We Are

Why this passage of scripture?

1. The people have gathered in worship for three weeks.

2. The people actually sign their names to a promise.

3. The people must depend on the loyal love of God.

 

Nehemiah 9:1-3
¹On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads. ²Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors. ³They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.

 

Nehemiah 9:5 
“Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” Then they prayed: “May your glorious name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise!

 

The greatness of God’s love in Creation

 

Nehemiah 9:6 
“You alone are the Lord. You made the skies and the heavens and all the stars. You made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve them all, and the angels of heaven worship you.

 

The greatness of God’s love for Abraham

 

Nehemiah 9:7-8 
⁷“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and renamed him Abraham. ⁸When he had proved himself faithful, you made a covenant with him to give him and his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. And you have done what you promised, for you are always true to your word.

 

The greatness of God’s love in his deliverance

 

Nehemiah 9:9-12 
⁹“You saw the misery of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cries from beside the Red Sea. ¹⁰You displayed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, his officials, and all his people, for you knew how arrogantly they were treating our ancestors. You have a glorious reputation that has never been forgotten. ¹¹You divided the sea for your people so they could walk through on dry land! And then you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea. They sank like stones beneath the mighty waters. ¹²You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night so that they could find their way.

 

The greatness of God’s love in His law

 

Nehemiah 9:13-14 
¹³“You came down at Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and instructions that were just, and decrees and commands that were good. ¹⁴You instructed them concerning your holy Sabbath. And you commanded them, through Moses your servant, to obey all your commands, decrees, and instructions.

 

The greatness of God’s love in His provision

 

Nehemiah 9:15 
“You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty. You commanded them to go and take possession of the land you had sworn to give them.

 

The contrast between Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s faithfulness

 

Nehemiah 9:16-18 
¹⁶“But our ancestors were proud and stubborn, and they paid no attention to your commands. ¹⁷They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them, ¹⁸even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies.

 

Nehemiah 9:19-21 
¹⁹“But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud still led them forward by day, and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night. ²⁰You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. ²¹For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell!

 

Nehemiah 9:31-32a 
³¹But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are! ³²“And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered seem insignificant to you.

 

The people ratify the covenant with God because of who He is.

 

Nehemiah 9:38 
The people responded, “In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests.”

 

1 Corinthians 12:27 
All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

 

Acts 2:42-47 
⁴²All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. ⁴³A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴⁴And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. ⁴⁶They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— ⁴⁷all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

 

Mark 10:32-45 
³²They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. ³³“Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. ³⁴They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.” ³⁵Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” ³⁶“What is your request?” he asked. ³⁷They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” ³⁸But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” ³⁹“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. ⁴⁰But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”  ⁴¹When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. ⁴²So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. ⁴³But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 

There is a going and doing to serving and giving.

 

Psalm 86:10a 
Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth!

 

Mark 10:45 
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

 

Psalm 127:1-2 
¹Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. ²It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.

 

Psalm 86:16 
Look down and have mercy on me.
Give your strength to your servant;
save me, the son of your servant.

 

There is a heavenly currency in giving, and a spiritual strength in serving.

 

1 Peter 4:10-11 
¹⁰God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. ¹¹Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

-If you’re struggling with a sense of belonging, see yourself as part of the body of Christ.

-If you’re struggling to grow as a disciple, see yourself being built up as a dwelling for God’s Spirit.

-If you’re struggling to believe that God really cares if you are a church member, see yourself as the bride of Christ.

 

Acts 2:42-47 
⁴²All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. ⁴³A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴⁴And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. ⁴⁶They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— ⁴⁷all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

 

The Teaching Factor (The apostle’s teaching)

The Ministry Factor (Fellowship in meeting needs)

The Relationship Factor (Sharing life together)

The Evangelism Factor (Praying for God to move)

 

Acts 2:47b
And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

 

The Lord Jesus establishes our togetherness as His church

 

Matthew 16:18
Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

 

The Lord Jesus uses the word of God to establish our togetherness.

 

Acts 2:42a
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.

 

The church practices their togetherness in large and small settings.

 

Acts 2:46
They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity.

 

The church participated in the preservation of their togetherness.

 

Acts 2:44-45
⁴⁴And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

 

Acts 6:1
But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.

 

Acts 1:6-8
⁶So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” ⁷He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The church has both Universal and Local qualities.
The universal church is made up of faithful disciples past, present and future.
The universal church is not a building but it is being built.
The universal church is described in the Bible like a body, a building and a bride.

 

A Body
Romans 12:4-5
⁴Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

 

A Building
Ephesians 2:19-22
¹⁹So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²²Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

 

A Bride
Ephesians 5:31-33
³¹As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” ³²This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. ³³So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

 

Revelation 19:6-8
⁶Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. ⁷Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.”  For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.

 

You make up the body of Christ.
You make up the house of God’s Spirit.
You are the very bride of Christ.
WE are the church!

 

A local church is a community of believers united in their pursuit of the ideals of the universal church and cast in a specific vision.

 

A local church meets together regularly.

 

Hebrews 10:23-25
²³Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. ²⁴Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. ²⁵And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

 

A local church is organized with appointed leadership.

 

Ephesians 4:11-13
¹¹Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹²Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

 

The local church is active in fulfilling the Great Commission.

 

Matthew 28:18-20
¹⁸Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”