Good evening again, welcome tonight open with me your Bible
to the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament.
That is in chapter 3 where we find ourselves the title of
tonight's message. God uses the ordinary to do his
extraordinary. And we may or may not have some
slides tonight. We've just had a few issues, but
it's not that big of a deal as we go through the Scripture and
we'll be able to pull out what we need to.
And returning to Nehemiah three, I'm not sure how many of you, as
we've been studying through the book, have been reading ahead.
But maybe you've looked ahead into our passage tonight in
chapter 3. And you know that it reads a lot
like the Hebrew phone book, and you're just seeing a list of
names and name after name and what seems to be mundane, almost
boring information. And if I stood here and read all
32 verses of Nehemiah chapter 3 right now, you know, having read
ahead, you would secretly start checking your phone or planning
the week or just checking out. Boring, you might be thinking.
And as you're now flicking your eyes through it, what you'll see
is a long roll call of names, which many we can't pronounce
properly. The trick with that is to read
them fast and confidently. Gates that we've never seen with
our actual eyes as there's these descriptions of Jerusalem being
rebuilt and and the people of Jerusalem doing the seemingly
mundane construction work. Now, for example, we'll see a
liar ship rebuilt the sheep gate.
You're going who is a liar ship and what is the sheep gate?
The men of Jericho work next mirror moth repaired another
section, the fish gate will be mentioned, the Jeshana gate and
even the dung gate. Depending on what translation
you've got, it might say refuse gate on and on.
And many commentators in in studying and preparing for this
actually skip chapter 3 altogether.
You know, you'll be reading through the commentary.
OK, chapter 1, great, that's some good information.
Chapter 2, good. And then next minute it's gone
to chapter 4 and you're going hang on, what happened to
chapter 3? And the temptation would have
been for me to also skip over it.
But here's what we believe, here's what we know.
And here's what we hold to be true is that God doesn't put any
filler sections in the Bible like, oh, that books kind of
looking a little bit short. I just need to add a bit more
information and we believe wholeheartedly and trust
wholeheartedly that that every part of Scripture is inspired is
God breathed by God. Second Timothy chapter 3 verse
16 tells us that that all Scripture is profitable and
beneficial. So if the Holy Spirit devoted
time and energy to what seems like an ancient work roster,
then it's it's important for you and I to consider even in 2025.
And this is what we're going to have a look at and, and dig into
tonight. And so here's the big idea out
of what is before us tonight in this chapter.
God delights to use ordinary people doing ordinary tasks to
accomplish his extraordinary purposes.
I'm going to say that again, God delights to use ordinary people
doing ordinary tasks to accomplish his extraordinary
purposes. There's about 38 names mentioned
in this chapter and and these are regular folks.
We'll read of priests, we'll read of merchants, we'll read of
perfume makers of, of daughters and dads and of of single Men At
Work hauling stones and, and hanging doors and swinging
hammers and, and getting dirty in the construction, the
rebuilding business of the walls around Jerusalem.
And yet through their everyday faithfulness to this task, God
will rebuild this city. And it'll happen in this
miraculous 452 days that we'll get into.
And God restores the people, the people of Israel to the land of
Israel in Jerusalem, the capital city.
And, and God ultimately sets the stage for the coming of Messiah
and the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.
You see, if there's no Jerusalem rebuilt, there's no Jerusalem
for Jesus to come to. If there's no Jesus to come to a
Jerusalem, then there's no gospel that springs out of Jesus
coming as God in flesh who we've just sung about.
So there's so much wrapped up in this passage that we need to dig
into and understand more. And I think why we consider it
boring when we first read it is we don't know the people.
It's just a list of nameless, sorry of names, but faces that
we can't picture and we don't know.
But here's what I want you to imagine.
Imagine if your name showed up in the Bible, if you were
reading and, and your name, my name pops up a lot, Israel, by
the way, saturated through the Scripture.
But if your name showed up, if there was a chapter, if there
was a passage where, where your name, your, your spouse, your,
your family, your kids and and so on were mentioning this in
the Scripture, would that not be your most favourite passage in
the Bible? I mean, you'd have that
scripture framed in your home. It'd be on every coffee cup.
You'd make T-shirts out of it. You'd certainly post it on
social media. It's suddenly become your
favourite passage. Well, one day Jesus will open up
a book in eternity that has your name in it.
