The Revival Gathering in Nehemiah

So let me just kind of set it up for you a little bit. If you can imagine, there were over 40,000 people in a large multi-generational outdoor gathering who were gathering after the walls were rebuilt to worship God, to, you know, to, they were hungry for God’s word. They really were open to all that God had for them because the walls had been rebuilt and some neat things were happening.

And I was thinking about, you know, relating to that, in my own journey a couple decades ago, several of us, we had bus loads of guys went down to large stadium events, one in New York City at the Old Shea Stadium and one in Philadelphia in Veterans Stadium. And there were 40,000 guys from the Northeast who were gathered in time of worship and just incredible messages from God’s Word. It’s just a really incredible time.

So similar to that, there’s 40,000 people gathered together and God moved in an incredibly powerful way, in an unexpected way. And people began to weep. People began to repent. People to recognize, you know, how they needed to confess their sin and be made right with God. And then there was an incredible outpouring of joy-filled, God-exalting worship.

And one Bible commentator said that what happened in Nehemiah 8 was kind of a turning point in the history of Israel where they became a people of the word, that they had neglected God’s word and had missed out on the blessing of the guidance and revelation of God’s word. And so they became a people of the word.

And the summation of what I’ve just described for you comes about at the end of Roman of Nehemiah chapter eight. Look what it says in your notes, verse 17. It says that from the days of Joshua, son of Nun, until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it, this festival like this, and their joy was very great. It wasn’t just a little bit of joy, it was palpable joy. And then it says that day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the book of the law of God. That’s the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy. And it said they celebrated the festival for seven days. This is the Feast of Tabernacles, seven days, kind of like an outdoor, you know, Bible conference family gathering. And it said, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.

We need to understand what’s described here is that this was the most profound revival and worship gathering of the people of God in a thousand years. It’s saying here that they hadn’t experienced this kind of transcendent move of God in his people since the time of Joshua, which was about a thousand years before the time of Nehemiah.

The Bigger Story: Rebuilding Hearts

And a couple of years ago, we studied the book of Joshua. Remember the crossing over of the Jordan? And then at the end of the book, there was this moment of covenant renewal. And Joshua said, you know, we’ve served God, but as for you and your family, you need to make a decision. Are you going to renew that commitment and serve the Lord rather than serve the gods, you know, all around? And so it was a momentous time. And this was the first time in a thousand years, if you can imagine, to be part of such a gathering.

So here’s the larger story, if you’re taking notes. Greater than the rebuilding of the walls was the rebuilding of the hearts of God’s people to faithfully honor and serve the Lord. And it was really great that the walls got rebuilt, but the rebuilding of the walls was a means to an end. It wasn’t the end in itself. It was a catalyst. It was a means to a far greater end. And what was the greater end that God had in mind? A profound reawakening and realignment and renewing of the hearts of his people to really love him and serve him like never before.

Covenant Renewal and “All-In” Commitment

And you know what happened as a result of this special move of God? You know what happened? Everybody said, we need to mark this day. We need to mark this moment in a very similar way. So you know what they did? They actually signed a covenant. They said, we’re gonna step up and we’re gonna put this in writing, our commitment that we’re making to God. And so Nehemiah and Ezra and a number of the other leaders, because leaders always lead by example, they signed on. and then literally everyone, including children who are old enough to understand were part of this covenant renewal.

So at the end of chapter nine, it says this, describing what happened, that the people responded in view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and we’re actually gonna put it in writing, right? That we’re gonna invite accountability. We wanna really let God know that pleasing him, honoring him is the most important thing in our lives. And then it goes on and talks about all the leaders and then it says, look what it says in the passage there, then the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the pagan people of the land in order to obey the law of God together with their wives, their sons, their daughters, and all who are old enough to understand, they signed on.

And then I love how it goes on and it says this in verse 29. It says, they solemnly promised. In other words, this was a collective all-in moment for everyone. They solemnly promised to carefully follow not just some of the commands, but follow all the commands, the regulations, and the decrees of the Lord our God.

