Opposition and Perseverance

So, good morning to you all, especially if you're new, you're here for the first time.

We're delighted that you're here.

My name's Tommy.

I'm the rector here.

So, on behalf of our church, welcome.

This is a Sunday where we are focusing, and you'll see a little bit more of this later

in the service, we're focusing on the various ministries of our church, all of the various

ministries that many of you serve in and some of you lead in.

And so, we're going to hear some testimonies a little bit later from people and the way

they've been impacted by your ministry in this community.

And so, it would make sense to preach a sermon that is inspirational, right, that talks about

the ministries in a way that inspires people.

But here's the thing I really want to say.

Ministry is hard.

Ministry is hard.

Some people, especially people who have not really ever done ministry in the name of

God, or people who have not been a part of a church, might be prone to think that, well,

you know, they'll say something along the lines of, well, if you're doing ministry in the name

of God, shouldn't that mean that God's going to bless you?

And wouldn't that mean that your life's actually going to be easier?

Because God is blessing you because of all the things that you're doing for Him.

But the truth is, when you're committed to doing work for God to glorify Him, when you're

committed to living out the gospel in your relationships, in your job, your career, in

your neighborhood, when you're working to reach people with the gospel and encourage them to

grow in their faith, when you're serving and caring for those in need and dealing with

all the incredible complexity there, when you're doing the work of reconciliation and peacemaking,

when you're working to build a church in the heart of a city like Washington, D.C., it can

sometimes feel like an uphill battle.

It can sometimes feel like you're taking one step forward and five steps back.

You can sometimes feel like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill only to watch it roll

back down again.

You inspired?

You excited about what's coming?

In our study of Nehemiah, we come here to chapter four.

And what we're actually going to see in chapter four of Nehemiah is that there's a reason why

ministry in God's name is so hard.

God calls Nehemiah and blesses him to go and lead in the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

So Nehemiah leads this palace that he's been living in in Susa.

He travels to Jerusalem.

He surveys the walls.

He gathers the people together.

But in chapter four, as soon as they start to build, they encounter fierce resistance.

And it does not let up.

So here's what we're going to look at this morning.

Why is ministry so hard?

And then what can we do about it?

How do we persevere?

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

And we thank you that because it's timeless, it is always timely.

Lord, that this story that is 2,400 years old can speak into our lives right now.

And it's only able to do that because of you.

Because it's not just written words, ink on paper.

It's a living word through the power of your spirit.

You can speak to us, Lord.

You can comfort those who need to be comforted.

You can challenge those who need to be challenged.

Convict those of us who need to be convicted, Lord.

You can bring life where there is death.

You can bring hope where there is despair.

Lord, we pray that you would do your work through your word in us for your glory.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So first of all, why is ministry so hard?

The story of Nehemiah essentially is this.

He lives in 445 BC.

He's living in the Persian palace, Susa.

He's probably grown up there.

He works for the king, very important government job.

He hears that Jerusalem, the city of his ancestors, the city of God's people, lies in ruins.

The people are scattered.

They're destitute.

God calls Nehemiah to leave the palace and to go bring renewal.

Physically rebuild the city of God.

Spiritually begin to rebuild the people of God.

As I said a moment ago, as soon as the work starts, so does the opposition.

It starts with one antagonist, Sanballat.

And Sanballat hears that construction has started and it says he is furious when he hears that news.

That's in verse 1.

By verse 7, more enemies have come to the table.

Maybe Sanballat was key in recruiting them.

We have a list.

We have Sanballat.

We have Tobiah and the Arabs.

We have the Ammonites and the Ashtodites.

So this list, now that's not an arbitrary list.

If we had a map in front of us, it would make a little more sense.

Does anyone know where these enemies are located relative to Jerusalem?

Yeah, the list literally goes north, east, south, west, right?

All around Jerusalem, there are enemies who oppose this work.

They're literally surrounded.

Jerusalem is facing an existential threat.

And the attack starts to come in.

And the attack comes from these enemies in various forms.

First, there's an enormous amount of mockery and ridicule.

Sanballat says, what are these feeble Jews doing?

Tobiah says, yeah, what are they building?

If a little fox goes up on it, it's going to crumble down.

This is ancient Near Eastern trash talk.

They're being sarcastic.

They're being belittling.

They're being condescending.

As we go forward in the chapter, we see there's a lot of slander.

There's character assassination.

You ever heard this?

If people realize that some people, when they want to control or manipulate you, if they can't control you, what do they do?

