A Common Goal

Nehemiah: A Common Goal Allen R. Hunt 6/4/06
Mount Pisgah
I. To understand Nehemiah, have to understand covenant
Abraham settled in promised land – God’s promise to make him a great and blessed nation – God’s covenant
Famine caused his people to end up in Egypt – 400 years in bondage and slavery – wondering what had happened to the covenant
God sent Moses to deliver them from slavery – lead home to promised land – covenant
People prospered but they desired a king – finally God relented and gave them kings
David, greatest - Israel flourished – God’s covenant
But his grandchildren and beyond forgot God – Kingdom deteriorated – divided into 2 kingdoms, Israel and Judah
And in 722 BC, Assyria destroyed Israel
Judah fared somewhat better – but eventually grew worse also
Poor leadership and lack of trust in God – forgot the covenant
587 BC – Babylon took Judah – Nebuchadnezzar killed leaders of Judah, burned temple to ground, pillaged contents, took best and brightest as prisoners back to Babylon – exile
End of the dream for Israel – people of Abraham, Moses, and David – people of the promised land – were in exile and bondage once more – away from their land, away from their God, away from their covenant
Yearned for day – restoration would come – rebuild holy city, Jerusalem, and holy temple
Ezekiel, Isaiah prophesied about it – pointed to hope in God – covenant
Jeremiah prophesied the defeat of Babylon
And around 550 it came – Cyrus, king of Persia took Babylon
Restoration was at hand – around 500, temple was rebuilt, 445 Nehemiah re-entered the city – with a simple vision – to rebuild the wall

Nehemiah was the cup-bearer of the king of Persia – had a good life
God placed a vision in his heart – distress in Jerusalem – called to do something about it
1.3-4 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.” When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days, I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

I went to Jerusalem and after staying there three days, I set out during the night with a few men. Had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. (2.11)

So Nehemiah leaves his comfortable job – with king’s permission he heads to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall – he rides around and inspects the ruins
Gathers the Jews, priests, nobles. Officials – all of them

2.17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of God upon me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.

And Nehemiah’s vision becomes reality
Really valuable lessons for us here – because I want to share with you where I believe God is leading Mount Pisgah in the coming ministry year – vision He has given me
And Nehemiah will teach us how to fulfill that vision

II. When God’s people work together
(Neh. 2.17; 3.1-5, 7, 13, 17, 23, 26, 28, 32 ;4.6; Matt. 10.1-7; Luke 5.1-11; Romans 12.3-8; 1 Cor. 12.7)
It seems obvious - but rebuilding the wall was a team sport
Jews, priests, nobles, officials – it took them all (2.16)
Encountered a lot of opposition and criticism – folks who tried to stop the rebuilding of the wall, those who said it could never be done
But when everyone got on the same page – remarkable things began to happen
Chapter 3 – lists the builders of the wall
3.1 Eliashib the high priest and fellow priests worked on the Sheep gate
3.2 Men of Jericho built adjoining section
3.3 Fish gate rebuilt by sons of Hassenaah
3.7 Next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah, places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates
3.17 Next to him repairs were made by Levites…
3.26 temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs near the Water Gate
3.32 Near Sheep Gate, goldsmiths and merchants made repairs
Get the point? Everyone worked together

III. With good leadership,
(Neh. 2.17-18; 3. 1, 17, 22, 26; 4.4, 16; Exodus 18; Eph. 4.11-13; 1 Tim. 3.1-13)
Nehemiah was an extraordinary leader
He came to Jerusalem with a vision from God
He left everything else behind to pursue it
He scouted out the lay of the land
He spoke to people from every aspect of the city and society – built a team of leaders
And first thing that happened when they showed up for work – opposition showed up too
Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab came out and mocked and ridiculed them – even plotted together to attack the Jews
But Nehemiah had built his team – leaders stationed around the city – guards posted – pray-ers in action – so that when anything threatened the vision, his team was ready

We have assembled a great team of leaders at Mount Pisgah – many of you already stepped up to serve in the coming year as leaders
But we also discovered over the past year – faced some challenges, some turnover – that we did not have enough leadership capacity as a staff to make the vision a reality
So with joy I introduce to you today – two persons who will make all of us stronger
Fred Erler – new Executive Pastor – I will lead, preach and cast vision – Fred will lead, administer, and run things for entire church and staff – he will be sure that we are implementing and executing the vision - member of this church, Stephen minister, seminary degree, Emmaus, SS, Men’s group – nephew in Kazahkstan as missionary – Fred has run large organizations – Fred will lead well
And Scott Barron – arrived Friday night – to lead MPCS as new President – Board of the School has come to realize that God has a big vision in mind for this school – and we needed additional leadership capacity to make that vision a reality – Scott will lead well

