We'll begin our worship by singing to God's praise. We'll sing in Psalm 96a, in the Sing
Psalms version, Psalm 96a, singing from verse 1 to verse 9, page 1 to 6 of the psalm book,
the tune is Argyle, Psalm 96a.
Oh, sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name and his salvation day by day let
all the earth proclaim.
We'll sing from verse 1 to 9 to God's praise.
O sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name and his salvation day by day.
Let all the earth proclaim.
His glory and his mighty deeds to every love dear.
How great that God saves the Lord, with him no gods compare.
For other gods are good and stones.
The Lord, we'll sing the Lord, in the name of God.
The Lord, we'll sing by day.
Of power and majesty and his, he dwells in glorious light.
All nations do, the Lord has died, the glory that is due.
Glory to God's name, the sky to God, and praise His name anew.
Enter in the gates with joy and pain, an opening with you.
Worship the Lord in holy fear, on earth, the core and the love.
Let's unite our hearts together in prayer.
Let us pray.
Lord our God, our Father in heaven, to worship you anew this evening hour, we thank you for the praise which we come with.
We thank you that we can come singing a song to the Lord, singing anew full of praise to you.
For we thank you that that is a song that you have given to your people.
A song that at one point we had no desire to sing and no longing for at all.
But we thank you that so many of the Psalms describe to us that transforming power that you have.
You're the one who is able to lift us up, to bring us out of the clay and set our feet on the rock as another describes,
putting a new song in our mouth.
We thank you, Lord, that we have a song of praise to sing.
And we come this evening, Lord, to worship you as the living God.
And we thank you that we come acknowledging your power and sovereignty,
acknowledging your rule over us as a people and your world as a whole.
For we are reminded in this Psalm how you are the one who has made the heaven's height and all that's contained in them.
And so we come thankful that we have access to you in and through the name of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thankful that we come not of any good in our sin, or righteousness of ourselves,
but we come humbly through the righteousness of Christ.
For we know that we are sinners, and yet we know too that there is power in the blood of Christ to forgive all our sins.
That we have one who came to take our sins upon himself.
All that we deserve, he took from us and bore our sins on the cross.
And so we come, O Lord, looking to you this evening.
Thankful for all that you have done.
Thankful for all that we can come with this evening.
We are told to come with joy and bring an offering with us.
And we come to offer whatever else we have, we come to offer praise.
We offer our lives up to you, Lord.
We offer all that we are and have up to you as our Lord and as our God.
And we pray, Lord, that you will help us to be still in your presence this evening,
to worship you aright.
Come, O Lord, able to put all other things to one side.
We acknowledge that our minds can be so cluttered and so busy.
We can already be planning the week ahead.
We can already be thinking about all that maybe lies ahead of us in this coming week.
But we thank you, Lord, that you help us just for this time to be still and to know that you are God.
And so, Lord, take away these distractions that so often keep us from hearing what you are saying to us.
And give us ears to hear through your word and by your spirit.
That you are speaking to us, your voice calling to us, to each of us, to come to you.
Whatever situation we are in, if we are believing in you with all our hearts, we come leaning upon you.
We come, O Lord, dependent upon you for all things.
But perhaps others come, O Lord, not knowing that assurance of faith.
Not knowing what it is to know the Lord Jesus as a personal Savior.
Maybe knowing much about him and hearing your word many times and yet still not experiencing that life-changing moment.
Of those who are still maybe struggling to understand you.
Or seeking you with all their hearts but feeling as close to them.
That, Lord, you would open the doors for them.
That you would bring them into your heart.
That you would bring in and build on those who are being saved.
We thank you for the times of blessing that your church has enjoyed down through all the generations.
We thank you for the times of blessing that you are in your word.
As a people.
Here in our midst as a congregation and as a community here, Lord.
We long to see you enlivening us and quickening us in these days, Lord.
When we see so much that we despair at and are despondent about.
Lord, help us to lift our eyes to you.
And to recognize you as the one who is able to change all that we see around us.
And to change it for good.
And the hearts that are hard towards you, Lord, you are able to suffer.
Those who are angry against you.
Those who so often curse you.
Who despise your name and who reject you so often.
We know, Lord, that they are many.
But yet, Lord, you are able to transform.
You are able to work in power.
You are able to bring them to love you with all their hearts.
As we heard this morning of Saul.
How he met the Lord in the midst of a life of chaos.
On his way to persecute Christians.
He met with the Lord and his life was transformed so quickly.
And we thank you that there is that testimony and witness through your word.
And that we see it to this, Lord.
You are able to do so much more than we ask or imagine.
And that keeps us, Lord, coming to you in prayer.
Because we cannot do it ourselves.
We depend on you.
So we come praying for you to work, oh Lord.
Work in our families, in our homes, in our communities and workplaces around us, Lord.
We pray to see your hand upon us for good.
The good hand of the Lord we will read of this evening.
We pray to see it here in our midst, oh Lord.
