're doing a great job.
Every now and then, you just send that text, the email.
You just go to their office. You spend a little time with them. You just go, man, you're killing it. You're doing it in a good way. You're doing wonderful things. You're helping our company. I'm proud of you.
The Bible talks about a word, fitly spoken, that's like apples of gold and pictures of silver. In other words, when you say the right thing at the right time to a person, you don't know what a difference that might make in their life. And you just appreciate them. You're adding to their value. And, man, he did such a great job at that. And here we are, folks, a couple thousand years or more after that, and we're still talking about Nehemiah.
A guy who just found a task in midlife and went and rebuilt an old wall and did it in a way that it affected generations and generations and generations that would follow. And we're looking back at that, going, wow, what can we learn from that experience?
And I've tried to share seven things that I hope will help you. Let's pray together.
Father, thank you for your word.
Thank you, Father. As we said, your word is powerful, but your word is so practical.
Help us, Lord, as we've experienced worship this morning and we've celebrated baptisms. Help us now to think about these principles of Nehemiah that might apply to our business and to our families.
Help us, Lord, to discern what it is you would have us to learn today and to put into practice when we break out of this holy huddle and we go out to execute. I pray that each of us will understand our assignment and we'll execute it according to how your spirit has poured that into my mind and heart.
And finally, Father, I pray for any of our friends here who may never have trusted you as Savior.
Most important decision they could ever imagine would be that decision to receive you as Savior.
You said, whosoever will let them come.
And I pray in this moment, right where they are, whether they're watching online in this room or they're hearing the service at another time, that they'll pray a simple prayer like this and say, lord Jesus, come into my heart, forgive my sin. With everything I know about me, I now trust everything I know about you, Father, I receive you as the Savior and Lord of my life. And I pray this simple prayer in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.
