"Our circumstances are not an accurate reflection of God's goodness. Whether life is good or bad, God's goodness, rooted in His character, is the same." -- Helen Grace Lescheid
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Calvary Chapel Kampala
  • 1 Peter 1 "Our Living Hope"
    "We all remember Peter, that disciple that opened his mouth too much with Jesus. Peter later, however, because one of the chief pillars of the early church. Peter and Paul were the two major apostles in bringing the gospel to the Jews (Peter) and Gentiles (Paul). The themes are hope, holiness, and suffering. This letter was mainly to bring encouragement and renewed motivation to live in Godliness no matter what the circumstances"
  • Nehemiah 13 "Cleaning House"
    "When you clean your house do you only have to do it once and then it remains clean? No. There is dirt around here and messy people. It takes a continual maintenance and cleaning. When you take a bath do you only have to do it the first time and then you don't have to bathe anymore? No, we get dirty living in this world. We need to keep on cleaning or we stink and become grotesque. The people had made many promises in chapter 10 of what they were going to do for God and how they were going to live. Unfortunately, when Nehemiah went back to report to the King the people had turned quickly back to the sin and impurity that they had said they would not do. Through God's Word, and spiritual leadership, God's people were going to clean house again. This chapter is about cleaning that which was rebuilt. It is a maintenance process to examine your life, family, church, and leadership to make sure they are according to the standard of purity that God has shown us in His Word. "
  • Nehemiah 11-12 "Rebuilding Together"
    "The work of rebuilding is not something we can do alone. We need God obviously, but we also need one another. There are a few lasting lessons that we can take with us about rebuilding our lives. We are given a reminder of those lessons in these final chapters. The people were now right with God, and together they continued in the day-to-day decisions that made this rebuilding last. Let us be reminded that: Rebuilding Together Needs People. Rebuilding Together Needs Praise. Rebuilding Together Needs Provisions."
Nehemiah 6-7

Nehemiah Chapters 6-7 “We Are Not Ignorant of His Devices”

 

2 Corinthians 2:11 “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

 

  1. I) The Enemy Is Distracting – He wants to distract you from those things that make you strong (6:1-2a)

A) God’s people were finally in a place of strength and defense

  1. We can be at a place of strength and defense in Christ
  • By staying in the Word

& Psalms 119:114-115 “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. 115 Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my God!”

  • By staying in prayer

& Ephesians 6:18 “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints”

  • By staying in church

& Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

  1. 1. Don’t ride in an auto – they cause 20 percent of all fatal accidents. 2. Do not stay at home – 17 percent of all accidents happen there. 3. Do not walk in the street – 15 percent of all accidents happen to pedestrians. 4. Do not travel by air, rail or water – 16 percent of all accidents result from these activities. 5. Only .001 percent of all accidents happen in church!

 

  1. B) The enemy wanted to bring them away from that place
    1. Satan has a fighting chance against us when we turn away from the places that God has designated for our protection.

 

  1. II) The Enemy is Deceitful – He will try and trick you into his trap (6:2b)

A) He uses deceit to draw you away from Christ

  1. By using seemingly harmless invitations and pretending that he is your friend.
  • Remember Eve?
  1. We need to use discernment and not believe everything that we are told.

 

  1. III) The Enemy is Determined – He will not give up when you say “no!” (6:3-4)

A) We should not think that it is over when we win a battle…he will not give up

  1. It is easy to coast after a victory, but we need to continue to be on our guard.

 

  1. IV) The Enemy is a Liar – He spreads lies about you (6:5-9)

A) “I heard from everyone that you…”

  1. People will often use vague accusations and things that they have heard about you
    1. Like when people were saying that Calvary Chapel was a cult and we believed false doctrine.
    2. When you repeat gossip you can be used by the Devil to spread lies.
      1. A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor.  Within a few days the whole community knew the story.  The person it concerned was deeply hurt and offended.  Later the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue.  She was very sorry and went to a wise old sage to find out what she could do to repair the damage. “Go to the marketplace,” he said, “and purchase a chicken, and have it killed.  Then on your way home, pluck its feathers and drop them one by one along the road.”Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told. The next day the wise man said, “Now go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me.” The woman followed the same road, but to her dismay, the wind had blown the feathers all away.  After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand. “You see,” said the old sage, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back.  So it is with gossip.  It doesn’t take much to spread a rumor, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.

 

  1. B) Lies come from the Devil

& John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

V) The Enemy is a Leader – He wants to lead you away from what is right (6:10-13)

A) Away from trusting God

  1. We need the fear of God over the fear of man

 

  1. B) Away from doing your job
    1. What is our job? To be a light in the world!
  • But many Christians just go from church to church, conference to conference, crusade to crusade, spending time only with other Christians and never making a difference in the world.
  • Don’t hide in the temple!

 

  1. VI) The Enemy is a Loser – He will eventually lose (6:14-16)

A) God will remember their wicked works

  1. We don’t need to defend ourselves and try to execute vengeance

& Romans 12:19 “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord”

  1. B) God will cause our work to prosper
    1. People will know that this work was done by our God.

 

  1. VII) The Enemy has Friends – There are many people who are doing his work (6:17-19)

A) The world is influenced by Satan

& 1 John 5:19 “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”

& Ephesians 2:2 “in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience”

  1. VIII) The Enemy hates Faithfulness – God wants us to be faithful in the work (7:1-73)

A) Hanani was a faithful man (1-3)

  1. God is looking for people who will be faithful, not just people who are gifted.

 

  1. B) There were only a “few” but they were faithful (4-69)

  1. C) They gave faithfully to support the word (70-73)