And if you're serving Him and serving him even in your
ordinary life in the Monday to Friday grind in the the Saturday
weekend tasks and chores and the running around and so on.
If it's all done for the glory of God, then God is is aware and
he takes notice of it. And God is able to use the
ordinary, the ordinary people and accomplish his
extraordinary. That's what we see in this
passage. And so there's three big truths
that flow out of this chapter that concern our ordinary and
the ordinary of the people there.
And we'll see that. Firstly, sacred service, and
that is that every job done, every task fulfilled for Jesus
is holy. Secondly, unified strength.
The diversity is, is God's design for his work that God is
able to use each and every one of us in in the the different
sort of idiosyncrasies that we possess and giftings and talents
that we have. And, and we might think it
ordinary and we might think it useless before God, but God is
able to use that. And we'll see in our passage a
very commitment. There was a faithfulness in some
that brought about the blessing of God, but there were others
who who demonstrated a different approach to the work at hand.
And we'll learn out of that. So let's let's tackle it as we
consider the first sacred service that every job done for
Jesus is holy. And I want us to go back into
verse 18 of chapter 2 where we pick up the story.
Nehemiah has come into Jerusalem.
He's travelled from the capital of of Persia and he's been given
this mission by the king. Now his heart was burdened, for
the city of Jerusalem lay in ruins.
And he's been commissioned with the resources now of the king to
go and facilitate this work. He's arrived on the scene and
he's spoken to the people gathered there.
And in chapter 2, verse 18, is is really the background to what
this chapter is about. Says I told them of the hand of
my God, which had been good upon me, and also of the King's words
that he had spoken to me. So they said, let us rise up and
build, and then they set their hands to this good work.
And now chapter 3 is the rising up and building and the setting
of their hands to this work in chapter 3, verse one.
Then Elias ship the high priest, rose up with his brethren the
priest and built the sheep gate. They consecrated it and hung its
doors. They built as far as the tower
of the 100 and consecrated it then as far as the tower of
Hannanel. Next to Elijah ship, the men of
Jericho built verse 2. Next to them Zakhur the son of
Imri built. Also the sons of Hassanah built
the fish gate. They laid its beams and hung its
doors with its bolts and bars. And next to them, Miramoc the
son of Urijah, the son of Koz made repairs.
Next to them, Meshalam the son of Barakaya the son of
Meshazabel made repairs. Next to them Zadak the son of
Banhar made repairs. Next to them the Takoats made
repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the
work of their Lord. Moreover, Jehoiada, the son of
Pasia, and Meshalam, the son of Pasadaya, repaired the old gate.
They laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.
Next to them. Verse 7 Melatiah, the Gibeonite,
Jade and the Moronathite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah,
repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond
the river. Next to him, Isaiah, the son of
Haraya, one of the Goldsmiths, made repairs.
Also next to him, Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs,
and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the broad wall.
Jump ahead verse 10. Next to them Jediah, the son of
Hermaph, made repairs in front of his house.
Next to him, Hatush, the son of Hashmaya, made repairs.
Jump ahead to verse 12. And next to him was Shalom, the
son of Haloshih, Hello Hesh, leader of half the district of
Jerusalem. He and his daughters made
repairs. Jump ahead to verse 14.
Malkajar, the son of Recap, leader of the district of Beth
Hakaram, repaired the Dung Gate, the refuse gate he built.
It hung its doors with its bolts and bars.
Move ahead to verse 28. Beyond the horse gate, the
priest made repairs each in front of his own house after
them. Zadok, the son of Imam made
repairs in front of his own house.
After him. Shamaya, the son of Shechiniah,
the keeper of Eastgate, made repairs after him.
Verse 30. Hananiah, the son of Shalamaya
and Hanan, the sixth son of Zailev, repaired another section
after him. Meshalaam, the son of Berekaya,
made repairs in front of his dwelling.
After him, Melchizedear, one of the Goldsmiths, made repairs as
far as the House of the Nethanim and of the merchants in front of
the MIP CAD gate, and as far as the upper room at the corner and
the last verse 32, between the upper room at the corner, as far
as the sheep gate, the Goldsmiths and the merchants
made repairs. Wow.
