Sermon thoughts – Page 3

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9, Day 6

Saturday: Never Abandoned

Text: 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. (Neh. 9:31)

Teach: Occasionally, I will ask a gathering of believers to share a Bible promise. Inevitably, someone will mention Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” This is what God told Jacob. It’s also what Jesus told his followers: “be sure of this, I am with you always, even to the end” (Matthew 28:20).

Take: Psalm 139 is one of my favorites. I remember when I discovered it. I was in high school and our teacher had us read the poem, “The Hound of Heaven.” The author, Francis Thompson, is described as a tortured soul, one who battled addictions. But he, like David, and the rest of us, realized that God is a relentless pursuer. But he is also gracious and merciful. No matter what we’ve done, how arrogant or disobedient we are, he will never abandon us.

Task: Make time to read Psalm 139, or the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) and thank God for his gracious mercy. He will never leave you. Ever.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 5

Friday: Do We Learn From History?

Text: 16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. (Neh. 9:16-17a)

Teach: Reading through Nehemiah 9:16-30 we find the ups and downs of God’s people. Their experience is summed up pretty well in our text for today. What was the root of their up and down relationship? Arrogance, disobedience, and lack of remembering. They forgot how they got to where they were. They began to think they could handle things all on their own. And as a result the walked in disobedience.

Take: Remember. So often we live as spiritual amnesiacs. Some of Jesus’ final words to his followers came at the Last Supper: this do in remembrance of me. Don’t forget. Daily Bible reading isn’t merely an exercise to cross off our “to do” list. It’s the process by which we keep on remembering.

Task: What miracles has God performed in your life? Take time to remember, and give thanks.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 4

Thursday: No One Like Our God

Text: 6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. (Neh. 1:6)

Teach: When Moses gave the people God’s commandments, he began by telling them to acknowledge that there were no other gods before the LORD. He is the creator, the one who breathed life into everything. As a young teen I learned this truth. We would sing a chorus that said, “There is enough of God in nature, His power is clearly shown. A man has no excuse for wondering. God and heaven are known (see Romans 1:20).”

Take: When I sit out under a clear sky and see the multitude of stars above, I can’t help but think of God speaking to Abraham or David penning Psalm 8. And I want to break into a chorus or two of “How Great Thou Art.”

This verse in Nehemiah speaks to me of perspective: how great God is and how small, or insignificant, I am. And yet he loves me. He loves us. It really is amazing.

Task: We will have God’s perspective when we are aware of our position in relation to him. Psalm 8 tells us that God’s majesty fills the earth, but that he made us to care for his creation. There is trust and relationship implied throughout his Word. Pray through Psalm 8.

LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 3

Wednesday: What Is Worship?

Text: 3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God. (Neh. 1:3)

Teach: You’ve probably heard the saying, “Confession is good for the soul.” Many attribute this to a Scottish proverb, but note that it should read, “Open confession is good for the soul. There is a sense of accountability implied in that openness. The people who listened to the Word were in this together, so there was personal as well as corporate confession taking place.

Take: As you can probably imagine, Jesus had something to say about confession: Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32). Paul speaks to the emphatic nature of confession to the Romans: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

And just what is confession? The best explanation I heard was many years ago when I was a counselor at church camp. The speaker was explaining what it meant to confess to a group of teenagers. He told them confessing was telling God everything he knew about them was true. What I like about that is it works for our confession for our salvation and for the sins we commit after.

Task: Take time today to confess. What do you need to acknowledge that God already knows about you?

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 2

Tuesday: Come Apart

Text: 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. (Neh. 1:2)

Teach: Separated. Chosen. Picked. That’s what God’s people are. Peter declares it this way: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). In the original language, to be holy is to be set apart for special use.

Take: Jesus in one of his final recorded prayers (see John 17) speaks to how his followers will be in this world, but not of it. Paul expounds on this when he urges the Roman believers: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2a). We’re in this world, but the way are needs to reflect whose we are. Separate doesn’t always mean far away. We need to be sure the world can see the difference in us.

Task: Inventory time. As you pray today, ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind the ways you are different, and perhaps where you have compromised. Are you ready to separate yourself?

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 1

Monday: Feasting Turns to Fasting

Text: On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. (Neh. 1:1)

Teach: Fasting isn’t an easy topic to address with people, primarily because we don’t like to go without. But fasting also presupposes the awareness of need or sin, something isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. Here in Nehemiah, the people had been listening to and convicted by God’s plan and purpose as lined out in the Law.

Take: Jesus speaks about fasting in the Sermon on the Mount: 16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:16-18). Did you catch the implication? He isn’t commanding fast, he’s not even suggesting it, he’s assuming we will.

Task: Can you think of time when you don’t have or know of a spiritual need? Me either. Pray with me today and ask that God would enlighten us on when and how we should fast.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 7 Day 7

Sunday:

Text: 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:7-8, NIV)

Teach: The major lesson of this chapter has been: people are important to God. Not just groups of people, but individuals. I think of the encounter Jesus had with the woman at the well. John makes the point in his account that Jesus had to go that way. Not because the map said so, but because he had an appointment to keep.

Take: We are not in this journey alone. God fixed that in the beginning. Eve was created because it was not good for man to be alone. We were created to be in relationship with and for each other. We may not always get along, but we really do need each other.

Task: Ponder this quote by James Robison: God created us in His image. We were made for relationship, fellowship, stewardship and productive fruitfulness. The first relationship which profoundly affects all other relationships begins with our commitment to faith in and fellowship with Father God. It is on this meaningful relationship all others are to be built. We are to love God first and foremost and love our neighbors with the same legitimate concern we have for our own well-being.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 7 Day 3

Wednesday:

Text: 3 I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”

Teach: Nehemiah called for two kinds of guards, those who kept the gates and those who performed as kind of neighborhood watch. Everyone was to keep watch and warn of the enemy’s presence or attack.

Take: The days of Sheriff Andy and Mayberry are gone. Doors and windows stay locked and many homes have security systems to protect them. We live by the mantra: you can’t be too careful. But are we as cautious to protect our spiritual life? We’re told to guard our heart in Proverbs. Jesus makes several references to guarding our treasure, our relationship with God.

Task: What safeguards do you take to guard your heart?

Book Review: Hymns of the Heart

As close to perfect as I’ve read in a long time.

There is really nothing I didn’t like about this book. I only wish there was more. The author addresses thirty five psalms in this volume. There is a good representation of familiar and less familiar selections included. The author gives the more familiar psalms a look that is refreshing, while taking the time to lift up less familiar hymn an intention and well-deserved nod.

In the epilogue the author notes mentions the varied emotions expressed in the psalms and how this was encouragement to the growth of his awe and wonder for God. His intention to draw the reader into similar patterns of growth can be considered “mission completed.”

The heart of this pastor is poured out on each page. I can imagine the material being preached and the people being blessed. Rev. Faughn has done his homework, but it neither comes across as “preachy” in a negative way or condescending manner. I found myself learning and going deeper.

Each chapter is written in an easy to follow style. I love the author’s use of alliteration. The way it is presented could clearly enhance a person’s individual study time or be well-suited to a class or small group study.
I highly recommend this book. I received a copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Sermon Seed: Investing a Treasure

Imagine, you have been given a fortune. More money than you could make in twenty lifetimes.

Actually, you haven’t been “given” it as much as it has been entrusted to you by another–your boss.

What would you do?

In Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30 ), he tells a story about a master who does that with three of his servants.

The first two double what was entrusted to them, but the third is some combination of fearful and lazy so he buries his.

The investors are rewarded and invited to celebrate, while the non-risk taker is cast out.

There are mountains of theories and interpretations for this story.

For me it boils down to this: