Brick by Brick - Part 2 - BOLD

Well, hey, good morning, church. Hey, you can open up your Bible to Nehemiah chapter 2.

Nehemiah 2 · chapter mention

If you've got your scripture journal, wave it up high. If you've got it,

you've got your Nehemiah scripture.

Come on, wave it up high. I see some of them. I see them sitting there.

Good job. Thank you. You guys are my people.

If you need one of these, raise your hand. We still have a few more.

TJ will get you one. Just raise your hand up high.

One will come your way. We'll make sure everybody gets one. My hope is that

you guys are using this as a resource to help you take your next step to get

into the Word of God, not just on Sundays, but each and every day.

And so as a church, hey, we want to be faithful that every Sunday,

the message, the sermon, the preaching, whatever you want to call it,

the talk, it is not about me or anybody else who has a microphone.

It is about the Word of God. And we're going to be faithful to do that on Sundays.

We're going to do that corporately. But we need to be faithful to get into the

Word privately and individually as well.

So use that as a resource to get into the Word each and every day that we're

reading God's Word and allowing the Word of God to do a work in us because that's how God works.

When we get more of Him, we get into His Word. So right now,

let's get our hearts ready for what God has for us this morning.

Would you put your arms out with your palms up?

Would you close your eyes, just a posture of surrender.

Take a deep breath, and remember God is just as near as the air you're breathing. Let's pray.

God, today, would you guide us closer to you? Help us to put away the frustrations

of the past week, to put away the distractions of the coming week.

We want to fully focus on you. We come empty with nothing to offer but surrender.

Fill us up as only you can. Holy Spirit, move in here today with power.

We believe that in advance. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name.

And all God's people said, amen, amen.

Well, hey, we are in Nehemiah 2 today. And there is so much in there that I want to get to.

But I want to make sure and give a quick recap because I want it to make sense.

So previously on Brick by Brick, right? Here's where we're going.

We are looking at Nehemiah. Okay. Nehemiah's homeland was Jerusalem.

That's where his ancestors were from. And the city had been destroyed.

It's been destroyed for a hot minute.

There have been a handful of people who have been sent back to rebuild some

homes and the temple, but the walls of the city have not been completed.

And that's a big deal because the walls and the gates of the city,

that was the city's strength.

Having those borders, those parameters is what allowed them to have a defense

against somebody attacking them.

And so Nehemiah, he hears about this and it crushes him.

He weeps, he mourns, he fasts, he prays.

Nehemiah 1.11, this is kind of his prayer. He says, oh Lord, please hear my prayer.

Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you.

Grant me success today by making the king favorable to me.

And in those days, I was the king's cup bearer.

That's how the chapter ends.

He hears that the walls are in ruin,

And he goes straight to God. And he asked God for favor today.

We're going to read what he does and how God moves. It's actually months later,

but he takes faithful steps. But don't miss this.

Revival starts from ruin. Revival starts from ruin.

Nehemiah, I'm sorry, God is going to use Nehemiah to revive the city,

to set it back on the right course. but it is starting with the city in ruins.

The walls are down. The gates have been destroyed. And so our starting point

for this story today is it's absolutely at bottom, right?

Like Nehemiah is desperate to see God move, but here's the deal.

He doesn't let the ruins, he doesn't let the part that it's the worst that it's

ever been, he doesn't make that, make him run away.

The fact that it's in ruins, it actually does the opposite. The walls being

in ruin, it lit a fire under him to see God move.

He is desperate. And hear me, desperation can be powerful.

It'll make you do things you wouldn't do otherwise. You've seen that, right?

And Nehemiah, in his desperation, where does he turn to? He turns to God.

When your life is in ruins, when someone you love, when their life is in ruins,

when you are desperate, there are so many things we can turn to.

There are so many things that people do turn to.

Turn to God. Because that revival, it starts in the ruins.

By crying out to God in that hard season.

Nehemiah has a burden for his homeland. He has been praying for months and he

isn't just praying, God, fix this.

He is clinging to the promise that God gave to his people that if his people

would return to him, now here's what it says in Nehemiah 1.9,

this is Nehemiah remembering the promise of God. Remember, he knew that from the word of God.

It says, if you return to me, obey my commands and live by them,

then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I, this is the Lord speaking,

I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.

Nehemiah is desperate, but in desperation, he isn't turning to his own ability.

He isn't going to pick himself up by the bootstraps. He is turning to God.

He is seeking the Lord. It says that day and night, he is praying that he is fasting.

He is intent on bringing this burden that he feels to the Lord.

He's not trying to do this on his own. He's going to God.

All right. That was the previously on recap or brick by brick. That was our recap.

Now we're going to jump to chapter two. We're going to start in verse one.

It says, early the following spring in the month of Nisan, during the 20th year

of King Artaxerxes' reign, right?

Now, real quick, it has been like at a minimum four months because it talked

about it was late autumn whenever he heard about it. Now it says it's the early spring.

At the best, it's like four months. It's been months since he's heard about

the state of Jerusalem and he has been faithfully serving the king.

He's heartbroken. He has this burden, but he stays faithful to do his job.

He has a responsibility. He stays faithful to the King.

Remember, he prayed four months ago, make me favorable today.

And when he says today, he has a job that he has to go and do his work.

He has responsibilities.

He still feels the weight of it. He still feels like there's a tough time.

Can I just share something that

I feel like I've witnessed over and over again? And it breaks my heart.

You will see someone who is connected and serving at church,

using their gifts that God has given them. God has given everybody gifts,

not for themselves, but to serve the people around them.

And they are serving, and they're faithful, they're doing that,

they're using their gifts. And then times get tough for one reason or another.

And they step completely away from serving others. It's just too hard right

now with the kids, with the you fill in the blank, right?

Now, hear me on this. There are seasons where serving looks different.

So I'm not saying that there is truth to their seasons, but there is no season

where you just get a pass on serving others.

It doesn't work like that. That's the antithesis of the gospel.

The gospel is about how Jesus served us, how he did for us, what we could not do for ourselves.

And as followers of Jesus, us, we are to serve those around us. You have to.

And what happens is when you serve others, when you stay connected to be faithful,

to be obedient and using the gifts that God has given you, God moves.

It's God's work, God's work, our hands. It's the theme we're going to see throughout this series.

Nehemiah has this hard time. He's been praying. He's been mourning.

He's been weeping. And he's been bringing it to the Lord.

And for months, he's been praying.

And for months, he's been faithful in doing his job.

He doesn't lean away from his service to the king. He actually leans in.

And God blesses Nehemiah's obedience.

We're about to see in this chapter, the whole thing just blow up with a conversation

that Nehemiah has with the king.

Don't you imagine what those those let's just say it's four months imagine what that looked like,

four months he is praying he is desperate he's been

fasting all right for seasons there and so far nothing has happened he hasn't

seen anything happen nothing's changed maybe that's how it feels in your life

things are in ruin it's not the way you think it should be it's not the way it ought to be.

You're desperate, but it feels like nothing is happening.

Maybe you're seeking for God to move, but it just feels like nothing's,

there's no movement. Nothing's changing. We're in the same thing.

For months, Nehemiah stays faithful to serve the king. Hear me on this.

Even when we can't see it, God is moving.

Even when we can't see it, it is God's work and it is our hands.

The conversation that Nehemiah is going to have with the king,

guess what? It's going to go Nehemiah's way.

That is the work of God.

That God just orchestrated this. They took care of it.

But literally every other day, Nehemiah has an actual, literal job to do.

He's the king's cupbearer.

There is work that went into. It's a job. It's responsibility.

And he is faithful to do his job.

Remember his prayer, grant me favor with the king today, day by day.

He's going to be faithful to do it.

Would God have moved in this way if Nehemiah wasn't obedient and doing his work

well, as it was for the Lord, and staying faithful even in the difficult season?

He's not saying, if this is not a difficult season, he's acknowledging it is

a trying time, but he stays faithful to be the man that God called him to be.

We might plant the seed, we might water the seed, but growth comes from God and God alone.

Nehemiah's obedience in private that nobody saw led to God's provision in public.

Obedience in private led to God's provision in public. He was obedient in seeking God.

He kept praying. He was pushing, praying until something happens,

right? and he was obedient in serving the king, doing his job to the best of his abilities.

He was taking care of the things within his control.

And Nehemiah was asking God to take care of the things that only God could do.

Look at this conversation that Nehemiah has with the king. The second part of

verse one, it says, I was serving the king his wine.

I had never been sad in his presence.

So the king asked me, verse two, why are you looking so sad?

You don't look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.

So Nehemiah is doing his job. He's been plugging away, being faithful. It's been months.

And Nehemiah is just his countenance. He shows the king that he is upset. And the king notices.

He's like, hey, Nehemiah is not, he's not sickly. He is heartbroken over something.

The king asks his cupbearer, why are you looking so sad?

Go to that next little snippet of that next verse. Here's what Nehemiah had to say.

Then I was terrified. I think if you just looked at, yeah, he's talking to the

king. He's the cupbearer. He's like a power dynamic there. That's the big dog.

And there's something to that. But this is huge.

The reason he is terrified is the reason that the walls aren't built.

They're tied together. The reason he's terrified is because the walls aren't

built. And the reason the walls aren't built is why he's terrified.

If you look back into the book of Ezra, remember Ezra and Nehemiah were written originally as one book.

Look at this passage from Ezra, written by the king of Persia at that time.

Ezra 4, 21, it says, therefore, this is the king of Persia speaking,

issue orders to have these men stop their work.

That city must not be rebuilt except at my express command, right?

Be diligent and don't neglect this matter for we must not permit the situation

to harm the king's interest.

The king that is being mentioned here is the current king of Persia.

So if you remember right, there was a crew that went back to build the temple

originally. They went back, they rebuilt the temple, they start working on some

houses, and they actually tried to start working on the walls.

They start to rebuild the city's walls, the defenses.

And they were told pretty explicitly to stop.

And that message that we just read, he didn't just send some snail mail.

He didn't just send a messenger with that. He actually sent the troops and the

They handed it, and it was kind of like, the king says stop.

But you can almost imagine the troops just sitting there like,

try me. Like, you know, pick up another brick.

He's sending a strong message that you need to stop.

And they were told to stop by King Artaxerxes. He sent troops to carry that

message. He was saying a big deal. If you don't stop, I'm going to stop you.

In case you missed it in chapter one, that is the very king that Nehemiah is serving.

The same one who told them to stop is the king that Nehemiah is standing in

front of and by his own words, he is terrified.

Because this is the same guy who said, you guys can't do that.

You may not do that unless I explicitly tell you to do.

It's like at the end of a broadcast. You cannot use this without the express

written consent of the NBA or whatever it might be. He said,

you cannot build this wall unless I say so.

Nehemiah is terrified. Verse three, but I replied, long live the king.

How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins

and the gates have been destroyed by fire.

Notice that even though Nehemiah is terrified, he continues on. He shares his heart.

The city of Manchester is ruined. The gates have been destroyed by fire. How can I not be sad?

He's not selling. He's sharing what's on his heart.

Do you get what I'm saying? I think sometimes we feel like we have to sell somebody

for the move of God, and he's not doing that. He's sharing what is on his heart.

He's terrified, but he still does it.

Verse 4, the king asked, well, how can I help you?

Come on. How can I help you? The same king, the same man who told him to stop,

the same man who didn't just tell him to stop, he sent his troops to tell them to stop,

is the same man standing in front of Nehemiah saying, how can I help you?

Church, I don't care how ugly or mean or wicked someone has been in your life.

There is nobody too far gone for the transforming grace of God.

God's grace is so powerful.

So powerful. This is the same guy who told him to stop. And now he's saying,

well, you need, how can I help? I got you.

Now, at this point, you'd think Nehemiah would immediately jump into like,

like planning strategy mode, right? You've got the king of Persia,

and Persia is the big power in the world at this time.

And he has that king, the big dog, asking, how can I help you?

And Nehemiah's first response, I love this, with a prayer to the God of heaven.

Before he says any words to the king, he says a prayer to God.

That part right there is where so many of us can get it twisted.

I think the best way to convey this is through a quote.

Maybe you guys heard this one, it's dance with the one who brung you,

right? Dance with the one who brought you, right?

Nehemiah, he knows the king's heart. He knows this situation that he is currently

in is only possible because God is moving.

And so when the king presents him with that blank check, that's basically what that is.

He doesn't say, I'm going to write this out for as much as I can. No, no, no.

The first thing he does is, I know I'm only here because of you,

God. God, give me wisdom about what I need to ask for right now, what I need to say.

He seeks God's will, God's discernment. He seeks God's provision through prayer.

He understands where he's at right now is not by his doing. It is only by God's doing.

When things are going well in life, don't forget the one who got you there.

Yes, there is a lot of hard work, but there's so much of life that we can only

explain by the goodness of God.

He's so good to us. When you get that blank check, so to speak.

When you're not desperate anymore, don't run away from the one who got you there.

He's the one who put the check in his hand. Take it to him. What do you want me to do with this?

So Nehemiah, he's praying to God, and then he offers this reply to the king, verse 5.

It says, if it pleased the king, and if you are pleased with me,

your servant, side note, Now, if he thought the king was not very happy with

him, he's probably not saying, if you're pleased with me, your servant,

he's doing his job to the best of his abilities.

If it pleased the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant,

send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.

Verse 6, the king with the queen sitting beside him asked, how long will you

be gone? When will you return?

And after I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request.

Nehemiah starts with what he needs. The first thing is he needs permission to get the work going.

Because remember, it's the same guy who sends troops to tell them to stop.

And so the king gives him permission to rebuild the city.

But Nehemiah doesn't stop there. Verse 7, he says, I also said to the king,

if it please the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the

provinces west of the Euphrates River, instructing them to let me travel through

their territories on my way to Judah.

And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king's forest,

instructing him to give me timber.

I will need it to make beams for the gates of the temple, fortress for the city's

walls and a house for myself.

And the king granted these requests because of the gracious hand out of God,

or not of Nehemiah, but of God.

Because the gracious hand of God was on me.

The boldness of nehemiah here is is amazing

it's really wild to think about remember he started

out terrified then i was terrified right how can i help he's freaking out he

asked for permission to go and to rebuild the city to rebuild the walls and

the gates the king says yes and then he asked for the king basically a letter

he's like hey i need free passage to get there i don't want to be going around

places i just want to take the straight pass he gets the fast pass so to speak,

and then he gets to charge the lumber to the king's account at the lumberyard.

If we're honest, when we are in desperate situations like Nehemiah,

many of us stop with the first ask.

It gets us into trouble. The mindset is that what is the minimum I need to get it started?

What can I get to get this going? What's the floor? My mind is thinking the exact opposite.

What do I need to get this finished? What do I need to finish the job?

What do I need to get this finished?

Well, he's not starting with the floor. He's saying, God's going to take care of it.

That attitude will creep in on us if we'll let it.

And I think the heart behind it is good. Like some of us almost feel like if

we were to have that second or third ask, like we start to feel like we're getting

greedy. Do you know what I'm saying?

Right? Like, like we stopped asking after we got that first yes.

And hear me this, Nehemiah wasn't greedy. He just knew who he was asking.

The king had the authority. And I think that's one part of it.

I think an even bigger part, an even bigger level to it, he knew who he was asking on the behalf of.

He is asking to do this because it's a burden that God, the maker of heaven and,

has put on him. The one who created everything, the one who owns everything,

that's not greed, that's boldness. It's boldness.

You've got to have a bold faith. Not greedy.

My wife gets these Instagram stories where it's like, won't he do it? He can do it. Be bold.

Let's read these next few verses, starting here at verse 9. We've got a handful

here. Let's get through.

It says, when I came to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates

River. I delivered the king's letter to them.

The king, I should add, had sent along army officers and horsemen to protect

him once he gave him safe travel.

But when Sanballat, the Huronite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite official heard of

my arrival, they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel.

So I arrived in Jerusalem three days later. I slipped out during the night,

taking only a few others with me.

I was told, I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem.

We took no pack animals with us except the donkey I was riding.

After dark, it gets there. I went out through the valley gate,

past the jackal's well, over to the dung gate to inspect the broken walls and the burned gates.

Then I went to the fountain gate to the king's pool. My donkey couldn't get

to the rebels, so though it was still dark, I went to the Kidron Valley instead,

inspecting the wall before I turned back and entered again at the valley gate.

He did a circle around the city and just took in everything that was there.

The city officials did not know that I had been there or what I was doing,

for I had not yet said anything to anyone about my plans.

I had not yet spoken to the Jewish leaders, the priests, the nobles,

the officials, or anyone else in the administration. He had the royal escort.

