Sermon Central
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Saying Yes To A Call Series
Contributed by Brady Boyd on Aug 18, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: This is a story of a steady and faithful man who was living in relative comfort, surrounded by power and wealth.
Nehemiah
Chapter One – Saying Yes to a Call
August 14, 2022
Nehemiah was not a priest or a theologian. He was not a prophet or a king.
This is a story of a steady and faithful man who was living in relative comfort, surrounded by power and wealth.
His name means “Yahweh comforts”
Nobody else seemed to care about the condition of Jerusalem, or if they did care, they had become convinced the need was too great to tackle.
Nehemiah 1:3-4 NIV
“They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”
We’ll only give our lives away for something that’s broken our hearts.
Story of seeing the New Life news online in 2006.
Passion is not a fleeting emotion. It’s a sustainable burden from God that lasts.
Hype is the product of human emotions and our flesh. It starts strong, but rarely finishes.
Passion can start with excitement but needs endurance to finish well.
How are we called?
1. We listen.
Nehemiah 1:4 NIV
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
2. We hear God speak.
3. We say yes.
4. We refuse to quit.
Galatians 6:9 NIV
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Story
Nehemiah 1:7-10 NIV
We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
God does not give up on us. We cannot give up on our calling.