They go and they try to control what other people think about you.

And that's exactly what we see here.

They can't control Nehemiah, but they try to control what other people think about Nehemiah.

So we see character assassination and slander.

They're spreading all kinds of lies and misinformation.

They set out to cause as much confusion as possible.

They even threaten violence.

In verse 11, we learn that they're actually planning a surprise military attack.

And this is skipping ahead a bit to chapter 6, but it's important to note the opposition doesn't just come from outside, from the non-Jewish world.

In chapter 6, we see that there were a bunch of nobles in Judah who were actually loyal through marriage to Tobiah.

So these nobles in Judah are people that Nehemiah assumes are with him, but they're actually acting as double agents.

They're acting as informants.

They're reporting everything that Nehemiah is saying and doing to Tobiah.

So he's not just got problems outside, he's got problems inside.

And then we see the people themselves, they're experiencing profound discouragement and hopelessness and fear and despair.

In verse 10, in Judah, it was said, the strength of those who bear the burdens is failing.

There is too much rubble.

By ourselves, we will not be able to rebuild the wall.

If any of you have ever been involved in ministry, if you've ever been involved in trying to solve some of the most complex issues, right,

these issues of homelessness or poverty or racial injustice or all of the various things that we, many of you are passionate about and try to work on,

you know, problems that you're working on in the developing world.

Those of you who work in other parts of the world trying to bring development and increase the welfare of people in other societies,

you know these incredibly thorny, complex problems.

It's so common and easy to look around and just be like, there's too much rubble here.

Like, I don't even know where to start.

It's just, why even try?

This is way beyond our ability.

That's exactly how they feel.

Now, there are some surface-level reasons why these groups would oppose Nehemiah.

There are political reasons.

There are economic reasons.

The stronger Jerusalem becomes, the weaker their hold is on the area.

But the point we really need to focus in on is this.

There's a much deeper reason why there is such opposition to this work being done.

The real enemy, as we take the story of Nehemiah and situate it in the larger story of Scripture,

the real enemy is not Sanballat.

It's not Tobiah.

It's not even the nobles who have betrayed Nehemiah.

The real enemy is the same enemy who has always opposed the work of God.

The same enemy who has always opposed the people of God when they're doing the work of God.

The enemy that we see from the very beginning of Scripture,

the enemy is Satan himself, the great adversary,

working through these groups, working through these individuals to oppose the work of God.

Now, they might not even know that they're instruments of that greater evil,

but they've been folded in nonetheless.

You know, you think about these nobles.

Very likely, they believed they were doing God's work.

They believed maybe that they were doing what was best for Jerusalem,

what was best long term.

But here's the thing.

There's a lot of people maybe in the church

who believe that they're doing the right thing for the right reasons.

But if you look at your actions

and you realize that you're participating in things like gossip or slander,

assuming the worst about other people's motives without knowing all of the facts,

right, imputing motives,

if you catch yourself using Satan's tactics,

it's worth asking whether you're doing Satan's bidding.

Right?

So there's this real spiritual enemy working in the background.

The Apostle Paul names this in Ephesians chapter 6,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

That's the real enemy working through these human agents.

Jesus himself says to his disciples in chapter 5, verse 11,

no one likes this verse, if you really think about it,

if you're a Christian.

Nevertheless, here's what Jesus says.

Blessed are you when, not if,

when others revile you and persecute you

and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

That's exactly what's happening to Nehemiah.

Rejoice and be glad,

for your reward is great in heaven,

for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus is saying,

God's people have always been reviled,

they will be reviled,

and that will continue until I come again.

It will continue into the renewal of all things.

Blessed are you when others revile you.

So Nehemiah cries out in verse 4,

hear, O God, for we are despised.

Jesus is saying, hey, if you associate with me,

you're going to be despised.

It's almost a rule.

2 Timothy 3, verse 12 says it just as clearly,

2 Timothy 3:12

all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

He doesn't just say, most of you, or odds are.

He says, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

The principle is this,

the enemies of God always oppose the people of God

when they're doing the work of God.

If you don't want to be persecuted,

if you don't want to be opposed,

if you don't want to be reviled,

don't say anything,

don't do anything.

But the minute you begin to try to pursue the work of God for the glory of God,

you will meet opposition,

and it won't let up.

What are the implications of this?

Satan wants us to feel hopeless.

Satan wants us to feel discouraged.

He wants us to feel like the people in Judah felt.

The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing.

It's fading.

Many of you are bearing burdens right now,

and you feel like, I'm not enough.

