Well, good morning, Englewood. Don't you appreciate our worship
team? Amen.
Take your Bibles and turn to Nehemiah Chapter 3.
As we continue our study in Nehemiah, let me share just a
few things with you as we get to that place.
So appreciative of you being here.
It's good to meet some new visitors with us this morning.
Thank you for braving the weather.
We still have folks getting over the Super flu, but it's good to
see some of you back and seeing that you're getting over it.
Also, of course, have a few folks worried about the weather
today, so I know we have several folks online listening.
Welcome. Thank you for listening, and
we're glad that you've joined us that way.
I wanted to share an update with you.
I shared this last Wednesday night, but I wanted you to hear
the final word here. So our Happy Birthday Jesus
offering, which goes to support our international and North
American and local partnerships that we have.
We have about 10 units who are out on the field from Inglewood.
We appreciate all of them and their effort.
We're so thankful for the Sullivans being with us today.
Rackley's are back with us also. So, so thankful for that.
And, and so our Happy Birthday Jesus offering goal.
We needed 185,000 to kind of cover the partnerships and some
of our future partnerships and to date $228,343.01.
So thank you so much for giving to missions.
I love that one cent on the end. I not really do I think that's
neat. I don't know how, I don't want
to know how that actually came about.
I want to imagine some kid giving pennies.
So I'm just so thankful for whoever that was.
That was probably some rounded down or up thing.
But, and then it was really interesting because at the end
of last year, when you talk about a 202,025 budget, and I
won't stay on this too long at all, but just to encourage you,
and this may seem odd, but if you know the history of, of
things here in the budget, when you count all of the giving and
the interest that comes from some of the other revenues that
we have, we only missed our annual budget last year by a
little over $7000, which is really tremendous when you're
talking about a multi $1,000,000 budget.
So thank you so much for your faithfulness and you're giving
let's beat the 2026 budget to death so that we can continue to
grow and God will bless us for that.
So just thank you for that. Members, appreciate you very
much today, the third Sunday in in January has been designated
to be the sanctity of a human life Sunday.
Often that is a is associated primarily with abortion issues
and, and rightfully so, it's a little bigger than that in the
sense that when we're talking about the holiness of life, we
would run want to recognize not only abortion issues, but end of
life issues, also special need issues and just the value of
life in general and the fact that life is valuable, it's
worth something. It's no matter when the life is.
But since about 1973, we estimate that about 70 million
abortions have taken place in the US And, and what's
interesting about that is, is if you consider Generation Z, which
are people born from about 97 to 2010, one third of that
generation was never born is the estimate.
And so North Carolina has some of the most liberal abortion
laws in the entire southeastern part of the United States.
So people actually travel here to have abortions and so just
continue to pray about how we can be a part of ministering to
those who are considering that, also ministering to those who've
already experienced that. One of the other statistics
you'd want to think about is that about one in four post
abortive women are sitting in our congregations.
And so many of you here perhaps have been touched by this in one
way or the other, and you're still working through that Even
so we want to be ministering to you in that way as well.
But out in the lobby, you can get some information from one of
our partners that is supported by our, our budget.
And that's the Your Choice Resource Center, which is a
great place for folks who are considering abortion in their
life and how you can support that.
So you can learn about that. They have QR code on there For
more information. In addition, tomorrow is Martin
Luther King Junior Day, the office will be closed because of
that. And it's a day where we
recognize the effort of, of racial reconciliation and
equality. And once again, I, I not that
they're the same things at all, but but they are in the area of
valuing life and the, and respecting in life and valuing
one another. Whether, whether it's before we
are born in the womb, when God says that he's knitting us
together and he knows the number of our days, the purpose of our
whole life before we're even born.
Or how do we get along with each other now when we come from
different backgrounds. So, so thankful for a
congregation that that has we have folks from different racial
and ethnic backgrounds and and all kinds of socio economic and
educational backgrounds. Some of us are rednecks from the
Ozarks and some of you are rednecks from Eastern North
Carolina. So redneck redneckedness
together. So here we go.
But no, we're just so thankful. But how we can celebrate life
and seek to bring it honor and value.
So let's pray together about that and then we'll dive into
Nehemiah. Father, we're so grateful for
life. We didn't deserve it.
Father, you gave it to us. Our own existence is a gift.
And so, Father, we recognize that we don't create life.
You create it before we're born, and you have a purpose for us.
You tell us that you know us and you're forming us even even
before we we ever, ever, ever step foot on this earth.
So Lord, thank you for that. And Father, we pray that from
before birth all the way to death, that Father, we would
honor and value one another and bring worth to life because
we're created in your image. And that means we have value and
we have purpose and we have a plan to serve you and to know
you. So Father, help us to be
faithful in that honor. So thank you for the fact that
life is is sacred. Life is holy.
