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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Passion Project - A Vision Expedition - Faith in Action
In this second message from The Passion Project, Pastor Scott Wiens reveals how Nehemiah’s story offers a practical roadmap for anyone responding to a burning passion from God. Drawing on Ephesians 2:10, Scott emphasizes that every person is designed for particular good works, tailored to their gifts and circumstances. Nehemiah’s decision to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls demonstrates five vital lessons about transforming divine calling into real-life results.
First, it takes courage to move forward in faith. Nehemiah risked his position by approaching King Artaxerxes—yet God’s sovereignty and perfect timing turned that gamble into an incredible opportunity. Scott compares this to biblical figures like Moses, Paul, and Joshua, all of whom had to leave comfort zones to fulfill God’s purposes. Second, passionate faith must be paired with an actionable plan. While God orchestrates the outcome, Nehemiah still requested timber, letters for safe travel, and other logistics, showing that responsible preparation undergirds successful ministry.
Third, obstacles are nearly inevitable when doing significant work for God. From spiritual attacks to criticism, faithful individuals often face headwinds meant to stall progress. Instead of giving up, Nehemiah stood firm, modeling how to resist negativity and rely on the Lord’s protection. Fourth, wise discernment keeps faith-driven efforts from becoming reckless. By scouting the city at night and guarding his intentions until the right moment, Nehemiah balanced passion with prudence. Scott highlights Matthew 10:16, where Jesus calls His followers to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves—an apt lens through which to view Nehemiah’s method.
Finally, compelling communication unites people around a shared vision. Nehemiah rallied the inhabitants of Jerusalem by clearly stating the need, pointing to God’s provision, and explaining how their cooperation would spark renewal. Much the same way, believers today can inspire unity and action by casting a clear vision that others can embrace. When individuals link arms in faith, the results can transcend personal limitations and bring about genuine transformation.
Scott’s reflection on Nehemiah urges everyone to see that responding to God’s call is not just about momentary zeal; it’s a journey blending belief, courage, and organized effort. Whether you sense a divine nudge to launch a new ministry, influence your workplace, or encourage a friend, the narrative of rebuilding Jerusalem speaks volumes. This kind of faith in action can tear down barriers, lift up communities, and shine a light on God’s faithfulness. As you listen, consider where you might apply Nehemiah’s example, trusting that God can turn any risk into a testimony of His power and grace.
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I got a question for you have you ever felt that God's calling you to do something? I mean, he's giving you a burning passion to do something. Maybe it's a move. I know when God called my wife and I to move up here nine years ago, it was definitely a call. It was a passion that was driven more than just the beautiful area of Knoxville, but there was a reason we needed to move. Maybe it's a new job. Maybe it's a change in your career. Maybe it's to join a ministry. Maybe it's to start a community group. Maybe it's to join a community group.
Scott Wiens:There are times in our lives that God's going to place within us a strong desire to move in a certain direction, and how much we all know it's for his glory. Right, that's when he gives us this passion. There's an interesting scripture in Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 10, that says for we are his workmanship. Notice there's a possession here his. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. If we take that scripture for face value, that means that God has prepared for you and me things that he wanted us to do and wants us to do, and is going to empower us and anoint us to do all for His glory. And when he calls us and makes us followers of Jesus Christ, we just have to realize that that's part of the package. He's going to call us to do things. There are very few Christians that sit on the bench. We're not called to sit on the bench, but following His leading can be difficult at times, right, we know that. But there's nothing more sweet than being where God wants you to be, regardless of how difficult it is. Enter Nehemiah Last week we began a sermon series, as Tyler mentioned, on the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, and we've called it the Passion Project.
