author: Ryan Hayden Take your Bibles with me and turn to Nehemiah 11. Nehemiah 11. We are almost through with this book, and then we are going to move onto a book that is super helpful and practical that I preached on when I first came here 13 years ago - 1 Corinthians. Preaching through that book changed my views on lots of things, so I'm looking forward to doing it again.

But tonight we are going to draw some lessons from perhaps the two most boring chapters in Nehemiah. So far in our book we have seen

• Nehemiah lead a group back from Persia to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem - and then persist in that work despite opposition.
• We've seen a spiritual revival take place after the walls are built, with people coming together to hear the law read and dedicating themselves to the Lord.

And then you get to chapters 11 and 12 and it just seems like a bunch of names. But there is actually some important stuff going on here that we can learn from.

I think these chapters tells us what it takes for God's work to thrive. What it takes for God's work to thrive.

You see, Nehemiah and Ezra had done the thing with God's help: they had rebuilt the temple and rebuilt the wall. The people had been taught the word of God. But as you will see, they still weren't quite thriving, they needed the people to step up and do some things. I think we can learn some lessons from those things about what it takes for a church to thrive.

Let's start by reading Nehemiah 11:1-2

[!bible] Nehemiah 11:1-2 - KJV

1. And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities.
2. And the people blessed all the men, that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.

The first thing it takes for God's work to thrive is...

1. If God's work will thrive, the people need to sacrifice comfort and familiarity for their greater good.

You see, in Nehemiah 11 they had a problem: not enough people lived in Jerusalem. Sure, they had the temple. Sure, they had walls. But none of that matters if the town is a ghost town and no one lives there.

A city requires a certain baseline of people to sustain itself. It has to have people to perform all of its services and to defend it. Jerusalem was far short of it.

You see, like many of us today, the people just didn't want to live in the city. It wasn't a super nice place to live. David Guzik points out four reasons why people didn't want to live in the city:

First, because to live in the city meant rearranging social ties. Their families lived in the country and villages. Their friends lived in the country and villages. Moving to the city meant giving all of that up.

As someone who has moved across the country to a whole new region at least twice, I can tell you it is a difficult thing. You have to make all new friends. That's the easy part. The hard part is the people you love who you leave behind.

The second reason they didn't want to live in the city was because to live in the city meant giving up land. In that day, your riches were mostly tied to your land. And there ain't no land in the city. You have to go from being nice and spread out to being right on top of each other. From having two acre's to living in an apartment and sharing walls with loud neighbors.

So it was a big sacrifice.

Another reason it was a big sacrifice was because of city problems. Let's face it, big cities often have big problems you don't face in the country. Crime. Traffic. Sanitation issues. Higher cost of living.

Jerusalem was a city that was being rebuilt, which meant they would have to go through all of those problems together.

One final reason why they didn't want to live in the city was because the city was a big target. No invading army is like "Woo hoo, we took Gays." But "we took Chicago" that's a big target.

So, they had all of these legitimate reasons for not living in the city - but do you know what? They still needed people to live in the city. People needed to give up their comfort to go there.

And so, in these first few verses, the leaders move into the city, then they draw lots and 1 out of 10 people are randomly chosen to move into the city. All of these people made sacrifices, and that was recognized by the people.

Now put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel if God said, through a leader, we need you to move to the city. We know you like country life, but we need people to sacrifice and live in the city for God.

I have a feeling some of you might die on that hill. And that is the point I want to get at. Because, sometimes God asks us to give up our comfort and our preferences and our memories for the greater good.

Lets say God blesses our church and more people start coming - do you know what that means - it means more people looking for your seat. More people filling up the parking lot. If enough people come, it means we need a bigger building and we have to leave this one behind.

Sacrifices. If God's work is going to thrive - then God's people have to be willing to make personal sacrifices. They have to be willing to move out of their comfort zone for Him.

Are you guilty of putting your comfort and familiarity over the good of the church? If so, you might be keeping our church from thriving.

So if God's work will thrive, the people need to sacrifice comfort and familiarity for their greater good.

A second thing we see in these chapters is...

2. If God's work will thrive, the people need, the people need leaders who lead by example.

In the verses we already read we see this: the leaders moved into the city first before they asked anyone else to. They led by example.

