Realizing the Vision
Facing the Challenges of Leadership
Nehemiah Faced those who wanted to Destroy
He Faced them in Prayer
He Faced them in Practice
Nehemiah Faced those who were Discouraged
He faced them with his Action
He faced them with Encouragement
Nehemiah Faced those who Disagreed?
He faced them with the Truth
He faced them with his Sacrifice
Slide 1
What does success look like?
Does it look like a lot of money?
Perhaps in business it does.
Does it look like a lot of followers?
Maybe for a leader it does.
But what about a church? What does success look like for a church?
For a church, success looks like fulfilling the Great Commission.
But what really does that look like?
How do we know when we are doing that?
Well in this church, we have put what success looks like into terms that we will be able to see.
When businesses or people put down on paper what success looks like it is called a vision statement. It is designed to show what success will look like.
The Vision of Hickory Creek is as follows.
Therefore, we at Hickory Creek Community Church desire…
…..to be a church where people at every stage of life can come and be ministered to so that they can minister to others.
..…to be a church where we minister to those who are younger and older, in school and out of school, those with kids and without kids, those who work and those who are retired.
…..to be a church where “being” the church is more important than “doing” church.
..…to be a church that glorifies God and exalts the name of Christ in everything we do.
…..to be a church that is more interested in where people are heading than in where they have been.
…..to be a church that encourages people to take the “next step” of faith and maturity from whatever point they are at.
…..to be a church where the healthy help the hurting and the hurting are becoming healthy.
…..to be a church where the words “Love God…Love People…Live it Out!” is more than just a motto, it is a way of life.
It will look like this.
When an older person walks in, they will be greeted and welcomed in.
When a young person walks in, someone will say hi and introduce themselves.
When a family walks in, they will be informed about our ministries for their kids with a smile.
When there is a need within the body, the church will step up to meet it.
When there is suffering going on, others will look to comfort.
When there is lack of knowledge there will be a desire to teach.
When there is sin, there will be accountability.
There will be challenges to
grow deeper,
love more, and
live fully.
That is what success looks like.
In my time here, I have seen elements of all of those things. That excites me. It excites me because that is indication that God is working and there is no better place to be than where God is working.
But does where God is working mean that things are just going to be smooth sailing?
That there will be no problems to over come or challenges to face?
On the contrary.
In fact, when we look back at the Bible, we find that it is often through many challenges that great things are accomplished for the Lord.
And it is in those challenges that we are grown and matured and equipped so we can be used in even greater ways than before.
When we look at Moses leading the people out of Egypt.
It wasn’t just walk in and lead them out.
Pharaoh wasn’t quite on board with the plan at first.
Great many challenges faced Moses and the people.
When we see Joshua leading the people into the Promised Land,
The people living in Jericho were not quite in agreement.
When Nehemiah wanted to build the wall, and remove the disgrace from God’s people,
There were those who were less than thrilled.
We are returning to our Nehemiah Series this week.
We have spoken in past weeks about
Receiving a Vision from the Lord,
Responding to a Vision from the Lord,
and today we are going to be talking about how Nehemiah Realized the Vision, specifically about how Nehemiah faced the challenges of leadership.
As we look at this, I want us, as the body of Christ here at Hickory Creek, to ask and answer some questions.
Now I know there are some visitors here today.
For those of you who attend different churches, these are questions that you can ask and answer about your own church.
For those of you who don’t attend another church, I would invite and encourage you to become part of one.
Be part of the work that God wants to do in and through you. You can only be used to the fullest of what God wants for you as part of a local church.
Jesus said,
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it
Matt 16:18
You need to be part of what Jesus is building here.
So, here are the questions I want to ask.
In striving to achieve the vision that God has given Hickory Creek, how can we deal with challenges?
How can we continue on to accomplish what we need to do in the face of these challenges?
Slide 2
We are going to look at Nehemiah Ch. 4-5 (p. 344-345) and take some principles of how Nehemiah handled these challenges and apply them to our own life.
Nehemiah 4:1-9
1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble-burned as they are?"
3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building-if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"
4 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.
6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
The First thing we see here is that
Nehemiah faced those who wanted to Destroy.
Slide 3
Sanballat and Tobiah wanted to destroy and hinder what Nehemiah was doing, which was building the wall and removing the disgrace of Israel.
They despised the Jews and wanted them disgraced.
They talked against Nehemiah and the Jews.
They plotted against Nehemiah and the Jews to destroy what was being built.
