Sermons

Well, it's been so long. I feel like I need to introduce myself again. I'm Andrew Curry. It's nice to be with you. It is good to be back from vacation. Got to have time visiting family and time together as well with immediate family and it was very special. But it is always good to be back with the church family and especially for the passage that we come to this morning. Can I ask you please to open your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter five. Nehemiah chapter five.

Yesterday was America's birthday. Happy birthday, America. But in that 250th year, I don't know, because I don't know what news articles you read, if you are aware that on January the 5th, 2026, an infamous man, Aldrich Ames, passed away, a very significant man in America's history. He was an American, born in River Falls, Wisconsin. He studied at George Washington University and then later on at the University of Chicago.

He was married, he had a child, he worked in American counterintelligence. He was an officer with the CIA and very successful in that career. But in 1994, he was convicted of having worked on behalf of the Soviet Union and then later on with Russia. Ames was responsible for the arrest and then the eventual execution of numerous Soviet and Russian officials who secretly were working on behalf of the United States government. And at the time of his arrest, he had compromised more highly classified CIA assets than any other intelligence officer in the 250 years of America's history.

His acts were dangerous. They obviously caused significant harm, but when all of the obituaries and commentary was given in January 5th about this man and the weeks afterwards as people reflected on his life, what everybody talked about was the fact that his crime wasn't just an ordinary crime.

It was a betrayal. He'd gone against his family. He'd gone against his employer. He'd gone against the nation. With the only motivation of wanting to line his own pockets. And so not only was this the normal type of crime where somebody does something to get rich quick, it was marred with this deep sense of personal betrayal against his people.

And I think all of us can relate to that. The sorest hurts that we experience in this life are those who are inflicted upon us by those who we have expectations of. Those who are close to us. Those we assume or hope would treat us better. What we come to this morning in Nehemiah 5 is that sort of activity. Nehemiah 4 that was expounded last week and Nehemiah 6 where we'll go next week, both of those talk about the trouble caused by the foreigners, the outsiders, the Gentiles, the externals. But what sets Nehemiah 5 apart, and what makes it so much more painful to read and understand, is it is unfolding trouble within the camp. It's those sharpest of wounds that are sorest, not because they go deepest, but because they're inflicted by the very people we would expect more from. Can I ask you to stand, please, if you're able, and we'll read God's Word. We'll read Nehemiah 5, and we'll pray and ask God for help. Nehemiah 5, reading from verse 1.

(Scripture reading) "Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. For there were those who said, “with our sons and our daughters, we are many, so let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive.” There were also those who said, “we are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” And there were those who said, “we have borrowed money for the King's taxes on our field and our vineyards.

Now, our flesh is the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. And some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it. For other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

I was very angry. When I heard their outcry and these words, I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and officials. I said to them, “you are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them and said to them, “we as far as we are able, have brought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations. But you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us."

They were silent and could not find a word to say. So, I said, “the thing that you're doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God? To prevent the taunts of the nations, our enemies. Moreover, I and my brothers, my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. Return to them this very day their fields and vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” Then they said, “we will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say."

And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “so may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said amen and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes the king, 12 years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration 40 shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people.

I did not do so because of the fear of God. I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired new land and all my servants were gathered there for the work. Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox, and six choice sheep, and birds, and every 10 days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor. because the service was too heavy on this people. Remember for my good, oh my God, all that I have done for this people." (End)

Let's pray.

(Prayer) Heavenly Father, You know how certain passages of Scripture, the whole world and setting is so unfamiliar to us. And sometimes we struggle just because of all of the different issues that the text presents and how alien it is from our current situation to be able to step in and to see the point, the timeless point of Scripture. So, we ask for grace to be able to understand what lies before us, that we may hear what You say. And we ask as well for the grace not simply to be hearers of the word, but to be doers, to be those who put these things into practice. Lord, You know how hard our hearts are. You know how even in the covenant community of the church, how we so often have our blind spots, especially as it comes to the way we engage with one another.