Scott Wiens:And the more I've thought about this name, the more I love it, because, truly, god ignited a passion deep inside of Nehemiah to do something very, very difficult. Kelly, kicked off this series, did a great job. He titled his first sermon A Plea for Divine Help, and it was great because the first chapter of Nehemiah, divine help. And it was great because the first chapter of Nehemiah, the majority of it, is recorded in Nehemiah's prayer to God, and it was wonderful. He also gave us a little bit of a backdrop into Nehemiah. I'm going to do a little bit more of that today too, just in case you miss that. And, by the way, if you miss a sermon, I really highly recommend you go back, and especially a sermon that started everything off, because it really sets the tone for everything else. So, if you missed the sermon, put up your hand. No, I'm just kidding, we already know that. We know everything. But seriously, I really recommend that you watch it or listen to it online, because it would set up a lot of. It was just a great setting for the whole message going forward, the whole series.
Scott Wiens:Well, we're going to pick up the story in Nehemiah, chapter 2, and we're going to read about Nehemiah's conversation with King Artaxerxes, right, and then we're going to read about him going to Jerusalem. We're going to read about him examining the wall, running into some opposition and then rallying the people to begin the process of building the wall. And I've entitled this a vision expedition faith in action. Faith in action Because within this chapter, we're going to see five lessons about faith and action that's played out by Nehemiah himself. And I am telling you and I told this to the prayer group before the prayer team I said you know, it's almost cheating when you read a chapter like this. It's like that's the sermon, the whole. It was just right there and these are just beautiful points, and my prayer is that these lessons are going to encourage all of us as we follow the calling God has given us.
Scott Wiens:So you guys ready for this? Well, let's do it. I'm going to give you a little bit more historical setting to this, just in case you missed some of the stuff that was covered by Kelly last week, because it's really important that you wrap your head around where we're at and what's going on. So the whole setting is the kingdom, of course, of Persia and, as we know from Kelly, we've got a slave, nehemiah, who's a slave to King Artaxerxes. Jerusalem, by the way, had fallen to Babylon almost 160 years earlier, in 606. And we have a little timeline up here for you to look at that.
Scott Wiens:And, of course, when a conquering nation would conquer another nation, they would take a lot of them back into their country, into their nation. Why, well, they wanted to acculturate them, they wanted to make them part of us. We want to turn them into basically our own citizens. We want to turn them into basically our own citizens. But, of course, they were captives, they were called exiles. Well, the Babylonian kingdom fell to Persia around the reign of King Cyrus in 539 BC. And now the exiles were transferred from Babylonian exiles and now they're Persian exiles. Right so you're a slave, doesn't matter who you're exiles right so you're a slave, doesn't matter who, you're serving somebody, right? Soon afterwards, though, in 536, the Persian king Cyrus decreed that a portion of the exiles could go back to Jerusalem, and this, by the way, is all documented in Ezra, the book of Ezra.
Scott Wiens:20 years after that first group was sent back, the rebuilding of the temple was completed. That was in 516. And now we're picking up about 58 years after that. We are now here with Nehemiah. Now, nehemiah, born in captivity. He'd never been to Jerusalem. That's important, by the way, because, you might like, we went to Australia with our oldest daughter when she graduated, or, excuse me, new Zealand. We went to New Zealand. I've been to New Zealand. I want to go back. It's a burning passion for me, although the plane trip down, that's not a burning passion for me. But it was beautiful, right, but he'd never been there. But it was beautiful, right, but he'd never been there. He'd never been there before, right, but he had this burning passion to go.
Scott Wiens:He was born in captivity but, by the way, he was probably a pretty intelligent person, he was probably pretty smart. He might have been pretty good looking, and you want to know why. I know that and I wrote this in my notes, because the king doesn't surround himself with doofuses. Can I say doofus from stage? It's okay. No, it was really typically something that kings would do is they would surround themselves with the highly intelligent, the comely very beautiful people from the ones that he'd taken exile. Daniel was a great example of that right. We read that as, for example, goes. He was the king's cupbearer and he had an unusually close relationship with the king himself and we're going to talk about that.