And we thank you that your church has been here.
And through the other islands as we pray for the communion season in our midst, Lord.
We thank you for these times of refreshing around your word.
And pray it would be so for those who are gathered even this evening in our back.
We pray that they would have had a blessed weekend.
And we pray for Reverend Rory Stott as he is ministering to them this evening.
We pray, Lord, for the congregation as they gather.
Even with some of our own young folk there as well, Lord.
We pray it will be a time of blessing and refreshing to all.
In the fellowship and in the preaching of your word.
Your spirit will be present and be at work in power.
We pray for the upcoming weekend as well in Calanation Cross with communions taking place there.
We pray for your servants who will be ministering, Reverend Alistair MacLeod and Dr. Malcolm McLean.
And we pray, Lord, that you will use them as instruments in your hands.
As we heard again this morning, we pray, Lord, that they will be used by you as they proclaim the riches of Christ.
There will be times of blessing and encouragement around your word.
We pray that for our nation too.
Lord, we thank you that there are many churches around our land here.
We so often focus on the challenges that surround us as a nation and all that is wrong with us.
We thank you, Lord, that many of our cities and towns and villages have a rich gospel witness.
And we pray for your people, people who live in our town here over the summer months,
who come from different parts of the land and different congregations.
We pray, Lord, that where your word is preached with truth and authority,
that your blessing will be upon it.
That you will revive our land and bless us as a nation.
Lord, turn us one more than towards you to know days of your power and your refreshing in our midst.
We remember, Lord, our world as well and so much of what goes on around us, Lord.
Yet again, we thank you that in the wilderness of the earth, you have your people scattered far and wide
in many different lands among many different people.
We thank you for your church that is being built.
We thank you for your people who are faithful to you in all corners of the world.
A praying people, a worshipping people, a people who worship the true and the living God,
even in the midst of those who worship idols made of wood or stone or so many other materials.
We thank you that there are those of your people pointing others towards the riches of Christ
and the hope of the gospel and the joy of eternal life through him.
And so we pray, Lord, that you will build up your church near and far
and that we would see your glory present in all our lands throughout the world.
Remember us as a people.
We pray for you to be near with us, our homes and our families and all our loved ones.
We commit them to you, O Lord, and ask that in every need we have that we will be able to come,
to come with our burdens to you, to cast them upon you,
and to be able, Lord, to see your hand giving us all that we need.
Not maybe what we ask for, Lord, but we know that you will give as we need.
You will give grace that is sufficient for every circumstance.
And so we ask, O Lord, surround our people, surround them in different needs at this time.
Those who are unwell, those who are concerned for loved ones,
or just struggling in different ways at this time.
O Lord, we commit them to you and ask that you will surround them and uphold them
and be very near to them in all their different needs.
Lord, we thank you for the blessing of fellowship and the blessing of prayer
to be able to share together in all these different ways.
And we pray, Lord, that you will hear us together,
that you will hear our prayers even as we offer them up now,
that you will hear our praise as we offer it up,
and that as we come to your word, Lord, you will help us to hear you as you speak to us.
So, Lord, guide our worship, guide us, guide our focus to you,
and help us to lift our eyes up to you,
and to look and depend on you for all things.
So, Lord, go continue with us, we pray,
with us in the week ahead as well, Lord,
guide all our steps and all that we do and say.
May it be to your glory and for your glory,
and for yours alone.
We ask it all for our sins, Lord,
acknowledging how often we fall short,
of how we sin in thought, word, and in deed.
And yet, O Lord, we come,
asking and pleading for forgiveness,
for all our shortcomings.
So, hear our prayers and continue with us, we ask.
So, we ask it all in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Again, sing to God's praise, this time in Psalm 44.
And let's sing Psalms.
Psalm 44 on page 54 of the Psalm books.
Psalm 44, we'll sing verse 1 to verse 8,
the tune is Tiverton.
O God, we with our ears have heard our fathers told us so,
what you accomplished in their days and days of long ago.
Your hand drove nations out and placed our fathers there,
and said, you crushed the peoples,
but you caused our tribes to grow and spread.
We'll sing these verses, verse 1 to 8,
Psalm 44, to God's praise.
O God, we with our ears have heard our fathers told us so,
what you accomplished in their days and days of long ago.
You crushed the peoples, but you caused our tribes to grow and spread.
In the name of the Lord, we with our fathers to grow and spread.
It was not by their sword or arm that they possessed the land,
but by your love and faith are shown,
and by your mighty hand.
You are my King and God, Lord, I forging all victories.
Through you we travel down our foes and brought our enemies.
My soul does not bring victory.
Lord, do I trust my hope.
You put our enemies to shame and overcome our foes.
In God alone we make our roles,
Rejoice in all day long.
And to your name forevermore we offer praise in song.
We'll turn together now to read in God's word in the Book of Nehemiah,
in the Old Testament, Nehemiah chapter 2.
We can read the whole of this chapter together.
