So often we are told What needs doing e.g. Rebuild the nation after lockdown, rebuild broken Britain, rebuild the Church in this time of crisis… But rarely are we told How to do it….. What this looks like? What it means in practice.

Nehemiah shows us HOW to rebuild in practice. His life and example give us the pieces of the jigsaw that we need to Re-Build in 2021.

2. Have a Big vision

Nehemiah never stopped having a BIG vision while he was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down’ (Neh 6v3). He understood that what he was doing in rebuilding a wall was something great – restoring the city of Jerusalem and the people of God to give glory to God.

A man was watching some builders working on a building site and asked one of them what he was doing? Making £100 a day the first builder said. Then he asked a second builder what he was doing? Laying stones and a foundation for a new building he said. The man then asked a third builder what he was doing? I’m helping to build a cathedral he said – He was the builder who had a Big vision!

How do we rebuild in 2021? Understand that we are part of a ‘great work’! We are part of the Church, God’s glorious bride, and we all have a part to play! The small acts of kindness, giving generously to the work of the Church, serving on Kids Klub on a Sunday, the phone call to someone you haven’t seen for weeks, sending an encouraging text….. it is all a part of a great work – the Church!

Nehemiah rebuilt the walls brick by brick and wasn’t discouraged when opposition came. How did he do this? He understood the Big Vision to give glory to God through the restoration of the City of Jerusalem and God people. We need to catch afresh the Big vision of Christ’s glorious Church as we rebuild in 2021 – the breadth and depth of His glorious Church!