Building the Right Way
Building Together
March 4, 2007
We’ve been talking about Nehemiah and his wall building effort the last couple of weeks. The first week I spoke of the reasons that Nehemiah was moved to go to Jerusalem and build the wall.
Last week I spoke about the importance of having the gracious hand of God upon us… and we prayed together for this to be so.
Today we speak of how Nehemiah actually built the wall with the people of Israel
The Goal: Build a wall around the City of Jerusalem
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate.
They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel.
2 The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.
Nehemiah 3:1-1
I’m not going to read the whole chapter here. For one thing there are a lot of unfamiliar names. For another thing it becomes pretty repetitious as you go through the chapter. Still it worthy of a quick read.
You see, Nehemiah had a goal and chapter 3 reveals the logistics of how he completed the task. His objective was to build a wall around the city of Jerusalem. And with the approval of the king, careful planning and engineering of the land, and the people rallied to the work – the task was accomplished in 52 days. This is an incredible feat, especially when you consider that they had none of the tools available to us for building today.
There were no hydraulically boosted cranes. There were no back hoes, bull dozers, or dump trucks. All they had was a lot of rocks and a lot of people who were willing to work hard – and that was enough.
Let’s look at how they accomplished this huge task and let’s apply it to the task that is before us.
Before we jump into this – let’s make sure we define again the mission and goal for Meridian Christian Church.
It is not to build a building. While this is what we are preparing to do this is simply a tool.
The mission is to help people find the way home. The method is helping people. The means is through Jesus Christ – he is the way. The goal is for all who come (and all are welcome) to become part of the family of God and to come home – on earth in the gathering of God’s people called the church and in heaven the gather of God’s people in his eternal kingdom.
That is the goal and that is the task. We are building God’s church.
So now, Let’s look at Nehemiah, chapter 3 and some things will quickly begin to be very clear.
What does it take?
It takes people who know that God is with them.
Nehemiah had prayed and worked to prepare the ground and the gracious hand of God was upon them. When he told them the king had given his approval and the governors were supporting the work they were all amazed.
This came because God’s hand was on Nehemiah. Now let’s not take anything away from Nehemiah. He worked hard on this. He met with the king. He put together his paperwork and made sure that all the planning was complete.
What we see here is the best of Nehemiah and the mighty hand of God – an unbeatable combination.
I am here to tell you to day that the gracious hand of God is on us! Last Monday evening we met for the second session with the Meridian Township Planning Commission and they approved our request for a Special Use Permit.
This was done in the shortest amount of time possible. You can’t do it any faster. They also reduced the burden on us that the initial conditions which had been proposed by the staff. While this isn’t unheard of – in Meridian Township – it’s pretty rare.
Now let me tell you there have been plenty of meetings. Hours and hours of work has been poured into this effort by the architect, our building team, our team leader, by our staff and many of our people. There has been hundreds, if not thousands of man-hours spent in prayer too.
Our best efforts and God’s gracious hand is an unbeatable combination!
Because the people who surrounded Nehemiah understood that they stepped up to the task. We must do the same.
What does it take?
It takes people who are not afraid of work
This is a big job. Building a wall around a city is not an easy task.
RESEARCH the size of the city.
Yet if you aren’t afraid of the size of the task you can cut it down to size.
It reminds me of the old joke: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time.”
Nehemiah cut the task into pieces and the people took it on one bite at a time. Each person and each family worked not on “the wall” but on their part of the wall and they did it that way.
This is exactly our strategy for building the Meridian Christian Church – the building and the church itself! When the job is too big – you break it down and work on the pieces. With everyone pitching in and working on their part – the task gets completed. It’s just the way it works and its fun to do.
What does it take?
It takes people who have the same vision
It doesn’t matter how mundane the job… they see the result.
Two men digging a ditch for the foundations for a church building. One man whined when he saw the size of the hole demanded and cried about having to dig. The second man worked with joy because he understood that he was helping to build a cathedral.