Scott Wiens:He was obviously very burdened when this delegation came back from Jerusalem, told him what was happening and the walls were broken down. But it wasn't just the walls that were broken down. The spirit in the hearts of the people that were there that had come back, that was broken as well. And he just got this burden on him. He just felt so burdened. I'm sure those same people told a lot of other people, but for some reason Nehemiah was burdened and we know the reason. Of course, god put that in him. He praised that very passionate prayer again. Wonderful message last week and God gave him this burden to go back and rebuild the wall.
Scott Wiens:So with that as a background, let's jump into Nehemiah 2 and let's understand and see these five lessons of walking in faith and faith in action. So let's start in verse 1 of Nehemiah 2. In the month of Nisan, by the way, it's Nissan. It's not Nissan. That's about March or April, by the way, of our calendar. It's funny. I remember I first read that it's like it's missing an S.
Scott Wiens:In the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him remember he was the cupbearer I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence and the king said to me why is your face sad? Seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart. Then I was very much afraid. Now you might say what's going on here? Isn't it kind of strange that a pagan king cares about a slave? I mean, think about it.
Scott Wiens:The more I read this, the more I thought this was a really unusual relationship. But do you remember? A lot of times, from here we talk about God's sovereignty, from here we talk about God's sovereignty. Do you not think that God sovereignly placed within our exerces a connection with Nehemiah, because he knew what he was going to call Nehemiah to do? So there was this deep relationship here which is he could. Literally, nehemiah didn't say anything, he just saw that something was different in Nehemiah's countenance. If you've been married for any length of time, your wife might come up to you and go what's wrong? Nothing. Usually it's the other way around. I understand that, because they can read our face right, they know they can see something's not right, what's going on.
Scott Wiens:Well, that's what King Artaxerxes did. So he really somehow had a deep relationship with Nehemiah. That was pretty special. And Nehemiah, he said, I was very much afraid. Why? Why would he be afraid? Why, why would he be afraid? Well, I'll tell you why he's afraid Because he had a burden and he had a passion, and now he had an opportunity and it was risky, it was very risky. Do you realize that Artaxerxes could do? You're gone that quick? He had the power to put him to death. He had the power to take this vision and this mission that God had given him and to crush it.
Scott Wiens:And that really leads to our first lesson of faith, and that is, taking a step of faith often means you're going to take a risk. You're going to take a risk. Slaves don't ask their masters for favors, especially big favors. Nehemiah knew what he was called to do, but he also knew that he had a risk that he was going to have to take. And he took it. And that's really the application. The application is so obvious for us. When God gives you a passion for something and calls you to step up and face faith, it almost always means you have to take a risk. How many people here can put their hand up and say amen to that? Yeah, there's a risk.
Scott Wiens:Think about the Bible and just think about some of the examples. Moses he's out there. He's got a nice flock of sheep, he's got a nice wife, he's got a good father-in-law. He's doing great Burning bush Come on, by the way, take your sandals off. By the way, I want to send you to the king of Egypt and you need to ask him to release his entire workforce. Yeah, risky, yeah, maybe right. How about Abraham? He was told to leave his whole homeland to go. How about the disciples? The chosen is really interesting when you see them. It's interesting how they portray people being called and it's just like drop the nets and go. There was a risk involved.
Scott Wiens:The apostle Paul was the one that really hit me here. He is the champion of the ruling religious class, the Pharisees. He was their champion, he was the one that went out there, he was the equalizer and all of a sudden he's now their mortal enemy and they're trying to kill him. It's a risk. I think of even Tyler and Amy. When you guys came up here you've told the story before they felt that God was bringing them up here. No job, he's pastoring, no job. He just came and served the church. He trusted God because he knew the burden God had given him and he came. It was a risk. I'm sure you had lots of conversations about that before that happened, but God is there.