And by the way, isn’t it true when something is really significant, you know, in our culture today that we actually sign on, we put it in writing, our commitment, you know for example if you’re you know accepting an employment offer comes your way right you sign an agreement a clarity and understanding of the commitment that you’re this involved in this employment offer you know if you go to buy a house take out a mortgage buy a car you sign on the dotted line when you get married the most important moment in a wedding is when a bride and a groom pledge their devotion to each other, you know, to be faithful in sickness and in health. And you put it in writing and you sign the documents. Because why? Because nothing great happens without great commitment, right? And that’s true in almost every arena of life.

Illustration: Super Bowl Effort

Now there’s a big football game. Anybody hear about this coming up next Sunday night? Anybody heard about that? It’s called the Super Bowl. Yeah, New England Patriots. Any Pats fans in the house here today, anyway, okay, and Seattle Seahawks, some of you don’t really appreciate a Super Bowl, okay, if it was the World Cup, okay, you got the best teams competing for the World Cup, or some of you, the Stanley Cup, you got the idea, okay, and so it’s, when you get to the final game, the championship game, like, you need to make the most of it, right, because there’s no guarantee that you’re ever going to, you know, have this opportunity again, so just imagine, as the coaches of the two teams are getting their players ready for this big game next Sunday.

Can you imagine if they’re in the locker room, they’re going through the game plan, and they’re just about to head out the tunnel for the big game. The whole world is watching. Could you imagine one of the head coaches saying to their players, here’s the deal. In order for us to win the game, this is the biggest game of your life, the biggest game of our franchise. In order to win the game, all I need you to do is to give 50% of your best effort, okay? That’s all we need. I know there’s 60 minutes in the game, but just give me 30 minutes, all you got for 30 minutes. And then we’ll just kind of coast to the finish line and we’ll maybe win the game, right? Do you think any of those coaches are saying that? Of course not. They’re saying, man, I need you to leave it out all in the field. I need you to give a hundred percent. This is an incredible opportunity. Don’t miss it.

Three Ways to Be Faithful to God

Well, the same is true in our relationship with God. When we realize the glory, the wonder, the mercy, the kindness, the invitation of God in our life that he deserves our best. And so they did. They said, we are going to actually mark this moment. This is one of several moments where there was a covenant renewal that took place in the people of God.

And they made three commitments. They said, we’re going to pre-decide, if you’re taking notes, three ways we’re going to be faithful to God.

Number one, we’re going to be faithful by not intermarrying with someone who is not a believer. We’re not going to, you know, marriage is so important. And if God is going to be the center of our marriage, this important relationship, we’re not going to willfully marry someone who is not committed to the Lord, someone who doesn’t understand, someone who doesn’t have the same faith, the same values. And this is the principle of spiritual compatibility. It doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love people, you know, from different religions and passive life, but it’s just understoring the practical reality, you know, that if you’re going to build a house, you have to have a shared vision, a shared foundation, right? I mean, Can you imagine a husband and wife deciding to design a house and one partner has one design, one floor plan, and the other one has a different floor plan? It’s just gonna be very chaotic, right? And you’re not on the same page. And that’s what God is saying, that it’s so important that we marry people who have a common faith in relationship with God.

Number two, they said, we’re gonna be faithful to God, not only that, but by taking the Sabbath seriously. that we are going to stop neglecting the importance of the fact that God has created us and wired us to take a rest every seven days that we are not human doings, we are human beings. We had been in slavery in Egypt for hundreds of years and we were just, you know, we had no worth, no value, no dignity, but God said, I set you free from that and I’ve given you this gift of every seven days to do a reset, to replenish and to renew and to keep me first in your life. And they said, we are not going to violate that. We’re going to actually take that seriously.

And I’ve shared with you over the years that the Sabbath, this idea of one day a week to worship and replenish and emotionally and spiritually and relationally, it’s very practical to our own flourishing. You know, it’s kind of like the gift of a snow day. Anybody enjoy a snow day this week? Teachers and some students? Yeah, right? You get these unexpected snow days, right? And it’s like, oh man, and they always seem to come at the right time, right? Just a chance to chill, to relax, maybe read a book, maybe prepare a nice meal, watch a movie, you know, just to kind of chill. And you say, oh man, this is so wonderful. Well, God loves us so much that he actually has created 52 snow days a year, figuratively speaking, that he wants us to build into our life. And so they said, we are going to take the Sabbath seriously.