And maybe even reading it and hearing it, your eyes glazed
over. You tuned out and you've gone.
You were right, Israel. I'm having a hard time engaging
with this chapter, and so first I want us to notice how ordinary
the work was. They're digging foundations,
laying beams, hanging heavy gates, bolting bars.
Imagine construction dust everywhere you ever had a
renovation conducted in your house, been a part of any kind
of building work, and you know that the dust fills the nostrils
and as you sweat covers the body and all of that.
This is these people right here. Nothing flashy.
And yet the trap chapter, it seems as we read it, it records
and treats every hammer swing as sacred.
The names of the people and their contribution, what they
they put their hands and their efforts and their energy to Why?
Because it was done for the glory of God and the protection
of his city. The high priest, the liarship
himself starts at the sheep gate.
We began in verse one. This is a a religious leader
with calloused hands, not afraid to roll up the sleeves and get
in amongst it with the people that he's serving and
ministering to. Goldsmiths are mentioned,
perfume makers and merchants seemingly leave their shops to
swing picks. Families repair the wall, in
many instances right in front of their own houses.
This is gritty physical labour going on that we're reading.
And let me tell you this, because it's tied to God's
purposes, it is worship. It is worship.
Understand it as that. You see, it's not what you do,
it's who you're doing it for. I want you to know that the
world needs gospel preachers. Absolutely.
It needs people to unpack and to open up the scriptures and to
declare the truth of that. But you know, the world also
needs this spirit filled teachers, spirit filled
mechanics. Amen.
Pray for more spirit filled mechanics, mums, accountants,
sparkies, brickies who who see the Monday morning as sacred
territory, as heading into the workplace, as as God ordained
opportunity for ministry and service and worship that
glorifies and honours him. And so do you recognise that in
your life tonight that as you're thinking ahead to tomorrow and
what it holds, do you recognise it and see it as ordinary?
Yes, but as holding the potential for the sacred to to
be an act of worship and service unto God.
Let me pose a question to you. Do you have mainly extraordinary
or ordinary days? Ordinary days, don't we that
seem mundane and social media lies to us.
We look at everybody's kind of orchestrated and curated
pictures and, and we look at that and we go, wow, how
wonderful, how extraordinary their lives when, when really
they're bloated and their dog just threw up in the lounge room
and they're hiding that. And we're just seeing this, this
glorified image and picture of, of, of that which they want to
present to us as reality. But here in Nehemiah chapter 3,
the ordinary days that we're reading, you know, they actually
lead on to some extraordinary days ahead in chapters that
we'll get to, you know, here they're, they're working on
walls. They're, they're digging,
they're lifting, they're cementing and, and they're
soaring and it's all hands on deck and they're sweating and
it's, and it's pretty ordinary work.
But in 52 days it'll be complete.
That's a miracle, considering that for 141 years this city has
has lied in ruin in the walls. And then later we'll read of
some extraordinary happenings of revival breaking out amongst the
people of repentance of hearts turning back unto the ways and
the things of the Lord and, and it reads like a Pentecost of the
Old Testament. People get right with God, save
lives and and new legacies and them desiring to to affect
change that is transformative in their lives to to generations
after them. Some wonderful and amazing and
awesome extraordinary things we'll read ahead of happening,
but they spring out of the ordinary days that we see here
in this chapter. The ordinary and the
extraordinary days are all God's work.
God records it in the Bible, here, chapter 3.
God is aware of it in your life too.
God is with you in the cubicle returning emails tomorrow.
God is with you tomorrow writing school reports.
God is with you working on the bricky side, cleaning the house,
just as he's with you in the miraculous, in the supernatural,
in the extraordinary. So go to work this week knowing
God knows and God cares and God is aware.
Often times we can read the Bible and, and it's the
extraordinary days that really stand out to us.
I often hear this particularly in reference to the book of
Acts. You know, the miracles and the
healings and the supernatural and the extraordinary days that
are recorded there. And people go, why not now?
Why? Why aren't we seeing that happen
before our very eyes? Let me summarise this for you.
There are 14 healing miracles in the book of Acts. 12 of the 28
chapters in the book of Acts have a healing miracle.
You know, the book of Acts covers a period of 30 years.
So sometimes when you flip a page in the book of Acts, you
know, you're actually flipping a decade of time.
