We’re in week two of our Rebuild series at Mercy Hill Church, walking through the story of Nehemiah and seeing how God rebuilds what looks irreparably broken. This series reminds us that even when sin and rebellion have left ruin in their wake, God is faithful to restore and rebuild his people. Nehemiah’s story is a powerful picture of that truth—how God takes a broken city and a broken people and rebuilds them for his glory.

If you missed the first week of the series, you can read the recap here. In that message, we saw that crisis calls us back to dependence and that prayer is the foundation for God’s rebuilding work.

This week, we continued in Nehemiah 2 and saw that Godly vision is powerful. Vision is what moves us from praying to acting, from seeing the brokenness to participating in what God wants to restore.

Godly Vision Is Powerful

Nehemiah’s prayer in chapter one was for favor with the king—and in chapter two, that prayer is answered. The king gives him permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls.

Those walls were not just ancient architecture; they were symbols of dignity, safety, and the presence of God’s people in the world. Without them, the people lived in “great trouble and shame.” But through Nehemiah, God begins a rebuilding work that will echo through history.

And what begins as a prayer now becomes a vision—something God puts on Nehemiah’s heart that aligns with his mission. That’s what godly vision always is: a burden placed on a believer’s heart to participate in what God is already doing. Godly vision is powerful, and in Nehemiah’s story we see three truths about it that we can’t afford to miss.

1. Godly Vision Must Be Verbalized

When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he inspected the city by night. As he walked among the ruins, he saw with his own eyes the broken gates and burned walls. Moved by what he saw, he gathered the people and said,

“Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision’” (Nehemiah 2:17).

In that moment, Nehemiah took what God had put on his heart and spoke it out loud. He declared what was wrong and invited others to rebuild. The first lesson we see here is that godly vision must be verbalized. Somebody must be the one to say it. Vision that stays silent never changes anything. Unspoken vision has no power.

Nehemiah wasn’t content to look at the ruins and move on. He was willing to name the brokenness and step into it. Godly vision doesn’t hide from hard truth—it faces it. Let me put that into Southern for you: Nehemiah basically said, “Y’all, ain’t none of this right, and we’re fixin’ to rebuild it.”

When we verbalize vision, we begin to see what could be instead of settling for what is. Too often, familiarity makes us comfortable with dysfunction. We stare at broken walls so long that they start to look normal. But Godly vision calls that out. Godly vision says, “This isn’t right, and by God’s grace, it can change.”

Nehemiah wasn’t afraid to see the problem and speak the truth. Whether it was a broken wall or a broken people, he named it so that others could rally around it. So, what needs to be said out loud in your life? Maybe it’s, “The temperature in this home doesn’t need to be so hot.” Maybe it’s, “Our family can’t keep running at this pace.” Maybe it’s seeing your work-life imbalance and saying, “This isn’t sustainable.” Or maybe it’s something bigger—saying out loud that 3.2 billion people without access to the gospel is not okay.

That’s what it looks like when the church refuses to be silent. We live in a world that’s lost its moral compass, but the church still has a prophetic voice. We are salt and light only if we use our voice. Nehemiah spoke out loud what God put on his heart. The same is true for us.

2. Godly Vision Is Compelling

Once Nehemiah spoke the vision, something amazing happened.

“And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’ So they strengthened their hands for the good work” (Nehemiah 2:18).

Nehemiah’s words moved people to action. Godly vision doesn’t just invite—it compels. There’s nothing more convincing than someone who genuinely believes what they’re saying—from the bottom of their shoes to the top of their hat. That was Nehemiah. He believed the hand of God was upon him, and that deep conviction was enough to inspire others to join him.

When we live and speak from a deep conviction that God is at work, others are drawn to it. That’s how the people of God become a movement. At Mercy Hill, we’ve seen this same truth play out. When we cast vision to send 500 missionaries and baptizers through church plants and missions teams by 2032, it wasn’t just an organizational goal—it was a spiritual invitation. It’s compelling because it aligns with God’s mission in Acts 1:8: to reach the ends of the earth.

The same is true for God’s design for the family. Ephesians 5 paints a beautiful and compelling vision of one man and one woman, joined for life, reflecting Christ and the church. A husband leads with sacrificial love, and a wife responds in joyful partnership. Children flourish under that kind of leadership. It’s beautiful because it’s God’s vision.

When our vision aligns with God’s, it has gravity. People want to be part of something bigger than themselves, and that’s exactly what godly vision offers.

3. Godly Vision Instills Courage

But not everyone celebrates godly vision.

“When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us…” (Nehemiah 2:19).

From the moment Nehemiah spoke the vision, opposition followed. His enemies mocked him, accused him of rebellion, and tried to stir fear in the people. That’s how the enemy always works. The enemy lies about God’s people. He uses the same tactics today—calling Christians “radical” for raising their kids in the faith, “narrow-minded” for believing Jesus is the only way, and “intolerant” for standing on biblical truth. But Nehemiah’s response was simple and powerful:

“Then I replied to them, ‘The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem’” (Nehemiah 2:20).

He didn’t let fear or ridicule stop him. He appealed to the God of heaven. And that’s the antidote to fear for us too. We can have courage because we know who fights for us. Our confidence isn’t in our success—it’s in God’s faithfulness. Even if the victory doesn’t look like we imagined, the outcome is secure.

If you’re in Christ, you are forgiven, healed, and promised eternal life. One day, the God of heaven will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4). That truth gives us courage to keep building even when the world pushes back.

So, what are you afraid of today? That your kids will miss out if they don’t have social media at 10 years old? That sharing your faith will cost you your job? That saving yourself for marriage means you’ll miss out on happiness? Those are lies from the enemy meant to instill fear. But knowing the God of heaven gives us courage to stand firm and build anyway.

Application: Lean Into God’s Vision for Your Life

Godly vision is powerful. It’s what God uses to move us and his mission forward. In Nehemiah, we see what God can do through one man. So, what could he do through you? Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of a city, but his story points to someone greater. Two thousand years later, another man would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. He wouldn’t weep over broken walls—but over broken people. And while Nehemiah restored what was broken, Jesus was broken to restore our relationship with God.

Through the cross, he lifted up what sin had leveled. Ephesians 2:22 says, “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

That’s the ultimate rebuilding project—God making his people into a home for his presence. If God sent Jesus to fix what was broken in you through the gospel, what vision might he be giving you to help build his kingdom right here, right now?

  • Is it a vision for your family—to rebuild it strong, on mission, and filled with faith?
  • A vision for adoption or foster care—to mirror the gospel by welcoming others into your home?
  • A vision for generosity—to give a true first fruits gift that stretches your faith?
  • A vision to be sent—to take the gospel to the unreached, to join Declaration Church in Buies Creek, or even to plant a church one day yourself?
  • A vision to disciple the next generation—to mentor students and shape young men and women for Christ?
  • A vision to start a business with the kingdom in mind?
  • Or college student, a vision for your summer—to go on City Project or Second City and live on mission for a few months that could shape the rest of your life?

Whatever that vision is, lean into it. Tell someone. Be compelled by it. Ask God for courage to pursue it. The same God who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem is still rebuilding hearts, homes, and churches today. Let’s rise up and build.

Watch the full sermon from week two of our Rebuild series here:

Andrew Hopper