Nehemiah 8:1-12 Manuscript

Nehemiah: Building Something Together

Nehemiah 8:1-12

If you’ve got a Bible, we are going to read Nehemiah 8:1-12 and all of you who were here to hear Nehemiah 6:15-7:73 last week and a 9-point sermon about what it means for Origins should breathe a sigh of relief:

1 And all the people (50,000 people mentioned in 7:66-67; basically a sold out pro baseball game’s worth of people) gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel (I love this verse. Its not that Ezra grabbed “the Bible” and started reading it against their will or that the people showed up out of obligation, because it was what good people did. They were there because they wanted to be, and the people told, commanded Ezra to go get the scriptures and read it to them. How would “they” do that? They are literally chanting -- 50,000 of them -- for God’s word to be read to them. The Bible works them into a frenzy. The Law of Moses is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. They get worked up about Levitcus. They are going bananas about a book that is primarily a census list. Pretty cool. The most frenzied large crowd I ever saw was in Boston at a Red Sox game. Its the bottom of the ninth and the Red Sox are winning and they go to bring in their closer, Jonathan Papelbon, to help finish and win the game. And there is a tradition when Papelbon comes in the game to play, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys. Everyone knows Papelbon is coming; and everyone knows the song is coming. And they go crazy. Screaming. Singing. People in the aisles doing the riverdance and Irish jigs. It was just mayhem. Amazing. That’s how the people are acting about the Bible. The Bible’s first five books. Going loco over Leviticus. I heard someone this week use the word “voracious.” Bet I haven’t seen a living human being use that in a sentence 10 times in my life. Means “hooo-ngry.” These people had a voracious hunger for the word of God. Listen: Point #1: Love the stuff that God loves, particularly his Word, the Bible. Read it. Build your life around it. Don’t get discouraged about what you don’t understand. Ask God to help you in faith live out what you do understand. If you don’t have a Bible, take one off the info table on the way out. I want you to. I like the iBibles or whatever these ones are for our iPhones and iPads. But it is only good if you read it, and if you read it more than on Sunday mornings. I am finding that the digital Bibles are easier not to read than a real paper copy of the Bible. Whatever it takes -- digital, paper, scroll or papyrus -- read it. What are you passionate about? Most of it is good. Would you be willing to be passionate about Jesus? Could you sing loud, raise your hands, say Amen, act Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs about Jesus Christ?). 

2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 

3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday (Early morning is about 6 or 7 am. Its the Middle East and its warm. You start early before it gets too hot. 50,000 people jammed in to hear Ezra for about five or six hours, Ezra just reads scripture, the first five books. And the people are engrossed), in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law (Ever been some where and a “hush fell over the crowd”? Literally, they go from frenzy to hear the words of God to standing there -- 50,000 of them -- listening for 6 hours). 

4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform  that they had made for the purpose (he is about to preach to 50,000 people with no mics or amplification. They set him -- and God’s word -- over the people in authority so it will be easier heard but also to show that God is the center of attention on this day). And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand (He isn’t alone. These aren’t body guards but other ministers and pastors; Ezra isn’t saying, “Look at me; I’m the rock star.” He is saying, “Hey, God is the center of this show and any of these men could be standing here saying what I am saying. God is the hero.” I pray Origins will always be a church where Jesus is the pastor, the superstar, the One we all want to hear from. Don’t be part of a church where some talking head with more ego than faith has to make all of this more about him and very little about Jesus. Point #2: Help me plant the church that Downtown deserves; a church that isn’t based on a personality but on the person of Jesus. Live your life is such a way that you make Jesus famous.). 

5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood (They stood for hours. Ezra stood. The people stood. God was the hero of the day. When I go to a meeting, if I get there first, and if its with someone I don’t know -- particularly if the person is a lady or is older than me -- I want to stand when he or she walks in the room. Its a courtesy and sign of respect. On this day, everyone stands in honor of the Word of God and its Author. Again, let Jesus be famous. I love Romans 3:4 which says, “Let God be true though every one be a liar.” Let God be honored though we all be humbled. Let God be praised though we become nobodies. Let God be the center of attention though we go unnoticed. The people and the preacher stood so everyone knew who was the guest of honor that day -- the word of God). 

6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” (Many of you grew up in church; for those who didn’t, Amen just means, “Lord, let it be.” So if you hear truth on Sunday -- or even during the week -- say Amen. If you pray, end with Amen. If you think that’s an ancient word, affirm it however you want. But Amen isn’t weird. Its confirmation. I can still see my Grandpa sitting in worship with his arm on the side of the pew, legs crossed, encouraging the pastor with his Amens. Ever been in an African-American church? Man I love it. I love all the Amens, Come ons, Preach it preacha’, all of that. Point #3: When you hear truth, affirm it. We live in a culture where we affirm a bunch of godless junk. Its amazing on Twitter the crap that people retweet and Amen by doing so. Amen the things of God, vocally and with your life. Peer pressure is an amazing thing. When you hear or see people doing godly stuff, affirm them. When you see people who claim to follow Jesus living like pagans, tell them they are morons and live a life that demands an Amen) lifting up their hands (The people lift their hands in praise. God gave you those hands to do tons with. What a person does with his or her hands says a lot about them. Point #4: What a testimony to lift your hands back to Jesus in victory, affirmation, surrender. Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:8, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Saying Amen or lifting your hands are totally acceptable and encouraged here at Origins, not for show but between you and God. It says, “I am on board with Jesus and affirm him”). And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground (50,000 people. The entire stadium worth of people who were standing for 5 or 6 hours now all bow down in reverence, worship, and brokenness. That’s worship. That’s humility. That’s saying that God is the guest of honor and -- after hearing his word -- that they rightly understood who they were and who he is). 

