Last week, at the beginning of the service, we shared with you the current state of our finances. It was not easy to do this, as it is a place of rawness for us right now, but we felt burdened by God to not just say we are family but to be family. As service came to an end, you all rallied behind us, lifting us up in prayer. The encouragement of our church family lasted all week long. The week leading up to last Sunday was a hard one. We found ourselves wrestling emotionally and spiritually as we tried to keep our eyes on Jesus and not give into our flesh. However, after your prayer and encouragement, we felt stronger. Hope rose inside of us, and the Lord began to remind us of the vision He had given us for His church and this city. During times of financial unrest, it is easy to slow down and sometimes just to stop moving forward, but we feel God stirring fresh vision. We hear Him asking us to lean forward, and so today, we are going to share this with you because, just like we needed you last week, it will take all of us to do the work we believe God is calling us to do. 

Today, we will be learning lessons from Nehemiah, as he felt God calling him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He knew he couldn’t do it alone. He first needed to be sent by the authority of the king. Secondly, he needed the help of his community, and then he needed to have a strategy established in prayer.