Nehemiah (“Yahweh comforts”) – rebuild, restore, renew
Someone once said, “There are three kinds of people in the world – those who don’t know what’s happening, those who watch what’s happening, and those who make things happen.”
Introduction (prayer) People cry for all sorts of reasons… few Crows supporters… Spanish soccer coach… remember when prime minister Bob Hawke cried, often… Tiananmen square massacre; infidelity; daughters drug addiction.
Anna Bligh – The 2011 floods led to then-Premier Anna Bligh weeping as she described the bravery of Queenslanders during a press conference.
Weeping for a different reason. Anna Bligh is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Banking Association re royal commission into Banks…
Jeremiah weeping prophet Jeremiah 9:1 (NLT) ¹ If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered.
Weeping prophet in the NT? Paul Acts 20:19 (NLT) ¹⁹ I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.
2 Corinthians 2:4 (NLT) ⁴ I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears.
Whilst Nehemiah was a man that made things happen, he was also a man whose heart was centred on God, and we’ll see him moved to tears by the state of the people of God and the holy city Jerusalem.
Before there was rebuilding, restoring, and renewal, there was…: