This week’s sermon follows Nehemiah’s initial steps as he arrives in Jerusalem and begins leading the people to rebuild the city walls. It’s a message about not only getting started but getting started well, as we move towards our places of rebuilding with intentionality, purpose, and a clear strategy.

In Nehemiah 2:1-10, we witness a profound journey that begins with fear, moves through prayer, and leads to courageous action against overwhelming opposition. In this sermon, we discussed the truths in our lives that demand our attention and talked about how, through God’s power, we can (re)build our lives, communities, and church.

This week, we begin a new series on Nehemiah 1, exploring Nehemiah’s place in world history and his emotional state when he receives troubling news about the state of his homeland's city of Jerusalem. Moved with compassion, Nehemiah’s first response is to turn to God in prayer. Join us as we embark on Nehemiah’s journey, discovering what it means to partner with God in the (re)building of our world, culture, and personal lives.

We live in a world that places a high value on freedom and yet, we haven’t always thought through what real freedom is. In this message we’lll explore the powerful paradox of how not doing whatever we desire in a moment and surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus actually leads to the freedom our hearts most crave.

Maybe you’ve felt the tension between wanting others to know you're a follower of Jesus and the more insidious desire to be admired for how you live it out. Jesus addresses this tension in the Sermon on the Mount, warning that this mindset can get out of control and rob us of the Kingdom life He offers. In today’s message, we’ll explore what Jesus says about this temptation and consider how we can shift our hearts and motives in a new direction—while still taking His command to shine as His followers in the world seriously.

Victorious and overcoming is how we typically like to see ourselves. We are often most comfortable in winners’ circles and at the top of the heap. But the example of Jesus would have us become better acquainted with our own mortality as a way to experience true strength and power.

Famously, Jesus proclaims to the weary an easy yoke and a light burden. Yet a yoke is a tool made for a beast of burden. What about the freedom in Christ claimed by Paul? More personally, what about the heaviness we often still endure? How do we daily choose the yoke of Christ in a world that bids towards self-determination and indulgence? Please come all who are weary and hear again of the freedom in Christ that is only found in his right-sized yoke.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Mark 8:34:35 How do we live as disciples of Jesus considering the paradoxical nature of the cross?

Rick McKinley closes our series by discussing the uncertainty experienced by the disciples, followed by Peter's declaration in Matthew 16:13-20.