Anyone can have a spiritual high.
It is easy to trust God when the prayer is answered, the relationship is strong, the bills are paid, and the future looks promising. It is easy to worship when you just received good news. It is easy to serve when people notice your effort and thank you for it.
Faithfulness becomes harder when the emotions fade, and life does not improve as quickly as you hoped.
There is a noticeable difference between a spectator and a participant.
Think about your favorite sports team. Thousands of fans fill the stadium every game. They cheer. They celebrate. They complain when a play doesn't go their way. They debate coaching decisions. They wear the jersey. They know the statistics.
But when the game ends, the fans go home.
The players leave exhausted.
There is something about waiting for an important event that changes the way we live before it arrives.
When parents are expecting their first child, they do not wait until the baby is born to begin preparing. They paint the nursery, buy a crib, install a car seat, rearrange schedules, and rethink the family budget. The baby has not arrived yet, but the certainty of what is coming has already begun to reshape their priorities.
That is the picture Paul gives us of the Christian life. Jesus has promised that He will return. We do not know the day or the hour, and we cannot control when it happens. But the certainty of His return should change the way we live right now.
It's easy to look at the brokenness in our world and assume someone else will fix it.
Someone else will mentor that student.
Someone else will serve in the children's ministry.
Someone else will share the gospel with that neighbor.
Someone else will step into leadership.
Someone else will meet the need.
The problem with "someone else" is that if everyone waits for someone else, nothing ever gets built. That's exactly the world Nehemiah stepped into.
Most people think spiritual drift starts with rebellion. A dramatic decision. A crisis of faith. A moment when someone suddenly walks away from God.
But more often, drift begins with something that feels far less dangerous: Nostalgia.
Remembering the past isn’t wrong. In fact, Scripture repeatedly tells God's people to remember.
Remember God's faithfulness.
Remember His provision.
Remember His miracles.
Remember His promises.
The problem isn't remembering yesterday. The problem is when we start trying to live there. Because eventually nostalgia can become a substitute for faith.
There are moments in life where everything changes in an instant.
A call. A diagnosis. A wedding. A funeral. A salvation.
One second you’re standing in one reality… and the next, everything is different.
That’s what Exodus 12 is.
For generations, Israel had lived in slavery. Egypt was all they knew. Their parents were slaves. Their grandparents were slaves. Entire generations were born into bondage, wondering if freedom would ever actually come.
And then one night changed everything.
oday we begin a new series and will take the next several weeks to study David. We know he was a king; scripture also says he was a man after God’s heart. But what made him tick? What were the unique traits around him? What can we learn about David that we can apply to our lives?
We are going to be looking at things like…
