All right, well, welcome, Mercy Hill. My name is Brian, one of the pastors here, and it is my joy and privilege to be able to serve as one of your elders here at The Ridge campus. And before we dive into continuing our New Year My series, I want to invite you to our vision night. It's coming up November 21st. It's a Friday night right here at The Ridge campus.
Now, let me tell you why this is an event you do not want to miss.
Okay, at this event, our vision night, Pastor Andrew is going to be sharing what the vision is for our church in 2026. The theme of that is going to be Fortify the Family. We all know we live in a cultural moment where the family is under attack. And so, what is our church? What is Mercy Hills?
Response to our culture going to be? We'll come on Friday, November 21st to find out. I was thinking about this event and it reminded me of a friend that I have. And this friend, he loves Apple products, right?
So every year when the company Apple reveals their next newest, greatest thing, right? He will take an entire day off of work just to watch those sessions online, right?
Okay, we're not asking you to take your entire day off, but that type of excitement anticipation is completely appropriate for this.
Okay, now what we are doing for the first time ever is we are going to have a meal as a church family together before this.
So, we would love for you to RSVP. You can do that right now. You can just text Vision to 87217 to RSVP.
Now, I know you're like, wait a minute, that's two weeks away. I don't RCP for anything that early, right? But hey, we would love for you to go ahead and do it now. Commit to being there so we can prepare for you. It's going to be an incredible time.
Okay.
Well, let's dive back into this series, Nehemiah. The theme of this series. has been that God can rebuild what seems irreparable. But why do things break? to begin with.
Why do things tend to crumble and fall apart to begin with? Oftentimes, it's due to a lack of integrity. Right, not following through on a commitment shows a lack of integrity. Fudging the numbers shows a lack of integrity, not staying committed. to your promises shows a lack of Integrity.
And because of a lack of integrity, businesses have failed, marriages have broken apart, even nations have come. to ruin. What is integrity? I have three boys, and I like to tell them that integrity. You have integrity when you do the right things even when no one is looking.
Right, so if you're on a ball team you don't loaf when the coach turns his back. Right? You don't share answers on the test when the teacher leaves the room. When we get older, having integrity means that even going on a business trip, we remain faithful to our family. Integrity, I learned this this week.
Integrity is actually a combination of two words, integer and grit.
Now it's maybe been a while for some of you that have heard the word integer. Here's your math lesson for the day, okay? Integer means a whole number. as opposed to a fraction. And of course, grit, it's the toughness to stick it out with resolve and courage.
That's integrity. Engineers talk about integrity. About structural integrity. It's the ability of a structure to remain whole, to remain intact, even under a heavy load and a heavy pressure. I've always loved to build things my whole life.
I've loved to build things.
Now, I'm not saying I'm any good at building things. But I love to build things and uh me and my boys a few years ago we were we were out Behind our house, and there's a creek there. I thought, wow, wouldn't it be great if there was a little footbridge to cross this creek?
So we spent a day building this bridge, and it was great. Until it wasn't, right? The bridge was great until it wasn't, and the logs underneath had rotted over some time, and then it just completely fell apart. It lacked. Integrity.
Many of you may remember waking up on March 26, 2024. You might not remember that exact date, but you remember the images. of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, falling into the river in Baltimore, Maryland, in a matter of seconds. It was a tragic that saw six men lose their lives. Why did the Francis Scott Key Bridge fall?
Why did it collapse? It is what engineers call a fracture critical bridge, meaning that if just one of its supports was damaged, the whole thing would fall apart. The Francis Scott Bridge lacked integrity. Author Henry Cloud defines integrity as the ability to meet the demands. of reality.
Can you remain whole? And intact. Throughout all the pressures and burdens of life. In this series, we've seen that Nehemiah was a man of integrity. He had an unshakable resolve.
He was committed. He had a backbone of still. He could not be bought. He could not be bribed. He was true to the core.
He didn't let success get to his head. He was the same man in front of the camera as he was at home. Threats didn't knock him off course. Adversity only made him stronger. He didn't cower in fear.