I'm not up to this.

I just want my life to be easier,

to be more convenient.

I don't want to have to suffer so much.

I don't want it to have to be so hard all the time.

Satan wants us to be divided.

He wants us to be angry.

He wants us to be bitter.

He wants us to be depressed.

You see this again and again and again in Scripture.

King David, the man after God's own heart,

Israel forever looked back and said,

that was our high point of our nation.

It never got better than that, right?

He struggled with long bouts of depression.

He struggled with deep envy of his enemies.

He struggled again and again and again,

if you read the Psalms,

with feeling like God had abandoned him,

turned his back on him.

Elijah, right after his major victory

over the prophets of Baal,

right after, I mean, you would think

if you called fire down from heaven

that consumed everything,

after the prophets tried and tried and tried

and they did nothing,

and you just pray to God and bam, fire comes down,

and everybody's like,

whoa, this guy, you know,

and then he immediately

falls into a deep, deep, deep, deep depression.

It gets so bad that he wants to end his own life.

He's suicidal.

People like Hannah, Naomi, Jeremiah, Moses,

they all struggle with self-doubt,

discouragement, inadequacy, despair,

all throughout their ministry.

And some of the greatest theologians

and pastors and missionaries

and thought leaders throughout history,

same thing, Martin Luther,

Hannah Allen, David Brainerd,

William Cowper, Charles Spurgeon,

Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr.,

all struggled with deep depression

and discouragement all through their ministry.

It's no coincidence.

It's what the Bible says is gonna happen.

You know, in January of this year,

for those of you who were here,

we planted a flag of sorts.

We closed on a building in the Shaw neighborhood.

We're gonna make good on our commitment

to love the city long term.

We're taking the ministry that has been happening

and we're looking forward

and we're doing what we can

to establish a multi-generational ministry

that will outlive all of us

and continue to be a center

of gospel proclamation and worship

in the heart of the city,

in the heart of a city that touches

all the cities of the world.

It is no coincidence,

in my opinion,

that this has also been

the hardest year of ministry

since we started the church.

I'll just be totally honest.

I have never personally felt

more discouragement

in almost 18 years of ministry.

I have, in the last year,

several times come to a place of thinking,

I don't know if I can do this anymore.

It's been that discouraging.

And I know many of you,

maybe the majority of you,

are also feeling discouragement.

One way or another,

because of the things

that you're dealing with in your life.

I know that there are relationships

that have broken down.

I know that there has been gossip

and slander,

people assuming the worst

about people's motives.

I know that we've endured

some of the most complicated

and painful situations

we have ever faced as a community.

Make no mistake,

Satan does not want us to exist.

And if we do exist,

he wants us to be inert,

passive,

peacekeeper,

not peacemaker,

but peacekeeper.

Just go along to get along.

He wants us to give up.

He wants us to believe

that this is too hard.

He wants us to be overwhelmed

by the rubble.

He wants us to spend

all of our time

fighting each other

instead of him.

Why is ministry so hard?

Because we have an adversary

who prowls around

like a roaring lion

looking for someone to devour.

That's why ministry is hard.

Now what can we do about it?

How can we persevere?

This is where Nehemiah chapter 4

Nehemiah 4 · chapter mention

isn't just a hard text to read

because it tells us

the hard truth

that we need to hear,

but it also offers

a profound vision

of perseverance

in the face of adversity.

So we're going to draw out

a few things

that I hope and pray

will help us

in this season

of our life together.

Number one, this.

Understand the relationship

between divine sovereignty

and human responsibility.

Understand our job

and then understand God's job.

This is a theme

that shows up

all throughout Scripture.

It's one of the major themes

in the book of Nehemiah.

Verse 9 captures it.

And we prayed to our God

and set a guard

as a protection

against them day and night.

And I love that.

We prayed to God

and we set a guard.

We did both.

You know, we have a tendency

to think,

shouldn't it be one or the other?

In other words, you know,

if you're praying

and you're trusting

that God's going to protect you,

why do you need

to set a guard?

Why post a watch?

Don't you trust God?

And if you post a watch,

does that mean

you didn't really believe

that God could do anything?

Does that,

can you do both?

For that matter,

why do we even need

walls around the city?

Why not just build our houses

and live in them

and trust that God's

going to keep us safe?

Why do we need walls and gates?

This dichotomy,

this binary way of thinking

is very prevalent.

But it's not representative

of what Scripture

actually shows us.

All throughout Scripture,

we see a much more

beautiful, nuanced view.