Nehemiah chapter 2.
So Nehemiah chapter 2, taking up a reading at the beginning.
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Arcterxes,
when wine was before him,
I took up the wine and gave it to the king.
Now I had not been sad in his presence.
And the king said to me,
Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick?
This is nothing but sadness of the heart.
Then I was very much afraid.
I said to the king,
Let the king live forever.
Why should not my face be sad,
When the city, the place of my father's graves,
lies in ruins.
And its gates have been destroyed by fire.
Then the king said to me,
What are you requesting?
So I prayed to the God of heaven.
And I said to the king,
If it pleases the king,
And if your servant has found favour in your sight,
That you send me to Judah,
To the city of my father's graves,
That I may rebuild it.
And the king said to me,
The queen sitting beside him,
How long will you be gone?
And when will you return?
So it pleased the king to send me,
When I had given him a time.
And I said to the king,
If it pleases the king,
Let letters be given to me for the government of the province,
Beyond the river,
That they may let me pass through until I come to Judah.
And a letter to Asaph,
The keeper of the king's forest,
That he may give me timber to make beams,
For the gates of the fortress of the temple,
And for the wall of the city,
And for the house that I shall occupy.
And the king granted me what I asked,
For the good hand of my God was upon me.
Then I came to the leaders of the province,
Beyond the river,
And gave them the king's letters.
Now the king had sent with me,
Officers of the army and horsemen.
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this,
It displeased them that no one had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.
So I went to Jerusalem,
And I was there for three days.
Then I arose in the night,
I and a few men with me.
And I told no one what my God would do to my heart,
To do for Jerusalem.
There was no animal with me,
But the one on which I rode.
I went out by night,
By the valley gate of the dragon spring,
To the dung gate,
And I inspected the walls of Jerusalem,
That were broken down,
And its gates that had been destroyed by fire.
Then I went to the fountain gate,
And to the king's pool.
But there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass.
Then I went up in the night by the valley,
And inspected the wall.
And I turned back and entered by the valley gate,
And I turned.
And the officials did not know,
Where I had gone,
Or what I was doing.
And I had told the Jews,
The priests,
The nobles,
The officials,
And the rest,
For where to do the work.
Then I said to them,
You see the trouble,
How Jerusalem lies in ruins,
With its gates burned.
Come,
Let us build the wall of Jerusalem,
The longer suffer the Israel.
And I told them of the hand of my God,
That had been upon me for good.
And also of the words that the king had spoken to me.
And they said,
Let us rise up and build.
So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
But when Sanballat the Horonite,
And Tobiah the Ammonite,
Heard,
And Geshem the Arab heard of it,
They jeered at us,
And despised us,
And said,
What is this thing that you are doing?
Are you rebelling against the king?
Then I replied to them,
The God of heaven will make us prosper.
And we his servants will arise,
And build up and build,
And we will not have any portion or claim in Jerusalem.
Amen.
And may God bless that reading from his word.
And before we turn back to look at this passage,
And sing again to God's praise in Psalm 79,
In the Scottish Psalter,
Page 331.
Psalm 79,
Page 331.
We are going to sing from verse 5 down to verse 9,
The tune of St. Minver.
How long, Lord, shall thine anger last?
Will thou still keep the same?
And shall thy fervent jealousy burn like unto a flame?
We'll sing from verse 5 down to verse 9,
Where it speaks of the glory of the Lord being the help towards his people.
So we'll sing verse 5 to 9,
To God's praise.
So we'll sing verse 5 to 9,
To God's praise.
Amen.
Come, Hu.
And shall thy fervent jealousy burn like unto a hill?
Amen.
For that can also tend that to go?
Or you'll sing from verse 6.
Princeономette of the bus with ainsi presented to Class.
Time,
Ar Rock Centre,
To God's praise,
Lambë,
no matter how long,
Hear thy fervent jealousy chillin'.
For that пл indic act shall I take zodiac Excellent.
See her like a true affair.
On his report, thy duty for the time ever known.
And all those kingdoms within name have never called upon.
For these are they who Jacob have devout with grueling.
And they, his amity, his hope have caused ways to lie.
Against us might not for mercies thy tender mercy show.
Let there be a seedily for we all can be low.
For thine is glory.
Help us, Lord, to my Savior be.
Deliver us for thine's sake.
O march away our sin.
Amen.
We can turn back to our reading in Nehemiah chapter 2.
And we can read again at verse 17.
Nehemiah chapter 2 at verse 17.
Then I said to them,
You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates opened.
Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.
And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good,
and also of the words that the king had spoken to me.
And they said, Let us rise up and build.
So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
A few weeks ago now we were looking at chapter 1 of Nehemiah.
That Nehemiah and the burden that Nehemiah had when he heard of the ruin that Jerusalem was in
and the people and their despondency.
And he was burdened for them.
And it was a burden that he was taking to the Lord.
Last week we were looking at the New Testament and we were looking at Colossians chapter 4.
