Sermon Brief
Date Written: February 14, 2013
Date Preached: February 17, 2013
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: Building with God
Sermon Title: Roles of Ministry – Where do I fit in?
Sermon Text: Nehemiah 7:1 [ESV]
1After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed.
Introduction:
When most people think about the story of Nehemiah, they think that the story ends when the wall is finished, but in reality the wall is but a small part of the story! In fact, Nehemiah’s journey is only beginning when the wall is completed.
Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall, but also to do MANY other things! He came to complete the plan God had for him…
Now what we DO know is that the wall was completed in 52 days, and that Nehemiah led the group to accomplish this task! BUT did you know that Nehemiah stayed in Jerusalem for 12 years?
This verse implies that Nehemiah not only directed the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, BUT he also set out to rebuild the nation and to strengthen its morality.
His work does not stop with the rebuilding of the wall, but we find that he was extremely careful to follow up with regulations and direction for the people that were calculated to help the development of the nation.
The principle of completing your task is clearly taught in the 2nd half of the book of Nehemiah. We can seek in the 1st half of Nehemiah (chapters 16) it is all about the physical rebuilding of the wall under the leadership of Nehemiah.
However, this morning we begin our look at the 2nd half (chp 713), and we find that it is more about the spiritual rebuilding of the people than the physical rebuilding of the city… The rebuilding process though is still led by Nehemiah.
As your pastor, I believe this is similar to where we are as we enter the 2nd month of this year! We have accepted God challenge to rebuild our church!
We have seen God begin to build our fellowship. We have a baptism scheduled and another possible baptism and we have seen 6 people join our church since the 1st of the year.
We have seen God bless our efforts so far… in the children’s, youth and young adult ministries and we can see that He is beginning to bless our fellowship in the worship service as we have seen MANY new people at our services!
HOWEVER, I have also seen the hearts of so many of our members begin to change…FOR THE GOOD! Also like I just mentioned, we have witnessed, because of God’s blessing, so very many things that are happening NOW that were NOT happening a mere 6mo ago!
We can see that God has set us on a path and out of our obedience we have started to see God begin to move in our fellowship which is a great thing! It is so refreshing to see these things happening AGAIN here at Oak Park!
However, just as Nehemiah knew what he needed to do, I believe God is moving us in that same direction! The work has started here, but it is just beginning!
Yes we have overcome a great barrier in our fellowship by so many of our members being willing to submit and surrender to God, as represented in them coming forward to sign up to serve these past 2 Sundays… I see us as a church beginning to surrender totally to God’s calling on our lives!
BUT, as I have said, there is SO much more to be done and at this point the rebuilding of our church has only just begun! NOW we are at the point of appointing the people to their assignments like Nehemiah is doing in this chapter!
Now when you came in this morning you MAY have seen several lists posted out in the foyer. These lists are for those who have signed up to serve… we have divided all these people into teams in the particular areas of ministry that you have been agreed to serve.
SO, just to let you know that if you have come forward over the past 2 weeks and have put your name on one of these tables focusing on a particular emphasis of ministry…
You need to find your name on the list for each ministry emphasis table you signed! But to make sure you understand we are going to also follow up with you with an email or a regular letter regarding what each ministry area will be doing.
In other words, we are going to let you know what is expected of you in whatever area you chose to serve. So get ready, the 1st part of March is when this is all going to kick off!
Now back to our passage where we find that Nehemiah has already chosen people for some very specific but important tasks… v1 tells us he had already appointed the gatekeepers, the singers and the Levites.
1After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed.
I believe that each one of these 3 grps are connected with a counterpart of spiritual activity within the fellowship of God!
We need to be consistently seeking to enhance and build up our fellowship and this is what Nehemiah is doing. He is establishing a spiritual building plan that will build the nation SPIRITUALLY!
The ‘gatekeepers’…
The job of the gatekeepers was to watch the gates of the city or the Temple. This was extremely important because the gates of ancient walled cities were the weak areas! They were the areas that were most vulnerable to enemy attack!
An enemy could possibly slip in unseen into the city thru an unwatched gate… so the watching of the gates was very important!
This has its spiritual counterpart in the Christian life as well. AS a family of believers we need to watch the ‘gates’ of our fellowship AND our lives! We all know that there are areas of our lives and in our church where we are vulnerable to enemy attack.
