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We have been studying a series together. We’ve just recently started on the book of Nehemiah, where three chapters, excuse me, two chapters into Nehemiah grew up in the Medo-persian Empire. Israel, in 606 down to 586 BC, was carried away by the Babylonians into captivity, a 20 year captivity that took place over the nation of Israel. And Nehemiah grew up under the Medo-persian captivity because Medo-persia then later conquered the area of Babylon and the nation of Babylon. And Nehemiah rose to a position in power and authority underneath the Medo-persian Empire to 140 years later. The book of Nehemiah we have now recorded for us in chapter one of Nehemiah, what we discover is that God begins to work on the heart of Nehemiah and his position of leadership in the Medo-persian Empire On behalf of his nation of Israel. God gave him his conviction and his burden for the people of Israel. Records for us in Nehemiah chapter one and verse four. Nehemiah asks these people coming back from a journey from Israel, what condition the nation of Israel was in, and they respond and allow Nehemiah to know that the nation of Israel still lies desolate. It wasn’t any new news to the people of Israel. They already understood that Israel was destroyed 140 years ago, and since that point has lived in shambles. But something particular 140 years for some reason, began to grip the heart of Nehemiah that Israel still rested in this place of desolation.
That’s because the heart of God began to work on the heart of Nehemiah, as we see in Jesus’s final stages of his life, as he goes into the Jerusalem for the final time, before he is to go to the cross and die on behalf of the world for their sins. Jesus weeps Sweeps of the nation of Israel over the city of Jerusalem. Calls them a lost people without a shepherd. Nehemiah’s condition was very similar to that of Jesus. He knows that there is a promise of the Messiah who is to come in the city of Bethlehem, who is to live and minister in the area of Jerusalem without a nation there for Jesus’s prophecy to be fulfilled. His people are broken and his people will never understand God’s truth. According to the way God desires to reveal it to them. And so God gives Nehemiah a heart of conviction, a burdened heart for the city of Jerusalem. We tie this into similarities of the purpose of the church God has. It tells us in acts chapter 17 and verse 25 appointed all people to live in a particular place at a particular point in time. God knew exactly where you were going to live and the exact place in which you were going to live. And he has a desire and goal for all of your lives. And just as Nehemiah had an area of responsibility of leadership before the nation of Israel, and God put him in a place of prominence, God has put you in a particular position to be a leader for him to follow after him, to allow the burden and conviction of God to be carried from his heart to yours.
That way you desire to live and carry the responsibility in which God has called you for this world. And it tells us in Nehemiah chapter one that Nehemiah with his conviction began to pray and to fast, that God would continue to provide an opportunity for him to find an avenue to get back to Israel and to rebuild this nation, especially the city of Jerusalem. And it tells us in the Scripture that he literally prayed for the month of Kislev to the month of Nissan, which is an area of four months. Nehemiah fasted and prayed for the people of Israel in the city of uh, and the nation of Israel, excuse me, and the people of Jerusalem. And finally, he gets his opportunity before the king to share with the king the burden that God had given him, because Nehemiah was a cup bearer cupbearer to the king. He literally was before the king’s presence. His job was to drink the drinks that were given to the the king to make sure the king wasn’t poisoned. You can imagine having that kind of job, the kind of stress that would come with it.
All of us, I’m sure at some point in our lives experienced stressful jobs. Could you imagine one that could cost you your life? This guy conquering Babylon, he’s conquering towns and cities. Many people probably wanted him dead in his Nehemiah’s job to taste the drinks before it gets to the king, to make sure that they’re not poisoned. And on one one occasion, he comes before the king after four months, and he finally shares with the king what his heart is for Israel. He takes a stand and he tells him, as it tells us, as he stands before the king, his countenance is one of sadness, because the conviction so weighed upon his heart that Nehemiah couldn’t allow it not to be expressed upon his face. And it was very evident before the king and the rules during the times where when you come before the king, you come with a happy face, because a face of dissatisfaction might show a disfavor towards the king and his leadership, or some sort of treachery about to take place. And so the King asked Nehemiah, why so sad? It tells us in the passage of Scripture in chapter two that Nehemiah was afraid before the king because of the question. But Nehemiah knew because of the place he lived and the opportunity that he had, that he needed to take a stand. Because Israel has an opportunity for change and hope in their future.