We were seeing Paul's team ministry and the people that he had around him
and how so many people were used in different ways for the Lord.
Times there as well.
And we're thinking of linking the two together.
However, we see Nehemiah, the fact that was to be done in Jerusalem,
he couldn't do it alone in the same way as Paul couldn't do the ministry of the gospel
that he would hope to do without having those who could help him and be with him along the way as well.
We're thinking there of two men who were strong leaders in the church in their day.
But since we looked at these two passages over these last few weeks,
have you considered them for yourself?
Have you thought about what does it mean for me as a member,
as an adherent here in the congregation in Stornoway?
What do these passages say to me in my own role in the church
and how I might be serving the Lord or how I may be able to serve the Lord?
Has it made a difference to the burden that you feel for this place
or the vision that you have for this place, for this congregation, for this town,
for the work of the Lord?
As we return to Nehemiah this evening in chapter 2,
we return with that remembrance of his burden for Jerusalem in our minds as well
and the burden and vision that he had in Jerusalem.
We saw in the opening chapter, chapter 1,
a simple question that Nehemiah asked of his brother who had come to visit.
A simple question turned his life upside down.
In the beginning of chapter 1,
Hanani, his brother, had come from Judah.
Nehemiah asked him just a simple question,
How are they in Jerusalem?
And the answer that he heard in verse 3 of chapter 1 was this,
They said to him,
The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame.
The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire.
It wasn't the answer he would have been hoping for.
And it was an answer that left him troubled,
so much trouble that he said in verse 4 that as soon as I heard these words,
I sat down and wept and mourned for days.
He was distraught at what he had been told,
about what he was hearing about his beloved Jerusalem and its people.
They were in destruction.
They were in shame.
But he wanted to do something about it.
There was a burden on him that would not go.
And that is sometimes the way the Lord works in his people.
Often he gives people a burden.
A burden for a particular people.
For a particular place.
For a particular work.
A burden that just will not go away.
A burden that won't go away until we do something about it.
And Nehemiah couldn't let this go until something was done about it.
And do you know what makes this burden and vision of Nehemiah even more remarkable?
This burden that he had for Jerusalem and its people.
What makes it even more remarkable is this.
He had never been there.
He had never been in Jerusalem.
He was born to parents who had been taken captive from Jerusalem.
He was born about 900 miles away.
As we read of him here, he's in Persia.
In the capital of Persia, which was hundreds of miles away from Jerusalem.
He'd never been there.
And yet his heart was towards his homeland and his people.
He just wouldn't know.
And it made me think of how this year marked 100 years since the Metagama and the Marloch sailed from these shores.
With hundreds of people belonging to our islands here who would never see this place again.
And yet who had a great burden and a love for this place.
And over the last year we've seen some of their family come over to see this place with a real heart and a longing and a burden for this place.
But it begs the question of us.
Do we have a real burden for this place?
Do we have a real love for this place and its people?
As we think of the kind of ruin that we're seeing around us again and again.
The ruin that sin brings into our lives and into our communities.
Does it make us weep and mourn?
Does it give us a burden for this place to see the gospel going out here and making a difference to our people?
And if we do, how do we grasp this burden prayerfully and practically?
How do we seek to fulfill this burden and this vision for our own town and our place to be a place blessed by God?
Well that's what we learn as we look to Nehemiah.
And how his burden that he just couldn't let go.
It became a reality.
It became something that he saw the good hand of the Lord at work in in so many different ways.
And how he encouraged and inspired a people to be involved in the work to the point that they would say in verse 18,
Let us rise up and build.
There are lessons we learn from Nehemiah and his leadership.
About a godly vision.
And about trusting God and going forward in his strength.
Paul in Colossians, he couldn't do the ministry alone.
The spread of the gospel, he couldn't do it by himself.
Nehemiah here, he couldn't rebuild the walls by himself.
He couldn't see God's hand for good upon the people by himself.
And neither can we.
We need a shared vision.
A vision that we all have and a burden that we all have together for the good of this place.
One church leader put it like this.
A godly vision is right for the times.
Right for the church and right for the people.
A godly vision promotes faith rather than fear.
A godly vision motivates people to action.
A godly vision requires risk taking.
A godly vision glorifies God and not people.
That's what Nehemiah's vision and his burden was like.
Let's pray that that would be our vision and our burden here in this town and for the place where the Lord has put us today.
To keep us going in the work of the Lord.
Encouraged.
Good hand of the Lord upon us in all that we go to do for the Lord.
We're not going to look at every detail of the book of Nehemiah.
But we're going to take steps from key points here and look how we can learn from Nehemiah and the work that the people were involved in.
We read the whole of chapter 2.
But we're going to look at just the latter half of it.
Verse 9 down to the end of the chapter.
But we see the context in the whole of this chapter just for what was happening.
But you notice that there's a big change between verse 8 and verse 9.
Both in terms of time and in the place where they're based.