BUT I don’t believe we need to only watch the areas where we KNOW we are weak, but we must also be vigilant in those areas where we think we are strong!
We need to remember the words of 1 Cor 10:12 [NLT],
12If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
I want us to think about this for a moment. Every church and every believer has a gate or many gates, where the enemy can invade! For example, the possessions in our lives, that is a gate where believers can be attacked and taken captive!
In this area we ALL know how Satan can easily "get his foot in the door" when we leave the gate of possessions open in our lives, and the result is a selfish and materialistic attitude that does not honor God!
Our unchecked desire to get and keep the things of this world tears down the strong wall of our Christian testimony! And this is just ONE gate, we could name many…
The enemy of our souls is very good at checking the strength of the ‘gates’ in our lives and in the church. He has many varied and subtle tactics for getting into our lives so we have to be watchful!
But how does this apply to us… well God has already appointed the ‘gatekeepers’ for this fellowship! I am the pastor, Ben is the Assoc Pastor, Wren is the Ministry Intern, Ken is the Music Minister…
WE are the gatekeepers! We stand in the gap… we lead and direct as led by the Lord! It is OUR duty to guard against the enemy coming into our fellowship with dangerous doctrine or false worship practices! We are the gatekeepers!
Now what I believe Nehemiah is saying here is that the keepers of the gate would be the one in charge of a certain gate… later in this chapter we find them appointing guards for the gates… to be directed and led by the gatekeepers!
The ‘singers’…
What about the singers? What did they do? The appointment of singers emphasizes the activity of worship.
Nehemiah recognized that singing praises to the Lord would be a great safeguard against the people from stopping now that the wall was built!
I believe that the same is true today! When we worship and respond to the Lord in worship thru songs of praise… THAT is what the Lord desires!
This is why Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus told them that PRAISE of God (singing) was a characteristic of being filled with the Spirit. Eph 5:18¬19 [NLT]
18Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
I want you to notice from these verses that singing is a command--not an option--for the Christian. It doesn’t matter how we sound when we sing… we are all called to sing and rejoice!
Now this does NOT mean you have to join the choir… but it DOES mean that you need to participate in the WORSHIP time by SINGING! Singing like you are sing for Jesus because that is EXACTLY who you are singing for each service… you are singing PRAISES to Him!
Singing is not only a characteristic of worship, but singing ALSO promotes worship among others. Have you ever noticed the effect that music has on you? Music has the tendency to reach us at our deepest depths.
Have you ever noticed how hymns of praise can quiet your restless heart, or calm your troubled spirit or bad attitude! Praise and worship can and DOES move us in the right direction… toward God!
Understand that Nehemiah did NOT appoint these singers out of some spur-of-the-moment idea! NO, actually Nehemiah was following a pattern given to David by God for Temple worship!
God had instituted singing as a vital part of the Temple service. God did this in order to emphasize to the people that He desires worship from His people.
TODAY God's desire for His Church is STILL for the praise of His people! What better way to WORSHIP and praise than to SING songs about our Savior… about our God!
Music reaches our very soul and when we praise God thru music and singing… it reaches our soul and helps us to see Him for who He truly is!
Now the singers among us are led by Ken… specifically Ken leads our choir and leads YOU in a corporate time of worship! The choir also leads you! They sit up front on this podium each Sunday to be a leader in the worship experience! They are here each Sunday to help in leading YOU in the praise and worship of Jesus!
BUT understand that being in the choir is not about who can sing the best or a position of prestige in the worship service! Being in the choir is ALL about leading others in the WORSHIP of God!
Being in the choir is about setting the stage for our services thru song and praise! Ken and the choir are our LEAD singers but what we need to grasp is that we ALL are singers… we are ALL called to give praise and worship God through our voices!
The ‘Levites’…
The third group of appointees we see here in this passage is the Levites. The Levites of the OT were the Temple servants!
Temple servants in this passage represent for us those who work in the church… those who SERVE Christ in the church! NOT those employed BY the church, but those who WORK in the church!
In the OT the Temple servants helped the priests and handled the work of maintaining the Temple. Can you imagine how much work was involved in running the Temple?
