Rebuilding The Walls, Just What Will It Take?
Part 2 - Our Pastor
Neh. 1, 2

INTRO.: Last week I started a series of message called Rebuilding The Walls, Just What Will It Take? It deals with the captivity of the Children of Israel in Babylon, the problems it caused at Jerusalem and the damage it did to the city, and parallels it to our lives. It was because of SIN that the Children of Israel were carried away into captivity. Sin cost them a great deal. Sin cost us too!

Before I begin, I want to share with you what I shared last week as seven items that are indications of broken walls in your life. They are:

If you have lost your Time of Prayer
If you are no longer Hungry for God's Word
If there is no Joy of Worship
If you have no great Desire for Fellowship with Believers
If you have quit Seeking His Guidance
If you have lost your Disdain for Sin

These are obvious signs of broken "walls" in our lives. Are your walls intact? Are some of them cracked, tumbled down? These are the things that should concern us when we find them in our own lives and see them in our church.

What does it take for the weaknesses to be repaired, to be rebuilt? As a church, what do we need to see done in order to have our walls repaired to the place that there is strength there? Instead of crumbled down walls, weakness, disappointment and damaging sin in our lives, we can have godly strength, excitement and godly Pride in our lives and our church.

Today I want to start in Nehemiah and look at Nehemiah himself, at his approach to the broken down walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah came to Jerusalem to help. He came to make a difference. He came to help rebuild the walls.

I have entitled today's message, Rebuilding The Walls, Just What Will It Take? Part 2 - Our Pastor. I want to parallel the aspects in Nehemiah's heart and life that a pastor needs to have. It is very easy to just apply this to other pastors, or to me, but we need to see how we all need to react to the problem of broken walls in our midst.

Let us begin reading at Nehemiah 1:1. Chapters 1 and 2
 
 

First we see that just like Nehemiah we need a…
Concerned Pastor - vs. 2

Asks- and cares
Hears - and listens - 2b
Understands - and feels
 
  Next we see, like Nehemiah, we need a…
Caring Pastor - vs. 4 - If we are not concerned it is hard to care Weeps for you
Mourns for you
Fasts for you
Prays for you
 
  We also see we need a…
Confessing Pastor - vs. 5-10 - He honestly looked at their condition Acknowledges God's greatness - 5a
Agrees with goodness - 5b
Aligns with shortcomings of his flock - 6
Addresses their need to serve well - 8,9
Allocates praise where due - 10
 
  And just like Nehemiah, we need a…
Cupbearing Pastor - close to the King Servant of the King (redeemed by the King) vs. 11
Senses and trusts the fruit of the King's work -vs. 9
Shares the blessing (trusted by the King)
Stands before the King
Strikes a chord with the King (has the King's ear)
 
  We need a…
Consumed Pastor 1:11-2:5 - He found importance in God's work Called out to God for four months until he almost broke. 1:11-2:1,4b
Recognized his small part - greatness of God - vs. 3
Weakness (that existed) in God's work engulfed him - vs. 3
Willing to go and do what it takes - vs. 5 We also see like Nehemiah the need for a…
Cautious Pastor - He assessed the situation - 2:11-16

He encountered things, which for us can represent in our lives…

Walls torn down and broken - Representing discouragement

Passages blocked - Representing hardened hearts against God's direction in our lives

Gates consumed - Representing sin not blocked out (no gate) of our lives

 However, he was encouraged to find some things that were revealing that there is always hope in God… A brook that entered the city - vs. 15 - Revealed God's blessings are available

A way out of the valley - vs. 15 - Revealed that success is possible

(We can overcome our broken down walls)

 

 When he approached the people, we see a…
Confident Pastor - Told people his plan - vs. 17
Told people his source of power - vs. 18
Told people he was ready to provide his best - vs. 18
Told people God was ready to prosper them - vs. 20
 
  Did it all fall on Nehemiah?
Does it all fall on the Pastor?
Can we expect ourselves to not be… Concerned, Caring, Confessing just like Nehemiah? Should we not attempt to be a Cupbearer, be Consumed with God's work, be Cautious, and should we not be Confident about God's desire to proper us?
 
 

So you say, BUT BRO. GARY I AM NOT A PASTOR, what can or should I do?

 Pray for an understanding of the weaknesses, the disappointments, let downs, etc. in our lives.

 Pray for your pastor that he would approach these and help you like Nehemiah.

 Pray for a desire in yourself and others to rebuild areas in your lives that God shows you are lacking.

 Be willing to:

Notice the breakage of your wall
Sacrifice in order to build it back
Commit to doing your best even during great opposition Will you do this today?

Gary Marcum - East 38th Street Free Will Baptist - 081901am