And then the third commitment, they said, we are going to be faithful by returning the tithe, which belong to the Lord. And understand here that when we give a gift to God, we give our offering, we’re not actually giving to God, we’re actually returning to God. Because ultimately, the Bible says 100% of what we’ve been trusted to us is his anyways. And God said, one of the practical ways that I’m going to, you can keep me first in your life is to give the first fruits, the first 10%, not the leftovers, but the first. Why? Because I am the creator and sustainer and provider of your life.

And Jesus made this very clear as well. Jesus said, listen, if you want to follow me, you can’t serve God in money. You know, you can’t, you know, Jesus said, you know, where your treasure is, if your treasure is in your house or in your car or in, you know, some object that, you know, that’s where your heart’s going to be. But Jesus said, here’s the deal. The greater joy, there’s far more happiness and joy in giving than in receiving.

Illustration: Don’t Give God the Leftovers

And we were chatting about this this week around the executive team table. And we were just saying, you know, how so many people miss the joy and the blessing of putting God first in their life and making God their CFO, their chief financial officer, an expression of gratitude and worship and love to God to give them the first fruits rather than the leftovers.

I mean, God doesn’t really want our leftovers. I mean, you know, let me just share with you this way. Let’s imagine you had an opportunity to have a very important person come to your house for dinner. You know, somebody that, you know, a once in a lifetime, maybe it’s a famous political leader. Maybe it’s, you know, Prince William and Princess Kate. Maybe it’s an entertainer. Maybe it’s an athlete. If it was our oldest grandson, it would be Connor McDavid, right? You know, kind of Edmonton Oilers there, whatever.

But you had an opportunity and you were really excited because this VIP, you know, is coming to your house for dinner. And then let’s just say you got so busy and you were so distracted that sort of the day came and the doorbell rang and said, oh my goodness, the guest of honor has showed up and I didn’t even really have time to get a meal ready. So you invite them in and you say, look, I’m really, really sorry, but I just have been so busy and so distracted. But listen, I got, you know, let’s sit down and have a meal. I’ve got some leftover pizza from last night. Do you like some cold pizza? Could I give you some of that? Or, you know, I’ve got some leftover shepherd pie from last week’s meal and I just put it in the freezer. I can just nuke it for a few minutes. Would that be okay?

You know, of course we would never do that to a VIP, but yet in some ways we do that if we’re not careful when we gather and we come to church week after week and we give God the leftovers from the provision he’s given to us rather than giving him the first fruits. And it’s a way to align our lives with God.

A Challenge About Giving and the Church’s Mission

Now listen, I’ve been pastoring for many decades. And let me just tell you that, you know, when I think about the stewardship giving statistics of churches all around North America, the reality is, and this is people who claim to follow Jesus and claim to be committed to a local church and all of that, that basically, generally speaking, only about 10% of believers today in North America actually practice a biblical tithe. Think about that. Only 10% actually give God the first fruits of the first 10%.

And then generally speaking, probably about two-thirds of the people who, you know, connect with a local church typically give what would be sort of, if you were calling it a tithe, like 10%, would be giving at the poverty rate for their particular region. So in New Brunswick, you know, the poverty rate, they say, is about $25,000 a year. And that would mean that, you know, the majority of people, two, three people give, you know, 10% of that or less, you know, per year. And again, it’s all about proportionate giving and people are at different stages in their life. But the point is, and then many people don’t give anything to the church. I’m talking not about guests and visitors, but people who actually over a period of time call their church their home.

And so what’s regrettable about all of that is that there are so many Christians all around North America, and likely some who are here today, who are missing the profound joy and blessing of putting God first in their life and being faithful in what God has entrusted to us.

And also, it limits the capacity of the church. in the Old Testament, Israel was meant to be a light to the nations, to be a witness to the nations. And in the New Testament, the church is to being a light, a light of God’s goodness, a light of God’s compassion, a light of God’s love, a light of God’s truth in the culture. And if most people tithe to their local church gate biblically, most churches would at least double or triple the amount that comes in that can then go out to be a blessing and for the church to really unleash all that God could do.

