Sunday Setup – Nehemiah 2:9-20

[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] Hey, Cross Church family and welcome to the Sunday setup. This is our time each week that we digitally gather across our social media platforms to prepare our hearts for what God has for us this Sunday as we dive into our weekly passage. Uh our goal each week is that we pray through a piece of scripture, we praise through a piece of scripture, we preach through a scripture so we can go practice it that following week. And today we are in week three of Nehemiah. And we'll be picking up in Nehemiah chapter 2 starting in verse 9. And this is a great passage and we're just going to go 9 through 20. So we'll read this whole thing. We'll get into some larger passages in the coming weeks that we'll probably bounce around. But in this Nehemiah knows that the walls have been torn down. He's had a conversation with Artex Xerxes to take on this project of rebuilding the walls. And we pick up in verse 9 and Nehemiah writes this from a first person perspective. He says, "I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king's letters. The king had also sent officers of the infantry and the calvary [music] with me. When Sandbell the Horonite and Tobaya the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to pursue the prosperity of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased. [music] After I ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar ar arrived in Jerusalem and had been gone there been there three days. I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn't tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was writing. I went out at night through the valley gate toward the serpent's well and the dung gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down, and its gates had been destroyed by fire. I went on to the fountain gate in the king's pool, but farther down it came too narrow for my animal to go through. So I went up at night by way of the valley and inspected the wall. Then heading back, I entered through the valley gate and I returned. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work. So I said to them, "You see the trouble that we are in. [music] Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned. Come, let's rebuild Jerusalem's wall so that we will no longer be a disgrace." I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me and what the king had said to me. They said, "Let's start rebuilding." and their hands were strengthened to do his good work. When San Ballot the Horonite, Tobaya the Ammonite, and Gisham the Arab heard about this, they mocked and despised us and said, "What is this you're doing? Are you rebelling against the king?" And in verse 20, he says, "I gave them this reply. The God of the heavens is the one who will grant us success. We his servants will start rebuilding. But you have no share, no right, or no historic claim in Jerusalem. As we begin to prepare our hearts for this passage that God is bringing us Sunday and and how it applies to our lives today, a few prayer prompts. I just want to take a few minutes of our time wherever you're at right now to [music] just pray pray through between you and God at this time. The first we see this this continual language that as Nehemiah describes God, he describes us as a God of heaven. But in verse 18, he said this a few times. He talks about the gracious hand of God. And here's our first prayer prompt is God, your hand is gracious because God, your hand is gracious because you forgive our sins, because you give us breath to breathe. Because you give us a purpose in life. As God, your hand is gracious because pray that prayer to our God. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> God, your hand is so gracious because Lord, you have mercy. You don't give us the things we deserve, but Lord, you also have grace that you give us things we don't deserve. And God, your hand is gracious because we see the blessings that uh you provide that we [music] cannot provide ourselves. Lord, your hand is gracious because ultimately you saved us from our sin and you show us a better, a more full, a more fulfilling life than we can ever imagine. God, we thank you for your gracious hand. But Nehemiah doesn't stop here. The gracious hand is on God and and helped guide this process. [music] But it did it so that they could live out the vision that God gave them. They respond when they're told of the gracious hand [music] of God when Nehemiah said, "Hey, let's go rebuild these walls." And their response in verse 18, the second half, is this is God's people, the Israelites, who had looked at these walls torn down for 150 years. They said, "Let's start rebuilding." And here's our prayer prompt today is God, let me start rebuilding blank. God, let me start rebuilding. Maybe it's my walk with you. It's my consistent you. Let me start rebuilding my prayer time. Let me start rebuilding my quiet time in God's word, reading his word. God, let me start rebuilding my relationship with the church, my commitment to the church. God, let me start rebuilding my marriage. Let me start rebuilding my relationship with my kids. Let God, let me start rebuilding a a a courage at work to share my faith. Whatever that is in your life, God, let me start rebuilding. Pray that prayer [music] to our God. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> God, let us start rebuilding a hunger for you and your word. God, let us start rebuilding humble lives that give more of our time, give more of our resources, give more of our energy. God, let us start rebuilding, God, a hospitable culture in our lives where we are reaching out, where we engaging those who are far from you. We are loving them and we are sharing them with the gospel. God, let us go and just live out the vision that you've placed on our lives to make Jesus known to [music] be a part of your church and starting more churches and to do the big things that only you can do. The big things that seem impossible [music] on the surface that seem like we don't have enough time, we don't have enough money. We don't have enough people. But God, with you, you provide. You raise up, you cast [music] vision, and you show us, God, what we can rebuild and be a part of. God, I thank you for our church family. Lord, I thank you for [music] your word that guides us, that is like a lamp unto our feet. And Lord, we lift up this time to you and ask that as you bring us Sunday, that we be filled with passion, that we be filled with energy, we filled with purpose [music] uh to do the things that you have laid on our hearts. And we lift all this up in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you guys for joining us. We'll see you Sunday. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] >> [music]