Hello Everyone,
The last element of this worship that we are going to look at this week is it was marked by their Heeding of the Word.

Nehemiah 8:9-12 9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve.”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

The goal of preaching is life transformation. But it's not hearing the Word that transforms lives. And not just understanding it. It's obeying the Word that transforms lives. "Be ye doers of the Word, not hearers only." [James]

It's not about the wall, it's about the Word and the worship.

Their transformation began with:
· Weeping*
9b What were they weeping over? Their sin! Their separation from God!
· Joy*
10b Nehemiah and Ezra had wisdom and stepped in to encourage the weeping that there was hope and help in the Lord. The devil wants to turn conviction into guilt, and there is a difference between a broken spirit and a miserable spirit.

The devil wants to bring you down and keep you down. The Spirit of God wants to bring you down in order to lift you higher than ever!

Preaching May at first make you mad, but then it makes you sad, so the Lord can make you glad!

· Obedience*
Nehemaih8:12-17a 12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
13 On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to give attention to the words of the Law. 14 They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month 15 and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make booths”—as it is written.
16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves booths on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.

What in the world is going on here? It's a restoration of the feast of tabernacles or booths. In Bible days God's people were commanded to have a festival once a year and go out away from their home to a brush arbor and camp out in a festive atmosphere.

It was recognition of the fact that they once permanently were encamped in the days of Moses. It was a memorial.

So here they are restoring the feast of tabernacles. Why? Because God said to! That's revival!!

Mourning leads to joy which leads to obedience...which leads to revival!

It's not about the wall; it's about the Word and the worship.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!
Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Another element of this worship was it was marked by an Honor for the Word.

Nehemiah 8:5-6 ⁵ Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. ⁶ Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

There it is! They said Amen! When you say amen you honor the word of God.

They lifted up their hands!

The Bible says in many places for us to lift up holy hands to Him. Is He worth the effort of that? Is He worth the effort of an Amen? If you're not comfortable with that atmosphere you might not like Heaven!

Is He worth the effort of coming forward and bowing our faces to the ground at the altar?

Another element of this worship was it was marked by their Handling of the Word.

Nehemiah 8:7-8 ⁷ The Levites…instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. ⁸ They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

It wasn't enough for them to just read the Word, somebody had to explain it. It's called preaching! If it's not exposing the POWER of the Word it's worthless!

Preaching is taking the Word, explaining it, illustrating it, and applying it to everyday life! And there's a famine in the land for that kind of preaching. That's the kind of preaching that builds great Christians, and I believe great churches!

These men in v. 7, and the Levites, were leaders who explained the Word, even one on one as needed. That's real discipleship! That’s mentoring!

I'm glad we have a handful of mentors here who take very seriously the way they handle the Word.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Another element of this worship was it was marked by a Hearing of the Word.

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5 ² So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. ³ He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

⁴ Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion…⁵ Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up

They were not time conscious, thinking about lunch. They stood for 5 or 6 hours a day, day after day.

Don't misunderstand, I don't think our celebrations and gatherings should drag on unnecessarily, but we shouldn't rush it or quench the Spirit of God.

We need to be sensitive to the Lord's leading as well as to the attention span of the people ... the point is, the people need to GROW in their attention span, especially when God offers us such a feast!

I'm thankful for a church that is attentive.

I try not to be long winded or take advantage of your time. I'd prefer to get finished before you get finished! My goal is to leave you wanting more.

3b And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

They were attentive. Why waste your time in coming if not to listen? And we're trying to teach our kids that when they are in big church they are here to listen.

Church is a place not just to color and try to pass the time, but to show reverence to God and His Word.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Another element of this worship was it was marked by a Hearing of the Word.

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5 ² So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. ³ He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

⁴ Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion…⁵ Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up

They were not time conscious, thinking about lunch. They stood for 5 or 6 hours a day, day after day.

Don't misunderstand, I don't think our celebrations and gatherings should drag on unnecessarily, but we shouldn't rush it or quench the Spirit of God.