7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places (These aren’t the pastors; they were there earlier standing by Ezra. These are the Community Group leaders. They are breaking the group of 50,000 into smaller groups and asking the people if they understood what they heard. This is “Unpack that” and “What does that look like?” Its small groups talking about the Bible. Its like our Origins Community Groups. Point #5: Listen, coming on Sunday is great and fine but you were meant to connect with Jesus first and with people second. This faith is never meant to be lived alone. Lone Ranger followers of Jesus always get picked off first. And shame on you if you’re giving trite simple answers in CG. These guys aren’t just talking this out in monologue; this is the people wrestling through this with a facilitator. If this isn’t happening in your CG, you need to be trying to make it happen. Answer the questions. If its your first time going, you get a pass on Week 1. After that, you need to be talking from your heart and life and not just some cliche junk you heard me or any other preacher spout off one time. If you have to do your questions quick some weeks or not at all and get guys on one side of the house and gals on the other so that real community happens and we are figuring out together -- with Bible in hand -- how to live for Jesus, then you fight for that and get it done). 

8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading (Two things here. First: It doesn’t matter what I say or Matthew or Joel or whoever stands up here talking say if you don’t understand what that means for your life. Truth is truth whether you and I believe it or not; but truth always needs a body, a place where it can be lived out. These people wanted to make sure the people got it and were in a position to live out what they had heard. Second: Understand how this works. Ezra and the pastors did what some have called Air War. These men, these leaders did what some have called Ground War. Both have to be done. The equivalent for Origins of the broad, air war -- stuff for the masses -- would include the website and preaching on Sundays. The ground war equivalent for Origins would be more focused, personal, intentional and would include Community Groups, most of the Love the City stuff that will happen this week, the one-on-one meetings and so on. Point #6: Effective churches must do both air and ground war, but Origins must be most excellent at ground war. If you don’t love people, plug into a Community Group and be there, invite people, serve people -- then it isn’t going to happen. The ground war is dependent on you. I firmly believe that people can be saved on Easter Sunday here at Spill the Beans. I firmly believe that people will see, hear, and touch the Gospel over the next 14 days because they are served and loved. I firmly believe that spiritually dead people can and will be made alive in Christ. But I do not think it will happen because of one person alone or because of our cool location or because the Greenville News wrote a couple of stories about our church. It will happen because you serve -- you come up with an idea and make it happen -- or you walk across the street and invite, or you speak up to the person you know you are supposed to invite.).

9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people (All of them had jobs and knew their roles. Nehemiah isn’t trying to be a busybody do it all; he defers to Ezra. Everyone had a role but they were all communicating the same message. This is crucial. We all in Origins have different roles in this church and may come from different places and do different things, but if we can all agree that God has called us to love him, each other, and our city -- our Downtown -- then he can do great things), “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 

10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (The people were broken. They had been used for something great and now they see that it wasn’t just for their safety or comfort but for the glory of God -- as they hear in the word and unpack in small groups -- that compelled them to do this. And they weep. But Nehemiah and Ezra and the Community Group leaders, the Levites, say, “Don’t cry; celebrate” They aren’t saying the people should never cry or mourn or weep; they’re just saying today isn’t the day for that -- today is the day for a barbecue because the people understood how evil they were and how good God is and when our evil and his good collide, love wins and that demands a celebration) 

11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 

12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them (In other words, they realized that this book wasn’t about trying to figure out what to do to please God but about seeing what God has done because he loves them. The Bible should afflict the comfortable and then comfort the afflicted. We ought to lay our souls bare before the Lord and his Word and allow his Holy Spirit to speak to us and mold us as he will. And if we really let that happen, it will cause some brokenness every time. But God -- thank God -- doesn’t leave us that way. After he afflicts us with the conviction of truth, he comforts us. Because Jesus took the punishment, we don’t have to run around miserable all the time. I am no longer a sinner. I am now a saint. That should give me joy. I have a hope and a future. I am part of God’s family. God doesn’t shout at me how to please him; he loves me, pursues me, purchased me by laying down his life for me. Its so beautiful and relational. But then we look at the Bible and go from relational to rules. No. God forbid! This isn’t an instruction manual for life. It is first a love letter from a Lover who is obsessed with his beloved and would go to hell and back to rescue and woo her. This isn’t a book screaming, “Build these 10 habits and it’ll all be okay.” Its a warrior screaming, “Freedom!” and then guaranteeing that freedom by laying down his life. Don’t be duped into thinking this book is meant to make wild men tame; it is only and always first to make dead people alive. And for the first time in their lifetimes, the people see that. And what at first is tears and the sound of sobbing becomes laughter and the sound of freedom’s celebration. For us, we can have a similar celebration. First, we mourn because in our sin Jesus died for us. While we were enemies of God, the Son of God gave his life for us. Yet we do not mourn forever and talk forever about how we are epic failures and will never change. No, we rejoice because Jesus has made all things new).    

So what does this mean for our lives? First, love the Bible and as you read it let the Holy Spirit of Jesus work in you and work on you to work through you. The people loved the Bible. Do you? Second, realize that -- especially if you will think as a church plant team -- the guys on the ground, helping everyone understand the truths they heard, were as critical or more critical than the guy behind the pulpit. This is your church; fight for it. I recently heard someone unfairly criticize our church to another person in our church. Should have told them to grow up, step up, or shut up. With the good and the bad, love your church. Finally, understand that the Good News is only good as long as we first accept and are moved by how bad the Bad News is. You can’t have the joy of the Lord without first being broken by the despair of our sin. You can’t get the empty tomb Resurrection Sunday victory without the bloody cross Good Friday murder of the Son of God. We did that. Let brokenness flow from apathy, then peace and joy and forgiveness flow from brokenness. 

For the Sake of the City: Nehemiah 6:15-7:73

Nehemiah: Building Something Together

Nehemiah 6:15-7:73

Throwing Down the Gauntlet...and Stepping Up in Love

So I’m going to get right to it this morning. Over the past few weeks, we have talked about Nehemiah, an Old Testament hero not because of the miracles he did or because of the amazing teaching that he had but because he was a regular person just like you and I who decided he was going to put God first. And that decision led him down a path from comfort to discomfort. He felt called to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem so that people could once again live, work, serve, play, and worship God in the city. It wasn’t easy. For almost 150 years, others had taken on this monster task and failed or abandoned the job -- yet Nehemiah was resolute. Critics tried to stop him and even kill him; his workers and countrymen tried to tap out; even the “godly” people of his country tried to deceive him to get him to give up -- yet Nehemiah was determined. Because when God calls us to do something, we have to make a choice: We either obey or disobey. That’s it. Only two options. 

