Daniel 2 - The Statue, The Stone, and The Kingdom That Never FallsStudy Guide: https://www.canvaqr.com/RGQXBq8IV2In April 2003, the world watched a 40-foot bronze statue of Saddam Hussein get pulled to the ground in Baghdad. Throughout history it's the same story - kings build monuments to their own glory, and eventually every one of those statues falls. That's exactly the scene Daniel walks into in Babylon, except this time the statue is in a king's dream, and only Daniel can tell him what it means. The real story isn't about Babylon's power. It's about a kingdom that starts as a small stone, brings down every empire that stands in its way, and never stops growing.Timestamps0:53 - Turn to Daniel chapter 21:02 - Apocalyptic literature series recap2:04 - The fall of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad3:31 - Context: Daniel is a captive in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar4:34 - What Daniel 2 answers: kingdoms rise and fall, God's kingdom prevails4:55 - Nebuchadnezzar's crisis: a troubling, vivid dream5:30 - The impossible demand: tell me the dream, not just the interpretation7:10 - The king orders all the wise men killed9:00 - Daniel asks for time and turns to prayer10:00 - God reveals the mystery to Daniel in a night vision12:00 - The dream: a great statue with a head of gold14:00 - Head of gold: Babylon15:00 - Chest and arms of silver: the Medo-Persian Empire17:18 - Belly and thighs of bronze: Greece17:34 - Legs of iron: the Roman Empire17:51 - Feet of iron and clay - materials that won't mesh18:16 - Different theories on what the feet represent19:23 - Verse 44: God's kingdom that will never be destroyed20:21 - What Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar couldn't fully see - Jesus was coming20:54 - Jesus' death, resurrection, ascension, and the Spirit poured out21:38 - A kingdom of shalom for all who enter21:59 - Back to the feet of the statue - pastor's own interpretation23:04 - Iron and clay: a nation that looks strong but is deeply divided23:48 - Only God's kingdom truly unifies - Revelation 7:924:33 - What kind of personal kingdom are you building?28:00 - Nebuchadnezzar's later confession in Daniel 430:54 - The right response isn't trying harder - it's surrender31:38 - The Christian life is a life of surrender32:16 - Nebuchadnezzar's confession: God of gods and Lord of kings32:43 - Real spiritual powers behind the scenes33:37 - Ephesians 6:12 - our struggle is not against flesh and blood36:06 - Horoscopes, tarot, Ouija boards - none of them are harmless36:46 - Scripture doesn't call them fake - it calls them forbidden37:50 - No throne is outside God's authority38:30 - Closing: how is God speaking to you today?Scripture References: Daniel 2 | Daniel 4 | Daniel 10 | Ephesians 6:12 | Revelation 7:9#Daniel2 #ApocalypticLiterature #KingdomOfGod #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #SundaySermon #Nebuchadnezzar #BiblicalPreaching #VerseByVerse #HavenCommunityChurch #Surrender #Prophecy #HoustonChurch

Ephesians 5:7-21 - Making the Best Use of the TimeA speedrunner takes a 40-hour video game and finishes it in 36 minutes. No wasted movement. No side quests. One purpose, executed with total focus. That image is what sparked this week's anchor verse: "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." Picking up in Ephesians 5:7-21, this message covers walking as children of light, three practical antidotes to sexual sin that go deeper than "just stop," what it actually means to be filled with the Spirit, and the three contrasts Paul uses to show us what wise living looks like. Verse 21 closes the passage and quietly sets up everything Paul is about to say about marriage, family, and relationships.Study Guide: https://www.canvaqr.com/RGPvFYHZV3Scripture References: Ephesians 5:7-21 | Ephesians 5:1-2 | Genesis 2-3#Ephesians5 #MakingTheBestUseOfTheTime #FilledWithTheSpirit #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #SundaySermon #WalkInTheLight #BiblicalPreaching #VerseByVerse #Discipleship #HavenCommunityChurch #Ephesians #WisdomAndFaith #ChristianLiving #HoustonChurch

