Tennessee Couples Three Important Building Retreat Blocks Rebuild - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Tennessee Couples Retreat

Rebuild and Restore

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Three Important Building Blocks

Total Commitment/Intimacy Forgiveness Rebuilding and Restoration

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Nehemiah

In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

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The Nehemiah Guide to Restoration and Rebuilding of Your Marriage Your

• Nehemiah 1: 5-11

–Jerusalem (a place where God desires to dwell) devastated by war –Families torn apart against their will –The protective walls of defense lay in ruin –“Gates” had been burned –The enemy has free reign

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What is going on?

• Virus has infected the host
• Unforgiveness, extreme disappointment,

breach in trust, bitterness, unmet expectations, unfaithfullness, adultery, guilt, deep regrets, resentment, jealousy, bad decisions, financial difficulty, failure to communicate

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The Nehemiah Way

• Prayer and Supplication
• Truthful Introspection
• Engage with others
• Work Hard--expect opposition
• Honor God’s Word
• Worship Him
• Establish a New Path--Maintain Purity

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The Nehemiah Way

• Prayer and Supplication
• Reality Check
• Humility
• Accepting Responsibility
• Repentance

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Nehemiah

1 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for

• Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.

13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal[a] Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; 15 so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any

• thers who would be doing the work.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.

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The Nehemiah Way

• Truthful Introspection
• Assess the damage
• Where am I?
• How did I get here?
• Reality Check-vs-Denials
• How did I contribute to the problem?
• The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility

for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up." -John C. Maxwell.

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The Nehemiah Way

• Engage With Others for Assistance
• Corinthians, Romans, Body of Christ
• You need me....and I need you
• Accountability
• Mentor
• Counselor

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The Nehemiah Way

• Prepare for Hard Work and Opposition
• Sanballat and Tobiah had a spirit of
• pposition, ridicule, and discouragement
• Establish boundaries

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The Nehemiah Way

What Work?

• Rebuilding--Spiritual Intimacy--Making good decisions--Truthful

Introspection

• Renew commitments
• Reframe your thinking
• Make changes in your life
• Stop, Start, Continue “meeting”
• Honor God’s Word in Worship
• New paths of purity

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The Nehemiah Way

But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the

Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?” 4 [a]When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews

doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

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The Nehemiah Way

• Prayer and Supplication
• Truthful Introspection
• Engage with others
• Work Hard--expect opposition
• Honor God’s Word
• Worship Him
• Establish a New Path--Maintain Purity

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The Nehemiah Way

Nehemiah 8 New International Version (NIV) 1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring

• ut the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. 4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam. 5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing

above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

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The Nehemiah Way

• Prayer and Supplication
• Truthful Introspection
• Engage with others
• Work Hard--expect opposition
• Honor God’s Word
• Worship Him
• Establish a New Path--Maintain Purity

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The Nehemiah Way

9: 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. 12: 27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.

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The Nehemiah Way

• Be Restored
• Let our churches, our “small groups” our

ministry provide the “hospital” of healing the bruised and bleeding need to survive

• Regain, Restore, Reconcile

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