We need to be sensitive to the Lord's leading as well as to the attention span of the people ... the point is, the people need to GROW in their attention span, especially when God offers us such a feast!

I'm thankful for a church that is attentive.

I try not to be long winded or take advantage of your time. I'd prefer to get finished before you get finished! My goal is to leave you wanting more.

3b And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

They were attentive. Why waste your time in coming if not to listen? And we're trying to teach our kids that when they are in big church they are here to listen.

Church is a place not just to color and try to pass the time, but to show reverence to God and His Word.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

The First element of this worship is It was rooted in a Hunger for the Word.

Nehemiah 8:1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

"We want to hear what God has said!" This happened at the water gate, a symbol of the Word! The people gathered there in great number because they were hungry for the Word.

Are you hungry for the Word? Is that why you are reading this today? Are you really hungry for it? Does that mean you'll gather at the gate again in Life Learning (Sunday School), Wed. night, or in a Life Group this week? Will you be hungry at family devotions and private devotions?

A little boy brought his father the family Bible from the coffee table. "What is this daddy?" "It's the Bible, it's God's book." his dad replied. "Then should we give it back to Him since we don't use it?"

How about your Bible? Does it collect dust on a table or shelf? Do you even need to take it home or could it just stay in your seat all week?

Another lady wanted to impress the preacher when he dropped by for a visit. She said to her daughter, "Honey, go get the blessed book mama loves so much." She ran off and came back with the Sears catalog!

I hope you're hungry, because we have a feast set before us, and it would be a shame not to clean our plates!

Psalm 19:9-10 ... the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

We are only going to see revival when God's people want the WORD more than they want money, prosperity, or healthcare.

Job 23:12 ... I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

I'm addicted. I'm addicted to food! So are you!! Just fast from it for 24 hours and you'll know it. In just a few hours you'll find yourself looking longingly at that fridge, saying, remember what we used to have together? Remember when I would throw open your door and indulge in anything I wanted? Oh my love, we can have it all again, you and me!

We've got a love affair with our refrigerator and we cheat on it with many restaurants! But abstinence is not the choice we make...at least not for long. Most of us can't go 7 hours without eating, but we can go 7 days without reading the Word of God! Something is wrong.

We feed the flesh abundantly but we don't feed our Spirit properly. No wonder our flesh grows and our Spirit shrinks up against our spine!

"These hath God married and no man shall part,

dust on the Bible and drought in the heart."

Psalm 119:162 I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

That's hidden treasure! David said, I go on a daily treasure hunt, and it's not hard to find gold nuggets in this Book! We may call it hidden treasure, but its hidden right under our noses!

Nehemiah's people were hungry for the Word more than food, gold, or treasure. Keep in mind they didn't all have copies of the Word. They didn't have a Bible bookstore on the corner. Most of them only heard the Word when someone would stand and read it publicly.

What a hunger they had. They didn't have their own copies, but they longed to hear. We have many copies, and seem content to go about our lives without cracking it open on our own.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

We've spent a lot of time on the rebuilding of the wall. But it's NOT about the wall; it's about the Word, and the worship. In spite of all the enemy’s efforts to prevent it from being completed, the wall was done.

Nehemiah 6:15 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.

Chapter 7 tells how the people got organized, housed and fed, and they all got involved in a big love offering, from the least to the greatest, to jump start their new spiritual life in their new city with their new wall.

The wall is finished, but the real work has just begun. And God's real purpose for the wall is just beginning. Thank God His people in Jerusalem did not have a 'monument' mentality.

They didn't see building the wall as the ultimate goal. They understood that what went on inside the walls was what really mattered. What will now happen inside was the reason the walls were built in the first place.

About 8 years ago a new roof was put right above our heads. It is better than the old one, and looks great, but it's what happens under it that counts!

Once the wall was finished the people began to worship and they had revival! And it was all based on the Word! It's not about the wall, it's about the Word and worship that went on inside the wall.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil