Don’t Take The Bait Series

Each time we have new members come into GraceWay we like to acknowledge them. And we

have a couple that has joined us here at GraceWay. That couple is my wife, Carrie, and me. So

congratulations. So we are officially members here at GraceWay. I just want to tell you, things

are going very well and we're grateful for what God is doing. We're going to have communion

after our worship service today. And we're grateful for just our time to be together.

If you're wondering how are things going? Well, I've been here six weeks now and things are

going really well. I'm enjoying things. I'm getting to know people. I think my favorite thing is

getting to know the stories of individuals and the things that are going on in people's lives. So I

really appreciate that. If you're wondering about the Calvary Chapel/GraceWay merger, I saw a

sheet today of 85 people that have come over from Calvary Chapel to be part of GraceWay. And

so that is all working well too. We're very grateful for that.

Alright. Let’s spend some time praying and talking to the Lord before we look at His word

today.

[PRAYER] Heavenly Father, thank you for just the privilege of being part of a church. I'm

grateful, Lord, to find a church family and to enjoy this church family. Lord, I pray for those who

have not found that, those people that we know, and they're discouraged or they're lonely. They

just need to be part of your church. We thank you, Father, for the privilege of gathering together

and we ask for your continued blessing on us now. Right now we're going to look at your work,

so we ask that you would teach us through it, grow us as we look at your word today from

Nehemiah 6. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Today we're going to look at people who instigate. They instigate conflict. Sometimes they're

angry with us and so they try to provoke us and get us baited into some kind of dialogue or

interaction that's unproductive. Or sometimes they're not even angry with us. They’re just people

of chaos, you know. They come into the office or even sometimes in the family and they just

bring conflict and tension into the home, or the office, or the neighborhood, or wherever they are.

It's as if they come into the room and they bring this cloud into the room. And when they leave,

you feel sorry for the people they're going to meet. There's this kind of challenge that people

have. Some people are just angry, and they don't like to be angry alone. So they try to bait other

people to be angry with them. It's like they’re saying, “I'm having an anger party and I want to

send out invitations to my anger party. Would you join me?” It surprises me how many people

RSVP. “Okay, I’m in. I'll do that. I'll get involved.”

Today we're going to watch Nehemiah. He's going to be in a situation where others are

instigating, these people who are angry and are creating chaos. How's he going to respond? Our

lessons today will come out of this passage as we try to model what Nehemiah does. Let's learn

from Nehemiah. How does he handle these instigators in his life? What can we do in our lives to

handle those people who come into our situations and they bait us. I titled this sermon, “Don’t

Take the Bait,” because I think that's what we need to apply in our own lives today.

Would you please stand with me. I want to read the first three verses of Nehemiah 6. Now I'm

going to teach you the whole passage of Nehemiah 6. But in honor of God's word, let's read these

first three verses together.

Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I

had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up

the doors in the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet

together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. And I sent

messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” That’s just a

great sentence. I’m going to stop right there. I am doing a great work and I can come down. Say

that with me. I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. We could just leave now. This is

really good. We all need this. Let's say it one more time. I am doing a great work and I cannot

come down. Oh I love that. And he finishes this verse by saying – “Why should the work stop