Beyond Sunday Nehemiah 3

Welcome to Be on Sunday, a podcast that is an extension of the preaching ministry here at Leemington EMC. I am Pastor Jonah Chitty and I'm joined by Joe. Joe. Hey, Joe. Hey, how's it going? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. I was talking to my dad the other day. He said he didn't care for our dad jokes. He said it. Yeah, he said they were just. He said he didn't get them. I'm like, yeah, that's that's

kind of the point. The only person that thinks they're funny is the person who says them. For us. So that's I'm we just have to step our game. I know. I think that's all. We just need better jokes. I don't know if we have any today, but maybe we'll have to come up with that. Well, I mean they were ChatGPT and about Nehemiah, so we were a little narrowly. Focused I I did think my Napoleon 1 was pretty good it.

It was good. But it came out later in the show, and it wasn't, it wasn't an appropriate time for it. You guys were talking about something serious, and I just talked about Napoleon tearing bones apart. Anyway, yeah, So we hit Nehemiah Chapter 3 on Sunday. Pastor Jake preached a sermon called. The fruits of godly leadership. The fruits of godly leadership. You want to give us a rundown? Yeah, yeah. So I mean this chapter, it was a longer chapter. 25 verses or

something. It's in the 30s, thirty 232 verses and it was a big chunk and it made the most sense to keep it together because it's it's, it just flows all, it's just a lot of repetition. Has some repeated parts. Yeah. So there's a lot of the same things repeated, different groups of people that are beginning to rebuild. And it's the beginning of the rebuilding of the work, which is super exciting because here we've talked a lot about the vision.

We've talked a lot about how, you know, God planted this vision in Nehemiah's mind and the prayer and all the effort and all the dominoes that needed to fall for Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem. And, and then even like, well, how's he going to present it to the people so that they want to do it And then they do. And now it's like, you know, sort of like Jake mentioned on Sunday that now the shovel hits the ground and it's like, now it's exciting.

It's like everybody's working and all sorts of different people and everybody's getting involved and beginning to help with the work. And so it's very exciting, right? I mean, I can just imagine like the drone, a drone flying around and capturing all of this video of. Oh, that would be cool, wouldn't

it? These people working on different parts of the wall and, and working hard and, and working together and, but working in different parts and, you know, people who people who weren't, that's not what they would have done or that's not what they would have been skilled at or had been trained in, But everybody's helping. And that was the the most pressing task for them to be working on. And so it's just really neat. And so some of the points that had five points to Jake had five

points in a sermon this week. And the first one was that the community built the wall. So to just emphasizing that it was, it was, you know, the group of people that wasn't like, oh, they hired it out to a contractor. But it's like they all, they all built it together #2 was the

wall was built by volunteers. And so again, just emphasizing that point that it's like these people were just were there, but donating their time and helping and serving #3 was that the building of the wall included different tasks. And, and so there was a few different things going on, right? Like the setting of the foundation and the wall and the gates and the bars and, and, you know, different, different things along the wall that that

needed to be repaired. And so there's different things going on there. Number four people of various trades built the wall. And so different again, just sort of everybody sort of pitching in, right? Like Goldsmiths, perfumers and, and the leaders and the priests and everybody's that's not normally what they do, but that's what they're doing now because it's the most important thing. And among those people, his, his point #5 is that women helped in rebuilding the wall.

And so again, just emphasizing that point that literally everybody is, is working. And, and you can imagine, you know, it doesn't say this specifically, but you can imagine it's like, well, if dad is there and mom is there, then the kids are probably running around helping and, and a little bit every, which maybe that's taking it too far because I know at some point there's going to be real danger with these

enemies that come around. And so maybe that's true, but you may, you get the feeling that it's like they're involved to some degree, right? Like. The whole community was, yeah, like everybody that was there and people from far off right, like the, the people of Tacoa came, the men of Tacoa came and we helped and they were, they weren't far, far off, but they were. I just read some that there was, they were like 11 miles away. So like their, their community was far.

So they had to cross through some of the enemies to get there to help. And so there was danger there. But yeah, you're right. So like the whole community of Israel that were left, the remnant that was there, they were helping right and doing all the work. So. Yeah, from the least to the greatest, everybody is. Everybody's helping, almost everybody. Yeah, this is it is a hard

chapter to read. We'll just like, like recognize it. Jake recognized it as he was, as he was talking about it. And in his opening, how like, OK, like you mentioned earlier, there's a lot of repetition and you're tempted to think, man, this is not interesting at all. Boring as a phone book was was said in the sermon. But I think, I think he was joking, but it's, it's hard to like find like we're going to read this in our reading plan.

We're going to come across some things and even our reading plan skips over some genealogies. And so, so it's hard to like draw out meaning there. So you have to be intentional. One of the things that I was interested in. So I was thinking, yeah, what what does it mean? Like, why is it like set up the way it is and why is it so repetitive? And I looked at a commentary about Doctor Betts, the one we've been using for our

outline. I thought it was really interesting that he drew out like that, the very beginning of the chapter, like that Nehemiah was writing about who started the worker. Like he starts with the priest, right? So Doctor Betts mentions that that it's essential that priests take the lead in the project, for it is more than a reconstruction project.

It is God ordained work, turning the reproach of Jerusalem into glory of God. They're on a spiritual mission and they understand that the spiritual leadership requires being an example to everyone else. I thought that was that was interesting to think about. OK, so if we're like just go to one resource or two resources and try to if you, if you, if you don't have a study Bible or something like that, look for resources online that might can help you point to like what is really going on.

