Jon Melander- Leading the Way

Good morning, guys. Man, God bless you, and we love you, and we just want to say hello from Y Fellowship Church in McKinney, Texas, through the Pando app onto your tablets, and over 2 million tablets across the country. What an honor and a blessing to be able to do that, man. We just feel so blessed to have you as part of our church family, and I'm telling you, if you're anywhere near the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex when you get out, even if you don't live here, man, come visit us, because we want to meet you, and we want to introduce you to everyone, and we want to, you basically get treated like a celebrity around here if you come and visit us. You can't miss me. I'm at all the services. Would love to meet you. Would love to meet you. My name is Logan Williams. My TDC number was 1490218. I got four numbers after that. I went round and round and round in the system like many of us do. Most of you, this is not the first time you've been locked up. It's just so easy to just get sucked back in that cycle. I know. I know, and I know the frustration, but I'm telling you, I want to encourage you today that anything is possible with God. When you give him your yes, man, he can take that, and you can have a life that you wouldn't even fathom or imagine you could possibly have, and have purpose on your life. Have purpose. August 11th of 2021, man, I laid down all the drugs. I walked out of that hotel room. I gave my life to the Lord, and if you would have asked me on that day, if you would have given me a blank slate and said, hey man, write the perfect life, man, I would have shortchanged myself. I mean, I would have just asked for a bunch of money and a business, a house. Man, I would have no purpose on my life. I would have no calling on my life. I want to tell you that there's nothing better than being used by God. There's not a drug out there. There's not a shot of dope that can touch being used by God. There's not a pile of money that can buy a material thing that can touch being used by God, and this is my heart and my hope for you, man, for everyone that's incarcerated, is man, it is not over. It is not too late. God wants to use you right where you're at. God wants to take those of you with little numbers. He wants to use you. He wants to form you. He wants to shape you. He wants to mold you into an instrument, and then when you hit the streets, He wants to send you out, because guys, we need you. We need people that struggled with drugs. We need people that struggled with violence. We need people that struggled with all of these things, man, to overcome that and come back out. The world needs you guys. The world needs you, and those of you with big numbers, He wants to use

you right where you're at. He wants to use you to pour into the guys with the little numbers. Yeah, you might not ever see the gate, but you will send out Timothy after Timothy after Timothy after Timothy, and that will be your legacy. God wants to use you, and it's still the same feeling. It's still the same awesomeness. I just want to encourage you. I don't care if you're in the county jail trying to figure out how much time you're going to get, or if you are sitting down on the maximum security unit on ad seg with a 50-year sentence. It does not matter. God wants to use you right where you're at. I just implore you to get all in with Him. I implore you to take this time and get all in with Him. Just real quick, I was reading Proverbs 22 today, because it's the 22nd day of the month. It's a good practice to read a proverb a day. There's 31 of them, so it fits with every day of the month. There's just something that stood out to me in verse two. It's simple. It's a simple verse. It says, the rich and the poor have this in common, the Lord made them both. Listen, man, the good and the bad, God made them both. The up and the down, God made them both. The shiny and the dull, God made them both. God's got everything in the palm of His hand. I know we sometimes think that we have some control over some things, or we sometimes think that we can affect the outcomes of some things if we just maneuver and manipulate and do it whatever way that we've been doing it, or maybe even try a new way. God, the message I want to give you today is, God is in control of everything. He made everything. He's directing everything. And I know you might ask, well, how could God be in control of that? What kind of God would Do that. Listen, man, his ways are higher than our ways. I don't understand why bad things happen to good people on planet Earth, but one day we're gonna know. One day we're gonna be like, oh, because his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He's in control of everything. Man, just relax in that, rest in that. Jesus said, take my yoke upon you. My yoke is easy, my burden is light.

This will help you do that, knowing that God's got everything. And so I just wanna tell you guys, man, that we love you at Life Fellowship Church. I personally want nothing more than for you to get set on fire by God, get out and just make much of his name, enlarge his kingdom, save people, become an evangelist, become a pastor, become a preacher, become a businessman maybe, that God can use to enlarge his kingdom, whatever it is. Man, if you get all in with him, all of you, not just 90% of you, but all of you, man, you don't have to worry about any of the stuff that you guys are worrying about. You don't have to worry about, where am I gonna get a job? Where am I gonna live? What am I gonna do? He's got that, man, and it's gonna be even better if you could write on a blank canvas your life, you would have shortchanged yourself. That's my experience, I love you guys. Father, I just lift up all the men and women that are listening, I thank you. I thank you that you're drawing them to yourself. God, your word says that no one comes to the Father unless he is drawn, and God, I thank you that if they're watching this video today,

man, you're after them, you're drawing them. You have left 99 to go and find them. And God, I praise your name for that. I thank you for that. I pray that just revelation would happen. I pray that just a revelation and the knowledge of Christ would happen to all of those who are watching this video and seeking you in prayer right now. God, I pray that they would seek you even more in prayer. God, I pray that you would just give us all, man, a bigger measure of faith, a bigger measure of belief, a bigger measure of prayer. God, a bigger hunger for your word. God, I pray that you would bless their families while they're gone, and that the seeds that are planted from the message they're about to watch would land on fertile soil, and that you would make the increase. So God, we love you, and we bless you, and we thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. Whose house? God's house. Let's give him some praise. Amen! I believe that the Lord had a little time to sit with you before he left. He had a little time to come to his house and pray to you about things of fraud and running away. God, I pray that I may continue to set a part in your life.