And what that means is that even in the times that we see as
extraordinary in, in the 1st century, early church, in the
book of Acts, for every extraordinary day that we read
of there's 700 ordinary days where they just faithfully
committed their hand to serving God and honouring him in the
workplace, in the marketplace, in the home, wherever it was
that God LED them and guided them and directed them to.
And so know this, that in the ordinary and in the
extraordinary days, God is in them and God is with you, no
matter how ordinary, how mundane or how boring it might seem.
Think about Jesus, you know, for roughly 20 years of his life,
the better part of his life, he was what the Greek describes A
tecton. It means a a builder, we know it
as as a Carpenter, but it was really where he he would be a
contractor in in working on construction sites for the
better part of his life. Jesus measured timber, cut
joints, hung doors, worked up a sweat all perfectly in the will
of the Father before ever 1 miracle was performed at his
hand or at his words whilst on the earth, you know in our
lives. Colossians chapter 3 verse 7 and
and verses 23 to 24. I think nail it and whatever you
do, whether in Word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for
the Lord. It is the Lord Christ you are
serving. So this week tomorrow, if you're
back at the desk in the office, if you're on the job site,
you're doing the school run, you're at the kitchen sink.
Pray Lord, this it's ordinary, there's mundane, there's boring.
This is for you. I worship you, I honour you in
and through it. And your ordinary just became
extraordinary. Who who knows God knows what,
what foundation is being laid ahead for extraordinary
supernatural workings of God in your life and in this work.
Secondly, you see this unified strength.
There's a a diversity at work and the people you, you know, as
we read through it, we see a huge variety of people working
shoulder to shoulder together. And there's a phrase that
repeats over and over next to him.
I don't know if you notice that or another one after him.
It actually appears over 20 times in these 32 verses.
So as I said, there's, there's 38 names mentioned, not to
mention those implied, but whose names aren't actually recorded
for us. There's, there's teams of people
working, there's, there's households of people working,
there's groups of people. So in reality, it's like there's
hundreds of people putting their hands together to work to repair
the walls of Jerusalem at this time.
And this before us is a, a masterpiece of teamwork as a
consequence. And and each name, each person
and each phrase after him and after them.
Alongside them represents different parts of the community
of God coming together to contribute to the work that
we're reading of. We're told that workers came
from inside of Jerusalem as they were repairing across from their
house, the wall and then others coming from surrounding towns.
Jericho is mentioned, Tokoa is mentioned, Gibeon, Miss Parr.
These people would have woken in the morning and made the trek on
into Jerusalem to be about the work that they're putting their
hand to. You have priests and rulers, you
have mentioned merchants and and temple servants.
Even single blokes are working. You know that the spirit is
moving when even the single guys get up and start getting
activated to the work. And there's women that are
mentioned. Shalom's daughters in verse 12
indicated entire families labouring side by side, 3
generations no doubt working in some sections.
And what we basically see in this chapter is the Church of
today in miniature, the body corporate of the Church of God
at work in the world today. A microcosm is represented here
in this chapter. There's young and old working,
rich and poor together, educated and uneducated, those with
opportunity, those without opportunity, the locals and the
blow insurance all contributing and putting their hand to the
task of rebuilding the city walls.
Now Paul the Apostle calls the Church of Jesus Christ today a
body. He uses that analogy of
different members and of different parts of the body, all
contributing to the work in One Corinthians chapter 12.
We stated it when we went through it and for exactly the
same reason that we read of here in Nehemiah chapter 3, and that
is that we need each other because we complete one another
in the work that God has called us to.
We don't compete against one another in the work that God has
called us to. Imagine your body physical,
having 10 legs and one arm. That wouldn't work.
No, we have every member, every part facilitating a certain
role. And it's that diversity, all
needed parts at work together that creates something
beautiful. I think this is one of the most
beautiful things about the Church of Jesus Christ, one of
the most diverse movements of any sort or kind in the history
of the world. I think and consider today that
there's probably about a billion people who would lay claim to
being followers of Jesus Christ that say they love him and serve
him and have Jesus as God and Saviour.
