Friday was a really significant moment for anyone who is around 30 to 35 years old or older. You remember what happened 25 years ago, and I remember exactly where I was, who I was with, what I was doing, and what I felt. It is a memory seared into my mind—the day the United States of America was attacked by terrorists and thousands of people lost their lives.

On Friday, Big Valley Christian School did an excellent job creating a community event to remember September 11. There was representation from our armed forces, state, county, and city law enforcement, and first responders. We even had a helicopter fly over. It was an incredible event because we wanted to remember a significant moment when people across our nation looked to God and said, “God, help. We need Your help.”

It is important to remember those moments when we had to look to God and ask for help. In a very different way, two days ago was another 25th anniversary for me: my wedding anniversary. My family is a big family, and it is difficult to get everyone together, but somehow my wife figured it out.

She wanted our family together because she wanted to tell the next generation the story of how sin attacked our marriage. There came a moment in our marriage when we had to look to God and say, “God, help. We need Your help.” She wanted to make sure the next generation of our family heard that story and understood how we had to turn to God.

Pastor Ben just led us in communion, and what does communion represent? It represents our recognition that we need God’s help and that Jesus Christ is the solution. We regularly remember Jesus through communion because we need God, we need His help, and we need to encourage one another to look to Jesus. He is the One who can help us.

We all have moments in our lives that are important to remember because they remind us of how we needed to look to God and ask for help. This morning, church family, we have a real treat because my friend Sam has agreed to share part of his testimony. He is going to tell us about a time when God got his attention and he had to look to God for help. Welcome my friend Sam.

Thank you, Pastor Joel. I appreciate your friendship. If you had told me 15 and a half years ago that I would be friends with the pastor of Celebrate Recovery, friends with the senior pastor at Big Valley Grace, and involved in ministry here, I would have laughed. I probably would have said, “You’re on stronger drugs than me.”

I want to introduce myself the way I normally would on a Tuesday night at Celebrate Recovery. My name is Sam. I’m a grateful believer in Jesus Christ in recovery for addiction.

Please pray with me. Lord, thank You for this place of healing, hope, and recovery where we get to hear God’s Word. Thank You for all the people serving here and for the worship team. Please allow someone to hear a message of hope this morning. In Jesus’ name, amen.

I want to share a little about my story and, more importantly, how God has shown up in my life. There was a time when I thought everything was great. I was married to an amazing, beautiful woman, we had four kids, and I had a family, a home, and a life I was thankful for. But there was a part of my life I did not want my wife to know about.

I had a history with addiction, and I kept that part of my life hidden from her. I convinced myself that I could control it. For a while I was able to stop using drugs, although I continued drinking. Eventually, however, life as I knew it began falling apart and quickly spiraled out of control.

I became a very angry and verbally abusive person toward my family. The smallest things would set me off, and I would lose my temper, fly into a rage, cuss, scream, and blow up at my family. Most of all, I did this to my kids, and I did it repeatedly. Proverbs 26:11 describes a fool repeating his folly, and I found myself repeating the behavior I had seen growing up because I thought it was normal.

My wife became increasingly frustrated and warned me several times that if I did not change, she was going to leave. Instead of changing, I fell deeper into addiction. I used drugs and alcohol to numb the pain because I did not want to feel anything. Through all of it, I continued hiding my drug use from everyone.

Even with everything happening, I thought I had it under control until one day my secret was exposed. I came home thinking I had made it through one more day without anyone discovering what I was doing. Then my wife called me into the bedroom, pulled back the covers on our bed, and there were all the drugs I had hidden in my closet. My secret was exposed.

My heart sank, and my world changed instantly. I looked at my wife and saw the pain in her eyes, and that was the worst part. I knew I had hurt the person I loved the most. She told me to pack my things and leave, so I did, believing my marriage of 10 years was over.