And so, we ask for the kind rebuke of Scripture, the kind correction of Scripture this morning, the encouragement that we need as well, that You would be busy amongst us, making us more of what we ought to be, more like Your Son. And we pray, Lord, that through this time of study, we would be equipped for the work of ministry in the week that lies ahead, to the praise and glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, whom we love. Amen. (End)

Have a seat.

Part of the difficulty of coming and studying the Old Testament is understanding the nature of what we're entering into.

In the Old Testament, there is a covenant people. The people of Israel. And they are covenant people in the sense of God has made promises to them. And what drives the narrative of the Old Testament are those promises. That through Abraham's descendants would be brought the great seed who would be a blessing to the nations. And the Old Testament is really driven by that fulfillment of the promises by God doing what God said He would do. And despite the failures of men and women that God insists because He always keeps His promises in doing what He said He would do. And so, the people of Israel were the covenant people of God, those to whom God had given those first promises. And with that, God spells out to them His expectations of a covenant people.

Now, come to us today. If you are a Christian, you are part of a covenant people, the church. You are bound; you have confidence in the promises that God has given to us in Christ Jesus. That because of Christ we have confidence our sin has been forgiven. That we have a future. That we have a God who is our God. And we, not just the people of Trinity Bible Church, but we the people of the church from the time of Acts all the way through the generations, we are part of the covenant people of God, a people who are held and find their confidence in the promises that God has given to us.

And again, just like the covenant people of Israel, the covenant people of the church, we have expectations that God has of us. He expects us to bear one another's burdens. He expects us to pray for one another. He expects us to love one another. Because He tells us that clearly in His Word. There's expectations God has of the church.

So, you see the way we're in a different world, we're in a very different setting and yet there is this aspect of the God who makes promises has expectations of the people He makes those promises to.  And yet so often those people don't behave the way they should. And so, the first thing I want you to see in the text this morning is a note to address our expectations. I want you to see there's something here to address our expectations in the first five verses. Nehemiah 5 begins by setting out a situation that had developed.

And it was a situation that wasn't coming from the pressure of the foreigners around about. It wasn't coming from other nations that were pressing in. It wasn't coming from external forces. This was pressure. This was tension that was being felt on the inside.

Now, we know in this world that there are hardships that this world involves. We expect there to be health issues. We expect there to be times of difficulty in our employment. We expect hostility. The church community expects the secular media to make odd and even rude comment about the nature and the practice of the church. We expect hostility from those outside. But what we're not often prepared for is the hurt that can be caused inside the camp.

And that's exactly what's going on in Nehemiah 5 verses 1 to 5. If you notice in verse 1, it begins by telling us there was a great outcry. A great outcry. That's the type of language that we find in Exodus chapter 2 where the people who were enslaved, the people whose children were experiencing that aggressive genocide from the wicked Egyptian Pharaoh at the time, there was a great outcry onto God that He would move, that He would act. When the people were taken and scattered throughout the Babylonian empire and they were in exile those 70 years, there was a great outcry. As the people called out to God to deliver them from the occupation of these oppressive foreign nations that would not allow them to return to the promised land. But here, in Nehemiah chapter 5, the great outcry of the people is against the people. In fact, verse 1 says, they're Jewish brothers.

In fact, this cry is so earnest that it's not just the men who are building those walls that cry. Look at the text, there was a great outcry of the people, and of their wives. That statement, and of their wives, you know, wives are part of the people. It's redundant, apart from the fact, it's stressing that the tension, the heartache, the pressure that was being felt was one that was being felt, not just in the workplace, but very much at home. These are families that are being affected. Families that are being caused this anguish, this great anguish that would cause them to cry out. And verse 2 explains a little bit more about what's happening, what's causing this lament. They simply don't have enough food to eat. They don't have grain. Verse 3 goes on and it tells us a little bit more.

They're all building those walls. So, you think about it, if the men are all out building the walls of Jerusalem, what are they not doing? Well, they're not working in the fields. And so, in order to be part of the Lord's work, in order to do what needs to be done, they've tried to scrimp and save and make it work, and some of them have even taken the drastic action of re-mortgaging their fields, of selling and renting back the land, of trying to get what they need to pay enough for the food that is required to feed their family.