He did not cave. He remained whole and true and committed all the way through the end. Nemai is an incredible example. Of integrity. He lived with integrity, and God accomplished much through him.
And our world today needs men and women of integrity. In Nehemiah chapter 6. We were given a master class. On integrity.
So if you want to be a man or woman of integrity, I encourage you to lean into this. See that Nemi's integrity was rooted in his trust in God. And the main message, the big idea of this message is that our integrity hinges on trusting God. You see, to to observe Where integrity is, you have to get underneath the surface, right? You got to see what's the support.
What's at the bottom? What's at the foundation? That's where integrity is. What are you trusting? Our integrity hinges on trusting God.
Now we pick up in Nehemiah chapter 6, and we read that Nehemiah is facing pressure from his enemies. And the first pressure test that Nehemia faces that threatens his integrity. It comes in the form of distraction.
So look with me in Nehemiah chapter 6, beginning in verse 1. These verses will be on the screen if you don't have a Bible. That's okay. This is what God's word says.
Now when Sanbalat and Tobio and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it. although up to that time I had not set up the doors and the gates. Sanbala and Geshem sent to me, saying, Hey, come and let us meet together at Hekiferim. In the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm.
And I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work. And I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?
So Nehemiah is Great work. His mission was to rebuild the wall, and it's almost complete.
Now, if you're just dropping in with us today to this series, let me give you some context to catch you up to speed here.
Okay, so many years before Nehemiah, other nations had come and attacked Jerusalem. They left it in ruins and they had taken the people captive into exile.
Now, this wasn't just bad for the residents of Jerusalem, for the Jews living there. No, this looked really bad on the reputation of their God, who we believe is the one true God. You see, it looked bad on God because he had made a promise many years ago that he would make a great nation out of these people. He told a man named Abraham, he said, Abraham. From your family, I'm going to raise up a great nation, and I'm going to give that nation, those people, their own promised land.
And through them, they are going to be a blessing to the whole world.
So eventually, Abraham's children grew and multiplied. They became this great nation. Eventually, God used a man named Joshua to lead him, lead them into this promised land. Eventually King David would come to rule them, and they were a great nation. began to be a blessing to other nations.
But King David's own children and grandchildren did not live with integrity. They fought for power. They abandoned their God. And so God judged them by allowing other nations to come. and capture them.
to rule them, to take over. And so it seems that this promise that God had made to his people, it seems. Unsure. How is God going to fulfill his promise? But we learn in Nehemiah that God is always at work, that God's plans never fail.
And so rebuilding the wall. is renewing hope. and God's promises. That God is true to His word, that God is faithful. If God was going to have a people.
Through whom he would bless the world in Jerusalem need to be rebuilt. Need to fortify and protect the people within it. That is the importance of Nehemiah. All right, so now you're called up to speed. If you've kind of checked out for the last 30 seconds, you can dive back in here with us.
In Nehemiah chapter 6. All that's left to set up are the doors and the gates, and Jerusalem will be fortified.
Now, from the moment that these enemies, San Bala and Tobiah, had heard of the plans to rebuild the walls, they had tried to prevent it. They had mocked and they had taunted, they had plotted, they had schemed, and none of it had worked.
So now this is their last-ditch effort. Their last ditch effort is: hey, can we just get Nehemiah off of the wall? He's the one that's running point on this. He's the leader, the one with influence. If we can get him distracted, then we will have the advantage.
So they just asked him, hey, come and meet with us in Hakifrim. Earlier this year, my family and I, we had the opportunity to travel out west to Montana. My brother-in-law was getting married out there, so it was fun for us to go out there. And we met this man named Donnie, okay? And Donnie is just one of the most interesting men that I have ever met.
He is native to Montana. He had this big, burly gray beard because he said it's bad luck to shave during elk season.
Okay, within the first 10 minutes of meeting him, he challenged me to arm wrestle with him. It's like, this is interesting. I did not take him up on that challenge. I knew how it would go, right? I mean, so Donnie was just, he's just the guy, it's just as tough as nails, but would give you the shirt off of his back.
