anticipation | Notion

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Below are my speaker notes for a message in Midway, our church’s middle school ministry. We were going through our ministry values. This one is “Anticipation: Faith is Our Fuel”.

(Blue points were on the slides 👀)

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What is Anticipation?

“Have you ever waited for something exciting?” The end of school, maybe? A birthday? A vacation?
Anticipation really just means getting ready with excitement. Why?—because you believe something good is coming.
- As volunteers and staff at Midway, we show up every week with anticipation—
  - To experience God’s presence and all that goes with that
  - For God to speak
  - For God to move
- Not because it’s our job, but because we’ve seen God do these things. We’ve watched students meet Jesus and be changed by Him.
- Anticipation isn’t always hype or big feelings necessarily. It’s a steady, grounded faith-fueled readiness.
You guys are part of this anticipation too. This is a value for all of Midway. We’re a group of people that doesn’t just hope for good things, but we live expecting God to show up. You’re invited to live that way too.
Because he always does show up, whether you see it or not.

Nehemiah’s Story: Anticipation in Action (Nehemiah 1)

To get an idea of what godly anticipation or expectancy looks like, we’re going to read from Nehemiah one. Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the Persian King. He was one of many (millions? 😅) of Jewish people in exile. they have been taken from their home year – which to them meant their place of worship, their heritage and cultural identity. Right before this passage, a messenger has come who’s just recently visited Judah, the Jewish people’s homeland and has some news.

Read Neh 1:3-4 (MSG)

3 They told me, “The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still rubble; the city gates are still cinders.”

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven.

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Nehemiah hears really hard news: Jerusalem (His home) is in ruins. He doesn’t rush to fix it—he stops to weep, fast, and pray (v4). And the next few verses record one of his prayers:

Read Neh 1:5 (MSG) I said, “God, God-of-Heaven, the great and awesome God, loyal to his covenant and faithful to those who love him and obey his commands: Look at me, listen to me.

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He reminds himself of who God is—“great and awesome,” “faithful to His promises” (v5).
Nehemiah is so bold. And that’s not just because I chose the Message paraphrase - other translations are all the same. This is the prayer of a child to his father.

Read Neh 1:6-11 (MSG)

Pay attention to this prayer of your servant that I’m praying day and night in intercession for your servants, the People of Israel, confessing the sins of the People of Israel. And I’m including myself, I and my ancestors, among those who have sinned against you.

7-9 “We’ve treated you like dirt: We haven’t done what you told us, haven’t followed your commands, and haven’t respected the decisions you gave to Moses your servant. All the same, remember the warning you posted to your servant Moses: ‘If you betray me, I’ll scatter you to the four winds, but if you come back to me and do what I tell you, I’ll gather up all these scattered peoples from wherever they ended up and put them back in the place I chose to mark with my Name.’

10-11 “Well, there they are—your servants, your people whom you so powerfully and impressively redeemed. O Master, listen to me, listen to your servant’s prayer—and yes, to all your servants who delight in honoring you—and make me successful today so that I get what I want from the king.”

I was cupbearer to the king.

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Why did Nehemiah pray at all?
- He needed help - there was something he deeply cared about that was ruined and broken.
- He believed God could help - based on history. Think Moses: the plagues, parting the red sea - and all of the other wonders God has performed in Israel’s history.
- He believed God WOULD help, that He listens to His people when they return to Him. He moves on their behalf.
- The distinction here between could and would is really important. Could → powerful, Would → good, faithful to His promises.
- Again, he acts like a child with his father.
- His anticipation of God’s listening and responding is what lead him to prayer.

Read 2 Chronicles 7:14 (CSB) If my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

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His expectancy (a similar idea to anticipation) is built on faith in God’s character and track record—not just emotion or wishful thinking.

What is Anticipation?

Nehemiah’s Story: Anticipation in Action (Nehemiah 1)

Because of faith like Nehemiah, we can wake up expecting Jesus to move.