Intimidation (4 of 6)
Series: re:Solve
Dave Gustavsen
Nehemiah 4:1-23
I want to extend a welcome to our entire church family, whether it's at our Lincoln Park Campus or our Acoustic Service or online-great to have you with us.
(Prayer for country/refugee situation).
So... the reason we chose to start the year in the book of Nehemiah is that it's about a group of people who joined together to build something bigger than themselves. Why does that matter to us? Because it's easy for us to make resolutions and plans that are nothing more than self-improvement. ''I want to fit into my size 32 jeans by the summer.'' ''I want to pay off my mortgage.'' ''I want to start my own business.'' All good things, right? Nothing wrong with those. But Nehemiah reminds us that we were meant for more. For higher goals. I love these words by CS Lewis:
''It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.''
So my goal for this series is that you and I won't be too easily pleased-that we won't settle for self-improvement. That we'll hear the voice of God, calling us to something higher.
So...Nehemiah was a Jewish man who lived in Persia in the mid-5th Century BC. The reason he was in Persia is that the Jewish people were under the control of the Persian Empire. Nehemiah had a very comfortable life, but then he heard this news that his homeland of Jerusalem was in terrible shape; the city wall was destroyed; the people were demoralized. So he actually traveled back to Jerusalem and started leading a rebuilding project. And last week we looked at chapter three, where this very diverse group of people-rich people, poor people, priests, carpenters, Hilary voters, ...
Series: re:Solve
Dave Gustavsen
Nehemiah 4:1-23
I want to extend a welcome to our entire church family, whether it's at our Lincoln Park Campus or our Acoustic Service or online-great to have you with us.
(Prayer for country/refugee situation).
So... the reason we chose to start the year in the book of Nehemiah is that it's about a group of people who joined together to build something bigger than themselves. Why does that matter to us? Because it's easy for us to make resolutions and plans that are nothing more than self-improvement. ''I want to fit into my size 32 jeans by the summer.'' ''I want to pay off my mortgage.'' ''I want to start my own business.'' All good things, right? Nothing wrong with those. But Nehemiah reminds us that we were meant for more. For higher goals. I love these words by CS Lewis:
''It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.''
So my goal for this series is that you and I won't be too easily pleased-that we won't settle for self-improvement. That we'll hear the voice of God, calling us to something higher.
So...Nehemiah was a Jewish man who lived in Persia in the mid-5th Century BC. The reason he was in Persia is that the Jewish people were under the control of the Persian Empire. Nehemiah had a very comfortable life, but then he heard this news that his homeland of Jerusalem was in terrible shape; the city wall was destroyed; the people were demoralized. So he actually traveled back to Jerusalem and started leading a rebuilding project. And last week we looked at chapter three, where this very diverse group of people-rich people, poor people, priests, carpenters, Hilary voters, ...
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