Doctor Betts also mentioned for context. I thought this was interesting. You and I talked about this briefly before, but in he mentioned that this is a fulfillment like the rebuilding of the walls, fulfillment of prophecy in Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 28 says in 25 and 26. So chapter 28 verse 25 and 26 says this. It says this is what the Lord

God says. When I gather the House of Israel from the peoples where they are scattered, I will demonstrate My holiness through them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live there securely. They'll build houses, plant vineyards. They will live securely. When I execute judgments against all their neighbors who treat them with contempt, they will know that I am the Lord their God.

And so Doctor Betts made the connection for this. This is the first part of that security that he promised. And so he's fulfilling his promises. And so like one of the things in Sunday school, like one like when we're talking to the kids and the kids are learning, one of the like the things that we repeat over and over again is that God always keeps his promises. And so it's important for us to see that too. So like the priest recognized that.

So they start building at the sheep gate, which is where all of the sacrifices would take place. It was important that they did that work 'cause that's where they're going to be working. Yeah. Anyway, I just thought it was very interesting to think about. And you mentioned earlier that this sort of even connects to our reading plan already. Right, Well, even in that, that passage in Ezekiel, right, like he mentions like the land that the Lord promised to Jacob, right.

When we just read that at the beginning of this week that, you know, as Jacob is, is travelling, he stops in the land that the Lord has promised to Abraham and he sleeps there and he gets this vision from the Lord that the Lord is going to bless him. He's going to give him this land. This is where his descendants are going to grow and, and be multiplied. And it's again, like you said, a fulfillment of God's promise

many, many years later. But he's going to be faithful to his promise to give his people that land. Yeah. And so yeah, it's, it's interesting to see it all connecting and tying together. So like one, one of the like basic Bible reading skills we need to like develop in our mind is like, so asking like those diagnostic questions, what does this text teach me about God? Well, there's our thing that is teaching us about God. It's roundabout and we had to work for it, right?

We had to like work hard to get there, right? Sort of hard. You have to look, you have to know where to go. You have to know where your resources are. But it points out that God, it's a reminder of this like massive truth that God is a God who keeps his promises. He is faithful. And so that's like a lesson we can take from the first few verses in in this book. And so I don't know, I just thought it was pretty good to think about.

Yeah, absolutely. But like, sort of what you mentioned, like some, again, part of what we're doing in Scripture is, you know, taking the time, taking the time to think, you know, where we are in the storyline of scripture. You know, if we just come to a text and then just read it at face value, there's, there's a lot that we don't understand because there's, there's context there, right?

Like when we come to the book of Nehemiah, we, we need to ask ourselves, well, what has happened before this? And, and then we go back to like, OK, well, you know, we can do like an overview of, of scripture at this point, right? It's like, well, Adam and Eve, they send there was the fall and God called Abraham and chose Abraham and and said he was going to bless him. And then we see like Abraham's descendants and their family and then they're in exile in Egypt,

but God delivers them. And then we see this 40 years in the wilderness. But eventually they do come into the land and then finally it's their land, right? And then we see like God begin to make his covenant and his promises sort of prior to going into the land. But he says, if you'll be faithful to me, I'll bless you. But if you walk away from me, if you disobey me, it's like, then I will discipline you. And part of that discipline will be exile, which is where we pick up an EMI, right?

I mean, this is like, yeah, you're going second, right? I mean, this is big time overview, but those are helpful things to know. It's like, well, why is Israel in exile? Because they're disobedient. But you know, that's also there's something to keep in mind though, the disobedience, their disobedience, and then God saying like making good on what he said is like, is him keeping his word right? Absolutely. We can't, we can't fault him for keeping his word. No, absolutely not. Yeah.

But yeah, I mean that. So that helps you understand what's going on. But then like then we're still not done yet, right? Like that helps us to understand what's going on in Nehemiah. But then we still need to take the time to think through. It's like, well, OK, how what is how does this apply to us today? What, what does that mean for us now in the new covenant of Christ and how are things

fulfilled? And so that's again, sort of what we're trying to do all throughout this book and see how, again, how does it, how is this just part of God's big story? Because again, the Bible is one story. It's telling one story. It's 66 different books by over 40 different authors over the span of 1500 years or so. And yet it's all telling one story of God's plan of redemption, and we need to

remember that. And so, yeah, I, I feel like it's that that connection with Ezekiel is really, really helpful because he was prophesying during that, you know, or I don't know if it was maybe during that time. It was during the exile. So he was during the during the exile, Yeah. So. So just before this. Yep, Yep. Not too much, not too much time before, but like, still, when Ezekiel's there, there's no hope. Jeremiah and Ezekiel are like contemporaries.

There's in their mind, like Jeremiah doesn't end anything in, well, it's like, oh, it's still still bad, right? But there's hope, right? He's talking constantly talking about the hope of things to come. And Ezekiel's the same way. They're they're pointing toward what God's going to do. And that's encouraging. Yeah, absolutely. And that's what we have to do as well. So we we're kind of in one of

these times of silence. Like we got that Christ has come and we're living in this this like already not yet stage of. You mean currently now like our day and. So like we're waiting as well. Like we're in what we, The thing is, we can't lose like hope that that Christ is going to keep his promise. He's going to come back and he's going to he's creating the new heavens and the new earth.