And I pray, Father, that we'll continue to do all we can to to
not only promote that, but Father, to live that in our
lives as well. Guide us now as we go to your
word. Let us feast upon it in Christ's
name, Amen. Well, for decades Teresa and I
have seen God perform miracles to transform the lives of His
churches. We've seen Him transform brand
new churches. We've seen him transform 200
plus year old churches. We've seen him transform
churches that we're about to close your doors.
We've seen him transform churches in the Bible Belt.
We've seen him transform churches on the North American
mission field. We've seen him transform many
churches around the world on the international mission field.
So all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of context.
And it's always interesting to me some of the commonalities of
some of the issues that that these churches get into.
And in my life as a consultant and, and a professor and
travelling the world, et cetera, I've just seen so much of this.
There's fear, there's doubt, there's worry, there's competing
opinions, there are competing personalities often in the
world's of these unhealthy churches.
And so I have a formula that I have a poster that I've made and
used to teach this to everybody who worked with me.
And I've taught it here and you've heard it before, but I
don't expect you to necessarily remember it.
So let me show this formula with you one more time.
If a person can possess biblical common sense, now another word
for that might be wisdom, but I'm telling you, common sense is
a superpower in today's world. Amen.
Seriously, common sense and self-awareness.
If you, if you just, you have those two pieces in today's
world, you are unique, right? But if a person can possess
biblical common sense or wisdom and retain objectivity, in other
words, I can see the big picture.
I'm not so focused just on my little things, my personal
opinions, my personal agendas, my personal wants.
I can see the bigger picture. It's rare, rare, rare, rare.
And then the third part of the formula is I can keep my ego out
of it. I can keep my own ego, my own
pride out of it. Because the problem is, one of
those three things is almost always missing, especially in
unhealthy churches. I've seen it over and over and
over and over and over again, literally hundreds of times.
People lack wisdom or they can't see the big picture.
They're so focused on their individual personal issues or
desires or opinions, They can't see how it affects or how it
distracts from the whole picture or the larger mission.
Or they want the attention. They want the recognition, they
constantly need a pat on the back.
They, they actually want the glory.
And we got to be careful because God must receive the glory for
all that we do. Amen.
Because our God is a jealous God.
And sometimes we only think about that passage in terms of
idolatry in the Old Testament 10 commandments or something to
where we're talking about worshiping of the gods.
But he's also not going to compete with us, not going to
compete with you. He's not going to compete with
me. So we we've watched people turn
fear and faithlessness into faith in the future.
We've watched them develop a burden for making true disciples
and reaching a lost world. We've watched people being saved
by God every single week. We got so used to that, we were
spoiled. We began every single worship
service, much, much like we did in 2025 here, but we began every
single worship service. So with baptisms, often multiple
baptisms every single Sunday. But that was our call to
worship, and we put that testimony out there of Him
before his people, before their lost friends, and before their
families, because God was just blessing us so much in these
churches. We saw atheists saved, we saw
Mormons saved. We saw new age people saved.
We saw people from other world religions saved.
We saw the next generation saved, and we saw a bunch of old
crusty sinners saved along the way.
And we saw God's people revived, we saw him excited, we saw him
passionate as they desperately pursued what God was doing and
wanted for them. And we watched that change, that
shift. And Inglewood, I believe, and I
know I've been talking and harping on it a little bit last
couple of weeks, and I promise we'll be moving on, but I
believe in this. I believe that is exactly what
he seeks to do right here, what he's already started.
Frankly, I believe because I've seen what God can do when His
people believe, when His people seek Him.
I've seen true sweeping revival grip his church and in spiritual
awakening overflow into the community and impacting entire
areas of community. The reason I'm sharing all that
is because the story of Nehemiah actually models much of this for
us. Now, if you were just in your
personal Bible study and you hit Nehemiah chapter 3, you'd skim
over it. I, I don't blame you.
When you look at chapter 3, it's a list of names and where they
worked on the walls. And this person worked on this
part of the wall and he built this gate and this person worked
on this part of the wall and this way.
And it's just this litany of, of, of really hard to pronounce
Hebrew names and, and this list of people working.
It might seem boring, it might seem unimportant, detailed, but
be very careful about how you handle God's word.
I actually believe this is one of the most important messages
we'll get out of the book in Nehemiah.
I told all the staff to pay very close attention to this one.
And you're going to sit there and see this Scripture.
And because we got to be careful how we deal with God's Word.