I harvest the fruit of sin and bitterness, adoring God the father. God, I pray that you never hear of me since your quarrels over the land which I have taken, nor the pain of death which befalls me. It's so good to see all this morning. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. Y'all can stand to your feet and join us for worship. Come on, let's go. Put your hands together like this. We praise you, Lord God. You're so good, you're so good. Come on. ♪ The Lion of Judah, he's roaring with power ♪ ♪ And fighting our battles ♪ ♪ In every knee we'll bow before him ♪ ♪ Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain ♪ ♪ For the sins of the world, his blood brings the chains ♪ ♪ In every knee we'll bow before the Lion and the Lamb ♪ ♪ Oh, every knee we'll bow before him ♪ ♪ Yeah, we bow before you, Lord, give you all the praise ♪ of the gates, make way before the King of Kings. Yes. A God who comes to save is here to set the captives free. Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah. He roars with power and fighting our battles. And every knee will bow before Him. Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain.

For the sins of the world, His blood breaks the chains. And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb. And every knee will bow before Him. So good, so good. There's no one like you, Jesus. There's no one better. There's no one stronger. Nothing can stop our God. Nothing can stop our God. Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Oh, who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Our God is the light, the light of truth He's roaring with power and fighting on battles In every evil battle before Him Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain Who sits as a world in blood-breaking chains In every evil battle before the Lion and the Lamb In every evil battle before Him We bow before the King We thank the Lord

We praise, we praise you Jesus Jesus we glorify you in this place Lord we come to magnify you this morning God There's no one like you Jesus in the heavens and the earth You're the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords We lift you up this morning There's no one like you Jesus God of Jacob, great I am King of angels, you're the Son of Man You're the voice of many waters, the song of heaven's throne Louder than the thunder, make your glory known We sing hail, hail Lion of Judah Let the lion roar Hill, hill, high enough to the... Come on, sing it! Let the lion roar! Hill, hill, high enough to the... Let the lion roar! Hill, hill, high enough to the... Let the lion roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Pride of Tyre, prophets spoke I'm a sire of flesh and bone For you alone are worthy To walk in numbers grown Born like a lamb, you suffered But the lion has a... Roar!

Hill, hill, high enough to the... Let the lion roar! King Jesus, we send you the word Let the lion roar! Hill, hill, high enough to the... Let the lion roar! Hill, hill, high enough to the... Let the lion roar! We say roar! Roar! King Jesus, roar! We prepare the way for you, Jesus Lift up your head, oh ye gates Open up your everlasting doors For the King of Glory is coming in Come on, I'm a know that the King of Glory is in this place this morning Oh Jesus, we lift you up Jesus, we magnify you Oh, come on, can we prepare the way for the King this morning? Let's sing Prepare the way, prepare the way of the Lord Prepare the way, come on, sing it out Prepare the way, prepare the way of the Lord Prepare the way, prepare the way of the Lord Lift up your head, oh ye gates Open up your everlasting doors Lift up your head, oh ye gates Open up your everlasting doors Oh valley, be raised up Oh mountain, be made low

Oh valley, be raised up Oh mountain, be made low Oh valley, be raised up Oh mountain, be made low Oh valley, be raised up Oh mountain, be made low We say roar, roar, roar King of Glory, roar Hail, hail, hail, hail Light of Judah, let the lion roar King of Glory, roar Let the lion roar Hail, hail, hail, hail Light of Judah, let the lion roar Hail, hail, hail, hail Light of Judah, let the lion roar Oh valley, be raised up Oh mountain, be made low Oh valley, be raised up Oh mountain, be made low Oh valley, be raised up Oh mountain, be made low Oh valley, be raised up Oh mountain, be made low Lift up your head, oh ye gates Open up your everlasting doors Lift up your head, oh ye gates And open up your everlasting doors Here comes the King of Glory Here comes the King of Glory

Here comes the King of Glory We prepare the way, prepare the way Prepare the way, prepare the way of the Lord Here comes the King of Glory So get mighty, mighty in battle Prepare the way, prepare the way Prepare the way, prepare the way We make way for you Jesus We make way for you Lord So we say, Hail, Hail Lion of Judah Let the Lion roar Hail, Hail Lion of Judah Let the Lion roar Hail, Hail Lion of Judah Let the Lion roar Hail, Hail Lion of Judah Let the Lion roar Roar, Jesus, Roar Savior, Roar Healer, Roar Roar in this place, Jesus Would you roar in this place, King of Glory We welcome you, King of Glory We welcome you, King of Kings and Lord of Lords We lift you We lift you He is the King that reigns forevermore He is seated on His throne He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords

Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was slain The Lion and the Lamb He is all of those things And today we hail Him, King Jesus Lord, you are worthy of our praise You are worthy of our adoration You are worthy of our worship Roar, King Thank you for your presence in this place There was a moment when the lights went out When death had claimed its victory The King of Love had given up His life The darkest day in history There on a cross they made for sinners For every curse His blood atoned One final breath and it was finished But not the end we could have known For the earth began to shake And the veil was torn But sacrifice was made As the heavens roared All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Savior of the world All hail King Jesus There was a moment when the sky lit up A flash of light breaking through When all was lost He crossed the turning The King of Love was on the move

For in a time come true When all life was lame One miraculous breath and we're forever changed All hail Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven All hail Jesus All hail the Savior of the world Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven All hail Jesus All hail the Savior of the world All hail the Savior So let every knee Jump out before the King of kings Let every tongue Confess that He is the Lord Please don't be a child Let us join the God of heaven We're singing holy So let every knee Jump out before the King of kings Let every tongue Confess that He is the Lord Please don't be a child Let us join the God of heaven We're singing holy All hail Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven All hail Jesus All hail the Savior of the world

All hail to Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven All hail to Jesus All hail the Savior of the world All hail King Jesus All hail the Savior of the world Not just lyrics in a song But in scripture Philippians 2 Verses 9-11 It says Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place And gave Him the name that is above every name That at the name of Jesus Every knee should bow In heaven And on earth And under the earth And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord To the glory of God the Father All hail King Jesus All hail King Jesus All hail King Jesus All hail King Jesus All hail King Jesus You know I was always praying About spending time with you this morning I couldn't help be reminded Of something that Pastor Matt shared with us Actually last Sunday

and it really spoke to my heart and I wanted to revisit it because he said a lot of great things but this one thing stood out to me and that is it's not a matter of if you worship something it's what you worship we are all worshiping but what are we worshiping are we worshiping our jobs control over our situations power money maybe it's being liked or being affirmed agreed with social media or is it the King of Kings in the Lord of Lords and so on Sunday with this incredible worship team I have no doubt we're worshiping Jesus first but on Monday Tuesday Thursday Friday whatever day of the week it is when you're not in this sanctuary and I'm saying this myself as well are we putting God first are we worshipping him making sure he comes before all of those things that I mentioned or even things that I didn't bring up for he is worthy to be praised seated at the hand of God the Father Almighty he is worthy Heavenly Father we're so grateful you are a good good father you are a good dad on Father's Day you are the best dad ever and you love your children you love all of us sacrificed your one and only son for us thank you Jesus Lord we love you help us to worship you every day not just today but every day of the week when we're in our cars going to work Lord help us to worship and praise you and lift you up when we're spending our time with you in the morning or a noon or night help us to always put you first and Lord as we step into the message today Lord I pray that you would open up our hearts and help us to be sharpened today that Lord you have blessed Pastor John as he speaks to us and and delivers your word Lord and it would speak to us it would resonate it would sharpen us instruct us encourage us lift us up correct us where we need to be corrected but every single person here would be spoken to in some way shape or form we come expectant Lord to hear from you today and we're so grateful to be in your presence in Jesus mighty name amen well welcome to Life Fellowship feel free to take your seats so glad that you're here happy Father's Day there's a few announcements I want to make sure as in honor of dads and granddads we've got a few things outside so first of all we've got free coffee drinks out there and that's for everyone you don't have to be a dad for that so anybody can

partake also for fathers and grandfathers we have a coffee mug out there we'd like to give and honor you so have fun and go grab one of those and then we have a backdrop you can take some photos so if you're with your family or your kiddos to be a great picture time and then last but not least sometimes Father's Day can be hard you're grieving a father a lost father or a grandfather and so we have a grieving wall with some scripture and some prayer so please take one and hopefully that would help come alongside you and comfort you in this difficult time we're so glad that you're here with us today we're gonna have a great word from Pastor John so hopefully you're excited and so before that please draw your attentions to the screens welcome to Life Fellowship Church we are so glad that you're here if this is your first time here text the word new to 510 10 we'd love to help you get connected and show you everything happening around Life Fellowship and what's coming up next if you've been coming for a bit but still feel a little on the outside this is your move life groups are where this church starts to feel smaller and more personal find a group show up and watch what happens if you've said yes to Jesus but haven't been baptized yet this is your next step it's a moment that carries a lot of meaning we'd love to celebrate that with you go ahead and sign up today every time you give you're stepping into something bigger than yourself you're helping create moments where people encounter God where students discover purpose where families find hope and when lives begin to change that's what generosity does it turns simple obedience into lasting impact so today as you give just know that you are part of that story before you grab your seat turn to someone next to you give them a high-five and let's prepare hearts for all God wants to do today. Enjoy the service. Every great journey begins with someone willing to lead the way. A father's influence is often found in the ordinary moments, teaching a child how to ride a bike, showing them how to cast a fishing line, teaching them how to drive, preparing a good meal together, and sharing stories along the way, opening God's Word and reading the Bible side by side, holding their hand through uncertainty, offering encouragement after a hard day,