God has called Origins to something. He called us not just to start a church but to be salt and light in decay and darkness. He called us to partner with him to change statistics of lostness, indifference to church and the things of God, and a general spirit of apathy in our city. At times I perhaps have held Origins perhaps in gridlock by not asking you to do more than I have. I haven’t wanted to burden you or didn’t want to ask too much of you. And I have crippled you. And for that I am sorry. But today I am asking you, “Rise up.” I am going to ask you today that if this is your church, maybe for the first time in your life, that you pursue a significant level of buy-in with serving here on Sundays and during the week, engaging the community as well as your neighbors and those who God has strategically placed in your path, in giving financially, and in stepping up and being men and women of God. 

I’m not naive. I know some of you may be offended and may even bail. That’s okay. At the end of today, one of two things has to happen for God to get maximum glory in your life, in Origins, and in Downtown. You are going to have a chance at the end to sign up for some stuff, to share ideas, to make some commitments today. If you write nothing down, if you refuse to serve and labor, I will take that as your confession that this is not your church. No more free rides. I will encourage you to find a place where you will serve, invest, invite, give, and grow. But almost all of you -- I hope every one of you because I love you and want to labor with you and watch you grow -- are going to make some commitments and are going to engage as owners in Origins, and I promise your lives will never be the same. 

So before we get started, let’s pray.

If you’ve got a Bible, let’s read starting in Nehemiah 6:15 and go forward:

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days (In the interest of time, I am just going to give the sermon notes as we talk through the passage today. They finished the wall. He doesn’t describe at length. All we know is that what no one else in almost 150 years could do, Nehemiah did in 52 days, less than 8 weeks. Why was he so able when everyone else failed? He had a good plan, assembled a great team, would not be distracted or deterred, and stayed single-mindedly determined as he worked really hard). 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God (The wall wasn’t a miracle, not something that couldn’t be done. It just became obvious that there was something to this. Some stuff can only get done if God shows up. I can testify to this. Natalie and I moved to Greenville and knew not one soul. Origins -- for me -- is something only God could do. You collectively are the seal of his presence. You are proof that God was in this. To this point, this has all been done by God using a great plan, a great team, a single-minded focus, a lot of hard work). 17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid (Unlike Nehemiah, Tobiah is Jewish enough to be connected, and people feel bound to keep him in the loop. He is Jewish when its advantageous and does his own thing when its advantageous. The rebuilding of the wall is not to his advantage, so he is mad. A lot of so-called “Christians” are like this. They love Jesus if it will get them out of hell, give them social standing, and make them feel good about themselves. The moment someone asks them to give, show up, take a stand, put away a habit, they say they’re “not being fed” and bail. Thankfully, I never have believed and do not today believe most of you feel that way. But today we will formalize some of that commitment. There’s no use for Tobiah’s if people want to do a great work of God for God. If we want God to use our church, your life, your marriage, our businesses, our whatever -- we had better be all in and ready to pay the price. Can’t charge the gates of hell with someone who isn’t all in. Tobiah wasn’t. Nehemiah was).

1  Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed (People got involved in the ministry; Nehemiah asked for volunteers and people stepped up. A couple of things. Those who could sing didn’t need to be keeping the gates, and the gatekeepers didn’t need to be singing. My last pastor insulted me once and said, “I’m glad to see you’re as bad a singer as I am.” I bowed up before I realized he was right. God didn’t call me to sing; he called me to love and shepherd you guys, to teach the Bible, and to spend time with people far from Jesus. God has shaped you uniquely and today at the end you can sign up to do something. Everyone needs to be doing something because everyone is gifted to serve somehow. Understand this too. The gatekeepers, hopefully, grew up to do newer and bigger things. Some of you are going to serve God one way now but will one day take on more and more -- that’s part of growing up and becoming a disciple), 2 I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. 3 And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” 4 The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt (So the city has all the structures in place but now they have to get the people in there. This is about where we are as Origins. After we finish reading this passage, I am going to share several seismic shifts in our structure going forward. Our church is “wider and larger” than it was a year ago so now we are in a better place to share Jesus with more people and invite people to come worship him with us).

5 Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it (I’m going to skip several verses but the gist of verses 6 through 65 is that Nehemiah lists by profession the people who went into exile and are now back near Jerusalem. Verse 66)

66 The whole assembly together was 42,360, 67 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. 68 Their horses were 736, their mules 245, 69 their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720 (They counted everybody. They knew who was there; every face had a name to Nehemiah, and every name had a story. Same with you guys. I love you all so much and am so proud to be pastor of this church. I don’t look out and see Origins but I see Chase, Chad, Kyle, Taylor, Abram, Joel, Abi, Jessie, Samantha, Alison, Natalie. And I don’t just see Downtown Greenville, and I hope you don’t either, but I see Daryl, Zack, Jennifer, Lauren, Chuck, Josh, Maddie, Ryan, Susanne, Ric, and so many others. We do this so they can make their way to Jesus. We count people because people count. You matter).

70 Now some of the heads of fathers' houses gave to the work (About to take a great offering to give to a great work of God). The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests' garments and 500 minas of silver (That’s a lot. I’m no archaeologist or accountant, but that’s a boatload of money. The guy with loads of resources chose to be generous and sacrificial for the glory of God). 71 And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver (That also is a lot. More people being sacrificial). 72 And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests' garments (This isn’t rich people giving; this is everyone. They couldn’t give as much as the governor individually, but they gave -- all of them -- to the work, and together they did more than even the wealthiest person. The first church I served in had a man who literally gave over 50% of the church’s tithes and offerings. He made a fortune in Coca Cola stock decades before. He gave and everyone knew it. So when there was a need, everyone looked to him and he gave of his wealth and love for Jesus. Thankfully, we don’t at Origins have any one person or family like that. We make it because so many of you give not out of your wealth but in faith and in love for Jesus).

73 So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns. And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns (They did the job, they gave of their money, and they were able to go home -- the work of the wall is done. In the weeks ahead, Nehemiah’s work will shift from God using him to work on a wall to God using him to work with people).    