In fact, this Wednesday night at midweek, thank you all for being
here. Last week we talked about
translation. We're talking about how do we
engage the Bible and in the right way.
This week we're actually going to talk about when I open my
Bible up for my personal Bible study, what do I need to do
first? How do I observe the Bible?
What questions do I need to be asking so that I can get the
most out of personal Bible study so that I can actually dig deep
in my personal Bible study? Very, very practical.
This Wednesday night you'll want to come back.
But there are lessons that we need to learn from Chapter 3
this morning, lessons as we see God's restoration.
So Nehemiah and the leaders of Jerusalem have committed to rise
up and to rebuild the walls and the gates that have been
destroyed by the Babylonians. But by doing that, they were
going to need more than just the leaders.
It's going to take a whole lot more than just them.
This is going to be very hard work.
And it demanded everyone's participation.
What percentage of participation am I asking you for?
You don't think these things connect?
You don't think we're building a train?
Everything connects. So let us study this morning
about building together. So God gives us this privilege
to demonstrate our faith for His glory.
We must all embrace His mission. We must all embrace His work,
building toward the future that He has, not only for their
church, but for our individual lives.
So don't simply show up, Sit back and expect the staff, the
pastors, the Connect group leaders, the deacons to do all
the work. That's not how it works.
Remember what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4 he said, and he gave
the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and,
and teachers. But why?
To equip the Saints for the work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ. So your leaders are here to, to
not to, to do to join in the work, certainly, but to teach
you to equip you to join in the work.
So as Hebrews reminds us in Hebrews 13 seven, he goes,
remember your leaders, those who spoke to you, the word of God,
consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their
faith. So your pastors, your staff,
we're we're not just hired hands.
The the, the staff is a group of called men and women gifted for
servant leadership and God's hand is on them and working
through them. We've already seen it in what
God has already begun to bless us with these last few months.
So let me encourage you. Let me encourage you to join
together since we're in Hebrews 13 seven, Add a one in there and
look at Hebrews 1317. Obey your leaders and submit to
them, for they are keeping watch over your souls.
As those who will have to give an account.
I promise you we will have to give an account.
Let them do this with joy and not with groaning for that would
be of no advantage to you. So so let's work together in a
joyful love based, faith-based environment, working forward
together. But that's hard for some.
Some people don't want to join in.
They don't want to have to work that hard.
It's not what they think church is for.
It's like 1 British comedian wrote one time he says I like
work, it fascinates me. I can sit and watch it for
hours. There's no room for spectators
on what? What happens to a spectator on
the train tracks? They get run over or they get
left behind. We don't want either one of
those things to happen to you. So there's plenty of room for
workers on the wall, but we got to build together again.
Just before we go to Nehemiah 3, listen to Ephesians 4.
He goes on in verse 15 rather speaking the truth in love.
We are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head into
Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by
every joint with which it is equipped.
When each part is working properly, or, another
translation would say, when each part is doing its share, makes
the body grow, so it builds itself up in love.
So we are called and gifted to carry out the work of ministry
together. This is not some individual
adventure, Christianity. This is not just about you.
This is about how you're working with other believers in a
community to build the future that God has for you.
And leaders must set the example.
And So what we're going to see is we're each need to take a
section of the wall. We're each going to have to get
busy. Leaders need to set the example.
Leaders need to set the pace. But but don't, don't fall prey
to what so many people think church is.
It's a spectator sport for some. The great evangelist DL Moody
once said a great many people have got a false idea about the
church. They haven't.
They got an idea that the church is supposed to rest in, to get
into a nicely cushioned Pew and contribute to the charities,
listen to the minister and do their share.
To keep the church out of bankruptcy is all they want.
The idea of work for them, actual work in the church never
enters their minds. So one of our core vision areas,
one of the seven essentials of discipleship we teach you about,
is committing to service with generosity and compassion.
So we are to give and use every gift we have to our very best to
help edify and lead the church, to engage the Bible, to unite in
fellowship, to abide in prayer, to respond in worship, to live
out evangelism, and to participate in missions.
There's a reason we're sharing these things.
So success here is not how many people are necessarily in the
room, it's it, the success here has to be about how many
disciples are being made, how, how, how fruit is being
produced, how you're reproducing yourself in the lives of others.
So, so we, we must overcome any thought that this is, this is
some show or performance up here that we put on for people to
watch. And frankly, if that's the
attitude to critique, that Facade will never be strong
enough because there will always be another show in town that
develops and, and, and, and people hop from show to show to
performance to performance. Instead, we need to build
together. We need to equip, we need to
refuel, we need to worship the glorified God and equip the body
so we can roll up our sleeves and get busy on the wall
together, right? So, so, so people who don't get
this, they don't even understand what the goals are.
