“Not My Normal Response”

Matthew 18:15-20

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

I have been in many conflicts in my life, and I must admit I rarely handle them the way this scripture instructs us to. These verses on resolving conflict almost seem foreign to me. I am someone who does not like conflict and find it extremely uncomfortable. When someone wrongs me, my first response is to excommunicate them, or shut them out and just try and avoid the situation, hoping it fixes itself. But time and time again, it never plays out that way.

The church is full of troublesome people, and Christ knew that when he spoke these words. But what he tells us is the way the church will be set apart in how we handle conflict. It will not be ignored. There should not be gossip or talking behind someone’s back. It should be addressed head-on and face to face (not hiding behind text messages). We should handle conflicts with reconciliation as our goal. Not in an “I’m right you’re wrong” kind of way. And, if that doesn’t work, we are instructed to take a couple trustworthy witnesses to help us work out the problem. Then, if all else fails take the issue in front of the church. This is the part that seems so foreign to me. The last thing I want is for something I’ve done wrong to be brought up in front of the WHOLE CHURCH!

Jesus knew that there would be conflict between us and he knew the only way to handle it. If you have a problem with someone, do what these verses say and regain your brother or sister. Yes, it can get awkward and even messy. But the only way to fully reconcile any relationship is to listen to the One who knows us and knows our hearts.

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Are you more inclined to run toward or away from a conflict? 
  • Is there someone that you are in conflict with now (recent or long-term)?  
  • Pray that God would give you the wisdom and strength to resolve the issue in a way that restores a relationship and the fellowship of the body of Christ. 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Brice Alumbaugh

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“Hand it Over”

Nehemiah 4:5

“Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.”

In this passage, Nehemiah and the Jews were attempting to build a wall for protection while two negative critics were trying their best to discourage the project. Yet the more they tried, the more the people were motivated to finish that wall.

As a matter of fact, verse 6 says, “So we built the wall…for the builders had a mind to work.” All the critics received from the Jews was a nasty prayer for God to wipe them out without forgiveness. Now, I am not suggesting that you pray fire from heaven on all your critics, bullies, or discouragers. The point I want to make is that the people handed the critics over to God and kept working.

It is difficult to stay encouraged when discouragement is constantly ringing the doorbell. Yet, we have to deal with it, because discouragement is a dangerous weapon against our faith and can drain our will to move forward. So, when you have to live in the face of discouragement or negativity, the best option is to hand it over to God and keep working.

Keep your eyes on the work. Keep your eyes on Jesus and pray for help. Depending on how you feel at the time, you might pray a strong, unforgiving prayer or a merciful prayer. But the point is, hand the bully over to God any way you want and He will take control of it. We don’t have time to waste on negativity.

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • How easily are you distracted by discouragers? 
  • What is something that God has called you to be a part of, where you are facing detractors? 
  • Take some time today in prayer to hand your discouragers over to God. 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Pastor Stephen Williams

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“Draw a Line in the Sand, or Stick your Head in the Sand?”

Nehemiah 6:11

“And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”

With the wall nearing completion, the enemies of Nehemiah were doing all they could to stop him. They had a plot to murder him, spread rumors about him, and were now trying to get him to hide away to ruin his reputation.

Ephesians 2 tells us we are saved by grace, not works. James 2:18 says “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” and Philippians 2:12 says “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” Put all these together and you find a living God who wants us to seek Him on a daily basis. We read His scripture, seek His face, and pray about where to draw the line in everyday occurrences. Some people are placed on a very visible stage where their choices have a ripple effect on those around them. Where we draw the line speaks to our understanding of scripture, conviction by the Holy Spirit, and sometimes our personal experiences. 


I hear: 
“It’s not like it used to be.”
“Everybody’s doing it.” 
“It’s ok if it’s legal.”
“Some religious groups don’t have a problem with that.”
“That’s old-fashioned, nobody thinks that way anymore.”
and many more arguments about life choices.

Don’t get me wrong, I fall short of “Be ye holy as I am holy.” God has placed each of us in a specific place to be His witness. I try not to be a stumbling block, I try to be salt and light, and I try not to angrily burn bridges with those who do not agree with me. It’s difficult to point others to a Holy God and His Word while others point out your flaws and failures. Yet God chooses us to be His family, His witness, His hands, and His feet.

I truly believe that we get placed in conflict so God can work through us, in us, and around us. Some battles in my past have been keeping hard liquor out of my parish, getting porn placed out of sight in stores, requiring ID checks for tobacco, gaining permission for “See You At The Pole” gatherings before or after school Christian clubs, substance abuse or mental interventions, and even helping prevent an abortion clinic here in Gordon county. Some battles we join by choice, others force themselves across our lives. In the midst of conflict, I am learning the battle is the Lords! In the book of Zechariah, we find “Not by might, or by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.”

