# Sunday Setup – Nehemiah 9

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise.
Series: Sunday Setup
Date: January 29, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/sunday-setup-nehemiah-9

## Summary

What does it mean to truly reflect on our past and acknowledge our sins? How can worship lead us to a deeper understanding of God’s faithfulness? Join us as we explore Nehemiah 9 and discover the transformative power of confession and gratitude. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

Hey, Cross Church family and welcome to 
 the Sunday setup. This our time each 
 week where Thursdays at 2 o'clock we 
 gather digitally together across our 
 platforms to really prepare our hearts 
 for this coming weekend as we dive into 
 a text that we are going to praise 
 through it that we're going to preach 
 through it. We're going to start praying 
 through it right now so we can practice 
 it next week. But we start here in 
 Nehemiah uh looking at chapter nine. And 
 in Nehemiah chapter 9, uh we're going to 
 be a big chapter and and we're not going 
 to read all of this on today's video and 
 we're going to break it up, but it's 
 important how this starts out in 
 Nehemiah continues on. And he says this, 
 Nehemiah chapter 9, starting in verse 
 one, it reads this way. On the 24th day 
 of this month, the Israelites assembled. 
 They were fasting, wearing sackcloth, 
 and had put dust on their heads. Those 
 of Israelite descent separated 
 themselves from all the foreigners, and 
 they stood and confessed their sins and 
 the iniquities of their ancestors. While 
 they stood in their places, they read 
 from the book of the law of the Lord 
 their God for a fourth of the day, and 
 spent another fourth the day in 
 confession, in worship of the Lord their 
 God. Jesua, Bonnie, Camdil, Shabban, 
 Bunai, Sherbabath, Bonnie, Chennai stood 
 on the raised platform built for the 
 Levites, and they cried out loudly to 
 the Lord their God. Then the Levites, 
 Jesua, Cadmile, Bonnie, Hashbath, 
 Sherba, Hodiah, Shabbaniah, and Pat 
 said, listen to this. Stand up. Blessed 
 be the Lord your God from everlasting to 
 everlasting. Blessed be your glorious 
 name and may be exalted above all 
 blessing in praise. 
 And then they're going into this time 
 and they say, "You, Lord, are the only 
 God." And then here's what's so cool 
 about this, and we're going to dive more 
 into this on Sunday, but they summarize 
 the Old Testament. They talk about the 
 creation. They talk about the Exodus. 
 They talk about the prosperous time of 
 the kings and going into the promised 
 land. They talk about the exile. They 
 talk about the prophets. And they 
 essentially summarize what has happened 
 in the Old Testament up to this point 
 and how even though they have failed, 
 that God has been faithful. And near the 
 end of this chapter, I want to pick back 
 up in verse 36. After they do this real 
 this summary of the Old Testament, it 
 then comes to the current time. And this 
 is the Levites teaching in verse 36. 
 Here we are today, 
 slaves in the land that you gave our 
 ancestors so that they could enjoy its 
 fruit and its goodness. Here we are 
 slaves in it. Its abundant harvest goes 
 to the kings you have set over us. 
 Because of our sins, 
 they rule over our bodies and our 
 livestock as they please, we are in 
 great distress. 
 You see, in Nehemiah's story, as it 
 continues and they get to chapter 9, as 
 the walls are built, as the people are 
 being built up, as they have read from 
 the book of the law and all of a sudden 
 they're responding to God's word, it 
 brings them to this self-reflection 
 where they need to address the sin in 
 their life. And as they start to address 
 the sin in their life, first it starts 
 with this feeling of worship and this 
 reverence for who God is. And we see in 
 verse 5 and six they say blessed be your 
 glorious name that you are God 
 everlasting that you Lord are the only 
 God. 
 And I want our first prayer prompt to be 
 this prompt of worship uh to our Lord. 
 And here's our first one is Lord you are 
 the only God who can blank. 
 You see we have a God who is the God of 
 all gods. We have the God who is greater 
 than everything. We have the God who is 
 the creator. We have the God who, as 
 this chapter lays out, does amazing 
 things that nothing, no one else, 
 nothing else in our universe can do. Is 
 that God, you are the only God who can 
 pray that prayer to our Lord. 
 We pray that you are the only God who 
 can save us. You are the only God who 
 can die for our sins. You are the only 
 God who can give us new life. You are 
 the only God who can heal, who can 
 restore, who can change the course of 
 our life. 
 God, we thank you that you are 
 different, that you are one of a kind, 
 that you are something greater than 
 anything else in our world. Lord, we 
 worship you, the only God. 
 But God, we don't just worship you, but 
 when we look at your holiness and see 
 how great you are, how set apart you 
 are, we're reminded of the things that 
 are holding us back as the things of our 
 own making. The sin that is in our 
 world, the sin that is not our fault 
 that just hurts us by being a product in 
 this broken world, but also the sin that 
 we are directly causing that's leading 
 to our downfall. in verse 37 as they're 
 reflecting on they're in a bad place in 
 so many ways that they've been in exile 
 that they're still slaves in this land 
 that they're not living according to the 
 purpose that God has for them. They 
 don't say it's because of these other 
 people it's because of our forefathers. 
 Instead they say it's because of our 
 sins. 
 And here I want us just to pray a prayer 
 of reflection but also asking and kind 
 of acknowledging God's forgiveness. It's 
 just this small one is Lord because of 
 my sins. I blank. Because of my sins, 
 God, I'm still afraid. Because of my 
 sins, I'm still anxious, God. Because of 
 my sins, I'm angry. Maybe at my 
 circumstances. Because of my sins, I 
 whatever that is. Maybe you're lost. 
 Maybe you're not where you want to be. 
 But thank you that you have forgiven me, 
 God. Because of my sins, I blank fill 
 that in. But thank you that you have 
 forgiven me. Pray those prayers to our 
 God. 
 God, because of our sin, Lord, we fall 
 out of your will at times, God. We get 
 off track. We get distracted. We get 
 comfortable. We get anxious. We get 
 depressed. We get angry. We get prideful 
 because of our sin. We see all the 
 consequences that are not as you desire. 
 But God, we thank you that your 
 forgiveness still covers that sin. That 
 you give us a greater path to run to. 
 That we don't have to be marked by our 
 own sin. We don't have to dwell on our 
 sin. We don't have to be stuck in the 
 past. But Lord, we can rejoice in the 
 new life that you have given us through 
 the salvation of your sacrifice because 
 of the salvation of Jesus Christ. 
 God, we we confess our sin. God, we 
 repent of it. But Lord, we look on to 
 the greater things you have for us. God, 
 thank you for this time as we just 
 prepare our hearts to just take in this 
 passage that is just filled with so 
 much. and and Lord, we just ask that you 
 prepare our hearts as we gather together 
 in worship on Sunday and as we go to 
 take your word out through the rest of 
 our week. God, we just lift all this up 
 in the saving name of Jesus Christ. 
 Amen. 
 Thank you guys for joining us today. 
 We'll see you this Sunday. 
 Hey,