So we're like in the time on the great grand timeline of everything, like we're in this spot where it's already happened. Christ has come and redeemed the world, but it hasn't happened yet, Right. Right. So it's like already not yet. We talked about that a lot in seminary so much that we got tired of hearing the already. Not yet, But it's it's the way to describe where we live right now. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And, and to think that like now we're now we're a part of

building something, right? Building a Kingdom like in the same way that Nehemiah and all these people are, are a part of building a wall that was going to be torn down and destroyed anyway. Now we're a part of something very similar, like, like if we look at it from like the, from like the physical aspect, yeah. It's like, you know, we're in a sense building and doing things that are going to be torn down and destroyed because the new heavens and the earth are going

to come. But we're building a Kingdom that is eternal. And that's like people who are, who are fully, fully devoted followers of Christ, who are disciples of Jesus and want and love and want to serve him. The new people of God, the church is the new people of God. So yeah, it's good stuff. That's awesome. That's something to think about as we as we look at the

beginning. I'm just thinking just the two verses, thinking about what the priests are there for, because God is going to going to demonstrate that he is holy by the way he protects Israel, and this is how he starts. Yeah, really, really good stuff. Yeah, and like you said, they're like, you know, they're trusting in the Lord, and that's why everybody's hands go to the work. I know one of the things Jake brought out was that, you know, everybody sort of bought into the vision, right?

Because they see that the Lord is behind them. And when you trust, you know that the Lord is with you and that the Lord is orchestrating these events. And, and the Lord has brought about all these things that have now presented us with this situation and this opportunity

that wasn't there before. You're, it gives you the confidence to go ahead and go. This is what the Lord wants us to do. And so everybody jumps on board and everybody, you know, dives in and is, is hard at work, you know, rebuilding, rebuilding the work. And and I thought that's really true, except for he did mention almost everybody did. And then we have those nobles from the from Tokoites, right, that didn't join the work and like the ESV calls them. What did you say verse five?

I think it. Is yeah, it says they, they they would not stoop to serve their Lord. And Lord is capitalized, Yeah. So they're not talking about Lord as in like a leader there. They didn't want to serve Yahweh is what they're what he's saying. But the interesting thing is is that the men of the village or the men of the of the of Toccoa came anyway. They're nobles. Whatever we're going, we were going to trust and stoop our next to serve the Lord where you

may not. And it's interesting to think about. And again, that commentary was helpful like, OK, we're all these people in the city of Jerusalem. That's another thing to think about too. No, some of them lived outside in the neighbouring areas and they had to come back to build the wall of the city. And so like to Co I was one of those was like 11 1/2 miles away, they say. And so they had to cross through danger and their nobles weren't willing to do that. They didn't trust the Lord and

like what? Not stooping their, their necks, right? Is that what they said? Not stoop down to serve their Lord. It's like the word is hang on, let me look it up because I thought it was really, really good. Oh, literally hard of neck is what the Hebrew word is for that like, so it reminds me of stiff necked Pharisees and a stiff neck generation in the New Testament where Christ is describing those who, who wouldn't listen to him, he was

there and they wouldn't listen. So even in the in like when you're, when there's a whole group of people who like are on the same mission, there are still going to be some that never adopt, right? There's the early adopters that sometimes and then there's the people that never adopt the mission, right? So I think that we can't, we can't be discouraged by the very few people who never, who never

adopt you, right? Well, and then there's going to be people, you know, who oppose the work, you know? Oh yeah, coming on, that is completely, completely against and not just not helping, right. And we and we see sort of like the building tension, right? Like like in Chapter 2, it's like, you know, the, the engine starts, you know, as Nehemiah comes across. And then it's like we're sort of introduced to these enemies. And then the opposition starts to increase at the end of Chapter 2.

And it's like that now, the insults start to get hurled, and that opposition is just going to get ramped up more and more and more. And it's like, man, yeah, there's going to be people who are going to oppose, oppose it even though you're doing the Lord's work, you know? Yeah, the rising tension will will culminate next week when we start 41. When Sambalot heard that they were rebuilding the ball, he became furious. Yeah, he seems like a nice guy, but he needs.

Yeah, it's like, and that's, and that's not, not only normal, but it should be expected, right? Like we should expect that when we're, we're doing the Lord's work, the Lord's enemies are going to rise up against us. And it's, it's not because they're opposing us, you know, even though it's tempting to feel like that, right? They're they're opposing what God is doing. Yeah, that's, that's something helpful to think through as you're like, I'm just thinking

about the evangelism team. They bump into people all the time who are discouraging in their responses to them. And even, like, if you're trying to do something good, like if you're just trying even like, like Mercy Ministry, you're just trying to help with like, a cold glass of water, Right? Yeah, There's still going to be people out there that are just like completely against. You. Yeah, exactly. They'll find some way to slander you. So what's the lesson there?

To know what happens and move on and keep going. Right. Yeah. Trust in the Lord and keep going. Yeah, right. I mean, you know, I mean, there may be a time for discerning. It's like, you know what, just double checking, you know, like maybe praying and going all right, am am I sure on the right path is am I for sure doing what the Lord wants me to do? And it's like, once you're confident of that, it's like, yeah, let's keep keep going. Right. We were reading Paul, like Paul

1st Corinthians 16, right? He's like there's a wide, wide the door for ministry is wide open, but many oppose me. That's sort of how he knew. He's like the door is wide open because and I know that's because many oppose me. That's sort of the same thing here. It's like, yeah, we're going to do this. We know that people don't want us to do this because we were a strong nation. Yeah, right. We were. And then again, they, I think

you were. Was it, Ezra, when they said, yeah, they were rebellious people? Was that what you said? Yeah, in the time. In the time of Ezra. Yeah, yeah. So Joe is still sick, still sick, still fighting the cold. I am too. Hopefully it goes away soon. But yeah, I mean, the thing I think the one of the encouraging things, I mean like to to sort of get practical and applicational with it. I think like all the people that that are hands on deck is, is encouraging to us as a church.