And so Nehemiah took a stand beginning in chapter nine. Excuse me. Verse nine of chapter two. This is where we’re going to pick up. And I’m going to simply ask this question. We find in the book of Nehemiah, as Nehemiah took the stand, the king provided the opportunity for Nehemiah to go back to Jerusalem. He’s got 12 years vacation from his job to rebuild the city. But not only does he get this vacation, but the King provides all the resources Nehemiah needs to rebuild the city. And this morning, very quickly, I know we don’t have a whole lot of time because the activities that come after this, but I’m going to ask this question and pose this question as we begin to develop chapter two and verse nine of Nehemiah, how do we begin to lead others towards the way God is convicting us? How can we direct other people? It says, how can I encourage others to carry out what God’s mission is for us? Because Nehemiah has already got the okay for the King, he’s now beginning his journey towards Jerusalem, about 100 mile trip that Nehemiah is going to take to rebuild this city. And he’s got to get to a city that’s laid desolate for 140 years, convince people that have lived there for 140 years, been okay with the conditions, or at least lived in the conditions that they need to now rebuild the city of Jerusalem.
Being a leader in the position that Nehemiah is in. The question we ask ourselves this morning is, how can I encourage others to carry out God’s mission? And as we draw these illustrations into our own personal lives, this is what I want us to know is that we may not ever lead a city of 50,000 people into a rebuilding process. It may not be in the cards for our lives, but God has placed us all in a position of leadership and influence in our lives. And so as we look at the characteristics of what made Nehemiah such a great leader and how he worked to share God’s conviction with these people, that they can see the community of Israel working together to build the kingdom that God has called them to be. In our own lives. We can think of our circle of influence in which we live and ask this question, Does God want me to stand for this? Does this need to be a conviction of mine? If so, how? How hard do I need to stand in standing for this? Do I need to encourage others in my circle of influence to follow after this? In our lives families, you can think of leading children. People who are the bosses of various employers can think of their coworkers or workers. What helped Nehemiah encourage these people to follow after God’s mission? As we go through the passage of Scripture this morning, I’m just going to pull out just some significant things that Nehemiah conducted as he began this initial process in leading the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem back to its glory.
It says in verse nine, so I went to the governors of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. And so the king has already given his approval. He’s he’s brought this convoy with Nehemiah to making sure he gets safe to the area of of Jerusalem. In verse ten it says, when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites. Something very important that we glean from the idea of leadership in the area of Nehemiah in the life of Nehemiah. And point number one is, remember, you will always or will often experience opposition just because you take a stand for what you know is right or you live in truth that God has called you to. Doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, In fact, because you choose to stand on a particular truth. Jesus saying, I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus saying, he who desires to worship me must worship me in spirit and truth. Because you choose to take that stand, it automatically means that people will stand against you.
I look at the life of Christ. A man who stood for truth walks into a city that he’s weeping over. They’re shouting Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Just define a few hours later that they’re also the very same people standing below the cross shouting crucify! Taking a stand for something means someone will always oppose, especially when it comes into the area of belief, and especially if you stand for those beliefs as being absolute truths. Because people have their own ideologies and desires in which they choose to live in this world. For Nehemiah, it came in two particular people Sanballat and Tobiah. These were men who governed in particular areas, specifically north of Jerusalem and the area towards Samaria, and they had their own agenda and desires of what they wanted to do with their land and what they wanted to see happen with the area of Jerusalem. And Nehemiah, before he even had one person on his side, it tells us, as he journeys into Jerusalem, he’s already made enemies with those around him. Remember, in your point of leadership that you need to have a deep conviction in the way that God is directing your lives, because when opposition comes, that is where you need to stand. Point number two from Nehemiah’s leadership is rest from the past and rest for the future.
