Below is the last part of the 3-part series on “Rediscover, Reconnect, Rebuild” during our CG retreat in Langkawi, Malaysia on 29-31 October 2016.
REBUILD
- To ‘rebuild’ suggests something has been destroyed or damaged, some structure that must have fallen down and needs to be built up again.
- Maybe something that used to stand but have been put down by some force
What might have caused this damage?
- On a personal level, it might be:
- A painful circumstance that broke us down, things we don’t have control over
- A shattered dream and broken heart =)
- Emotional attacks by other people
- Damaged trust, loss of confidence
- Loss of a loved one or someone dear to us, maybe a divorce (they started wanting to build life together)
- On a group level, there are also things that cause damage corporately.
ILLUSTRATE: Lego blocks (remove one by one)
- Conflicts, offences
- Seeds of discord, disunity (Satan sowing it)
- Lies, gossips
- No sense of togetherness, going own way
- Unresolved differences, no harmony
- Crisis, circumstances beyond control (ball smashing)
- Weariness in doing well (tired keeping it together)
Now let’s study the story of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan[a] the citadel, 2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
People in great distress. Broken down walls. Gates burned with fire. Attacked by the enemies that want to kill, steal and destroy just like what the Bible says about the devil.
Let’s look at how did Nehemiah respond which we can learn from:
- He mourned over the damage.
v4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
- He was not cool about it. He felt sad for the people.
- He sat down and wept because he felt the heavy weight.
- Burdened, he says, “This ain’t cool.”
So what did he do about it?
- He called upon the name of the Lord in prayer
-He reminded himself that they are God’s people and that God is an awesome God who loves them.
v5 And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants..
v10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.
– Reminded of who God is and who they are
Then what did he do the next day? He went to work!
- He remained faithful despite how he felt.
-He didn’t let his emotions get in the way of serving
– The next day, he went to work as a butler and continued to serve his master
1 And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2 Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.”
So I became dreadfully afraid, 3 and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”
4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”
– Stay faithful to your bosses and a day will come that they would want to ask you your heart’s desires and would want to fulfill it. WOW!
- Not only did he pray about it, he did something about it.
2:4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”
So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
– He sees the problem and then seeks to be part of the solution!
- He understood the power of a TEAM.
– Nehemiah knows he cannot do this alone. So with the king’s authority, he called for backup.
7 Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple,[b] for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9 Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
– If we are to rebuild our own lives and the life in our group, we need to do this as a team. We all carry the authority of God.
- His words inspired the people to rebuild with him.
v17 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.
- Oppositions arose but he declared that God was on their side.
v19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
– He didn’t let them talk him out of it. He just went to work.
– Chapter 3 talks about the specifics, the gates and who went about repairing them (SOT lesson on the gates)
The enemies mocked him but they continued.
4:1 But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”
- Nehemiah and the people prayed earnestly.
4:7 Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, 8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. 9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
– The devil’s mad about progress and he will do whatever he can to destroy. That’s why we need to guard ourselves and pray.
Rom. 12:12 NLT Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
# We got to pray even more as a CG
- They were united and combined their building with fighting.
-They didn’t allow weariness to cause them to stop.
-In their moment of weakness, they stood and armed themselves with weapons (warfare mode)
– tools for building on one hand, weapon on the other
10 Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”
11 And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”
12 So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”
13 Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. 16 So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. 18 Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
19 Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
- He didn’t allow internal conflicts to continue and fixed it from within.
5:1 And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren.
– brought as slaves
6 And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, “Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.” So I called a great assembly against them.
9 Then I said, “What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?
11 Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them.”
12 So they said, “We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say.”
- Nehemiah remained generous, expecting nothing in return.
19 Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
The Wall Completed
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.
OUTCOMES:
- Captives returned to Jerusalem
- Feast of Tabernacles
- The people confess their sins
- Praised and glorified God
- The covenant of God sealed
- People dwelling in Jerusalem and outside of Jerusalem were blessed
As a CG, what can we do?
- Mourn over the damage.
- Call upon the name of the Lord in prayer.
- Remain faithful despite how we feel.
- Not only do we pray about it, do something about it.
- Work with a team.
- Inspire the people to rebuild with you.
- Oppositions may arise but declare that God is on our side.
- Continue in praying earnestly.
Rom. 12:12 NLT Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
- Stand in unity as an army – building yet ready to fight.
- Don’t allow internal conflicts to continue, fix it from within.
- Be generous, expecting nothing in return.
6:19 Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
The Wall Completed
… for they perceived that this work was done by our God.
- Captives returned to Jerusalem
- Feast of Tabernacles
- The people confess their sins
- Praised and glorified God
- The covenant of God sealed
- People dwelling in Jerusalem and outside of Jerusalem were blessed
ALTAR CALL:
- Sing “Renew My Life”
- Prayer of repentance.
PSALMS 51:16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. 18 Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit— with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
- It’s not about what we do for God that pleases Him.
- God wants us to repent so He may rebuild our lives, our cell group.
- Then He will be pleased with the sacrifices offered in the right spirit.
- Decision: Commit to arise and build His house
Dear Heavenly Father,
It is a privilege to be Your child. Forgive me for the times I displeased You. I commit to build what is precious to You. I renounce the works of the devil. I am a giver, not a taker. I will make peace. I will seek to unite. I will rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. I will keep on praying. I will arise and build. So help me God. IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.
