Key points
1A resolute soul is fixed on one purpose no matter the distractions
Pastor Bill defines a resolute soul as being firmly resolved or determined, fixed upon a single purpose with one spirit. He illustrates this with a story of sitting through a movie while a distracting latecomer crunched popcorn and rattled his chair behind him, until he decided to ignore the noise and focus on what he came for, a decision he learned as a pitcher tuning out hecklers.
Just because we decide to follow God, it doesn't get easy. It actually gets harder
2External opposition comes to discourage you from starting or continuing
In Nehemiah 4, Sanballat mocks the Jews rebuilding the wall, and when mocking fails, the enemies plot an actual attack. Pastor Bill connects this to the church's own building campaign, noting a lightning strike fried their sound system right after the campaign launched, and says the builders' response was to work with one hand and hold a weapon with the other — building and battling at the same time.
the enemy never attacks a non strategic position
3Internal conflict rises to divide the community
In Nehemiah 5, wealthier leaders hoard resources while poorer workers sell their children into slavery to survive. Nehemiah confronts the leaders directly, asking how they could fear being mocked by enemies more than they feared God, and makes them swear a pledge before the priests because good intentions alone don't hold. Pastor Bill compares this to family vacations that start with excitement and dissolve into bickering, and to church members who want their own private walk with God instead of moving forward together.
If we are going to be courageous followers of Christ, we're going to have to learn how to build and battle at the same time
4Personal attacks aim straight at the leader to stop the movement
In Nehemiah 6, enemies try repeatedly to lure Nehemiah away to the Plain of Ono to harm him, and when that fails they circulate an open letter accusing him of plotting rebellion. Nehemiah refuses to get distracted or defend his honor, famously replying that he's too engaged in a great work to come down. Pastor Bill shares his own father's advice on leadership — that if people don't like your peaches, they don't got to shake your tree — as a call not to let personal attacks pull you off the wall.
if you are going to make it in as a leader, you've got to understand that if people don't like your peaches, they don't got to shake your tree
A story from life
The preacher's father advised him that a leader cannot go defend his honor every time someone makes a personal attack — 'if people don't like your peaches, they don't got to shake your tree'
5When God's people choose courage, the result declares God's glory
The wall was finished in 52 days after generations of failed attempts, and the surrounding nations were frightened because they realized the work had been done with God's help. Pastor Bill applies this directly to Rock Point's own building campaign, saying if every person who calls this their church had the courage to pledge and stay resolute, the funds needed would already be there.
6Jesus is the ultimate example of courageous love, and communion calls us to remember it
Pastor Bill tells the true story of a decorated Marine who left an Oxford scholarship to go fight in a war he believed was wrong, simply to try to bring his trained men home safely. He connects this to Jesus, who left His throne to enter a broken world not to declare justice but to bring His friends home, laying down His life so we could go home too. Communion, Pastor Bill says, is the reminder of that courageous love that lets us count the cost and pick up our own cross.
Illustration
A highly decorated marine with a Rhodes Scholarship chose to ship to Vietnam in order to protect the forty men he had trained, rather than stay safely in Oxford
What's going on around me, behind me, is distracting me from what's in front of me
A story from life
Pastor's outing to a Monday afternoon movie with his son, disrupted by a noisy late-arriving patron sitting directly behind him
Application
Pastor Bill frames the charge as needing a resolute soul that keeps building and battling at the same time instead of quitting when the attacks come.
Expect the attacks and don't quit
Whether it's external opposition, internal conflict, or personal attacks, expect resistance when you step out to trust God, especially with a financial pledge, and keep going instead of pulling back.
Build and battle at the same time
Don't stop serving or giving to go fight every problem that pops up; deal with the opposition while continuing to move forward on what God asked you to do.
Fear God more than what you might lose
Like the leaders in Nehemiah 5, confront your own hesitation to give or serve, and choose to trust God's view of the situation over your own fear of loss.
Don't get pulled off the wall by personal attacks
When criticism gets personal, take truth to heart but don't stop to defend your honor or chase down every critic; stay on the wall doing what God called you to do.
Make a pledge and write a name on a brick
Prayerfully commit to the building campaign, then go outside, write your family's names and the name of someone who doesn't know Jesus on a brick, and place it at the foot of the cross.
Take it into your week
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