Let Us Rise Up and Build: Three Hearts Ready to Build

"Let us rise up and build!" You may already know this phrase. It comes from Nehemiah 2:18, when the people discover that the hand of their God is good upon them and finally decide to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It is also the theme for the year in the church where elder Fabrice SERI came to preach on August 17, 2025. And to illustrate it, he does not take you first to Nehemiah, but further back, to Exodus 35, at the foot of Sinai, when Moses mobilizes the people to build the tabernacle. The question running through the whole sermon is simple: who, today, needs to rise up and build for God? You will see that the answer concerns you directly.

Article outline

1. A God who deserves that we rise up for him
2. First profile: those who came out of Egypt
3. Second profile: those who have something to offer
4. Third profile: those with a willing and generous heart
5. What God does with those who rise up for him

1. A God who deserves that we rise up for him

Before speaking of service, elder Fabrice SERI reminds you who it is you are building for. The service had opened with Psalm 24: "Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts." This king deserves your praise, your worship, your service. He is "worthy to be served," the preacher repeats, and everything starts from that observation.

This God is nothing like the idols the Bible describes, the ones that have eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, hands but can do nothing. He hears, he sees, he acts. Because he acted first (in Egypt then, at the cross now), he calls you in turn to rise up. Serving God is never about initiating something; it is always a response.

2. First profile: those who came out of Egypt

Israel has just spent four hundred years under bondage in Egypt. Four hundred years of crying out, oppression, pain, and hard labor molding bricks. "The Egyptians made their lives bitter," the Bible says. No people could have freed themselves on their own. So God came down. He stretched out his mighty hand, defeated the idols of Egypt, and brought his people out with an uplifted arm.

And it is only afterward, in the desert, that he asked them to build a tabernacle. The order matters. A prisoner cannot serve. A people in chains cannot build for their God. They must first be set free; only then does service become possible.

Apply this to yourself. Egypt is a picture of the world; Pharaoh, a picture of the enemy. Before you knew Christ, you were a captive, a captive to sin that pushed you to do what you did not want to do, a captive to powers that held you fast. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). But the blood of Jesus flowed at the cross and broke the chains. "He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Colossians 2:15). You have come out of Egypt. You are free.

This freedom is not decorative; it has a purpose. You were delivered in order to serve. If you have not yet let Jesus set you free, everything else in this article will feel too heavy to carry, because you will be trying to serve without having been set free. Make peace with him first.

3. Second profile: those who have something to offer

"Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring it" (Exodus 35:5). When Israel came out of Egypt, they left with great possessions; God had given them favor in the eyes of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35-36). And to build the tabernacle, God also gave specific skills: to Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, he gave "the Spirit of God, with skill, intelligence, and knowledge in every craft" (Exodus 35:30-33). To the skilled women, he gave the ability to spin goat hair.

Whatever God asks for, he has already given. When God requires something of his people, he has already provided for it. The possessions came from him. The talents came from him. "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us" (Romans 12:6). "Each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another" (1 Corinthians 7:7).

So the only honest question you can ask yourself is not "do I have something to offer?" (you do, without question), but "what has God already given me that I could hand back to him?" A voice to sing with. A gift for leading. Skills in finance, digital work, hospitality, teaching. A trade that shapes you day after day. All of it comes from him. "What do you have that you did not receive?" asks the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 4:7).

The preacher tells the story of a woman who was a wonderful cook. She would invite her neighbors, they would come, they would eat, they would enjoy it, and whenever someone said, "Who made this cake, it's delicious," she would simply answer, "It's a gift God gave me." And every single time, that opened the door to talk about Jesus. Serve with what you have. Serving God is not only singing or preaching: your cooking, your keyboard, your spreadsheets can all bear fruit for him.

4. Third profile: those with a willing and generous heart

Four times in a row, in Exodus 35, the same phrase comes back: "everyone whose heart stirred him." Men and women alike, everyone moved by a willing spirit, came and brought their offering. And the result is astonishing: "The people brought much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord had commanded to be done" (Exodus 36:5). Moses had to tell them to stop.