You know, I think it really points to the body of Christ in the in in the new covenant. You know, like now the church is as the people of God and thinking of everybody with different skill sets, with different gifts, with different abilities coming together for the same purpose of building God's Kingdom, right? And I think there's, there's times where we will all be doing different tasks and, and using our unique gifts that God has given to us.

And then there's other times where it's like, man, there's an issue that's just so pressing and so necessary that it's like everybody's helping with that. I think of, you know, here at this church when, when we were adding on this side of the building, you know, just to save money, that a lot of people in the church did a lot of the work ourselves, right? And so again, everybody's working and all hands on deck,

right? Like women are helping with cleaning and painting and men are doing like drywall and whatever. And so there are different tasks in there, but the main task is like let's add this addition. We got to get this building. Done. Yeah, let's do this work, right. And so everybody was like working together and lots of people were were helping. And so it's like, yeah, it's, it's so pressing in that moment that everybody's helping with it.

Yeah, it reminds me too of like, like we talked about in the beginning of this series that that prayer needs to be our first option, right? Can't be the like your last resort. It has to be your first option. So that's one of the things that everybody has the, the ability to and, and the, the responsibility to do, right. So we, we should like if we want to move towards being a more, I think, I think no matter how strong you are in prayer, there's always room for improvement.

So if you want to move towards like becoming a, a more a praying church, being more known as a praying church, we need to make like, it doesn't matter, OK, you can't lead a Bible study. You're not, you're not skilled in that or you don't, you're not going to, you're not an evangelist. You know, it's not, that's not my spiritual gift. Well, you can pray for evangelist, right? You can, you can pray for Bible study leaders. You can pray for like.

And so I think it's important for us to like, not neglect, like that is building the wall. If you want to talk about protection and asking the Lord for the and, and, and recognizing that the Lord is all we have. Like prayer is prayer. Is it, it, is it. That's where the book started. That's where it's going to

finish honestly. Like, you know, like reclaiming and being firm for the Lord. But yeah, anyway, prayer, I think prayer is one of those things like you mentioned, like what, everybody, it's all hands on deck. Doesn't matter if you think you're good at it, if you think you're eloquent with speech, it doesn't matter. We're praying to the Lord and so. Yeah, yeah. Well, and I would think that discipleship ties in with that too, right.

Like, again, like it's easy to point to the things that we can't do. But you know, one of the things that we believe here as as pastors and as a leadership, as a church, that we believe that, you know, it's everybody's responsibility to be involved in discipleship. You know, to what, to what level is it may be different in

different people. You know, like you said, some people may oversee like a youth ministry or young adults ministry or, you know, they may be teaching like larger groups or teaching on a Wednesday night. And so there's different levels of, of responsibility and, and authority there. But at some level, we expect everybody to be involved in discipleship. I mean, that's, that is not optional, right?

That is for everyone, you know. And so as parents, you're just, you ought to be discipling your kids, but you ought to be involved in discipleship in the church as well and helping other people grow in their faith. Because again, the Commission, the Great Commission is to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. And so at some level, we all need to be involved in it. And it's a simple, I mean, we have a super simple process.

You know, anybody I know it people are, you know, I don't know if I'm ready for that. And then once we explain the system and, and once you're in AD group for a couple weeks, you're like, Oh yeah, anybody can do this. You know, I've, I've heard that recently where like 2 weeks into a discipleship group, you know, they've met once or twice and everybody in the group is going, Oh yeah, I, I think I could do this no problem. Like it, anybody can do it.

It is that simple. But it's just about US meeting together, sharing what God's teaching us, sharing what we're learning, holding each other accountable. And it's like allowing God to grow us together in His Word. Yep. That's all it is. Yeah. Because the reason it's so it feels that way, that it's so easy. Well, one it is. But it's because God does the work, right? He's not. You're not. You're not growing on your own.

You're not. You don't have to have like a theology degree in order to read the Bible and to talk about it with another person. You just have to be committed to it. Like you can't, you can't just say that's beneath me or and honestly, I think that's part of it too. It's like there's there's like I'm just thinking about objections to becoming like being a discipleship group. Like I don't have time. There's probably something else there, right?

That's not really an excuse. You know, if we've debunk the I don't have time excuse before, I don't know if we've done it here, but everybody has time. Yeah, you do. Just go open up your phone, like if you have an iPhone and swipe left. Oh, move your finger to the right and then scroll up a little bit and you'll find screen time there if you have it turned on, and you'll see how much time you have. Look at the one that says Facebook or whatever social media app you use.

You have time. Yeah. OK, so that's debunked. Well, and again, sort of to tie in with that, like these D groups, I mean you can meet in an hour. Exactly an hour and 15 minutes. Is that like a long one? Right, But so you have time. Secondly, like I don't feel like I'm I'm not qualified to do that. OK, that's a pride thing. Like maybe you're afraid, maybe you're just you have a fear of

what other people will think. That's so that's fear of man and and pride in your and like you feel like you don't want your pride to be hurt, right. So like they're an or yeah, or I'm better. I don't need that. Like that's another thing. If you're like, like somebody who's been, I've been a Christian for over 30 years, right? Like there's a, there's a part of you that says I'm above that. Like there might be.