And he begins telling us a little bit of his story, a little bit of his history. He told us how he used to run a construction company with heavy equipment. And then he started telling us this one particular story where he had this one employee working for him, a young guy, who he set him up on the backhoe. And he noticed that, hey, the backhoe is running, the bucket is up in the air, but he's not digging anything. He's not working.
And so Donnie confronted him and said, Hey man, I'm paying you to do this job. You need to be doing it.
Furthermore, while you're running this backhoe, you know, what are you doing? He was just scrolling on his phone. He was distracted. From the work. And I said, hey, man, you can't get distracted.
It's not ethical. I'm using the hours on this machine to build the people paying for this project. And so Diane says, hey, you got to get to work. When you're sitting on this machine, you got to be focused.
Well, over the next few days, Donnie realized that this employee He was working while he was on the machine, but he just wasn't sitting on the machine very long. And instead, he was venturing into the Portagon. for much longer than anyone would ever want to be in a Portagon. And so, Donnie kind of observed him doing this multiple days in a row. Finally he said, okay, he's just in there on his phone.
And Thankfully, the Porjohn had just been cleaned. And this next part of the story. Donnie had my boys in stitches. They were laughing so hard when he told this story, okay? Donnie's solution was to get on his skid steer, put the forks on it, and go and just shake the portage on a little bit.
Hey said when the porter John fell over. The guy came out just covered with that blue disinfectant, looked like a smurf.
Okay.
Now, that's a funny story. And I say that just to say, hey. When we get distracted from our assignments, it shows a lack of integrity. And we are surrounded by distractions.
So look at Nehemiah's response. This is key for us. Verse 3: Nehemiah said, I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work. And I cannot come. down why should the work stop while i leave it and come down to you and here's the point i want you to see Integrity.
requires being honest about my limitations. Nemiah said, I cannot. Come down. We don't know exactly what his enemies were planning to do there on the plains of Ono. Uh we know that Nehemiah had Discerned that they were intending him harm, but there was probably something very enticing.
Right, maybe this was like a political summit. And these are the leaders of the region saying, hey, Nehemiah, why don't you come over here? You know, this is your time to gain influence and speak, let your voice be heard. But Nehemiah said no He said, I cannot. Come down.
Because I'm doing a great Work. Remember, integrity is about wholeness. And maybe some of us feel like we're living fractured, frazzled lives. Because we don't know how to say no. Because we've said yes to too many things.
You know, having a busy calendar Does not mean that you're doing a great work. A great work is something worthy for you to give your whole self to. It's something worthy to stay committed to, even when other opportunities come your way. To live with integrity, you have to be honest about your limitations. You can't do everything that everyone asks of you.
So have you discovered your great work? Nehemiah's great work was rebuilding the wall. God led him into that great work because God started with a burden. He put a burden in Nehemiah's heart. And then that burden, Nehemiah realized that his skills and experiences matched.
The need. That was the thing that God had called him to do. And so, our great work, your great work, my great work is the work that God assigns. And so what has God assigned to you?
Now sometimes Christians we can get stuck trying to figure out God's specific, particular will for my life. And this is why one website, it made up this fake obituary. And here's what the fake obituary is, how it read. Man 91. dies waiting for the will of God.
Walter Houston was his name. He was described by family members as a devoted Christian. He died Monday after waiting 70 years for God to give him clear direction about what to do with his life. He hung around the house and he prayed a lot. But just never got that confirmation, his wife Ruby said.
Sometimes he thought he heard God's voice. But then he wouldn't be sure and he started the process all over again. Walter, she says, never really figured out what his life was about. But he felt content to pray continuously about what he might do for the Lord.
Now Ephesians 2.10 Tells us that every follower of Jesus has unique works that God has prepared beforehand for us to do. God has an assignment for each of his children, but we don't need to wait until he spells it out in our Cheerios or we hear an audible voice from heaven to tell us what it is. We can go ahead and get started.
