Episode Summary: One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is that fruitfulness comes not from strength but from brokenness. Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains by itself alone. But if it dies it bears much fruit.” Peter was the arrogant leader of the disciples who boasted “Lord even if all the other disciples forsake you, I never will.”  Before the next morning, he denied knowing Jesus three times and when the cock crowed, he went out and wept bitterly, a broken man. Never again in Scripture do we see that arrogance in Peter. Instead, he passes on to others a lesson that he learned through his brokenness “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Can you imagine God pulling out his big guns AGAINST YOU? The fastest way to see that happen is pride. And one of pride’s most subtle manifestations is taking our sins lightly rather than weeping over them. Today’s episode from Nehemiah is a great picture of a nation, broken by its sin.  

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. What stood out to you most as the priests recounted the cycle of Israel’s history—God’s goodness and mercy, Israel’s rebellion against him, the punishment for their sins (covenant sanctions)?
2. Why do you think James is so insistent that to draw near to God we must feel broken over our own sin?
3. In the Beatitudes, Jesus ranked mourning over sin second on the list of kingdom attitudes ahead of meekness, purity of heart, etc. How would grieving over our own sins, and grieving over the suffering of those who are still enslaved to sin because they do not know Jesus impact our heart attitudes towards the lost?

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Episode Summary: 

One of the films making its rounds the past two weeks in movie theaters is “A Great Awakening” produced by Sight and Sound. The film tells the story of the First Great Awakening in America through the lens of Benjamin Franklin, the friend of George Whitefield the great preacher who was largely responsible, along with Jonathan Edwards, for the awakening which historians say had a tremendous impact on the founding of America thirty years later. 

One of the primary responsibilities of Christians is to impact their culture, retarding the decay brought about by sin by functioning as salt and shining the light of God's truth into spheres of our own culture where the darkness of sin prevails. In other words, Christ wants us not only to be individual disciples of his but to make disciples of all nations. In this episode we find insight about this process as we look at how God discipled nations in the past by bringing about a great awakening and spiritual renewal in Israel (recounted in Nehemiah 8) and inspiring The Great Awakening in America. 

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. Why do you think Jesus told us our mission is to “make disciples OF the nations” instead of “make disciples IN the nations”? What is the difference? What does this command say to Christians who want to give up on our culture because “the culture is so evil it is going to hell in a hand basket”?
2. What stood out to you about how God discipled his nation, Israel, through Ezra and the Levites during the month of Tishri? What parts of this process seem applicable to America? Which parts don’t?
3. What stood out to you about God discipling America through The Great Awakening? What lessons, if any, can you draw from it about how God might “disciple” America through us.

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Summary: As we pick up our study of the Book of Nehemiah, we come to the eight chapter where a national revival takes place in Judah. Before studying that next week, we need to think carefully about some issues—issues that happen to be very much in the news today, which surround America’s war with Iran, Israel our ally, and the war itself. Is God on our side? Is this a just war? Are Christians right who seem to say we should blindly support Israel in its conflict with Islamic Jihadists? Is America a Christian nation? This episode seeks to find clarity in Scripture about these issues. 

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. How would you describe the difference between ethnic Israel and spiritual Israel. How does this difference make sense? Why is it important?
2. Why is it important to recognize that God’s covenant with spiritual Israel is continued in the church?
3. Contrast Israel’s theocracy with America’s democracy.
4. What is the difference between recognizing the influence of Christians in America’s founding and constitution and saying America is a Christian nation?
5. What is your opinion of the Islamic Jihadi cry, “from the river to the sea.”

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Summary:   The resurrection reminds us that the gospel is not just about our personal, private salvation and growth in holiness (which is called the two-chapter gospel.) Such a gospel leads to separating from the lost, forgetting their inherent value as those created in God’s image, and devaluing the (common grace) contributions they make to our culture. In contrast, the resurrection of Christ’s physical body reminds us that the true gospel story has four chapters: creation, fall, redemption, restoration. Christ-followers are called to be part of the greatest mission in the history of the world, Christ’s renewal of our corner of planet earth to bring about the righteousness and flourishing that God intends for each part of his creation. This episode seeks to capture our hearts with the greatness of the mission our Lord has assigned to us the power for which is his resurrection.

Resources Used 

• All Things New by Hugh Whelchel
• The Call of the Jericho Road by Tim Keller
• Discipling Men’s Hearts Through Kingdom Theology by Gary Yagel (doctoral dissertation)

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Episode Summary: Jesus commanded us not to be preoccupied with what we will eat or drink or distracted by what we are going to wear. Rather, we are to seek first the kingdom of God. But how do you seek something you can’t describe and don’t know how to define? Modern Christians are not the only ones confused about what this means. Dr. Luke tells us that Jesus spent his last forty days on earth explaining this concept to his disciples, and they still got it wrong, asking “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” But Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of God are puzzle pieces that do fit together and can make a huge difference in understanding our mission. This episode puts some of those pieces together and illustrates how Christ-followers have sought and prayed for the kingdom of God to advance over the earth. 