So what does all of this mean for us? Here can be your points from this passage: (1) Everyone worked and they built the wall; there has to be a significant level of buy-in among God’s people to do a God-sized work. You need to be at work for God’s glory -- not to earn his love but because we have received his love. (2) Everyone served; the church is a body (not a building or an organization) and every part of the body has to serve and work with the body for it to function properly. You need to be serving. (3) Everyone gave; we can accomplish more together for God’s glory than any one of us can individually. You need to be giving. 

I want to share with you today several things that are about to go down and how this story in Jerusalem 2500 years ago parallels our story as a church. Nehemiah started with very few and a disorganized people, gathered and used a handful of folks to rebuild the wall, and now is about to open the doors of the city for the masses to come in to live, work, and worship God. When we moved here we had a few disorganized people with a vision. You have stepped up and we are rebuilding the wall. Today is the day we hammer out final details and commit to open the doors and let the masses come hear about Jesus at Origins. At the end you will have a chance to commit and sign up for some stuff. Let’s start with Loving the City, then Love One Another, then Love God. I know you will have questions. Here we go:

Love the City Week. The week before Easter, starting on Friday, March 30, we are going to call Love the City Week (#LovetheCity). Over the course of that week, I want us to make as many Gospel contacts as possible. By “Gospel contacts” I mean serving someone or doing something for someone because you love Jesus and in order to tell them what God has done in your life, invite them to worship with us on April 8, or leave them a business card inviting them to come April 8. This can be done as individuals, families, a few friends, or Community Groups. I know some Community Groups have brainstormed ways to serve together; this is your time. I am not telling you how. I want every Community Group to serve together in at least one way. And I want us to make anywhere from 200 to 500 Gospel contacts with people, inviting at least 200 to worship with us that day. Serve Pendleton Place, local artists, your neighbors, local businesses, or anyone of several other places. Just serve and invite. And let me also say that I don’t think we can all serve or invite just once and make it happen. Its going to take serving and inviting together and individually. Biggest thing we have ever undertaken as a church. For three years we have served and served and never invited. Now, for the first time, we are going to risk and serve and invite. So at the end today, if you will serve, write your name down. And if you know how you will serve, write that as well. Now, briefly, let me speak the truth in love: I know some of you are going to want to critique what others are doing; that’s not what this is about. Just serve.  

Community Groups. As I shared with everyone last Sunday, we are temporarily shutting down the Tuesday Group. In a few weeks, we will relaunch with Evan and Anna Johnson as leaders of that group. They will begin the week of April 15. For the two weeks before that, all Community Groups will not meet. The week before Easter, I want groups to serve. I want to free you to serve at least one night of the week and preferably more. So no Community Groups the week of April 1. If you need to take the week before that to plan for serving together, I am good with that and completely affirm it. The week after Easter there will be no Community Groups either. I want us to celebrate and prepare for what God has done and is about to do. The week after, groups will start back and go until Memorial Day. As we relaunch Community Groups, I want you to be in one. Origins was never created to be a Sunday church. In fact, we never wanted to have Sunday “church” but wanted instead to create a place where the different Community Groups could gather together to celebrate and encourage each other. That’s why this isn’t called worship or church but Gathering. So I need you in a group, and you need to be in a group. At the end, you will have a chance to sign up for a group that I want you to commit to attend at least 5 out of the 6 weeks from Easter to Memorial Day. A 6-week commitment. So you can sign up to be in a Community Group by signing your name to the day and group that you plan to be part of. If you know nothing of any of the groups and have no preference, just put your name by any of the days and we will get you put in a group in the days ahead.  

Nursery Multiplying. If you haven’t noticed, Origins has become a baby factory. This means several things. First, it means that your marriages must be good or your birth control must be bad -- either way, I am excited for you all. Second, it means our church is expanding via the children’s area. For a while, this was no issue. Now it is. 5 year-olds and 5 week-olds don’t need to be together. So Brittney, Abi, and Natalie are recommending that we divide the children starting Sunday, April 1. To make that happen, we will have a Childcare Training Time next Sunday morning, the 25th, after the Gathering. They want babies to do what babies do: sleep, cry, poop, pee, be changed, listen to soft music, and be read stories about Jesus every Sunday. They want older children to hear a Bible story, do a craft, sing songs about Jesus (led by one of you -- our new Children’s Worship Leader who God is burdening and you will step up and serve), and grow spiritually to a day where they are ready to accept Jesus. They have an idea about “staffing” the nursery, but we need more volunteers as more kids come. No, it doesn’t have to be all women. Yes, men can serve. Yes, I firmly believe that if you are a parent, it is your privilege and obligation to be on a rotation to help with kids. I need your help. If many of you will sign up, no one person will have to do it all the time. Which leads to my next challenge...

More People Serving. Every Sunday -- every Sunday -- several of you do an amazing job volunteering, serving Jesus. For a year now, Kyle Laue has overseen tear down after we finish. For over a year, Mike Anscomb has helped set up almost every Sunday and -- in recent days -- has been helped by Jake, Matthew, Namon, and Chad. To make Gatherings happen takes people. We need more to help with that and to learn to do it; we need more to learn to run ProPresenter; we need more Greeters and Hospitality folks; we need more people to tear down -- though we don’t need everyone thinking, “I’ll do tear down so I don’t have to get there early.” I need you to step up. I’ve had a realization: We can not continue to operate like a church and do what God wants us to do in Downtown. We have to shift to thinking and acting as a church plant with you as a church plant team. So today at the end, I want you to sign up to serve God’s people on Sundays as an act of love for Jesus himself, and you can sign up for set-up, children (and we will run a background check on you), greeting and hospitality, technology, tear-down, and -- if Abram is willing -- coffee...because my wife can’t do it anymore with two babies. How would God have you serve him here?

Easter Sunday Location. Now about Easter. The most people we have ever had on a Sunday is 60. I am praying for 100 on Easter. At least 100. If you all come along with the Origins “regulars,” that will be 60. If each of you invites one person and half of them come, that’s 90. And I believe that if we give out 200 to 500 cards, one in every 10 of those people will come. We can’t meet here like this with 100 people. I tried my best to relocate us that day but either a door was shut or the open door would be foolish stewardship of resources. So on Easter Sunday, we will have two Gatherings. We will gather for worship at 9:30 and 11:00. Jason Enlow is going to paint, Taylor is singing, we are shooting a video about hope and victory in Christ, and I am sharing the story of Jesus’ Resurrection and the difference it makes. Going to be the greatest day of worship we’ve had. Our hearts are going to be set on fire, and people we know and new friends are going to come to accept Jesus that day. That’s 21 days away. What if -- for 21 days -- we all served, prayed, invited, believed God to do something huge? How incredible could that be? 

Easter Sunday Offering. At the end of that Sunday, we are taking an offering. Biggest one day offering we have ever received is about $3,500. I can promise you no one family can give that amount. So here’s what I am asking you to do in faith and obedience. I want you -- on that day -- to give at least a 10% offering to God. Write out what you make in a month or a week or whatever and move the decimal point one space to the left and give that. So if you make $3,000 a month, I want you to give $300 that day. If you make $600 a week, I want you to give $60. I want you to figure out what makes you comfortable and give a little more. Some of you have come a long time -- a long time -- and have never given to Origins. That Sunday is going to be your day. If you have kids, I want you to give the offering with your kids or let them give too. Why? Because they need to see Dad and Mom confess with their actions that God provides health, a job, the ability to earn money and live and that Dad and Mom trust Jesus. Some of you may say, “I get paid first of the month and give first of the month.” If that’s your conviction, do that...if you want to hold it for April 8, I am good with that. When we wrote up the budget we had a real budget and a dream budget. We need to do some stuff in the dream budget but need more to do it. I believe many of you are going to give that Sunday and then keep giving afterwards. God is going to use Easter’s offering and what you will give in the weeks following Easter to do great stuff. And like the regular folk giving in Nehemiah 7, I need you to give -- especially on that day.

Two Gatherings Starting Easter. This is the big change. Starting April 8, we are going to two worship Gatherings at Spill the Beans. The Relocation Team, after meeting, praying, exploring options, has decided that this is where we need to stay for multiple reasons. I’ve talked with Taylor, Abi, Brittney, and Abram, and we are all on board and ready to do the work required. The main reason is that we believe God wants us to love, serve, and bless our city and start churches, and we can’t do that if we are tying up a ton of money in renting space. Objections. “We will be two churches.” No we won’t. It’ll be the same worship service just at 2 different times. And in reality I hope we operate as 4 churches...each Community Group as a little church. “I won’t get to see my friends in the other group.” I am asking two Community Group leaders to come to the early and two to come to the late, and if you want to be with those in your group, come to that one. If not, come make some new friends. The times will be 9:30 and 11:00. You will have from 10:30 to 11:00 to converse and “do life” even if you’re in separate services. “It’ll feel small.” I remember a Sunday where there were 18 and I thought revival was happening. I am okay with dropping back, pruning, to experience more growth. “I don’t think we need to do it.” Yes we do. There is such a thing as the 80% rule. At 80% capacity people stop inviting friends because it feels full. We are at 80%. This room can seat about 75 people uncomfortably, 60 comfortably. We have had as many as 48 adults on a Sunday in here. 80%. I don’t believe that God wants us to settle for being a church of 50 while people around us in our Downtown die apart from Jesus. So today at the end, you will have a chance to sign up for the early or the late Gathering so we can see how it will come out. You aren’t bound to go to that one every Sunday or even ever, but it will help me see what we are looking at each week. Meeting here will save on rent and allow us to invest God’s resources that you give in hiring staff, saving to plant churches, investing in God’s work that is already happening, and better loving the city. 

New Worship Leader. Sadly, Sunday May 6 will be Taylor’s last Sunday. He has done a great job for 10 months as worship leader but is moving to Charleston with the Tarlatans to pursue their music. So we are looking for a new person. Pray for this new person -- and we have a “job description” and are putting some feelers out there -- that we will find each other. We are asking for interested candidates with musical ability, love for Jesus, love for Origins, and vision for our city to come serve; if that’s you or if you know of someone, pass their contact info along to me. But we are in transition. And I believe God is going to provide.  

New Elder Candidate. Finally, after a long season of prayer and conversing, Matthew and Abi Elrod committed this week for Matthew to be an elder candidate in Origins. So he, like Jon Poole, is going through the process to become an elder in Origins. In the interest of time, I am not going to share much more than that today, but I do want to pray for Matthew and Abi and ask that you do the same today and in the days to come, and then I want to allow you time to sign up to serve, be in a Community Group, and volunteer.

Our best days are ahead. The day they finished the wall and took the offering wasn’t the culmination for Jerusalem and Nehemiah. It was a celebration point, opening the door to more life change and more souls saved. The offering and the commitments paved the way for more. I am excited about Love the City week and what is going to come of it. I am excited about Easter. I am excited about April 15, the week after Easter. And I am excited to see how God is going to work in you and through you as you are obedient to him. This is not an ending but a beginning.  

Article in the Greenville News

This was an article in today's Greenville News about our family, our church, and our adventures in Greenville. Written by Abe Hardesty, I had a great time being interviewed and was humbled and blessed as I read the finished product. As happens every week, just rekindles my love for our city and the mission we know God called us to. 


Pastor finds God works in unlikely spaces

Mangrum’s ice cream shop congregation fills spiritual needs

By Abe Hardesty

City People writer ahardest@greenvillenews.com 

John David Mangrum was 9 years old when he be­gan training for Christian ministry. It wasn’t his idea. He ad­mits that he’d rather have been watching cartoons. But each week after church, Onus Sanders in­sisted on telling his grand­sons about Jesus.

Mangrum and brother Jason were a captive audi­ence for the Macon, Ga., probation officer who told and retold stories of the life of Jesus Christ. Twenty-five years later, John Mangrum is the pas­tor of Origins Church, and Jason is the youth pastor at Cross Point Baptist Church in Warner-Robins, Ga. For John Mangrum, who came to Greenville with wife Natalie in 2008 to start a new church, the belief in Jesus reached a new level when he attended a sum­mer youth camp at age 14.

“I felt, clearer than al­most anything I’ve heard or known in my life, that God was calling me to be a minister, that this is what he made me to do,” Man­grum recalls. “I wrestle with doubt in a million areas but have never won­dered about God’s unique shaping and preparation for me to serve full-time as a pastor/church planter.”