In verse 8, Nehemiah is still with the king in Persia.
He is still 900 miles away from Jerusalem.
But in verse 9, we've jumped forward probably around four months in time.
Nehemiah and those who were with him have traveled that journey of around 900 miles from Susa down to Jerusalem.
And this is where we pick it up.
So the time has moved on about four months.
The place has moved on.
Coming to Jerusalem.
Nehemiah seeing the place for the first time.
And tonight we're going to look at three lessons from Nehemiah's leadership here.
As he comes to share his vision and his burden with the people of Jerusalem.
And there's three things, three lessons to take with us.
First is this, a time to rest.
Secondly, we see a time to review.
And then thirdly, a time to rise.
So first, a time to rest.
You might expect Nehemiah to arrive at Jerusalem and immediately to get going with the work.
After all, when you read through the destruction that you see in the walls, how they're demolished, the gates are burned.
There's so much to be done.
You think he's just going to get going with it.
That may be our attitude.
When we see there's something that needs to be done.
We just need to get on.
There's so much to do.
Let's just get on with it.
Well, four months of traveling over 900 miles through harsh countryside would take its toll on anyone.
And so verse 11 gives us our first key lesson from Nehemiah.
And that is, fresh for the task.
In verse 11 it says,
Nehemiah, like us all, had his limits.
He had needs, both physical and spiritual needs, to be watched and guarded against first and foremost.
Three days after arriving in Jerusalem, he rested.
He didn't get on with the work.
Immediately, he took these days to rest, both physically and spiritually.
And it's interesting how you look at this chapter in Nehemiah.
Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.
And if you go to the previous book, Ezra.
And Ezra was similar to Nehemiah.
He was used by God, but for rebuilding the temple.
In Ezra chapter 8, verse 32, it says this.
It says this.
We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days.
They arrived in Jerusalem, and for three days they rested in the days of Ezra.
The same is true of Nehemiah.
We went to Jerusalem, and we were there three days.
So there's got to be a lesson there for us to learn.
Nehemiah was seeing how much there was to be done, and yet his immediate priority was to rest.
And how important is rest?
And how important is rest when we think of being involved in the world of the Lord today?
Today, the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, it's a reminder to us of the importance of rest.
It's a creation ordinance, as we call it.
Something that God put in place from the very beginning.
The Lord's Day, the seventh day, was to be a day of rest.
And we know ourselves that when we become tired, we're not as effective.
And if we are tired over a long period of time, our work will suffer.
Our production is not going to be what it should be.
Our service for the Lord isn't going to be what it should be.
And if the Lord is commanding rest for his people, we have to make sure that we are allowing for it.
Both personally, but also as a congregation.
That we don't burn people out.
Ezra knew it.
Nehemiah knew it.
The Lord Jesus himself knew the importance of rest.
Of keeping fresh in the work.
In the New Testament, you read of the Lord Jesus at the death of John the Baptist.
In Matthew 14, verse 13, after he'd heard the news,
When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.
Something you see often in the life of Jesus.
He finds a place to be by himself.
But he also knew the importance of it for his disciples too.
In Mark 6, verse 31,
Jesus having sent his disciples out two by two to go on the work of the spread of the gospel,
They had come back.
And he said to them as they returned,
He said to them,
Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.
For many were coming and going,
And they had no leisure even to eat.
The importance of rest is there for us to see.
And that's what the first lesson that we learn from Nehemiah.
He came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
We have to guard ourselves carefully.
To guard our people carefully from overexertion,
From being overtired, overworked.
When we are tired, like I said,
We won't achieve as much.
The enthusiasm will wane.
It will not be what it should be.
Rest is crucial.
It's a story of two woodcutters.
One was experienced.
One was just starting out,
But young and enthusiastic.
And he challenged the older man.
He challenged him to an all-day woodcutting competition.
And the challenger, the young man,
Worked hard all day.
Hardly stopped all day.
Just a brief lunch break.
And yet every time he was looking across to the older woodcutter,
He seemed to be sitting down and resting.
He couldn't understand it.
And he thought,
I'll be way ahead in this contest.
But at the end of the day,
The challenger was surprised to find
That the older man had chopped so much more wood than he had.
And he couldn't understand it.
I don't get it.
He said,
Every time I looked,
You seem to be taking a rest.
And yet I was working hard all day.
The older woodsman said,
But you didn't notice
That I was sharpening my axe
Every time I sat down to take a rest.
And so often,
We can be like that ourselves too.
We can just keep going,
Thinking we're affecting,
We're doing so much.
When in reality,
We could be achieving so much more
Just with a bit of rest.
We need physical rest,
But we also need spiritual rest as well.
Because Nehemiah in these three days
Had time to spend with God as well.
Because you find that God had put this burden
In his heart.
And God was still putting this burden
In his heart as well.
In verse 12 it says,
And I told no one
What my God had put in my heart
To do for Jerusalem.
It's a continuous tense.