And if we ever get to that spot in your life, then you need to like really ask the Lord for forgiveness and repent because you're not there yet. Like the Lord is showing me, man, like you're not there yet. Jonah. So absolutely. So like it, it's likely there's a sin issue that's causing you to not want to take the step and be in a group. And I would just say, just think on that, pray on that and ask the Lord to reveal that to you.

Because what is holding you back from, from wanting to be like in community, growing in Christ, in a community of four or five people who are loving you and, and, and the reason you're Satan is the only thing holding you back. There's a sin issue in your heart that's holding you back, and there's something you need to prioritize or deprioritize in your life to allow you have time for it. Yeah. And if we and if and if there are people who are intimidated, I mean the process is to get to

be involved in AD group. Right. Not lead it right. Right for and you can be there for, you know, the goal is a year and then after a year of really feeling comfortable with the whole system and how it works, like then launching out and starting your own group. And if you don't feel comfortable after a year, stay in the group, right? You know, stay, stay on the, on the Yeah, but but you, you will feel comfortable. That's the that's the whole point. It's like absolutely two weeks in.

Oh yeah, People who are like some of the people who are like, yeah, I can do this. Then two months in, the hardest person would be able to say, yeah, I think I can do this. Yeah. And I want to tie into like, maybe, maybe a reason that people might give that maybe is a bit deeper, which is I think like fear, fear of like what people might find. And so and that, I think that is sin and pride too. So the accountability part,

right? Like I think there's some people who it's like, man, I don't want to go there. I don't want to share my heart. I don't want to share the concerns I'm going through. Like I'm scared of what I'll find and I'm scared of what other people will find. And and that's a scary thing, right, to open up to people and, and again, the group just naturally it, it's not about like a deep dive into like immediately revealing all the deepest starts. Well, it's not a, it's not a

therapy session. No, it's not a counseling session. No, it's it's not like that's one of the things to keep in mind too. Right. And the goal is to become close, but that that happens over time. That's why they're a year long because it's like it happens slowly. Like as you get more comfortable, you're able to like, you begin to trust these people and you see that they're on their side, on your side, and they're for you.

And you begin to like share a little bit more and maybe a little bit more of your heart and what's going on and how they can be praying for you. Because these people are for you. They want you to succeed. They want you to experience all the joy and the blessings that come from communion with Christ and communion as brothers and sisters in Christ. Yeah. Yeah, dude, it's a, there's a, it's a the community aspect of something. Yeah, is super important.

Yeah, well, and and talk about building a wall, right? Like right. Exactly. Protection right wall is. Protection and and like when we when we are involved in discipleship, then that analogy could probably go a lot of ways, right? Like we build up a wall in our own lives where now it's a defense against the enemy, it's a defense against our own self doubt. While you're using spiritual

disciplines to help with that. So you're you're doing your daily Bible reading, you're meditating on a passage of Scripture every day, a different 1:00 every day. And then you're meditating on one even further with the memory verses that you work on every week. And so those are like, those are defenses. Yeah. Against the devil. Yeah. And so like, that's building a wall in your own life. And then with the community too, right? We're building together, right?

We're working together. Now we have like this teamwork. Right. That's right. This I know that an illustration that that Aldo has shared with me before where he's talking about like it's a helpful illustration as we talk about like these groups. Aldo is a person like in our church. Yeah, Aldo, yeah. Aldo, he's a great guy. Aldo is a great guy. Sorry, I didn't like most people might know who all that's true, that's true, who may not. Know that's fair. Yeah.

Aldo Gabriel, yeah. And so one of the things that he's, he's shared with as we talk about like discipleship groups is he uses the illustration of Redwood trees. And so Redwood trees are among the tallest and the biggest trees in all the world. And the reason a tall can, a tree can grow tall and strong and stand firm in the midst of like storms and everything is because of its root system. Right now, these trees are different.

Their roots don't go like down really far and they're not like super big, but what they actually do is they're usually less than a meter below the surface of the ground and they spread out and intertwine. With the with other Redwood. With the other Redwood trees and that's how they're able to stand so strong and get so big and so tall.

And so it's a, it's a really amazing illustration of, of what it's like in our Christian lives that like when we begin to connect our lives with other people again, the, the fear of opening up is a real fear for us. But the truth is that once we do that, we actually get stronger. We can grow spiritually stronger and the Lord uses it to shape us and mold us in a way and and we grow as disciples.

It's really, really good. Now I'm thinking about roots, like an oak tree would have a different root system. A lot of times they're off by themselves, especially in the South. They're out by themselves in the middle of big fields. And there's one of the big broad

trees. And the picture is like, it's almost the same like limb structure underneath the ground that is up top deep tall, like deep down wide out like it is so that it can, it's almost so it's like, and then pine trees have a taproot that goes way down deep in the ground, which is why they're good in sand anyway. So anyway, tree roots are fun and fascinating so. Right. Well, and again, it's like now I'm thinking of an illustration that one of our professors use, Doctor Pierre.

He, he talked about like a healthy root system and this idea of like, like our roots, like if, if we look at the fruit of our lives, so many times we're looking at the symptoms in our life, right? And so I would just challenge people to think about this, look at the things in your life. What is the fruit of your life, right? Maybe there's fruit from me not trusting God. Maybe there's fruit from the fact that me and my wife don't talk about spiritual things or we don't pray together.