and sharing the good news. Thank you for leading the way, dads. Happy Father's Day. Come on, let's put it together for all the fathers, grandpas, spiritual fathers out there. My video got cut out of that thing. I don't know why. I took my kids out and we were doing back flips off the bridge into the water. I said, nah, we don't need to put that on here. But man, I'm excited. Before we get started, I just want to look back here and say a big hello to everybody that's watching online, all the men and the women in the correctional facilities. We love you all. Thank you for joining us. This week, we are in a new series called Unshakable. In this, we're going to kind of dissect some different characteristics of what it is to be an unshakable Christian. And so today we're going to dive into the book of Nehemiah. And before we get started with that though, I just want to talk about you fathers in here and how important it is for you guys to be the leaders of your family. I was running through a statistic this week and it said if a child gives their life to the Lord, the family is 20% likely to follow them into church and to become transformed. If a mother gives her life to the Lord, that doubles and goes up to 40% of the families will follow that mother into church and they will be transformed. But if a father gives his life to the Lord, it jumps up to 90% of families will follow them into church and become transformed. That is huge. And that's what excites me about seeing all of you men and all you fathers in here beating your families. In fact, two weeks ago, I was out at the North Campus speaking and I had a lady come up to me and she said, I've been in church for over 50 years and I've never been part of a church where I've seen so many young men leading their families to church. And I said, man, that's one of the greatest compliments somebody could ever get or a pastor could get. That was absolutely phenomenal and really charged me up. So a lot of us, when we think about men, we think about solid foundations, different things. We think about David, the warrior, right? We think about Solomon, the poem, Abraham and his faith, Joseph and the way he was able to forgive or Samuel and his spiritualness that he had. Not too many people think about Nehemiah, but Nehemiah was a mighty warrior who saw a broken people. He saw a broken kingdom and he felt the tug from God to step out and to help them. To help rebuild, to step in as a spiritual leader, to step in and guide the people that had accepted the trash and the junk and the rubble for years. And so what I want to do to start off is I want to ask all of you to stand up.

Come on, join me here. I know it's late. We got some soccer games to hit and stuff like that. We'll jump in. I promise I'll hurry up. All right. So I was watching a few pastors and they would do this every single time. before they started off they would ask everybody to stand up and I was like Lord why do we see these pastors that always ask people to stand up when they do the when they open up the Bible and do the initial reading from Scripture but God is always good to show us why so as I'm studying through Nehemiah I jump into chapter 8 and I see Ezra is asked by the people to step out and to give a reading of the scrolls to the people so what happens verse 5 we see Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people and when they saw him open the book they all rose to their feet this is like rising for the national anthem so we all hear the national anthem get played and what do we do we stand up and we put our hands over our heart Israeli people when the first when their pastor opens up the Bible or opens up a scroll when someone opens up for a reading the very first thing they do is they stand up so that they can honor the Word of God and it says then Ezra praised the Lord the great God and all the people chanted amen and amen as they lifted their hands to the Lord so I'm expecting you guys a little interactive today as well say some amen all right let me pray over you and we'll get started Lord I just want to thank you for each and every single person in here for the anointing that they all carry Lord I just pray that today if anybody came in with any hurts any anguish Lord if any of their walls have been knocked down with their marriage with their relationships Lord that this would be a time of restoration and healing Lord that they would turn and look to the way you work through Nehemiah Lord and how those walls got rebuilt as a path forward Lord I also pray Lord that if any of these words be of me that they would fall to the ground and be null and void but everything that is of you Lord I pray will take root in people's hearts and spur them to action today Lord spur them to transformation today Lord and Jesus mighty name and all God's people said amen and amen go ahead and be seated all right we're gonna kick off in Nehemiah before we do I want to give you

a brief little timeline of what the Israeli state looks like so you have the Babylonians they get taken over by the Persians and Medes in 536 BC the Persian and Medes they reigned for about 200 years and they get taken over by the Greeks in 336 BC and then the Jews in 167 what happens is the Greeks are leading Alexander the Great has taken all this property over it's taking all this territory and he dies and so he turns it over to four generals that it gets split up and tech and Antiochus is the general that gets the province of where Jerusalem is and he is a tyrant he's in there slaughtering lambs inside the temple and doing anything he can to disrupt the Jewish people and so the Jewish people led under a guy named Judas a Maccabees they have this Maccabean Revolt where they go and it's a seven-year battle and where the Jews gain their freedom and they're able to live in freedom for about a hundred years until Rome comes in and takes them over again in 63 BC so right now where we're at with Nehemiah is we are about a hundred years in the reign of the Persians and the Medes when we're opening that so you've had Zachariah you've had Zerubbabel they've they've gone back and they've started building this temple and they're the people are sad about it because it's not what Solomon had built it's not as grander as it but they've they've gone back and they've started the rebuild then Artaxerxes steps in when he gets a letter from the the mayor's down there the government officials and he puts a halt to the building of the walls and now that brings us to Nehemiah where we're at this is roughly about a hundred and forty years after the destruction of the walls and the temple and Nehemiah is a cupbearer so now this is extremely important to know before we start reading cupbearers we think of like a maitre d at a restaurant right hold a little towel over their arm walking around serve you some wine and they step off in the Persians era cupbearers were actually extremely important they had to be well versed in philosophy as well as medical terminology and medical practices in case anything had happened. They also had to be well spoken and the last thing is they had to be good looking. They didn't want the king or the queen to look at anybody who was unsightly. And so you had to