The first Tuesday after leaving my home, I came to Celebrate Recovery here at Big Valley Grace. I had heard the pastor talk about it, and initially I thought maybe attending would impress my wife. It did not work. Then I entered a drug treatment program, and if I am completely honest, my motivation for that was also to win my wife back.

That did not work either. My wife had established serious boundaries and still would not allow me back into the home. Once again, I felt defeated and believed my 10-year marriage was over. I moved into a sober living home and began regularly attending Celebrate Recovery at Big Valley Grace.

I started going to a small group, entered a step study, found a sponsor, and began taking an honest look at myself. I followed the suggestions I was receiving through recovery. But at the same time, something else was happening: God was pursuing me. I had always believed in God, but I did not understand what a relationship with Him actually looked like.

Before recovery, I viewed my relationship with God as transactional. I would say, “God, if You get me out of this situation, I promise I’ll never do it again,” or, “God, if You do this for me, I’ll do this for You.” Then one night here at Big Valley Grace, the pastor invited anyone who wanted to turn their life over to Jesus and be saved to pray. I prayed that prayer that night and surrendered my life to Jesus.

This decision was not about getting my wife back, getting my kids back, or being allowed to move home. I wanted a real relationship with God. I started reading the Bible, praying, journaling, continuing to attend meetings, and working the steps. God began changing me.

My wife and I worked on ourselves and on our individual relationships with God. Eventually, we started dating each other again. It took time, but when the time was right, I was able to return home. I knew, however, that I could not return home and become the same man I had been.

I needed to continue following Jesus and continue working a program of recovery. I have continued following God ever since. I still read His Word and pray, and I still have people in my life who hold me accountable. I still attend Celebrate Recovery regularly, and I have been able to share with others what God has shown me.

There is hope. There is freedom. God can change a life that seems completely hopeless into a life filled with hope. The marriage I thought was over after 10 years has now reached 26 years.

Our marriage is stronger than we ever could have imagined, and this is because of God. My wife and I genuinely love being together. We have fun, laugh, and enjoy life. There have certainly been challenges and struggles along the way, but God has taught me that I do not have to understand everything in order to trust Him.

I do not have to control everything, and I do not have to know what tomorrow holds. I simply need to know who holds tomorrow. I know God has a plan even when I cannot see it. It still amazes me that the day my wife discovered my addiction and told me to leave—the day I thought my marriage and entire life had fallen apart—became one of the greatest blessings of my life.

God used that brokenness to get my attention. He used it to bring me to my knees and show me that I could not fix myself. Then He introduced me to a Savior who could. Fifteen years and seven months ago, I stopped using drugs and alcohol, started reading God’s Word, surrendered my life to Jesus, and began becoming a different man.

Today, I am a husband who protects his family, a father who listens, a friend who is accountable, and a man in recovery. Most importantly, I am a child of God who has been saved by grace. That is the message I want to leave with you today.

Maybe there is something in your life you are desperately trying to control. Maybe it is addiction, anger, fear, issues with food, or an unhealthy relationship. I want you to know what I know today: you do not have to fix yourself before you come to God. You simply have to be willing to surrender.

God can turn a test into a testimony. When I walked through the doors of Celebrate Recovery more than 15 years ago, I had no idea what God had in store for me. He changed my life from the inside out. Big Valley Grace became a home for me, and I found incredible friends who love me, challenge me, encourage me, and hold me accountable.

Most importantly, I found Jesus. Today I can say that the man I used to be is not the man I am today. If God can take my story—the drugs, alcohol, anger, and broken marriage—and turn it into something that brings Him glory, I believe He can work in your life too. Whatever you are facing today, do not give up; there is hope, grace, and forgiveness in Jesus.

If you are struggling with hurts, habits, or hang-ups and want to find hope and freedom, I invite you to join us Tuesday nights at Celebrate Recovery at 6:30 p.m. This program is not only for drugs and alcohol. There are groups addressing anger, codependency, food issues, abuse, sexual addiction, dysfunctional family backgrounds, and other struggles. My wife and I are here every Tuesday night, and if you are new, come introduce yourself—we would love to welcome you.