And it's easy to put yourself first.
And we need to be careful that we better put ourselves in the
best position for discipleship, for spiritual maturity so we can
grow together. So filling, filling the
building's not the primary goal, filling our hearts with the
gospel and discipleship and transformation, those are our
goals. So what we want to see is
unfortunately, sometimes the, the world mocks the church.
The, the, the, the world doesn't get the church.
Sometimes they think we're irrelevant or they just ignore
us sometimes because they don't see lives being transformed
truly in a maturing way. So why are God's people not
living out their faith and obedience and testifying the
world to the world? And when they talk about the
church that way, they're not talking about whether a
building's floor or not. They're talking about the
Christians that they know, and they don't see fruit in their
life. So because this was the same
situation, Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem.
The walls in the gates of Jerusalem had been destroyed and
they need to be repaired for their protection, but also as a
testimony of God fulfilling his promises.
You got to recognize that many of the people he found there had
been living there for decades. Many of them had, they came with
earlier groups and they'd been there a long time, some of them.
And, and so they, they were used to the way things were.
It was normal for them. This is the way it's always been
and when Nehemiah started working, I promise you, some of
them said, well we ain't never done it that way before.
You know the ruins had become normal for them, right?
They were content with the disrepair in their life.
My prayer is, is that we are never content with the disrepair
in our lives that we're constantly working.
How can we become who God wants us to become?
Become? So Nehemiah challenges them to
rise up and build a new normal because these walls were more
than physical protectors. They encouraged the people of
God to adopt A new a sense of identity, a sense of
distinctiveness. They would create separation
from the Pagan influence around them and and the reversal, this
is key, the reversal of the great defeat they had suffered
at the hands of the Babylonians because of their sin.
This was a reversal, A restoration, A revival from
their disobedience and sin before God that led him to the
exile in the 1st place. So rebuilding symbolized the
promise of God that His people will return and serve Him.
And I pray what future generations are telling the
amazing story of what God did at Inglewood.
They will hear of God's people joining together in unity, side
by side, building the future that God wanted for them.
The commentator, Warren Weirsby, refers to this chapter as wall
to wall workers, and it records the repairing the gates and the
walls. They begin in the north.
They go in a counterclockwise direction around the city.
You say, what does that matter at all?
I'll tell you in a minute. Nehemiah had a specific vision
plan. He did, and he organized the
work to fulfill it. He had about 45 sections of the
wall, 42 work groups to do it. I've been working since last
March on 36 initial assessment issues at Inglewood and trying
to work to develop with leadership a vision plan to best
address them and build his future for us and for him.
But we need wall to wall workers.
Nehemiah chapter 3, verse one. There's a whole lot of Hebrew
names. Then Elisha, the high priest
rose up with his brothers, the priest, and they built the sheep
gate. They consecrated it and set its
doors. They consecrated it as far as
the tower of the 100, as far as the tower of Hanadel.
And next to him the men of Jericho built.
And next to them Zakur, the son of Emery, built, the son of
Hassan Hassanaya built the fish gate.
They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts and its bars.
And next to the Mirameth the son of Uriah, son of Hakos,
repaired, and next to them Mushulam the son of Berekaya,
the son of Meshizabel, repaired. And next to them Zadok, the son
of Bahana, repaired. And next to them the Tokoaites
repaired. But don't miss this.
Their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.
Joy, the son of Pasea and Mushulam, the son of Bessodia,
repaired the gate of Hashanah. They laid his gates and set his
doors, its boats, its bars. And next to them repaired
militia, the Gibeonite and Jaden, the Marathonite, and men
of Gibeon and Mitzvah, the seat of the governor of the province,
beyond the river. And you say, what in the world?
Who cares? Well, if you study the passage
and you study the map, you'll understand it's a big deal
because here's the first thing we need to recognize to move
forward. We must focus first on the most
strategic needs. You see, Nehemiah begins on the
northern section of the wall. Again, why would you care?
Well, here's why. Because it was the part of the
wall that was attacked by the enemies the most.
It was their weakest point. It was their most heavily
damaged area. And if somebody was going to
invade, that's going to be where they came.
And so the towers there that they had to rebuild were
significant and strategic, highly strategic for defense,
for observation and for warfare. And so this had to be the first
priority. We've got to get this part of
the wall built. We've got to focus on this
because it's just basically almost all gone.
The first piece people mentioned here were priests.
See, leaders have to set examples.
They got to get in there and do hard work.
And it's appropriate for them to work here because the walls that
they were building here were closest to the rebuilt temple
that they had just built. They want to re establish and
protect the temple so that they could freely and obediently
worship God. And you'll notice men from
surrounding cities come to serve, like the men of Jericho
and the men of Toccoa. But Please note that the men of
Toccoa refused to participate. Some never will.