You can see this a lot in these two chapters. For instance, in verse 16 we see Shabbethai and Jozabad, who "oversaw the outward business of the house of the Lord." These were leaders of the Levites, who were kind of like deacons serving the Temple.

Verse 24 shows us Pethahiah, the king's right hand man, and he too is living in the city, living in humility.

Chapter 12 shows Ezra and Nehemiah leading a group of people around the city in worship and dedication. Other parts of Nehemiah show us that Nehemiah, even though he was the leader, the governor, he got out and worked like the rest of them and he gave sacrificially himself to help the people.

Being a leader of God's people isn't about position. It isn't about power. It isn't about authority. It is about leading by example.

If God's work is going to thrive: we need leaders who step up and lead by example.

1 Timothy 4:12 says:

[!bible] 1 Timothy 4:12 - KJV 12. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

So let me give you a couple of ways leaders need to be an example:

• We need to be an example in faithfulness. I believe that as a leader, I need to set an example of my faithfulness in church.
• We need to be an example in service. As a leader, we need to be willing to have a dirty towel and serve. No one should be too big to clean a bathroom or mow a lawn.
• We need to be an example in giving. If I'm not giving faithfully, how can I expect any of you to give.
• We need to be an example in a attitude. That's the "spirit" in 1 Timothy 4:12. If I'm grumpy all the time, how can I expect those in the church to have the joy of the Lord.
• We need to be an example in word. The words I say ought to reflect Christ. I need to be careful with what I say.
• We need to be an example in devotion. I need to be reading my Bible, not just for a lesson, but for myself.
• We need to be an example in discipline. Christians are supposed to be people of temperance, of self-control, and we need to "keep under our bodies." As a leader, I should set an example there.
• We need to be an example in love.. Does my life show the love of Christ?

Listen, if you are here tonight, you are probably either a leader in this church or close to it - let's lead by example.

So:

• If God's work will thrive, the people need to sacrifice comfort and familiarity for their greater good.
• If God's work will thrive, the people need, the people need leaders who lead by example.

A third thing we see in these two chapters is...

3. If God's work is going to thrive, we need people who worship God in song.

Skip down to chapter 12. In chapter 12, they have this dedication ceremony for the walls. The bring in people from outside the city and the people who now live in the city and they form two choirs.

One choir is led by Nehemiah and goes around the city one way. The other choir is led by Ezra and goes around the city the other way. They meet and sing in this grand parade until they meet in the middle - outside the Temple.

Let me just read verses 42-43:

[!bible] Nehemiah 12:42-43 - KJV 42. And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer. 43. Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

Did you notice that in verse 42 - it says "and the singers sang loud." How loud? Well so loud that the end of verse 43 says "the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off."

You know, there are a lot of people (they tend to be men) who come to church and think "I'm not singing out. Not going to happen. I'm just going to sit here with a grumpy look on my face and maybe move my lips a little bit."

But let me tell you - there is a huge difference in going to a church where the people join out and worship the Lord in song, and going to a church where everyone is whispering like they are at a library funeral.

Ever been in a church that felt like a museum? I have. No thank you. I'd much rather be in a place where people sing out for the Lord.

You don't have a problem being loud at a football game. You don't have a problem being loud at a political rally. But you won't sing hymns as we are commanded to for the Lord?

Notice something else in these chapters - they took their music seriously. One of the jobs of the Levites was to play music for the people. They even had a special group of musicians - the son's of Asaph - who were masters of music and led the congregation in song.

These worship leaders were supported, just like the priests were supported, because it was necessary for the church to thrive.

Let me ask you this: People tend to have no problem with the idea of a preacher being supported. After all, I went to college to be a preacher, I've made preaching and studying preaching my life's work. I've devoted myself to the church. I think just about everyone would say "amen. Take care of the preacher."

But you would be surprised how many people have a problem with people leading in worship in the church being supported. Listen, I can't do what brother Ken does. He's given his life to the study of music and leading worship. He knows more about music in his pinky than I do in my whole body. And having him here makes us much better at worshipping God.

There is a biblical case to be made for supporting church musicians and worship leaders, and we can see it in this chapter. Right here in Nehemiah 12:44-47, where the singers were cared for daily, just like the priests, because their music lifted the whole community’s worship. If we’re happy to support a preacher who feeds us God’s Word, it makes sense to value a worship leader like Brother Ken, whose gift helps us praise God with heart and soul. Supporting those who lead us in song isn’t just about music—it strengthens our church, drawing us closer to God together. So let’s embrace this biblical pattern and keep our worship thriving.

