July 3 | For the People

Nehemiah 1:3-4

“They said to me, Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”

    In 1 Samuel 30, David wept.
    In Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah wept.
    In John 11, Jesus wept.
    In John 20, Mary wept.

    Men and women of God throughout history have wept for the very things that break God’s heart.

    Some of us have been blessed with soft hearts, compassion and tears for people, yet others of us are born with a fervor; ambition for the purposes of God. But our natural tendencies are no excuse for an imbalances heart. Christians are called by scripture (by Jesus) to have both ambition for the purposes of God and compassion for people.

    Nehemiah demonstrates the same heart Jesus will have half a millennia later…a heart for the Great Commission (Mt 28) and for the Great Commandment (Mt 22). It is the heart of God within us that is passionate about advancing the gospel and caring for people.

    How do we develop a heart like God’s?

    Nehemiah’s example suggests that we develop the heart of God through consistent devotion to God. Before Nehemiah takes any action or demonstrates any compassion he first prays. He searches the scriptures for truth. Nehemiah obeys God’s commands and he repents not only for his unfaithfulness to God but he repents on behalf of his entire nation.

    What’s devotion look like for us?

    I wonder if we tend to overlook the obvious opportunities for devotion, or that we over-complicate what devotion is.

    We try to make everything at Vista an exercise in devotion…in discipleship…in heart change. Sunday mornings, for example, are a powerfully unique and regular time in our week that can be mechanically or habitually attended or Sunday mornings can be approached as a time to unload our burdens, receive mercy, pray, praise, hear the Word and be encouraged by others and refreshed by God. No need to add anything to your schedule…just approach Sunday morning with greater reverence, anticipation, and purpose!

    The can hold true for small groups, community service, giving, solitude with God, missions, etc. God wants to grow our hearts and these sorts of opportunities and spaces can be a pathway for God if we approach them as such.

    We aren’t doing church to fill time, to appease God, or even to make the world a better place. We do church…or everything we do as a church is intended to contribute to yours and others real live spiritual maturity and development. — that is, making disciples; devoted followers of Christ.

    Out of that sort of devotion to God, we understand from Scripture that God changes us. His Spirit does a mysterious work at our center…at place more deeply than anything we can individually work to accomplish.

    And that from that center…that heart…that devotion to the Word and Truth of God and Jesus…emerges a balanced passion for both the Great Commandments and Commission!

    I believe Vista on the whole needs to embrace a renewed compassion for people. Pray for a renewed compassion for hopeless and hurting people. To learn who to build a relationship and to lead ones to Christ or at least church were others can join you in your discipleship. Pray for an ability to see through the facade (to want to! Pray for the impetus to genuinely and substantially engage people

    It is imperative for us to do the things that will build a heart of God within us, a heart that sees the trouble and despair people are experiencing. Let’s not move forward toward a second site because it’s exciting to expand, or because we,re enjoying our reputation in the community, or because it’s satisfying to be part of something big, or, or, or…

    Let’s move forward in the grace and mercy of God because we weep for the hurting and the hopeless, and realizing in the final analysis they ARE the purpose of God!

    Our ambition for the purposes of God stem from our compassion for the people God loves…which all comes from a new heart within us…which only comes from a consistent and sincere devotion to God.

    Devotion to God leads to a heart like Nehemiah’s, like Jesus’…a heart of compassion and of ambition for the hurting and hopeless.

  • A heart fully devoted to God will be full of ambition for the purposes of God and compassion for people.
  • Cultivate devotion to God to generate ambition and compassion.
  • Pray for a renewed compassion for hopeless and hurting people.

 

  1. Are you a caring person? Do you have the gift of mercy like Nehemiah or do you have less mercy and more of another gift?
  2. What worldly things give you security?  Do you trust those things to actually provide you security?
  3. Do you have any pre-Christian friends that try to find security in things, but it never works?  What do they do?
  4. What direction do you tilt “everyone needs a hug” (Tammy) or direction and goal-oriented (Pastor Mike)?
  5. Do you prepare your heart to come to church on Sunday morning to be devoted to God? What gets in the way?
  6. Are you involved in a Lifegroup, small group, or some kind of Biblical community to apply the Word of God and Sunday message?
  7. Are you praying for the people in Worthington that are hopeless and hurting for whom want to reach whether you are going to Worthington or staying in Dublin?

PRAY for the ability to engage people, for greater devotion to God, ability to reach the unchurched, to have more of our hearts like God’s heart, for a heart of compassion and ambition.