Sermon Archive

Sometimes things we take for granted to be true aren’t quite what we were led to believe. We can repeat things we’ve always assumed or that our culture has deemed to be true, but that doesn’t mean the Bible agrees with those assumptions. Leadership is one of those things. Authority, power, money, position, title- these are all things we associate with leadership, but if we are to follow the Biblical model, we must reset our assumptions. According to the Bible, leadership looks more like death than power, suffering than ruling, and serving than authority.

At some point, we will all deal with it. Some feel the weight of it daily. For some it comes from others, for some it comes from themselves. How do we respond when we feel the weight of discouragement and hear the mockery of our enemies? What do we do when we feel overwhelmed and overmatched? When we are tempted to believe that the task is too big or our abilities to meager, we can look at Nehemiah’s response as a pattern to follow. What does Nehemiah do? He prays, commits it all to God, and then simply gets back to work.

Has God ever called you out of your comfort zone to do something “crazy?” Nehemiah would say so. And what we do in those moments says a lot about our trust in God. Often it feels like the gap between calling and going can be a million miles wide. Are we being unfaithful if we don’t immediately jump into action? Maybe. Maybe not. There’s often more behind obeying God’s call than just the first steps.

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”- Augustine

Since our first exile from the Garden of Eden, we have been looking for home. All of humanity works from this fundamental base desire. Everyone may try different roads to get back home, but apart from Christ we are doomed to be a people that are always traveling, but never make it home. Which is what makes the final chapters of the Bible such a relief and our grand hope, because there we finally make it home. The garden destroyed in Genesis becomes the garden restored in Revelation. The end of the story is the promise that, through Jesus, we can finally make it home.

Jesus knows. Those two words are packed full of meaning and comfort for us today. He knows what it’s like to live in this world and all of its false promises. He knows what it’s like to long for home, only to be stuck in a place where nothing is at should be. He knows what it’s like to deal with suffering, pain, and betrayal. Jesus knows. He knows because he entered into our reality broken by the fall in the Garden of Eden. And it is his faithfulness in the Garden of Gethsemane that gives us hope that all of those things broken by the first garden, will be made right in the second.

Is this it? That’s the question that, at some point, we all will ask ourselves. As we work so hard and pursue so many different things, what we inevitably find out is that they don’t deliver. As we make our way through this world and realize that this world isn’t all we think it could be or should be, that question will begin to echo in our minds with increasing frequency. We know this question and the people of Israel new it too- especially when it came to the leadership from their kings. Time and time again they are let down and left asking the question- “Is this it?”

What we long for teaches us something about ourselves. When all of humanity shares that same longing, we can begin to understand even deeper truths about how we are created. In the opening chapters of the Bible, the stage is set for all of humanity in its idyllic home, only to be cast from that home as a result of sin. Since that moment of exile, the world has been searching for a way to return to Eden. That constant, unending search has left us “haunted by home.”

God’s word is “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12). At Providence, we believe that is true, but we also acknowledge that sometimes it is very hard. As the book of Ezra ends, we see the difficult, human cost of sin and repentance. As we learn the truth of God’s word, we also deal with how we are to respond when we don’t always understand or agree with what we read. Far from a crisis of faith, the difficulty of applying and understanding God’s word is an opportunity to deepen our faith in Him and His word.

Who are the most influential figures in the Old Testament? If you were to ask the average church-goer, they probably wouldn’t put Ezra in their top 10. However, Ezra’s influence as the “second giver” of the law is remarkable in its signifcance. Some would even call him a “Second Moses.” What makes Ezra so important and unique in this moment? We could point to several different markers, but perhaps chief is his life passion- to learn, do, and teach the law to Israel. We can learn a lot from Ezra, especially about what our lives should look like.

What does God ask of us? It’s a heavy question that can set our heads spinning and our hearts sinking. As Esther is faced with this question, she has to consider a past that has been tainted and a future that seems to be secure. To do what God seems to be asking would bring both her past and her future into question. Yet what God asks of us is not limited by our past, nor do our future plans alter his demands. What God asks for each of us is faithfulness today.

Have you ever considered how much easier your life would be if you had a narrator to follow you around and help you correctly interpret everything that’s happening around you? Life isn’t like that though. We don’t get to know why certain things happen or what the end result will be. This often puts us in a place where it can be hard to know what to do in the midst of life’s every shifting chaos. As the book of Esther opens, we are given the events that unfold that seem to have no connection to the rest of the Bible’s story. However, we know that even in these events, God is working his plan.

What does it mean to be blessed by God? Is it material possessions? Good health? Great influence? What if none of those things are, in and of themselves, markers of God’s blessing? God’s blessing has much more to do with His faithfulness to us and to His covenant with His people, than it does these outward markers. The blessing of God is marked less by what he gives us and more by how he draws us. Central to that purpose is his patience, goodness, and relentless pursuit of us. In that pursuit, there are times that our greatest blessings can be found in our deepest hour of need.

In a world gone mad, how do Christians navigate? Compromise is always on the table and one Satan is comfortable to offer. Fighting and endless conflict seems to be our only choice. The problem with both of these options is that they are the terms offered by outside forces. What God calls us to is defined less by what happens outside of us and more by who he has redeemed us to be.

The long-awaited moment had come. The priests were gathered in their robes, the people sang loudly, the trumpets blew, and the old men…wept with sorrow. Huh? It’s not the response we would anticipate. Why would this moment of celebration and triumph be mixed with sorrow and lament? The answer to that question teaches us about the role of the temple, Jesus’s mission on earth, the church, and our future.