And, and this church that we know globally and then the
church locally as a representation of that, we have
people who are young and old and rich and poor and black and
white and educated and uneducated and those who have
succeeded and, and those who are struggling and, and everybody's
welcome. And there's a place for all to
have meaningful, valuable, purposeful contribution to Jesus
Kingdom work, just as here in Nehemiah chapter 3, diversity
coming together because all are needed and called to the work of
God. And you and I need to know and
to understand this because there, there may be times when
you come into this place and you think, well, who am I God?
I see that person serving and I see them being used by God.
And I hear of what God is doing, but I'm nothing, I've got
nothing. My life is, is ordinary with a
capital O but Jesus, could you ever use me?
I want to be used by you, Lord God.
And here I am, Lord God, take my life, use it for your purposes.
God will do that. God will honour that desire and
that heart. That's what happens here and I
love that outsiders joined in. Nehemiah didn't say you know
this is Jerusalem's wall. You you don't belong here.
You live outside of the city. Everyone else stay home.
You guys from Jericho get out. No, he he welcomes them in and
anyone who is willing to serve for the Lord's purpose.
Notice that it seems that the leaders plan while workers
executed and Nehemiah no doubt had spent months and we've we've
read already in chapter 1 and 2 to put it into modern
terminology, he's been out getting permits, he's been
raising funds, he's been silencing opposition to the
people and the work. He's been handling the PR
campaign, he's been dealing with the bureaucracy.
And sometimes the most important work is is that unseen work of
preparation. And so both the planners and the
doers are essential in the work. And sometimes we can look at at
people working and go, what are you contributing?
What are you doing around here? But we're not seeing the behind
the scenes effort that God is is using them in.
So feel the warmth of this picture for me, with me for a
moment, a divided world around them.
But in this, the effort, the energy that they're pouring into
it. There's this beautiful mosaic of
people just as there is in the Church of God, professionals and
labourers, insiders and outsiders, seemingly linking
arms and and and coming together for the common purpose of God's
Kingdom. It's it's inspiring I think like
a family reunion where everyone contributes and chips in.
Imagine the joy these families working alongside each other
felt. Grandparents watching grandkids,
parents side by side, building a legacy and in a culture of
isolation back then and and now, this unity is something that
that ties us into that sense of belonging that we have as a part
of the family of God and the Church of Jesus Christ.
And God invites everyone to contribute meaningfully.
But thirdly and lastly, what we see there's a a varied
commitment. There was a faithfulness that
brings blessing to some, but not everyone responded the same way.
And the and the text is honest about it.
Some in fact refused outright to work.
In verse 5 it says that the nobles of Toccoa would not some
translations have stoop to serve their Lord literally.
They did not put their necks to the work.
They were too proud, too important, too refined to get
their hands dirty. These you could see them as
maybe the the wealthy influences of the day, the VIPs, or simply
those that thought this work to be beneath them.
You know what? They missed the greatest
blessing of their lives. Yeah.
I love how Scripture actually takes notice of this.
It doesn't escape the attention of God.
It's actually recorded in the Scripture that that these
individuals thought themselves too important to stoop down to
the work that everybody else saw of value and, and we're willing
to commit to and, and labour and express and sacrifice themselves
towards. But these people, No, that's not
for me. I'm not, I'm not having a part
of it. And God the Holy Spirit writes
it and records it in verse 5. Yeah, it used to be common in
some churches in in past times to have in the foyer area a
notice board. In some churches, the leadership
would place up on that notice board the list of members not
contributing. Can you imagine coming to church
and seeing your name at the entrance there on the notice
board where you've not paid or not, you know, provided any
offering or tithe or you've not contributed to any service?
Wow. But Nehemiah chapter 3 has
certainly got that for these nobles.
In verse 5, there's a fellow called John Maxwell.
He's a leadership guru. He says there's four kinds of
people. He says there's cop outs,
they're never going to serve. There's holdouts.
They've always got an excuse. He writes of holdouts.
There's dropouts. He labels who start and then
stop. They quit and give up.
And then the 4th category he describes are all outs.
They go all in. I wonder which you might be,
which I might be, because others, as we read here in this
passage, went above and beyond. We had those in verse 5 who the
work was beneath them. I'm not going to to dig in and
chip in, but in verse 20, Barack, son of Zabai is singled
out because he zealously repaired another section.
