Their sacred city had been sacked. The fortress walls lay in ruins. The temple of God leveled. A remnant of Jews had been taken into captivity and lived in exile under Babylonian rule. Years passed, but God did not forget His exiled people.
With a change of rulers in Babylon, exiled Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. Although the temple was eventually rebuilt, the walls surrounding the city remained in heaps of rubble. Fortress walls were needed for protection, but also as a sign to the outside world that Jerusalem was once again a great city.
So God raised up a man named Nehemiah who was given permission by King Artaxerxes to return to the land of Judah and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Upon arrival, Nehemiah surveyed the overwhelming task before him. Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem would not be easy, but he would not tackle this task alone. Volunteers from the tribes of Israel joined in. Chief among them were priests and Levites, (men who from the time of Moses had been chosen to assist the priests in carrying out the duties in the temple).
Together they cleaned up the mounds of rubble and began laying each course of the wall with recovered stone. It was hard, laborious work, requiring long hours. What made things even more difficult was the constant opposition they faced by men who were not pleased that Jerusalem was being rebuilt – men whose abusive words were couched with threats of violence. So the priests and Levites built the wall with a tool in one hand and a ready sword in the other.
After 52 days of intense building, the wall was complete. An amazing feat! To celebrate, Nehemiah organized a dedication celebration, a celebration that is documented in Nehemiah, chapter 12. As I was reading about this celebration, one verse caught my attention.
“The people of Judah took joy in the work of the priests and Levites.” (Neh. 12:44)
The people rejoiced with grateful hearts in the work these leaders had done. These spiritual leaders had led by example. They sweat. They labored. They defended. And the people took joy in the hard work and dedication of their leaders during this difficult time.
As I reflected on this verse, my mind began to rehearse the early days of COVID-19 as we sheltered in. I remembered how the pastors, leaders, and staff of my church stepped up and worked hard to keep our church family connected and spiritually encouraged. In a matter of days, they were ready on that first Sunday to broadcast an online service, something they had never done before. Each week they worked on getting it better and better.
Our youth pastor and children’s director found creative ways to connect with our kids and feed their souls, and encourage their spirits. The church leaders found a safe way to continue to open our food pantry to the community where over 500 families were being supplied with food on a weekly basis. Our pastor even started a blog, using stories from his days as a police officer to share a spiritual truth, words that bring joy and strength to us each week.
And so like the Jerusalem Jews of old, I take joy in the work of our spiritual leaders and their staff. This blogpost is a shout-out of gratefulness for their hard work, their dedication in overcoming the obstacles and constraints they have faced as they navigated through these uncharted waters of COVID 19.
THANK YOU, Pastor Tony, Pastor Chris and the staff at Community Christian Church!
Perhaps you, too, would like to express your grateful joy to the pastors and leaders of your church. Whether you are tuning in online, attending a drive-in service or safely distancing in person at your church, take a moment to send an email, a text or even a snail mail note, expressing your joy, your gratefulness for the work they have done and are doing to build up the church of Christ in this new normal. (Feel free to share your shout-outs of thankfulness on this post as well!)
Let’s make sure they know how grateful, thankful, and joyful we are of their hard work, their sacrifice, their dedication.
Joy Gruits is a Christian educator, speaker, and writer. Her passion is to share a Biblical truths that challenge and motivate people to become devoted followers of Christ who fulfill God's divine purpose for their lives.
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A big thank you to Pastors Solo and Sarah Mwania at Lincoln City Church in Lincoln NE and their Associates Dustin and Heather Sutter who have been stretched in every way to keep their church thriving and unified during this time. Because their staff is small so much responsibility has fallen on their own families which has made them busier than ever before. Their on-line church has grown and thrived and people are gradually venturing out to service and they believe The Church on the whole will grow and be stronger because of the challenges they have faced head on through this season. Amen to your blog, Joy!!
Thank you for sharing! I know you and Jerry are so very proud of how they have picked up the mantel of leadership in such an amazing way.
Thanks Joy for another inspiring word. You always have such a good message for such a time as this!!!
God’s Blessings to you and your family
I “raise a hallelujah” to the Lord for His great faithfulness to us as a church, at New Jerusalem Christian Fellowship. My husband, Bob Norman, had never wanted anything to do with implementing online services, but in this case, he knew he had to do something. On the very first Sunday, we started using Facebook Live. Ever since that day, our connection with many former members who had moved out of state, grew. In fact, many of the ministries/missionaries in foreign countries started watching. We have found it to be such a blessing to so many lives we would not of connected with otherwise. Now, we cannot see doing away with it even though we are doing in person services. God is good! He stretches us and blesses as we remain faithful and committed to Him. Thank you, Joy for a great message.
Too many times we take our services and leaders for granted and don’t think of how much time and love has gone into their leadership. You and your work is a blessing to all of us Joy. Thank you so much.
Thank you Joy, well said, love our church family , and how we are always connected in The Body Of Christ! To God All The Glory! Love You CCC
My husband and I attended CCC on a couple of occasions in the past but have been attending virtually since the onset of Covid. We look forward to the Sunday services and have found great comfort in the words of Pastor Tony and Pastor Chris. The services have spurred some wonderful conversations between us and have resulted in a clearer path in our daily lives. Thank you.
This is so beautiful Joy! I’m passing it along to the CCC staff. I know they’ll appreciate your heartfelt encouragement!
Thank you so much, Joy, for your kind words. Not only do I love your blog, but you have strengthened the CCC Pastors and staff with your love, support, encouragement and prayers. In a difficult season, you have helped to lift the load. You are so greatly loved and appreciated. It is a joy to serve the CCC family!
Thank you Joy for the very nice shout out. We love pastoring this community!!
And we love being pastored by such caring and committed leaders!