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Part 3 of 16
A Cloud of Witnesses
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What a significant week we've had with the flooding across central Indiana. From our Anderson campus down to our Carmel and Noblesville campuses, this has been devastating and disruptive for so many families.
Your church is in action. Yesterday at our Anderson campus, we partnered with Convoy of Hope and distributed 19 pallets of hygiene kits, water, and food. Here at Carmel, we made our student center available to a local nursing home, providing shelter for 18 residents—including one resident who was 104 years old. Through our collective generosity as a church, making Jesus known becomes a lived reality.
This week has also brought incredible spiritual fruit. At our Valor event in Kokomo on Thursday night, 42 men came forward to receive Christ as their Savior and Lord. On Friday night, 20 students at our Carmel campus prayed to receive Christ. And our Noblesville campus experienced its highest attendance ever, with over 200 students in student ministry, including 27 first-time attendees. All of this is made possible through your regular giving to the church.
Because this flooding is so catastrophic and unusual, we are bringing back the Dollar Club this weekend. It's a simple concept: we ask everyone in church to give $1. While $1 won't impact any individual life, when our dollars come together collectively, we can have a significant impact. It's a powerful illustration of the body of Christ coming together.
You can participate in two ways. On your way out of service, ushers have buckets where you can drop cash. Or you can go to our online giving platform and select "Dollar Club." I would humbly ask that whatever you give to the Dollar Club be an offering to God, above and beyond your regular giving to the church.
As we continue our 52-week series called Great Cloud of Witnesses, we're looking this week at a man named Nehemiah, whom God used to accomplish a major restoration project. When we study the book of Nehemiah, we enter one of the darkest yet most hopeful periods of Israel's history.
Nearly a thousand years before Christ, God had established Israel as his covenant people. Under King David and King Solomon, Israel experienced great prosperity, and Jerusalem became the political, spiritual, and cultural center for God's people. Solomon built a magnificent temple there that bore God's name.
But Israel repeatedly abandoned God's commands. Generation after generation, they pursued idolatry and rebellion despite the warnings of God's prophets. Eventually, God's judgment came. God is long-suffering—the Bible shows grace upon grace upon grace—but eventually judgment comes.
In 586 BC, the Babylonian army under King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed, including its protective walls, and thousands of Jews were taken into Babylon as exiles. For 70 years, God's people lived in captivity in a foreign land.
Then, just as God had promised through the prophet Jeremiah, He began bringing His people back out of exile and back to Jerusalem. This return happened in three waves, led by three different men:
Nehemiah was not a priest, prophet, or king. He was a government official—a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, the Persian king. His role was to protect the king from poisoning and he became one of the king's most trusted advisers.
Although an Israelite, Nehemiah was living in the Persian exile kingdom where he had security, wealth, influence, and comfort. Despite his position serving a foreign king, Nehemiah's heart never forgot his people—God's chosen people.
When he heard that Jerusalem's walls still lay in ruins 140 years after they were destroyed, his heart broke. And it's a broken heart that begins the story of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah's story starts with a broken heart. Here's what Scripture tells us:
The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah. In the month of Kislev, in the 20th year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, "Those who survived the exile are back in the province and 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 I wept. For days, I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Here's the key observation: God gave Nehemiah a burden before he gave him an assignment.
Nehemiah had never even seen Jerusalem. He was born and grew up in Babylonian captivity, in exile. Yet when he heard about the condition of God's city, he couldn't move on with his life as though nothing had happened. His heart was broken over what broke God's heart.
Throughout Scripture, we see God do some of His greatest works by placing a burden inside someone's heart. Think about Moses, who had a burden for his enslaved people in Egypt. Think about Esther, who felt a burden when Haman issued his wicked decree and risked her life to stop it. The Apostle Paul felt such a deep burden for the Jewish people that he wrote in Romans:
"For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race."
Even Jesus had this burden. In Matthew 9:
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
God often begins His calling not with a detailed plan, but with a burden that refuses to go away. Nehemiah's weeping, mourning, praying, and fasting became the birthplace of God's mission in his life—his assignment.
