Status Update

Sunday 24th September 2010

Mark Broadbent

*So many people go to church with a shopping list in hand
*Many that are persecuted don't come with a shopping list but they come to have a need to be united
*It is not about what you like or don't like about the church but to celebrate what God has done
*Nehemiah 8:1: When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled as one man in the square to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

*Nehemiah 8:3: He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

*Nehemiah 8:9-10: Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep."For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

"Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength"


*God change the heart of the King and gave him the resources to rebuild the walls
*They realize God has been at their shelf. They were mourning for sin while they listened to the word of God
*They knew it was a special day. God ordained that day as the celebration of trumpets
*Leviticus 23:23-24: The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites; 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.

*We have time to mourn but also a time to celebrate
*We should practice the celebration of discipline
*The best thing is that God asks us to do something without expecting anything highly of us and He doesn't just tell us to do something and leave us to do it, He goes together with us!:D

**Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path**