He serves in an unusual church setting: the Spill The Beans restaurant on South Main Street, where Origins meets each Sunday morning. His congregation is made up primarily of those who haven’t been pulled from a traditional church building, and that congre­gation sees no reason to build a new structure. “I think the perception among people who don’t follow Jesus is that another church building is not the best way to serve down­town. So that’s a sacrifice we gladly make,” Man­grum says. “We are here to be a church in downtown, for downtown. I feel like this is the path God is lead­ing Origins down. And our people agree.” Mangrum, who served seven years as a youth min­ister in Georgia before coming to Greenville, agrees that the Origins business model doesn’t fit all churches. “I don’t think this is the path every church is called to take, and I don’t think ev­ery church with a building is doing something wrong. I know several churches downtown that are using their spaces for worship on Sundays but also for com­munity centers, after­school programs for neigh­borhood kids, learning cen­ters, ESL classes and re­covery ministries. These are great programs that a church like ours, without a place we own, will be hard­pressed to ever do,” Man­grum says. “So like we always say, it takes all kinds of churches to serve all kinds of people. We celebrate what these churches do and pray they would celebrate us. We both want to love and serve downtown and follow the lead of Jesus here in the city.” By meeting at Spill The Beans, a coffee and ice cream shop near Falls Park, Mangrum says his group can “stay downtown and cheap,” two of its pri­marygoals. It is an unlikely mission site that came to the Man­grums after four years of prayer. While serving as a youth minister in Hartwell, Ga., he and Natalie met a fellow Christian in subur­ban Toronto who started a church that met in homes.

“It really just intrigued us. After four years of praying, we felt God’s re­lease to start a church. Then the question became where. We had been asked to pray about planting churches in Georgia, Mas­sachusetts and Canada but felt peace about none of those. “After a time of looking at demographics and actu­ally visiting downtown Greenville, we knew that this was the place that God was preparing us for. We never felt like we were bringing Jesus to the city but that we would be mov­ing here and joining God where he was already at work,” says Mangrum. “In the end, I can’t tell you why we ‘chose’ Greenville over other cities; I really think Greenville chose us. We fell in love with downtown and wanted to live, work, serve, ‘play’ and invest our lives in the people of down­town.”

Mangrum, who leads a weekly congregation of about 50, says he “would never recommend anyone to take their wife and ‘para­chute’ into a city with so few connections to start a church — unless Jesus clearly puts it in the heart.

“That was tough, and I underestimated how tough it would be for Natalie and for me,” says Mangrum, who last week became a fa­ther for the second time.

The experience has stretched his horizons and his interests. Mangrum isn’t an artist, but many of his congregational leaders are talented visual artists.

“I love our arts commu­nity though and firmly be­lieve that if you take away our visual artists — or any of our artistic expressions in our city — that Green­ville ceases to be Green­ville. We have been fortu­nate enough to have artists become dear friends and let us serve with them. It started with that,” Man­grum says. Mangrum has found open doors to serve with Upstate Visual Arts, the Pendleton Street Arts Dis­trict and artists at the Art Crossing at RiverPlace.

The congregation re­cently partnered with the Pendleton Place Children’s Art Auction. The congrega­tion prepared frames and canvas, which the artists took to the children’s shel­ter to paint with the chil­dren and teens there. The works were auctioned at Spill the Beans to raise funds. “We had about 20 artists help us with the project in significant ways. It’s been so gratifying to be a friend to so many deeply spiritual artists, some who follow Jesus and some who do not,” Mangrum says. “The conversations that we get to have and the serving that we get to do together to make our city better is beautiful and humbling.”

Mangrum, who says Or­gins is “less about going to church and much more about being the church,” says the past four years have been about relation­ships.

“I think the biggest thing that has been on my heart lately is that Origins is a group of people who want to love God, one an­other and our city well. This is about a love affair with Jesus and the plot of dirt they call 29601 and all the people who live, work, serve, and play on it. We be­lieve wholeheartedly that its best days are ahead. I can’t wait to see how that goes forward.”

---

John David Mangrum is pastor of Origins Church in downtown Greenville.

ABE HARDESTY/STAFF

Keeping on Track

Nehemiah: Building Something Together

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Staying on Track Despite...

In the past weeks we have been going through the book of Nehemiah which is primarily a man’s journal over a period of months about a project of rebuilding the walls around the city of Jerusalem. He loved God, God’s people, and loved the city so he took on a big project. And trust me -- as we have seen -- this was no small project. For decades, people have risen up and tried to rebuild the wall, but its never been done. So here we find Nehemiah raising funds and awareness from the king, checking out the city and getting a plan, dealing with enemies and their ever-increasing threats, motivating and organizing the troops, and actually overseeing the rebuilding of the wall. This is what God had called him to.  

What has God called you to? If you seek God and trust him and have your eyes fixed on him, what does God want you to do that no one else is called to do? Maybe its to start or lead something or learn and then teach something. Maybe it will be to marry someone and love them or maybe its to love and lead the people God has entrusted to you already. Maybe God wants you to share the Gospel or to think and live like a missionary to those around you. God is begging us to live for him with laser-beam intensity and focus not just on our happiness but on our holiness and his glory. 

And the thing is: Nehemiah was the one, the chosen one. This was God’s unique call on his life. This is not just what he was able to do or a job he took on; this is what he was made to do. And God made you, likewise, to do some things, to be someone for his glory and fame in our city. So today we are going to talk about ways that we can get sidetracked if we aren’t careful to keep our eyes on Jesus as we go. Today -- time change Sunday in spring -- is the least attended day of worship in America. So thank you for being here, for worshiping Jesus more than comfort and sleep.  

If you’ve got a Bible, let’s read Nehemiah 6 and look at verses 1-14:

1 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates) (The wall is done now and the gates are soon to be set and the first major hurdle to rebuild Jerusalem will be completed), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” (This is their last efforts at stopping Nehemiah and the rebuilding. Nehemiah basically blows them off. They want two of them to one of him; never a good idea if you’re meeting with your enemies to let there be more of them and less of you. Nehemiah sees that and won’t even reply himself) 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner (We call this the tyranny of the urgent. The more something or someone presses us, the more we think we have to respond. Sometimes just keep looking down and working, no matter how persistent the invite may be). 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together” (Different tactic but same desired outcome: They want to stop Nehemiah. Again, he doesn’t lose focus) 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands (Nehemiah seems to have no where to turn, so he just prays to God. Maybe on this day he has no encouragers. Maybe he knows only God can help. But when he is in a crisis spot, he turns to God).