He had letters from the king. And before he goes and rallies the troops, so to speak...

He examines the ruins. He takes it all in.

He takes full inventory of the work that has to be done.

God is moving. God is providing. And yet, Nehemiah is still being obedient to do his part.

I'm reminded of Proverbs 21.5. It says, good planning and hard work lead to

prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

Nehemiah is not looking to rush in. He just wants to do this right.

As best as he can understand the scope of this job, a job that God has given

him a burden for, a job that God has given him blessings for,

a job that God has given him boldness to do,

emphasis on the job part. There is work to be done.

It's God's work and he's using our hands and he is there now and he is counting

the cost, not rushing ahead, but he's making a plan.

Before he ever meets with the people, he takes stock of the current situation.

Verse 17, he's checked it all out. He knows what's going on.

But now I said to them, you know very well what trouble we are in.

Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire.

Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace.

Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me and about

my conversation with the king.

They replied at once, yes, let's rebuild the wall. So they began the good work.

Nehemiah goes, he tells the people, let's rebuild the wall and let's end this disgrace.

And he doesn't say, look what I was able to do.

Look at the resources I provided. He says, the gracious hand of God has provided these.

He tells them that God was moving in this conversation he had with the king.

The people that are there are the same people that the same king told to stop.

You cannot do this without my consent.

These people immediately reply, yes, let's rebuild the wall.

And they began the good work.

When God is moving, you don't have to convince people to hop on.

When God's moving, say, come on, hop on, God's moving. You don't have to convince

people. you don't have to sell.

You simply share what God has done and he is currently doing.

And guess what? They get on board.

Are people there waiting. They've been waiting for this moment.

He shares what God has done, and they're like, let's go.

Next part is important too. There's never a move of God that happens without some opposition.

One of my favorite quotes is, all sunshine and no rain sounds good,

but that's actually the desert. We don't want to live in the desert.

There's going to be opposition in life. Verse 19 says, but when Samballot,

Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard our plan, they scoffed contemptuously.

That's a big word. He said, what are you doing?

Are you rebelling against the king, they asked?

Now, we're really going to hit opposition hard in a few weeks to a deep dive

because these yahoos ain't done. They're a bunch of jokers. They're going to come back.

But I want to note a couple of things to you.

These men are implying that Nehemiah is rebelling against the king.

For starters, Nehemiah is serving the king of kings, right?

That's where he's serving. That's where his allegiance lies.

But even quite literally, he was serving under the king who gave his expressed

written consent to him to go do this.

Church, there is always going to be opposition. These men don't agree with what Nehemiah is doing.

They think he is rebelling against the one who literally sent him,

gave him the letter, gave him the timber, and sent some of his men to keep him

and make sure he had safe travels.

They have no desire to understand Nehemiah. They just don't want to see the walls rebuilt.

It is entirely for their own selfish reasons.

To put this into kind of modern day terms, I think to help us get it,

this might be a little bit strong language, but I think you guys are going to

get what I'm saying here. They are in essence squatters in Jerusalem.

So the city is destroyed and they move into this city after it's been destroyed.

And they don't want to see it rebuilt because then the city would have people

that are taking care of it. Like just imagine if you were living in an abandoned

home and then the homeowner came and started fixing up the home.

You be happy? No. Why? Because you're about to get kicked out.

They're taking care of this. They're taking back their house. It's theirs.

These men are opposing Nehemiah and the wall because they knew it would harm them, their interests.

They're saying, what are you doing? You're rebelling against the king. How could you do this?

Nehemiah responds to their opposition with boldness. Verse 20,

I replied, the God of heaven will help us succeed.

We, his servants, will start rebuilding the walls, but you have no share,

legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.

He's saying, this is God's city. This isn't yours.

God will help us succeed. This isn't a quest for personal glory or fame.

They are servants of God.

Nehemiah and these people, that is the correct posture. Their boldness isn't

before the Lord. They're saying they're going to be bold before him.

Nehemiah has been humbled to do what God has burdened. He sought the Lord in prayer.

But I love the way that Nehemiah says, he goes, look, you have no share.

You have no legal right. you have no claim. In other words, who do you think you are?

Tell us we cannot do, tell us what we can and cannot do in our city. Get them.

And this is God's city. God has taken care of everything here.

When God is moving, there is going to be opposition.