• If God's work will thrive, the people need to sacrifice comfort and familiarity for their greater good.
• If God's work will thrive, the people need, the people need leaders who lead by example.
• If God's work is going to thrive, we need people who worship God in song.

One more thing and I'm done:

4. If God's work will thrive, we need people who will support God's work with their finances.

You probably knew I was going to get here. But it is biblical and it is something we see in this story.

Let's read verses 44-47 of chapter 12:

[!bible] Nehemiah 12:44-47 - KJV 44. And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited. 45. And both the singers and the porters kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son. 46. For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God. 47. And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, every day his portion: and they sanctified holy things unto the Levites; and the Levites sanctified them unto the children of Aaron.

Notice in this story they gave with rejoicing. They gave to support those doing God's work, and they were careful in their giving.

First they gave with rejoicing. They were happy to do it. It wasn't some begrudging thing. It wasn't like taxes.

It is a privilege to give to God's work. It is a privilege to support the church.

[!bible] 2 Corinthians 9:7 - KJV 7. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Man, if you are giving out of drudgery. "I have to pay my tithe again." Then God isn't going to bless that. We ought to give rejoicing that we get to be a part in what God is doing.

Second, notice what they were giving for. They were giving to support the work of the ministry. They were supporting the priests and levites, but also the porters and singers. Every part of the ministry was supported.

But third, notice that their gifts were done in a controlled and above-board manner. They appointed overseers to make sure that the monies that were taken in were taken care of. To make sure there was no fraud or embezzling going on.

So, let’s put a bow on this. We’ve been looking at Nehemiah 11 and 12—chapters that might feel like a snooze with all those names, but they’re packed with lessons about what it takes for God’s work to thrive. Not just survive, folks—thrive. We’ve seen four big things tonight:

First, God’s people need to sacrifice comfort and familiarity for the greater good. Like those folks moving to Jerusalem, sometimes we’ve got to let go of what’s cozy—our favorite seat, our quiet routine—to make room for what God’s doing.

Second, we need leaders who lead by example. Not just barking orders, but rolling up their sleeves, giving sacrificially, and living out the faith in word, attitude, and love. That’s what inspires a church to move forward.

Third, we need people who worship God in song. Not mumbling through the hymns, but singing out loud enough for the joy to be heard “afar off,” like they did in Jerusalem. Our worship matters—it sets the tone for everything else.

And fourth, we need people who support God’s work with their finances. Giving with a happy heart, not a grumpy one, to keep the ministry going strong, and doing it in a way that’s honest and accountable.

Here’s the deal, church: God’s done His part. He’s blessed us with this place, with each other, with His Word. Just like He gave Nehemiah and Ezra the strength to rebuild the temple and the walls, He’s given us everything we need to make this church a light in our community. But it’s not enough to just show up and nod along. If we want this place to thrive—really thrive—then we’ve got to step up.

So let me ask you something, and I want you to think about it right where you’re sitting: What’s God asking you to do? Maybe it’s giving up something comfortable, like your routine or your preferences, so this church can grow. Maybe it’s stepping up to lead—not waiting for a title, but leading by example in your faithfulness or your service. Maybe it’s singing out in worship, letting go of that “I don’t sing” excuse and praising God with all you’ve got. Or maybe it’s giving—not out of guilt, but with joy, knowing your gift keeps this ministry alive.

I think about those folks in Jerusalem. They could’ve stayed in their villages, kept their land, avoided the city’s problems. But they didn’t. They stepped out in faith because they believed God had a bigger plan. And because they did, Jerusalem wasn’t just rebuilt—it thrived. It became a testimony of God’s faithfulness.

Church, we’ve got a chance to do the same. We’re not just keeping the lights on here. We’re building something for God’s kingdom—a place where people find hope, where families grow in faith, where the lost hear about Jesus. But it starts with us saying, “Lord, I’m all in.”

So here’s my challenge: This week, pray and ask God, “What do You want me to give up, step up, or pour out for Your work here?” Then listen. And when He shows you, don’t argue. Don’t die on that hill of comfort or pride. Step out like those folks in Nehemiah’s day did, and watch what God does through us.