What if where you are right now isn’t accidental—but strategic?

In this message from Nehemiah chapter two, we explore how an ordinary person in an overlooked position becomes a key figure in rebuilding an entire city. Nehemiah’s story reveals how purpose, courage, and timing intersect when someone chooses to step out of victim thinking and into responsibility.

This sermon looks at how destiny often unfolds through uncomfortable conversations, bold requests, and decisive action. You’ll hear how Nehemiah moves from private burden to public mission—using his position, influence, and preparation to partner with what God is already doing.

Along the way, the message challenges us to examine the roles we play in conflict, how opposition can clarify calling, and why rebuilding anything meaningful—faith, community, relationships, or vision—requires both prayer and strategy.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, sidelined, or unsure how to move forward, this episode invites you to consider that your current position may be part of a much bigger story.

Scripture Focus: Nehemiah 2

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction & the Question of Destiny

01:31 Breaking the Drama Triangle

02:36 Moving Beyond Victim Mentality

03:24 From Cupbearer to Builder: Nehemiah’s Turning Point

04:28 A Bold Ask and a Defining Moment

14:53 Favor, Timing, and Strategic Grace

17:10 When Opportunity Meets Preparation

18:31 Gratitude, Loyalty, and Responsibility

19:10 The Cost of Stepping Forward

20:38 Opposition, Resistance, and Discernment

23:01 Planning with Purpose

28:44 Calling Others Into the Vision

30:40 Pushback, Persecution, and Perseverance

32:24 Final Encouragement: Rise Up and Build

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OC Church of Christ

We're gonna dive right in.

2

The theme of Nehemiah Chapter Two

is Rise up and build and, uh, we

3

want to welcome you to church.

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And we have reset, right?

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Nehemiah chapter two in verse,

uh, 18 is our theme verse.

6

And it says, and they said, let us

rise and build so they strengthen

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their, their hands for the good work.

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We're gonna talk about that, that's

a part of this passage this morning.

9

But, uh.

10

There's some great characters in

this chapter that I wanna share

11

about, and the Bible's written

sort of in a narrative way.

12

It's a drama.

13

And you gotta sort of get into the story.

14

You gotta get into the plot, you

gotta get into the characters.

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And there's usually three

types of characters, right?

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You got an antagonist, a protagonist,

a victim, a, a persecutor, a rescuer.

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There's all usually at least three

types of characters in any plot.

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And in this drama this morning.

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We have the Jews, we have

Nehemiah, we have the pilgrims,

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and they're sort of the victims.

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But you can switch around.

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Nehemiah switches around.

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The persecutor are sand ballot, toba ham.

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At first it seems like maybe our

exes is gonna be a persecutor,

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but he come becomes a, a rescuer.

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Nehemiah is a rescuer.

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Sort of see where you're at.

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We even have just a touch of the

queen being a rescuer this morning,

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and so I hope you enjoy this story.

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But let's, uh, let's get a little,

uh, educational value from this too,

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that there was a guy named Karpman

that, uh, define the drama triangle.

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Okay?

33

He said A good drama has a victim.

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All right?

35

This person usually says that, uh.

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They're blameless and

they're being persecuted.

37

There's a, there's a issue that

others are attacking them for.

38

Then there's a perpetrator or

a persecutor, and they usually

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feel like they're right.

40

They sometimes have more power, and

then there's a rescuer, and sometimes

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that's a, a, a minister can be a

rescuer, A therapist can be a rescuer.

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All right.

43

Sometimes that can be overdone

and become an enabler.

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Anytime there's an addiction, there's

a victim, someone that plays the

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victim, and then there's someone

that plays the rescuer, the enabler.

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And so, uh, let's see why people get

into this kind of drama, this kind of

47

crisis, so to speak, in their life.

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Part of it is because there's

benefits to playing the victim,

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to having a victim mentality.

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Unfortunately, it's

not very healthy, okay?

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That when you play the victim,

you get attention and validation.

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Sometimes people want that.

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They want to be noticed.

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They, they don't.

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They feel invisible, and so

they want to get attention.

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You don't have to take

risks if you're victim.

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It's not your fault.

