God's Plan For Restoration

The walls of the city of Jerusalem lay in ruins for more than a century. A city wall in ruins was a bad thing in those days. Not only did it leave the city open to attack, but it also prompted ridicule from neighboring powers.

With Jerusalem, the un-repaired wall also gave foreigners a reason to scorn God whose holy city it was.

Nehemiah literally wept, mourned, fasted and prayed when he heard the news of the walls condition. There needed to be a time of restoration.

I believe with all my heart that God has a plan of restoration for our city. A city that is proud to call its self the city of churches has very little spiritual influence any more.

It seems churches are looking to the politicians to solve the woes of our city.

You hear me tonight, it’s not another politician we need, its not more laws that need to be passed. We need God to restore His church in our city once again.

I believe that God has a plan for New Joshua Full Gospel Church. It’s been an exciting first year, but it’s important that you understand that God has more for you than what you’re experiencing right now. You’re not at a stopping place, you’re just beginning your journey into the Miraculous, and you’re just beginning your journey into being the repairers of the breach.

Not only does God have more for our church, but I also believe that God has more for each of you. More blessings, more victories, more joy, more peace, more faith, more hope, depth in your experience with Christ.

If you’re relationship with God isn’t deeper today than it was a year ago, than there’s something you’re not doing. Because it’s God’s will for you to grow stronger, and for your experience to deepen with Him.

If God’s people not are growing spiritually, then neither will the church they attend.

How many knows tonight that God wants to expand the influence of your church in this community?

How many knows tonight that if we’re not affecting the community that we’re in then we’re terribly missing Gods will for our church?

God wants to use us to help birth people into the kingdom of God. God wants to use us to help bring healing and deliverance to our city.

God is giving us an awesome chance, an awesome opportunity to make a difference where we live, where we Worship and where we work.

God literally wants to partner with you to see this church become the Church that He desires for it to be.

1 Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” NKJV

Let’s see the example in Nehemiah that God gave us if we want to see the work of God restored to what God desires it to be.

First, we must have a mind to work

Nehemiah 4:6 “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”

Let me share with you a plain and simple fact, if we don’t care it isn’t going to happen here. If we don’t pursue with all our heart the invitation that God’s given us as a church, God will either take His plan somewhere else or raise another group up that will be willing to carry out His will.

I’ve never seen an aquarium fill up with fish, by them jumping into it.

When I was little, we had an aquarium and I bought an African frog, and it wanted to jump out.

Wheat in a field doesn’t just come running to the barn, but someone must go out and bring it in.

We’re right in the middle of a spiritual harvest field, we can do one of two things, we can watch the harvest pass us by, or we can become harvesters for the Glory of God.

We must be willing to throw away that which is not needed

Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”

There are times that we as individuals and churches have to get rid of those things that clutter our lives, so we can rebuild.

If you don’t remove the rubbish, you can’t take the next step. There are things in all of us that we need to turn over to the Lord, areas in our life that keep us from being effective for Him.

The more we refuse to deal with the junk, the more it accumulates in our lives, when we go to deal with it, it’s almost overwhelming because of the amount of rubbish in our life.