Vision
Scott McKinney
February 27th, 2022
Nehemiah 1-6
God does not give us directions. God gives us
God directs us in life by giving us
1) Vision is born when we see things as they are and
“They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. 4When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” —Nehemiah 1:3-4
2) Vision is ignited by
“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, 6let 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 we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.” —Nehemiah 1:5-7
Nehemiah’s vision is clear- the walls of the Jerusalem need to be
3) Vision moves us to put our
“Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.” —Nehemiah 1:11
4) Vision must be
“Then, I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.” —Nehemiah 2:17-18
“Without a vision [the people perish.]” —Proverbs 29:18
5) Vision creates
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. —2 Timothy 3:12
“They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.” —Nehemiah 4:8
“So I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” —Nehemiah 6:3
Conclusion- Find a vision worth
“When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” —Nehemiah 6:16
Discussion
Big Idea
The place to begin in discovering God’s will is not to ask, “What I am supposed to be doing?” It is to ask- “What is God doing?” God is reconciling the world to himself through Jesus. God’s will for our lives is to believe in Jesus and to join him in what he is doing. How do we do that? One way is that God gives us vision. Vision comes about when we see the world as it is and God gives us a picture of the way that it ought to be.
Read Nehemiah 1:1-3
1. Why did Nehemiah care so much about Jerusalem and the people there? Why were the walls of Jerusalem so important?
Read Nehemiah 1:4-7
2. Nehemiah’s heart was broken as he thought of the city of Jerusalem. The first thing he does is to pray. As you read the prayer of Nehemiah what has he come to believe about God? What has he come to see about himself?
Read Nehemiah 2:2-5
3. How has Nehemiah put his life on the line by making this request to the king? Can you think of examples where people have put their lives on the line for something they believe in?
Read Nehemiah 2:17-18
4. As Nehemiah shares the vision of rebuilding the walls with the people of Jerusalem, how does he motivate them to join him in this work? How might this apply to the way you do your work and the way you lead your family?
5. As they rebuilt the wall, they faced opposition. The opposition was external (very real enemies that threatened the work). The opposition was also internal (exhaustion and fear among the people). What kind of opposition is hardest for you to handle?
Read Nehemiah 6:2-4.
6. Nehemiah was not willing to come down off the wall until the job was finished. Is there a wall in your life that you are on that is too important for you to come down from?