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. What is the most helpful thing you have ever learned about the term kingdom of God?
2. Do you agree or disagree with the argument that Christians fail to understand what it means to seek first the kingdom of God because they don’t go back to Adam and Eve’s original creation as rulers of kingdom earth and calling to spread shape culture FOR the High King?
3. How does understanding the ALREADY/NOT YET aspects of the kingdom help you understand it. What is still confusing to you?
4. What examples of kingdom discipleship stood out most to you?

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Episode Summary. Have you ever wondered, “Why is life so difficult? Why is it such a struggle? Why am I tired all the time? Why do so many things go wrong? Why is it that when I try to accomplish something for God it's never easy?” This episode is for those who are finding that pleasing Jesus with your life is hard, full of resistance, and sometimes generates so much discouragement that you feel like not even trying any more.

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. What are the things that you find most discouraging about trying to please and follow Jesus?
2. How would you explain the importance of perseverance?
3. What insights stood out about Nehemiah persevering through three plots to murder him?
4. Which phrases from the Ortlands’ book, You Don’t Have to Quit, did you find most motivating?

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Episode Summary. There are few men portrayed in Scripture who had more lasting success leading than Nehemiah. In fact, the success of some, like Saul and Solomon, led to their demise, as power often does. In fact, a case could be made that the adversity Nehemiah had just come through in the last chapter is less of a threat to many leaders than success. As Scottish essayist and historian, Thomas Carlyle, once declared, “Adversity is hard on a man; but for every one man who can withstand prosperity there are a hundred that will withstand adversity.” In Nehemiah 5:14-19 we see a quality that allowed him to win a following in both adversity and prosperity

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. Which example of Nehemiah being a giver rather than a taker most stood out to you?
2. What do you think are the biggest obstacles to become more of a giver than taker in all of our interactions with others?
3. How might the three observations we made about Nehemiah’s internal motivations explain his behavior as a giver instead of a taker?

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Episode Summary. Confrontation. It’s the least enjoyable part of leadership, but absolutely essential for effectiveness for any husband, father, coach, or team leader in business or the church. Today, we look into Nehemiah 5, where Nehemiah puts on a “clinic in wise confrontation” from which leaders can learn much. 

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. Why did Nehemiah get angry? Why don’t Christians get angrier at the exploitation of the weak, poor, and marginalized in our culture?
2. What stood out to you about the way Nehemiah confronted the nobles and leaders about exploiting the poor? Why do you think it was successful?
3. What is your emotional reaction to the word, accountability? What have you learned about when accountability works and when it fails? Why don’t men take better advantage of the power of accountability to overcome sin in their own lives?

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Episode Summary. Today, in our study of Nehemiah we encounter a group of people whom the world has gotten down, who feel rotten, who were probably too doggone tired to pray, and were probably plenty mad. It is Nehemiah's ragtag band of Israelites who had taken on the huge task of rebuilding the city wall. They have successfully resisted opposition enough to get the wall to half its necessary height. But discouragement sets in. This episode shows how Nehemiah overcame the discouragement of his people.  

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. How would you explain to a new believer why life is so hard?
2. We noted 4 sources of discouragement: weariness, losing perspective, walking by sight, and real opposition. In your life, which one or ones cause the most discouragement?
3. God allowed Nehemiah and his band of Jerusalem inhabitants to be opposed by enemies, intent upon murdering them. Such opposition doubled their work because it necessitated posting guards everywhere. How do you think Nehemiah kept this from disheartening his team?

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Episode Summary. One of the greatest Christians who ever lived was honest enough to admit how difficult life can sometimes be. In the most biographical of his writings, the apostle Paul wrote, “We are hard pressed on every side. We are perplexed and persecuted. We experience troubles, hardships, and distresses…. We are knocked down but we are not knocked out.” The fourth chapter of Nehemiah reports how he and the residents of Jerusalem faced this same level of opposition to rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall and how they pushed through it. 

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. What is wrong with the idea that if God loved me, he would not allow my life to be so hard? 
2. What stood out to you about using the weapon of ridicule to demotivate another. What are the implications of Jesus’ teaching about the impact of words for those of us who are spiritual leaders?
3.  ow can the example of Nehemiah inspire and strengthen you to persevere through whatever opposition you are facing? 

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