make all those standards and you were around the king and queen all the time and then you had to make sure that you were stoic. You weren't allowed to show emotion when you were in there as well. So knowing that, we start off in verse one, chapter one. These are the memoirs of Nehemiah, son of Hakaliah. In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes reign, I was at the fortress of Susa and one of my brothers came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked him about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going on. So he's talking about Zerubbabel and his movement of Jews that were over there in Israel. They said to me, things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire. Now watch how Nehemiah responds. When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted and prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah's first response is not to just rile people up. His first response is, I'm going to sit down, I'm going to pray, I'm going to fast, I'm going to call out to the Lord. Why would Nehemiah be upset over what's happening in Jerusalem? Well, it says his father was Hakaliah and we see in different manuscripts that that family had spent generations in the Persian empire. So we know he wasn't born in Israel. He was raised in Persia. All he's ever known is Persia. So why is he so upset that stuff is going on in Jerusalem, 900 miles away? I'll tell you what God revealed to me when I was studying this, is I got to sit down with a couple two weeks ago and I was listening to a ministry thing that they do. They pour their heart out for foster kids, kids that nobody else wants. They bring in and they built a ranch out by Fort Worth. What they do is they bring all these kids in, they raise them, they pour into them, they give them godly principles, they feed them, they clothe them, they do everything. When it's one of the kid's birthdays, they let all the other kids go into this room that they have tons of presents and they get to pick out a present to give to that kid so that they can celebrate, so that they can honor, so that they can love each other. And one thing that this foster house does that's completely different than every other one is, is usually when kids turn 18, they're kicked out on the street and they've got to go. In fact, one of the wardens of the prison system told us that the way that they do their projections for the next year is they look at the foster system and see how many kids are going to be turning 18. That's how they do their projections for the foster system. Well, this foster house,

they won't let that slide. When they turn 18, they still allow them to stay there. They help them enroll in school. They help them find jobs. They set up checking accounts. They help them pay their bills. They still feed them. They take care of them because they want them to succeed. And I just got blasted when I heard that emotionally. I'm not a foster kid, never been a foster kid. I don't know what it's like to be in that situation. I had a loving mother and father, but I was still overwhelmed with emotion because of the ministry, because of the love for those people. And that's what Nehemiah is doing right here. He's not there. He wasn't raised there. He's been a person his whole entire life, but he hears the brokenness of the Jewish people, the broken walls, the rubble that's sitting all over the ground, the people are stepping over each and every single day. And he says, my heart breaks because the Jewish people are living beneath what God has called them to live. He says, this has to end. In chapter two, he moves on. It says, early the following spring in the month of Nisan, during the 20th year of King Artaxerxes reign, I was serving the King wine. Let's stop. This is during the month of Nisan. So this is four months later. He's been praying and seeking God for four months. He's been hitting his knees. He's been calling out to the Lord. How am I going to be used in this Lord? What is my role, if any? And he's just praying and believing in God. But then an opportunity arises, and he has a decision to make, just like we have every single day. Will I fear man, or will I fear God? And here's what happens. Said he was serving the king to his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. Again, if he appears sad, he can get drug out of the palace or even killed. They are supposed to remain stoic. They are not allowed to expose the king to any emotions. So the king asked me, why are you looking so sad? You don't look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled. And I was terrified, but I replied, long live the king.

How can I not be sad for the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins and the gates have been destroyed by fire. Notice he doesn't say Jerusalem. He talks about his heritage, because Jerusalem, Artaxerxes had actually just stopped the building of the walls a few years earlier. So if he said Jerusalem, it might trigger, ah, hey, didn't I put a stop to that? But no, he just talks about his town. So the king asked, well, how can I help you? And notice this with a prayer to the God of heaven. So this is internally, Nehemiah is saying, he shot out a quick prayer, Lord, give me the word to speak. And then he goes into speaking, Lord, I need you. He didn't walk off into another room and pray a big, long prayer before he talked with the king. He was right there. The king said, what do you need? Lord, give me words. Boom. And then he goes into, I replied, if it pleased the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried. Now, pay attention to this very next verse. This is, this is really cool. What God outlines right here, verse six, the king with the queen sitting beside him asked, how long will you be gone? When will you return? After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request. So you have the king, obviously he's agreeing to what's going on, but there's something even cooler. Why in the world would they tell us that the queen is sitting next to the king for dinner? What purpose does that have in scripture?