It's an ongoing burden
That the Lord is placing in his heart.
And he was taking his time now
To be close with God.
And again,
There's a lesson there for ourselves as well.
To allow ourselves time
To listen to God
Before rushing in
To the work
That we seek to do for the Lord.
To be still
And listen
To the Lord.
We look around
And there's no shortage
Of things to do.
There's no shortage of things
That we could
And perhaps should do.
But Nehemiah gives us this lesson.
Take time
To be fresh
For the work.
Take time
To listen
To the Lord.
So that's the first lesson
That we learn
From Nehemiah.
The second lesson
Is this
Time
To review.
You would think
After three days
Refreshing himself
Right, it's time
Now to get on
With the work.
But like any good leader
He needs to know
What's ahead of him.
And so he takes time
To review.
To see himself
What is happening
Or what has happened
In Jerusalem.
From verse 13
Down there
To verse 16.
You see
He takes his time
Going around the city.
Inspecting
Everything that is
Going on
Around him.
An American businessman
Called Max Dupree.
He speaks
He spoke of the
Responsibility
Involved
In leadership.
He was a successful
Businessman
And he also wrote
Many books
On leadership.
And he said this
The first responsibility
Of a leader
Is to define
Reality.
Leaders need
To have a good picture
Of what is really
Going on
Around them.
And they need
To help others
Take an honest
Look
At this reality.
Now you might
Say to yourself
Why are we going
To listen
To a businessman?
What does he
Have to say
To us
Here in
Stornoway
Tonight?
Well the key
Lesson from
Max Dupree
Was yes
He was a very
Successful
Businessman
But first
And foremost
He was a
Christian.
He was a
Christian
Who put the
Lord
Front and
Foremost
In everything
That he did.
He is saying
When we're
Looking at
Doing anything
And work
And serving
As leaders
In the church
That we put
The Lord
First
Of course
We listen
We learn
From all
Kinds of
People
From all
Kinds of
Christians
From all
Kinds of
Walks
Of life
And the need
For reality
Is there
Before us
Not to be
Blinkered
To what is
Going on
Around us
Not to
Think
That we
Have all
The answers
And know
Exactly
What's
Going on
And what
Needs
To be
Done
We need
To take
Time
To review
We need
To take
Time
To listen
And to
See for
Ourselves
What is
Happening
Around us
What are
People
Thinking
How are
They engaging
With the
World
Or not
Engaging
With the
Gospel
We know
They need
The Gospel
But do
We really
Know how
To speak
To them
About it
Do we
Know the
Needs
Of those
Who are
Around us
We can
Learn
From others
And we
Shouldn't
Be scared
To do
So
There's a
Great example
For us
In scripture
One of the
Greatest
Leaders of
God's
People
Moses
Who had
Led the
Children of
Israel
From Egypt
Into the
Wilderness
He was
Struggling
To keep
On top
Of things
At one
Point
He was
Trying to
Do it
All by
Himself
He needed
To hear
Someone else
Coming
With some
Advice
To him
And it
Was his
Father-in-law
Jethro
Who came
To him
And saw
What was
Going on
And said
To him
What you
Are doing
Is not
Good
You and
The people
With you
Will certainly
Wear yourselves
Out
For this
Thing is
Too heavy
For you
You are
Not able
To do
It
Alone
He didn't
Take time
To review
Someone had
To come
To him
And tell
Him
What you
Are doing
Is not
Good
But for
Ourselves
What we
Learn here
From Nehemiah
Nehemiah
Who has
Known
In
Verse 8
The good
Hand of
My God
Was upon
Me
We learn
That we
Need
To
Define
The reality
Of what
Is going
On
Around
Us
The last
Nehemiah
One
I quoted
A man
Called
George
Barna
Again
A Christian
Writer
Who spoke
About vision
For the
Church
And one
Aspect
He spoke
Of was
This
Vision
Is a
Result
Of how
We spent
Much
Time
Absorbing
The facts
About the
Community
Taking
Time
To
Think
Things
And this
Is what
Nehemiah
Is doing
Taking
Time
To himself
To look
At the
Situation
And notice
How he
Does it
Discreetly
In verse
12
He says
I arose
In the
Night
And I
Had a
Few
Men
With me
Just a
Small
Group
They went
Out
To review
The
Devastation
Of
Jerusalem
One of
The reasons
Was
Because
There was
Opposition
Sanballat
And Tobiah
We've heard
Mention of
In verse