Or, or maybe I'm seeing the fruit of the fact that, you know, I haven't really been involved in discipling my kids or I'm not really involved in church or, or I'm not, you know, going to Bible study or getting involved in a discipleship group, or I haven't taken my face seriously. And, and the fruit of not reading and not praying and all these different things. And look at the fruit of your life and what is causing that lack of fruit or what is causing

that unhealth, right? Like it presents itself as like, man, there's no fruit in my life. There's no, maybe not very many leaves on my tree. I sort of look like a dead tree. And well, what are you rooted in? And, and this idea that like what you're rooted in, like your roots, and then what is feeding your roots is what comes out in your fruit, right? And so the whole idea of, of discipleship and, and D groups is getting rooted in Christ together with brothers and

sisters. And when you're rooted in God's word and the Holy Spirit is working through his word as you, and it's going to now come up in your root system and it's going to start showing itself in fruit in, in a healthy tree that bears fruit. And so we have to be intentional though, to get rooted in Christ, to get rooted in his word, to get rooted in, in one another. And so I mean, that's what we're

doing right? Like I remember wrestling with this question years ago, but like, when we come to church, like, what are we doing right? Like what, what is the point? What's the point? Like, we gather, we sing, we listen to a sermon, and then we leave. Like, then what? Right? But if it's discipleship, it's growing together as Christ's church, building his Kingdom that we're growing as disciples,

right? Getting rooted in Christ, you know, being connected to the vine, bearing fruit through him is growing us as disciples so that we're healthy and we're bearing fruit and that the, and that good news can spread to other people, right? That other disciples grow and that people who don't know Christ are seeing the fruit of our lives or, or we're sharing the gospel. And it's like they're coming to faith in Christ and knowing him.

And it's like we're building God's Kingdom and and showing what it means to to love the Lord with all your heart and the blessing and the joy and the peace that comes from that. Yeah, One thing that stood out to me when you were talking, you were you were, I thought you may have been confusing. You said there's like the fruit of not doing something or the fruit of so the negative fruit. So, but it made me think like, no, we're producing fruit all the time like we are.

It's not that we're withering and dying. We're producing either good fruit or bad fruit, right? Like a a non Christian can't produce good fruit. You can't. It might look good, right? But when you bite into it, it's rancid, sour, terrible. Or it's like those those fake fruits you put on the table. It's like you bite into that's just a big like crack of tooth because it's just a solid brick of wood or something.

But yeah, we're always producing fruit and, and you're right, it is, it is definitely a product of of the root system. What is the, what are, what are your roots in? I'm just thinking like, are they, are they buried in whatever the world is trying to tell me right now on social media or whatever? Or are they buried in like the whatever the world is trying to tell me through the stories that they tell on television? Or you know what I mean?

What, what is it that we're like, we're giving our time to swipe right on your phone and look at your screen time and find out where you're putting your time. It's it's revealing to you. And then, and then the other thing is like whenever I see someone who has good fruit, What does it make you want? It makes you want good fruit. And so the community aspect of that, when we come, what are we

doing when we come here? If we're just coming here for to hang out together, sing songs, listen to a sermon and go home. And we're not after discipleship. If we're not after like growing closer to the Lord, if that's not our goal and becoming more godly in our lives, then we're producing bad fruit. And so I would encourage anybody coming to church on Sunday or Wednesday night, like what is like check, check your motives. Is my motive here to, to grow in

godliness, right? Like we discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. And that's what my class is about. Is our purpose godliness or is it this is duty? This is what we've always done. I'm going to go because if my, if, if they don't see me there, then they're going to think I'm backslidden, which you may be backslidden and showing up. Just so you know, I'm talking to myself too. But what am I coming?

Check your motives. Am I coming because I want to grow ungodliness and because I want to like help Joe with his like, fruit making? Or or is it because I just want like something for myself? Or maybe I just don't want I just don't want to disappoint my family. I don't know. Those are things to think through. Right, absolutely.

Well, and Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount, actually, like he, he tells us, you know, beware of, of false teachers who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Yeah. And it's like, how do? Well, and then it makes you wonder. It's like, well, how do we do? How do we be aware of that? You will know them by their fruit, by their fruit. You'll recognize them by their fruit. It's good or it's not good, but they're they're you're making fruit. Exactly.

It's like a healthy tree can't bear bad fruit and a diseased tree can't bear good fruit, right. And so it's like, that's how you know, you look at people, you look at their life and you look at the fruit of their life and you go, that person is not producing good. Fruit. And sometimes it takes time. Yeah. And it's hard, right? And I think sometimes we can be convinced by the world.

I mean, the world that we live in right now is, is pushing so hard against like, don't you dare judge anybody else in their life and what they do. It's like, man, your own truth. And, you know, you watch these interviews of people going around, like interviewing people on the streets, asking them, you know, well, do you believe in this? Do you believe in that? And it's like, I just, I just stay out of it, right? They can do whatever they want. They can. That's what they want to do.

And that makes them happy. Fine, do whatever you want to do. It's like we're called to a higher standard than that as believers. It's like, not only are we supposed to to look at the world and to be able to judge what is good and what is not, but we're actually supposed to be judging one another, right? When we went through the book of First Corinthians, it's like that's our responsibility to be, to be testing people's genuineness of their faith, right?

If you profess to be a follower of Christ, you profess to be a disciple, right? And your life doesn't match up with that. And then we need to be holding each other accountable. And that's what groups do, right? The discipleship groups help you with that, right? Like it helps you confirm you will find out if you're producing good fruit or bad fruit, right? Like Yep. And you will, dude, you're right.