Ezekiel 37:1-14 - When Hope Runs DryScott opens with a personal confession: he's a chronic overthinker who replays conversations for days, rewrites texts three times before hitting send, and wonders constantly if he's been misunderstood. He probably always will be. And that admission becomes the on-ramp to one of the most hope-filled passages in all of Scripture. When Ezekiel 37 opens, Israel isn't just discouraged - they're convinced it's over. Their bones are dry. Hope is lost. They are cut off. Into that moment, God gives Ezekiel a vision of a valley full of dead bones and asks the question that changes everything: "Can these bones live?" This message traces the Hebrew word Ruach - wind, breath, spirit - all the way from Genesis 1 through Ezekiel to Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, lands on the "already, not yet" theme that runs through all of Scripture, and closes with one of the most honest pastoral invitations in this series yet.

Scripture References: Ezekiel 37:1-14 | Ezekiel 37:24-28 | Ezekiel 36 | Genesis 1:2 | John 3 | Acts 2 | 1 Thessalonians 4:13 | Revelation 21-22#ezekiel37 #DryBones #CanTheseBoneslive #Ruach #ApocalypticLiterature #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #SundaySermon #AlreadyNotYet #Hope #HolySpirit #BiblicalPreaching #VerseByVerse #HavenCommunityChurch #HoustonChurch

Ephesians 5:3-6 - What God Actually Says About Sex (And Why It's Not What You Think)Most of us grew up with one of two messages about sex: either it's shameful and dangerous, or there are no real limits as long as nobody gets hurt. But Paul in Ephesians 5 stakes out a third path - one that actually makes sense. In this 15th message of the Ephesians series, we take a close, honest look at what the Bible actually says about sexuality. That includes tackling the legacy of purity culture, unpacking the broad Greek word pornea from the ground up, tracing God's design through Genesis, Malachi, and 1 Corinthians, wrestling honestly with homosexuality, and asking the question most people actually want answered: why does God care so much about this in the first place? No shame, no shouting - just an honest attempt to understand what God's design is and why it's actually good.

Scripture References: Ephesians 5:3-6 | Genesis 2:22-25 | Malachi 2:14-16 | Mark 10:6-9 | Hebrews 13:4 | 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 | Romans 1#Ephesians5 #BiblicalSexuality #SexualPurity #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #SundaySermon #PurityCulture #WhatGodSaysAboutSex #BiblicalPreaching #VerseByVerse #HavenCommunityChurch #Ephesians #Marriage #GodDesign #HoustonChurch

Isaiah 6 - Exposed, Cleansed, Sent: What Happens When You See God

The throne was never empty. That's what Isaiah discovers in one of the most stunning passages in all of Scripture. King Uzziah had reigned for 52 years - longer than most people in Israel had been alive - and when he died, the nation was shaken. What God gives Isaiah in that moment isn't an explanation. It's a vision. The curtain gets pulled back, and Isaiah catches a glimpse of the real throne room - the same throne John sees in Revelation 4. And what happens next follows a pattern God repeats throughout the entire Bible: he exposes you, he cleanses you, and then he sends you. This message kicks off a new series exploring apocalyptic literature across the whole Bible - not to form conspiracies or guess dates, but to pull back the curtain on what God is actually doing.

Scripture References: Isaiah 6 | Isaiah 11 | Matthew 13 | Luke 5:8 | Job 42 | Exodus 3 | Revelation 4

#Isaiah6 #ApocalypticLiterature #HereIAmSendMe #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #SundaySermon #BiblicalPreaching #HolyHolyHoly #Seraphim #PropheticLiterature #Baptism #VerseByVerse #HavenCommunityChurch #Gospel #Missional

What Does the Bible Actually Say About Hell?

Scott's back from sabbatical - and he saved this one for his return on purpose. In this thorough, careful, and surprisingly pastoral message, we dig into one of the most avoided topics in all of preaching: hell. Not with a megaphone and a sign, and not by tiptoeing around it either. Starting with a close look at the four different words the Bible uses for hell - Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus - we work through what each one actually means and why conflating them has caused so much confusion. Then we walk through the three main ways Christians have historically interpreted the doctrine of hell, examine the strongest scriptural case for each, and land somewhere honest: judgment is real, God takes no pleasure in it, and the gospel is the most brilliant and generous response to our problem that anyone could have imagined.Study Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/139ip7oXMB3KtpJ5e7VKGZVC5qV6ybgWXNXKqNtSY_MM/Scripture References: Matthew 16:18 | Matthew 25:46 | Mark 9:48 | Luke 16 | John 3:16 | Romans 6:23 | 2 Peter 2:4 | Revelation 14:11 | Revelation 20:10 | Colossians 1:19-20 | 1 Corinthians 15:28 | Ezekiel 33:11 | Isaiah 55:6-7 | Jeremiah 7:31-32

Mowgli spent years learning to live like a wolf. And when he finally found the human village - the place he actually belonged - beating the tiger wasn't the real victory. Learning to live like a human was. That's the picture behind this sermon from Ephesians 4:17-24. Before Christ, we were all shaped by the world's way of thinking - a pattern that starts with futile thoughts, leads to a hardened heart, and ends in moral darkness. But Jesus doesn't just give us a new set of rules to follow. He teaches us a person. And in learning him, we begin the slow, sometimes difficult, always hope-filled process of putting off the old self and putting on the new. Includes one of the best illustrations you'll hear: a backwards bicycle and what it actually takes to rewire the way you think.Timestamps0:00 - Welcome: Scott's still on sabbatical - guest teacher steps in0:11 - Opening: the Milky Way and a ping pong ball - God is pretty amazing1:12 - QR code: notes from the Bible Project Ephesians study1:58 - The Jungle Book - Mowgli, Shere Khan, and the real happy ending3:00 - The point: finding where you truly belong3:35 - Recap of Ephesians 4: the Christian lottery, unity, gifts, and body life5:11 - Today's passage: Ephesians 4:17-245:25 - The world's pattern: futile thinking, hardness of heart, and moral descent7:10 - Ephesians 4:17-19 read aloud - don't walk as the Gentiles walk9:00 - What it means to have a futile mind - the downward spiral explained11:00 - Callousness, giving yourself over, and the darkening of understanding13:00 - The world says: leave childlike innocence behind and toughen up14:54 - The harder the heart, the darker the mind - and we've all seen it happen16:08 - Warning and hope sitting right next to each other in the text17:02 - Ephesians 4:20-21: "That is not the way you learned Christ"19:18 - "To learn a person" - what the Bible Project says about this phrase20:00 - Christianity is not a moral philosophy - it's engaging a person17:44 - 1 Corinthians 6: "and such were some of you" - Paul's own story on the Damascus road18:35 - There is always hope - no matter how far down that road you've gone20:20 - Congregation Q&A: what happens when you become a Christian?22:00 - The Holy Spirit moves in - heart of stone to heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36)23:40 - Ephesians 4:22-24: put off the old self, put on the new24:30 - This is active and daily - not a one-time event25:30 - The mangled tree in clay: some of us brought a lot of baggage in27:00 - The process takes time - but God will help you if you're willing28:39 - Coming up: the practical stuff - how you actually live differently30:38 - Three ways to be renewed in the spirit of your mind:30:41 - 1. Immerse yourself in truth - the backwards bicycle illustration31:45 - Learning to think like God is like learning a new language32:14 - You have to fight to immerse yourself in truth32:25 - 2. Pray continually - Ephesians 3 prayer as a model32:51 - 3. Surround yourself with people who point you to a new way of living33:09 - The value of counseling for deep-seated baggage33:32 - Pilgrim's Progress: Faithful in the dungeon of despair34:00 - Apply the truth you learn - don't just listen to it34:08 - Believe what God says even when it doesn't feel true34:45 - Closing encouragement: you are new, God has a new way of life for you35:17 - Closing prayerScripture References: Ephesians 4:17-24 | 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 | Ezekiel 36:26 | Romans 12:2#Ephesians4 #PutOnTheNewSelf #NewIdentity #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #RenewingYourMind #SundaySermon #BiblicalPreaching #VerseByVerse #Discipleship #GospelLiving #TrueHumanity #ChurchLife #Christianity #HavenCommunityChurch