God, says elder Fabrice SERI, "has a sense of humor." He is the one who gives life, who delivers, who distributes the gifts; and yet he still asks you, "Are you willing to give back what I have already given you?" He could force you, the way Pharaoh, the slave master, once did. But he will never override your will. "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

If you give to God under compulsion, it is better to give nothing at all. What he is looking for is a heart that wants to, that desires to, that brings something because it loves him. "A generous soul will be enriched" (Proverbs 11:25). And the opposite is true as well: in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the servant who buries his one talent is called "wicked," not because he had little, but because he handed nothing back to his master.

5. What God does with those who rise up for him

When you hand back to God what he has given you, he does not stay passive. He blesses. It is written at the end of Exodus 39: "Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them."

God is able to bless you far beyond what you can imagine. From a young shepherd tending his sheep, he makes a king of Israel (David). From a prisoner forgotten in a dungeon, he makes the prime minister of the greatest nation of his time (Joseph). Elder Fabrice SERI shares his own testimony of a résumé he submitted in 2012, picked back up years later for a job he had long stopped expecting. Elevating someone costs God nothing. Blessing someone is extremely easy for him. Your part is not to wear yourself out trying to open doors; it is to place what he has already entrusted to you at his disposal.

And time is short. "Night is coming, when no one can work" (John 9:4). It is daytime now. You have life, health, freedom, a gift. "Let us rise up and build" is not a slogan; it is an invitation to respond, today, to this God who brought you out of Egypt.

Key takeaways

• Service never comes before deliverance: God frees first, then calls you to build.
• Whatever God asks of you, he has already given you: possessions, gifts, talents, abilities, a trade.
• Serving God is not limited to singing or preaching: your career, your cooking, your digital skills, your accounting can all be offered to him.
• God never forces anyone; he looks for willing, generous hearts, not reluctant ones.
• When you hand back what you have, he blesses, and he does more than you can imagine, just as he blessed the people at the end of building the tabernacle.

Personal application

• What "Egypt" has God brought you out of? Are you aware enough of it that it feeds your gratitude and your service?
• Name three concrete things God has given you (a gift, a talent, a skill), and ask yourself which one you are not yet putting at his service.
• Do you carry your current service out of compulsion, out of habit, or with a willing heart? What do you want to tell God about that?
• Like the woman who cooked, is there a "everyday" talent you could turn into an opportunity to reach your neighbors, coworkers, or family with the gospel?
• Are you willing to bury nothing of what he has entrusted to you, so as not to end up like the servant in the parable of the talents?

Verses cited

• Nehemiah 2:18: "Let us rise up and build!"
• Psalm 24: the King of glory comes in
• Exodus 12:35-36: Israel leaves Egypt with great possessions
• Exodus 35:4-5: the offering of those with a willing heart
• Exodus 35:21-22: men and women bring according to their heart
• Exodus 35:30-35: Bezalel, son of Uri, filled with the Spirit of God
• Exodus 36:5: the people bring more than enough
• Colossians 2:15: Christ triumphs over the powers through the cross
• Romans 12:6: gifts that differ according to grace
• 1 Corinthians 7:7: each has received a particular gift from God
• 1 Corinthians 4:7: "What do you have that you did not receive?"
• Proverbs 11:25: the generous soul will be enriched
• 2 Corinthians 9:7: God loves a cheerful giver
• Matthew 25:14-30: the parable of the talents
• John 9:4: "Night is coming, when no one can work"

FAQ

Do you need great gifts to rise up and build for God?

No. The people who built the tabernacle came with what they had: gold for some, goat hair thread for others. God never reproached anyone for bringing little; he only reproaches burying it. What matters is not the size of the gift but whether you actually handed it over. The woman in the story served God with a home cooked dish.

Does serving God necessarily mean having a role in the church?

Elder Fabrice SERI insists that serving God is not limited to what you do in front of the congregation. Your work in finance, digital, healthcare, teaching, or logistics all comes from God and can be offered back to God. The church needs your skills internally, but the world also needs a Christian who, in their own trade, lets it show whose life this really is.

How can I know if my heart is truly "willing"?

Look at your motivation. If you serve out of fear of what others think, out of habit, or out of compulsion, your heart is not yet in the right place. A willing heart gives because it wants to, because it loves the one who set it free. Reconnect with your own "Egypt," with the cross, with the price paid for your freedom; the joy of giving flows from that almost naturally.