We see this intertwining

of divine sovereignty

and human responsibility

and how they work together.

How at the same time,

God is in control

of everything.

God is in control

of the outcomes.

And yet somehow,

our choices matter

and our actions matter.

And there are real,

live consequences

that result from our actions.

You know,

it's interesting,

in places like Isaiah chapter 38,

Isaiah 38 · chapter mention

you see this interplay.

King Hezekiah

becomes very sick,

presumably because of

an infected boil.

And Isaiah comes to him

and says,

King,

you need to put your affairs

in order

because you're going to die.

And Hezekiah is desperate.

He prays to God

to heal him.

And God,

through Isaiah,

says to him,

okay,

I'm going to heal you.

And I'm going to actually

extend your life

for 15 more years.

And then God tells Isaiah

to make a poultice

out of figs

and apply it

to the infected area.

And Hezekiah is healed.

And he praises God

for healing him.

But God works through

the poultice to do it.

And you say,

well,

was it the fig poultice?

Fig,

that was a common medicinal

remedy back in the day,

right?

Was it the figs

or was it God?

The Bible would say yes.

Yes.

Right?

God has such control

over history

and yet He is so intimately

involved in our lives

that He's able to work

through our actions

without being constrained

by them.

See,

some people say,

well,

God's already made up

His mind anyway.

It doesn't matter

what we do.

God's going to do

what He's going to do.

That's not what

the Bible says.

The Bible says not

God works despite

our choices only,

nor does it say

that God is constrained

by our choices,

as though God's kind of

biting His nails

saying,

I hope they make

the right choice

because if they don't,

there's nothing I can do.

It says that God

is able to work

through our choices

somehow in a way

that doesn't thwart

His will.

His outcomes

are guaranteed and sure,

but they come through

our choices.

When it comes to

dealing with opposition,

here's what this means,

that we should pray

continually,

we should pray

continually,

trusting that God

is with us,

and we should also

take whatever measures

necessary to care

for ourselves

and our families.

Right?

As Jesus says

when He sends out

His disciples,

we should be innocent

as doves, right?

Trusting in the Lord,

relying on the Lord

to provide everything.

We should also be

wise and shrewd.

They're not opposed

to one another.

So you look at Nehemiah.

He prays

and he posts a guard.

He says,

I want you to work

with one hand

and I want you to hold

a weapon with the other.

He splits them up

so some of them

are keeping watch

while others build.

And all the while

they're praying.

They're praying,

they're praying,

they're praying,

and every time

he gets a chance,

Nehemiah is saying,

it is God

who is keeping us safe.

It is not us.

God is the one

that we trust in,

not ourselves.

And you see this

beautiful balance revealed.

So listen,

if you're severely depressed,

pray.

Pray every day

for God to heal you.

But also consider

going to a competent therapist.

And there's some

really great medication

out there

that could make

a huge difference

in your life.

and you should

thank God it exists.

It saves lives.

If you want to be able

to contend for your faith

when people question you,

you should pray

and maybe consider

studying and learning

apologetics.

There are some

great arguments

out there.

I remember when I was

a clinician in Boston

before I came down here

and I remember

I was the only counselor

in my outpatient clinic

and they gave me

an opportunity

to present as a Christian

my vision of counseling

as a Christian therapist.

And I remember

I stood up in front

of the entire clinical team

during a staff meeting

and I opened my mouth

and I got two sentences out

and then a guy

in the front row

who was an atheist,

none of them were Christians,

a guy in the front row

just comes at me

and he throws

every argument

he possibly can at me

for why everything I believe

and then everybody else

started joining in too

and they started coming at me

with what about this

and what about this

and what about this, right?

And I remember looking around

and thinking I'm overwhelmed.

That was the thing

that inspired me

many years ago

to start digging into

what is the reasonable foundation

for the things

that we believe?

Is this a blind leap of faith

or are there actually meaningful?

And I begin to discover

actually this is an incredibly

thoughtful faith

that has been

a great source of hope

to some of the smartest people

throughout history

and there's a wonderful

treasure trove

if you're willing to dig in

that helps us connect

mind and heart

in our faith, right?

Now if you do that,

does that mean

you don't trust God

as he says

to give you the words

when you need them?

No.

It means God works

through all of it.

If you want to do ministry

in the city,

we pray.

We need to pray every day

that God is blessing

what we're doing,

that God is with us,

that God goes before us.

But we also should be working

to develop the absolute

best strategies

we possibly can

for doing effective ministry

in a place like D.C.

in 2024.

