Over the last 3-4 months, our church studied the whole book of Nehemiah. It was so good for us. We received a lot of good feedback on the series. Many, many people saying they have never really studied the book of Nehemiah before.

You can go back and watch or listen all of the messages here.

One of the things we did in this study is that we were intentional to not reduce the book to just a study on leadership. While Nehemiah is a great leader, the book offers that leadership emphasis and also much more.

Another thing we did is we covered it all. Many studies in Nehemiah do not cover all 13 chapters. We took our time and covered all of it.

After completing preaching through every text, I preached this one final message. It was called “Takeaways from Nehemiah,” and you can check out that message here.

Here is a summary of that message:

1. THE WORK OF PRAYER
   While the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem is a well told story, what is often overlooked is his commitment to prayer. In every turn of the story, Nehemiah is found praying to God. While one can certainly see the work ethic and the teamwork as keys to the building of the walls, we must also recognize Nehemiah’s dependence on God and his faithful prayer each step of the way.
2. THE NEED FOR CONFRONTATION
   Most of us do not like confrontation, but we cannot ignore that God’s word teaches that sometimes it is needed. Jesus in Matthew 18 tells us to go to them. Paul tells Timothy and Titus to deal with it. In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah is willing to confront those who are dishonoring God. We must be willing to confront a sin issue when it is needed.
3. THE POWER OF INFLUENCE
   Influence is real. God uses people. Now we must be careful to never do work in only our own strength that doesn’t have the blessing and power of God in it. But with that said, Nehemiah’s influence was massive and obvious. You have all of Jerusalem torn down and discouraged. Nehemiah finally speaks up and says “Lets rebuild the walls,” and you see many, many people saying “yes, lets do it.” Certainly, if God wasn’t moving in that direction it could not have happened. Psalm 127 tells us “unless the Lord builds the house, those that labor, labor in vain.” But we also can say that were it not for Nehemiah’s influence, the walls would not have been built. God used Nehemiah to influence many people. God uses people for God’s glory!
4. THE STRENGTH OF TEAMWORK
   One of the biggest and best takeaways from the story of Nehemiah is the teamwork. Nehemiah did not do the work. Lots and lots of united people did the work. Chapter 3 uses the phrase “next to him” or “next to them” about 20 times to show that shoulder-to-shoulder and side-by-side they all worked together. The huge challenging project was completed because of teamwork. Teamwork is a beautiful thing. Teamwork makes the dreamwork. That is Biblical. We need other people in our lives. Other people need us in their lives.
5. THE SALVATION OF JESUS
   For as good as a read as the book of Nehemiah is, it sure ends on a sad note. Nehemiah was able to influence them, but Nehemiah was unable to change their hearts. This fascinating Old Testament book leaves us longing for a savior. Only Jesus can bring the lasting change to a person’s life. Jesus changes our hearts which in turn changes us from the inside out. While so much of Nehemiah points us to his good godly convictional leadership, the main emphasis of this book and story is that only God’s son can bring us salvation. Jesus is the true leader we all need in our lives!

Our church loved this study. And I personally have been inspired and strengthened by God through Nehemiah!

Jesus thinks differently about life and death.

The way he thinks about these heavy subjects is different than the way we think about them.

Life and death are such delicate topics – Heavy and emotional and sensitive and fragile and weighty topics.

This week our church had a 44 year old man pass away unexpectedly. His family is devastated. Our church family is heartbroken. We are all grieving.

Death has a powerful way of impacting us. Death will get you feeling things you have never felt before. Death will get you thinking about things that you have tried not to think about. And death will force you to deal with things that you have been putting off dealing with.

As we look to Jesus during this sadness, we see that He thinks differently than we do about life and death.

Death, as we often view it, is not that bad to Jesus.

In John 11, He intentionally takes his time in not getting to ill Lazarus. And then after he arrives and finds Lazarus has already died, Jesus says “whoever believes in me, even though he dies, he lives.” It seems to Jesus that Lazarus’s death isn’t that bad of a thing.

Along that same thought, Philippians 1 says “to die is gain” and also Psalm 116 says “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

Jesus thinks differently about death. For His followers, death isn’t bad.

Also Life, as we often view it, is not that good to Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong, Jesus loves life. He is life. He is the life-giver. Matter of fact, He gives the most life – the abundant life. But what actually is life, and the key to life, and the satisfaction of life is just different to Him.

Jesus knows that it isn’t stuff that makes life thrilling. Not money or attention or status or sex or success or anything like that. None of that stuff is the key to life. None of that stuff satisfies people. Jesus himself is the key to life. Jesus himself gives life and satisfies the heart and soul.

John 1 says “in Him was life.” In John 11, He says the believer that dies actually lives. In John 10, He says he came to give life – abundant life. John 3:36 says “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.”

Jesus thinks differently about life. For His followers, life as the world sees it isn’t that good. Empty things aren’t the good life. What gives life meaning is Jesus. What makes life good is Jesus.

Life is hard. And as this emotional life keeps forcing us to think about life and death, may we learn from Jesus. May we look to Jesus for how to think about life and death.

Jesus thinks differently about life and death, and we should too!