We have to ask a question. Why is that in here? What significance does that give to us? Well, if you understand the Persian culture, you understand that the queen is actually your, your father's favorite wife. Who was Artaxerxes' father? Xerxes. And who was his wife? Esther. And so Esther is sitting here talking in Artaxerxes' ear, leading him for the Israeli people. Now let me back up and show you the significance of this because this is really cool when you see how it all unfolds. If you go back to Xerxes and you look through Esther, Esther actually is the next book after Nehemiah, but it takes place before Nehemiah. And so you go through and you look at Esther and Esther opens in chapter one with them at a banquet and Vashi gets banished because she refuses to show up to Artaxerxes when he's drunk. So he gets, she gets banished and so what do they do? They bring in a bunch more princesses from all over the place to see which one Xerxes will want. But before they're allowed to ever go into a temple, they have to go through a 12-month purification rite. And so they're bringing these women in and they're going through this 12-month purification rite, but you notice that they're at a banquet which they're rallying, it says they're sat traps, which are the regional governors, military, they're trying to influence people in the area. Why is that important? Because Herodotus is a historian who tells us that during this time, Xerxes didn't want to give in to taking property. He was content, he was satisfied with where he was at, but his military advisors kept

telling him, if you're going to be better than your father Darius, then you have to go into Greece and you have to sack that property, you have to sack that land. And Xerxes like no, I'm not I'm okay with that. I don't want to go do that But the military advisors keep telling them over and over you have to go take Greece So finally he says okay in the historical books record that he has these meetings These regional meetings with the set traps that he's these banquets that he's building money at and he's raising his military And so you have Esther coming in for her purification rights And you have Xerxes that finally has his military built up and he's got his money and he goes into Greece and He meets Leonidas and his 300 at Thermopylae But you really didn't realize that was in the scripture. I Love history. That's why you it's Father's Day. We get to do history today So he goes in and he fights Leonidas and his 300 Spartans and And when he does that the Herodotus records that Xerxes lost almost 50,000 soldiers in that battle Fighting the 300 Spartans. They finally overcome the Spartans They move their way down to Athens and when they move down to Athens the military general down there He actually takes all of his people and their wealth and they load up on ships and they go out into the strait They just give up the city to Xerxes and his military So they come in and Xerxes officials tell him you have to chase these Greeks down and kill them Otherwise, they're gonna come back in so Xerxes listening to his officials He loads up on a bunch of barges and he starts pushing his troops out to chase down and have this naval battle But the Greek soldiers are the Greek ships are made a lot different They're not they start splitting these barges that the Persians loaded up on in half and decimating the Persian military and Xerxes has to run back to Persia with his leg with his tail tucked between his legs and this whole period Takes less than a year according to the historical accounts So now he's back in Persia He is extremely Disgusted and distraught with his military advisers because they got him into this situation in the first place They kept prying them. They kept pushing them

And so he he says get out of my palace. I don't want you guys in here But who has just finished up her purification rights? Esther and Now Xerxes is primed and ready to listen to the one that God had stayed put God had put in the temple had put in front of her now Esther has command of the king's ear And he is able to start turning the eyes and start turning the people towards the Jews again and so you see That she that God is mapping it out and laying it out. And here she is again still sitting here Still speaking into her stepson's ear Right in Nehemiah saying hey Let him go build the wall. Why that's crazy if you think about it If you own territory, are you gonna say? Hey Eddie, come on over here and you just go ahead and put your own house right on all my my acreage and build up a big fence and It would be nice if you gave me a key to come in and on my own property, right that doesn't make any sense You own the territory. Why are you gonna let an Military force build a big wall and everything else in your land That gives them the ability to to rise up but yet Right here. We see his ear being turned by the Queen we see The prayer Which is point one. I'm horrible about getting on these points Point one, which is we seek God's action before our we seek God's direction before taking action He sought he prayed he spent time in prayer for four months God set the perfect time for him to be in front of him and his stepmom Eating dinner so that this could work in the right way We go on verse 7

It says I I also said to the king if it pleased the king Let me have letters addressed the governor's of Providence of West of Euphrates River Instruct them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to Judah And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph the manager of the Kings for us instructing him to give me timber I will need it to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress for the city walls and for the house for myself See Nehemiah was committed he stepped out he asked for all this stuff of what he needed He knew that God was with him and he had the choice to either fear man or fear God. And he chose, I'm gonna fear God and I'm just gonna go out I'm gonna ask the King Artaxerxes for all of this stuff. I'm just gonna lay it out on the line. And he was given official letters, military escorts, resources, authority, and a clear vision. He had everything necessary that he needed. And so what does he do? He starts traveling and he goes over 900 miles, over mountains, valleys, deserts, even crosses the Euphrates River when he's going through this process. So he's committed and diving in and doing this. And the first thing when he gets there you see that there is opposition that arises to him. Verse 10 says, But when Sanballat the Hornanite, Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of my arrival they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel. Now the Elephantine Scrolls are some scrolls of the Persian era that list leadership and different things that are going on. Sanballat is listed in the Elephantine Scrolls as being the mayor, the governor of Samaria. And so he actually is thriving off the gates being destroyed in Israel. He has influence and he has money. And as long as Israel is willing to deal with the junk and step over the rubble, he will maintain his influence and his money. So now this is kind of riling up him because someone's coming in to start fixing this stuff. Someone is coming in to turn the people back to God. And so it stirs up Sanballat. And you see all throughout the book of Nehemiah, he starts prodding at him. And Nehemiah really doesn't give him too much. He has some brief responses but the majority of it is Nehemiah just ignores them and says, hey you're gonna keep trying to spur people up. In fact there's one time when they're building a wall and Sanballat is just standing out there saying, if a fox walks across that it's

