Kingdom Agents Part 4

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on March 10th 2024  by Colin. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. 

Nehemiah

Nehemiah was a captive, who was taken to Persia. There he rose to become the cupbearer. It tells us that he was a man of integrity. Even though he was a thousand miles away from Jerusalem, he was concerned. He asks his brother for a report and he weeps. His heart went out to the people of God and the city of God. 3 months later at an opportune time, he requested the king to let him be released to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He got permission, papers and provisions from the king. He went out and surveyed the walls of the city and saw the destruction. He then envisioned the people to rebuild the walls. 

The people then put their hands to the task and did the work of rebuilding. It wasn’t a skilled job, but everyone except the nobles of Tekoa did the work. No matter what we are in the world, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Then there was opposition from people who were trying to distract them from doing the work of God. 

”And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall,“ - Nehemiah‬ ‭12‬:‭27‬-‭33‬, ‭38‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The temple was dedicated with great joy! 

”And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.“ - Nehemiah‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭3‬, ‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There was worship, confession of sin and the preaching and teaching of the word, keeping of the law. But in chapter 13 we see things change. We see people backsliding. 

”On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.“ - Nehemiah‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬, ‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Some corruption started taking place. This happened when Nehemiah was not there. 

1. The people of God pledged to follow God's word but they backslid. They allowed the enemies of God to come up and set up a room in the house of God. 

2. To be set apart: 1 Corinthians 6:14 ”Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!“ god's standard is to be a people set apart. If you’re thinking of marriage, this is important to note. The word of God says we are not to be unequally yoked. 

3. To keep the sabbath 

4. Not supporting God's work 

Lessons to learn : 

1. Ordinary people can be used by God to do extraordinary things. With God all things are possible. Moses was 80 years old when he started the exodus. Jesus used ordinary fishermen to build his church. Mary was a young teen girl and God used her to be the mother of Jesus. The problems are so big that we feel overwhelmed. God places a burden in your heart for something. You don’t have to do everything, but each of us must do something! 

2. We need to be prayerful people: William Wilberforce worked to abolish slavery in England. These things happen through persistence and prayer. 

3. Each of us has a role in God's kingdom: there is no caste system in Christ, we are all one in Christ. Nehemiah 3:20 ”After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.” They worked zealously and with all their heart. We all are busy but we have to work for God. Befriending people out there so that we share the love of Jesus with them. Within the church let’s open our homes and hearts. 

4. Move out of your comfort zone: Nehemiah was living in luxury. But he moved out of his comfort zone, to a ruined city. We default to what is easy. But God wants us to stretch. How can we stretch? In a gym, unless you stretch, you don’t grow. It’s the same with our hearts. 

5. Never underestimate the consequences of sin: as the church we are called to live holy lives. We are living in a time of abundance of access to the word of God. But if we don’t use it, we will run out of steam. It’s like oxygen. It is abundant, but we need to inhale it.

Thank god for NDehemiah. One day we will meet him in heaven 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.   

Kingdom Agents Part 3

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on March 3rd 2024  by Colin. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. 

KINGDOM AGENTS PART 3 – NEHEMIAH

Colin D

Change is inevitable. Nations have changed in their power and influence. Portugal was a powerful nation in 16C AD. Two thousand years ago the Romans ruled and before them the Greeks, before them the Persians, and before them the Babylonians. Kingdoms will come and go but God’s purposes will prevail and continue to be fulfilled. Rom9:17

Let us look at Nehemiah – He lived 450 years before Jesus.

What can we learn about transforming cities and nations through this book?

1Cor 10:11 “These things were written as warnings and examples for us.

NEH 1:1: Our story begins in November in Susa – modern-day Iran (Persia). They conquered Nebuchadnezzar. How did Nehemiah land 900 miles away from Israel?

150 years before Nehemiah the Jews (Jer 25) continue their rebellion. Jeremiah prophecies that they would go into captivity for 70 years. They were taken captive to Babylon. Seventy years later the Persians rose and conquered Babylon.

Return of the exile Phase 1 – Ezra. He helped build the temple, but the walls were not yet built.

Neh1 Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the King. He had an important role. To be a cupbearer you also had to be cultured, conversant in law, have a good personality etc.

Neh2:1 The King is Artaxerxes. Nehemiah and Ezra were contemporaries. Ezra was older. Nehemiah came 20 years later. Artaxerxes was the stepson of Queen Esther.

Nehemiah is still in exile, but this was his heart posture.

1.  He was concerned about what was happening in Israel.

2.  He wept and mourned.

3.  He fasted and prayed for days.

4.  Nehemiah had a great relationship with the King and was the closest to the King next to his wife.

 

Prayer is mentioned fourteen times because Nehemiah was a man of prayer.

Neh. 9:5-37 is the longest prayer recorded in the bible.

Am I concerned about God’s people i.e. both the small c church and the big C church?

Ch2:4 Nissan – it is the month of April. A few months later. Nehemiah’s sadness shows on his face and the king notices it.

Nehemiah speaks to the Kings and asks to go to Israel.

This reminds us of Jesus. He was concerned for us who were lost and in exile to Satan’s kingdom. He left His comfort of heaven and came to save us.

 

Nehemiah asks on behalf of his people at 2:11. He comes to Jerusalem in v 13 inspects the ruins and sees the mess.

2:17 He saw a problem and did not grumble about it. So, they start building a wall.

Ch3:1 So the people got involved. The high priest, priest, goldsmiths, perfume maker, temple guard, Levites and merchants – all together built the wall. They got their hands dirty – they did not stand at the ceremony.

3:5 One group did not help i.e. the nobles of Tekoa.

4:6 They worked with all their heart. Whatever we do for God is a great honor.

When you are building for God, you will face opposition.

4:13 So this is what Nehemiah did. He put families in charge of guarding the walls where they lived. They built with a shovel in one hand and a sword in one.

6:15 The wall was built in 52 days.

They also helped the poor.

Ch8 – they heard the word.

Ch9, They repented and fasted and rejoiced.

 

What can we learn from this?

History keeps repeating itself. But Jesus is building His church and transforming cities.

Rulers will come and go but the church will last forever.

What can we do? – Be a people for prayer

They all served together.

We need to guard unity. God can do great things through unity. So, make an effort to be there.

As we play our part, we can build great things for God.

 Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.   

Sharing from Marathon Part 1

This message was preached by Colin and NavazD at Word of Grace Church on June 2nd, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

As you all know we went to Greece for a conference and we met at a place called Marathon

There's a history behind this name through which the running long distance is named as Marathon.

Years ago there was a war between Persia and Greece which was called The Battle of Marathon. When the Greek people won the war, one of the Greek soldiers ran to Athens to announce the victory of Greeks. 
So, when we meet there, it was like heaven because there were people from different countries, speaking different languages.Today we're going to share some of the important things that were shared in the conference.
Some of the prophetic released were -

* New Era We are entering a new era. It’s not going to be old but totally new. Seasons are recognizably what we have experienced before. However, an Era is something new that we have not experienced. You have to leave somethings behind and adjust to what is to come.

* Build a legacy - shared by Navaz

We have been used to doing things in a certain way. God wants to break the mold and do something new. We have put God in a box and he is saying take the boxes off. We are going to do movement and Regions Beyond like something we have never done before.

Regions Beyond is not about a slick structure but it’s about being led by the Spirit. The Spirit will mark and make us distinct in who we are.

The eternal principles in the Word of God will always be our plumb line but the practice outworking – the practice of what each church looks like will be different for each one.

