What Are You Building?
God’s greatest works never start with a talented person. They start with a burdened one.
That was the heart of Pastor Mike O’Connell’s message this week as he taught from Nehemiah 1 and 2.
Before Nehemiah ever made a plan or picked up a tool, he heard a report. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down. The gates had been burned. His people were living in disgrace.
His first response wasn’t strategy. It was grief.
“When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, I fasted and prayed to the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4
Pastor Mike pointed out something that’s easy to miss: before God moved Nehemiah’s hands, He first moved his heart.
That’s often how God begins something significant. Not with someone who has every answer, but with someone who sees what’s broken and can’t simply move on.
What Breaks Your Heart?
Pastor Mike shared the story of a nonprofit founder here in Omaha who left a comfortable life in the suburbs after getting close to the needs in North Omaha. Once he saw what was happening, he couldn’t ignore it.
Pastor Mike also shared the story of a couple whose marriage nearly fell apart. Today, they lead a ministry that helps other couples find healing and restoration.
The stories are different, but the pattern is the same. They got close enough to brokenness that it became personal.
“We don’t build what impresses us. We build what burdens us.”
Sometimes the thing that keeps pulling at your heart isn’t a distraction. It may be pointing you toward the place God wants you to help.
A Burden Has to Move
Nehemiah didn’t stop at feeling sad about what was happening. He prayed. He fasted. He waited. And when the time came, he acted. Four months after receiving the report, Nehemiah spoke to the king, even though doing so came with real risk. His burden moved from something he carried privately to something he was willing to do something about. That matters because a burden that never moves us toward action can easily become something we learn to live with.
God may not be asking you to fix everything, but He may be asking you to take one step.
One Burden Can Become a Shared Calling
When Nehemiah finally spoke to the people of Jerusalem, he didn’t say, “Let me rebuild.”
He said: “Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be in disgrace.”
The burden began with Nehemiah, but the work was never meant to end with him. One person carried it first. Then others began to see what he saw.
Soon, one burden became a shared mission.
Pastor Mike connected that truth to the church. There’s a difference between attending church and helping build one. We can show up, receive, and leave, or we can recognize that God has given each of us a part to play. Building requires more than convenience. It asks us to serve, sacrifice, and step into what God is doing.
Pastor Mike made the point with a funny picture of Jesus calling Peter by saying, “No pressure, my guy,” instead of simply saying, “Follow Me.” It was funny because it revealed the fact that sometimes we soften the invitation so much that we remove the sacrifice from it. But following Jesus was never meant to be built around what’s easiest.
Build the Section in Front of You
The message closed in Nehemiah 3, a chapter filled with names many of us might be tempted to skim over. But those names matter. The wall was rebuilt by priests, merchants, perfumers, families, and women. Each person worked on the section closest to them. No one rebuilt the entire wall. Everyone built their part.
“Not a single stone is the building. No single section is the wall. The body of Christ is built by every member doing their part in their place.”
You don’t have to do everything. You don’t have to carry every need or solve every problem. You simply have to be faithful with the part God has placed in front of you. For some people, that may look like serving at church. For others, it may look like strengthening a marriage, caring for a neighborhood, mentoring someone younger, or creating a safe place for people who feel overlooked. Your section of the wall may be closer than you think.
Sometimes Building Starts at Home
Pastor Mike ended the message with a personal story about his six-year-old son asking questions about sin, heaven, and what it means to follow Jesus. That same week, his son chose to make Jesus his Savior. It was a reminder that building isn’t limited to a platform, a title, or an official ministry role. Sometimes it happens at the dinner table. Sometimes it looks like answering a child’s questions. Sometimes it looks like showing up consistently for the people God has already placed in your life.
The call to build is for all of us, but it won’t look the same for everyone.
What Is Your Section of the Wall?
What is one place in your life where you’ve gotten close enough to brokenness that you can’t look away? That may be where your burden begins.
Are you only attending church, or are you helping build it?
What would one step toward contributing look like for you?
And what is the section of the wall God has placed in front of you?
You don’t have to build the whole thing. Just be faithful with your part.
We are a community in Omaha, Nebraska helping people experience God’s best for their lives. Sundays at 9 + 11 AM.