Thank you for allowing me to share my story.

Let’s appreciate Sam. Great job. As we continue, I think you will see that what Pastor Ben shared during communion, what Sam shared through his testimony, and what we are about to study in Nehemiah all have a closely connected theme.

We are continuing our series through Nehemiah, and today we are in chapter 5. The question we are going to use to guide our time is this: How do we bring godly correction to problems that have spiraled out of control because of sin? In our text, we are going to see how God uses Nehemiah as a leader to bring godly correction to serious problems that had gotten completely out of control in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 5:1–13 describes a great outcry among the people. Some families do not have enough grain to eat. Others are mortgaging their fields, vineyards, and houses because of famine, while still others have borrowed money to pay the king’s taxes. Their circumstances have become so desperate that sons and daughters are being subjected to servitude, while other people possess their fields and vineyards.

When Nehemiah hears their outcry, he becomes very angry. He considers the matter carefully and then confronts the nobles and officials for charging interest to their fellow Israelites. He calls a large meeting and points out that while he and others have been using their resources to redeem fellow Jews, these leaders have been creating a cycle that puts their own people back into bondage.

Nehemiah tells them that what they are doing is not good and calls them to walk in reverence toward God. He tells them to stop charging interest and to return the fields, vineyards, olive groves, houses, money, grain, wine, and oil they have taken. The leaders agree to restore what they have taken and promise not to demand anything further. Nehemiah then brings in the priests and makes them publicly commit to keeping their promise.

He shakes out the folds of his garment as a visual warning of the seriousness of their commitment. The entire assembly responds, “Amen,” praises the Lord, and does what they promised.

Let’s pray together. Father God, I pray for the person here today whose life has experienced destruction because of sin. Maybe their heart and mind feel devastated, like Jerusalem with its walls broken down and its gates burned with fire.

God, they need help in their life, marriage, parenting, family, career, or livelihood. For the person who is hurting and living in a place of devastation, help us come alongside them with courage, bravery, and boldness as we seek You together. God, we need Your help.

Help us understand that You know us, see us, and know exactly what is happening in our lives right now. You can help, and You can speak directly into our circumstances through Your Word and by Your Spirit. Speak to us so that we might look to You and receive the help we need. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

We are going to walk through these 13 verses from beginning to end while asking the question: How do we bring godly correction to problems that have spiraled out of control because of sin? Verse 1 tells us there was a great outcry among the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. When someone is crying, it is always wise to find out why.

We have a little granddaughter who is a year and nine months old, and she is at our house all the time. When she starts crying, we want to know why she is crying and what happened. When an entire group of people is crying, we need to ask what has affected the group so deeply. In Nehemiah’s situation, an entire city and community are crying out because of the way they are treating and hurting one another.

So the first step is to understand the problem. What is actually happening? How many times have we rushed to solve a problem only to discover that we solved the wrong problem, failed to solve the real one, and possibly created a new problem in the process? Before applying time, energy, and resources, we need to understand what the problem really is.

The people begin explaining what they are facing. Some have large families and need grain simply to stay alive. They are rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem instead of doing the work they would normally do to provide for their families. They are committed to rebuilding Jerusalem so that it will no longer be a city of shame, but their families still need food.

Others say they are mortgaging their fields, vineyards, and houses just to obtain grain because there is a famine. They are already away from their regular work because they are rebuilding the city, and now a food shortage has made the situation even more difficult. Then another problem appears: they have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on their fields and vineyards.

They are paying taxes to a foreign king because they are still under Persian rule. Israel had previously been exiled after generations of disobedience to God, and although the Persian king allowed some of the people to return, they remained under Persian authority. Now the consequences of generations of disobedience are part of the difficult circumstances confronting them.

The people explain that they all belong to the same nation and community, yet their sons and daughters are being subjected to servitude. Some of their daughters are already in that condition, and the families feel powerless because other people control their fields and vineyards. Their situation has become desperate.