What breaks your heart that also breaks God's heart? Here's the practical application: In addition to asking God to bless your plans, ask Him to break your heart for what breaks His. Pay attention to the burdens that refuse to go away—they may be from God.
In response to his broken heart, Nehemiah prayed. This is his prayer:
Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins of the Israelites, including myself and my father's family. We have committed sins against you. We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees, and laws you gave your servant Moses. Remember the instructions you gave your servant Moses, saying, "If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the furthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my name." They are your servants and your people whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 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. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.
Notice something remarkable: Nehemiah prayed before he acted. The first chapter mentions the month of Kislev, and chapter 2 begins with the month of Nisan—a four-month period. He spent four months in prayer and fasting before taking any action.
This prayer is filled with worship of God, confession of sin, Scripture, God's promises, and humility. In many ways, it parallels the Lord's Prayer that Jesus taught us. It's a powerful model of how to bring our burdens to God.
The burden never went away—like a beach ball pushed underwater that inevitably pops back to the surface. Prayer prepared Nehemiah for action. It aligned his heart with God's purposes before he took the next step.
There are often two kinds of Christians: those who pray without acting, and those who act without praying. Nehemiah did both. His prayer was not a substitute for action; it prepared him for action. Every great movement of God throughout human history has begun with prayer.
Pray before acting, then take action. Prayer aligns our heart with God's purposes before we take action, but prayer must lead to obedience and step-taking.
In chapter 2, Nehemiah goes to King Artaxerxes and asks for a leave of absence from his cupbearer duties so he can go to Jerusalem and assess the wall situation. He also requests safe passage papers for his journey from Persia to Jerusalem.
Notice how Nehemiah describes what happened:
Because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.
This is a beautiful verse. When things go well for us, do we recognize that this is God's gracious hand? Or do we think it's because we're skilled, talented, smart, or know how to get things done?
Nehemiah's perspective is key: he recognized that favor and success ultimately come from God's grace, not from his own ability. This is how we should view life—with gratitude for God's hand upon us.
Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem, inspects the situation, makes a plan, and rallies the people to rebuild the wall. This brings us to chapter 3.
Chapter 3 is a detailed list of family names, assignments, and specific information about who rebuilt which section of the wall. On the surface, it appears to be simply a roster of names and building assignments.
But here's the remarkable point: Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was a team effort. Everyone had a section right in front of them—their own responsibility, their own part of the wall to rebuild.
Notice the powerful principle embedded in chapter 3: each individual and family took responsibility for a specific section of the wall—the section right in front of them. Repair what is right in front of you. Repair the wall that is right in front of you.
The rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall reminds us that God's rebuilding work in his people and his church is not reserved for a few selected leaders. It's a calling of every believer. Everybody has a part to play. God delights in using ordinary people who are willing to serve, whether their assignment is prominent or hidden.
This truth is especially relevant for our church today. Northview is in a rebuilding season right now. If you have a burden for our church, you have a role to play in the rebuilding of the church. Rebuild what is right in front of you—your family, your relationships. Every sacrificial act of giving you make, whether financial or through service, is valuable to the effort. Every faithful laborer contributes to the advancement of God's redemptive work in and through our church.
God's work requires everyone's participation. You had priests, goldsmiths, perfume makers, rulers, merchants, and families—a whole cornucopia of people working on this wall.
Faithfulness begins right where you are. Throughout chapter 3, you'll see phrases like "opposite their own home," "beside their house," "in front of his own house." If you want to build a strong church, build a strong family. Strong churches are built on strong families.
Every task matters in God's church. Some projects were big, some were small, but whether large or small, every task matters in the rebuilding.
Leaders set the example. Chapter 3 begins with the high priest and the priests rebuilding the sheep gate. The spiritual leaders worked first. Leadership is demonstrated through example, not through position or title.
Unity produces extraordinary results. Nearly 40 different groups of people came together with different assignments but unified for one purpose. Unity creates extraordinary results.
Some people will choose not to participate. Verse 5 of chapter 3 says: "Their nobles would not stoop to serve their lord." That is a sad verse. Serving the Lord is a choice. Not everyone responds obediently to God's call—whether because of pride, comfort, or selfishness—and this keeps people from participating in what God is calling them to do.
I want to pause and make a statement: I am not trying to condemn, shame, or guilt trip anybody. I am simply trying to teach God's word as true and faithful.
If you come to Northview Church and consider it your home, but you only receive without any expression of giving back, I want you to know—at least from me—I am so glad that you are here. You are always welcomed at Northview Church. You are loved and you are valued. The fact that you are here tells me that you are seeking God, and I am 100% confident that God the Holy Spirit is working in your life to lead you to action in his perfect timing, not mine, not what the church expects. God is your God. This is between you and God, not between you and me. You will always have a home at Northview Church.
Ask God: "What contribution do you want me to make in your rebuilding effort?" Then listen and obey.
Now we turn to chapter 4. When the rebuilding work began to progress, opposition intensified. Sanballat and Tobiah were enemies of the Jewish people. They mocked and ridiculed God's people through intimidation, lies, distractions, compromise, and false accusations.
When Sanballat heard that they were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life for those heaps of rubble burned as they are?"
God-given assignments will face opposition. I think one of Satan's favorite strategies is discouragement. If he can get you discouraged, he can get you out of the game. But Nehemiah refused to quit.
Nehemiah's encouragement to the people under this opposition was a threefold strategy:
Do you know that your family is in a spiritual battle right now? Our enemy would like nothing more than to rip your family apart. If you're married, fight for your family. Fight for your marriage. If you're struggling, seek help through resources like Better Together, an exceptional marriage ministry with pastors, volunteers, and all the support you need.
Notice how the laborers rebuilt the wall while under heavy opposition:
Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other hand.
What a beautiful picture of the Christian life. We are called to build God's kingdom with one hand, and we are under spiritual opposition with the other. Are you an ambidextrous Christian, able to use both hands to live out the Christian life?
Ask yourself: What distraction is pulling me away from what God has called me to do? Then eliminate the distraction.
Fast-forwarding to chapter 8: the wall has been completed. But Nehemiah's work did not stop there. The greatest rebuilding still needed to happen—rebuilding of hearts and spiritual transformation.
Ezra gathers the people together and opens God's word. The people listen, understand, weep, and repent. Nehemiah declares:
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
Notice: it's not the wall is your strength. It's the relationship. It's the joy of the Lord.
The greatest miracle in Nehemiah is not a construction miracle. It's a spiritual transformation miracle. Buildings matter, organizations matter, ministries matter, but God's ultimate concern has always been for his children—the hearts of his people, human beings, relationships.
God prioritizes people over things. He prioritizes people over material possessions and material things.
Ask yourself: Am I prioritizing people over things? If not, begin.
There's something hardwired into our spiritual DNA. Did you know that God is a restorer? God is a redeemer? God is a rebuilder? And you are created in his image. That imprint is on your soul. You can't shake it.
When you watch those home renovation shows—Extreme Home Makeover, Fixer Upper, Fast N' Loud—and you see the curtain pull back to reveal the transformation, that good feeling you have of "this is right, this is good," that's God. It may sound corny, but it's God inside of you because you're made in his image. This is what he does: he takes things that are broken and makes them new.
Imagine standing in heaven, and God says, "Bus driver, move that bus," revealing a picture of what Christ has done in a human life. Whereas before you were broken, lost, and hopeless, after you've been redeemed, restored, and rebuilt, you stand transformed.
This is the mission of Northview Church. This is what it means to make Jesus known. God is in the people business, and we are about the business of seeing lives transformed.
If you're here—whether in person, watching online, or at one of our campuses—and you feel broken, lost, or helpless, I want you to know there's a way forward. You've never placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The way to go from "before" to "after" is through a choice.
Remember: obeying God is a choice. Serving God is a choice. The question is: Do I believe, and will I receive Christ as my savior and Lord?