It was the spring of 2003 and I had just graduated from college a few months earlier. Along with several college buddies, we loaded up in a van and made the long road trip from the Carolinas to Texas so that we could attend Passion’s big OneDay event.

Apart from the scary thunderstorms, Shane & Shane’s music, and John Piper’s message, there isn’t a lot I remember from that 3 day experience in the open fields of Texas. But one very clear memory is the watchtower in the center from which the Bible was read out loud non-stop. College students read continuously from the Word of God over the loud speaker. It had a significant impact on my young 23 year old self then, and it continues to be a life-shaping memory in my life now.

Fast-forward 20 years later to today, and I still find myself thinking deeply about the public reading of Scripture.

All throughout history the public reading of Scripture has been practiced and valued by God’s people. We see this throughout the Bible – in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Moses on Mount Sinai. Ezra in Jerusalem after the walls are re-built. In the Gospels, Jesus reads from the Prophets. In the book of Acts, Paul and his companions read in the synagogues. In the book of Revelation, we read this “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it”. (Rev. 1:3)

And then we have in 1st Timothy 4, Paul’s encouragement to Timothy to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture.”

All throughout history and all throughout the Bible, we see the Word of God being read publicly.

So where has that gone?

Even in churches now, so little Bible is read.

When was the last time you heard an entire chapter of Scripture read out loud? When was the last time you heard a large chunk of Scripture read? When was the last time you focused in just to listen to longer portions of Scripture being read out loud?

What a massive swing and a miss it is for ministers to be leading church services without the public reading of Scripture.

What an added blessing it would be to all worship services if the public reading of good-size-portions of Scripture were included. May we honor God and His Word in this way. May we obey the Bible in this way. May we be faithful to follow the Scriptures in this way. May we lead our churches in this way.

The Word of God is true and it is alive! May we value it. In our churches and in our teaching settings, may we value the Word of God. And may our valuing of the Word of God be evident and obvious by our public readings!

There they were again
With no way to prevent it
Pushing me toward Him
Who did indeed invent it

They were big and sincere
Loving and rolling
Right down my cheeks
Quite uncontrolling

I’d prefer them to stop
But I love why they came
I owe everything to mom
My life and my name

Tears are a message
A word in a drop
I don’t want to cry
But I also don’t want to stop

Feeling this way
Deep Emotions are real
Being raised by her love
Will this way make you feel

Tears are a message
From a grateful heart
So I wipe them away
Each time that we part.

How often do we find ourselves in situations where we react and say a quick little prayer?

It happens. A simple “God, please help me here.” Or “Lord, have mercy on me.” Those prayers are frequent and good.

In fact, in my recent reading and preaching through the book of Nehemiah, I was so encouraged to see Nehemiah do this very thing.

In Nehemiah 2:4 the king asks Nehemiah a question. King Artaxerxes upon seeing that Nehemiah is sad asks him “What are you requesting?” What the Bible says next is just so awesome.

Nehemiah 2:4b and 2:5a say “So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king …” Did you catch that?

While sad, discouraged, yet faithful Nehemiah was in a conversation with the King, he prayed to God. In the middle of talking to someone else, he talked to God. Nehemiah prayed just a quick little prayer. An arrow-like prayer dart to God.

In essence, this was a brief but powerful glance of faith toward the throne of heaven.

This isn’t all that “pray without ceasing” means (1 Thess. 5:17), but it definitely has to be some of it. Nehemiah was so trusting in God that while talking to someone else he thought to pray to God. How inspiring!

Now we know better than to think that this is the only way Nehemiah prayed. Nehemiah 1 tells of him praying for days that eventually turned into months of prayer.

But this quick little prayer does strengthen all believers to turn to God anywhere at anytime. It shows that prayer can be a natural reaction; a first response; a reflex.

Just as Jesus said in John 15 “apart from me you can do nothing,” may our quick little prayers display that we are dependent on Him.

First day of school poem

It’s the first day of school
’23-’24
And the summer time schedule is here no more.

It’s the first day of school
And the end of summer break
New teachers to meet and new classes to take.

Its the first day of school
Backpacks and new shoes
New Classrooms to find
And good friendships to choose

It’s the first day of school
The kids are nervous excited
Many Parents are extra
And we can hardly hide it.

It’s the first day of school
Lunch box or school lunches
No homework tonight
But paperwork by the bunches

It’s the first day of school
Pencil boxes are glowing
Backpacks are heavy
Supplies lists are growing

It’s the first day of school
Parents hearts are torn
Time is moving too fast
It seems these kids were just born

It’s the first day of school
We ask
Who’s in your classes?
& Gone are the days of hallway passes

It’s the first day of school
Is everyone ready?
We go in prayer
Lord, keep our hearts steady.

It’s the first day of school
179 more
But I can’t wait to hug them
When they come home through that door

This is the scary question that Martha asks Jesus in Luke 10. Life is hard, and when we are feeling the pressures of life we can say things that we don’t really mean. We know from Scripture that Martha loved Jesus and trusted Him. But in this moment (anxiety and trouble over showing hospitality to Jesus the house guest), Martha expresses herself in a way that doubts if Jesus cares about her.

We can all relate to Martha in this situation.

Let me remind us all again — Jesus does care about you! In 1 Peter 5:7 we see “casting all your anxieties on Him because HE CARES for you.”

A few Sundays ago I preached on this passage. And this clip below is me speaking to Martha’s comment ‘do you not care?’

If there is anyone in the world that does care about our struggles, it is Jesus. May we trust Him and His loving care for us!

Does it come with benefits? How many times have you heard this?

A job may pay well, but it does not provide any benefits. A job may not pay all that well, but it provides lots of great benefits.

The benefits matter!

Psalm 103:1-2 says:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, all that is within me, bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits“

God wants us to understand that knowing Him comes with so many benefits. Being a Christian and knowing Jesus has full benefits!

The rest of Psalm 103 goes on to name just a few of the wonderful benefits of being a child of God.

• v.3 he forgives
• v.3 he heals
• v.4 he redeems
• v.4 he crowns you with love and mercy
• v.5 he satisfies
• v.5 he renews

And the Psalm goes on and on. There are so many benefits to being a follower of Jesus.

I wonder, has our outreach failed to model the benefits? Has our evangelism failed to communicate the benefits? Has our discipleship failed to teach the benefits? Do our church people even have the benefits?

When people are new to a job you will sometimes hear them say “But my benefits have not kicked in yet.” With Jesus this is not the case, to know God is to have His benefits! May our faith in Jesus be beneficial, let us forget not all his benefits!

I am reminded of one of my favorite songs to sing (Beautiful Savior) and some of the benefits it lists = Sins forgiven; Conscience cleansed; Death defeated; Life without end.

I recently read through the book of Psalms again. I knew going into it that the Psalms display a full range of emotions. But this time around, I was struck by how often the varying emotions are coming from “the soul.”

The Soul is the realest and deepest part of us. We are to love God and trust Jesus from the soul. We are to follow and obey God from the inside-out, from the soul.

Here are 4 Observations of the Soul from the Psalms: (You can see the full sermon here.)

1. THE HONEST SOUL
   For centuries, Christians have been drawn to the Psalms because of their honesty. There are sad and happy Psalms. There are calm and angry Psalms. There are clear and confused Psalms.

Life is like that. The Soul is like that. We need to be honest about our souls.

A great example comes from Psalm 86. Verse 1 says “I am poor and needy.” And then verse 2 says “I am godly.” And then verse 3 says “I cry all the day.” That is brutally honest!

Honesty requires truth over falsehood. When we are more concerned with the outer life than the inner life then we are more in line with legalism and being like Pharisees and white-washed-tombstones. God is worshipped from the soul. We need to be honest about our souls.

2. THE HURTING SOUL
The Psalms show us that sometimes the child of God hurts. Sometimes the hurt is soul-deep. There are many Psalms that teach us this.

In Psalm 42, we see a strong repetitive emphasis on the soul. We also see this refrain “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”

So much of faith and church has missed this point. The soul hurts. We need God’s healing love to help with our hurt. We do well to be honest and admit when we hurt spiritually.

3. THE HEALING SOUL
The Psalms also show us of souls that are being healed. Words like “revive” and “restore” are used of the soul.

In Psalm 19:7 we see “the Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.”

In Psalm 23:3 we see “He restores my soul.”

Restoring means that it empties and then needs to be refilled/restored. Which means we can be honest about that. There is a hurting soul, and there is also a healing soul.

4. THE HAPPY SOUL
Praise the Lord, the Psalms also show us the happy soul. Yes, the Psalms are full of emotions. But there is the reality of a happy and content soul. God’s love satisfies deep down. The redemption that comes through Jesus is a soul-satisfying salvation.

Psalm 139:14 says “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well.”

Let us be honest about our souls. When they hurt, let us look to Christ for healing. The healing soul will soon be a happy soul!

Lately I have been speaking a lot more Spanish. Honestly, I have been attempting more to speak Spanish.

And there is a phrase that has become so useful to me. That Spanish phrase is “No entiendo.” Which simply means “I don’t understand.” I usually combine it with “Perdon. Lo siento, pero no entiendo.” (I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.)

Whenever I say this, it helps me greatly with the person I am communicating with. They will usually slow down, say it again, and even say it in a way that is easier for me to understand.

I have found that when I just admit and tell them that I am not getting it, then it helps. And then we figure it out.

Also recently, I read the book of Psalms in the Bible. And in the super-long Psalm 119, I was struck by this frequent expression “Give Me Understanding.”

Psalm 119 verses 34, 73, 125, 144, and 169 all say “give me understanding.”

What a simple and clear and beautiful prayer!

Asking God to give us understanding is a healthy posture of faith and trust. Life can be confusing. We are often faced with situations in life that we don’t understand. Decision-making, conflict, opportunities, open-doors, and so on require some understanding. Looking to God to give us that understanding is the way to go. Following Jesus requires understanding, and God is ready to give it to us.

Psalm 119 models this for us five different times.

I want to encourage you to begin praying “Give Me Understanding” to God, and see how much that helps your faith and relationship with Jesus.