So let me help you out. To discover the main thing God wants you to do. Start with obeying the clear things. To find that specific thing that God has uniquely gifted you for and has put a unique burden in your heart for, start by obeying the clear things. But he expects of all of his people.
So for example, there are many married couples in the room. And some married couples in this room, God will give you the unique and specific, great work. of adopting or fostering. That is indeed a great work. It's something worthy for you to give your whole self to and to stay committed to.
But God doesn't give every married couple. That specific assignment. But God does give every married couple the assignment to Stay committed to one another to build a healthy and faithful marriage. And building that faithful and healthy marriage is going to require saying no. Just some things.
It may require saying no to that job promotion that would have you away from your family. Too often. It may require saying no to little things like Something as simple as saying no to that next episode on Netflix so that you can have that time to connect with your spouse. Integrity. is honest about our limitations.
And integrity chooses obedience over distraction. Integrity chooses obedience every time. And so, your great work, it may change from one season to the next. Your great work right now may be to finish that degree. Your great work right now may be raising those children in your home.
Whatever your great work is, stay on the wall. Stay committed to it.
Now I do want to qualify this because It can be really tough. To discern what to say yes to and what to say no to, especially. When we're presented with good opportunities all around, right? Like it's easier when it's like the decision is: okay, that's clearly a wrong thing. Like, that's clearly would be a violation of God's word versus a good thing.
But oftentimes, the opportunities that present to us, they're good things. Multiple good things. How do we choose? And sometimes when we're thinking about. our limitations and being real about them.
Some people, and I would say myself is included in this, we say no. Just because it's going to be an inconvenience. We say no too easily. When really God may want you to carry that extra load. God may want you to live under the pressure of that opportunity to grow you.
And so wisdom is required, and I would encourage you that A great place to find wisdom is in the council of other followers of Jesus, to be in a community group where you can ask people who know you: hey, do you think this opportunity? Is something that's going to distract me, or do you think it is something that God really wants me to lean in? To live with integrity and wholeness, we have to be honest about our limitations. We need to stay focused on the good work, the great work. The god has a sign.
to us to do. The next pressure test that Nehemiah faces It's the pressure of fear. The fear of others. Look back at. Nehemiah 6, beginning in verse 4.
And they said to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. In the same way, Sand Ballot for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. In it was written. It is reported among the nations And Geshem also says it. that you and the Jews intend to rebel.
That is why you're building this wall. and according to these reports you wish to become their king. And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you and Jerusalem. There is a king in Judah, and now the king will hear of these reports.
So now come and let us take counsel together. Here's Nehemiah's response. Then I sent to him, saying, No such thing as you say hath been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking their hands will drop from the work and it will not be done. But now, O God, strengthen.
My hands.
So they couldn't distract Nehemiah. They couldn't get him away from the wall.
So now they plan to attack him, and they attack specifically his character. We see in verse 13 a little bit later that they wanted Nehemiah to have a bad name. Right, they're questioning, they are publicly questioning his motives for this project.
So, I want you to take note of this. Others. can damage your reputation. Only you can damage your integrity. If other people say nasty things about you, if they spread lies or rumors about you at work, or they post false things online, it hurts.
your reputation, it damages it and that that hurts. That hurts us deep inside. But if you lose your integrity If you lose your integrity, you lose your credibility. If you lose your credibility, you lose your respect. You lose your respect, and you lose influence.
And integrity. Chooses honesty. Over image. Integrity chooses honesty over image. You know, we all want to make a good impression.
We all want to make a good impression. We all want others to think that we are near perfect. And so oftentimes we Exaggerate our strengths, we minimize our weaknesses.
Sometimes we say yes to things because we want people to think that we're capable. You know, I've talked to multiple men. many who were in this church who were thankfully raised by godly dads. And you know what? impress them the most about their dad?
The impression that is just a lasting impression oftentimes is not. Of all the things their dad got right, but when their dad got it wrong and asked for forgiveness. When their dad was willing to humble himself and say, Hey, I messed up here, I'm not perfect. Those are dads who chose honesty over image.