With all the people of Israel coming to the Temple for their sacrifices and for the festivals and celebrations that the Law of God required? It was quite a task and the priests could not do everything so God assigned Temple workers… the Levites!
Now the same is true for the activity and needs of the church today… When we look at the task of Christian service or being a Temple Servant… we can see how very important this is for the fellowship, but it is equally important for THAT believer in his or her growth as a believer!
There are so many believers who accept Christ and then sit idly by for years… it is usually those who are the ones who end up complaining about how things are going in the church!
This type of believer finds it easy to critique everything being done or tried and they even criticize those believers who are actively working for the Lord!
The question I have today is really the challenge I have placed before you over the past several weeks! Are you a worker in the church? Are you active in the ministry of our church? OR are you simply one who is ONLY attending church?
When you get involved in the work of the Lord it does not mean you have to quit your job and enter the ministry full time. There are SO MANY opportunities to serve in the area of Christian service, and I believe that there is really a place where EVERYONE can find a place to get involved and serve.
There is absolutely no reason why any believer cannot be a part of a ministry. We have 4 areas of emphasis this year and any ONE of these areas needs your help and participation!
ANY believer who is growing in the Lord can start a Bible study, or at the very least be involved and helping to start and maintain one.
If you look at these tables you can see that we have MANY areas where you can serve… in a number of ministries! You CAN serve… there IS a place you can plug in and serve!
I want to say this… If you're not involved in some Christian service right now, you are NOT being obedient to the calling from God! God has NOT called you out of sin and darkness to sit idly by while others do the work of ministry!
We are starting a one on one discipleship and mentoring… YOU can get involved in this… you could become a MENTOR to a younger believer!
You could become a help a believer whose “wall” is not as strong as yours. We are ALL Temple workers… we are ALL called by God to be involved!
We are called to WATCH… the Gatekeepers!
We are called to WORSHIP… the singers! AND,
We are called to WORK… the Levites!
We cannot believe that these things just GET done… It cannot be left to just the ministry staff; we must ALL be involved in the building of our church… in the reaching of our community for Christ!
In our passage this morning Nehemiah was addressing the future of Jerusalem… not just the rebuilding of the wall! Nehemiah knew and understood that he would NOT always be around, and so he began to appoint those who would serve God and honor God’s calling!
I believe that as I have been called to LEAD, I have also been called to equip the saints for the ministry of the Gospel! I am called to prepare the believers of our fellowship to DO the ministry…whether I am here or not! What we are doing now is addressing the FUTURE of Oak Park as a viable ministry in this community!
What we are doing with these ministry teams is including everyone in the ministry and it is also building a foundation of leadership within our fellowship!
We want to leave a legacy of faithful ministry for Christ so that Oak Park is here AND an effective witness for 200 more yrs (if Jesus doesn’t return)
Those who serve are leading by example as they are willing to step out of their comfort zone to serve as God has called them!
Another thing I am ALSO learning is to allow God to direct me and how I can INCLUDE all believers in God’s plan by delegating certain tasks to certain people.
People we are called to serve! God has begun a great work here at Oak Park and it is our duty to step up and continue what has been started!
God is NOT going to abandon us… He has promised to be with us, to equip us and to give us the resources we need to do the work of the ministry! We have to be willing servants!
Are you ready to FOLLOW… Are you ready to serve… If you are sitting there thinking, “Preacher, you just don’t understand, I am too old, I have too much on my plate, I can’t do that…
I challenge you to surrender you fear and doubt to Jesus! Come to this altar today and give your fear to Him… give your doubt to Him and surrender your service TO Him!
This morning you have heard what it means to be a MEMBER of a fellowship of believers… it means that YOU are called to be a PART of what God is doing!
It doesn’t have to be the part of pastor or leading the music… BUT there IS a part God wants you to play… there IS a place for you to serve God in our fellowship today!
That place can be found in one of these 4 areas of ministry emphasis that we have set out… These tables are still here… God is still waiting on you to sign up and give HIM your service!
The cross is here too… before you can surrender to service, you must be right with God…for you to be right with God you have to have all the sin in your life… all that prevents your heart from being COMPLETELY His… you need it cleansed!
This morning I call on you to write down what God has convicted you of this week and bring it to the cross! Bring it to the cross and let God cleanse it from your heart and life!
GIVE EVANGELISTIC INVITATION HERE…