10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night” (This man is confined to the house, yet he wants to meet Nehemiah at the temple. We have to wonder why he is confined. Apparently he is recognized in the city as a prophet of God, but we will see today that this man is a false prophet). 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid (Another honest prayer: “God remember these people.” He’s not meeting with them or fighting against them; he’s just entrusting himself and them to God).    

 Nehemiah’s enemies try 5 ways to get him off course, and I am confident that our Enemy -- the Devil -- often used by our personal enemies use the same tactics with us. And when I say “enemies,” I don’t just mean people. We all have those. I also mean temptations, circumstances not from God, personal limitations, dreams and hopes at times, and a hundred other things that conspire to sidetrack us. 

• Distract. The first thing these guys do is just try to distract Nehemiah. Look at verse 2. He’s working, and they try to set up a meeting with him. They know a nice, long, drawn-out meeting will just slow the rebuilding and buy them time to thwart the plan. In your life, watch for distractions. Sometimes distractions will be bad or sinful stuff. Sometimes they might be great things. A distraction is anything that asks you -- whether by lie or truth -- to exchange the good for the best, for what is from God. How does Nehemiah deal with the distraction? He doesn’t even go deal with it. When you are distracted, don’t go deal with the distraction. That is Mission Accomplished for your enemies. Personal example: There are all these networks that Origins is asked to be part of and all these meetings that I am asked to attend. And I have spent a lot of time in them lately. And recently it hit me that Jesus has clearly called me to do just three things: follow and trust him; love and lead my wife and sons; plant Origins and push back darkness in Downtown Greenville. And to tell the truth, when these meetings come up, realizing that provides me a nice framework to know to accept or reject an invitation. Clarify what you’re about and what God has called you to and avoid distractions. One last thing about distractions. They sent the invite four times. Just because enemies distract you once and you stand strong, don’t think you’re out of the woods. Character is built by standing strong time after time. Listen, I would rather you be hammered by temptation over and over and learn to stand strong in time than for you to never be tempted or tried or distracted but never build your spiritual muscles. We block out distractions by looking to Jesus; we learn to better gaze at Jesus by practicing ignoring distractions. Listen, no temptation leaves you untested. Repeated temptation will strengthen your character. Learn to fight through. Every time they invite, Nehemiah must say to himself, “This wall, God, is what you’ve called me to.” Don’t get distracted.  

• Disgrace. Second tactic these guys use is to try to disgrace Nehemiah. In ancient times, if you sent a letter you would write it, close it up, seal it with hot wax and a personal signet ring or stamp, and then send it. In verse 5, Sanballat sends an open letter. Culturally, this is very insulting to Nehemiah. If an enemy can’t distract you, he will try to disgrace you. He will either accuse your character or ability or motive to your face (or in the case of Satan, he will accuse you in your spirit and say, “You are such a...” or, “You will never so and so...” or, “You always...”) or before others. Its just an effort to disgrace you. This works often because it kills our morale and we quit, we lose focus. If you feel like a disgrace and you’re a follower of Jesus, believe what the Bible says about you. You are God’s child, the temple of the Holy Spirit, given a hope and a future, God’s masterpiece, able to do great things for God, gifted with the mind of Christ. When the enemy comes and attacks who you are, remember what God says about you: You are no disgrace. You are his. You are his child and he gave his Son for you and has great things ahead for you. 

• Discredit. In verses 6-8, the contents of the open letter, Sanballat basically says that Nehemiah is trying to build a kingdom for himself to lead a revolt. Your enemies will try to discredit you. Sometimes, again, this will be internal and sometimes external. But when the attempt is made to discredit you, go back to what you know to be true. One thing I am learning is that I’m never as great as my cheerleaders think I am, but neither am I as bad as my enemies accuse me of being. Here, Nehemiah replies by letter and basically just calls them liars, puts his head down to keep working, and asks God for strength. Nehemiah knows who he is, who he serves, what he’s called to do, and how he has to get the job done. God’s reputation is on the line with your life and my life. Don’t let foolish, lying enemies discredit you and God if they falsely attack your character. Know who you are, who you serve, what you are called to do, and how to get from here to there. If you can work with that understanding, an enemy’s effort to discredit you loses much power. This happened to me this week at a one-day conference at Newspring. I’m walking around that beautiful campus with all these amazing pastors and am hearing a voice inside me say, “You can’t do this. You can’t plant Origins. Its going to fail and you’re going to lose everything.” Effort to discredit. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said this: “Of course you can’t do it, but I can. My reputation, not yours, is on the line. Keep your eyes on me. Trust me.” Effort to discredit. Here’s what Nehemiah does: Confront it. Trust God. Keep working. You and I must do the same.

• Deceive. A most interesting part of this story. So there is a recognized prophet in town that calls for Nehemiah and basically gives a word that he and Nehemiah should meet in the Temple, lock the door, and beware of the coming enemies. Nehemiah realizes that he’s a false prophet who is lying because Sanballat and Tobiah have hired him to say this and to set a trap for Nehemiah to catch and kill him. How does he know he is a false prophet? Look at verse 10, Shemaiah wants to meet in the Temple; but only a priest could meet in the Temple. Nehemiah was a leader, a good man, a godly man, but he was not officially a priest. To go into the Temple, for Nehemiah, would have been sin. This was clearly deceit by a false prophet. Watch out for deceit. Watch out for those who call the truth lies and the lies truth. Who has Satan sent into your life to deceive you? Maybe its someone or something tempting you. Maybe its a lying co-worker or friend or family member who is constantly tempting you and trying to get you to do evil things against Jesus. Maybe the deceiver is yourself and that voice inside you. Maybe you have been deceiving others. Repent. Stop deceiving and stop being deceived. Be discerning rather than deceived. I love what William Shakespeare wrote, “All that glitters is not gold.” I love what J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “All that is gold does not glitter.” The key is discernment. Also, my mom always said to me, “Every open door is not from God, and every closed door is not God’s no.” Again, the key is discernment. When I was a child, older and wiser people told me where to go, what to buy, how to dress, what to say, how to live. When I became a man, I became responsible for living and for trusting in Jesus. I have to be discerning and stop being deceived; no more excuses. We have to know what is gold and what is just glitter. We have to learn which doors God’s opening and which one’s he is closing. When you are being tempted or being deceived, obey what you know to be true from God’s Word. Trust scripture. Don’t go off what you think, what others’ think, what common sense or a daytime talk show host says, or even what I say or a Community Group leader says explicitly. Always go back to scripture. Trust it. Always, always, always check what you hear against scripture. For Nehemiah to go into the Temple, even though this word came from a so-called “man of God,” it would have been sin. He obeyed the Word of God, the scriptures. When you are being deceived, even when it sounds logical or good or comfortable, check it against scripture. Trust scripture. Trust scripture. Trust the Bible, trust scripture. You and I don’t have to be deceived. We are not victims; we are overcomers, “more than conquerors” the Bible says. We can know God’s plan for our lives as we walk with him according to his Word, the Bible. Nehemiah knew that this guy Shemaiah was a false prophet deceiver, and he would not take the bait. There are places in our lives where we have to refuse to take the bait going forward. And we do so first by trusting scripture. 