They are not doing their normal work, they have large families to feed, there is a famine, and they have taxes to pay. They have already given up their property and possessions. Eventually, they reach a point where they have nothing left except themselves, and they are doing this to one another.

Verse 6 shows us Nehemiah’s response as a leader: he becomes very angry when he hears their outcry. But then he takes counsel with himself. We already know from studying Nehemiah that he knows God’s Word, knows God’s law, and repeatedly comes before the God of heaven in prayer.

His first reaction is anger, but he does not simply unleash that anger. He stops and considers the situation: “God, what do You want? How do You see this? What do You want me to do as a leader?” Then he brings charges against the nobles and officials and confronts their sin.

That brings us to the second step: examine the sin. Our culture often minimizes our own sin, the sin of others, and the impact sin has on our lives. We can become so comfortable with sin that it is almost as though we invite it to move in as a roommate and simply learn to live alongside it. Ignoring sin and its consequences, however, is a bad plan.

Nehemiah examines what is happening and identifies the sin. The leaders are charging interest to their fellow Israelites. Under the law God had given Israel, they were not supposed to exploit their fellow Israelites in this way. Their practices had created a cycle of debt that people could not escape.

Nehemiah and his leadership team had been using their own resources to redeem fellow Jews who had been sold. Meanwhile, other Israelites were exploiting their neighbors’ poverty and creating more debt. Nehemiah essentially tells them, “We are using our resources to help buy people out of bondage, and you are creating circumstances that put them right back into it.”

The cycle keeps repeating. Nehemiah and others help people out, only for the same people to become trapped again. When Nehemiah exposes this, the leaders are silent because they have nothing to say.

Nehemiah calls them out for breaking God’s law. God had established instructions regarding debt and service, including how Israelites were to treat one another when someone became indebted. Those boundaries were being ignored. Nehemiah confronts both the charging of interest and the exploitation of their fellow Israelites.

Then Nehemiah does something that can be deeply uncomfortable: he tells them they are wrong. Verse 9 says, “What you are doing is not right.” There is a proper place to tell someone that what they are doing is wrong and that their behavior is contrary to God’s commands.

Nehemiah is not confronting them merely because he dislikes their behavior. He is confronting them because of how they are hurting one another and because their actions violate God’s law. His standard for correction is not simply personal preference; he points them back toward what God has commanded.

Yesterday morning, our high school ministry director led a group of students in a local prayer walk organized by one of our ministry partners. They gathered to pray about church leadership, people working in abortion services, mothers facing crisis pregnancies, and young people in our community. They prayed that people would encounter the hope, mercy, and love of Jesus and pursue holiness and righteousness.

The students chose to get up early on a Saturday morning and pray because they believe abortion is morally wrong and wanted to ask God for change in their community and nation. They did not create the circumstances they were praying about, but they chose to respond according to their convictions. In the sermon’s application, this was presented as an example of being willing to say that something is wrong while seeking God through prayer.

So how do we bring godly correction to problems that have spiraled out of control because of sin? First, understand the problem. Second, examine the sin. Third, bring godly correction.

Our culture can tempt us to elevate our personal opinions and feelings over God’s Word. We can look at something Scripture teaches and respond, “I don’t feel comfortable with that.” But discomfort does not remove our responsibility to obey what God has commanded. God’s Word remains God’s Word regardless of how you or I feel about it.

Nehemiah asks, “Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God?” He is talking about reverence for God. God is holy, perfect, righteous, sovereign, and awesome. Shouldn’t who God is affect the way we live?

Now Nehemiah becomes extremely practical, and his actions give us principles we can apply directly to our lives. The first is: make a clear decision to stop sinning. If you never make a decision to stop, you are unlikely to stop.

