Owning the Vision & the Mission
Pastor Ed Carlson
October 2nd, 2022
God then sent them the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage them to finish the project. Ezra was also sent to help restore their spiritual fervor.
Give Us
Widen Our
Sharpen Our
Get us to
Nehemiah 1:1-4 (ESV) 1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
1. A Genuine
Nothing will ever change in your life, in a church, or for that matter, in a nation, until we become so genuinely concerned about the problem that it drives us to our knees in humility before a Holy God, and we are willing to be part of the answer that God uses to solve the problem.
Nehemiah 1:5 (ESV) 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.
2. Conviction About
If you want to know God’s character then you must be in relationship with Him.
Job 42:5-6 (ESV) 5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
3. Confession of
Intensity (He prayed day & night, spending every moment in God’s presense)
Honesty (Admit it when you are wrong & dont blame others)
Urgency (Own it and confess it)
4. Confidence in God’s
Nehemiah 1:8-10 (ESV) 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
1 John 5:14 (ESV) 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
5. Commitment To Get
Nehemiah 1:11 (ESV) 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Now I was cupbearer to the king.
He didn’t pray for God to send someone else – he simply said, “Here am I, send me!”
Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse where He pleases.”
• Are you concerned about your problems and the problems around you?
• Do you have a conviction about God’s holy character?
• Are you ready to confess your sins?
• Do you have confidence in God’s promises?
• Are you ready to make a commitment to get involved in God’s kingdom work?