PREPARATION FOR RE-VISIONING
AT SAC
ARE WE THE GUY WHO HOLDS
THE “JOHN 3:16” SIGN AT SPORTING EVENTS?
Dan Nicholson
Nehemiah 1:1-11
January 7-8, 2006
Post modern culture is
most accurately
described as “preChristian”. We are in
many ways back in the
first century in the
midst of a culture that
still has yet to hear
about who we are and
what we believe.
“Dr. Codrescu, I can certainly understand
why someone not familiar with Christian
theology would be confused and even
bemused by the bewildering variety of views
on Christ’s second coming. But if you would
give me a moment, let me tell you what it
means for me to say on a daily basis,
“Maranatha” and what this doctrine of hope
does for my life.”
Robertson Davies said:
The world is full of
people whose notion of a
satisfactory future, in, in
fact, a return to an
idealized past.
Leonard Sweet says that change is when you
have to do better what you already know how
to do. But transition is when you have to do
what you don’t know how to do. We are in a
time of transition, a time when we have to do
a whole lot of learning and unlearning in
order to meet the needs of this generation.
I. A MIND ONCE STRETCHED WITH NEW
INFORMATION WILL NEVER RETURN TO
ITS ORIGINAL DIMENSIONS
Nehemiah 1:1-3
Nebuchadnezzar carried to Babylon all the
articles from the temple of God, both large
and small and the treasures of the Lord’s
temple and the treasures of the king and his
officials. They set fire to God’s temple and
broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they
burned all the palaces and destroyed
everything of value there.
11 Chronicles 36:18-20
From the days of John the Baptist
until now, the kingdom of heaven
has been forcefully advancing, and
forceful men lay hold of it.
Matthew 11:12
When you stand at the Pearly Gates would you rather be
told that you believed too much or you believed too
little?
When you stand at the Pearly Gates would you rather be
told you cared too much or too little?
When you stand at the Pearly Gates would you rather be
told that you tried too hard or you didn’t try
enough?
When you stand at the Pearly Gates would you rather be
told that you were too forgiving or you were too
judgmental?
When you stand at the Pearly Gates would you rather be
told “Well done, thou hyper hopeful and risk taking
servant or Well done, thou sober, play it safe servant?”
The bias of nature is toward the
wilderness, never toward the fruitful field.
Knowledge informs! Knowledge
motivates! Knowledge empowers!
Knowledge of the status quo is the first
step to God’s kind of change!
II.WE ARE IN PURSUIT OF THE “MEN OF
ISSACHAR” WHO UNDERSTOOD THE
TIMES AND KNEW WHAT ISRAEL
SHOULD DO
Nehemiah 1:4-11
The prayer included…
• Praise for God’s greatness, His ability to handle
things
• Confession of his part in this problem
• Identification with the people of Jerusalem
• Claimed God’s promise of intervention for His people
• Persevered over days and weeks and eventually
four months.
• Gradual realization of what part he was going to
have in God doing the unbelievable.
We need a diagnostic among the people that
you know in this city…
--what is the status of Christianity here in this city?
--what are the prevailing social bondages?
--what are the worldviews and allegiances that
dominate?
--what direct spiritual opposition do we know of?
--what has been the evolution of current
circumstances – where did the problem come from?
--what is the potential for spiritual breakthrough—
what can be done to make things better?
We need Hananis that will go to Abbotsford
and return with a report!
We need Nehemiah’s who receive the
information and weep over it and pray!
We need all of us mobilized to know the
trouble and the disgrace of the city!