On Sunday Andrew continued our sermon series on Nehamiah. He looked at Chapter 4 v 1-23 Dealing with opposition (22nd Jan).
Despised group doing Lord’s work in face of opposition…
How did they respond to the mocking and opposition they faced while rebuilding the wall?
- First and foremost they prayed to God – Prayer has to be the foundation of all that we do.
- Set up a watch by family – they were very practical,often repairing the wall near where they lived, and Nehemiah set up families to watch and defend the city.
- Blow the trumpet- If anyone attacked them, they would blow the trumpet to summon help, and more people would come to help fight and defend themselves. They all worked together.
- Our God shall fight for us..- they trusted in God to help them.
- not put clothes off except for washing – the men stayed at night in Jerusalem, on guard ready to defend the city, only taking off their clothes for washing.
Andrew said that the people building the wall had a greater glory in mind, and were working for the glory of God Psalm 8, Psalm 24, Psalm 48,Ezra 3:12+13. He showed us images of the whirlpool galaxy to show the Glory of God. The whirlpool galaxy was the first galaxy that we could see from the earth, it was first seen in 1776, the image Andrew showed was taken on the Hubble telescope and can be seen on the NASA website. He also spoke about the X structure at the center of the whirlpool galaxy as showing an image of God in the center of the universe.
In the video below, Louie Giglio describes this amazing discovery made by the Hubble Telescope in deepest space. Is this the ‘Sign of the Son of Man’ that would precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? Or is it the fingerprint of God shining out in the center of the heavens for all creation to see?’
Andrew ended his sermon by saying this passage shows that prayer and hard work were clearly clearly key.
Prayer first…like Grace and Truth. We need to focus on these things:
- Prayer
- Holy Lev11v44; Eph5v26+27; 1Pt2v9-11
- Love and unity Mk 12v30,31;Psa133
- Trust Psa 146v5+6;Prov3v5-7; Heb11v1-3
- Help serve Eph2v10;Gal6v9+10
- Suffering II Cor 12v(+10; I Pt 2v21-24
- Good news Gal 6v14; Jn3v16+17; Jn1v12
- Great commission..CPM Mtt28v18-20;Acts1v8
We are already doing these things as a church. We are already praying, wea rea lready seeking in God’s grace to be Holy. We are already seeking to be in love and unity together, and also with the churches in Warrington. But
- What type temple/church are we building? are we doing enough?/ is there more we can be doing?/ right way?/is there anything we can do differently?