BUILDING A HOLY COMMUNITY (10 OF 11)
Scripture: Nehemiah 11:1-10, Nehemiah 11:13-22, Nehemiah 11:25-36, Nehemiah 12:1-24, Nehemiah 12:27-47
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Building a Holy Community (10 of 11)
Series: Nehemiah
Robert Dawson
Nehemiah 11-12
When we were young, in Sunday School, we learned this little ditty complete with hand motions that said, ''Here's the church, here's the steeple and open the doors and here are all the people.'' Then it repeated, ''Here's the church, here's the steeple and open the doors and where are all the people?''
I feel like that around here lately but as Nehemiah finished the wall, the gates and the reading of the Word of God had been taught and preached the people left and went home. Nehemiah looked around and thought, ''Here are the walls and here are the gates but where are all the people?'' Nehemiah 7.4 says, ''Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built.''
Can you imagine how Nehemiah felt after...
- Four months of heart-rending prayer and waiting on God.
- The stress of seeking King Artaxerxes for permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild a wall, finish rebuilding a city that had been destroyed and the work halted by Artaxerxes predecessors.
- After a laborious four-month journey to Jerusalem, overcoming despair and convincing the people that what needed to be done should be done.
- Restoring a sound culture and government based on the Word of God
After all of this there were still few people living within the rebuilt walls of the city. Kevin Costner's field of dreams philosophy, build it and they will come, did not work for Nehemiah.
- It doesn't seem like a big deal, after all, many of us who are from smaller communities, towns and farms would agree with them. The big city life is not the best (at least for us).
- It is a big deal. People were needed to make the city a city. Without people, it is just a collection of bricks and mortar. It is the same way with the church. Without the people, a holy and redeemed people, this is not a church. It is just a building. The people of God are the chur ...
Series: Nehemiah
Robert Dawson
Nehemiah 11-12
When we were young, in Sunday School, we learned this little ditty complete with hand motions that said, ''Here's the church, here's the steeple and open the doors and here are all the people.'' Then it repeated, ''Here's the church, here's the steeple and open the doors and where are all the people?''
I feel like that around here lately but as Nehemiah finished the wall, the gates and the reading of the Word of God had been taught and preached the people left and went home. Nehemiah looked around and thought, ''Here are the walls and here are the gates but where are all the people?'' Nehemiah 7.4 says, ''Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built.''
Can you imagine how Nehemiah felt after...
- Four months of heart-rending prayer and waiting on God.
- The stress of seeking King Artaxerxes for permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild a wall, finish rebuilding a city that had been destroyed and the work halted by Artaxerxes predecessors.
- After a laborious four-month journey to Jerusalem, overcoming despair and convincing the people that what needed to be done should be done.
- Restoring a sound culture and government based on the Word of God
After all of this there were still few people living within the rebuilt walls of the city. Kevin Costner's field of dreams philosophy, build it and they will come, did not work for Nehemiah.
- It doesn't seem like a big deal, after all, many of us who are from smaller communities, towns and farms would agree with them. The big city life is not the best (at least for us).
- It is a big deal. People were needed to make the city a city. Without people, it is just a collection of bricks and mortar. It is the same way with the church. Without the people, a holy and redeemed people, this is not a church. It is just a building. The people of God are the chur ...
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