Rise Up and Rebuild!

Happy Monday!  This may be your very first time ever reading this blog.  I do not want you to be hopelessly lost.  I’ll do my best to get you up to speed quickly.  My church is currently in the midst of a “Rise Up!” campaign.  We are deeply entrenched in the book of Nehemiah.  Every week, we learn more of his story.  Bit by bit, we are given tools that will help us craft a life that is full of purpose.  Hopefully, today’s sermon recap will add to the arsenal of tools that have already been given out.

This week’s sermon finds us in Nehemiah 3.  Nehemiah is no longer praying and waiting for the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt.  The rebuilding has actually started.  The third chapter chronicles the builders of the wall.  No, really.  The entire chapter lists the people that built the wall and those that built beside them.  It goes on and on and on.  Let me be completely honest.  In my quest to finish my reading of the Bible in its entirety, this chapter would get a thorough skimming.  I would leap around to see if there was a word that leaped out at me that indicated something different or a change.  However, this list has importance.  Thank God for a Pastor that does not skim.  We will circle back to this list in a minute.

Rebuilding destroyed walls is no small feat.  It requires determination.  It requires commitment.  It requires focus and always remembering your “why.”  Nehemiah is rebuilding a physical wall that is a symbol of the brokenness of Jerusalem.  The ruins of the city give the church a bad name.  We may not have physical ruins that we walk amongst, but the church of today certainly has walls that are in need of repair.  We have broken others ability to trust that we love them.  We have destroyed the walls of safety that should exist to shield people from the attacks of the enemy.  And we need to repair them.  Not to make our names great in the church community.  We need to rebuild the walls for the glory of God.

So how do we do that?  One brick at a time.  The list provided in Nehemiah 3 tells of families standing in front of their own homes working on the ruins around them.  Then it would say who was standing next them repairing their section.  Section by section.  Brick by brick.  The wall began to take shape.  Each person was responsible for their section.  Hmmm…I wonder what each of us needs to put our hands on to get the ruins in our lives back in shape?  Instead of trying to take charge of everything, we need to focus on what is in front of us.  We need to be intentional about repairing the things that are within our reach.  Like our poor attitudes.  Our weakened prayer lives.  The way we mistreat our family members.  We need to rebuild.

Anyone who has ever dealt with construction knows that renovations always take longer than we expect.  This is not an overnight process, but we must be willing to put in the work.  The best repairs are those that are not rushed.  God does not want us to construct walls with bricks that are placed haphazardly.  He wants the best of us.  Each week in this sermon series, we have been given tools to help us level up our masonry skills.  Let’s stop walking among the ruins and start rebuilding.  #wepreach

Questions to Ponder:

• What skills do you currently have that you do not use for the glory of God?
• Name ways that you can positively contribute to your community.
• Do you live your life on purpose? Are you mindful of your “why?”
• Do you believe that today’s church has a bad name? If so, what can be done to change it?