Love God. Make Disciples. Be Great Neighbors. Tallahassee, FL.
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It is very unlikely that many of us identify the idol of emotions as one of our main struggles. However, we can find this idol in ourselves when we ask questions like “Is my obedience towards God dependent on my feelings?” or “Do I follow Jesus less in a season when I feel disconnected?” In fact, for most of us, our obedience is bound to our emotions. Evidence of this fact is the self-medication of online shopping when we feel frustrated, or settling for a wrong relationship when we feel lonely....
Besides just the cheesiness of doing a relationship sermon on Valentine’s Day, this sermon was originally scheduled on another day so as not to rain on the parade of everyone. Yet, here it is. Because all humans are made in the image of God, it makes sense that it is easy for us to idolize another human. To start with the bottom line, relationships were never meant to be used for the fulfillment of our needs, they were always meant to compliment us. However, when we look to the compliment to bec...
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Many of us care deeply about what others think about us. Almost all (if not all) of us seek approval from at least one person. We live in an approval-seeking culture, we just call it by the inverse: “cancel culture”. Whether it be in seeking out attention and likes on social media or in simply hating to feel like we’ve let someone down, the idol of approval has the ability to crush us. As is true with almost every idol, the idol of approval is indicative of a real need. When Jesus was baptized a...
Whether it be assuming that our car breaks will work when we apply them, assuming that a chair will hold us when we sit down, or assuming that our friend will be on time (or late, depending on their personality), we all walk through life with a set of assumptions. More consequentially, we assume that the things at the very center of our lives will fulfill our needs. Anything that isn’t Jesus that takes our ultimate focus and attention in life is an idol. And when it comes to removing an idol fro...
We all have something that stands at the center of our life. Whether it be family, career, success, or comfort, there is inevitably something in our lives that is of ultimate importance to us. And we have placed it at the center of our lives for a reason. Whether we think about it or not, we believe that whatever we center our lives around can meet the main need we have. However, we never revisit the thing that our lives revolve around and ask, “Can this fulfill me?” The thing at the center of o...
We carry assumptions into every aspect of our life. We assume that what makes us feel good is what makes others feel good, we assume that rational people will accept our rational statements, and we even assume that acquiring more money or losing more weight would fulfill us. We carry such assumptions with us into every aspect of life, even into the sphere of our most core needs. Yet, we find ourselves still longing with our needs not met we double down on that assumption instead of changing. We ...
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The story of the Exodus from Egypt is one of God raising up a leader, Moses, to lead his people out of slavery. However, as things get difficult throughout the trek between Egypt and the Promised Land, the people of Israel cry out in complaint to Moses: “You should have left us in Egypt! It was better for us in Egypt!” The reality is that there were very few things that were good about the 430 year subjugation of Israel under Egypt. So, why did Israel look back so favorably on their time in Egyp...
In the same way that getting berated over leaving a bowl in the sink is a disproportionate reaction to the offense, political opinions are also prone to elicit disproportionate responses. In fact, politics are more divisive than religion. The majority of us would respectfully agree that we each have a freedom to practice religion, yet have no problem lobbing insults at the opposing political camp. Politics are so charged and provoke such strong emotional responses because they play on these two ...
When Jesus walked on planet earth, his kingdom was open to everyone. With a diverse population of believers come diverse sets of beliefs and opinions. This is the tension we feel as Christians. The truth is that every political position claims a part of Jesus. Yet, we should be united as a body of believers, and, as Jesus prayed, our oneness will be our witness. Yet, where does our unity end and disagreement begin? In a diverse and polarizing world how do we actually live this out? In the early ...
Voting season is the most polarizing time of the year in our country. While common sentiment would lead you to think that religion and politics are the two things that you should never bring up in conversation, the reality is that either the world will teach us how to think about politics or the Word of God will teach us. Politics are so divisive because we all have skin in the game. For many of us, there is a real fear of the impact that will be made based on who wins an election. When we fear ...
To this point in the book of Nehemiah, almost every outcome has come out ideally; enemies plot against Nehemiah, but they are not effective in their attempt to halt his leadership. Despite all adversity, the wall is built in 52 days. The Law is read to the people, and they repent emphatically. In verse 13, the narrative shifts a little bit as Nehemiah spends years away from Jerusalem. When he returns and the Israelites have turned away from honoring God, his reaction is to say to God, “Remember ...
This sermon series has been going on for 15 weeks now. While we may have gained some insight or new convictions, many of our lives look the same now as they did 15 weeks ago. How do we begin to implement God’s plan for us to influence others with our lives? Why don’t we start? Nehemiah 11 shows the slow beginnings of reinhabiting the city of Jerusalem after the wall was complete. It is apparent that it was much easier to rally people to build the wall than it was to rally people to live within t...
Most of us would agree that we as Christians are largely not as influential as we are called to be. As we have been working through the book of Nehemiah, we find that when we add value to those around us by meeting practical needs, it causes spiritual renewal. We know that we are called to be “in the world and not of it,” but we all lean more heavily to one side. Either we are so set apart that we are unhelpful to the world, or we are so worldly that there is no differentiation between us and th...
We often take for granted the faithfulness of God throughout the entirety of our lives. Yet, when we remember the faithfulness of God, it restores our faith in God. The Lord has shown us covenant faithfulness that is based not on our own faithfulness, but on His faithfulness. Nehemiah 9 shows a glimpse into the history of Israel, focusing particularly on God’s faithfulness standing in juxtaposition to Israel’s unfaithfulness. The root of our unfaithfulness is that we don’t listen to and we don’t...
Coming face to face with our own sin is highly uncomfortable. Our most natural reaction to facing our own sin is to hide from God. In Nehemiah 8, when the people of Israel heard the law being read over them for the first time, they were deeply sorrowful. They felt this need to mourn and hide because they saw where they did not measure up. Yet, Nehemiah declared this day not to be a day of mourning, but a day holy to the Lord. He called the people to celebrate repentance. Because of the reality t...
On a winding mountain road, guard rails serve to create margin between where we are and the present danger that lies over the edge. While most of us would agree that such guardrails are important on the roads, we so often live in relationships, marriages, and in our financial dealings without any guardrails in place. Worldly wisdom proves to be completely insufficient for speaking into these areas. In Nehemiah 7:1-4, Nehemiah takes proactive steps to close the gates of the city to protect it at ...
Everyone who wants to live a Godly life will experience pressure. In fact, every personal failure of ours comes about by succumbing to the pressures of life. We all come to situations that seem like they are lose-lose. Nehemiah 6 gives us an extraordinary example of how to stand under pressure. Nehemiah connects who he is to what he does. His answer to temptation is “Should a man like me do this?” This is the correct response to pressure. Pressure tests our identity, not our ability. When we giv...
The entire purpose of this sermon is to show you the importance of getting connected into groups. The importance of community is a principle that applies to you whether you believe it or not. In Ecclesiastes 4, King Solomon teaches why it is important to be surrounded in community. Two people can work better than one can by themselves. When one person falls, it is good to have another to help them up. In a world that is exceedingly filled with projecting an idealized version of ourselves, it is ...
If you’ve ever tried to accomplish anything of significance, you are aware of our tendency to be distracted from important work. For almost everything in life, it’s easy to get distracted. If we could ever truly accomplish the most important things before anything else, it would change our lives. Nehemiah stands as an extraordinary example of refusing to be distracted, as he says, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down,” (Neh. 6:3). We all have a great work to prioritize. The reality is...
When we hear a call to justice, we are often stirred up in emotion, as we all believe that service to the marginalized and vulnerable is important. Yet, we don’t often have a sustained sense of immediacy towards such passions; we have difficulty having obedience in the same direction over a long period of time. What we find when it comes to having the right actions towards justice is that what we do is the outcome of why we do it. For Nehemiah, his reason for working toward justice was simple: i...
God’s people are called to apply pressure to places that are devoid of His justice. We are commissioned to be God’s representatives for justice on Earth.We can often use politics and other guises to hide behind the call we have to administer justice. The injustice we see in the world should bother us. In Nehemiah chapter 5, Nehemiah fights injustice by applying pressure emotionally, mentally and physically. This response changes the injustice around him. We should allow ourselves to be burdened ...
Most of us see other people’s needs to gain more resiliency, but can be blind to our own. We have a tendency to quit on tasks in the “messy middle” once we’ve gotten tired from the work we’ve already done, but the end is not yet in sight. In Nehemiah 4, Nehemiah models obedience in the process of building the wall while trusting God with the finished product. When we focus on the product, we gain a false sense that we are the ones in control rather than God. We are able to fully engage in obedie...