But there's another problem in verse 2. There's also famine. So, they are making sacrifices, but it seems like everything's against them. And then verse three adds, not only that, or verse four adds, not only that, but they also have to pay their ordinary taxes.

The Medo-Persian empire, which is in charge at this time, they were very good in that they allowed people a lot of freedom. The nation of Israel, they were allowed to return home. The Jews could go back to Jerusalem. But what they were also very good at was taxes.

And they charged people a lot of tax who lived in the empire. And so, these people had to pay the bills, but they didn't have enough to do that with. And so again, they're borrowing money in order to pay their taxes because, well, what else can they do? So, look at verse 5, because verse 5 explains just how desperate the situation gets.

Now, our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers. Our children are as their children. They're saying, look, you know, where is Jewish as the other Jews? We're all in this together. And we're all part of this covenant people. We're all meant to be the same.

But, it says, yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. And some of our daughters have already been enslaved. But it is not in our power to help it. For other men have our fields and our vineyards. Now again, they're not talking about outsiders. What's happened is these people can't pay their bills; they can't feed their families because they're building the walls.

And so, the better off, the rich Jews that had returned, they see an opportunity. And so, they'll buy a bit of land and they'll rent it back. Or they'll give you some green, but they'll charge you significant interest in order to repay it. And so, they see an opportunity to line their own pockets.

They're loan sharks. And then the problem is the people that they're lending to can't get out of this. It gets worse and worse and worse. They're gonna have to borrow more to be able to just pay back the interest. And so, the people are stuck in the biblical world.

The Old Testament law made a provision that if you find yourself in a place of destitution where you couldn't feed your children or your family, what you could do is you could enter into an agreement with another Jew and sell yourself for a short time into slavery with them. Now, it's not the way we often think of slavery. It was a social provision. They would sell themselves into slavery with a fellow Jew who would feed them, house them, ensure they had clothes, and at the end of seven years, release them with a little sum of money in order to be able to restart and re-launch.

So, it was a way, if you found yourself in the worst situation, to be able to get back on your feet. But the problem was that wasn't what was happening here. These people were stuck. They had no means of income and no way to move forward, and even their children were being taken from them.

They had maybe allowed the teenager to go into slavery for that short term, hoping quickly to be able to raise the money to buy them back. But it never happened. And what makes this really horrible social situation all the worst is it's not coming as a result of Persia. It's not coming as a result of Sanballat or any other enemy of the people. According to verse one, the cause is their Jewish brothers. Others in the covenant community. Now, again, we're not talking about just secular Jews.

These people who are in this particular land are those who came back either with Zerubbabel or with Ezra or with Nehemiah. They're the committed. These are people who wanted to be part of the rebuilding project. People who had seen a big enough vision of God to want to come and to see the temple rebuilt and to see sacrifices happen again and to hear Psalms sung and to see the people worship. These were a people who were committed to the project. They were the people building the walls with Nehemiah. They're not on the fringe; they're in the heart of this rejuvenation project. They had been the ones standing against the hostility of the Gentiles in chapter 4 and will do the same in chapter 6.

But in this moment, we find out that those very same people on the inside are taking advantage of their brothers; in order to make a little bit of extra money. You see how ironic it is. These are the people most committed to the cause, to the work of the Lord, and at the same time, there's another side to them. They're extremely committed to the rejuvenation of the nation. but an individual in the nation can make them some money.

And so, they're happy to stand beside their brothers worshiping on the Sabbath, and then they'll send their servants around to collect money from the same brother at an extortionate rate the next day. They have an ability to talk about grace in the temple, but there's no way they're gonna show grace during the work week. They'll pray earnestly and add their amen to those prayers for the deliverance of the people and the restoration of Jerusalem, the building up of the walls, while at the same time they are, we'll find out in a moment, literally selling their brothers and sisters into slavery among the Gentiles.

I very simply want you to see in these first five verses how honest the Bible is. Because a lot of people are hurt by dynamics in the covenant community, in the church, and they are so hurt, they are crippled by it, and they never really move forward. The Bible is so honest. God is good. God is consistent. God is wonderful. But his people? There are a bunch of sinners with a lot of sanctification needed, and a lot of blind spots.