Nehemiah takes this journey. It probably would have taken 2 or 3 months for Nehemiah to get all the equipment from the area of Susa in Medo-persia to Jerusalem and that 100 mile journey. And it says in verse 11, when I got to Jerusalem after staying there three days, Nehemiah then conducts Ducks his idea of ministering to the nation of Israel. This is very convicting passage for me. In verse 11, for me, when I get all systems going, I have all the materials that I need to conduct a particular task. I then full throttle into that, into that assignment that I feel like God would want me to do. But it says in this passage of Scripture that Nehemiah rests for three days. This sounds foreign to our culture. Three days is way too many, maybe three hours. But Nehemiah has just made this journey into the nation of Israel, and he wants to get to know the people. He wants to relax. He wants to Sabbath with his God. I think it says in your notes off to the side Sabbath. There is a specific reason that God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day he rested. It’s not healthy or good for man to continue to work and conduct themselves in particular tasks without taking the opportunity to rest and relax and pray before God, and continue to fast before God and seek after God’s face in his life.
And Nehemiah in this passage of Scripture, when he’s got all systems to go. He’s got all his equipment that he needs to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. It says. Then he rests. In order to have good leadership, you need to have restful leadership. No one wants to follow a tired leader because in his leadership or her leadership, this is what you get. Tired assignments and a grumpy boss. And Nehemiah, knowing the task that is before him, trying to rebuild a city of over 50,000 people, knew that he needed his rest and he needed his strength from God. And so Nehemiah rests, tells us in verse 12, that Nehemiah also became an example for what he expected for the nation of Israel. Serve as an example for others. It says in verse 12, I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my guide had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding. And so Nehemiah’s desire is to do for Jerusalem. And so, beginning the initial work, Nehemiah is the one who sets out in a building, a church here in in Utah County. We began with similar process as this. Nehemiah. He he desired he had the conviction to build a church here. We had a desire. We had a conviction to build a church here.
He took a stand to build the church in this area. Um, but before we began the church, we began to survey the area to see what what it is that the city of Lehi needed, or northern Utah County for that matter, needed. We got to know a lot about our town, and that’s what Nehemiah is about to do on behalf of the people of Jerusalem. He just wants to know his area. For three days, he spent time with the people of Jerusalem as a leader. And before he gives anyone else an assignment. Nehemiah as a leader serves an example by going out through the city and getting to know the needs that are in the city for the task that is before them. When we got to Utah, Stacey and I moved from out east. We asked those questions what does this city need? And for three years before we started this church, we worked and we ministered throughout excuse me, throughout Utah before we began here asking this question, what does the city need? We got to know, as some of you probably know, if you ever go to the rodeo, that happens in the middle of the week. Lehi can be kind of crazy. Lehi is a crazy country town in a lot of ways. There’s this weird biker bar that’s up the street and State Street trying to figure out how all that fits in.
Nehemiah makes the journey around the city, wondering how all that fits in, and one of the things that we quickly noticed when we moved here is there are a lot of kids in the area of Utah. This is the youngest state in America, and as we surveyed and led the example, one of the first things that we began to notice as a church in that leadership position is that we need to be very kid friendly as a church, right? So when you look at our church, we have a young appearance. I wear jeans, for Pete’s sakes. That is straight blasphemy, right? We invest a lot into our children’s church, into our children’s programs here. Um, a Nehemiah is doing the same thing. He’s leading as an example to the people and demonstrating to them what it’s going to take to reach the city and rebuild this city. Can I tell you, as a leader, whatever circle of influence that you’re in, in life, there’s no one more important to reach the people than a person who can relate to the people. Meaning this when you think of, I don’t know, famous events throughout history. You look at Martin Luther King leading the civil rights movement in order to unite black and white in our country. It was going to have to take a black individual to lead African Americans or to lead the black people. People who can relate are the people that can lead.