gonna crumble. And he's just antagonizing the people. He's creating dissension between the people. Trying to get them turned against each other because he wants this to fail. He does not want it to work out. And so you see Nehemiah though he doesn't he doesn't respond. He doesn't even respond in this text right here. He just ignores it and he continues to go down. And so in verse 11 you see, so I arrived in Jerusalem three days later. I slipped out during the night taking only a few others with me. I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem. We took no pack animals with us except the donkey that I was riding. So he pauses. He arrived in Jerusalem carrying a burden. Right? It was there was no immediate announcement. There was no, let's call the people to action. Let's have a meeting. Let's get this moving. It was, he paused. He wanted to lay eyes on it. He wanted to see what Jerusalem was going through. And then you see in verse 12 it says that I told no one that my God, what my God had put on my heart. You notice he's saying it was what my God put on my heart. This was not Nehemiah's idea. This was not his ambition, his personal project. This was what God had put on his heart. In Psalm 37 5 it says, commit your way unto the Lord. Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. Isaiah 30 21 says, your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it. Again and again throughout scripture we see the same pattern. God directs those who are willing to depend on him, who are willing to pour out to him. See many people desire God-sized results without God-sized preparation. The blessing without prayer, the breakthrough without the waiting, or the victory without the surrender. But God's work cannot be accomplished through human strength alone. Leadership is not first about strategy, it's first about surrender. After seeking God's direction, Nehemiah took another crucial step. He surveyed the challenge. He moved from prayer to investigation. You see this in 13. It says, after dark I went out through the valley gate past the jackal's well and over the dung gate to inspect the broken walls and burn gates. Then I went to the fountain gate and the king's pool but my donkey couldn't get through the rubble. So though it was dark I went up to the Kidron Valley instead inspecting the wall before I turned back

and entered in through the valley gate. So he starts in the north, he works his way around the east clockwise manner, getting his way back, inspecting and this this Tone that he's using in here these words. They are They are like a doctor's language the the Hebrew text that he's using in here. It's like a thorough inspection of wounds It's he's not sightseeing. He's not walking around looking at rubble. He's he's like opening up bandages And he's looking at bones. He's looking at the wounds. He's looking at the infection and saying how bad is this spread? What do we have to do to heal this what do we have to do to fix this and he's not pointing fingers He's not Grabbing city officials and saying this is your fault Don't be stepping in and saying let's do a thorough inspection. How do we fix this? How do we move in the right way? So the devastation was overwhelming to him What Nehemiah saw was heartbreaking Watching all that there more than a hundred years had passed by and there was rubble laying everywhere burn gates stood For years Nehemiah heard reports, but what when he came to see it? Nothing had been done. The people had just they had just said, okay, we're gonna deal with it The rubble had been laying there for 140 years The idols have been erected for over a hundred years There had been all sorts of idolatry sinful stuff that has been going on and it's and it's happening under the people's nose and They're just looking there and they're saying Okay, we're fine with it We're just gonna Turn our head the other way and hopefully it'll go away Hopefully we won't deal with it and Nehemiah's like this is beneath you guys Why are you still sitting here? Rolling in this filth Why hasn't anybody picked up any boulders and started moving But he's a leader he doesn't point fingers he goes in and he says, you know what we are gonna fix this

And he starts taking the charge Some of these broken walls, we're talking a lot about Israel, but some of the broken walls in our lives are our marriages our relationships our dreams ministries different things that we've we thought we were gonna have the best of but yet we haven't Done an actual assessment in our lives and said is our marriage truly strong Am I really given my spouse my all am I really being intentional and loving? And we're having some spiritual time with them Am I really doing that or am I just checking the box and come home every day flipping on the TV? All right, am I truly praying with my wife being spiritual my wife she doesn't let a day go by We pray a blessing over each other every single morning. We grab each other's hands and we pray over each other That's the very first thing before we leave, but then if she notices I'm angry during the day or I start getting annoyed She'll come walking around the corner with a bottle of oil and she'll say I'm praying for you right now and she'll open the oil and she'll put it on my head and I'm like, right I want to be angry right now. Why are you not letting me be angry? How can you be angry when someone annoys you with oil and prays with you, right? it's just you can't happen and so she squashes it immediately and it is sometimes you want to basket your anger a little bit, but She is so good about making sure that we take care of each other with that That's what Nehemiah was looking at saying why can't we turn back to what God has for us? Why do we gotta Sit here and be okay with the brokenness Because you cannot fix what you refuse to examine Lamentations 340 says let us search out and examine our ways and then turn back to the Lord notice the progression here We examine we recognize and we return to the pathway to restoration The good news has never meant to be to shame us It's meant to convict us Convict us to action Brokenness reveals Some our thought process different things that are going on not so that we feel horrible about it