And the reality is, even within the covenant community, where love is most known, and care should happen, so often it doesn't happen the way it ought. Now that not ought to be I think it's important we have expectations that so often that is the case, that it would not shipwreck our faith. You read about the dynamics of the church in Corinth, the way people climbed over the top of each other and squashed and trampled down those who were lowly. You read about other churches that were quick to correct error and yet had lost their love and affection for Christ. You read of churches in Revelation that had a high toleration for sin and sexual sin at that. Sometimes the church is not what the church ought to be. There will be things happen even in the local church like Trinity that shake and settle, are exposed as being wrong, and they are.

But God's Word is kind. And it gently lets us know that this is, until we are made perfect, the way it will be because we are a work in progress. And yet it goes further and offers us instruction as well. Second thing I want you to note is how this text corrects our selfish ambition.

How it corrects our selfish ambition; in verses 6 to 13. Look at verse 6 and you get the weight of what is taking place. It says, I was very angry when I heard their outcry, that word again, and these words. Nehemiah gets it. Like, this is not right. This is wrong, and it's gross, and it's so far off what should be taking place. And there's a righteous anger that's expressed here. It's justified. It's appropriate.

Look at verse 7, I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. So those who were part of the Jewish community but had responsibility, those who should have been ruling over the people, yes, but also had a duty of care towards the people. Those who were in this process of charging interest to their fellow countryman, something that was banned, that was forbidden in the Torah and the Old Testament law. Nehemiah calls everybody together and he brings charges against them.

Verse 8 indicates just how far-gone things were. He said to them, we as far as we are able, so the nation, this little, tiny, restored nation, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations. So, Nehemiah and others had been given, maybe every Sabbath when they met for worship, they would do a collection, and they would use some of that money to go and to try and buy back from slavery Jews who could not free themselves. They would go to those Gentiles around about and they would seek to deliver from slavery their people to have them back amongst them. This was what they were all about except, he continues, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us. So, these nobles weren't very noble. They would take the person that owed them money and couldn't get out of it, and they would sell them to the merchant who they knew was walking down the road to Nehemiah. And knowing fine rightly, Nehemiah would use the collection to buy them back.

So, in their head, they thought, well, the individual's not really gonna be in slavery. They're gonna be free, and I'm gonna have more money in my pocket. You see the logic? For them, very much, the end was justifying the means. They're not really gonna be enslaved, because Nehemiah, he'll fix it. He'll sort it out. They'll not be slaves, and I'll have a bigger dinner. They had this wonderful ability of justifying their selfish behavior.

And when Nehemiah exposes it in verse eight, did you see at the end it says, they were silent and could not find a word to say. It was like the greatest open secret. Everybody knew what was taking place, and they knew the money that was being made here, and they knew that this was like a loophole everybody thought they could get away with. It was a way of making easy money. But the reality was it was wrong. It wasn't easy money. It was selling your brother into slavery. It was creating more problems for the restored people of God. It just reminds us, doesn't it, when God's Word is clear, it's clear. The Bible says love and care for your brother. In the Old Testament it told them that this nation, very clearly, don't charge them interest. Don't sell them into foreign slavery. Those were laws in the Old Testament law.

Those people broke those laws. The ends didn't justify the means. They still broke the law. And that's why Nehemiah in verse eight exposes it and they have nothing left to say. They had this amazing ability to justify their actions because it was for their own profit. People have an amazing ability to make giant mental leaps whenever money's on the table. And that's exactly what was going on here.

And what makes the whole thing worse, was not simply that they treated people generally in this world poorly. That is bad. They were also meant to care for the foreigner. They were meant to be a place for the sojourner to reside. But it's even worse because the people they are treating so poorly are their brothers. Look at verse 9. So, I said, the thing you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of, what does it say? It doesn't say the fear of God, that's what it normally says. What does it say?

The fear of our corporate God. The God who is over all of us. The God who has bound us together. We are a singular people under God. And that's where the issue is. They didn't act according to the fear of God, but they didn't act according to the fear of God because they'd lost the sense of, we are one people under God. You're pushing for your own self-interest. Well, why is that so offensive to God? Because God cares about the community. We're the people of God.