For each one of us we are called to build and leave a legacy. A legacy that will last forever form one generation to another. Each of us have a mandate and responsibility to do this. What version of Christianity will we leave behind? Will the next generation stand on our shoulders and take it even further, and this is the charge God is giving us.  We should be able to say I have fought the good faith of faith; I have 


Steve Oliver's sharing:
Neh 1:1-4
When we see our city, do we see it with our eyes or through the eyes of God?
Nehemiah was in a very good position. He had good food, good clothes because he was very close to the King. He was the cupbearer of the King. 
But he was concerned about Glory of God. He prayed, fasted and mourned for his city. Do we look at the city of Pune as God sees?

e.g. London is a very beautiful city 
But initially it was not like that. There's was an area called Devil's Acre. It was notorious slum. A man by name Samuel Martin, along with 25 people decided to move into this place. They faithfully preached and worked for the poor, cared for the sick and prayed for them. The result was - within 20 years, things changed and the church grew to 1000 people. It's a transformed place and is famous now.

Steve gives us 3 insights -
Faith like Nehemiah and Samuel Martin. To transform people, cities and nations.
1. Look at our city through God's eyes
2. Nehemiah and Samuel Martin acted upon what God has put on their hearts.
Let's ask God to use us to transform our city. We must love and serve people of this city
3. Lean into God
The task we're given is very big. We need supernatural help. Hence its very important to lean into God


Sharing by Daniel _  A vision of Jesus that will sustain us Revelations 4&5
We must lead in confidence and purpose in ourselves.
We often lean on wrong people and wrong things. But we need to lean on God and that's when we see God's glory.

In chapter 4, John refers to the throne of God 19 times. HE cannot get over the throne. Every time the saints get a glimpse of heaven they see the throne. Isaiah and Ezekiel saw the throne and were changed. The one who sits on the throne is the one who is in charge.
 We can feel overcast by governments, politics et cut we are told that there is a throne to which every throne will bow. Even Satan will bow to this throne one day.
In chapter 5, scroll with 7 seals.

John weeps that there is none to open the scroll.

This new era will be marked with weeping. When did we last week over our nation?
While John was weeping, one of the elders tells him to stop weeping.  Behold! The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. Jesus is the lion – born in humanity under the power of the Holy Spirit. He walked on the earth like a lion – he owned everything, spoke with authority and lived without fear. Jesus the infinite lamb and lion were strength and meekness 2 diverse excellences combined in one being.

What do we do and how do we do to transform the city?

John lived a fulfilled life and was confident of the promises of God for the future.

At the end of the 7 letters to the churches in Revelations John writes - lift up and see the glory of God. John saw the glory of God. We need to see the glory of God. When times are hard we need to see Jesus. John saw the glory of Christ.

On the scrolls is the purposes and the judgments of God for all the nations. God has a plan to bless us. The scroll sat upon the right hand of God and God is holding it out open toward heaven.

Who is worthy to open the scroll? The angels eye all of heaven and find no one can open and look into it. Imagine the descending realization- no creature, no angle could step forward.

Theological accuracy is not enough. We need doctrinally shaped minds and hearts that break over the nation.

When did we last break over our nation?

The way Jesus displayed his lioness is by becoming a lamb.

Ch 5 v9-11 the Lamb opens the scroll. Jesus could have exercised his lioness on earth .But he chooses to be the lamb t the slaughter.

Satan thought he could get the better of the lamb. Col 2;15  

But the lamb was orchestrating everything. Death thinks it has won but the lamb gets up and ascending, sits on the throne – the lamb that once was slain.

This is what we should remember – in all that, we do. We lose everything if we do not have our hope in Jesus. We can go in confidence and tell people that their names race written in the lamb’s book of life that their debt has been paid for.

The 100 year prayer of the Moravians was amazing. They were lion sin confidence willing to die as lambs.

May the lamb receive the reward of his suffering” This used to be their prayer.

We are embarking on a new Era- we don’t know what before us but this can be our prayer in all we do.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Fighting Discouragement | Wellington G

This message was preached  by Wellington Gomes at Word of Grace Church on March 25th, 2018. Wellington has been a friend of Word of Grace Church for many years. He leads the River of Life Church in Panjim, Goa that belong to the NewFrontiers sphere 'Commission'. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

We are going to look at the book of Nehemiah and I want to talk to you about how to deal with discouragement. It is one of Satan’s biggest weapons. We are called to rise up and do what God has called us to do. We all get trapped into discouragement, but we will look at how to get out of it.