10
Will come
Back
Again
God
Willing
But there
Was those
Who were
Opposed
To the
Work
So he
Was doing
It
Discreetly
Doing it
Quietly
But taking
Some trusted
Men with
Him
To see
What was
Going on
Around
Is a
Bit like
He was
Starting
To grow
His team
But a
Review
Did
To be
Carried
Out
To see
The size
Of the
Task
Everywhere
They looked
The walls
Were in
Devastation
There was
Parts
They couldn't
Hardly
Get through
Because of
The devastation
That there
Was
But the
Review
Enabled
Them
To plan
And remember
Nehemiah's
Sorrow
In chapter
One
Heard
Of the
Devastation
Here he
Is now
Seeing it
For himself
For the
First time
And it
Could have
Made him
Go one
Of two
Ways
Just his
Sorrow
To consume
Him
At the
State of
Affairs
Before him
And perhaps
Looking in
The past
If only we
Had what
We once
Had
And losing
Focus
Or it
Could have
Put him
The other
Way
Determination
And trust
And faith
And hope
For the
Future
And that's
Where he
Goes
It gives
Him a
Determination
To know
The good
Hand of
The Lord
Upon them
And to
Go and
Do the
Work that
Was involved
And for
Ourselves we
Need to
Think of
This too
A review
Of what
We do
And why
We do
It
When we
See the
Devastation
Of sin
Around us
It may
Make us
Think of
Just a
Past
If only
Things were
The way
They once
Were
And we
Can get
Consumed
By that
Or it
Can put us
Another way
Determined
To go
Forward
In faith
Trusting
That rebuilding
Is possible
Trusting
That the
Lord
Is with us
We can
Know
The good
Hand of
The Lord
Upon us
The question
Is do we
Have that
Vision here
Do we
Have it
In ourselves
Do we
Have it
Collectively
Together
To review
What we
Are doing
And to
Ask ourselves
Challenging
Questions
At times
But to
Trust the
Lord
Going
Forward
The gospel
Doesn't
Change
But times
Change
People
Change
And we
Need to
Ask ourselves
Are we
Engaging in
The work
Of the
Gospel
In the
Best way
Possible
And doing
It all
For the
Glory
Of God
So the
Second
Lesson is
A time
To review
First
Rest
To be
Fresh
For the
Task
Second
A time
To review
But thirdly
And perhaps
More importantly
A time
To inspire
For the
Task
A time
To rise
When we
Look at
Nehemiah
As a leader
Here
This is where
You see him
Coming to the
Fore
He spent
His time
Resting
He spent
His time
Reviewing
But then you
See him in
Verse 7
17 and
18
Where we
See three
Things that
As a leader
He does
So well
First of all
You see what
He says there
In verse
17
Then I
Said to
Them
This is him
Now beginning
To show his
Vision to
The rest
Of the
People
He says
You see
The trouble
We are in
There is
A responsibility
To define
Reality
A good
Leader
Must have
And here
Nehemiah
Doesn't hide
The troubles
He doesn't
Hide the
Issues that
Are before
Them
And he
Claims
These issues
Himself
He doesn't
Blame them
For not
Having done
Anything up
To this
Point
He doesn't
Look to
The past
And blame
Those who
Have maybe
Doing any
Failures in
The past
He says
This is
Our
Trouble
We are
In this
Together
You see
The trouble
We are
In
And that
Is how
We are
To be
As well
He feels
A part
Of it
And he
Makes the
People feel
A part
Of it
All
Together
Instead of
Looking to
Blame
He's looking
For a
Solution
And surely
That is
What inspires
A prayerful
People
Not to
Look to
Blame
Anyone
For the
Situation
We find
Ourselves
In today
In a
Spiritual
Way
But to
Look for
The solution
To look
To God
And to
Trust
In him
We are
In this
Trouble
Together
You see
The trouble
We are
In
How
Jerusalem
Lies
In ruins
And the
Gates
Are burned
There is
The reality
Of the
Situation
And we
Need
The reality
But we
Need to
Realize
We are
In this
Together
Be a
Collective
Vision
A
Collective
Burden
And that's
The second
Thing that we
See of
Nehemiah's
Leadership
Here
He inspires
We are
In this
Trouble
He says
But then
In the
Middle
Of verse
17
He says
Come
Let us
Build the
Wall of
Jerusalem
That we
May no
Longer
Suffer
He gives
Them a
Call
And he
Gives
Them a
Purpose
Here
The work
Is put
Before them
But also
The goal
Not just
Doing something
For the sake
Of doing it
But doing it
With an
Outcome in
Mind
After reviewing
Where they
Should be
He says
Come
Let us
Build
Together
Let us
Build
The wall
Of Jerusalem
One