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You're somebody else is

doing something to you.

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You don't have to take responsibility.

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It makes you feel better.

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You can blame others for your failures.

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Here's where it starts to go wrong.

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You can excuse yourself even for your sin.

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If you're a victim, I sin because

this is somebody else's fault.

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So how do you overcome victim?

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We're gonna see this in this story.

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We're gonna see Nehemiah

overcome being a victim.

68

You realize you can take.

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You can respond how you choose.

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At first, Nehemiah feels helpless.

71

He feels like he's just this, this nobody.

72

He's a cup bearer for the king, but

then he chooses how he's gonna respond.

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He takes responsibility for his life.

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He decides he is gonna be grateful.

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We're gonna see some great lessons

from Nehemiah this morning.

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You choose to forgive

others for their actions.

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You turn your focus outward towards goals,

and you create a new story for yourself.

78

This is key, and that's what

Nehemiah did for the whole nation.

79

This one cup mirror in this,

this far away place in Babylon.

80

He created a new story that God

recorded in this chapter, and

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then he began to help others.

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So let's dive right into the story.

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My, uh, preaching coach says

you're, uh, the, the, the.

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The purveyor of the word of God.

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So dive right into the word

as soon as you can, Greg.

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So here we go, Nehemiah two verse one.

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We're gonna see that part of

Nehemiah's Destiny was he was

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in a position of influence.

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He didn't know it.

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He was an influencer.

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All right?

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They didn't have social media in his

day, but he was still an influencer.

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Listen to this, in the month of Nissan, in

the 20th year of King Art of Xerxes, when

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wine was brought for him, I took the wine,

this is Nehemiah, and gave it to the king.

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And I had been, had not been

sad in his presence before.

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Why had he not been sad?

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Because, uh, the rule was if

you were sad in front of the

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king, you were disposed of.

99

You were put to death.

100

You always had to be cheerful.

101

You always had to create this environment

around, uh, the king that you were happy.

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And the monarch expected that.

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So he put himself in a position of peril.

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Listen to this, Nehemiah two, two.

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So the king asked him, why does your

face looks so sad when you are not ill?

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This can be nothing but sadness of heart.

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Nehemiah says, I was very much afraid.

108

I mean, he was caught.

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Can you imagine how he felt?

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Talk about, uh, uh,

fight, flight, or freeze?

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I mean, he froze.

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All of a sudden, uhoh, the king

noticed and he wanted to fly.

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Fly.

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He wanted to get out of there 'cause

he didn't want to be put to death.

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But listen to what he does.

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This is a true man of God.

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It.

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We all are in positions

to fulfill our destiny.

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Ordained for God.

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You may not feel like you're in a

very significant place in your life.

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Oh, I'm just a student.

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I'm just a, you know, in this position,

there's millions of them around the world.

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I'm not in a very significant position.

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I can't do that much, you know?

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We all are in positions.

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I believe that God wants us to

be, and at a certain time in our

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life, he's gonna activate us.

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We're gonna be needed to do something

special for God to build his kingdom.

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I really wanna convince you of that as

we read this story, Nehemiah two three.

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Nehemiah was in a position

of insight, but I said to the

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king, so he just told the truth.

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Always just tell the truth.

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All right.

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Whenever you get caught, you're

tempted to uh, uh, uh, well,

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uh, make excuses rationalize.

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You get defensive.

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Just tell the truth.

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It always works.

139

He said, but I said to the king,

may the king will you live forever?

140

Always show respect to

those who respect is due.

141

Show respect to your parents?

142

Well, I'm not sure that

my parents deserve it.

143

It doesn't say if your parents deserve it.

144

It says, honor your parents, so

it will go well with you, and

145

so you will have a long life.

146

Does that mean your parents

decide whether you live or die?

147

No.

148

No.

149

That's taken scripture Way too far.

150

All right.

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I do believe God decides how long we

live and where we live and how we live.

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And he says, honor your parents.

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The Bible says to honor the

king, so Nehemiah does that

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May the king live forever.

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Why should my face not look sad?

156

Woo.

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He's getting bold when the city where

my ancestors are buried lies in ruins.

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Now, guess who made it a ruin?

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The king's ancestors, the country that

the king is leading, the Babylonians.

160

And so this is bold and its gates

have been destroyed with fire.

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So Nehemiah shares a truthful insight.

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He was in a position of insight, but

he was also in a position of privilege.

163

Listen to this, two four, the

king said to me, what is it you

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want now that is encouraging?

165

All a sudden his blood

pressure went down, right?

166

All a sudden he's thinking, Hey,

this might go in a good place.

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He may have thought initially, Hey,

if I'm gonna die, I might as well

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just tell the truth and try to ask

for something great, and I may get

169

it, and if not, I'm gonna die anyway.

170

I don't have anything to risk.

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I'm caught.

172

I'm stuck.

173

I'm gonna die.

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So he told the truth, but then when

he heard this, he's like, Hey, hey.

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Something's going on here.

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The king says, what do you want?

177

When I prayed to the God, uh, then

I prayed to the God of heaven.

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That's what I call an emergency prayer.

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Do you ever offer any emergency prayers?

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I don't know about your emergency

prayer, but mine's pretty simple.

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Help,

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help.

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I need somebody help, not just anybody.

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Help.

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I need God.

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Amen.

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Right.

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That's an emergency prayer.

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And I, I mean, I've slid on the

black ice help carry Underwood.

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She starts singing, Lord, take the will.

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That's her emergency prayer.

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All right.

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We all have these emergency prayers

that we pray and Nehemiah prayed.

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For God's help, emergency prayers or

prayers for help to fulfill our destiny.

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Don't ever forget, don't lose

grasp of your dis destiny folks.

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And I mean, it may seem like you're

far off from some of your dreams

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and some of your, your goals.

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Some of us have had some

of our dreams shattered.

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Don't give up.

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God's not done yet.

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He loves a comeback story.

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He loves an underdog story.

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You know, I, I'm not betting

on the game today, all right?

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The Seahawks are big favorites,

but I like an underdog story.

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I don't really, I wanted

the Rams playing, all right?

206

I wanted the Broncos playing.

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I didn't want these guys playing, so

I want 'em both to lose, all right.

208

So I'm gonna watch and

see where my heart goes.

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And I bet it goes to the underdog though.

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I bet it goes to whoever it seems

like the refs are against, you know?

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Ooh, I shouldn't have said that out loud.

212

Alright.

213

But I'm gonna watch the game

and, and it's, it's one of those

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non-stressful games for me.

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'cause I don't really care,

you know, I don't really care.

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I'm not gonna say any emergency

prayers for either team today.

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Two five.

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And I answered the king

if it pleases the king.

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So again, he's being humble.

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He's taken the right posture.

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He's not being arrogant

or bold or demanding.

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He said, if it pleases the king

and if your servant has found

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favor in his sight, and he's been.

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Building favor with the king

year after year after year.

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He could have never become a cup

bearer of the king if he wasn't

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trusted and he wasn't a good

and faithful and loyal person.

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And it says, if your servant has found

favor in his sight, let him send me to

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the city and Judah where my ancestors

are buried so that I can rebuild it.

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His sincerity, his singularity of purpose,

his love for his city, for his ancestors,

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most of all, his love for his God,

that the people of God are in disgrace.

231

It's broken his heart.

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We read that last week.

233

So what happens?

234

He's in a position of limitation, though.

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He's gotta ask the king verses

verse six of chapter two.

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Then the king with the

queen sitting beside him.

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This is the only time

they mentioned the queen.

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Here, ask me, how long will

your journey take and when

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will you get back it, please?

240

The king to send me.

241

So I set a time.

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He's like feeling great.

243

Hey, if he's asking me how long I been

gone, I guess that means he's sending me.

244

And so I don't know what Nehemiah says.

245

This story leaves a few blanks.

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I know how long Nehemiah was gone.

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I think the king would've probably said,

okay, you can have a few months off.

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You can take a sabbatical for a few, few

months, maybe three months, four months.

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Well, because it's a long trip.

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Maybe it's gonna take you six months.

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Guess how long Nehemiah was gone?

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10 years.

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I don't think Art Xes expected

him to be gone 10 years.

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I don't think he's saying, yes, you can

be gone 10 years, but that's how long the,

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the scholars tell us that he was gone.

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If he was this concerned about

how long he was gonna be gone, he

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didn't want him to be gone long.

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And I think part of that was because

he trusted him and he needed to be

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protected by his cup Bear verse seven.

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He was in a position of pragmatism.

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What does that mean?

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You gotta always get practical folks.

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You can be as faithful as you want,

but you gotta be practical and

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honest with yourself and self-aware.

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He says, I said to him, if

it pleases the king again, he

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gives deference to the king.

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May I have letters to the governors

of trans so that they will provide me

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safe conduct until I arrive in Judah.

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He knows he's on in for

a very dangerous journey.

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And especially if he, if he's going,

uh, to, uh, and, and he's just a

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cup bearer, he knows that he's,

he's going on a very dangerous

272

journey and he needs to protection.

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So he's getting very

practical for you and me.

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We are in positions to fulfill

our destinies, ordained by God,

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but we definitely need help.

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We need help to do that.

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So.

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He asked for what's called patronage

in the ancient world, verse

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eight, and may I have a letter

to ASAP keeper of the rural park.

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So he will give me timber to make beams

for the gates of the citadel of the

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temple, of the CI and the city wall,

and for the residents I'll occupy.

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And because of the gracious hand of God

was on me, the king granted my request.

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See, in the ancient world, a patron was

somebody who was rich and they would give

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their riches to what was called client.

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So it was a patron client

relationship, all right?

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And, uh, what that was

called in the ancient world.

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Get this now.

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Whenever a patron gave something to a

client, it was called a gift or grace.

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It was given, it was called Grace because

the, the, the client, it was so much

290

the client could never pay it back.

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So it was always a gift.

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So it was a called Grace.

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Guess what?

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The, the client was expected

to give back to the patron.

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You're never gonna guess unless

you've read this in De Silva.

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Alright, faith peace does.

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If they had to give back

loyalty and honor to the patron.

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Loyalty and honor.

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They had to spread the

reputation of the patron.

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That this is an honorable man.

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This is a great person.

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This is a generous person because

they're giving to people in need.

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They're giving their riches away.

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They're giving grace.

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And so the response of faith

is loyalty and to promote

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the reputation of the patron.

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That's why it's called when God

gives us Salvation and Forgiveness.

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It's called grace.

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And what are you and I supposed to

give back to God, but faith, loyalty,

310

and to promote the reputation of God.

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Are you with me there?

312

Amen.

313

So there's a lot we can learn from

Nehemiah here, and Nehemiah is bold.

314

I want a house.

315

I want all the supplies I need, and I want

you to write me a check to the treasury.

316

All right, so I can pay for it all.

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Now, this is being, I mean, he must

have had, he must have said a little

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more than just the emergency prayer.

319

All right?

320

I think he had a pretty

detailed list in his mind and.

321

So he asked for it.

322

The client patron relationship

were common in the ancient world.

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Nehemiah asked the king

for a favor or patronage.

324

The king granted his request

to enhance his own reputation.

325

That's why the king did it,

not because he loved Jews.

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He did like Nehemiah.

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But he loved himself even more.

328

Nehemiah was obligated to

advertise the king's generosity.

329

The patronage from the king was

a gift or grace because Nehemiah

330

obviously could not afford to repay

the gift, and Nehemiah offered faith

331

or loyalty to the king in exchange.

332

And here's the key, to be disloyal,

to not promote the King's reputation,

333

you became a dishonorable person.

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If you ever had the label of being

dishonorable, if you'd been given grace or

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a gift and you were took it for granted,

then you were the worst of society.

336

You were the worst of the worst.

337

You never, you never showed

in gratitude for a gift.

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And that's why.

339

So when we aren't grace, grateful to God

for all the gifts he give us, sometimes

340

that, that's why he just wants us to

show some percentage, some, uh, evidence

341

that we're grateful by giving each week.

342

I appreciate what Dallas said.

343

That was so good.

344

I mean, I've never gonna forget

that he was bit by mosquitoes.