The hard work was either beneath them or they didn't believe in
it. And sometimes we have to ask the
question, which am I? Am I willing to really roll up
my sleeves to be a part of this? Because God will remember those
who don't put their shoulder to the work.
They're listed right here for us in his Word forever.
So your leaders are focusing and working together to build the
most strategic parts of the church first.
Please listen to me congregation.
Your leaders are focused on working on the most strategic
parts of this church first, since I got here last March.
OK, we, we, I need you to retain objectivity and help us work
together on the big picture first, Understanding and
defining God's mission. Understanding and defining the
mission and vision of this church.
Understanding our identity. Understanding the core that we
must be involved in. Five things in the core. 7
essentials of discipleship. These are more than words.
There's more than artwork on a wall out there, more than bumper
stickers and and and decals. These are driving issues and
definitions. We recognize we only have your
presence for a few hours a week, some of you even fewer than a a
few hours. Sometimes it's it's singular.
And we've got to think about every single moment we have
together. What's the most vital strategic
components that we need to be working on every time we meet?
So This is why I'm on you about the core worship, midweek
connect groups, service stewardship, what percentage,
right? There's a reason for this.
We have to focus because these opportunities must hold
understood value. What does the worship service
really mean to you? What's the value of a connect
group and our age level ministries for you and your
families? What how important is that
midweek study for for you? How healthy is your service and
stewardship? These are basic skeletal
structures of the body, right? And we want them to help you
grow in and to express the seven essentials of discipleship, to
produce fruit and to reproduce others for His glory.
But this also means that sometimes we must say no.
People don't like that. Here's a truth.
In ministry I've had to learn. No is a complete sentence.
But sometimes we have to say no to some things.
Right now I'm working on 36 assessment issues.
I'll get 400 requests. So either we work on the four,
the 36 strategic issues, or we spread ourselves out too thinly
and we're not getting there. Does that make sense?
So that's what we're dealing with.
So just bear with us. So that means right now we have
to say no sometimes to things right now because we must focus
intently first and build the most strategic components.
And we need everybody on the most strategic walls.
Look at verse 8. All the names continue.
You just love that in your personal quiet time, wouldn't
you? Next to them was Uzio, the son
of Haraha. There's too many AI's in his
name. Harhaya, Harhaya.
That's it. Harhaya.
That was it. Harhaya, Goldsmiths.
These were Goldsmiths. They repaired.
Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they
restored Jerusalem as far as the broad wall.
Next to them was Rafaya, the son of her ruler of half the
district of Jerusalem, repaired. Next to them Jediah, the son of
Hiram Hiramov repaired opposite his house, and next to him was
next to him was Hatash the son of Hushabaniya.
They repaired Makuja the son of Hiram and Hashab the son of
Pahab. Moab repaired another section in
the tower of the Ovens. Next to him Shalom, the son of
Hallowhesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem.
Notice these phrases repaired. He and his daughters Hanoon, in
the inhabitants of Zenoa repaired the valley gate.
They rebuilt it and set his doors as bolts, as bars, and
repaired 1000 cubits of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.
Once again, if you're just reading this alone, who cares?
But in context, first we must focus on the most strategic
needs, but secondly, we've got to unite together in the hard
work. I want you to see this is a very
long section of the wall. This is hard work.
This has 2 gates and a tower. This required a whole lot of
people to be involved. No one person can do this.
And I want you to note the variety of people who served to
do this very difficult work. You had dignitaries, you had
businessmen, you had skilled artisans and Craftsman, and then
once again, you had people from surrounding communities who came
to help. It takes all kinds of people,
but it takes all the people. That was a good sentence.
And God created each of us with unique abilities, unique
experiences, unique talents, unique skills, unique giftedness
to be used to build this future. So we want to help you discover.
We want to help you know your place on the wall.
In fact, I encourage you to look at the screens right now and go
to the following link or QR code on our website.
You'll find a whole page that says here, here are the
opportunities of service at Englewood.
I don't know what you need me to do at Englewood.
Well, take a picture of the QR code, go to the website, and
you'll see a description. You're not signing up for
anything. You're learning about things.
Information will be there. A method of how do I learn more
about this will be there. You go there and find out
because we've got to work together to complete the hard
work. In fact, Paul wrote about this.
He wrote about this to a church that was having a hard time, not
like us, a church that didn't have unity, not like us, a
church that was struggling, not like us, but a church all the
same. And in First Corinthians 12, he
says, now there are a variety of gifts with the same Spirit, and
there are a variety of service but the same Lord.
