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<v SPEAKER_00>Good morning, First Baptist Wimberly.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This is Mike Gibbons.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Welcome to Friday.

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<v SPEAKER_00>After a magnificent two-year walk through the book of Luke, we are beginning the book of Nehemiah this Sunday, which I am really looking forward to.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I mentally keep a picture, a thematic image of each book of the Bible in my head.

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<v SPEAKER_00>For example, for Obadiah, I picture two mountains, Mount Esau and Mount Zion, with Mount Zion towering over Mount Esau.

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<v SPEAKER_00>For Jude, I picture an anchor, which reminds me that Jesus has hold of me and won't let go.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I am kept for Jesus Christ.

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<v SPEAKER_00>For Nehemiah, I picture a charred heap of giant stones and rubble.

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<v SPEAKER_00>These stones lay half buried, black and embedded in the earth.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now Nehemiah himself was an Israelite in exile, serving as the king's cupbearer in Persia.

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<v SPEAKER_00>He received news from his brother while he was there on the current conditions in Jerusalem.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And here was the report from Nehemiah 1.3.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Can you see the rubble in your mind?

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<v SPEAKER_00>Earlier, Ezra had rebuilt the temple, but without the surrounding wall, the city was almost defenseless.

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<v SPEAKER_00>God allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem with the blessing of the king.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And Nehemiah led his people to rebuild the wall.

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<v SPEAKER_00>He was ridiculed.

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<v SPEAKER_00>They said, Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish and burned ones at that?

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now, church family, this is exactly what God did for Nehemiah and for us.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Christ has rescued us from the rubbish heap.

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<v SPEAKER_00>We are now living stones built together to form the church.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Previously, our lives were dismantled, destroyed, and broken down by sin.

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<v SPEAKER_00>We were in ruins.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But God sent a builder greater than Nehemiah.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Jesus came to earth to do the work necessary to restore.

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<v SPEAKER_00>He is building his church with living stones.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

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<v SPEAKER_00>He is building his church with charred and ruined stones into a spiritual temple in which he is delighted to dwell.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This is Mike Gibbons, and I love being your pastor.