Scott Wiens:One of the most encouraging passages about someone who was called to take a huge step of faith is found in Joshua, chapter 1. Most of you know, of course, joshua was called to lead the people into the promised land, these wonderfully cooperative Israelites into the promised land, these wonderfully cooperative Israelites into the promised land. And, by the way, he knew it was going to be a very dangerous and a very bloody task. He was going to be outnumbered almost always, sometimes multiple times over. But listen to what God said to Joshua. It's so encouraging.
Scott Wiens:In verse 5 of chapter 1, god says no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so will I be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. You might say, well, yeah, but God never told me that. Well, a lot of times he does, and he does through validating the calling that you've got in many different ways. If God's given you a passion and a burden that requires you to take a step of faith, it will almost always be accompanied by risks. However, you must understand if he calls you to it, he's going to take you through it, because it's not for your glory, it's for his All. Right, let's keep going.
Scott Wiens:Verse four and the king said to me what are you requesting, knees shaking, what are you requesting? And I love what it says. So I prayed to the God of heaven. This was probably one of those really quiet prayers, you know, like when your child first comes and he says where do babies come from? Oh God, please give me the strength and give me the right words. Or when you run across somebody, like the other day, somebody confronted me about something, about my beliefs, and it was a little bit tricky, and I literally just I took a breath and no, I'm saying God, give me the right words to say to this person. You have all said that type of a prayer, short, to the point. God heard. Well, that's what he did here.
Scott Wiens:And I said to the king if it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's graves, that I might rebuild it. And the king said to me the queen sitting next to him. You ever wonder why that was about. Why would they say the queen was sitting next to him? Maybe the queen liked him too. Maybe the queen was like come on, let the guy go. I don't know. It was just interesting. How long will you be gone and when will you return? Because somebody's got to drink wine for me, right? So it pleased the king to send me when I'd given him a time. I always wondered what time did he give him. You know, remember that wall was built in a pretty short time. Maybe he had to hit that deadline. And I said to the king if it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river which is beyond the river Euphrates, by the way, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he might give me lumber to make beams for the gates of the fortress, of the temple and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall occupy. And the king granted me what I asked for the good hand of my God was on me.
Scott Wiens:We see the second lesson of faith here, and that faith in action often requires having a plan. And Kelly preached that sermon last week about all the prayer. Okay, think about this. You think all that prayer that he was praying was just the prayer. I think God was not only answering his prayer and giving him a vision. I think God was giving him a plan. Have you ever been praying something and you just feel like God's telling you to do this? Oh, come on God.
Scott Wiens:No, literally, I'm almost positive that he had already planned this out, because he very succinctly told Artaxerxes what he wanted. I always laugh when I think about the story of Abraham trying to stop the God from destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. Right, and he keeps saying, well, what if there's 50? What if there's 25? But literally he was pushing the limits. But there were limits God had given him. He had a plan. He knew what he was going to need. He knew he was going to need the written approval from Artaxerxes or it wouldn't work. He knew he was going to need materials to build this wall and the gates especially. In fact, he says specifically I need access to the forest and I need wood, and we all know what the price of wood is. Right, but he knew all this and he asked for it. He had a plan and plans are important.
Scott Wiens:And I will tell you, from an application standpoint, a lot of people and I've been kicking around the kingdom for a while there's a lot of people that God gives them a passion and they love what. They just feel this is what God wants me to do and they just start running and I applaud them for running. But a lot of times they run into walls because they forget that sometimes you have to plan to carry out the mission that God's given you. He's given us good brains, he's given us the ability to think, and we know he's going to give us the ability and tell us how we're going to go about doing that. If God's calling you to teach, okay. If anybody here is feeling that God's calling you to teach, that means you first must learn right. If God's calling you to lead, then you need to learn how to lead. But so many times we just want to do it. Well, I just feel God's calling me to the ministry. So where do I get ordained? Oh, wait a second. It doesn't work that way. Well, it does sometimes, and then that's usually a disaster. It doesn't work that way. Well, it does sometimes, and then that's usually a disaster. You follow where I'm going with this. You need to prepare yourself. He was prepared for Artaxerxes to say yes, and he knew exactly what to say and what to ask for.