Not the same strategies

that worked in the 1970s

or the 1920s, right?

Or the mid-1800s.

Strategies for here and now,

for this win.

So we need to trust

in the dual reality

of divine sovereignty

and human responsibility.

I remember this came up a lot

when in the early days of COVID,

we were all being told

to wear masks, you know?

And there were some Christians

who were like,

well, if you wear a mask,

you're not trusting God,

you know?

And I'm like,

well, if there's a chance

that I'm going to get somebody

next to me sick

and they're going to die,

I'm going to wear the mask.

It doesn't mean

I don't trust the Lord,

you know?

I'm going to put on

the fig poultice,

you know?

And I'm going to trust

and hope and pray

that if God wants to work

through that means he can.

They don't have to be

opposed to one another.

Divine sovereignty

and human responsibility.

Number two, fear God,

not other people.

How do you persevere?

Fear God,

not other people.

A lot of opposition

these days,

in our society,

thankfully,

most of us don't have to worry

about physical violence.

Praise God for that.

But a lot of the opposition

that we face

is going to come through mocking,

through ridicule,

through threats

from other people.

I love Nehemiah's encouragement

to his people

when they are filled with fear.

He says,

do not be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord

who is great and awesome.

Do not be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord

who is great and awesome.

In other words,

he's saying,

remember how big God is

and how small they are.

That's what he's saying.

Excessive fear

is a sign typically

that our view of God

has gotten too small.

And if you're afraid

of other people,

it means that your view

of them has gotten too big.

Right?

There's a great book about this.

When people are big

and God is small,

we have excessive fear.

That's typically

what's happening.

Nehemiah's saying,

listen,

in those moments,

you need to remember

the bigness of God,

the greatness of God.

He's bigger,

he's more powerful

than anything you might fear.

For those of you

in leadership,

especially if you are here

and you lead

a ministry of some kind,

you're a leader

in your organization,

you will never

make everybody happy.

It will never happen.

If you have more than one person

in your organization,

if it's you

and two other people,

one of them will love you.

One of them will profoundly

disagree with what you're doing.

It's a guaranteed principle.

Even Jesus himself

could not please everybody.

What makes us think

we can do any better?

Jesus never chased

after anyone's approval.

Again and again and again,

people said false things

about him.

They falsely accused him.

They would misrepresent him.

They would walk away

and tell other people

horrible things about him.

He never once tracked

any of the Pharisees down

and said,

I heard what you said about me

and I just want to set

the record straight.

That's not what I said.

That's not what I did.

You cannot control

what other people

think about you.

Listen,

you need to learn this

if you don't know it.

You cannot control

what other people

think about you.

If someone does not like you,

if someone does not like

what you represent,

it is not your job

to try to change

their perception of you.

Their internal world

is their responsibility.

It's not your responsibility.

Actually,

what other people

think about you,

that is not your business.

business.

It's their business.

Mind your own business.

For all you know,

their thoughts and opinions

of you have nothing

to do with you.

For all you know,

they are projecting

things onto you

that have way more

to do with them

than they do you.

But you don't know

because it's not

your internal world.

You can't know.

Don't waste time

and energy

trying to manage

somebody else's

internal world.

If you're a leader

and you go around

chasing everybody's approval,

you're never going

to get anything done.

You're going to create

an insecure system.

People are not going

to trust you.

And things will probably

get worse

in your organization.

You know,

my favorite definition

of leadership

is this.

Leadership is the art

of disappointing people

at a rate

they can handle.

Leadership is the art

of disappointing people

at a rate

they can handle.

Commit yourself

to doing the work

that you believe

God has called you

to do.

Commit yourself

to loving and serving

and pleasing Him

and Him alone.

And as Nehemiah says,

remember the Lord.

Some people

will be with you.

Some people won't.

It's not up to you

to change their perception

of you.

So that's the first

two things.

Divine sovereignty

and human responsibility,

number one.

Number two,

fear the Lord

and not other people.

Number three,

the final one.

Trust in the Lord

who fights for us.

Trust in the Lord

who fights for us.

Verse 20,

we see in Nehemiah's

ultimate source of hope.

He says,

keep working

no matter what.

Keep going.

Keep building

because we know

that our God

will fight for us.

That is so fantastic.

But what we need

to understand now

at our point

in the story

is that we read

this differently

than the way

Nehemiah did.

Even though he says this,

Nehemiah had no way

of knowing

how true

that statement would be

and how it would

ultimately be applied

to God's people

because at this point

in history,

Nehemiah still believes

that the Jews

are the good guys

and the greatest enemies

are the non-Jews.