How did Nehemiah face this challenge?
He faced it in 2 ways.
First,
He Faced them in Prayer
Slide 4
Nehemiah 4:4-5, 9a
4 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders… 9a But we prayed to our God…
Nehemiah prayed to
the Lord of Heaven,
the creator of all that is seen and unseen,
the Alpha and Omega,
the Beginning and the End
because he recognized that God wanted him to accomplish the task he had set out to do. And he recognized that God is the one with the power to make it happen, not Nehemiah.
As we seek to fulfill the Vision of the church that the Lord has give us,
A vision to see people loved and ministered to
A vision to see more people come into vital relationship with Jesus Christ,
We are going to face opposition.
We are going to face the opposition of Satan.
And we are going to face the pride of those who want things done in their own way.
What we need to do in those situations is just keep our focus and be praying.
Now there will probably come a time when we need to add space to our small facility so that we can better be able to minister to people.
There may be those who don’t want that to happen.
Maybe it is zoning committees or business developers who may want the land.
But we need to confront that first in prayer. When we face opposition like that, we can turn to the one who is fully and completely in control.
Too often, there are those who will just stop and say
I guess God doesn’t want me to do this or
We try to face the opposition by our selves in our own power and in our own way.
When we face those who want to destroy the vision of what God wants for us, we need to first face it with prayer, because it will be through prayer that we gain the assurance that we are doing what we should.
And once we have been assured that we are heading in the right direction we need to do the second thing that Nehemiah did when he faced those who wanted to destroy the work he was called to do.
He Faced it in Practice
Slide 5
Nehemiah 4:6-7, 9b
6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry…But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
Nehemiah recognized that God wanted him to continue what He was doing.
He prayed about it and was assured of it. Once we are assured in ourselves that we are doing what we believe to be right and good, we need to meet opposition by practicing what we preach. Go and do it. It says that they “rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height.”
He pursued the vision. He went to work doing what he needed to.
He kept going.
So often, we get so overwhelmed by opposition, we stop doing what we should be.
This is a big reason why many people do not accomplish what they should. They worry about the opposition
What will they do?
Will they succeed in defeating this vision?
Will they succeed in defeating me?
If we have prayed about something and are assured that we should be doing it, then don’t be overly worried.
Don’t ignore it, but don’t let it cripple you.
Notice what Nehemiah did.
In Nehemiah 4:9 it says he posted a guard day and night to meet the threat.
In fact the whole verse is one that tells us how we should deal with many instances of life.
It says he prayed and acted.
Nehemiah 4:9
But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
When we face Destroyers, those out to stop us from accomplishing our goal or vision, we need to do the same thing. Pray and act.
In fact, in all circumstances this should be our modus operendi
When you are without a job, pray and act.
When you are facing those who want to destroy you work, pray and act.
When you are struggling in a difficult marriage, pray and act, do what you should be doing while you are praying.
Through prayer and practicing what you said you were going to do, you will be able to face the challenge of those who want to destroy your work.
But there are other challenges of leadership.
Let’s read on and see how Nehemiah faced those.
Nehemiah 4:10-23
10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."
11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."
12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"
21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day." 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.
Nehemiah not only had to face the challenge of those who wanted to destroy, but
He Faced those who were Discouraged.
Slide 6
As a leader, this is a very difficult one to deal with.
Dealing with outside opposition is not as hard always because those are people that are not part of our team. They aren’t those we are trying to lead.
But when someone we are trying to lead is discouraged from wanting to carry on, that is tough. How do you deal with that?
Well, let’s see how Nehemiah dealt with it.
First,
He Faced them with His Action
Slide
Nehemiah 4:13
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.
He saw that the people were discouraged and afraid and he took action to ease their concerns and fears.
As we go forward with the Vision of Hickory Creek, there are going to be times we face discouragement.
Discouraged that things don’t seem to be moving fast enough.
Discouraged that someone has left the church.
Discouraged that we won’t be able to be the church that God wants us to be.
It is in those times that we need to take appropriate actions.
If someone is discouraged that we aren’t ministering effectively, then we need to discuss how we can do better and take action in the form of
starting new ministry or
improving existing ministries.
We need to meet discouragement that is due to real issues with real action.
Sometimes though, people get discouraged because they take their eyes of the Lord and what he has called them to do. When Nehemiah had that situation,
He faced them with Encouragement
Slide
Nehemiah 4:14
14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
There are going to be those times when there are things that seem too hard for us.