Commentator
Writing on
This verse
Says
Here is a
Man
Who is
Ready to
Work for
The Lord
But knows
Exactly
Why he
Is doing
It
Some
Church
Activities
Are habitually
Maintained
Largely
Because they
Have been
In existence
For some
Time
And the
Good people
Who work
In them
Are too
Busy to
Evaluate
Their
Purpose
Motives
And
Aims
Does that
Sound
Familiar
Does that
Sound like
Something
That we
Need to
Ask for
Ourselves
What are we
Doing and
Why
Getting one
Another to
Come and
Build the
Kingdom of
God
Here was
Nehemiah
The walls
Were burned
And ruined
The people
Were in
Dismay
And yet
He says
Come
Let us
Build
That we
May no
Longer
Suffer
Derision
That the
People of
God
May no
Longer
That the
Cause of
Christ
Would no
Longer
Be a
Choke
In this
Place
But that
Together
We would
See
The good
Hand of
The Lord
Upon us
Are we
Working
For the
Lord and
His
Cause
On our
Own
Or are
We doing
It together
Are we
Anticipating
The road
Ahead
As we
Look to
The church
As we
Look to
The work
Of the
Lord
May the
Lord
Inspire
Us
To have
A vision
And a
We too
Would come
To the
Point we
Have
In verse
18
When we
See the
People
Together
As
Nehemiah
Says
I told
Them of
The hand
Of my
God
That had
Been upon
Me for
Good
He shared
The Lord
Had been
Good to
Him
How the
Lord
Had blessed
Him
And put
This
Bird
Heart
And the
People
Respond
By saying
This
Let us
Rise up
And build
It's no
Longer
Nehemiah
Speaking
It's the
People
Let us
Rise up
And build
They're
Engaged
With
Nehemiah's
Burden
And they
Are on
His
Side
Let us
Rise up
So they
Strengthened
Their
Hands
For the
Good
Work
Is there
Any
Greater
Work
To be
Involved
With
Than the
Good
Work
Of
God
There's
Reality
In what
He
Says
We're
In
Trouble
The
Word
Are
Burned
Down
But there's
Also a
Reminder
It is
The
Good
Work
Of the
Lord
Get on
To it
That's
Tonight
Do we
Want to
Be
This
Kind
Of
People
Do we
Want to
Be a
People
Vision
And a
People
Of
Burden
For the
Lord
And for
His
Cause
Here
Urgency
In
Nehemiah
And the
Work
That
Was
To be
Done
And
There's
An
Urgency
For
Ourselves
Today
For
The
Gospel
To
Go
Out
To
This
Town
And
To
Its
People
And
Surely
We
Have
That
Burden
Everyone
Involved
In
The
Work
Of
Sharing
To
Make
The
Good
News
Of
Christ
Known
Will
You
Be
Part
Of
It
Share
In
The
Burden
That
Nehemiah
Had
For
His
People
Will
You
Share
In
A
Burden
For
The
Lord
Here
That
The
Gospel
Would
Be
Proclaimed
That
People
Would
Hear
Of
The
Good
News
Of
Jesus
Christ
And
That
The
Good
Hand
Of
The
Lord
Would
Be
A
Part
of
Us
As
We
Looked
at
Oceans
Last
Week
It's
About
Leadership
And
Teamwork
The
Two
Have
To
Go
Hand
In
Hand
We
Need
To
Keep
Ourselves
Fresh
We
Need
To
Review
What
We
Are
Doing
But
Also
We
Need
To
Come
And
To
The
Task
In
Hand
Someone
Once
Used
The
Illustration
Of
Birds
Called
Sandhill
Cranes
They
Said
These
Birds
These
Large
Birds
They
Fly
Great
Distances
Across
Continents
But
The
Person
Said
They
Have
Three
Remarkable
Qualities
First
They
Rotate
Leadership
No
One
Bird
Stays
Out
In
Front
All
The
Time
Second
They
Choose
Leaders
Who
Can
Handle
Turbulence
And
Then
All
During
The
Time
That
One
Bird
Is
Leading
The
Rest
Are
Honking
Their
Affirmation
The
Person
Describe
This
It's
Not
A
Bad
Model
For
The
Church
We
Need
Leaders
Who
Can
Handle
Turbulence
And
Who
Are
Aware
That
Leadership
Ought
To
Be
Shared
But
Most
Of
All
The
Person
Said
We
Need
A
Church
Where
We
Are
All
Honking
Encouragement
We
Are
All
Together
We
Are
All
Shared
In
The
Burden
And
The
Vision
For
The
Gospel
And
The
Glory
Of
God
In
This
Place
Are
We
May
It
Be
That
We
Go
On
In
Nehemiah's
Vision
To
Burden
And
To
See
The
Good
Hand
Of
The
Lord
Upon
Us
May
God
Bless
His
Word
To
Us
We're
Going
To
Conclude
By
Singing
To
God's
Praise
In
Psalm
73
In
The
Scottish
Psalter
Psalm
73
We
Sing
From
Verse
23
Down
To
Verse
26
Page
316
Of
The
Psalm
Book
Psalm
73
At
Verse
23
And
The
Tune
Is
Great
Words
To
Remind
Us
That
The
Lord
Is
With
Us
And
We
Pray
That
Would
Be
So
Nevertheless
Continually
O
Lord
I
Am
With
The
Thou
Dost
Me
Hold
By
My
Right
And
Still
Uphold
Is
Me
We'll
Sing
23
To
26
To
God's
Praise
Exercise
ателя
May
Barrow
The
Б
Paranormal
Yea
Oh
Lord
I
Am
With
The
And
Dost
Be
Old
By
I
Thank you.