They're the other people

who oppose the Jews

and they oppose God.

So their world

is still divided

into good guys,

the Jews,

the God's people

and everybody else.

And so that's why

Nehemiah prays

and says in verse 5,

hey,

do you hear

what they're saying

about us?

Lord,

don't cover their guilt.

Don't forgive them.

Don't even give them

an opportunity

to be restored.

He says,

let not their sin

be blotted out

from your sight.

He says,

remember what they said

about us

and about you

and bring justice.

Smite them.

He prayed for God

to fight the evil

out there,

the enemies of God

in the world.

It would take

hundreds more years

before the Jews

would learn the truth.

The Apostle Paul,

one of the most exemplary

Jewish religious leaders,

figures,

if you ever wanted

a person to,

an example to live by

in terms of moral excellence,

it's hard to beat

the Apostle Paul

in his early years.

Here's what he writes.

In Romans chapter 3,

Romans 3 · chapter mention

both Jews

and Greeks

are under sin.

As it is written,

none is righteous,

no,

not one.

He's saying,

you know,

it always said this

in the Scripture,

we just missed it.

No one understands,

no one seeks for God,

all have turned aside,

together they have

become worthless,

no one does good,

not even one.

same realization hit

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

when he was,

he thought he was

one of the good guys

and then he got caught

criticizing Stalin,

he ends up in a gulag

and his world breaks down.

He used to think

he was a good guy

and all those people

over there

were the bad guys

and his life

was transformed

when he found himself

numbered among the wicked.

And he writes,

the line separating

good and evil

passes not through states,

which is what he used to think,

nor between classes,

nor between political parties

either,

but right through

every human heart,

through all human hearts.

In other words,

the God that we truly need,

friends,

the God that we truly need

is not a God

who will fight for us

against the evil out there.

The God we need

is the God

who will fight for us

against the evil in here.

In us.

But you understand

the paradox of that, right?

How can God fight for us

if he's fighting evil in us?

How can God fight for us

if the evil is in us?

And that's why we need

to understand

that the entire story

of Nehemiah

actually points to this

even greater story.

Someone much greater

than Nehemiah.

Who didn't just leave

a palace

to come and rebuild a city.

He left the throne of heaven

to come and restore

and renew the world.

And not only is he

the God who fights for us,

he's actually the God

at our point in history

who fought for us.

The real battle

has already been fought

and won.

On the cross,

Jesus Christ fought

the greatest battle

ever staged,

ever waged

against the true enemy.

Satan and sin

and death,

taking the sin

of the world on himself,

dying in our place,

and through that defeat,

he won.

He achieved victory.

He defeated Satan.

He defeated sin and death

once and for all.

The cross tells us

that the greatest battle

has already been fought

and won.

And it tells us

that the victory

is ours.

It is the outworking

of that victory

within which we live now.

And one day,

the good work

that has been begun

in us

and in the world,

according to the apostle Paul,

will be brought

to completion.

So now,

God is able

to offer forgiveness

and renewal

not only to people

like Nehemiah,

but even people

like Sanballat

and Tobiah.

Even people

like us

who realize

that apart from

the grace of the gospel,

we are numbered

among the enemies

of God.

So for those of us

in ministry,

for those of us

who are currently

in ministry,

leading in ministry,

who maybe after today

will decide to join

a ministry,

because I know

you're raring to go

at this point,

keep going.

Keep working.

Keep,

no matter how hard

it gets,

if you believe

that God has called you

to do the work

that you're doing,

then keep going.

We labor for a God

who fights for us.

And because he fought

for us,

we know the victory

and the fruit

are secure,

even if we don't see it

right this moment.

Let's pray.

Lord,

we thank you

for the finished work,

the battle you fought

for us on the cross,

and we pray

that that would be

the foundation

of our hope,

that we know

that as we labor

in your kingdom,

Lord,

as we may feel overwhelmed

by the rubble

in our lives

around us,

Lord,

we pray that you

would remind us

of the assurance

we have in the gospel,

Lord,

that no matter

how hard things get,

no matter if we feel

like we need to see

no fruit now,

that Lord,

one day all of this

good work that you

have begun

will come to completion.

One day we will see it,

one day it will make sense,

one day all of the

brokenness of the world

will be eradicated.

Lord,

we pray in that hope,

we pray in the name

of the Father and the Son

and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Beweg bin.

Amen.

Amen.