Don't let the people on the sidelines distract you from the mission.

Victory, our victory comes from the Lord.

It does it's not us.

When we put it all together in chapter two, we see this transition for Nehemiah.

Last week, we saw that burden.

And he transitioned from having this burden for the city to having a boldness.

He started with a burden for Jerusalem. He brings that to God.

Nehemiah stays faithful to do the job that is in front of him as the king's

cupbearer. And for months, he seeks God in prayer.

And finally, the big moments comes. He gets that blank check from the king.

He prays before he answers.

He asks the king for permission and provision. Let me go. Give me the resources I need.

There is a boldness that Nehemiah has that is not of his own. It is from God.

It is insane to ask the same king who told him to stop, to let me go.

Not only let me go, give me the resources to complete it.

When God has put a burden on your heart, he will find a way to make it happen.

Nehemiah's boldness doesn't come from Nehemiah. That's where we get it wrong.

Being bold about self is a bad issue. instead of being bold,

being bad about stuff, we need to be bold for God.

He has given us everything. It's not about us.

What burden has God put on your heart? What is your next step?

Remember, it was Nehemiah's obedience in private that led to God's provision in public.

Don't neglect what God has called you to do. Don't do it.

Everybody in here, He has called you to meaningful, intentional time with Him

daily. That's always there. That doesn't change.

There are ministry opportunities to serve people that, can I just be honest,

only you can serve. That God has put a specific burden on your heart.

It's time to be bold. Not to be bold about self, but to be bold about the mission

God has put on your heart.

Church, we can't let the opposition distract us.

There are specific callings on your life. There are specific burdens that God has put on your heart.

And you need to take that next step boldly.

There is a specific one. There are specific people for you, for every individual in here.

But there is also an overarching mission that God has called us to,

that he has given us as believers that none of us are exempt from.

And we need to boldly step into that. Look at Romans 10, verses 13 and 14.

Romans 10:13

It says, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Can I get an amen?

God doesn't turn anybody away. If you turn to him, he will receive you. What a blessing.

Verse 14, this is the mission. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him?

And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him?

And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

How can they hear about him unless someone tells him?

Church, you have to have a bold witness for Jesus.

Telling other people about it, inviting the church, bold.

I think sometimes we get it twisted. We don't mistake boldness for divisiveness.

Don't mistake boldness for rudeness.

Romans 2, 4 says, Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant,

and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you?

Can't you see his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

Boldness isn't rudeness. It isn't divisiveness. Boldness is a declaration of truth.

Jesus is Lord. It's not kind to hide the truth.

We have to be bold to share the gospel with those around us.

We have to be bold and invite others to join the community.

If God is alive and active in our lives, we have to share that with others. We have to be bold.

There's going to be opposition to that. Don't let it stop you from joining the

mission that God has called each and every one of us to. Gotta be bold.

Just want to end our time today just practically.

I just want to take a tangible next step right now.

And I just want to pray. I want you specifically ask God for boldness.

Pray for boldness.

Pray for specific people to

share the gospel with and pray for specific people to invite the church.

Uh here's the deal we don't change hearts god does it's god's work our hands,

we just have to be faithful to do the things that he's called us to do the best

next step for everyone in here is to seek him in prayer say god give me boldness

to step into a specific mission that you've come to give me boldness give me

specific people to share the gospel with. Give me the wisdom on how to do that.

Give me specific people that I need to invite to come with me to church.

So I want you to take a moment right now. Pray for boldness.

How will they hear if no one tells them?

Pray for specific people to share the gospel with. Pray for specific people to invite to church.

So take a moment right now just pray for boldness for specific people to share

the gospel with to invite the church.

Your people, to not make it about us, to not be fearful.

God, even when we are fearful, even when we're terrified, God,

would you move through us just like you did in Nehemiah?

He was terrified, and yet he still asked the king.

He stayed faithful to the mission you put on his heart.

Help us to have that same kind of boldness, to share our faith with us,

not sell to make them make a decision, but God, to share what you've done in our lives.

Help us to do that with specific people.

God, give us specific people that we need to invite to church, to join the community.

God, help us to know what next steps to take in us, because God,

we have a mission you've called us to, and that is to share the gospel,

to be the light of the world.

Help us to faithfully carry that out.

And we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.