And as these individuals took advantage of others who were part of the people of God for their own sake, they had obviously forgotten the nature of God. He made promises to the nation. Promises for the people, as a plural. They were so self-focused, they'd lost the sense of a people under God.

And God, again, there are differences between Israel and the church, but it is true that when God saves you, but when He takes that unregenerate heart of stone out and replaces it with a heart of flesh that beats with affection for Jesus Christ, He places you not in an individual existence, but in the community of believers, the people of the church. You belong to God, absolutely, but you belong to the people of God, too. A people under God. A covenant people under the promises of God. And God cares with, therefore, how we treat others in that community.

Philippians 2:3, “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” So, Nehemiah here, he presents a way forward and everyone agrees to it. We're going to not charge interest, we're going to restore the land, which according to Old Testament law belonged to those people. We're going to cancel the interest and get things back where they need to be. Verse 13 sums up the commitment.

He gives this illustration, I shook out the fold of my garment and said, so may God shake out every man from his house, from God's house, and from his labor, from God's labor, who does not keep his promise, this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied. So, in other words, if you don't behave like a people, you don't love the others who are part of the covenant people, you should be put outside of it. If you're not gonna behave like part of the people, you shouldn't be under the promises given to the people.

That's the idea in the illustration. But it continues. And all the assembly said, Amen. Let it be. Let that be what happens, Lord. All the assembly said, Amen, and praised the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, that old covenant name for God.

Whenever you see the capital L-O-R-D or you see Yahweh, depending what translation you use, you need to know that that's not talking about God generally. In particular, it's got in mind the God who makes these covenant promises. And what they're saying is that we will make a promise, in fact, that's the very next thing that they say in verse 13, that people did as they had promised. We will keep our promises knowing that God keeps his promises. He'll bless those who bless. He'll curse those who curse. What brings these people together is a clear sight of who God is. And that continues to be the case today. What helps people to move forward is a clear sight of who God is. Why do I love my brother or sister? Well, it's not because they're lovely. Some of you are very lovely, just to preface that. But not all of you. It's not based on what we see.

We love because of who we're under. Now, why is that so important? Well, it means that whenever my brother or sister is difficult, because of who we're under, I can still love them. Whenever they're a little bit more prickly in personality than what I tend to enjoy, I can still bear their burdens and pray for them, and sacrifice for them, and care for them. Why?

Because of the God that is over us. And we look to Him, and we remember we are under Him, and it gives me the capacity to be able to love the brethren that make up the church. That's energizing. That helps us to get past what is so difficult and awkward and hard. That's what brings a church together. And I think God uses it to grow us as well. Last thing I want you to see in the text is how we are moved to godly action.

What you have in verses 14 to 19 is really a big description about Nehemiah's conduct over twelve years of governing. It's full twelve years, but it comes here at this particular point because what we have is a contrast. Here's the guys who didn't do it and what should have happened, but let's look at Nehemiah who did it right. That's why it's sitting in chapter 5 right up beside this. It's a summary of what was right what should have been done. And there's something to learn here in the example.

In verse 14, he's in that role for 12 years and he didn't take food allowance. He's allowed to. He was a governor. He was entitled to it. It was really his paycheck. This man forgoes his paycheck. And yet he still does the work. According to the text, he feeds 150 people every day.

And every other Persian foreigner that came in to check up on things, he'd look after them too. He did what governors are meant to do. He didn't shortchange them. He didn't give them some cup of tea and toast. He had the cow and the sheep and the birds and the wine and everything. He did it right. And he did it out of his own expense.

And verse 15 tells us he did it because of the fear of God. Again, his vision of who God was, that's what drove his actions. And verse 16 says, he insisted the work continued. The walls continued to be built up. His disposition of sacrifice and cost, it allowed the work that needed to be done to be done.

Verse 17, he feeds and he hosts the way a good governor should. Verse 18 spells out even more clearly, what was prepared was at my own expense. Again, sacrifice going on here in this good example. What we have with Nehemiah is a description of how his actions, he led well.

