Finding the life that God has promised us. Let me clarify one thing here before we move on to chapter 2. Canaan this land of promise is not a place of health, wealth, and absence of conflict. It's not a utopia where we have no problems to face – we are talking about Canaan not Eden. The land of promise represents a place where we are able to become all that we are created to be. A place where we can reach our God given potential. A place where God's promises of peace, wholeness, joy, and blessing are real in everyday life. But this place is not without conflict or pain as you will see as we read further. Let's look at chapter 2 together. Rahab is an interesting character. She is a harlot – a prostitute. She is likely a Temple prostitute given over to the worship of Baal the Canaanite Fertility God. Anyway she presents a very unlikely ally for the spies of Joshua. Here is a woman who is deeply involved in sinful brokenness and dedicated to a false God – perhaps if you will the worst of the lot in Jericho. In Rahab we find several principles of God's work that are important to our finding of the promised land in our own lives.

Let me set the stage for you. Israel has come once again to the borders of the Promised Land. Their fathers stood in this same spot 40 years before and refused to cross over and possess the land. Fear, frustration, sin, and brokenness kept them out of Canaan. For forty years this troop of merry fools marched and wandered in circles through the desert just a few miles from the land that flowed with milk and honey. They wandered until all of those who had rejected Gods invitation died in the wilderness – the last of whom was their great leader Moses. Now they come again to the doorstep of Canaan but a new leader has risen among them and his name is Joshua. Chapter 1

Pastor Matt leads in this discussion of faith in action.

The wall is re-built and the gates are hung. Nehemiah has faced many obstacles on the way to fulfilling the call of God but now the job is complete; or is it? Nehemiah calls the people of Jerusalem together in a large gathering inside the walls. They are surrounded by the evidence of God's faithfulness and promise that has been accomplished through their hands and His strength. Nehemiah and Ezra the Priest stand before the gathered assembly and a hush falls over the crowd. Now the most important part of Nehemiah's journey is about to be revealed. He has hinted at it but now it's time. If you've been paying close attention throughout this series you might have caught it. Let me go back and pick out just a few hints.

Chapter 4 the wall is half way built. Chapter 5 the wall is almost finished. Chapter 6 the wall is finished only the gates still need to be hung in place to finish the project. Yet in this moment with victory so near at hand the enemy is not done with Nehemiah. Nehemiah has survived the battles from without with armies surrounding his half-built wall. Nehemiah has survived the battles within as the people turned on each other with the wall almost done. The greatest battle lies yet ahead. The greatest enemy is still to be fought. Nehemiah 6

In Chapter 4 the walls around the city are half way built and Nehemiah finds himself surrounded by enemies. In chapter 5 we find the walls almost completed but a new enemy raises its head and it's more deadly than anything the world has to throw at Nehemiah. The Enemy Within – there arose a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brothers. This new enemy is far more dangerous than Sanballat or Tobiah ever thought of being. What the world cannot do from the outside the wall the people inside the wall can do for themselves. Outside enemies pulled the workers together but now the people themselves begin to turn on each other. How do we fight this internal scourge?

We are continuing our journey through Nehemiah as we talk about becoming Kingdom Builders as we share the heart and love of Christ with our community. We've talked about having broken hearts for people and what we can do and what only God can do. Chapter 3 is a description of the names of families who worked on the wall. As we move to chapter 4 we find that it doesn't take long when you start making a difference for opposition to rise. Today we see that the battle is at hand.

I want to share them with you to encourage you to make a difference; that you can make a difference in the world around you. I want you to think about being Kingdom Builders, Change agents, transformational leaders, and most of all disciples of Christ. I want you to see that we are not only called to build the kingdom of God but that we are equipped to do it. For the next several weeks we are going to get a glimpse into the life of Nehemiah and his journey to make a difference and find that we can make a difference too. Nehemiah is a slave in Babylon. For 70 years the Jewish people were in captivity (Daniel and Jeremiah) in Babylon. Over the next 90 years the Jewish people trickled out of Babylon (Ezra) back into the promised land and Jerusalem. The story starts as a few men of Judah came and brought news to Nehemiah of the happenings in Jerusalem.

. Five months have past from November to April between chapter 1 and chapter 2 of this book. We find Nehemiah again in the presence of the King and an amazing thing happens. I told you last week that Nehemiah isn't allowed to speak to the King he is protecting. That is important as we read on now. As we think about the Kingdom work that God has called us to in leading others to Christ I want you to know that just like Nehemiah there are things that we can do and there are things that only God can do. We need to know the difference.

This week of Thanksgiving leads us directly into the season of Advent as we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world. I think it's so appropriate that the season of the year when we celebrate God's greatest gift to mankind is begin in a season of Thanks. Psalm 95 is a call to thanksgiving. It's a call to worship.