345

I'm, that's there.

346

I mean, I've got that every

time I look at his face.

347

I'm gonna look close now.

348

All right.

349

It's so important.

350

God expects us to show

him that we honor him.

351

Can I get Amen?

352

And then Nehemiah two in verse nine,

he was in a position of serendipity.

353

What do I mean by that?

354

So I went to the governor's of Transies

and gave them the king's letters.

355

Can you imagine?

356

Here's this cup bears strutting

around with these letters that says.

357

I'm special.

358

I get to pass through your country.

359

You're gonna protect me.

360

Anything I want, I can ask you

for, because it's just like

361

the king asking you for it.

362

All right?

363

Your emperor, the ones that conquered you.

364

So here, he's feeling very good

about himself and the king had also

365

look at this, sent an army, sent

army officers in Calvary with me.

366

Wow.

367

I think Nehemiah's feeling pretty good.

368

I think he's feeling like I'm gonna

pray the emergency prayer more often.

369

Amen.

370

So trans, what's that?

371

It's the land beyond the river.

372

It's the area west of the river.

373

And that was the area of

Syria and Fania and Israel.

374

Alright.

375

And the governors that he's

talking about, if you want to know.

376

There on the screen, Tati Nay,

and also hum and uh, and Mhe.

377

So those are who he's talking about, that

he had to pass through their countries.

378

So he was also in verse 10, in

a position to be persecuted.

379

Anytime you do something for

God, you're gonna get opposition.

380

Anytime you take a stand,

anytime you take a position of

381

leadership, you're gonna get a post.

382

There's always gonna be rebels.

383

Satan's always whispering

in people's ears.

384

There's always palace intrigue,

there's always division.

385

As we do greater and greater things

in this church, Satan's gonna

386

try to divide us more and more.

387

We've gotta fight for the unity.

388

We've gotta fight for our

righteousness and spirituality.

389

'cause there's always gonna be

a sand ballot in Toba and Geshe.

390

When sand ballot, the Hor Horror Knight,

see he's even got a terrible name.

391

And Toba, the Ammonite

official heard about this.

392

They were very much disturbed

that someone had come to promote

393

the welfare of the Israelites.

394

The status quo is changing.

395

These guys had been stealing from the

Israelites and they, they thought, uhoh,

396

someone's coming and we're not gonna be

able to have our comfy positions anymore.

397

There's someone that's gonna come

and they're gonna rock our boat.

398

All right?

399

We don't get things the way

that we've always gotten them

400

around here and sand ballot and.

401

Uh, Toba were very disturbed.

402

They were pagan leaders that

had been taking care, taking

403

advantage of God's people.

404

They were persecutor, they were in

the drama triangle as perpetrators.

405

All right.

406

He was, the sand ballot was

the governor of Samaria.

407

Toba was the governor of Amon Ham

was one of the leaders of the Arabs.

408

That, uh, had been taking care,

uh, advantage of the Israelites.

409

What's going on in the Middle East now?

410

It's nothing new.

411

It was going on back then, and

there's nothing new under the sun.

412

But Nehemiah had a destiny and

he had a position of purpose.

413

Don't ever let go of your purpose.

414

You ever let go of why you do what you do.

415

Why you want to take a risk, why you want

to be bold and ask a king for something?

416

Why you want to go out and ask for

funds you know that are not your

417

money, but somebody else's money,

but your It's for a good cause.

418

Why?

419

Because he had a purpose.

420

He says, I went to Jerusalem and

after staying there three days,

421

he's gone on this long journey.

422

He's got this purpose to rebuild the wall.

423

Why did he delay to pray,

to plan, and to prepare,

424

and unfortunately, he

knew what people are like.

425

He knew people have their, he

was going to, he was gonna face

426

opposition and per persecution.

427

He also knew that even among

his own people, the Jews, there

428

was politics going on, you know.

429

And so he, he just decided I need

to get a lay of the land here.

430

I need to do some investigation.

431

I need to check things out for a few

days to see what's really going on.

432

I need to get a plan together because

just because God was with me, with,

433

uh, the King of Babylon, with Art of

Xerxes, he needs to be with me in,

434

unfortunately, with my own people

because there's always stuff going on.

