“Leaders constantly bring the most important things to light: current reality and future possibility, what God says about it and what we need to do about it.”― Will Mancini

Introduction:

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RE:Vival: A Burden in the Heart of the Leader (Nehemiah 1:1-11) and the people (Nehemiah 9)

• It grieved Nehemiah to see that God’s people were not achieving or becoming His best for them.

• Nehemiah was fine but he wasn’t satisfied. He had a Holy Burden.

• We as leaders are called to carry the burden of the people 

RE:Vision

• RE:View- Nehemiah 2:11-15

  • Future vision begins with a clear view of the past and present.

  • With fresh eyes, a leader outside of the church looks at the current cultures, structures and systems to assess the overall health of the church.

• RE:Discover- Nehemiah 2:16-18

  • Nehemiah casts a clear view of the present and a strong hope for the future.

  • Here, the leader begins bridging the gap between today and tomorrow. The leader also points to why this process will succeed. (Nehemiah 2:20)

RE:Vitalize

• RE:Deem- Nehemiah 3

  • In chapter 3, Nehemiah has divided the work among the people. This shows that he communicated value to each family and made it clear that they were both needed and known.

  • Here the leader turns focus towards the team leading the church. The leaders are the engines that moves things forward. If they are not bought in engaged, old problems may resurface. 

• RE:Cruit- Nehemiah 3:22

  • With a clear vision, Nehemiah could identify other leaders who could gather stake in the future of the “church”. (Priests from surrounding towns)

  • Here the leader must identify potential new leaders who embody the values of the vision.

• RE:Train Nehemiah 4:15-23

  • Nehemiah does the important work of training and preparing the people for the future.

  • Joint training should onboard both “old” and “new” team members onto the new vision.

  • Here the leader intentionally addresses any blind spots or barriers that would threaten the new vision. The leader also teaches the team the values and principles needed to achieve God’s vision.

RE:Build

• RE:Structure- Nehemiah 5:1-19

  • The church must form a new structure in order to accommodate the new vision.

  • Nehemiah had to address the broken structures that were causing some people to be neglected while others were entrenched in comfort.

  • Here the church is led through a process of setting processes and procedures that ensure the church can rightly care for and minister to those whom God will send.

• RE:Cast- Nehemiah 8

  • Nehemiah, with Ezra’s help, frames all of their work with a RE:Casting of the vision. In this case, he connects everything to God’s Word.

  • Here the leader begins to share the intentions and direction that the church will pursue in the future.

• RE:Launch- Nehemiah 9

  • After calibrating themselves to the Word of God, the “church” moves into the future with a new focus. God is now at the center of all they do.

  • Here the church RE:Introduces itself to the community with God’s Kingdom at the center of their new vision.