Nehemiah was appointed by God to be in that position of leadership where he was, because he could relate to the needs of the people. He was a Jew and he understood those needs. You know, I think about reaching people for Christ in northern Utah County. I moved here from the outside, which is kind of contrary to Nehemiah here, but there’s no one more powerful to reach people for Jesus than people who are from the area. You can relate better than anybody. And as much as I hate rodeos, in order to fit in, I went. I cheered, I think I cheered for the horses and the bulls more than the people, but I cheered. And as a good leader, Nehemiah sets an example for others. Not only did Nehemiah do that, but as he set out for the city and he began to look around, Nehemiah honestly evaluated the strengths and the weaknesses of the city, which is point number four. It says, by night I went out through the valley gate toward the jackal well and the donkey, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. How is Nehemiah going to convince the people of what they need? Well, Nehemiah, before he even begins to share with the people what they need to do, he needs to evaluate what the strengths and the weaknesses are of the people who he is going to require to equip to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah journeys around the whole city, and he sees all the walls that are destroyed, and the walls of the city are the glory of the city. We shared last week, if you were as a parent, looking for a place to live and you had some children, one of the first things that you want to check is the safety on behalf of your kids. Is it safe enough for my kids to live there and for the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem? The same question would have been asked because the the walls of the city are what protected a city from any violence that was to interfere with their daily lives. And so we knew that Jerusalem would never grow back to the glory that God desired for them to be unless they could rebuild those walls. That was their safety. And so Nehemiah began to assess what was needed within the nation of Israel. You only have so much time. You only have so much energy. You only have so many resources to put towards a particular task. And so when you do it, when you apply your energy and resources, you need to make sure that you can do it well. And as a leader, what it requires you to do is to honestly evaluate and assess your strengths and your weaknesses.
But not only that, you need to plan a clear vision, a specific vision, and a specific plan. It says in verse 14. Then I moved on toward the fountain gate and the king’s pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through. So I went up the valley by night, examining the walls. And finally I turned back and reentered through the valley gate. There’s a famous quote that says, you can’t lead. Don’t. Don’t criticize someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. And there’s a follow up quote that says that that if they become upset with you, at least you’re a mile away from them and you have their shoes. Right. And Nehemiah, in preparing to to plan and delete a clear vision for these people, he needs to understand what they’ve gone through and what they need to do by walking a mile in their shoes. I mean, it’s been 140 years since they’ve rebuilt these walls. There’s a specific reason they haven’t done this. Maybe the task looked overwhelming to them, but Nehemiah knew that he came with the experience and the know how and the ability to rebuild these walls. And so, again, to declare to these people how they needed to do it. He wanted to walk a mile in their shoes. You can’t lead people where you want them to go until you’ve walked the road before them.
You know, one of the great things about Jesus’s leadership, he refers in the Bible to himself as our High priest. Able to sympathize and empathize with our weaknesses. It’s because he took on flesh as we were, and he suffered as we suffer, and he endured the curse of sin as we endure the curse of sin. And so he can empathize with our weaknesses. A good leader knows how to empathize with his people. And Nehemiah walks this road in order to plant a clear vision for the people he needs to empathize with. But not only that, Nehemiah doesn’t speak too soon. It tells us in verse 16, the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews, or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work. You know, when you study the idea of marriage or family counseling, a lot of times parents will come with counseling for their kids. And let me just tell you, one of the one of the major issues in discipline towards kids with parents is that they give idle threats to their kids. Meaning this you expect your kid to do something, you lay down the law on what you want them to do, but you never carry through with the punishment. And so before long, you can’t figure out why your kid is swinging off the rafters.
And that’s really what Nehemiah expected with his leadership. Here is when he made a statement. He wanted to be a truthful statement. He wanted to be a statement that he promised to see through and to have happen for the nation of Israel. He didn’t want to make idle threats. And so he says in this verse in 16, before he said anything to the nation of Israel, what do you expect? You can imagine this, this royal official comes into town. He’s a Jew. He’s got all this equipment, all these people following him, and they ask him what he’s doing. And the whole group of people are told to say nothing. They just sit in silence. He could have been building a castle for all they know. And Nehemiah’s expectation as a leader was to survey the area of land, to understand what he wanted to have done for for the wall and the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. And he wanted, when he made that statement, to make it very specific, to make it very plan oriented to lead the people they needed to, the way they needed to be led by by example. But he didn’t want to make it too prematurely. Great leaders walk softly and carry a big stick. And that’s what Nehemiah is doing in this passage of Scripture. But it goes on in verse 17. It says, When Nehemiah had the opportunity and he knew his plan, he spoke face to face.