The Bible describes repentance as turning away from sin and toward God. Instead of continuing to pursue sin, we turn toward Jesus, ask for forgiveness, and begin pursuing Him. Nehemiah says, in effect, “Let us abandon this charging of interest.” He calls for complete removal of the sinful practice.

The second action is to make a plan for reconciliation as soon as possible. A helpful question is, “What can be done to make right the wrong?” We can also ask, “What can be done to repair the damage or repay what is owed?”

Nehemiah tells them to return the people’s fields, vineyards, olive groves, houses, money, grain, wine, and oil that very day. In other words, where their wrongdoing has deprived people of what belonged to them, reconciliation requires restoration. Do not merely acknowledge the wrong—take action to make it right.

The third action is to make a commitment to obey God’s commands. It is not enough simply to stop sinning; we also need to begin practicing righteousness. We turn away from sin, but we simultaneously turn toward Jesus and toward obedience.

The people respond, “We will give it back. We will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” They commit to restoring what was taken and ending the destructive practice. Then Nehemiah calls the priests and has the leaders swear publicly that they will do what they promised.

This is a serious commitment made before God and before witnesses. They are making a covenant commitment to obey. They are not merely saying they feel bad about what happened; they are committing themselves to a different way of living.

The fourth action is to make a partnership to stay accountable. None of us was designed to live in isolation. God created us to live in community, belong to one another, and help one another. We need partnerships that help us remain accountable.

Nehemiah illustrates the seriousness of their commitment by shaking out the folds of his garment. As the dust falls from his clothing, he says that anyone who refuses to keep this promise should likewise be shaken out from his home and possessions. It is a dramatic visual illustration intended to communicate the seriousness of the promise they have made before God.

The entire assembly responds, “Amen.” In other words, they agree. They have been confronted about their sin, they are repenting, they are committing to change, and now they are publicly agreeing together to obey the Lord. Then they praise God and actually do what they promised.

So let me ask you: Is there a need for godly correction in your life? Is there one of these four actions that you need to take? Do you need to make a clear decision to stop sinning, make a plan for reconciliation as soon as possible, make a commitment to obey God’s commands, or establish a partnership that will help you remain accountable?

Church family, God has done something beautiful at Big Valley Grace Community Church. For decades, He has allowed this church to participate in what Scripture describes as a ministry of reconciliation. People are being reconciled to God, and because they are reconciled to God, they have opportunities to become reconciled to one another.

You just heard my friend Sam share how God has radically changed his life over the past 15 years. He came to Christ, and God helped restore his life, marriage, family, career, and community. God changed his life. It is possible to receive the help you need.

For decades, God has allowed His hand of blessing to be on Celebrate Recovery here at Big Valley Grace. If you come on a Tuesday night, you will find people who welcome you. They are not there to look down on you or condemn you; they will work hard to help you.

If you need restoration in your life, marriage, or family, come and allow people to walk alongside you. Celebrate Recovery meets Tuesday nights at 6:30 right here. God has allowed Big Valley Grace to have a beautiful expression of the biblical ministry of reconciliation for many years.

If you need that ministry of reconciliation in your own life, come and be part of a place where people will love you, welcome you, and walk with you. Maybe sin has attacked your life and you feel like Jerusalem—walls broken down and gates burned with fire. Maybe you are facing problems in your marriage, family, or another part of your life. I want to pray for you.

Father God, I pray for every person who is hurting because the deadly attack of sin has brought destruction into their life. We come alongside them and borrow bravery and courage from one another. Together we look to You and say, “God, we need Your help.”

I pray for every person who is hurting, struggling, or needs help. Give them the courage, bravery, and boldness to ask for help, show up, and receive the help that is available. Lord, we love You, we want to honor You, and we are grateful for the way You have loved and cared for us.

You have provided forgiveness, grace, and mercy, and we need all of it. We celebrate You, Lord. We pray this in Jesus’ name, and all God’s family said, amen.

If you need further prayer, our team will be ready to pray with you in the prayer room. Church family, we love you, and we’ll see you again real soon.