435

He spent three days praying and

planning and checking things

436

out, and he had a strategy.

437

This is so cool.

438

This is a great story.

439

Verse 12, he says, I set out during the

night why the night, so nobody'd see him.

440

He's sneaking around.

441

He's undercover.

442

All right.

443

He's an agent for.

444

I sat out during the

night with a few others.

445

I had not told anyone what my

God had put on my heart to do for

446

Jerusalem because he's not a priest.

447

He's not of the, the noble families.

448

He's a cup bear.

449

He's just a servant.

450

You know, they may have thought he's

even a spy for the king, and so he

451

had to be wise, what God had put on

my heart to do for Jerusalem there.

452

Were no mounts with me except the one

that I rode, and so he's exercising some

453

very shrewd leadership here, verse 13,

but he, but he really was a planner.

454

This is really important.

455

By night I went out

through the valley gate.

456

Towards the jack of well and the D gate.

457

Now, why does he mention these gates?

458

Because historically everybody

knew what he was talking about.

459

This is a true story.

460

He's wanting you and I thousands of

years later to realize this is all true.

461

Guys, I'm not making this up.

462

This is, this is real.

463

We, we need to make a,

a Netflix about this.

464

All right.

465

Because we seem to believe

these Netflix things, right?

466

Examining the walls of Jerusalem, which

had been broken down and its gates

467

which had been destroyed with fire.

468

10 gates, he examined, he went out,

it says, uh, through the valley gate

469

and it's, it's gonna say he's gonna

return through the valley gate.

470

He, he goes on a journey.

471

He checks out the wall.

472

At one point, he wants to go back

inside to see what the condition

473

of the wall is on the inside, but

his horse won't fit through there.

474

So it says he had to change his plans

and eventually he went back in the gate.

475

He left because he knew he could

get in that way and he might not

476

be able to get in the other ways.

477

This is a great story.

478

Verse 14.

479

He was flexible, says in verse 14.

480

Then I moved on towards the fountain gate

and the king's pool, but there was not

481

enough room for my mount to get through.

482

Not because it was a fat horse, but

because the gate had been collapsed.

483

All right, let's, let's be generous here.

484

All right.

485

Verse 15.

486

But he did understand the politics.

487

So I went up the valley by

night examining the wall.

488

Finally, I turned back and reentered.

489

Through the valley gate, he had to figure

out how much materials, how much manpower.

490

He had to figure out a plan.

491

Verse 16, and so he was also

in a position of persuasion.

492

He figured it out.

493

The officials did not know where I had

gone or what I was doing because as yet,

494

I had not said anything to the Jews or the

priests or the nobles or the officials or

495

any others who would be doing the work.

496

He had made his plan.

497

Now, these people knew he was

somebody because he had all

498

these Babylonian army officers.

499

He had this whole calvary.

500

He had an army with him and he had all

these supplies, but nobody knew what he

501

was doing until he was ready to tell 'em.

502

And he's describing the opinion

leaders here, the priests, the nobles,

503

the officials, the wealthy land

owners, the influencers of his day.

504

Again, don't forget, he has a destiny.

505

He knows it's gonna work.

506

He's has the faith because

God has a role for each of us.

507

What to do?

508

What?

509

To get rich To win the lottery?

510

Nope.

511

To build his kingdom.

512

I know for sure God's

gonna help me do that.

513

I don't know if God's gonna

let me win a scratcher.

514

I doubt he is 'cause I don't buy 'em.

515

All right.

516

It's pretty hard for me to

win if I don't buy 'em all.

517

Right?

518

But I can't, I, I don't know.

519

I, I hate wasting even a dollar, you

know, if I don't, if I don't win, I

520

feel like I just burned that dollar.

521

I can't imagine that.

522

But anyway, that's a personal thing.

523

Let's keep moving.

524

Keep moving.

525

Verse 17, he was in a

position of leadership.

526

Here's what he finally said.

527

He said to them, you see the

trouble that we are in puts

528

himself in a position with them.

529

Jerusalem lies and ruins and its

gates have been burned with fire.