Nehemiah gathered everyone together to really preach a message. He wasn’t a preacher, but he knew he was a leader. This gave everyone the opportunity to decide on what they wanted to do for the nation of Israel, and their own personal way. Where do you stand? It’s time for a family meeting. And I want to know as a family, where do you stand? So I brought all of this equipment out. We have the king on our side, and we want to rebuild this wall. And I’ve surveyed the wall and I know that it’s possible. Here’s our specific plan. Are you with us? And so Nehemiah spoke face to face. It says in verse 17, then I said to them, you see the trouble we are in Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be a disgrace. Notice as Nehemiah speaks face to face as a leader with his people, it tells us that he also carries the responsibility with everyone. It says, then I said to them, you see the trouble we are in. This is a family focused thing. You know, one of the issues I’ll say that we face in American society is too much individualism, individualism, and not enough community. You know, when God created us, he created man first.
And it says it is not good for him to be. What alone? God created us as community, even within yourself. He created you as a communal being, creating both body, soul and spirit for the nation of Israel. He created a nation, a community for believers today. He created a church community. He asked those of people whether you agree with your leaders or not, as long as they’re not contrary to what God’s Word says, to follow after your governing officials, your leaders working as a community. A lot of who we were created to be in God happens in community. It tells us in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 19 and 20, baptize were baptizing today. And it says, baptize in the name of the father, the son, and the spirit, one God and three community God being a triune being represents the highest form of community. And it says here, as a leader, I think Nehemiah understood the significance of community. And what good is it for Nehemiah to have the conviction and passion to lead these people, but maintain that conviction and passion only within himself? Even if he could build the walls of Jerusalem on his own, would he want to. If the people didn’t understand the importance and significance of why Jerusalem is being rebuilt? And so Nehemiah says to the people, do you see the trouble that we are in? And I can’t help but think, as a leader, wherever you’re at in your life, that at some point you’ve been in a place like Nehemiah where you said, can you see the trouble we are in as a mother or father, leading kids, as kids, being an example to other siblings in the workplace? We all need to recognize where our weaknesses are before we can fix a brighter future or have a brighter future.
Nehemiah reminds the people, we are in this together. It’s not what you’re going to do to change. It’s what we are going to do together to see that change happen. We begin to use words such as you or I. We start to put up a wall and a defense mechanism within people. Well, you did this and you did this rather than let’s do this together. And Nehemiah, knowing this, said, hey, I’m here. I know that I’m a royal official, but I’m ready to get my hands dirty with you. I’m going to lead by example. We are doing this together. Do you see the trouble that we are in? I like how Nehemiah does it with verse 17 and 18. Verse 17 he presented the problem. He said, look, the city is in ruins. Have you ever been around those Debbie Downers in leadership position? All they do is point out the problem. They never point out the solution. Jesus never did that. That’s what made him such a great leader.
Other than the fact that he’s God. What made Jesus such a great leader is that he saw people lost in their sins. He saw people downcast in Tron, and he identified their sin to them and said, listen, this is a problem. He met the woman at the well and he said to her, you are living with a husband that is not your husband. You’ve been married five times. Let’s fix this problem. Look, there are problems in your life. Let’s fix them. But he didn’t just point out the problem. He also provided the solution. And it’s the same thing that Nehemiah does. He says in verse 18, I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the King had said to me. They replied, let us start rebuilding. So they began this good work, and seeing the solution, the community began to work together to accomplish the task. This is all they needed to hear for their success. Now, however, we lead in our lives or whatever we choose to lead in in our lives. I hope and pray that we carry the responsibility that God has placed us in. But we’ve always got to start with verse 18 and asking ourselves, is it where God wants us to be? Sometimes ideas seem good to us, but they’re not good to God. And sometimes our idea of what is good isn’t even God’s idea of what is good.
And so Nehemiah tells the people, listen, God is upon me. God has put me in this position to do this. This is how I know that we’re going to be successful. But not only that, the ruler whose hand stopped us from rebuilding this wall earlier. The King has given us the okay. He explains to the people how they will succeed. The last point he gives them a reminder for the road tells us in verse 19, even after you cast vision, even after you lead, even after you pray, even after you’re an example, even after you demonstrate what the plan is and how to live that plan and how God is on your side, it doesn’t always mean people are going to agree. I don’t like that. I don’t like it when people don’t agree with me. If it makes sense, then we should do it together. But sometimes you’re called to lead in the midst of opposition and continued opposition. It says in verse 19, but when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. The Three Stooges showed up to the party again and they said, what is this you’re doing? And they asked, are you are you rebelling against the king? And I answered them by saying, The God of heaven will give us success. Can I tell you, as we get ready to close, opposition isn’t always bad.
Opposition a lot of times hurts us in particular ways because it’s an emotional attack and it’s a physical attack on who we are when we are opposed. But just because someone opposes you doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t listen. Criticism can be used constructively whether a person is right or wrong in their criticism. So it’s good on occasions to stop and listen to the criticism, to make sure that your conviction is right where God needs it to be and right where God wants it to be. But if it is, if you’re where God wants you to be in the leadership and the way that you’re conducting yourself, the beautiful promise of verse 20 is what you get to carry with you. The God of heaven will give you success. And for us as people, when we find opposition in our lives, what we see in the life of Nehemiah, that he never reacted negatively or hatefully towards people in this passage. He simply discovered what God wanted to do. He got with the people who wanted to do it with them, and they started that journey together. They were becoming leaders for the nation of Israel. They spoke to face to face and they knew what it would take. And so they got on the same page. But as opposition came, if you know, what happens in the midst of opposition is tension builds. As people want to just share as a church family.
One of the ways that we will never be effective in leading is if when that tension builds, we allow it to get to us and react towards people in hateful ways. The Bible tells us, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time. Meaning, if you’re not humbling yourself and walking with God even in the midst of opposition, he can’t bless that. He can’t bless your sinful negative behavior towards others, but he will bless as you faithfully walk with him. For us as a church, to continue to move forward, to take the stand and live the conviction that God has called us to do. We’ve got to be prepared to walk humbly and to live with God in that way. Jesus’s life was one of a king who became a servant, who gave of himself to demonstrate what leadership was about and what truth was in him. And we were able to abundantly and clearly see that communicated through his life because he loved. And when he was hated, he loved. And when I turned my back on him, he loved me. And if Jesus had chosen any other sort of leadership style, I don’t think he could have been who he was. But if if he had chosen any other leadership style, I don’t think I would have heard his message quite so clearly.
But it’s the same with you, and it’s the same with Nehemiah’s leadership. If you come into a leadership position and you lead with an iron fist and you don’t walk humbly with your God, people are going to reject your message and they don’t want to walk with you, and they certainly don’t want to hear what you have to say. No one wins in an argument. Whatever position of leadership you’re in, whether in work, whether it’s influencing friends towards truth, towards Christ, whether it’s, uh, being a parent, the way that you choose to walk with God is significant towards what it produces within your circle of influence. The Bible tells us to walk humbly, and in so doing, the promise that we can live with as a church is that the God of heaven will always give us success. You may not ever force people to follow you the way that you desire. As we see in the life of Tobiah and Sanballat, It may not be able to force them or convince them, but with a life of influence, you can begin to work on their hearts to see how they should live through your example. This book of Nehemiah is all about leadership. I gave you a lot of principles today to look at ten of them. That’s way too many points for a sermon. But if you just remember the first question we asked this morning, how do I begin to influence people and share with them the conviction that God has placed on my heart? Nehemiah gave us principles of what that leadership position looks like, and so what it does is give you the opportunity to go back and look at those points of Nehemiah’s life and see in your life where you might need to improve in the area of leadership on behalf of God in the place that he’s called you to influence others.
But church, let me just tell you, the way that we always do it It’s by walking humbly with our God. Let’s close in a word of prayer. God, I just want to thank you for Nehemiah’s leadership and that all of it was spurred from you. God, I know as people here, as we faithfully choose to walk with you, Lord, that you will grow and equip us for leadership. And I pray, Lord, that we carry your conviction and take a stand for you. But we do it in love and truth. Help us to guide and influence in the areas of our lives that you’ve called us to. God, we thank you for the freedom that we can experience in you, and the hope that we have that you’ve called us in you. God, we ask that you bless the rest of our time together as we get ready just to have fellowship and some baptisms in the park. Thank you for giving to us and blessing our lives in us. In Jesus name, Amen.