Nuts, Bolts, Screws, Gates, Wood, Hauling all is expected and demanded to build a church. Both building the walls and the body.
We are not building a club house. We’re building a ministry center… a place where we can gather to organize, work, train, prepare, encourage, and get ready to minister to our community. It will be dynamic and filled with life. Your piece may seem small but every piece helps to build the whole body.
So let’s break it down: There are three areas that we can and do focus on. These are what we want to make sure we can do with excellence.
Family Room: Celebration
Esther leads our musicians, singers and our AVL team. Participation not spectatorship! Looking forward to getting into our new home because it will change the dynamics of how we worship.
Dining Room: Life Groups
meeting in homes, sharing, praying, supporting and encouraging one another. Since the beginning of the year I have been creating supplementary lessons on DVD for our life groups. And not just my own materials are being used. We have put together a library of DVD materials – some of the best from across the nation to help shoulder the teaching load.
My goal is to bring good solid – rubber to the road – teaching to each of our life groups so that the leaders can focus on the people and loving on one another.
And the good news is that it works!
Kitchen: Ministry
A key part of our ministry is to the kids! Our children and are youth are very important to us. Dave and Tyler leading.
We have many others working with communion servers, greeters, coffee, set up and tear down teams.
Supporting and undergirding all of this are the ministries supporting the church – Men, Women, Meridian Angels, Prayer.
When we all share the same vision and we’re all on the same page it is amazing what we can accomplish!
What does it take?
It takes people who put God’s work first
In Nehemiah’s project you see all through chapter 3 plenty of people who had good businesses who made repairing the walls the first priority.
Now this helped them in the long run because, building the wall made the city more secure, which helped them in their lives and their work.
As strange as that sounds – that’s how it works! Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.”
God comes first – and all the rest comes along.
Can I ask a blunt question? Is God first? Or is God an hour on Sunday kind of thing?
Here is what I want to encourage you to do. Put God first. Make the work of this church a priorty in your life and pitch in… and help.
That leads me to the next characteristic I notice…
What does it take?
It takes people from every walk of life
In Nehemiah’s project you see priests, merchants, government leaders, men, women, people in high positions, people in low places – No excuses, no hang-ups – It doesn’t matter who you are – there was a place for you on the wall. It was true then and it is true now.
There is a place for everyone in the work. Some people will naturally focus on helping to build the building – our tool for ministry in this community. Some will focus on other parts of the task we are engaged in – building the church. It does not matter who you are – everyone fits in here somewhere. There is a place for you!
If you aren’t sure where you can fit in then I can make some quick suggestions.
MCC Tour
We’ll show you around and help you get your bearings.
Family of God Study
Get in the Game Workshop
Talk to someone who is helping already…
What does it take?
It takes people working together
You’ll notice all through the text that Nehemiah records that one person worked at a particular place on the wall and next to him was this other guy, and next to him was a third family, and next to them… etc
When we work together – not only does the work go faster – it’s fun! There is nothing like working together to accomplish something worth while.
And that leads me to the final point I’d like to make this morning.
What does it take?
It takes people who actually work for God
A great many people have got a false idea about the church,¨ said evangelist D.L. Moody. They have got an idea that the church is a place to rest in...to get into a nicely cushioned pew, and contribute to the charities, listen to the minister, and do their share to keep the church out of bankruptcy, is all they want. The idea of work for them actual work in the church never enters their minds.¨
We have a consumer mentality about the church… what are you doing for me?
Wrong question!
Wrong picture!
Wrong lesson!
We are called to serve God and build his church – and when we do we receive all we need!
We have been called to accomplish a mission
Nehemiah was called to a wall.
We are called to build the church. For us that includes building a ministry center… a large task on its own – but the greater goal that we must all work on together is the building of the Lord’s church…
Together we take up the challenge and together we will accomplish the task.
If you have not yet given your life to Jesus as Lord… now is the time.
If you have not yet thrown your weight into the effort here at MCC… now is the time.
If you have been here and have been working… now is the time to be encouraged and to pour on the extra effort.