We go put ourselves in a corner No, so we can seek out healing for it so we can seek out restoration Faith does not deny reality faith sees reality through the lens of God's power Nehemiah saw those broken walls But he also saw how faithful God Number three is godly leaders share God's vision and inspire for 17 says but now I said to them you know very well what trouble we are in Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and in this disgrace notice that we us language is not standing above them to reckon he's saying we are all in this together we are all sick of the trash the gunk whatever's been going on for a while we're all sick of it and we're united and we're moving forward together to rebuild this because we know God has a greater plan for us he's got a greater purpose for us and then it says then I told them about how gracious the hand of God had been on me and about my conversation with the king notice that he's talking about his testimony here the power of his testimony revelations 12 11 says they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony nothing builds faith like hearing evidence of God's faithfulness some of us may not have the right scripture to tell people we might not have the right prayer to tell people we might not understand theology or everything else but you know what you can tell you can tell people what God's done in your life I used to love it when I go into the prisons down in Dallas and I was a chaplain down there I would get these green cards that would request chaplain visits and on the top of them all the time I would see a request for the tattooed preacher to come see me I just thought that was so cool and because they wanted me to come down there and minister to them and speak to them why because I look like them and I had been there where they had been and so they were just like man this guy understands me I want to go in there and I want I want this guy to talk to me I want this guy to tell me how he changed his life around I want this guy to show me how he got redemption how he found the Lord each and every one of you has doors that you can step into that I will never be able to step into but God has opened for each and every single one of you and your testimony is the strength behind that you don't have to know how to pray for someone you don't have to have the right scriptures tell them how God has transformed your life and watch it spur to action because you see this as it fills as it finishes off as soon as he tells them their

story they replied at once yes let's build the wall they go into action immediately they hear how good God was they're through with the destruction they're through with the generation after generation of seeing the ruins out in Israel and they say Lord we're ready for something new we're ready to turn back to you seen when Nehemiah showed up he was not bringing a new vision when Nehemiah showed up all he was doing was reigniting the vision that God had originally given him he was not stepping in and saying I'm bringing something new he was saying turn let's run back to God let's go back to the standard of living that God has laid out for us Nehemiah led the way because he first followed God's way he prayed he planned he inspired and he persevered ultimately Nehemiah points us to even greater leader Jesus Christ left heaven's glory entered a broken world surveyed humanity's condition called people to follow him endured opposition died on the cross rose from the grave and now leads us into eternal life Jesus is the ultimate example of leading the way and my prayer is today that may God raise up men and women who will step forward trust him completely and faithfully lead the way in their families and their community and in their churches and so if you would bow your heads I'd love to pray for you or thank you so much for each and every single person under the sound of my voice Lord the anointing that you have brought in here Lord Lord we pray over any walls that may be getting revealed Lord that are broken any marriages any relationships any communication friendships Lord that are broken or we just pray that you're the ultimate healer and like Nehemiah Lord we are stepping in we are praying we are We are avidly seeking out Your restoration Lord your plan for us Lord we just pray that we may be able to even step in and share our testimony with people that we may be able to Step in and lead as Nehemiah led Lord, which it was grace with boldness with courage Lord Just guiding and leading others to your kingdom Lord edifying them taking lifting them up Lord Pointing them to your loving hands your unity in your face Lord that we may all be a mere reflection of you We also just pray if there's anybody in here That maybe you've never had the chance to give your life to the Lord and you're saying today I just want to I want to go all in I'm sick of these broken wall broken Things in my life, I'm sick of carrying them. I'm sick of

Having these burdens on my chest that God had never meant for you to carry If that's you I just want you to pray Lord here I am I Release these burdens. I release this torment. I release this anguish this depression Whatever it is that you're holding. I release it to you Lord Lord I confess with my mouth that you are Lord and Savior King of the universe And I believe in my heart That you died raised three days later and then your blood covers all my sins past present and future Lord I surrender Come into my life and have your way Fill me with your spirit from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet right here right now Lord let the restoration take place. Let the walls start to be rebuilt and Jesus mighty name and all God's people said Amen, and amen. Let's give it up for all those that just went from death to life All right, if you would stand up with me Prayer teams if you'd come forward don't miss an opportunity to get prayed for by our wonderful prayer teams If you have a wall that's been that that Lord revealed to you has been broken in your life And you need restoration you need healing step forward and come Get some prayer with our prayer teams. So may you guys have a blessed day May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and cover you with his glorious name the name Of Jesus. Amen. Have a great day. Love y'all You