Scott Wiens:I think of the early church when it comes to this. When I was just preparing this, I thought about when they encountered the issue with the widows. You remember that the widows were being neglected. The church was growing just astronomically and some of the widows weren't being neglected. Some were, and it was all this stuff. So what did the apostles do? They came up with a plan. I'm sure they prayed about it, but they came up with a plan. I'm sure they prayed about it, but they came up with a plan. And the plan, by the way, the creation of a deaconship is still happening today. It happens in our church. They came up with a plan and they followed the plan. They didn't just say God, please take care of those widows, they took action. They had a plan and it's really important. Now I will tell you that our plans should always be subject to God and his adjustment and realignment. Sometimes our plans are somewhat humorous to God.
Scott Wiens:And I came across this clip and I just want to show you. It's a clip from the Chosen, but it's got a little bit of a twist. So watch the screen really carefully, we'll see. Show me Impressive. That is something. But there's something didn't see that coming. I love that clip.
Scott Wiens:This was Simon the zealot. I should have set this up. This was Simon the Zealot. I should have set this up. This was Simon the Zealot. He had just begun following Jesus and he thought he was called to be Jesus' bodyguard, and so he proudly said look at this knife and you saw what happened. So, yeah, sometimes God says, yeah, nice, try, but we're going to try this again and we're going to, and that's okay, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't plan. Right, god's going to fine-tune that plan and sometimes he'll throw them away and give you another one, but he's going to guide us in that.
Scott Wiens:All right, let's move on to the third point Nehemiah, chapter 2, verse 9. Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river. So he's gotten everything he needs. Now he's already left, so there's a big space and time here, right, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent me with the officers of the army and horsemen which was, by the way, that was like an armed guard. That's pretty cool. He had his own secret service, it looks like.
Scott Wiens:But when Sanballat? I have never run across a child named Sanballat. We have a lot of women pregnant in here. You want Sanballat, maybe no, okay, maybe not. The name always cracks me up every time I heard it. Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this. It displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.
Scott Wiens:In this section we see the third lesson, and that is faith in action will almost always encounter opposition. The reason I'm hearing amens is because they've been through that. Sanballat and Tobiah were regional governors serving the Persian empire. Remember this it's a vassal state, right, everybody was working for the boss, right, sanballat was a governor of Samaria and they think Tobiah was. He was an Ammonite. He was probably the governor of an area east of the Jordan River. So these were pretty high officials, even though they were slaves. They were. They were conquered people. Why were they against this? Well, there's a reason why they were identified as an Ammonite and a Horonite Because these were conquered people. These were people that Israel had conquered when they took over the promised land. I think I understand why they don't like Israel.
Scott Wiens:It was pretty apparent why they didn't like him. It was in their best interest to keep the Jews from unifying, as they knew that the building of the wall would essentially be a huge step towards the Jews regaining their identity as a people. They knew this. By the way, if you ever wonder, why did Artaxerxes let them go back and build a wall? Well, remember who occupied Jerusalem the Persians. If they want to go, build the wall for the Persians, so the Persians can protect their you know their space. Sure, go ahead. So it's not like Artaxerxes was worried about them, you know rebelling or anything although you'll hear later on that that's something that Tobiah tried to and Sanballat tried to accuse them of. Right. But if the Jews were strengthened, these people would be weakened, and you're going to see these guys throughout the rest of the book because they're going to constantly try to come against them.
Scott Wiens:The application is pretty straightforward when you think about this. When God places a passion in us to do something for him, that means it's something opposite for Satan, and Satan will not be happy. He will not be happy. How many of you have ever heard the name William Booth? William Booth? Well, william Booth founded the Salvation Army back in England in 1877. Salvation Army does a lot of great things. My mother, by the way, who's in her late 80s, still serves at the Salvation Army in our little town in Saskatchewan. She used her walker because she had a hip replacement. The shelves aren't right. Unless my mother gets a hold of them, she sets it all up. But they do wonderful things and they've been going ever since.
