We’re All In This Together
Nehemiah 11:1-12:47
Intro: Football season is right around the corner and everybody is getting geared up. For me, my hope is that this is the year for my faltering yellow jackets of Georgia Tech. Many fantasy leagues are starting and we are going to have a fantasy league here at the creek this year. Darlene Butler is our league coordinator. If you are interested see Darlene.
. On any team, whether it is fantasy or a real team, no one person can do everything. In order to be successful, you must have a team effort. One superstar cannot be the whole team.
. One example of total participation is the 1972 Miami Dolphins. To date, I believe that they are the only team in history to win all their regular season and then all their playoff games to win the coveted football championship. They had a perfect 14-0 season and then a perfect 3-0 in the playoffs to win the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots have had a perfect regular season but they then lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. No one has ever been as successful as this Dolphin team, Sports enthusiasts have their opinions about who might be the “Greatest Team of All Time”, but one of the 1972 Dolphin team members put it best: “Perfection has a way of shutting people’s mouths.”
. The opposing coach going into the ’72 Super Bowl was asked to comment on the stellar Miami defense. "I can’t recall any of their names," he said, "but they are a matter of great concern to us." Who knows the nickname of the ’72 Dolphins Defense?
.Their name was the "No-Name Defense."
. What made that team special was not a handful of superstars, but the dedication of every team member. The willingness of every player to do what they were supposed to do.
. Something special happens when everybody plays their position.
. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. They had some great players, no doubt. But plenty of other teams over history have had better personnel. More Pro-Bowl players, superstars, Hall of Famers. Yet no team has reached a level of achievement that they did.
. The same is true for the church. You may have a superstar pastor( which I am not) but he can’t do it by himself. A leadership team or a committee cannot do it by themselves.
. You see, we are all in this together.
. As I was reading through these two chapters of Nehemiah, I said to the Lord, what is there in here Lord that you want us to see.
. Almost all of chapter 11 and half of chapter 12 is nothing but names, how can this be preached.
. I knew that all scripture is good for preaching and teaching but I had a block. As I read through again and again , God impressed upon me that one of the things He was showing us here was and is the unity that his people need to have.
. We are a team, we are all in this together. The only way we will succeed is to work together for God’s glory.
. With that in mind let’s look for a minute at God’s word.
. The walls and gates are finished.
. The people have been reminded of the promises that God had given them and of his faithfulness.
. The people then made the promises to God that we looked at in chapter 10.
. Life was going along fine. There was security in Jerusalem.
. As we look at the children of Israel, they were about to start a celebration.
. They were going to celebrate what God had accomplished through them.
. The first thing we need to see is that in this celebration,
. They All Participated
. In verses 3-9 we see lay leaders. Here is a sampling .
. Vs 3: 3Here is a list of the names of the provincial officials…
. Vs 4: …From the tribe of Judah:Athaiah son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the family of Perez.
. Vs 7: From the tribe of Benjamin:Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah.
. Verse 10 starts a list of the priests:
. 10From the priests: Jedaiah son of Joiarib; Jakin; and Seraiah son of Hilkiah
. Verses 15-18 lists the Levites.
. 15From the Levites:Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni
.Verse 19 lists the gatekeepers of the city.
. 19From the gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and 172 of their associates, who guarded the gates.
. Verses 20-36 tell of the people who live in the cities and villages that surround Jerusalem.
.Verse 25 : 25As for the surrounding villages with their open fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba with its settlements, Dibon with its settlements, and Jekabzeel with its villages.
. If we were to read on we would see list upon list of name and tribes and cities and people.
. They were all going to participate in this celebration of the city being finished and worship of the one true God.
. They were all going to be involved in what God had planned and accomplished for them.
. A truth that we need to glean from this example is that we should all be involved.
. A guy walked into a store that sold nothing but bumper stickers. As he walked through the store he saw bumper stickers that promoted all sorts of causes. Some were for causes and others were against causes. Their purpose seemed to be to relay some type of response fro those who read the bumper stickers.
. He stopped and looked at a display and said to one of the store clerks, “What is this one for”, he was looking at a bumper that was just white and nothing on it. It was totally blank. The clerk said that those bumper stickers were for the people who didn’t want to get involved.