He didn't just say to the nobles, care for your people, don't charge them interest. He did it himself, he cared well. He set a good example over those nobles. The money he was entitled to, he forwent because he cared for the people. Verse 18 says, because he knew the service was too heavy on the people.

Sometimes you see the, you know, the college student that comes back home, and really, they're grown-ups now, okay? They need to go and stand on their own two feet. They need to go and, you know, earn their own paycheck and pay their own bills and everything else.

But sometimes mum and dad, because they're so kind, they let them come back into the house and stay in their bedroom. and have food on the table. And while they're doing that first year or two of work, they cuddle them a little too much. But they do it because they love them. And it gives them this little moment to be able to build up some money in the bank account in order that they can go safely out and launch.

Well, Nehemiah is like the mom and dad. He's trying to care for the people. He's so gentle with the people. He's trying to make sure that there's no pressure on them, that they can excel. It's over and above. It's not required, it's over and above. Why does he do all of this? It's not required, why go so far? Verse 19.

We have the first of Nehemiah's remember me prayers. There's a lot of prayer in this book, but this is the first of his remember me prayers. And he says, “remember me, or remember for my good, oh my God, all that I have done for the people.” I think that prayer may subtly indicate that the people forgot. It doesn't matter how kind you are to the people, their expectations increase.

I'm sure people still grumbled about Nehemiah. He always makes us work on that wall. Oh, Nehemiah. It always has to be bigger with him. They would complain because that's what people do. They complain. But Nehemiah is on the face because who is he working for?

God. Remember me for my good. I did that good not for the people. Not for the approval of the people. It was for their good, but not for their approval. It was for you, Lord. Out of a fear of you, Lord. Because you are the God over the people, I did it for you, Lord. He looks to God to honor Him, not the people. He finds his pleasure in being a pleasure to God.

And it reminds us, doesn't it, when it comes to the church, the covenant community God has placed us in, that there is a need to care for the community, absolutely. There is a need to sacrifice for the community, absolutely. That there is a need to do all of these things, but it cannot happen unless we fear God.

And that's His approval, and His desire is what drives us. And ultimately, His care on an ongoing basis, as this prayer indicates, is what we hope in. Nehemiah is just a man, but he's doing something right here, and he reminds us, doesn't he, of Christ.

All those same things are true of Him. He cared for the community. He sacrificed for the community in the most ultimate way. And He was moved by not the wills and wants of the community, but ultimately by the will of His Father. That's what drove Him. He sought His Father's approval and entrusted Himself not to the people, but to His Father's care. Nehemiah does something right here because it's Christ-like.

And I think it gives us a great model as we come to the close this morning. There is real hurt that often is experienced in the context of the covenant community because we have expectations that are unrealistic. We should be cared for by the church. We should be loved consistently by the church. We should find joy in being together with the church, but the reality is the church is made up of works in progress.

And all too often, the same people that should do better end up causing us the greatest pain. And yet, Nehemiah here models how we can live and thrive and please God in the context of a covenant community that is not perfect, by ultimately caring for the people, by not looking to them, but looking to the God who is over us, and allowing Him to drive our actions, allowing Him to guard the way we speak to one another, Allowing Him to be the reason we sacrifice for one another. Knowing our God honors those who honor Him. Even when people miss us in the work that we're doing, or even worse, mistreat us in the work that we're doing, we can keep going by looking to the God who is over His people; knowing He will ultimately do what is right.

Let's pray.

(Prayer) Heavenly Father, You know how hard what we have talked about so often is. How hard it is to sacrifice and to keep going whenever we have been hurt by the people who we are part of. But we thank You, Lord, for the example of Nehemiah here, but even more so, the example of Jesus Christ, who came to serve, not be served. Who is obedient to death, even death on a cross.

The One who we can declare we love today simply because He first loved us. So, we ask You would give us help to fix our eyes upon Him, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, and that You would give us the energy to run well the race that is marked out for us, looking not to the interests of one another or the approval of one another alone, but to be moved by the fear of our God. To know we are ultimately accountable to You, the One who so loved the world that He sent His Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. May You be our motive. And even when we get knocked or bumped by the people of the church, Lord, may You be the motive to take us beyond that. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. (End)