And he's the only person described in this chapter who
had this kind of zeal and all out passion to go in where he
was. Just like, you know, I've
finished mine. But is there something else I
can do? Let me add it.
Let me contribute more. You know, in any team, and
you've probably found this in the workplace and in the
ministry and in any time where there's a collective of people
gathering and working together, there are just some people who
are more productive than others, have a high capacity.
And, you know, they show up early and stay late and they
just get more done. And you know what Nehemiah does,
he honours that in this chapter. I see this guy.
I'm going to put him in the Bible.
And it's not to dishonour the people that did a good job,
because that's what all of the others were doing and they were
faithful to the task that which they did.
But it was also to honour the people who did an exceedingly
great job and mention that and identify that.
And then there's others as we read through the work that
tackled the glamorous gates, we read of those.
But you know, some jobs are less desirable.
As you're reading the city of these different gates and the
different people repairing and reattaching, I'd submit that
there's probably 1 gate that would have been the least
desirable, The dung gate, the refuse gate, because it was
literally that the city dump. Imagine the smells emanating
from that. And you know, with our Fogo bins
right now, it going every two weeks, I think we're starting to
get a, a sense of that smell here in the Council of
Rockingham. So there are certain jobs that
are less desirable, right? You know, things in the ordinary
that you and I that we don't want to do, but we kind of have
to do it. Somebody had to rebuild the
refuse gate, the Dung Gate, didn't they?
You know, of all of the gates. Imagine if everything was built
and then the last gate is like, who wants the Dung Gate and
somebody has to do it, you know, cricket, silence and then
eventually someone puts their hand up.
I'll do it, I'll take care of this work.
Verse 14, you know, likewise in the church, in ministry, in
serving God and in serving others.
There's those certain tasks, there's those certain things
that we don't necessarily want to do because they're not
glamorous. They don't, you know, get the
accolades and the applause and the notice and the attention.
They're the, the Dung Gate jobs. Maybe it's serving in creation.
There's a few literal nappies that might need changing.
Maybe in the, the rebuild of the church, we could relabel the the
creche, the Dung Gate, or at least the door into it.
But someone still has to do it, right?
And they did it. You know what?
God records it. God takes notice of it.
It's in the Bible we read of it. So here's the the comfort and
the challenge in all of this. God doesn't demand that
everybody do the same amount or the same thing.
He looks for faithfulness with what He's given us, but you know
what he has given us to do and what He has called us to put our
hand to and to be faithful in serving.
What Nehemiah chapter 3 indicates to us is that God
takes notice of. He records the zealous here in
chapter 3. He records the steady those who
are faithful. He records the quiet ones who
just showed up and and did it and and day after day for those
52 days just just worked and put their effort and their energy
in. And he records the indifferent,
the too important, the blase. Oh, that's, that's for somebody
else to take care of. And, and I'll say this, I think
that the attitudes that we see in this chapter of how all of
the different people worked, that all of this starts in the
home and many in this work here and there's these phrases that
we see repeated, actually started their work repairing the
wall opposite their house. That's profound to me because I,
I believe and I know it to be true, that a serving family of
God is a special family. In Nehemiah chapter 3, there's a
lot of times where it says this, that this family served here and
that family served there. Now here in Australia, serving
others isn't the greatest value that we instil in our children,
that growing up we, we don't necessarily instruct them as, as
that's the most important thing. That's a, that's a wonderful,
valuable thing. You know, we tend to think of,
oh, if I can just get my, my son or my daughter a good coach, or
if I could just get them a, a good teacher or a good youth
pastor. If I can get the right people to
serve my kid, then then they'll be like Jesus.
No, they won't. Why?
Because Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve.
You can't be like Jesus by being served.
You can only be like Jesus by serving.
And so ultimately, if you want your marriage to get stronger,
serve Jesus together. If you want your family to go
deeper, serve Jesus together. The family that serves together
sticks together. That's the way it works here in
Nehemiah chapter 3, we see families working together.
You know, that is one of my absolute favourite things about
the church here at Calvary Chapel, Secret Harbour, is that
we get to see families working and serving the Lord together.
You know, there's some here in our fellowship where it's 3
generations all serving the Lord together, you know, whether it
be in the kids ministry or in ushering or in worship or
whatever the case might be. And you know, that's in fact how
this church started was as a work project from the family,
You know, no sound system, no building, no this or that.
All of the things that normally go into this is how you, you
start and plan a church. But from the very beginning, a
Bible study and a family serving God together.
And out of that God blessed and moved.
And I'll tell you, one of the greatest gifts that's ever been
given is families serving God together.
Don't ever deny that. Don't ever diminish that.
Don't ever belittle that, don't ever begrudge that, pursue that.
You know, it blesses my heart to see when families understand
this and know this because it blesses God's heart.
He records it here in chapter 3. And I think that the most
strategic mission field for many of us is the people who share
our address to work on instilling that that precious
value of serving the Lord as a family together.
So Church Nehemiah chapter 3 is not boring.
It's a wonderful, amazing chapter.
It's a reminder from our heavenly Father who sees every
ordinary Monday, every ordinary Tuesday, every ordinary
Wednesday, every unnoticed act of service, every load of
laundry done for his glory and says, I saw that.
I love that I'm going to use that.
It's a testament that God again uses ordinary people in ordinary
tasks to accomplish His extraordinary purposes.
We've seen sacred service, making every job holy if Jesus
is being served in it, of the importance of unified strength,
of the diversity of of all hands on deck, of everybody
recognising and tributing their work, and of a very commitment,
yes, but that it yields blessings.
But I want us to zoom out because this points to Jesus,
the ultimate builder. Again, He worked faithfully in
obscurity. He served unto death.
And now the Bible tells us in John 14 this, that he actually
prepares a place for us. Jesus said in John 14, I go and
I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, you may be
also. And what the Scripture tells us
all the way through is that Jesus, he worked for us, that he
works in US. And now Jesus chooses to work
through us for whatever reason. We are his hands and his feet to
accomplish and affect his work in the world today and so see
the ordinary as the possible means through which God's
extraordinary purposes can be accomplished.
Now here's a wonderful thing. Philippians chapter 4 verse 3
speaks of Paul writing of fellow workers and he says this whose
names are in the book of life. It's like a heavenly Nehemiah
chapter 3 up there in God's throne room listing of faithful
acts conducted in the service of the Lord and the Book of
Revelation echoes this Revelation 20 verse 12 and 21
verse 27 Speaking of books being opened and of the promise of
rewards, not for salvation that's by grace, but for service
of the work done. So you and I, at some point in
time in, in the not too distant future, what we read of in the
Scripture, we'll have these books opened and we will see our
names recorded, our spouse, our children, our grandchildren, of
the group of people that we, we, we work and serve alongside our
church family. All because we took the ordinary
life and the day to day grind and we placed it in the hands of
an extraordinary guy. We trusted him with the results
and the usage of that for his glory.
So tomorrow, I don't know what you've got ahead of you.
I don't know what lies ahead of this week.
And you might be all day just going, oh, Monday.
Go into ordinary week with this knowledge now out of Nehemiah
chapter 3, that God sees that God cares and that God records,
writes it down. And so serve him wholeheartedly
with your head in understanding, your heart inspired, and your
hands active, because who knows, your wall section might spark a
revival of God in some powerful, miraculous, extraordinary way.
That's God's to do his work in and through, if you'll just
trust him in that to work through you.
Let's pray. God, I thank you for this
passage, this chapter tonight and something that upon first
read may before us seems like something to skip over.
But Lord, every word of yours as valuable, as beneficial to us.
And I pray that we've understood that that we've realised that
out of this passage tonight as we've read of people who just
ordinary contributed and work day in day out, faithful to that
task before them of repairing and mending walls.
But of a great city, the city of Jerusalem, a city that was to be
a beacon and a light for you of life lived for your purposes and
honouring you and be a a point of attraction for the worship of
God. And ultimately the place where
Jesus Messiah would come and live and teach and display your
heart and to communicate your truth and and die for our sins.
Rise again three days later and the the place, the city where
Jesus you will return and you will rule and reign and, and God
you will accomplish the extraordinary in and through
what these ordinary folk did in the ordinary work before them.
And God, who knows what you have in store for our lives, we just
faithfully commit to serving and honouring you in what may seem
boring, mundane, ordinary, to trust you with the results of
our labour. So may we serve you, may we
bless you, may we bless others, This we pray in Jesus name,
Amen.