. I’m afraid that is the bumper sticker that many Christians want to put on their bumper. We just don’t want to get involved.
.Look at Ephesians 2:8-10.
. 8God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
10For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
. We are saved to do something folks.
. We are saved to become involved.
. We are to be involved in the work of the church whose mission is to make disciples.
. Nehemiah wanted all people to participate. All of God’s people were expected to contribute in the re-establishment of Jerusalem. All of them were expected to be involved.
.The same is true in the church. The church will be effective when all of God’s people are participating and involved in God’s work.
. As their leader, Nehemiah wanted and expected all the people to participate.
. As your pastor, I want and expect all of our church members to participate.
. I asked you to keep your survey forms for next year for a reason.
. I wanted you to hear what Gods word had to say about participation.
. As we leave today, I want you to place your forms on the back table indicating how you will participate this next church year.
. That brings us to the next point this morning.
. Here in Nehemiah we see that:
. They All Are Important.
. Look at verse 19 with me again.
. 19From the gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and 172 of their associates, who guarded the gates.
. Gatekeepers, much like our greeters here at the creek. 172 of them and they were important.
. Everyone was important.
. In the church, everyone is important.
. The cleaners, the people who come and make repairs and plant bushes and flowers and keep the nursery and teach and sing and look out after the finances. I could go on and on.
. Everyone is important.
. We are all in this together.
. On Christ The Solid Rock We Stand, TOGETHER.
. There’s an old children’s song called Dem Bones.
. Let me share some of the lyrics with you.
. Your toe bone connected to your foot bone
Your foot bone connected to your ankle bone
Your ankle bone connected to your leg bone
Your leg bone connected to your knee bone
Your knee bone connected to your thigh bone
Your thigh bone connected to your hip bone
Your hip bone connected to your back bone
Your back bone connected to your shoulder bone
Your shoulder bone connected to your neck bone
Your neck bone connected to your head bone
I hear the word of the Lord.
. The song tells us that without being joined together we cannot function.
. The Apostle Paul tells us the same thing about the church in 1 Corinthians 12:12-23.
. 12The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.
13Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
14Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.
15If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.
16And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?
17If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it
19How strange a body would be if it had only one part!
20Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.
21The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
22In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.
Every part of the body of Christ is important.
. Each and every one of you is important in the work of the kingdom of God.
. Christian, church member, you are important in the cause of Christ.
. When we all participate realizing that each and every one of us is important: Then
. We can all celebrate together.
. The 12th chapter here in Nehemiah gives a list of all the Authentic priests and then it tells of the great celebration that they had.
. Look at 12:27
. 27For the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem, the Levites throughout the land were asked to come to Jerusalem to assist in the ceremonies. They were to take part in the joyous occasion with their songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps, and lyres.
. 31I led the leaders of Judah to the top of the wall and organized two large choirs to give thanks. One of the choirs proceeded southward along the top of the wall to the Dung Gate.
. 38The second choir giving thanks went northward around the other way to meet them. I followed them, together with the other half of the people, along the top of the wall past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall
. 40The two choirs that were giving thanks then proceeded to the Temple of God, where they took their places. So did I, together with the group of leaders who were with me.41We went together with the trumpet-playing priests
. 43Many sacrifices were offered on that joyous day, for God had given the people cause for great joy. The women and children also participated in the celebration, and the joy of the people of Jerusalem could be heard far away.
. Two choirs walking around the top of the walls singing and celebrating what the Lord had done for them.
. They marched to the temple singing and playing instruments and even the preachers were playing trumpets.
. They celebrated what God had accomplished through them.
. Look at the last part of verse 43 again.
. “…the joy of the people of Jerusalem could be heard far away.”
. O that our joy and celebration could be heard in this community.
. Folks as we work together, the community should see the joy that we have as the body of Christ.
. It should excite us to see what’s going on around here and create in us a desire to participate.
. We are all needed here to fulfill what God has planned for the creek.
. In order to be a part and to celebrate properly for what god does here, we must first know God through our relationship with Jesus Christ.
. Do you have a relationship with Him today.
Invitation.
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
When God’s People Are Heard, Tim Patrick (sermon central)
