Rebuilding Broken Lives

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• Rebuilding Broken Lives
• Nehemiah 930-38
• Page 412 in Pew Bibles

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Nehemiah 9

1. You were patient with them for many years, and
   Your Spirit warned them through Your prophets,
   but they would not listen. Therefore, You handed
   them over to the surrounding peoples.
2. However, in Your abundant compassion, You did
   not destroy them or abandon them, for You are a
   gracious and compassionate God.

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1. So now, our Godthe great, mighty, and
   awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious
   covenantdo not view lightly all the hardships
   that have afflicted us, our kings and leaders,
   our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all
   Your people, from the days of the Assyrian kings
   until today.
2. You are righteous concerning all that has come
   on us, because You have acted faithfully, while
   we have acted wickedly.

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1. Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did
   not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments
   and warnings You gave them.
2. When they were in their kingdom, with Your
   abundant goodness You gave them, and in the
   spacious and fertile land You set before them,
   they would not serve You or turn from their
   wicked ways.

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1. Here we are today, slaves in the land You gave
   our ancestors so that they could enjoy its fruit
   and its goodness. Here we areslaves in it!
2. Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have
   set over us, because of our sins. They rule over
   our bodies and our livestock as they please. We
   are in great distress.

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1. In view of all this, we are making a binding
   agreement in writing on a sealed document
   containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and
   priests.

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Whats Going On

• The wall is completed
• Now, the city is reforming
  and re-forming
• In Chapter 8, the people got back to the Bible
• In Chapter 9, the people work the process of
  repentance
• As Chapter 9 continues, the people continue to
  reconnect with God

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Reconnecting With God

• Four Steps to Getting Close to God
  Again

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David WellsGod in the Wasteland
God rests too inconsequentially upon the church.
His truth is too distant, his grace is too
ordinary, his judgment is too benign, his gospel
is too easy, and his Christ is too common.
David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland, Leicester,
IVP, 1994, page 30 Cited in The Message of
Nehemiah by Raymond Brown, IVP, page 148
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1. Rediscover the Greatness of God

• Vs. 5-6 Praise Your glorious name, and may it
  be exalted above all blessing and praise. You
  alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the
  highest heavens with all their host, the earth
  and all that is on it, the seas and all that is
  in them. You give life to all of them, and the
  heavenly host worships You.

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1. Rediscover the Greatness of God

• This shifts your focus from yourself to the One
  who deserves it
• Connects you with the One for Whom you were
  created
• Gets you back on track to fulfill your lifes
  purpose, which is to know God and enjoy Him
• Orders your life around something big enough to
  be fulfilling

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2. Retrace the Hand of God through Your Life

• God molds our lives
• By the new birth
• By the Holy Spirit working in us
• Through the Bible
• By those we fellowship with
• Through our life experiences

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2. Retrace the Hand of God through Your Life

• Beginnings
• Vs. 7 You are the LORD God who chose Abram and
  brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans
• Deliverances
• Vs. 11 You divided the sea before them, and
  they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled
  their pursuers into the depths like a stone...

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2. Retrace the Hand of God through Your Life

• Times of Special Guidance
• Vs. 12 You led them with a pillar of cloud by
  day, and with a pillar of fire by night, to
  illuminate the way they should go.
• Provision
• Vs. 21 You provided for them in the wilderness
  40 years and they lacked nothing.

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2. Retrace the Hand of God through Your Life

• Divine Revelations
• Vs. 13-14 You came down on Mount Sinai, and
  spoke to them from heaven. You gave them
  impartial ordinances, reliable instructions, and
  good decrees and commandments. You revealed Your
  holy Sabbath to them
• Vs. 20 You sent Your good Spirit to instruct
  them.

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2. Retrace the Hand of God through Your Life

• Blessings
• Vs. 23 You multiplied their descendants like
  the stars of heaven and brought them to the land
  You told their ancestors to go in and take
  possession of it.

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Rick WarrenThe Purpose Driven Life
If you really desire to be used by God, you must
understand a powerful truth The very
experiences you have resented or regretted most
in lifethe ones youve wanted to hide and
forgetare the experiences God wants to use to
help others. They are your ministry!
The Purpose Driven Life, Zondervan, page 247
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3. Recognize the Correction of God

• A Vicious Cycle
• Blessed by God
• Vs. 25 They captured fortified cities and
  fertile land and took possession of well-supplied
  houses, rock-hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive
  groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate,
  were filled, became prosperous, and delighted in
  Your great goodness.

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3. Recognize the Correction of God

• A Vicious Cycle
• Rejecting God
• Vs. 26 But they were disobedient and rebelled
  against You. They flung Your law behind their
  backs and killed Your prophets who warned them to
  turn them back to You. They committed terrible
  blasphemies.

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3. Recognize the Correction of God

• A Vicious Cycle
• Disciplined by God
• Vs. 27 So You handed them over to their
  enemies, who oppressed them. In their time of
  distress, they cried out to You, and You heard
  from heaven. In Your abundant compassion You gave
  them deliverers, who rescued them from the power
  of their enemies.

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3. Recognize the Correction of God

• A Vicious Cycle
• Returning to God
• Vs. 27 In their time of distress, they cried
  out to You, and You heard from heaven. In Your
  abundant compassion You gave them deliverers, who
  rescued them from the power of their enemies.

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3. Recognize the Correction of God

• A Vicious Cycle
• Repeat Process
• Vs. 28 But as soon as they had relief, they
  again did what was evil in Your sight. So You
  abandoned them to the power of their enemies, who
  dominated them. When they cried out to You again,
  You heard from heaven and rescued them many times
  in Your compassion.

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John Johnson

• History is the story of Gods tenacious loyalty
  and mans persistent sin.

Sermon on Nehemiah 9 http//i.b5z.net/i/u/720587/f
/SermonNotes/commitment/Jan7-8.pdf
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3. Recognize the Correction of God

• Reaffirm the Righteousness of God in His
  treatment of you
• Vs. 33 You are righteous concerning all that
  has come on us, because You have acted
  faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
• Vs. 36-37 Here we are today, slaves in the land
  You gave our ancestors so that they could enjoy
  its fruit and its goodness. Here we areslaves in
  it! Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You
  have set over us, because of our sins.

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4. Redevelop Your Spiritual Disciplines

• Vs. 38 In view of all this, we are making a
  binding agreement in writing on a sealed document
  containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and
  priests.

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4. Redevelop Your Spiritual Disciplines

• Vs. 38 In view of all this, we are making a
  binding agreement in writing on a sealed document
  containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and
  priests.

HL gt
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4. Redevelop Your Spiritual Disciplines

• Vs. 38 In view of all this, we are making a
  binding agreement in writing on a sealed document
  containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and
  priests.

HL gt
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4. Redevelop Your Spiritual Disciplines

• Vs. 38 In view of all this, we are making a
  binding agreement in writing on a sealed document
  containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and
  priests.

HL gt
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4. Redevelop Your Spiritual Disciplines

• Vs. 38 In view of all this, we are making a
  binding agreement in writing on a sealed document
  containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and
  priests.

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4. Redevelop Your Spiritual Disciplines

• Specific and Detailed
• Concerned both the institutions of the family and
  the church
• Put them back on the path to staying connected
  with God
• The key is not as much avoiding the sins we
  commit, as doing the things we omit
• 1039 We will not neglect the house of our God.

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• Rebuilding Broken Lives