Glorifying God by making disciples.

Nehemiah 2 | Our God establishes our steps and turns hearts of kings as he pleases. We know these Proverbs to be true, and as we study Nehemiah 2, we get to see them functionally play out. Nehemiah will pray, he will plan, and he will obey, and we will see God sovereignly accomplish his will.

Nehemiah 1 | Nehemiah heard the situation in Jerusalem, and it wasn't good.  The people were in great trouble and shame.  The walls were broken down and the gates burned.  These words reporting the broken state of Jerusalem laid a burden on Nehemiah that led to days of weeping, mourning, fasting, and prayer.  Fortunately for us, we have his prayer recorded for us.  This week we will turn to his prayer to learn what it looks like to pray when we are burdened for what's broken.

Ezra 10 | Ezra gives us a beautiful picture of what happens as God revives and restores his people.  Though beautiful, there is brokenness that happens in the beauty.  One of the marks of revival is the confession and forsaking of sin. Ezra 10 gives us a powerful picture of what it looks like to allow the mourning of sin to lead to the confessing and forsaking of sin.  As we see our sin for what it is, take heart, we will see our Savior for who he is as well.

Ezra 9 | God has been faithful to lead a remnant of the exiles of Israel out of slavery, but it is made known to Ezra that the people have once again been unfaithful to God’s commands and sinned against Him as before. Ezra then mourns the sin of the people and comes before God in confession. Over these four weeks we are going to see "Four Marks of Revival" in Ezra 7-10.  We look at the third mark of revival on Sunday: mourning our sin.

Ezra 8 | God makes the way straight. But as we see in Ezra 8, his people must make their hearts low, and acknowledge his presence ultimately is what satisfies. Over the next four weeks we are going to see "Four Marks of Revival" in Ezra 7-10.  We look at the second mark of revival on Sunday: prayer & fasting.

Ezra 7 | When the Word of God is central among the people of God, the Son of God is lifted high.  In history, anytime you see a genuine revival, you see the Word of God held up in its rightful place.  Over the next four weeks we are going to see "Four Marks of Revival" in Ezra 7-10.  We look at this first mark of revival on Sunday: The centrality of the Word of God. 

Ezra 5-6 | God's word...

God's power...

God's worship...

In the grand scheme of life, you know what we need? More of God's word, and a deeper understanding of how it gives us all things for life and godliness.  We need more awe of the power of God and how supreme He truly is.  And we need to never lose sight that the end of all things is his glory and worship.  Ezra 5 and 6 will give us the reminders we need on each of these. 

Ezra 4 | As we continue our study of Revival and journey through the book of Ezra, we know there will be much spiritual opposition day in and day out. When we face spiritual opposition, we must trust God. Let’s dive into Ezra 4 to see what we do when we face spiritual opposition.

Ezra 3 | There is no revival of heart without revival of worship.  Worship is the response of praise and adoration to God because of who God is.  When the Holy Spirit has opened the eyes of the heart to see God for who he is, we cannot help but worship him for who He is.  In Ezra 3 we will be reminded of the glory of who God is, why he is worthy of worship, and how worship of him is revived afresh in our hearts.  Let's journey together through this great chapter as we look at four words to revive our worship.

Ezra 3 | There is no revival of heart without revival of worship.  Worship is the response of praise and adoration to God because of who God is.  When the Holy Spirit has opened the eyes of the heart to see God for who he is, we cannot help but worship him for who He is.  In Ezra 3 we will be reminded of the glory of who God is, why he is worthy of worship, and how worship of him is revived afresh in our hearts.  Let's journey together through this great chapter as we look at four words to revive our worship.

Ezra 1 & 2 | Our God is sovereign. Period. There is nothing outside of his sovereign hand and plan.  In Ezra 1 & 2 we get to watch our sovereign God at work as he orchestrates his sovereign ways to fulfill his purposes for his glory and the good of his people.  As we unpack these chapters, we will see how much a BIG understanding in the BIG sovereignty of God brings BIG peace and purpose in our lives.

1 Peter 4:7-11 & Matthew 18:15-17 | Conflict is one of the hardest things in this world to navigate. How should we go about trying to resolve conflict in a biblical manner? What if we were the party that was deeply wronged? What if we can say with a clear conscience we didn’t sin against the person that has brought conflict against us? We can let love cover. As we close our Undoing the Unlist series, let’s look at how the Lord teaches us to pursue reconciliation.

Psalm 42 & 43 | Pain and sorrow in life is inevitable. Where do we look when the waves of despair hit? How do we move forward? Thankfully, God gifted us the language of lament. Today we study Psalm 42-43 and the four elements of lament.

Psalm 62 | Life on this side of heaven is full of unmet expectations. Throughout our life we are met with the deep sense of things not being what we had planned or hoped them to be.  The college choice has turned out to not be what we thought.  The relationship with adult children isn't what you hoped it would be.  You planned to be married by now.  You prayed to have children by now.  These unmet expectations can mark some of the greatest struggles and disappointments in life.  How do we handle and where do we turn when life isn't what we expected?  Let's turn to Psalm 62 for help and hope in the unmet expectations of life. 

If someone asked you to describe how much Christ has forgiven you, what words would you use? Astronomically. Astoundingly. Indescribably. Infinitely.  There are no words we can adequately grab ahold of to describe Christ's forgiveness extended to us.  It's when we understand how deeply we have been forgiven that we will live a life of forgiveness toward others.  My unforgiveness is a sign that I have never experienced Christ's forgiveness, or if I have, I have lost sight of how much I have been forgiven.  We turn to one of Jesus' powerful parables on forgiveness for a deeper understanding of how those who have been mercifully forgiven forgive mercifully.