• Discourage. Finally, in verse 13, Nehemiah realizes that the false prophet was hired to give Nehemiah a bad name so that he could be taunted. If enemies can’t distract, disgrace, discredit, or deceive you, the last effort will just be to discourage you. If you can’t be stopped, at least you can be slowed by discouragement. Today, where are your enemies discouraging you? Where are you discouraged? In your life, there are a couple of things I want to share with you about discouragement (and Chad Prashad, you will love this):

1. We can’t worry about what we can’t control. In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” There’s some stuff in life you just can’t control. To a point, I can’t control whether or not I will get cancer, whether the economy will get better or worse, if my house will be safe, if you will love Jesus and our church or a million other things. What about you? Where do you expend mental energy on stuff you have no control over? We can find ourselves consumed by stuff we have no control over, and its discouraging and paralyzing. Nehemiah could have done the same. He could’ve gotten discouraged because these men didn’t like him, because some are lying to him, because the people have wanted to quit, and many complained. He has little control over an awful lot of that. But here’s the key...
2. We must take care of what we do have control over. Remember that passage. What does Jesus say do? Seek first the kingdom and God’s righteousness. God will take care of the rest. Listen, the Lord is in control of the universe and he will bring good where it is undeserved and even where there was evil intent among our enemies. Seek him. Where you do have control, get to work to care for it. You’re not a victim; victims believe that someone else controls their fate. Jesus controls my fate. I am a winner because I am a child of God. So let me get specific with a couple of examples.

• I can’t control whether Natalie will ever be tempted to cheat on me, but I can control loving her, praying for her, being a great husband and father, paying the bills, assuring her heart and filling her heart and hearing her and loving her. If I am filling up her emotional “love tank,” a predator will be less likely to find it on empty
• I can’t control whether Noah and Owen will one day accept Jesus and follow him, but I can control modeling the Gospel and love of God, prayer, reading the Bible, talking about things of God, loving his church, and living on mission with him. I can’t control if they accept Christ, but I can show them that following him is the greatest adventure they can ever embark on
• I can’t control whether or not I will get sick one day, but I can eat well, exercise, rest, take care of my body and mind, and have good health insurance in case something does
• I can’t control the price of gasoline, food, or anything else, but I can steward my money and use it to pay my bills, enjoy, share, and also save and prepare for the future 
• I can’t control whether Origins grows and lostness in Downtown is changed, but I can seek Jesus and model it, preach the Bible, pastor you as the Bible commands me to, make sure we have good leaders, put events on the calendar that allow us to corporately and individually love God, one another, and the city without cluttering up our already busy lives. I can’t keep a wolf from wandering in here, but I can shoot him or run him off if he does. I can’t control people criticizing our church, but I can control who gets a bullhorn to do so. If this is your church, you should do the same for the glory of Jesus 

While it is true that we can’t predict the future, we can prepare for it. So don’t fret over what you can’t control. If you’ve been fretting and worrying, confess that unbelief to God, search the scriptures, pray and tell God of your unbelief, get in a Community Group that will encourage you, and -- this is huge -- work on what you can control for the glory of God. This will prepare you not to be blindsided and discouraged by an enemy’s attacks when they come. 

I love Jesus. I love the Bible because all the little stories point to the Big Story of Jesus and his love for us. Look at what happens to Nehemiah. Three enemies try to distract, disgrace, discredit, deceive, and discourage him. Look at Jesus. People want him to be king and chef and healer and everything else, to distract him; he came to die for you and me. The religious establishment, Pilate, Roman soldiers, even one of the men crucified beside him try to disgrace him; he focuses his energy and love on dying for you and me. Critics and arrogant, self-righteous idiots try to discredit him and undermine his authority; he points to God, confronts the true Enemy and stays resolute in his mission to die for you and me. Satan tries to deceive him and seduce him with power, influence, and even physical comfort; he won’t take the easy road and path of least resistance but does naked and alone and bloody and in agony to die for you and me. And in all of it, for 33 years, his enemies and even his disciples by their misunderstanding and ignorance and unbelief, bombarded his resistance and begged for him to become discouraged, but he would not waver in his resolve; he came to die for you and me. 

Nehemiah’s story isn’t just our story. Its Jesus’ story. Surrender your life to Jesus today. Fix your eyes on him and give him control and ask him to save you. Because the reality is, had we been there in Jesus’ day, we would’ve been his enemies as well. Surrender today. 

Or if you’re here today and Jesus is your Savior and Lord, examine your heart and life and find those places where you are distracted, disgraced, discredited, deceived, or discouraged. Learn to fight and grow through temptation rather than just celebrating the absence of it or giving in when you are tempted because God loves you and you’d rather abuse his grace than fight like a child of God. Don’t worry about what you can’t control, but lay down your life for the things you can control. You are not a victim; you are an overcomer, more than a conqueror. Come to know and believe what the Bible says about you. Live with discernment. Trust scripture. Let ir be your ultimate and final authority in all matters of faith and life. Fight the good fight for the name and fame of Jesus Christ.