Now, Nemi knew this was all a false accusation. He knew there was absolutely no truth in this. They had made it up in their own minds, but it still cut him deep. How do I know that? Because look at verse 9 while he prays.
Nehemiah says, But now, O God, strengthen. My hands.
Nehemiah felt crushed. By this. He felt the weight of this. This felt like it was breaking him. And some of you know all too well what it feels like to have your reputation attacked.
You know it zaps your strength and it It just can kill your motivation. Even for a parent to have their child say, you're the worst mom ever. Right? It makes you want to stop trying. To some degree or another, we all care what others think about us.
And it can be so easy for us to bend. for the approval of others. Right, fearing what others think, looking for their approval to be what strengthens us. But integrity requires being honest about my fears. You see, compromise, it's often the result.
of living in fear of others.
So, if we're going to live with integrity, if we're going to have integrity, we need to be honest about our fears. What is it that shakes you? Is it the opinion of others? To see if our integrity is sound, you got to get underneath. And our fears are like breadcrumbs that lead us to what we're actually trusting in.
what we're counting on. for strength and stability. What is it that frightens you? And how does that reveal your source of trust? See, Nehemiah, he could stand the pressure of being given a bad name because he trusted in God to vindicate him.
He's later going to pray, oh, God. You know sand ballot and tobacco. God, you see them. You see them completely. God, will you deal with them?
I'm going to trust you to deal with my enemies. And I'm just going to remain faithful to what you've called me to do. The next pressure that tests Nemi's integrity is the pressure to hide. Look at verse 10.
Now, when I went into the house of Shemiah, the son of Delaiah, son of Mahitabel. who was confined to his home, he said, Hey, let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They're coming to kill you by night. But I said Should such a man as I run away?
And what man such as I could go into the temple and live, I will not go in. And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way in sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Remember Tobiah and Sanbala, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
So, Tobiah and Samballat, they couldn't distract Nehemiah off of the wall. They couldn't break him by, you know. giving him slandering him, giving him a bad name.
So now what they try to do is they try to hire an insider. Right, an insider, a prophet that's going to make him run and hide. Nehemiah responds, Should such a man as I run away? He shows his integrity by refusing to hide.
Now, in this case, Nehemiah, he had done nothing wrong, right? He had not committed any crime, but we all know that temptation. to want to hide our mistakes. to want to cover our shame. Um Hopefully none of you have ever done this.
But I This morning, in fact.
Okay, so I'm telling on myself a little bit here. This morning. Get out of the shower, use a q-tip in my ears, clean my ears, and I'm like, oh, that's kind of disgusting. What came out? And so I didn't just throw it in the trash.
I threw it in the trash can, but I wanted it to be a little bit buried so that my wife didn't come in and she then be grossed out. Right, because even before my wife, I want to look, you know, clean and whole. And it's like, I'm so scared of others seeing the nastiness, the grittiness, right? We want to cover our mistakes, cover our weaknesses, cover our shame. It's not hard to find encouragement from others.
To do that very thing, to keep it hush, Shemiah says, Hey, let's meet together. Let's close the doors. Your secret is safe with me. Integrity requires being honest about my sin. Being honest about my sin.
You know, my grandpa, he loved the color red. Red was his favorite color. And so when he saw that used Toyota pickup truck painted bright red, I'm talking fire red, he was willing to make a tray.
Okay, but now my grandpa, he was a truck driver, a mountain farmer, and so he wasn't just buying this truck for looks. He he wanted he was going to put it to work. And I can remember the summer when we're out in the hay fields baling hay, using that truck. We're loading it up with bale after bale, stacking it as high as we can, multiple trips to the barn. That eventually we learned: hey, not only was that truck painted red.
but the frame had also been painted to hide a crack in it. And the load, the weight of those hay bales, it broke the frame of that truck. It lacked integrity. And we can cover our mistakes, we can try to gloss over them, paint over them, but eventually. the weight and the load of life it's It's going to break us.
cause catastrophic damage.
Now notice where Shemiah tells Nehemiah to hide. He says, hey, let's go to the temple. And what better way to hide your sin than to act religious? To gather your family, to load up the car, to come to church, to put on a good moral exterior that.
