Nehemiah 7 Hands and Feet

I'm going through a sermon series on Nehemiah. Last night was good because it actually correlates with the book I'm reading, "Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne. Jeff Cook, and urban ministry professor from Cedarville gave the message. He teaches a class which is talked about in the bible alot but is rarely taught in class....How do you minister to the poor...Specifically..how does middle/upper class suburbia successfully minister to the urban poor. I thought it was interesting that a requirement of his class is to live homeless for a weekend on the street.

Here are the notes I took:

Nehemiah 7 gives a list of names. Those who helped to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Anytime you see a group of people..you wonder..what have they gone through to do what they did?

What they did?

An astonishing accomplishment in rebuilding a broken community

The question you want to ask....What did God do IN THEM to make this possible?

God typically has to break people of their pride, their self-sufficiency, and their cultural arrogance before He can use them to bring change among the poor.

When you are dealing with urban poor, there needs to be a change of focus

Individual.......Community
Spiritual........Holistic


Bringing God to the Poor
1 God's heart and passion for the poor must be a part of our DNA ...You have to have God's heart for the poor..Amos 2:7,Isaiah 10:1-3, Proverbs 14:31,Jeremiah 22:16, Ezekiel 16:47-49

2 We must focus on issues that affect the welfare of the community
Effective urban ministers build relationships and work WITH the poor, they don't go in to "fix" the problems You can't go in like a lone ranger to "save" them

3 Ministry focus must be on the whole person not just their spiritual needs.

Hands and Feet
1 House Churches are the huddle...the planning ..not the game...you need to actually go out into the community

2 Ministry among the poor is not optional ..it's not "extra credit"..

3 Don't be a lone Ranger...you need to involve alot of people and resources so they can become self-sufficient...

4 Think holistically

5 Focus long term...don't just do "drive-by ministry"