Scott Wiens:But did you know that when he started the Salvation Army, there was a huge opposition from I mean from the press, from the government, from the clergy. They wrote terrible things about him because he had a different way of spreading the gospel and it was offensive to some of these people who said, no, it's supposed to be done this way. And he had a son, by the way, named Bramwell. Now there's another idea for name Bramwell. You don't hear enough Bramwells out there. Well, his son's name is Bramwell. And his son came to him one time and said Dad, what do you think about all the stuff they write about you? And this is what he said. I thought this was so wise. He said Bramwell, 50 years hence.
Scott Wiens:It will matter very little indeed how these people treated us. It will matter a great deal how we dealt with the work of God. It will matter a great deal how we dealt with the work of God. When you face opposition, realize that it's just opposition. God's the one behind you. Push forward.
Scott Wiens:In 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 17 through 18, this is what we read. But we brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while in person, not in spirit, we're all the more eager, with great desire to see your face, for we wanted to come to you, I Paul, more than once. Yet Satan hindered us. This is a chorus that would be echoed time and time and time and time and time again till today, and it's still going to be echoed. Satan will hinder you from doing God's work. He will do anything he can, but what he doesn't understand and he's supposed to be so clever, he just doesn't understand that. That just makes us stronger.
Scott Wiens:You want to know where the church is really growing. It's the place where it's persecuted. It's persecuted. Satan is a defeated foe, but he will not go quietly into his fate. If you're truly doing something that God has called you to do, you almost always will be attacked by the enemy. But we're told through Scripture and a lot of you know these scriptures we're supposed to resist those attacks. We put on the armor of God to protect us from that and we don't lose sight of what God's called us to do. Expect it.
Scott Wiens:This is the thing that really blows me away sometimes is when someone says this is the thing that really blows me away sometimes is when someone says man, I started doing this ministry and it's just not going well. I'm like good. They're like what I said. That's good, because Satan's coming after you Now. It doesn't mean that sometimes you don't. Maybe it's your own fault, you're doing something wrong, but you get the idea. This morning it was funny. I came in here all ready for this sermon. We have electrical issues in the place, these lights are out, these lights are out and all this and we're going back and forth. And I kind of stopped with the guys we were back in there. I said you know what? With the guys we were back in there, I said you know what? God's the master, electrician, let's just pray and we're having church Opposition's going to come, but you just keep your focus. Alright, let's move to point four. We're going to read five verses here, beginning in verse 11.
Scott Wiens:So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me, and I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. I went out by night by the valley gate to the dragon spring and to the dung gate. Wouldn't want a house by the dung gate, would you? And I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. Then I went to the fountain gate and to the king's pool and there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass and it means the debris was so bad he couldn't even get over. Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall and I turned back and entered by the valley gate and so returned and the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials and the rest who were to do the work, meaning I didn't tell the people that were going to be doing all this work what we were going to be doing. It was kind of funny. I didn't tell the people that were going to be doing all this work what we were going to be doing. It was kind of funny.
Scott Wiens:We can see that Nehemiah is exhibiting the fourth lesson of faith in action, and that is wisdom, wisdom. You can have a plan, you can take the risk, but you have to have the wisdom to move forward in that, isn't it interesting. Here's this man with all this passion. He gets to Jerusalem. Man, my bag wouldn't have even hit my bed and I'd be going out looking at that wall and making my plans. He spent three days doing nothing.
Scott Wiens:I really think what he was trying to do is just keep a low profile. He was just laying low Because obviously you know Sanballat Tobiah they were after him already. He just let things lay low. He did his inspection at night so no one would see him, and he only went to a certain portion of the wall, by the way, and this was the area closest to the temple, and so he was probably just looking at that area specifically. But he only took three people with him, didn't want to bring a lot of attention to him. He was using wisdom when fulfilling what God had called him to do, and the application is pretty straightforward for us.