IV. With a saturation of prayer,
(Neh. 1.4, 11; 2.4-5, 8, 20; 4.15)
For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the GOD of heaven (Neh. 1.4)
O LORD, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. (Neh. 1.11)
Then I prayed to the GOD of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king…” (Neh. 2.4)
And because the gracious hand of my GOD was upon me, the king granted my requests. (Neh. 2.8)
When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that GOD had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall and each to his own work. (Neh. 4.15)
God, God, God, Lord
The key to Nehemiah’s vision was God – after all, it was God’s vision
Nehemiah was merely the leader – the vision belonged to God
When Nehemiah hears the news that Jersualem is in ruins what is the first thing he does? Wept, prayed, mourned and fasted before God (1.4)
When the king asked Nehemiah what he wanted to do about the problem, before he answered, Nehemiah prayed to God (2.4)
The king granted Nehemiah’s request because God’s hand was on him (2.8)
When Sanballat the Horonite showed up and said it would never happen, Nehemiah simply responds “The God of heaven will give us success.” (2.20)
When the enemies plotted against them, God frustrated their plots (4.15)
Is it clear? God, God, God, God, God
Before he acted, Nehemiah prayed
When he needed help, Nehemiah prayed
When opponents arose, Nehemiah prayed

Great joy today that I share with you that after about a two month search, our 8 person search team has unanimously recommended the hiring of a new Lead Student Pastor
That person is Mark Danzey – that search team has prayed, several leaders and I have fasted, groups of prayer teams have been saturating that search in prayer
And Mark’s family has prayed extensively – he joins us July 10 and is already at work assembling his team so that we will hit the ground running
A few months ago, none of us were quite sure what we were going to do
But God knew – and the more we prayed, the more it became obvious to all of us
This is God’s vision – not ours

V. And with a common goal
(Neh. 2.17-18; 4.6; Eph. 4.11-13)
So we rebuilt the wall…. For the people worked with all their heart (Neh. 4.6)
What a great verse – rebuilt wall, people worked with all their heart
Everyone not only worked together – but had the same goal – we will rebuild this wall
Amazing what happens when people work together with the same goal in mind

During WW2, in darkest days in Britain, very few men wanted to work in the coal mines
Most wanted to give up those dirty, thankless jobs in dangerous mines to join military and be on front line – the public was praising and supporting those men
Yet the work in the coal mines was critical to success of the whole war
No coal, people at home and military would be in trouble
So Churchill faced miners one day (1000’s) painted a picture of what it would be like when the war ended – one grand parade to honor people who fought the war
First – sailors of navy – then pilots of Royal Air Forcce who fended off German Luftwaffe – then soldiers who had fought at Dunkirk
Then last of all would come the coal-dust covered men in miners’ caps
And someone might say, “Where were you during the war?”
And the voices of ten thousand men would respond, “We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.”
Tears formed, resolves stiffened, and men returned to their unglorious task because they knew they were playing a role in country’s noble goal of preserving freedom of West
Goal is more important than the role

God will do a wonderful thing.
(Neh. 2.8; 6.15-16; Matt. 28.16-20; Acts 2)
So the wall was completed…in fifty two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of the Lord. (Neh. 6.15-16)
Wall was rebuilt in 52 days
Clear to everyone work had been done with help of the Lord – enemies shook with fear
When folks worked together with good leadership, prayer saturation, and common goal, God blessed with a mighty wonderful work
Such a great thing that revival then broke out across Jersualem and Israel – people knew – and they remembered – COVENANT! God is living and true – He has not forgotten us

III. A Vision for each believer at Mount Pisgah (July 2006-June 2007)
I wonder what would happen in Alpharetta and Roswell if in the coming year, each one of us would
1) Invite a friend to worship
Simple thing to do – and I will remind you throughout the year
Friend, neighbor, family member – if 5000 folks invited 5000 folks – lot of people, no, just one each
What might God do?
2) Share your faith with a child
Then what would North Fulton look like if each one of us prayed and asked God to place in our lives one child – that we might very simply share our faith with this year
Most fertile receptive souls are children – especially between ages of 9-12
What might their lives look like if we stepped up and did not expect someone else to share Jesus with them?
I will not only invite you to do that in the coming year – I will teach you how – will even recommend books that might be helpful in doing so
What might God do? I invite you to find out

3) Share in a faith-building experience
- Walk to Emmaus (weekend spiritual growth retreat)
- Crown Financial Bible Study (short-term Bible study)
- Life Group (sermon-based short-term Bible study)
Year of Faith-Building – want each one of to take a significant step forward
Our staff and lay leaders have been hard at work putting the pieces together
For you to do at least one of these 3 faith-building experiences
You may have your own plan – if it is written down (about 1-2% of Christians do that kind of spiritual planning) then feel free to do that
But until you have your own plan this is the plan God has given me to share with you
Pick one – some of you have agreed to serve as leaders – others of you this is a huge first step
But imagine what God will do – if 5000 of us do this
What will north Fulton look like? What will the world look like? What will your neighborhood look like? What might you look like? I invite you to find out

Our God is a covenant God – He keeps His promises
And He has promised that if we will work together, with good leadership, prayer saturation, and a common goal, He will do a great thing
Will you join me?