And the community matters. So like a thinking about like like this chapter in Nehemiah, like the result of them all doing this work together collaboratively and like it's a diverse group. Like we had a lot of people weren't named. There were a lot of names, but a lot of people weren't named. Like you don't know who most of them were, right? Like we don't know.

Just gives like big groups. Of big groups, Goldsmiths, the people, like, but like, that's something like everybody knows that everybody has the same interest. Like I can count on you, right. You built your section of the wall, right. I can count on you. Yeah. Like if you're the Taco men of Taco, you built 2 sections of the wall to make up for your nobles not coming right. Like you, you really, you recognize, hey, we got to do something, right. You built 2 sections of the wall.

Like we can count on one another.

And so like, that's the thing like if we like, I just like the desire in my heart to look around my church and know that like the people who are coming to our church, who are who we consider our church, we can count on them because they're so not count on them to to help me not count on them to provide for me. I can count on them to point me to God like when my life is going astray or when I am like, yeah, I can count on them to point me back to who is protecting us, you know, for real.

So anyway, yeah. Well, that's so good, right As you were talking, it just reminded me of like some of the practical nature of this chapter. I think a number of times it mentions it's like, man, these people started building in front of their house, right? And it's like, OK, so it's like very practical in a sense. It's like you're not going across town to work. It's like I'll just build a section right here. What's the most efficient way to do it right?

Stay where you are and let's get your section done. Right. And as I think about these D groups again, like I something, you know, I just started another one recently and 11 very practical thing that I did was like, you know what, Hey, you know what? I, I have a few people in mind and I'm like, I might just find people that are in this area, right? They're all in Wheatley. And so I'm like, OK, I'm going to find more people in Wheatley and I'm going to find those

people in I know. As I was thinking about somebody who said, no, they live in Wheatley, I'm taking them. Well, it's like there's a very practical thing, right? And it's like, so for anybody out there who's like, well, I don't have time, I got to drive really far or whatever it is, it's like, hey, just be practical about it. It's like the whole, again, the whole goal is like you're

meeting weekly. And So what I tell people is like, if, if you feel the Lord is calling you to do this and, and maybe the Lord is really putting it on your heart that I need, I need to join a group. I need to be involved in Group. I need to start a group, begin praying about it. And I, what I tell people is this is supposed to be as

convenient as possible, right? So a lot of men are going to say, I know a lot of men's groups that will be like, I'm just going to meet very early on a Saturday morning so I don't take time away from my family. And so it's a bit of a sacrifice for you, but you can make it work to what you want, right? It doesn't have to be at a certain time on a certain day or whatever. Pick a day and a, pick a time

that works for you. Maybe a Monday night at set from seven to seven, 7:00 to 8:30 works for you. Now you go, I'm going to find 3 or 4 guys maybe who live close to me and we can all meet at the Tim's down the street. But I'm going to tell them I'm meeting on Monday nights at 7830. If it doesn't work for you, then that's fine, right? I'm sorry I can't make that work. Or maybe someone else like yeah, I can make that work. And so just be very practical

about it and find fun. And those would be the people that the Lord wants you. That's right. Just trusting that it's like for in this season of my life, this is the time that works. This is the day that works. This is where it meets for me to work. And just trust that the Lord is going to bring you the people that that works for too. It does. Yeah, that's true. Valerie's, my wife's group is one of those Monday night groups.

Monday night from 7:00 she what happens is I come home from work and I I'm helping out with whatever the dinner is and then like what? We have dinner and then and then she leaves and then, you know, I'm there to help take care of the kids and clean up the kitchen and do all the different things. And it's like it's convenient for her. Like I'm home. I can take care of the kids. Men, take care of your children. Don't just like throw it off on your wife.

Take just say, Hey, I'm going to do this for you. Like I'm it's a sacrifice for both of you. But I get it at some at times because parenting by yourself is not easy. And sometimes we need to see that as men, we need to see what our wives go through all the time with all of our kids. But absolutely. But yeah, so just I love that point. Make it convenient for you. Like, just like just like Nehemiah 3, right? Just go right outside the door of your house and and work there.

Yeah, yeah. That's good. And maybe there are people who who are interested in in joining a discipleship group, but don't really know where to start or don't know what to do. And you know, we do actually have a forum and maybe we can share it in this podcast link if you're interested, you know, maybe you don't know where to start, maybe you don't know what to do. Maybe maybe you're interested in starting one, or maybe you're just interested in joining when you're not quite ready to start

1 yet. Well, we have a form or just an interest form, right? If you're interested, I think you even promise that you'll give people a coffee if they come. I will. Did I say that? Yeah, I did. Say that might be in that form, Jonah, we'll buy you a coffee and we'll share with you sort of our vision and, and what it is.

But if if you're just even interested in finding more out about it and having a conversation, you know, we'll, we'll link this form in there and then you can fill it out and we'll connect with you and we'll chat about it. Now we can meet at the coffee shop, even. Yeah, happy to do that. That's really good. Really, really good. All right. What else from Nehemiah 3? Anything else you wanted to bring out? I think, I think that's all I have so far that I can think of. But yeah.

This the encouragement. Like there are tons of hard passages in the Old Testament. There's some in the New Testament that are hard to read. Yeah. Don't skip over them right? Like even though, even though it's difficult, don't skip them. That honestly, that's a big lesson that we learn on even on Sunday morning. It's like Pastor Jake had a hard task, like that's a hard chapter to preach and he didn't skip over it. He could have, he had every right to do whatever he wants.