Whenever you have a dream from God, the first thing that hits us is problems. Joseph had to go through a huge process before his promise was fulfilled. At first, we get excited about the thing God has called us to do. Then we get discouraged. Then we blame someone. The innocent gets punished and the wrong people get appreciated.

Nehemiah heard from 2 of his guys that the wall of Jerusalem is in a bad shape. He is burdened with this thing. So he made a huge plan to rebuild the walls. The walls are a protection and an identity. So when the wall is destroyed, it means that they were disgraced. Nehemiah builds this at a miracle pace of 52 days. Everyone who has made it big has made it because he persevered through problems. Everyone goes through a struggle.

Nehemiah 2: 17-20 “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 in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.””

The God of heaven will give us success. But these guys did not give up.

Nehemiah 4: 1-3 “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!””

Discouragement comes in these ways:

1.      Words: People are going to say things to discourage us. When I became a Christian, people ridiculed and challenged me that I will not last more than 5 years in my Christianity. It’s been 30 years and I am as passionate about God! If you can keep your eyes fixed on God and move forward, nothing is impossible with God. Words are the most discouraging thing. Even with your children, don’t put them down using negative words. They will become what you say they are. Always have positive attitude.

2.      When words don’t work, they start using physical threats: I got physically threatened many times. We will see the victory, please don’t give up. Don’t make excuses, get through. Even people who don’t know God work like that. How much more should Christians be determined to go where God has called us to go? There are too many Christians giving up too easily these days. Nehemiah 4:11 “Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.” Did the walls stop? No way!

3.      Sometimes discouragement can come from your own people: we face that all the time. We get a brilliant idea, and someone will say something discouraging. When we come together, say words of faith to one another. If you have a vision, however slow it may be moving, it will come to pass. I told the church when we were 10 people that we are going to reach 1000 people in the city. Now we haven’t reached a 1000 people yet, but our reach is going further and further. I believe the dream God gave me, we are going to get there. If you can trust God, he will be with us.

4.      Send intimidating letters: Today it is whatsapp Messages. Please don’t give up, we have great things in store. The difference between discouragement and disappointment is that you cannot choose disappointment. But discouragement is a choice. Sometimes you wake up not knowing how you are going to run this race.

5.      Exhaustion brings huge discouragement: Elisha faced this. He brought down fire, and then one woman frightened him. if you don’t refresh yourself in the presence of God, you’re going to have a hard time. How did David get back his strength? He found his strength in God. Whether you business is failing or your child is sick, it can change tomorrow. People get burnt out or overwhelmed with the work and can’t find strength to go on. Find your strength in God 

Q. How can you get out of this discouragement?

1.      Get into the presence of God- he will refresh you. Nehemiah 4:4-5 4:9;6:9- In response to the threats, he would go back into the presence of God.

2.      Don’t stop doing what you are called to do: some people even resign from their jobs when they are discouraged. You never make decisions when you are discouraged. We are building the walls of the city and the lives of the people in the city.

3.      Arm yourselves: Nehemiah 4:13- “Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.” Never put your armour down. If the devil comes, you have to have your armour on. Ephesians 6: 10-13 says put on the armour of God. They are not going to take a break. We need to alert, be sharp

4.      Encourage one another: When you reach halfway of any project, that’s when we feel down. We need to be careful we don’t give up at that time.

5.      Be united: this is the toughest one for the church. If you put two Christians on an island, there will be 2 churches in 2 months. If we don’t learn to live with one another, it is a bad testimony. The Bible says, you will know they are Christians by their love one for another. Let’s do everything to guard the unity of the spirit. Let’s fight our battles together.

Hebrews 12:3 “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”. We all go through challenges, but let’s not give up.

  Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.