Ever notice how when one small part of your body is off - a sore hip, a pinky toe, a tight muscle in your back - it can throw off your entire day? That's the picture Paul paints of the church in Ephesians 4. Continuing right where we left off, this sermon dives into one of the most practical passages in the New Testament: the gifts Christ has given his church. We unpack a surprising twist in how Paul quotes Psalm 68, break down the five gifts of Ephesians 4:11 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers) one by one, and wrestle honestly with a hard question - are our church gatherings actually equipping people to discover and use their gifts, or are most of us just watching? Whatever your gift is, big or small, flashy or quiet, this one's a reminder that you have a vital part to play in this body.Timestamps0:00 - Welcome and worship reflections0:24 - Getting older is difficult: the body-ache illustration1:29 - When every part of the body works as it should1:54 - QR code notes and the Bible Project resource2:44 - Recap: Ephesians 1-3 and the spiritual lottery3:18 - Reading Ephesians 4:1-33:41 - Eager to maintain unity - guarding what God has given4:29 - Unity starts at home5:16 - If your home life isn't right, you can't be an elder5:49 - Learning to extend patience to yourself first6:35 - Renewing the mind: knowing God's love from Ephesians 37:24 - Honest growth without self-condemnation8:06 - The parenting analogy: Ariella and growing in grace9:13 - How loving yourself connects to loving others9:57 - Start with yourself, then home, then church10:10 - Ephesians 4:4-6 - one body, one spirit, one hope10:46 - Reading Ephesians 4:7-1011:30 - Verse 7: grace given according to the measure of Christ's gift11:59 - Spiritual gift lists in scripture aren't exhaustive12:57 - Psalm 68:18 and Paul's surprising change: gave versus received14:00 - Why the change matters: kings receive gifts to redistribute them14:34 - Applying this to Jesus: descended, ascended, now gives gifts15:43 - The gospel isn't an invitation - Jesus is already Lord16:33 - Verse 11: the five gifts and offices introduced17:37 - Apostles: capital A and lowercase a, planting churches19:58 - Prophets: speaking God's word into the present moment20:38 - Evangelists: Gospel Lakes Ranch and Billy Graham22:49 - Shepherds and pastors: walking with the flock day by day23:32 - Why pastor, evangelist, and teacher are distinct gifts25:38 - Teachers: expounding the faith in an understandable way26:01 - All five offices are still active today26:39 - The fivefold ministry debate28:42 - Verses 11-13 in ESV and the Kingdom New Testament30:47 - Are we equipping the church, or just watching?32:14 - Our job is not to preach, it's to equip you33:19 - The red blood cell analogy34:48 - Growing into maturity: a full-grown head, a growing body36:24 - Avoiding being tossed by every wind of doctrine37:42 - What happens when parts of the body shut down38:43 - Joined and held together - building up in love40:11 - Main takeaway: you have a vital part to play41:23 - Pray and ask: what is my gift, what is my place?41:51 - The parable of the talent that got buried42:34 - 1 Thessalonians 4:9 - taught by God to love one another43:30 - Practical steps: pray, go deeper, minister to discover your gifts44:42 - Tim's question: how do we really live out unity?45:50 - Closing prayer and worshipScripture References: Ephesians 4:7-16 | Ephesians 1-3 | Psalm 68:18 | Matthew 25:14-30 | 1 Thessalonians 4:9#Ephesians4 #SpiritualGifts #BodyOfChrist #FivefoldMinistry #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #ChurchLife #Discipleship #BiblicalPreaching #SundaySermon #VerseByVerse #EquippingTheSaints #WalkWorthy #NewTestament #Christianity

