ÿþ <html> <head> <title>Welcome to First United Methodist Church, El Dorado, AR, sermon series "A Time to Build" </title><!--- Jan 3, 2010 --> <meta name="description" content="First United Methodist church, El Dorado, AR, FUMC, F.U.M.C. First Church, First Methodist, Methodist John Wesley, Methodist, United Methodist Youth, United Methodist women" /> <meta name="keywords" content="First United Methodist church, El Dorado, AR, FUMC, F.U.M.C. 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It is a chapter written with no ending; much like the Gospels were written. All the Gospels end with that beginning, inviting us to write own stories of how the Good News of Jesus Christ changed our lives, how we have been transformed into people of God, individually and as a community. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> In Nehemiah, the book ends with a prayer, very similar to the end of Chapter 5(NIV),  Remember me with favor, O my God. Nehemiah is writing so that we too are compelled to act as we promise, that we act the same as we believe, and that we act the same as God created us to act. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Let us pray: <I>O God, not one of us can stand before you on our own; we all fall short of your Glory; but yet while we were yet sinners you sent Jesus into our midst because you saw that we were lost and could not find our way to you O God. You loved us so much that even though you knew what would happen, you loved us more than our selfish actions. Teach us O God, though these words of Nehemiah, of your love for us, of your expectations of us, of the value of the promise of our Baptism in your eyes. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.</I> </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> We know that the book of Nehemiah is about the people building a wall around Jerusalem in 52 days. That is a truly remarkable feat but not much to write about unless you are a project manager, perhaps. But remember the people of Israel and Judah had been living in exile in Babylon and then began returning to Jerusalem 94 years before they even started building. Most people, it seemed, didn t even want to go back there. They had made new lives and they met new friends in Babylon. It was a good place to raise children and they had become comfortable in exile. But they were not fulfilling the reason that God had made them into God s people. God had formed them for a purpose that included exile in Babylon but did not end there. They had to return to Jerusalem as a people to do that. And not only return to Jerusalem and the land, but to be God s people in the living there. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Nehemiah helped lead them into becoming God s people once again; they began to refocus their lives into following the will of God. Their building project had become a work of God. Nehemiah remarks about the task, <B> When all our enemies heard about this and all the surrounding nations saw it, our enemies lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. </B> (Neh 6:15,16). Not only the enemies got it but the people of Judah also got it. God was at the center. They began to remember what their forefathers and foremothers had promised God so many centuries ago in the wilderness in order to become children of God. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Jim taught us last week that Nehemiah asked the people living in Jerusalem to promise four things. First, they would be a people of the Word. Second, they were not going to allow the world or the culture around them to pull them away from their focus on God. Third, they would pattern their life around the Sabbath, and it would remain as a time to focus on God and to offer rest. Fourth, they were to share in God s work as they vowed  We will not neglect the house of our God (Neh:10:39). They dedicated the wall with great celebration, and the duties and tasks of forming a community were divided among the tribe. Some stayed in Jerusalem and some went to other cities but they remained united as one people. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> With the wall finished and the people focused on God, Nehemiah had finished the task that he asked the King of Persia, Artaxerxes, permission to do. Remember Nehemiah was an official in Artaxerxes court, a cup bearer. So Nehemiah returned to the service of the king after twelve years in Jerusalem. We don t know how long Nehemiah was in Persia but Nehemiah writes,  Sometime later I asked his (Artaxerxes) permission to return (Neh 13:6). Our text chapter 13 is about what he finds in Jerusalem and how he responds. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> When Nehemiah returns, he finds the people not abandoning God, not living badly, but he finds them  well  lukewarm toward God. Even the priests were happy to just live life as it came, making a living outside the temple. The church administration became lax, the Sabbath was observed but they still were not whole heartedly participating in its potential, and finally even the clergy were not searching the scriptures to avoid falling away from following the will of God. Nehemiah discovers how the people had forsaken their promises. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> First, the church infrastructure that maintained the financial support for the clergy had been compromised; the house of God was not being maintained. Nehemiah asks (Neh. 13:11), <B> Why is the house of God neglected? </B> </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Second, the Sabbath day was being violated. People were buying and outsiders were selling goods on the Sabbath. (Neh13:17-18) <B> What is this wicked thing you are doing  desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn t your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath. </B> </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Finally, the People, including the Priests of the Temple, were marrying non-believers. (Neh. 13:27), <B> Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women? </B> Nehemiah was not advocating all people for all time must not marry outside of their religious context. But he was concerned that those outside of the Judean cultural context were trying to lead the people of Judea from following God. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Nehemiah had discovered that people were finding that living as a people of God was not easy. Living the walk of faith as a daily commitment was not as easy as a once a year celebration on top of a wall. The daily commitments to worship and pray and uphold our promises made to each other are easily eroded and quickly lost without personal accountability. A clearly defined, faithful worship community and understanding of what it means to be a people of God is not a part time job. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Silently reflect on this question: Since you have become a Christian, have you ever become lukewarm in your faith, neither hot nor cold, neither passionate nor unconcerned, about the church or your faith? In our culture, I think that it is easy to stand guilty of being indifferent to our faith. So many compelling distractions just overwhelm us without us even being aware that it is happening. Next thing we know we haven t prayed or spiritually read scripture in a month. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> This is what Nehemiah was trying to get the people to see. Nehemiah knew that what the people were doing was not so bad; they hadn t abandoned their faith. But Nehemiah knew that they weren t just any people, they were people of God, who had suffered greatly in trying to live that out over hundreds of years. The tradition called for them to faithfully live the life of their ancestors. Nehemiah knew with his very being that their only hope was in God and he wanted the people to see how they could learn to believe the same way. Isn t that what Jesus as a teacher was telling his disciples in the Gospel of Luke s sermon on the plain? (Luke 6:46), Jesus asks, <B> Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? </B> </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> As we have journeyed through this book of Nehemiah together, have you felt a new found sense of burden, of picking up your cross, as Jesus said and did? Do you have a new sense of Christian purpose filling up your very being? Does the state of the Church concern you at all? Can we turn to God in prayer as a body of Christ and say with Nehemiah, (Neh 13:31), <B> Remember me with favor, O my God? </B> </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> This church has adopted as its symbol the picture of a journey. We have been on one this summer in Nehemiah, in a time to build sermon series, looking at our Journey as a building a church, a people of God. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Let me remind us of our promise.<BR><BR> Our mission is to love God, to grow in God s love, and to share God s love.<BR><BR> We Love God through worship  Sunday attendance is foundational, as well as prayer and hospitality to others.<BR><BR> We grow in love through study and worship. We find new and creative ways to help ourselves and others grow in the love of God.<BR><BR> We share God s love through mission and service. We serve others in our Church community and we serve others in our larger community.<BR><BR> As we travel this journey together, may we pray with the boldness of Nehemiah, <B> Remember me with favor, O my God. </B> Amen. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> </font></p> <br><br> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> </table> <TABLE width=800 border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <TR bgcolor="#d8d2d8"> <TD width=800 valign="baseline" bgcolor="#d8d2d8" align=right> <!--- beige F2F2E6 ----> <font face="verdana" color="#000000" size="1"> This site designed and maintained by <a href="http://www.hipdogwebdesign.com">HipDog Web Design&reg;</a><br> Copyright 2005. All Rights Reserved.</TD> <TD width="19%">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> </TABLE> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>