“Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews. 2 He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, ‘What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish—and burned ones at that?’ 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, ‘That stone wall they are building—any fox going up on it would break it down (Nehemiah 4: 1-3).'”
At the finish line that read “26.2 miles Disney Marathon,” I was in serious need of revival! My mouth spoke for my body and it said something like, “Give me gatorade and water!” My legs, one of which had a stress fracture, shouted at me too, saying, “Sit down, lie down. Do whatever you have to do to get down and stop standing on us!” Hours, meals, and days later, I began to almost feel normal again. I had pushed my body to its limit and needed food, rest, and sleep to be revived!
Nehemiah felt God call him back to the rubble of Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple and to rebuild the faith of the people of God. Sanballat, governor of Samaria, the area that likely encompassed the ruined Temple, did not want to give up that property, so he spread rumors that Nehemiah’s real plan was to undermine the King of Babylon. He sarcastically said, “What are they going to do, revive those burned stones?” He would come to find out that what God had in mind was not only putting the stones back together but bringing back to life his people!
Today, I believe that God is calling Lakeside to be revived! It’s not that we are dying or are exhausted. In fact, we are a small but healthy church. Yet, as we relocate and rebuild at our new location on Henderson and SR 46, I feel God is giving us a grand opportunity to have even more of the life and vitality of Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit breathed into us!
I encourage you to do two things in the coming months:
- Commit to pray 1/week for God to lead and empower Lakeside members to share their faith in acts of kindness and words that tell people of God’s love in their every day lives and invite others to walk in faith with Jesus.
- Commit to being in worship every week over the next six weeks in person or by listening to the sermons on the website or through the Lakeside app, as we share how God used the people like John Wesley and the people called Methodist’s to revive the faith and lives of millions in the name of Jesus Christ and how God wants to revive us today!
Peace of Jesus,
Pastor Cameron