Okay, other people they're not gonna question you. But have you addressed the foundation? What are you trusting? What's going on on the inside? I fear that some of you maybe are coming here for that very reason.
You're trying to just gloss over something deep inside your heart. You're trying to put on an exterior so that others think well of you, but sooner or later the paint's going to rub off. And that facade will cave in on you. If you're going to live with integrity, then today... Today is the day to be honest about your sin.
See, integrity chooses repentance over hiding. Repentance overhiding. When we read Nehemiah. We are reading his journal.
Okay, this is the man's place of honesty. And he is honest before God all throughout. He is acknowledging God, he is praying to God, he is confessing to God because he trusts in God. And that's the key to his integrity. Let's see how chapter 6 Finishes out, it says in verse 15, so the wall was finished on the 25th day of the month of Elul in 52 days.
And when all our enemies heard of it, All the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. Nehemiah. lived a life of integrity and is a great example for all of us. But Nehemiah is not the hero of this book. See, Nehemiah wants us to know that it was God who was moving the project along, that God is the hero, that God has his own great work that he is committed to carrying out.
And Nehemiah's story points us. To Jesus. See, Nehemiah, he left. The king's palace. and entered a ruined city in order to restore Jerusalem's wall.
Jesus left the throne of heaven. to enter into our brokenness to restore us. He wants to restore you. Nehemiah remained on the wall. He endured the taunts and the ridicule, the mocking.
until the job was finished. Jesus When he came to earth, he was led up. Onto the wall of the temple. And he was tempted by Satan. Hey, throw yourself down to prove that you are the Son of God.
But Jesus had. the highest of integrity and he did not cave to Satan's pressure. In the face of adversity, Jesus said, Not my will be done, but yours, Father. Falsely accused of crimes he did not commit. Jesus remained silent like a sheep before the slaughter.
They mocked Jesus. They put a crown of thorns on his head and robe around his back. They hung him on a cross with a sign above his head that said, Jesus, King of the Jews. They spat upon him and said, If you really are, if you really are the Son of God, then come off of that cross. But Jesus remained on the cross until he could echo the words, It is finished.
And he hung on the cross for you. He hung on the cross to Take the penalty for all your mistakes, all those things that you were tempted to keep hidden. Jesus was uncovered.
So that he could cover your shame.
So you can find your wholeness in Jesus. He can be your firm foundation to endure all the demands of. Reality. But continuing to hide, We'll not get you there. Right, fear will not get you there.
Only understanding the grace, the undeserved favor that God has shown you in Jesus will lead you to trust Him. And so here in a moment, our band is going to come back up and lead us in another song. And I just encourage you to... Use this time. to be honest with our God.
You can come down front and you can pray, maybe for some of you, for the very first time. Being honest before God. is admitting to him, God, I have been trusting. In my own good works, I've been trusting on this exterior life of morality that I've been building. In order to be good with you, but God.
I'm done trusting those things. And I want to trust you. I want to trust what your son, Jesus, did on my behalf. You can admit that you're a sinner and believe that Jesus has paid everything necessary for your sin. And they commit to following him as your Lord and Savior.
can be the day that you begin living whole. For others of you right now, you are living under the weight of a heavy burden. And what you need? is you need God to strengthen your arms. You need His strength to continue to carry on caring for that elderly parent to.
Continue on caring and loving that wayward child. You need God's strength. I wanna invite you in this moment when the band comes to come forward. Our elders are gonna be up here, ask them to pray for you. To pray that God would strengthen your arms for the great work that He's assigned for you to do.
Let's pray, Father. Would you fortify us? With your grace. God, would you help us to be honest with ourselves, honest before you? And to live a life of integrity, not Because we're perfect, we're far from it.
But because we can trust in what you have done on our behalf. God, I want to pray for the people in this room who feel just so overloaded. The weight that they are carrying is so heavy. God, would you strengthen their arms? And God, would you use this community of faith, the people in this room, to help strengthen them?
I praise in Christ's name. Amen.