Ephesians 2:1-10 - Dead People Don't Make ComebacksEveryone loves a good comeback story. But what if the best comeback of all time isn't really a comeback at all? In this standalone message from Ephesians 2:1-10, we use the remarkable true story of Robert Downey Jr. - addiction, arrest, prison, and one act of undeserved favor that changed everything - to illustrate what the gospel actually is and isn't. The gospel is not self-help. It's not rehab. It's not a second chance. Dead people don't make comebacks. But God raises the dead. This message covers what it means to be spiritually dead, why grace is better than mercy, how God doesn't just forgive us but elevates us, and why your identity in Christ has to come before your behavior ever changes.Timestamps0:00 - Introduction: between Revelation and sabbatical - a one-off message1:21 - Who loves a comeback story?1:52 - The Robert Downey Jr. story begins3:47 - Diving into Ephesians 2:1-104:00 - The fatal flaw in every comeback story: the hero saves himself3:01 - Dead people don't make comebacks - and that's the problem6:35 - Ephesians 2:1-3 - dead in trespasses and sins, children of wrath7:31 - Paul says "we all" - no exceptions10:35 - Robert Downey Jr.: drugs, arrest, prison, and "I like the taste of gun metal"12:00 - The self-awareness most people lack about their spiritual condition14:20 - Out of prison but still unemployable - talent can't save you15:00 - You can't clean yourself up before coming to God15:43 - Mel Gibson stepped in - undeserved favor as a picture of grace16:24 - "But God" - the two best words in all of Scripture (Ephesians 2:4)17:21 - Ephesians 2:4-9 read aloud - grace, faith, not works17:39 - The difference between mercy and grace18:06 - Mel Gibson's favor as an illustration of what God did for us18:43 - 2008: Iron Man, 10 Marvel films, and the rest is history19:06 - We're not just forgiven - we're elevated, seated with Christ20:11 - Ephesians 2:10 - we are his workmanship - his poem, his work of art20:40 - Created for good works prepared beforehand21:07 - Recovery is messy: relapse, failure, and grace for the process22:00 - Extending grace to other believers on different parts of the journey25:00 - Humility and the eye of the needle - where it starts29:33 - Admitting you're a sinner is step one - but you don't stay there29:46 - Surrendering the old identity to Jesus30:04 - Why Christians shouldn't call themselves sinners as a primary identity30:37 - We are saints - holy ones - by the grace of God31:14 - Identity shapes behavior, not the other way around31:53 - It's going to be messy - but there's no condemnation in Christ32:00 - Practice makes progress - knowledge alone doesn't transform33:24 - Walking out your faith is what actually rewires you34:07 - Romans 12:2 - transformed by the renewing of your mind34:43 - Why do we love comeback stories? Because we project ourselves into them35:11 - What comeback stories always leave out: we don't need a 2nd chance, we need new life35:54 - "But God" - God raises the dead36:01 - Share your redemption story - whatever it looks like37:22 - Closing: Jesus doesn't want to improve you, he wants to give you new life37:25 - That's not a comeback - it's resurrection37:52 - Closing prayerScripture References: Ephesians 2:1-10 | Romans 12:2 | Romans 8:1#Ephesians2 #ButGod #GraceAlone #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #SundaySermon #RobertDowneyJr #GospelMessage #NewIdentity #BiblicalPreaching #VerseByVerse #Redemption #FaithAndGrace #Christianity #HavenCommunityChurch

Scott Hescht | 04.19.26 | Seeing Revelation Clearly