# Sunday Setup – Nehemiah 5

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise.
Series: Sunday Setup
Date: January 1, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/sunday-setup-nehemiah-5

## Summary

Are we truly living in a way that honors God, or are we letting internal struggles hold us back? What does it mean to fear God and act justly in our communities? Join us as we explore Nehemiah 5 and discover how to live favorably in God's eyes. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

Hey, cross church. Welcome to the Sunday 
 setup. This weekend we are diving back 
 into our series jumping into the book of 
 Nehemiah and we're picking up in 
 Nehemiah chapter 5. And as we've been 
 going through this story as they have 
 begun to work on the construction and 
 build the wall as they're increasing in 
 this project, uh they faced external 
 opposition. And in our passage this 
 weekend, the opposition turns internal. 
 And we pick up in Nehemiah chapter 5 
 starting in verse one. It reads this. 
 There was a widespread outcry from the 
 people and their wives against their 
 Jewish countrymen. Some were saying, "We 
 our sons and our daughters are numerous. 
 Let us get grain so that we can eat and 
 live." Others were saying, "We are 
 mortgaging our fields, vineyards, and 
 homes to get grain during the famine." 
 Still others were saying, "We have 
 borrowed money to pay the king's tax on 
 our fields and vineyards." 
 We and our children are just like our 
 countrymen and their children. Yet we 
 are subjecting our sons and daughters to 
 slavery. Some of our daughters are 
 already enslaved, but we are powerless 
 because our fields and vineyards belong 
 to others. Nehemiah speaking says, "I 
 became extremely angry when I heard 
 their outcry and I heard these 
 complaints. After seriously considering 
 the matter, I accused the nobles and 
 officials saying to them, each of you is 
 charging his countrymen interest." So I 
 called a large assembly against them and 
 I said, "We have done our best to buy 
 back our Jewish countrymen who are sold 
 to foreigners, but now you sell your own 
 countrymen and we have to buy them 
 back." They remained silent and could 
 not say a word. Then I said, "What you 
 are doing isn't right. Shouldn't you 
 walk in the fear of our God and not 
 invite the reproach of our foreign 
 enemies? Even I, as well as my brothers 
 and my servants, have been lending them 
 money and grain. Please, let's stop 
 charging this interest. Return their 
 fields, vineyards, olive groves, and 
 houses to them immediately along with 
 the percentage of the money, grain, new 
 wine, and fresh oil that you have been 
 assessing them. They responded, "We will 
 return these things, and we will require 
 nothing more from them. We will do as 
 you say." So I summoned the priests and 
 made everyone take an oath to do this. 
 Also shook the folds of my robes and 
 said, "May God likewise shake from his 
 house and property everyone who doesn't 
 keep his promise. May he be shaken out 
 and have nothing. The whole assembly 
 said, "Amen." And they praised the Lord. 
 And then people did as they had 
 promised. 
 Furthermore, from the day King Art 
 Xerxes appointed me to be governor in 
 their land from the 30th year until his 
 32nd year, 12 years, I and my associates 
 never ate from the food allotted to the 
 governor. The governors who preceded me 
 and heavily burdened the people, taking 
 them from them food and wine as well as 
 a pound of silver. The subordinates also 
 oppressed the people. But because of the 
 fear of God, I didn't do this. Instead, 
 I devoted myself to the construction of 
 this wall, and all my subordinates were 
 gathered there for the work. We didn't 
 buy any land. There were 150 Jews and 
 officials, as well as guests from the 
 surrounding nations at my table. Each 
 day, one ox, six sheep, and a some foul 
 were prepared for me. An abundance of 
 all kinds of wine was provided every 10 
 days. But I didn't demand the food 
 allotted to the governor because the 
 burden on the people was so heavy. 
 Remember me favorably, my God, for all 
 that I have done for this people. 
 In this section, Nehemiah is continuing 
 on the story and he's telling this 
 narrative kind of from the first person. 
 And as he's walking through the the 
 opposition that they faced, we see what 
 the people were up against, but we also 
 see the mindset that Nehemiah approached 
 us with. And constantly a few of the 
 words that come out here, he it says 
 they praised him as he kind of called 
 them to this standard that God had. It 
 says he became angry when he heard their 
 outcry. It says he lived in a way 
 because of the fear of God. And in verse 
 15, everything he did, the way he chose 
 to go about his life, the way he chose 
 to respond to those taking advantage of 
 people was because of the fear of God. 
 And I think that's where we need to 
 start our prayer prompt is God, we fear 
 you because 
 God, we fear you because because you are 
 holy, because you are great, because you 
 are eternal, because you are a creator. 
 God, we fear you because. Pray those 
 prayers to our God. 
 Heat. Heat. 
 God, we fear you because you are all 
 powerful. We fear you because we revere 
 you. Because we hold you in esteem that 
 nothing else in our world, our universe 
 compares to God. We fear you because you 
 are a one and only. You are in your own 
 class. You are above everything else. 
 And God, because we fear you, Lord, we 
 are called to live differently. And in 
 this passage, we see how Nehemiah calls 
 people to live differently, but he lives 
 differently himself. In verse 19 as he 
 wraps this up, he says,"Remember me 
 favorably, my God." And and just think 
 about this prayer is he says, "For all 
 that I've done, I want God to remember 
 these deeds that I do, not to earn my 
 way into heaven, but because he 
 understands the holiness of God, he's 
 lived in accordance to that and wants 
 God to remember how faithful he's been." 
 And and think of if we do we live in a 
 way that God should remember it and 
 remember it favorably. as our second 
 prayer prompt as we think about the ways 
 we should fear God is in the second half 
 reflecting on 
 God remember me favorably for 
 and these are the things we should do 
 God remember me favorably for sharing my 
 faith God remember me favorably for how 
 I raised my children God remember me 
 favorably by how I am a spouse to my 
 significant other God remember me 
 favorably favorably for pray those 
 prayers to our God. 
 Heat. Heat. 
 God, remember me favorably for how I was 
 faithful to the opportunities 
 to the path that you put in front of me. 
 God, you have called us to do some sort 
 of work in our life. how we serve our 
 church, how we serve our community, God, 
 how we serve our family, how we serve 
 those around us in our sphere of 
 influence. And God, my prayer is that we 
 do so in a way that honors you, that 
 lives in fear of your reverence and 
 holiness, but God, that ultimately will 
 be remembered favorably by you in the 
 course of eternity. And God, I just 
 thank you for our church family. I just 
 thank you that as we gather in this new 
 year, as we are fired up for what you 
 have in 2026, God, that we just have 
 this call to think of who you are and to 
 live in accordance to it and let us live 
 lives that can be remembered favorably 
 by you. God, we thank you for this time. 
 We ask that you prepare our hearts uh 
 for this weekend and that you walk with 
 us as we go throughout this week. And we 
 lift all this up in the holy and the 
 saving in the amazing name of Jesus 
 Christ. Amen. Thank you for joining us 
 today. We will see you this Sunday to 
 kick off the new year. 
 Heat. Heat.