In each of these conflicts and many more, our choices are; draw a line in the sand, or stick our head in the sand.

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Have you been involved in conflicts regarding spiritual matters? How did you handle it and what was the outcome? 
  • Are you more likely to draw a line in the sand or stick your head in the sand when it comes to conflict? 
  • What are biblical outcomes that we should strive for when addressing issues that conflict with our faith? 
  • Take some time today praying that God would give you wisdom in how to approach issues of faith that might require addressing. 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 

Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jim Sellers, Minister of Music and Director of YAH

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“The Right Way to Ask”

Nehemiah 1:5-11

“And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant, Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

When Nehemiah heard the news of the dilapidated state of Jerusalem, he grieved. But he allowed his sorrow to turn into a burden instead of bitterness. He immediately went into action with the best of all possible strategies – he went to God in prayer. Instead of leaning directly into the ask, Nehemiah started his prayer by taking several steps back. 

  • He praised God’s character
  • He repented of his sin and admitted the sin of his people 
  • He recalled God’s promises in His word 

Nehemiah had a burden for his people and his homeland and he went to God in a wise and humble manner. May we be so burdened by the needs around us and go to God in the same way!

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 

  • Has God put a burden on you regarding a need or injustice in the world? 
  • Take some time today using Nehemiah’s 3 steps as the beginning of your prayer regarding that burden.  
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jon Price, Associate Pastor

 

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“The Beginning of a Burden”

Nehemiah 1:1-4

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

“Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
“A man cries out in anguish
A man cries out alone
He says what’s happened to my city
What’s happened to my home.” from “They Tore the Old Place Down” by the Call

Part of our growth toward wisdom and understanding is the sad discovery upon returning to a place of our childhood – that we can never truly go back home. Our past memories of the stream we used to catch tadpoles in, the magical closet at grandma’s, or trees in the back yard we once climbed are now smaller, lackluster, or simply gone. We experience a sense of loss when we realize that we’ve stepped into a new life and stepping back to the former never takes us to the same place. 

Nehemiah experienced this grief and so much more. Jerusalem wasn’t just the old homestead. It was the land given to the Israelites through a promise from God. It was the center of their worship and identity as a people. And it was their hope in the face of slavery in a foreign land. Nehemiah wept because his culture and his faith were in collapse. 

Nehemiah is part of a bigger story of the restoration of Jerusalem, dealing with the temple, the law, and the wall around the city. Take a few minutes to grasp the scope of what was happening during this time in the land of promise and the people that attempted to bring it back to better days.  

Watch the overview of Ezra-Nehemiah explained so beautifully by the Bible Project. 

Using the HEAR method (see below) as you spend time in today’s passage. 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Jon Price, Associate Pastor 

 


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“God is Good!”

Habakkuk 3:17-19

“Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.”

One of my pet peeves on social media is the response of “God is good!” that well-meaning people give to posts about people being healed, receiving good doctor reports, or other exciting news. Maybe I’m putting too fine a point on it, but I think this can lead to (and possibly expose) some poor and dangerous theology. This response can imply that if a bit of news doesn’t go our way – we get a bad doctor’s report, our kids don’t make the team or get that scholarship, then God isn’t so good. 
Habakkuk’s commitment at the end of his book is so inspiring and I believe it’s the attitude that we have to hold on to as believers who are not swayed or waylayed by our circumstances. God’s goodness, might, and place on His eternal throne are not in jeopardy if He doesn’t quite deliver according to our desires. We see this in great men and women of faith as they remain obedient and buoyant even in the face of uncertainty. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, “We do not need to defend ourselves. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it. But even if he does not, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18. 

Is your faith dependant on God continually coming through for you? If so, you are worshipping an idol, a little pocket god of your own making, that you can pull out in times of need or inconvenience and put to work. Our God is good – regardless. He is worthy of our worship – regardless. He does not scramble to complete our honey-do list or guarantee us the winning scratch-off. The God of the Universe is not a slave to our bidding, or bound to our personal sense of right and wrong. We serve a God that we can’t begin to fathom, who also just happens to be a God who sacrificed His own Son so that we could be adopted into His family and redeemed for His purpose and glory. Even when things go south, we can take joy in Him, and know that we have been bought, called, and equipped for the things that truly matter. God is good!

Use the HEAR method as you spend time with today’s passage: 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jon Price, Associate Pastor

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