RISE UP! And Do the Work!

Today is Week 5 and the next to last week of our RISE UP! Capital Campaign.  Thank you for being committed to this process and faithful through these weeks as we have temporarily departed from the Minor Prophets in our Sunday School Small Groups and John’s Gospel in our Sunday Morning Worship Service.

 

In Week 1, we remembered God’s faithfulness.  In Week 2, we were reminded of the importance of kneeling down in prayer and calling on God to be involved.  In Week 3, we saw God’s vision for Nehemiah to rebuild the city and heard our vision of making disciples and how a Family Life Center can assist in that.  In Week 4, we assessed the reality of opposition and were challenged to replace our fear with faith.

 

Today, our challenge is to RISE UP! And Do the Work.  However, even though we will see Israel do the actual manual labor for Jerusalem, our work will be of a different type. 

 

Our work will be financial.  Allow me to explain the Commitment Cards in detail.

 

Commitment cards or pledge cards are normal when it comes to churches doing capital campaigns.  I have used them now in four churches. 

 

They are also very helpful when we go to a lending institution and ask to borrow money.  Even though they aren’t guaranteed, they are beneficial from a bank’s perspective. 

 

I am asking you to pray and ask God how much you can commit to give above your tithe for the next three years.  Again, when churches do capital campaigns, three years is the industry standard. 

 

When you make your commitment and turn it in, the only person at EBC who will see or know your commitment is our financial secretary.  I won’t know it.  Our deacons won’t know it.  Our capital fund raising team won’t know it.

 

What if you can’t fulfill your commitment?  Then so be it.  No is going to know except he financial secretary, and no one is going to hold you accountable.  That is between you and the Lord. 

On the commitment card, those numbers are simply examples.  You don’t have to choose one of those denominations. 

 

When Christy and I filled out our card, our total commitment number is not on here, and you can give your commitment all at once on the front end, all at once on the back end, and any time in between. 

 

We are asking for all commitment cards to be turned in by Sunday, October 23, and we are asking you to give as much of your total commitment that you can give on Sunday, November 6, for our First Fruits Offering. 

 

For example, let’s say you commit to $1,000 over three years.  Then you bring $500 for November 6.  Then you will give the remaining $500 over three years, and the three-year giving period is November 2022-October 2025.

 

By the way, when we seek a loan, that loan will be 25-30 years even though we will try to accomplish a miracle of epic proportions by paying it off in 3 years.  However, if we can’t, then we will simply pay on it until it is paid in full.

 

So let’s look at the work that the people did in Nehemiah 2-6.

 

2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me.  So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.

 

In verse 17, Nehemiah shared his vision with the remnant there in Jerusalem.  He also invited them to join him.

 

In verse 18, he told them that the king had given him permission, but more important than anything else, this was God’s vision and so God’s hand was on him.

 

How do you think the people responded? Look at the text.  They said, “Let us rise up and build,” and that is what you have in chapter 3.  They people did the actual work themselves.

 

Beginning in verse 1 and through 32, I counted somewhere between 40-45 families that came together and helped rebuild the wall and gates and city, and notice the end of 4:6.  They had a mind to work.

 

Therefore, here is my question for Emory Baptist Church.  What if we followed the Lord and followed our leaders and set our minds and hearts to doing the work, what could be done?

 

 

1. We could do more than we ever thought.

 

We saw last Sunday that the leaders of Samaria didn’t want Jerusalem to be rebuilt because they wanted Israel to be easy to take captive.  When they heard what was happening, they acted in opposition.  See 4:7-8.

 

7 Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, 8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion.

 

How do you think Israel would respond?  Could they keep working and finish the wall?  Did they have to stop working and fight?  What would say if I told you they did both? They did more than they ever thought.  See 4:13-18.

 

13 Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”  15 And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. 16 So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. 18 Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

 

They kept building the wall, and they protected themselves from adversaries. 

 

Some of you might be thinking, “I can tithe or I can commit to the FLC, but I can’t do both.”  Really?  Are you sure about that?  Have you asked God? 

 

Go back and look at 4:9. Also, don’t forget 14-15.

 

9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.

 

Follow God and your leaders and commit your mind and heart to do it, and see if God doesn’t enable you to do more than you ever thought. 

 

 

2. We could overcome economic adversity.

 

Perhaps economic adversity is one of our biggest challenges right now, and I understand.  Since January, I have lost over $80,000, and I looking at sending three daughters to college.  I get it.

 

In Nehemiah 5, there was a famine, and working on the walls had kept the remnant from working their crops, and so they were in need of food.  What did they do?

 

Verse 3 says they mortgaged their land and vineyards to buy food.  However, they needed to borrow more money to pay the king’s taxes.  They ended up selling their children into slavery to pay their bills. 

 

The rest of chapter 5 says that Nehemiah was able to step in and help alleviate their hardship. 

 

Brothers and sisters, I know times are tough right now.  I buy the same groceries as you.  I buy the same gas as you.  I have lost the same investments as you, and yet I believe that God wants to do a miracle that can’t even comprehend as it relates to funding our Family Life Center.  However, He isn’t going to do it apart from the obedience of His people.

 

3. We could accomplish our goal.

 

I said to you last week that Nehemiah would have many challenges along the way.  We saw Nehemiah’s first opposition but not his last. 

 

Today, we have seen challenges from the outside trying to attack the people.  We have seen challenges from the inside and economic adversity. 

 

Chapter 6 has more challenges for Nehemiah personally.  His opponents tried to smear his reputation and sabotage his leadership.

 

However, look at 6:15-16.

 

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

 

The wall was completely rebuilt in 52 days.  Remember how it long it had been in ruins?  140 years. 

 

 

Conclusion

So let me paint a picture.  What if you said God is in this?  God brought us to this point, and God is leading our pastor and deacons and FLC Committee and CFT. 

 

Because this was of God, you committed to following our leaders and putting your mind and heart into working financially to make this happen. 

 

God could allow you do more than you ever thought.  God could help you overcome economic adversity that is crippling our country, and we could accomplish our goal.

 

However, all of that most likely won’t happen if don’t commit to follow the Lord and follow our leaders and commit our mind and heart to obeying the Lord in what He says to give. 

 

Brothers and sisters, I am inviting you to ask God what you should commit and then rise up and do the work.