He's the lead pastor of the church. He could say, I'm not preaching that I'll preach. Go to four. He could have done that and it was doing fine, but he didn't. And so don't skip the hard stuff. Like if you need resources and you're just curious and you're like, hey, I can't get anything out of this, I'd encourage you to buy a study Bible. Like there's the ESV study Bible is amazing. The CSB study Bible is also very, very good. Those two by themselves would be awesome.

I know a lot of guys around here use the MacArthur study Bible. It's also very good. The first two though, that I would mention are the ones that I've used personally and I can, I can like strongly recommend anybody grabbing those. Yeah, and there are. There are other helpful commentaries too. I know some guys were asking me and I was sharing some some with them as well like like Bible ref.net which is from from Got Questions which is a ministry from John Piper I believe I. Think so.

Yeah. And so there's other ones like Enduring Word, I've heard I've gotten that one recommended to me and I've I've gone through that one a little bit, which is pretty good. But yeah, look, find a resource. Dude, we're we live in a day. Where all you have to do is Google it. It's. A you do, I would, I would very strongly encourage people to go spend 150 or $200.00 on a good study Bible.

Yeah, you don't need to spend that much, but you know, you could probably find a really good study Bible from anywhere from. 50 to $100, the ESV and the CSV for between 50 and 100. I think it be 55 bucks, but you you can get them the paperback versions all you need. You don't need a leather bound version, right? You don't need to tote this thing around the church and like like you don't have to do that. Get out. This is a study Bible.

This is for your study. Yeah, buy a paperback version. It doesn't matter. It doesn't, but but even if it costs a little bit of money, it's like, man, what again? What a greater investment like we we waste money on things of

far less value. You know God's word, thinking of the way the psalmist talk about God's word, it's like man, may we search for you in your word more than silver and gold and it's more precious than all that It's like spend some money so that you can understand God's word. That's right. Like it's not a shame, it's not embarrassing. I read study Bibles and resources and commentaries all the time. It's like it's not it's not shameful, it's not embarrassing.

It's like we. All need help sometimes that's all you that like in order to stand and preach, that's what you have to at some .0 absolutely you have to get help. Like right. Like I was using a commentary, the one like this one's called Nehemiah, a pastoral and exegetical commentary when at the beginning of this thing I was looking at one of those for help and like, yeah, like why did he start the way he start? You have to ask questions first,

come with your questions, yeah. And then just dive in. Studying is a discipline. Absolutely. And I would actually add to like, like not only is reading a commentary or some other study help, not only is it not an embarrassing thing, I would actually say it it it's

essential. Yeah, because one of the reasons you need to be reading commentaries is because after you've read and studied God's Word, meditated on it, and come to what you I think is an understanding of what it says, reading a commentary is a really helpful way of going. Did I get this? Right? Right. Because if you come to a conclusion and an understanding and then you read 10 commentaries and no one else is saying what you're saying, you're probably then you're wrong.

Probably. Yeah, you're probably wrong. And so it's a, it's a really helpful way of making sure that we are being faithful with, with how we're understanding Scripture. Yeah, if you're ever concerned, if you have a question, all right, what do we listen to? What do we read? Just reach out. We have tons of options maybe in our office that will loan you or point you in the right direction for a resource. We we're happy to help you. Yeah. Like, that's one of the things to keep in mind too.

Absolutely. So, yeah, I don't, I don't have anything else either. Just like when you come to the hard ones, don't skip. It don't skip. It force yourself read it to read it slowly and ask God to reveal himself to you through it. Yeah, and he will, because God always keeps his promises right. Absolutely awesome. Pastor Joe, would you mind praying for us as we wrap up this episode? Absolutely. I'm always calling on you to pray. Sorry, I'm not going to go back.

I'll let you close us. It's fine. Lord, we thank you so much for your word as we've had many conversations about your word and, and what it teaches us about you, that you are a holy God who is faithful, who keeps his promises. And Lord, we worship you because of that. And we can go back and into all these scriptures and we can just be reminded of your faithfulness to previous generations, reminded of your promises to

previous generations. And all of those promises find their fulfillment in Christ. And we are a part of this new covenant through him and, and we no longer have to live the way that a lot of the people did in the Old Testament. We don't have to offer these sacrifices anymore.

We don't have to follow the letter of the law, but now we follow the law of the Spirit and we rejoice that that Christ has made a way for us to be made right with you through His sacrifice, through his shed blood, through His perfect life. And we just rejoice, Lord. And we, we want to be a people who love you with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all

our strength. We want to be a people who pursue you in your word and seek to be faithful and obedient to it. But we know we fall short of that and and we're grateful for your continued grace and forgiveness in our lives. And Lord, we do ask, Lord, that you would continue to strengthen us as a church as we seek to build your Kingdom, build disciples.

And, and Lord, as we sort of figuratively build a wall of protection for us as a church and us as your people, trusting that you're going to give a success. Or would you help us to build disciples? Would you help us to, to raise up people who are committed to you, faithful growing in your word and and seeking to, to make other disciples as we seek to, to bring your glory and your

fame and all the earth? Or we are trusting not in ourselves, our own effort, our own ability, but your spirit working in and through us as you are doing and accomplishing your perfect plan and your perfect purpose. And Lord, we just are grateful to be a part of what you're doing and ask for your leadership, your guidance, and in your hand to work in and through us as we do that. We ask all of this in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. Well, thanks for joining us.

We are praying for you, LEMC. Hope you have a great week.