IT'S CRUNCH TIME! (3 OF 13)
by Keith Krell
Scripture: Nehemiah 2:1-20
This content is part of a series.
Sermon Title: "It's Crunch Time!"
Sermon Series: Rebuild and Renew (3 of 13)
Scripture: Nehemiah 2:1-20
Contributor: Keith Krell
Are you familiar with the expression "crunch time"? It was actually first used by Winston Churchill in 1939. He used the phrase to indicate a critical point where a momentous outcome would be determined. In the 1960s, it crossed over to the sports world. It referred to that frantic activity in the closing minutes of a basketball or football game that decided the winner. Crunch time later got applied to the business world and our personal lives. In this instance, "crunch time" means being thrust into an intense situation where you're called to perform and come up big. It requires all your effort, skill, and focus.
When was the last time you experienced "crunch time"? Was it making a business presentation to regional managers? Was it asking your boss for two weeks off to go on a short-term mission trip? Was it your piano recital in front of family and friends? Was it asking someone you've secretly liked to go out on a date? Was it sharing your faith with your atheist neighbor? Was it moving out of your home of forty years and into a retirement community? At one time or another you've all encountered "crunch time." How did you handle your pressure filled moment? Did you rise to the challenge or fold under the pressure? How will you handle your future "crunch time" moments? Nehemiah can help us learn how to respond. In Nehemiah 2, we see one of the all-time great examples of "crunch time."
1. Nehemiah Visits the King (2:1-8). Our account begins in 2:1: "And it came about in the month Nisan [late March and early April], in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,1 that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence." Nehemiah prayed for over four months (cf. 1:1) about conditions in Jerusalem before he acted. It's likely that he repeated his prayer 150 times, perhaps sev ...
Sermon Series: Rebuild and Renew (3 of 13)
Scripture: Nehemiah 2:1-20
Contributor: Keith Krell
Are you familiar with the expression "crunch time"? It was actually first used by Winston Churchill in 1939. He used the phrase to indicate a critical point where a momentous outcome would be determined. In the 1960s, it crossed over to the sports world. It referred to that frantic activity in the closing minutes of a basketball or football game that decided the winner. Crunch time later got applied to the business world and our personal lives. In this instance, "crunch time" means being thrust into an intense situation where you're called to perform and come up big. It requires all your effort, skill, and focus.
When was the last time you experienced "crunch time"? Was it making a business presentation to regional managers? Was it asking your boss for two weeks off to go on a short-term mission trip? Was it your piano recital in front of family and friends? Was it asking someone you've secretly liked to go out on a date? Was it sharing your faith with your atheist neighbor? Was it moving out of your home of forty years and into a retirement community? At one time or another you've all encountered "crunch time." How did you handle your pressure filled moment? Did you rise to the challenge or fold under the pressure? How will you handle your future "crunch time" moments? Nehemiah can help us learn how to respond. In Nehemiah 2, we see one of the all-time great examples of "crunch time."
1. Nehemiah Visits the King (2:1-8). Our account begins in 2:1: "And it came about in the month Nisan [late March and early April], in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,1 that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence." Nehemiah prayed for over four months (cf. 1:1) about conditions in Jerusalem before he acted. It's likely that he repeated his prayer 150 times, perhaps sev ...
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