Scott Wiens:When God's called you to do something, yeah, you make your plans. Yeah, you take the risk. Yeah, you take the risk. Yeah, you realize there's going to be opposition, but you should do this with wisdom, and wisdom sometimes can come directly from God. Sometimes God's going to give somebody else that wisdom. I love when I hear people this has happened before somebody come to me and I'm planning to do this and I start asking the questions and they've already thought it through. They've gotten counsel from people. They have a plan and, even though God might change it, they have a plan. They're using their smarts, they're using their brains and that's what's so important. You know, when Jesus says in Matthew 10, 16, to be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves, that wise part is really important. A lot of times we just want to be harmless, but we need to be wise and smart. Use our noodle. God's given it to us. Let's use wisdom. When we do this, let's get to our final point. We're going to pick it up in verse 17.
Scott Wiens:Then I said to them now, this is the big reveal. Now he's talking to them. Which are all those people he mentioned before here, the whole list, I think it was. Let's see the nobles, the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, the rest of them that were doing the work. So he says this to all of them you see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins, with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision. And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also the words that the king had spoken to me and they said. They said let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. This is so cool work. This is so cool.
Scott Wiens:The final lesson about faith in action is that faith in action means we must communicate to others the vision God has given us, and we must communicate it effectively. How did Nehemiah do this? You can't miss this. He does this so strategically, he said. Then I said to them you see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Excuse me, nehemiah, these people have been walking past these rubble and these burned gates for decades. It was this way for decades. He's pointing out the obvious. It's like duh, we see that already. But no, he's pointing it out for a reason, because he's saying this is what it looks like. It cannot stay this way.
Scott Wiens:You see, sometimes have you ever done this, where you run into somebody, you're working with somebody, and they are mired in a sin so deep that they can't even see it anymore and they need to be given a vision? Sometimes it's the church. Sometimes you're working with people and there's a problem and you got a church and it's like we need to wait. There's a need that we haven't been meeting. We need to do this. There's a need that we haven't been meeting, we need to do this. And so he was showing them this. It was beautiful.
Scott Wiens:He said come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision.
Scott Wiens:This is really important. He says come, come means join me, join me in this task. He's calling them to action. Remember, he's already started the action. He's calling them to join him with this. And he gives them two really solid proofs, which I find is really really powerful. He says they no longer suffer derision by the way, derision when you think about that word. See, they lost a lot of their national identity. Now their temple got rebuilt, but when you come over the hill and there's Jerusalem, all these walls broken down, people, you know it's not good. And so he says to them and I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also the words that the king had spoken to me and they said let us rise and build.
Scott Wiens:He gives them two solid proofs. Number one he says God has told me to do this. And you might say, yes, god. I've had a lot of people tell me God told me to do this. And you might say, yeah, Scott, I've had a lot of people tell me God told me to do this. But then he proves that God told him to do that because the king of Persia has given him the double thumbs up and said he'll fund it. See, he didn't skip that. And, by the way, just to show you how smart Sanballat and Tobiah were or not, don't name them that, by the way. They're not very smart people. They literally their first thing is to say are you rebelling against Artaxerxes? He already insulated them from that argument by saying Artaxerxes has our back and he's told us to do this.
Scott Wiens:He was casting a vision. It was so powerful. Nehemiah's ability to communicate his passion and vision caused both of those things to be transferred to the people. You want people to follow you in something that God has called you to do. You have to cast a vision and share that passion, and then they have to embrace it themselves.
Scott Wiens:Now you might say well, scott, I'm just not charismatic. There are some people out there. They just got this charisma, man. They can just cause people. I understand that there are some people that just naturally gravitate towards them. We get that, we understand that, we understand that. But that doesn't mean that you can't do something great for the Lord, because remember, in the end it's God. If God's behind it, I don't care how gregarious you are.
Scott Wiens:You know what the strength finder is one of the things called a woo winning others over, right? Well, god gives some people that gift to do that. But don't just say, well, I'm not a woo, I'm not a woo, so I really can't do that. No, you can share that passion, you know, I don't know if Brad Martell's not here, he's probably out, he's in the children's ministry. Yeah, that's typical of Brad. Brad Martell works for the Centers for Bioethical Reform and they go to campuses and they expose what abortion really is and, believe me, the pushback he gets is great.
Scott Wiens:Now, brad's kind of a low-key guy. He's not somebody that you would. He's not up there banging the drum all the time. But God gave him a passion and it's I'm telling you it's addictive. I mean to see what he believes in what he believes and what he's doing about it faith in action. By the way, they get opposed all the time. People scream at them, call them all kinds of names whatever, but yet he shows love to people and he does that constantly. Yet he's not what you would call a traditional woo, so you can't use that as an excuse.
Scott Wiens:If God's given you a passion to do something, he's going to give you the ability to communicate that and he's going to be the one to strengthen you and to bring people to support that. And, by the way, I don't care if it's a simple you're doing a community group. I don't care if it's something like that. I don't care if it's just even something like making the move, or maybe you're doing a community project of some kind, or whatever it is. God's going to give you the ability to communicate that. But again, you have to do your homework. You got to have a plan. There's nothing worse than someone sending up. I'd like for all to help me do this. Well, what's the plan? I don't know. I just got passion, you know. So you see how you can't skip any of these steps. Y'all they have to come together, do it together. So what's ironic about today is that we're starting the community groups for this semester and you know, out there you've got people some of them were doing a community group for the first time, and these principles right here are really things that they can apply right now. But what they did is they took faith and they took action. God called them to do something and they're going to do that and they're following through.
Scott Wiens:And to me, I think this chapter is just such a wonderful example of what faith and action should be. God gave Nehemiah the burning passion to rebuild the wall, and this example of faith and action is just such a testament that can apply. It's timeless, it's timeless. Faith and action is just such a testament that can apply. It's timeless, it's timeless. Faith and action is going to involve risk.
Scott Wiens:Faith and action is going to require you to plan. Faith and action means you're going to probably encounter opposition. Faith and action means you need to use wisdom which, by the way, god will give you and faith and action means we need to communicate that vision that God's given us with others. Now, up until now, I've been addressing you individually in something God may have given you individually, but let me just say this Jesus gave us all a passion for one thing that is the most important thing, and that is to go to all the nations preaching the gospel, and these principles are going to apply to that too. It's okay to plan that, it's okay to think about things, use wisdom, express that vision in multiple ways, but we have all been called to do that. So, whether you're starting a ministry or you're doing something big like that, or whether you are just trying to figure out how God's going to lead you to share your faith with a coworker, these principles that Nehemiah has laid out are really effective for us. Can you all stand to your feet and we'll pray, heavenly Father?
Scott Wiens:Heavenly Father, I am always humbled by the fact that this ancient book that you've given us is so applicable to us today. It's timeless and, father, the preservation of it is a miracle oven by itself. We thank you for the fact that the story of Nehemiah is something that was preserved for us. And, father, we know that you didn't call anybody to sit on a bench. You called each one of us to serve you in different ways.
Scott Wiens:Father, forgive us for the times when we haven't listened to you or we haven't taken up the passion that you gave us, that we were supposed to pick up. Father, we repent of that. Lord, we ask that we would be obedient and that you would speak to us. And, god, we're going to make a promise to you, and that is if you give us the passion, we're going to take the step forward. We'll take the risk, father. We'll prayerfully put together the plan. We will walk through the opposition with your strength. We will use wisdom, father, and we will communicate that with others. Lord, give us the strength to do that, and we know that we will be so much more effective for your kingdom. And may your kingdom come soon, lord, and we pray this and we thank you for it all In the precious name of the one who set the example for faith and action, jesus Christ, our Savior, amen. Thank you, be blessed.