530

This is really bothering Nehemiah.

531

Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem

and we will no longer be in disgrace.

532

That was his motive.

533

He wanted God's promises fulfilled.

534

He wanted God's people

to not be in disgrace.

535

He wanted God honored.

536

So in verse 18, he says he

was in a position of calling.

537

He says, I also told them

about the gracious hand.

538

My God had been on me and

what the king had said to me.

539

And that was enough for them.

540

And they said, let's start rebuilding.

541

Let's start rebuilding.

542

So they began this good work guys.

543

Thankfully in the Orange County Church, we

don't have to rebuild from scratch, right?

544

We've got so much here already.

545

It is so on.

546

Awesome.

547

Most of the other regions of the LA

church, think the Orange County Church.

548

Whoa.

549

If we could just be like the Orange

County Church and so it's almost

550

hard for me to say, let's start

rebuilding 'cause we've got so much

551

already, but I'm gonna say it anyway.

552

Let's start rebuilding.

553

Let's build more.

554

Let's build to the glory of God.

555

Amen.

556

Amen.

557

That's what this story is about.

558

Thank you.

559

Thank you.

560

Keep it up.

561

Don't stop now.

562

All right.

563

All right.

564

No.

565

Do verse 19 and look what happens right

after he gets everybody rallied to do it.

566

Persecution.

567

When sand ballot, the Ho, ho Knight,

uh, abaya, the Ammonite official

568

and Geshe the Arab heard about it.

569

They mocked and ridiculed us.

570

What is this you're doing?

571

Are you rebelling against the king?

572

He's getting labeled.

573

He's getting labeled as a rebel.

574

As an insurrectionist.

575

There's labels, guys that can

destroy a person's life, and this

576

was one of them in the ancient world.

577

They're trying to plant seeds, you

know, among the people that ne that

578

Nehemiah isn't serving our de Xerxes.

579

He's a rebel and he's going

to rebel against the king, and

580

they knew what they were doing.

581

But we'll catch the rest

of this story next week.

582

Amen.

583

So what are the morals of the

story that we learned today?

584

We, you and me, all of us.

585

Our impositions, God's destined

for us, and we're not victims.

586

Amen.

587

We must use our positions like

Nehemiah did to glorify God.

588

All right.

589

We will be in positions to step out.

590

In faith, it always is gonna

come down to our willingness to

591

take a risk and to have faith.

592

We need courage to use positions

that we have to build the church.

593

We must use our positions

when opportunity arises.

594

We can change the world

when we use our positions.

595

We are in positions that seem dormant

for years, but then God activates us.

596

We will see our destiny eventually

in every one of our positions.

597

And finally, rebuilding will be

opposed by persecution and threats.

598

The better things start going, the

more challenges, the more threats,

599

the more persecution, the more

drama, rebuilding requires purpose,

600

worth, risk, and maybe death.

601

That's what Nehemiah is

willing to risk even his death.

602

And I believe there's only one thing

worth risking your death for, and

603

that is God and the kingdom of God.

604

Amen.

605

Rebuilding needs, resources.

606

From unlikely people, man, I'd love

for the President to write us a check.

607

Amen.

608

I'd love for you know, our

governor to write us a check.

609

Who knows?

610

Let's not, let's not limit God.

611

All right?

612

We just read this story.

613

Let's not shut that down.

614

All right?

615

We need resources from unlikely people.

616

Rebuilding takes leadership that

works like Nehemiah day and night.

617

All right.

618

Rebuilding necessitates

planning and flexibility.

619

If the horse won't fit

through it, go around.

620

All right.

621

That's what we learn.

622

Rebuilding rallies the people to glorify

and honor God, and rebuilding anticipates

623

hardship and challenges he planned ahead.

624

Rebuilding begins and ends.

625

I'm gonna tie in last week's

sermon with prayer and faith.

626

Amen.

627

This is a great story in Nehemiah, applies

to exactly where we are as a church.

628

God, thank you for listening.

629

Thank you for your patience.

630

Excuse us for our little

technical problems, but uh,

631

we'll get 'em worked out.

632

God bless you.

633

Have a great week.