We are ministering but we are hampered by circumstances.
A small building
A traffic problem
Parking problems
Zoning and building issues.
It is easy to be discouraged in those circumstances when we put our focus on those things.
But that is exactly the time that we need to be looking to God and recognizing who He is and seeing the positive things He is doing. And as a leader, that is what we need to be doing. We need to continually communicate the positive things that are happening and encouraging everyone to keep their Eyes on the Lord.
1 Thess 5:11
encourage one another and build each other up,
That is when we will be able to carry on with serving and doing what God wants us doing in loving people.
Finally,
Nehemiah Faced those who Disagreed?
Slide
Nehemiah 5:1-6
1 Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. 2 Some were saying, "We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain."
3 Others were saying, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine."
4 Still others were saying, "We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others."
6 When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.
What is going on here is that some of the Jews were taking advantage of the other Jews and there was dissension and discord and disagreement among them.
You know when you have a team of people working together, it is vital that there is unity of purpose and mind and that there is a respect and love for one another.
If you do not have that, you are going to have a difficult time moving forward in the vision that the Lord has for you.
So how did Nehemiah deal with it?
He Faced them with the Truth
Slide
Nehemiah 5:7-9
7 I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, "You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!" So I called together a large meeting to deal with them 8 and said: "As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!" They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
9 So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?
He told them the truth that their actions were wrong and their conduct was hindering the work that they needed to be doing and was dishonoring God.
Sometimes the truth is going to be difficult for us to hear.
These guys could have said, Hey look, I am doing my part, what you are talking about is business. Stay out of my business.
The reality is that all that we do has affect on how effective we are for the kingdom. You cannot live for God one day a week or in one part of your life.
When you are not living a lifestyle of the Lord, you will hinder the work of God as a whole.
Look at your life.
Do you want to see God work powerfully in your life and in this church?
Then you need to ask yourself, how is my life outside of the walls of this church?
Am I living in a way and conducting my affairs in a manner that will glorify God and not bring disagreement among the people that God has made me a part of.
When we strive to walk in the power and grace of God, we can live our life in a way that will glorify Him and bring fullness into our own life.
And finally,
Concerning the disagreements,
He faced them with his Sacrifice
Slide
Nehemiah 5:10-19
10 I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop! 11 Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them-the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil."
12 "We will give it back," they said. "And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say."
Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. 13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!"
At this the whole assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
14 Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year-twelve years-neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. 15 But the earlier governors-those preceding me-placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.
17 Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. 18 Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.
19 Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.
Nehemiah sacrificed his own wealth, his own rights, to see the work of the Lord succeed.
Paul did this same thing.
1 Cor 9:4-12
4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?
7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? …12b But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
To see the vision of this church realized, it will require sacrifice from all of us, and I understand that as a leader here, it will require sacrifice from me.
But I also understand that whatever sacrifice we face in human terms will be nothing compared to the glorious riches that are found in Christ Jesus.
So now as a church, as we are on a journey to seeing the vision that the Lord has given us fulfilled, I want us to see the progress that is being made so we know that success is being pursued.
Call from Jason Geagan – note of thanks and appreciation – truly moved.
Family that has been coming for several months – got a note of encouragement from another member.
Today – the reason that many of you are here – to help celebrate a young girls public proclamation of Christ and step of obedience to Him in baptism.
Loving God…Loving People…and Living it Out!
Success for this church is being shown each day but we recognize too, that challenges will have to faced.
But now is a time to be encouraged. Be encouraged by the work of the Lord in people’s lives.
Baptism and Worship Team
I am going to ask Julia to go back and get ready for the baptism and ask that the worship team come up.
There may be people here today who know all about the challenges of life, but have had difficulty facing them and overcoming them.
It is only by the work of the Lord that we are going to be truly successful at it.
Maybe you are saying to yourself, I need help to deal with life.
I am not really navigating this life too successfully.
True success, Joy and peace amid all circumstances, can only be found in Jesus Christ.
He is the only way to be found righteous and to be a child of God
John 1:12
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-
If you don’t know of a time in your life when you believed in Jesus not only in your mind, but with your will and emotions, all of who you are, you can do that today, right now, just by telling God that you
Know you have sinned against Him
Know that you need a Savior
Know that Jesus is that Savior, that He is the Son of God, God in the flesh,
And that you receive Him right now as your Savior.
If you want to do that, pray with me now .
As we sing, this song, you can rejoice in the fact that you now do Know Jesus.
Lets sing.