And there are varieties of activities, but it's the same
God who empowers them all in everyone.
He goes on later. And all these are empowered by 1
and the same Spirit who apportions to each one
individually as he wills. So we're not all the same, but
God and his mission is the unifying factor.
It's what makes us a team, not a personality, not the best show
in town, not a bigger, not a bigger event than anybody else
has. We're saved and gifted to serve
the body and to help her become stronger, to help her become
more God glorifying. In fact, in this chapter it'll
say everybody repaired. The word repair in the original
language is used 35 times in Chapter 3.
And the word actually means to make strong.
It means to make firm. This was no flimsy quick job.
This was not chewing gum, duct tape, and baling wire.
This was real work. In fact, later in Nehemiah,
we're going to look at the archaeological evidence to see
how big these walls actually ended up being because the
enemies are going to make fun of them.
And so it meant, it meant that it was something that wasn't
depended on a single person. It couldn't, it couldn't be
depended upon a few. Everybody had to join in.
This was big work or it would collapse under the pressure.
So this was something to depend upon.
This was something to stand upon.
This was something firm. So we need all hands on deck to
build a strong, long lasting future.
And I'm telling you friends, the legacy of Inglewood will be
defined to a large extent by how those of you who are here right
now in this season respond. God is doing something
historical here, but how you respond in these first couple of
months of 2026 is going to define a lot about what happens
next. Nehemiah chapter 3, verse 14,
just one verse. Still a lot of names.
Malkoja, the son of Rikab, A Rikab, probably a Rikab,
probably something like that. It's hard after the Super flu.
Ruler of the district of of Beth.
Hakaram. Hakaram, it would be that.
It would be that it would be Hakaram repaired the Dung Gate.
He rebuilt it and said it's doors, it's bolts in his bars.
Isn't it funny? They always have doors, bolts
and bars, right? We got to focus on the most
strategic need. We got to unite together in this
hard work. But thirdly, we also need to be
very careful. We got to guard what enters.
See, they're working on these gates.
This this southern sections, a shorter part, but they not only
had to repair a wall, but they also had these gates.
And you're going to see gates mentioned in all these passages.
There's gate, there's gate, you know, with, with doors, bolts
and bars, right? And this was important because
they had to be made secure. Again, those were holes in the
wall. That's where the enemy would
come in. That's where attacks could take
place. And they needed to be safe.
They were surrounded. You got to remember this
context. We're going to see it a whole
lot more in the next few, in the next few bits, because there are
enemies all around them and they really don't want them doing
this. And they're going to do
everything they can to stop them.
All right. And so we need to be careful
even in our world today, how secure are the gates of the
church? How will we protect this church?
Will we protect the sound doctrine of God's Word?
Why do you think I've emphasized throughout the summer and
midweek what we're doing right now in midweek?
We've done doctrinal studies. We're going deep in on midweek
and several studies where we're talking about the Word of God.
Why do you think I emphasize worship?
Why do you think I emphasize connect group?
Why do you think I emphasize midweek so much?
It's because we must be defined and led by the inerrant,
infallible Word of God. See.
Why do you believe we're doing podcasts about it?
Why do you believe we're creating new studies about it?
We must be completely defined. That we must engage the Bible
with a humble and teachable spirit.
So, will we secure the gate of doctrine and belief in our
church? Will we secure the dates by
pursuing high expectations for membership, membership covenants
and processes and expectations? They've got to mean something.
We've been reaching out, especially in the month of
December to a ton of inactive church members and and guests
that we've had over the years. And I assure you we will follow
up on them. In fact, everybody needs to
listen to me very clearly. This is a you work moment.
You don't get to be a church member at Inglewood and not do
anything that's not a church member.
There's a church covenant and we're gathering together a list
of names of inactive church members.
We're reaching out to them as lovingly and graciously as we
can. Thank you Connect groups for
doing that. We've seen folks come back with
welcome home, welcome home, welcome home.
Thank you. We also have some who are kind
of not excited about that. And I promise you, John Henry
Ewart going to start knocking on doors because you don't get to
be an inactive church member here and do nothing you don't
get to. That's not a church member.
Somehow you're supposed to contribute.
I've been talking, visiting with our shut insurance man.
They are a network of prayer warriors for us.
They're getting those prayer requests every week from our
reach models and they're praying for us every single week.
And they're involved. They can't physically be here
and they're doing stuff. So come on, let's get together
on this. All right?
That wasn't a threat, that was a promise.
See you soon. Unsweetened iced tea.
You're going to throw something at least and don't throw sugar.
So we're going to guard stuff. And we and we also, how will we
seek the seven essentials of discipleship?
