bpchurch Sermons

Who are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? Fear is very popular in our culture right now; there is a whole entertainment industry built on fear, from Halloween to horror movies. But there is also a real fear that people face day by day—fear of illness and death, fear of what people think of you, even fear of what the future will hold. Nehemiah chapter six is full of people trying to use fear to stop Nehemiah from finishing the wall. Nehemiah will regularly be faced with a decision: does he give into this fear, or will he fear God instead? You are faced with that same decision day by day. What does it mean to fear God instead of people?

There are times in your life that you have gotten in your own way. You did what you shouldn’t have done, or you didn’t do what you should have done. You tripped yourself up, you were your own obstacle. Even worse, you may have tripped others up. Maybe your sin or failure also became an obstacle for someone else, maybe you caused others to trip or fall as well. You missed an opportunity to be used by God and instead you became an obstacle to what God was doing.

What happens now? Is there any way to really recover? After sin, some people might be tempted to believe that the best they can now expect is to be somewhat sidelined, disqualified from the center of God’s will. Sometimes the consequences of sin do continue. But Nehemiah Chapter 5 provides a different example. Those who were obstacles to what God was doing are given the opportunity to instead become examples of the bigger restoration that God is doing. What will those who were obstacles do with this opportunity?

When God’s people step into God’s will to accomplish God’s purpose, they can expect opposition. The enemy will use ridicule and rumor, bullying and abuse to cause us to withdraw, to stop what God is building. We might expect that following God’s will should bring God’s blessing—and it does—but that blessing may be found through a difficult path where our internal tiredness will also face external intimidation.

That is the story of Nehemiah Chapter 4. Because God’s people join together to build in God’s work, the enemy reacts with shame and threats. This Sunday, we will consider how we can continue to build God’s church in the midst of enemy opposition.

Nehemiah chapter three was all about building walls and closing doors. It seems like an odd emphasis, at least from a Christian perspective. Aren’t we supposed to be about bringing people in, not putting up walls to keep people out? Do you sometimes feel like Nehemiah should be less like Moses and the law, and more like Jesus? Nehemiah seemed pretty harsh and exclusionary with Sanballat the Samaritan in Neh 2:20, saying that he has no portion or right or claim with them in Jerusalem. Ouch!

So, what does Nehemiah’s narrow-mindedness tell us about the gospel, and are some people excluded from inclusion in God’s blessing today? Let’s talk about it on Sunday.

Pastor Bob

Nehemiah chapter three is a fun chapter to read. In 32 verses there are about 100 names of people and places, most of which we cannot pronounce. This is the part of Nehemiah’s story that reads more like one of those long chapters of numbers in the Book of Numbers. Why is that chapter here, and why does it matter? These names might not matter so much to us, but maybe they should because they certainly matter to God. And you know what—your name matters to God too. What you do matters to God and he never overlooks what his people do for his name.

Let’s talk about it, understanding what they did and what we should do also.

You have seen a need or come face-to-face with a crisis concerning the well-being of those you love. You’ve prayed for God to do something, to make a way. You’ve prayed for days, for weeks, for months… You feel like you’re hanging by a thread. Suddenly, the moment of truth has come—will your prayer be answered, or will your story have a shorter and unhappy ending?

In Nehemiah Chapter 2 the story is not cut short. Nehemiah’s thread does not break; his story of God working continues to go forward even with some storm clouds of opposition appearing on the horizon. Come and see how Nehemiah can go forward, God’s people can arise and build, and you can take the next step, because “the good hand of God is upon you.”

Some people see the story of Nehemiah as one about leadership and logistics, or construction and correction. Those things are certainly in there, but the foundation on which all of those things are built is a story of restoration. It’s a story of confession and covenant, of God’s provision and protection. It’s a story in which we see that God does hear and answer prayer, and we can see that mere men can show something of the heart of God.

In Nehemiah 1 we’ll see something of God’s own heart and something of our restoration and God’s working in us.

We have a guest speaker this Sunday, John and Carol Ragsdale serve with Trans World Radio in the Middle East and North Africa, bringing the Gospel and hope in Christ to some of the most unreached people. John will be sharing with us from Colossians 4:2-6, and reporting on some of the challenges and opportunities for missionary radio in the last couple of years

It's a strange thing for the Gospel of Mark to conclude outside the empty tomb with the words, “they said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.” That’s not right, how can it end that way?! It’s almost scandalous – and it seemed that way after Mark wrote it, too.

The truth is, it didn’t end that way, and yet for us, some days it does. Have you at times been afraid to share what God has done? We all have. So, what do we do with our fear?

Cultural leaders rage against Jesus, seeing his followers as a greater threat than real criminals. Political leaders desperately try to preserve the appearance that they are in charge. The masses are easily manipulated to demand what seems to be the solution, rather than what is truly good or right or just.

Am I talking about Mark Chapter 15 or 2021?

In the midst of troubled times, Jesus stands above all as the one worth believing in, then and now. And yet, we are surprised by those who do believe.