Will we make certain that we're growing, that the enemy has no
entry point into our personal lives, into the life of our
family, my mind and my heart, and this fellowship?
Will we repent of any sin that allows that stronghold, that has
allowed that doorway of the enemy into my life?
Will we be absolutely dependent, defined by the word, dependent
upon the Holy Spirit? It's like that old song, right?
Let's shut the door and keep out the devil.
Shut the door and what keep the devil where in the nights?
And y'all never went to camp, did you?
What openings in your heart, mind, and spirit need to be
locked tight this morning? What gates are swinging wide
open that need to be mended and shut?
So join in the hard work. Find your place on the wall.
Allow Christ to guard your heart and minds.
Look at verse 15. Here's a lengthy passage and
we'll be closing. And Shalom or Shalom, probably
the son of Koh Joseph, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired
the fountain gate. He rebuilt it and covered it,
and set its doors, its boats, and its bars, and he built the
wall of the pool of shala of that King's garden as far as the
stairs that go down from the city of David.
After him Nehemiah the son of Oz Book, ruler of half the district
of Betheser, repaired to appoint opposite the tombs of David as
far as the artificial pull and as far as the House of the
mighty men. After him the Levites repaired,
for whom the son of Bani. Next to him, Hashabiya, the
ruler of half the district of Kayla, repaired for his
district. After him, their brothers
repaired Bavai the son of Hanadad, ruler of half the
district of Kayla. Next to him, Ezra, the son of
Joshua, ruler of Mitzvah, repaired another section
opposite the ascent of the Armory of the buttress.
After him, Baruch, the son of Zabai, repaired another section
from the buttress to the door of the House of Eliashib, the high
priest. After him, Mirameth, the son of
Uriah son of Hakos, repaired another section from the door of
the House of Eliashib to the end of the House of Eliashib.
After him the priest. The men of the surrounding area
repaired. After them, Benjamin and Hashib
repaired opposite their house. After them, Azariah, the son of
Ma Asea, son of Ananiyah, repaired beside his own house.
After him the Ben Ben Ben Ben UE.
Ben UE is actually how you pronounce it.
The son of Hinadod repaired another section from the House
of Azariah to the buttress into the corner.
Palau, the son of Uzi, repaired opposite the buttress and the
tower projecting from the upper house the king at the court of
the Guard. After him, Padaya, the son of
Porosh and the and the temple servants lived in OFA repaired
to a point opposite the Watergate on the east and the
projecting tower. After him.
The the tech lights repaired another section opposite the
great projecting tower as far as the wall of a fell above the
horse gate. The priest repaired each one
opposite his own house. After them Zadouk, the son of
IMA, repaired opposite his own house.
After him Shamaya, the son of Shecheniah, the keeper of the
Eastgate, repaired. After him Hananiah, the son of
Shalomiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalath, repaired another
section. After him, Mushulam, the son of
Berekaya, repaired opposite his chamber.
After him, Makija, one of the Goldsmiths, repaired as far as
the House of the temple servants and of the merchants opposite
the muster gate and to the upper Chamber of the corner.
And between the upper Chamber of the corner and the sheep gate,
the Goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.
Now why in the world do I read all that?
Because first we got to focus on the most strategic needs.
Secondly, we've got to unite together in the hard work and
guard whatever enters. And we've got to serve with
intentional passion. Listen, the the eastern was the
longest section, had five gates and a large tower.
It's also built on the Crest of the hill.
This was really hard work. So regional leaders, leading
priests, temple servants, merchants, even Goldsmiths come
together. The word built is used six times
in this chapter, and it means to rebuild.
They're going from rubble to a future, and people from all
walks of life joined together to accomplish the rebuilding.
Now there's a verse, verse 20, in the middle of all that.
And another translation would read verse 20 this way.
It's important. After him, Baruch the son of
Zabai, carefully, carefully repaired the other section from
the buttress to the doors of the House of Elishab the high
priest. Still another translation would
say that he did so zealously, so his work was especially noted.
Notice that you're reading, you're reading, you're reading
bars, gates, doors, people, you know, towers, pools, you know,
cubit, cubit, cubit. What's a cubit?
You know, you just go, keep going.
But then you see this one guy, something about what he did
zealously, carefully. So we noticed that his work was
especially noted. Good examples.
Role models need to be celebrated.
You have leaders and servants in this church who are working so
intentionally, so zealously. They're worth noting, They're
worth emulating, they're worth celebrating, they're worth
praying for, they're worth hugging and and thanking for
what they're doing. Leaders and hard working
servants like them who set the pace, they set the example for
the rest of us. So we ask ourselves the
question, how do I serve? Where do I serve with such
passion? Where do I serve so carefully?
Where do I serve zealously for my church right now?
Remember, never forget, God wrote them down for us.
There are others who wouldn't do it.
The leaders of Teccoa would not stoop low enough to serve their
Lord. What an interesting testament.
What a contrast to Baruch, right?
The Lord remembers. What will God say about us when
life is done, when he returns? One of these days when he
returns, what's he going to say about what we did here, about
the responsibility, the stewardship of this assignment?
I pray that he will congratulate us, but I'm afraid for some,
some might be surprised in this life on earth.
Jesus said that would be the way it is in Matthew 7.
He said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the
Kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father
who is in heaven on that day. Many will say to me, Lord, Lord,
did we not prophecy in your name and cast out demons in your name
and do mighty works in your name?
And then I would declare to them, I never knew you depart
from me, you workers of lawlessness.
Everyone then, who hears these words of mine and does them will
be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew
and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been
founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these
words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man
who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods
came. The winds blew and beat against
that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
What? And where are we seeking to
build? Why?
For whom the people of me and I listened at this stage, they're
listening to their leadership, they're listening to God, and
they're focused on the same goals.
They're united on those goals. They're serving together on
those goals for God's purpose, and incredible progress is being
made. Neither the enemies on the
outside nor the problems that they will face, and they will
face them very soon on the inside could keep them from
God's mission at this point. They were intentional, they were
careful, they were passionate, right?
I pray that's us. I pray that's who we will be.
I've seen it before, I've tasted it, I've experienced it before.
I've seen God do the miraculous. I've seen him do the
transforming. The only way I can describe what
happened was God. And, and I want, I long, I beg
to see it again. I said I long to see it today.
I long to see it yesterday. I long to see it every week
because I believe and I pray one day that what we will hear is
from Matthew 25. And his master said to him, Well
done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a
little. I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy of your master, all that we might bring
our master joy that we might bring him joy with surrendered
lives and willing service. So we let us rise up and build
together. Whether you're a skilled
Goldsmith are just a common old Ozark boy like me who can haul
rocks under his grace, there's a place for everybody.
But first we got to surrender. We got to focus on the most
strategic need in my life. I've got to commit to the core.
I've got to commit to the seven 100%.
And then what else could Ioffer him in service?
What could Ioffer him in stewardship?
What could Ioffer him in surrender?
So in just a moment, we're going to have a time of reflection, a
time of commitment, a time of response.
We're going to pass the offering plates, which is something we're
starting to do again, not not in order to get your money.
If you're a guest here today, no monetary gift.
Please put that next step card in there.
Like Pastor Charles encourage you, put those prayer requests
in there. We'll pray for you.
We'll reach out to you. We want to know you.
We want to love you. We want to minister to you,
members. This is a time for us to reflect
as that plate's in my hand. God, what do I need to surrender
to you? What do I need to give to You?
I'm not talking about just your money.
I'm talking about your time, your energy, your gifts, your
skills, your experience. What am I supposed to give you
in my discipleship? What's the greatest gift?
That greatest gift might be your time and energy.
And then some of you need to receive.
What's the gift you need to receive from Him today?
Is it salvation for some of you? I've never really trusted in
Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
This is the morning, this is the day, the Holy Spirit, Nehemiah
chapter 3, one of the most non evangelistic passages you could
ever imagine. That was the day God spoke to
me. That's the way it works.
Surrender to him. In just a moment.
There'll be pastor standing here.
Our next steps room will be open.
You don't have to come talk to one of us.
You can go in there. Their counselors just love to
have a private conversation, prayer time with you.
There's a next steps table out in the lobby too.
You can stop on your way out. We just want you to be obedient.
We want you to offer him your life as a testimony.
Maybe it's baptism, Maybe it's church membership, recommitment.
Whatever it is, let's pray that we can join together, get on the
wall, work for Him and give him everything.
Father, thank you. Thank you for the way that you
created us. Thank you for the life you've
given us. And thank you, Father, that that
life has purpose, it has meaning, it has usefulness.
You have something for us to do in this life.
Father, You didn't just save us so you can take us to heaven.
You saved us so we can serve and and help one another and help
this world, Father, and to bring you glory.
So Father, I pray that right now, in just a moment, when we
sing, that Father will surrender.
Some need to surrender in salvation.
Some need to surrender in baptism and church membership.
Some just need to come and pray, whatever it is.
And so, Father, I pray Lord, that as we surrender to you, the
Lord will give you all the glory.
So now, as our ushers come and you stand, we're going to give
back to the Lord, our offering, and our lives as we sing
together in Christ's name. Amen.