Well, you say, well, how did they make this commitment? Here’s the answer. Don’t miss this. It was a fresh move of God who moved their hearts because giving is always a matter of the heart. And so God moved their hearts. And look what it says in Nehemiah 10, verse 38 and 39. And a tenth of all that is collected, this is what they committed to, his tithes will be delivered to the Levites, to the temple of our God and placed in the storehouse. And then they said, we promise this collective all in. we promise together not to neglect the temple of our God.

Two Takeaways: Promises and a Revived Church

Two takeaways for us today. Number one, takeaway number one is to remain faithful. To remain faithful, we must take our promises seriously. And this is a very clear principle throughout the Bible. In Ecclesiastes 5 and verse 4, Solomon said, when you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools. fulfill your vows.

Some of you have made vows to God. So let me just remind you about some of those vows. Some of you, if you’ve been baptized, have made a public proclamation that Jesus is your Lord and your Savior, that he’s your Savior, and that you’re going to live under his lordship, that he’s the leader of your life. And it’s a pledge that you make, right? You say, Jesus, I’m going to give you the leadership of my life.

If you’ve ever dedicated your child to the Lord, if you’re a parent or grandparent. And we think about, you know, you make a commitment, you know, before God to be the primary spiritual influence in the lives of your kids and of the next generation. And so that’s a pledge. It’s a commitment to really honor God and to live a life of integrity and a life of prayer and to be an example of faith, you know, to your kids.

If you’ve, you know, gotten married at a wedding, you know, there’s a commitment to be faithful of exclusive devotion to your spouse in sickness and in health. That is a commitment. And communion, we’re going to be sharing communion later this morning. That is a vow. It’s a covenant. Jesus said, this is the new covenant in my blood. And when you take the bread and you drink the cup, you’re renewing. It’s an opportunity for a fresh move of God in your life to renew the commitment you’ve made to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

You see, friends, faithfulness honors God, And God honors faithfulness. He really does. And that’s why every year for, you know, this coming February 22nd will be our church’s 52nd anniversary Sunday. It’s gonna be a very historic and very significant Sunday for our church. You wanna be here. And in our anniversary Sunday every year, we take a moment to review and to renew the covenant we make together and before God in order to really honor him.

John Tyson, a well-known pastor, he said that obedience can happen in a moment, but surrender is the posture of a lifetime. And you know that you can be obedient for a moment, but if you’re gonna really have a posture of faithfulness for a lifetime, you need to have a surrendered heart. And so here’s the four commitments that we make to each other at our anniversary Sunday, our church covenant, our hillside covenant, that we covenant together to protect the unity of my church, that I will share the responsibility of my church, that I will serve the ministry of my church, and I will support the testimony of my church. And it’s a way for us, not in a spirit of legalism, but a spirit of love to remind ourselves and to renew that commitment. And maybe for some this year, you’re going to renew. And for some, this might be the year that you say, you know, God, I believe you’re calling me to make that commitment and to make hillside homes.

And then secondly, a dying world desperately needs a spiritually alive church. The world that’s so dark and so broken needs a spiritually alive and vital church. And you’ve often heard me say that, you know, the church is the hope of the world when it’s working right, when it’s healthy, and when there’s a spirit of unity and joy and generosity, like what we see in Acts chapter two, right?

Here’s a picture of a revived church. It said that that day, about 3,000 took him at his word. Imagine, right? Tens of thousands of people and 3,000 took him at his word. In other words, they not only revered the word of God, the preached word of God from Peter, but they also responded to it. And how did they respond to the authority of scripture? It said they were baptized and were signed up. In other words, they said this, we’re going to be all in. And they committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal and the prayers. And people, get this, here’s the impact of authentic Christianity. people in general liked what they saw. And every day the number grew of those that God was adding who were being saved. In other words, that the majority of people who were not believers were won over to faith in Jesus because of the love and the compassion and the credibility of the church. And that’s what revival does. It’s this fresh move of God.

Theologian J.I. Packer describes revival in this way. He said, where a church experiences spiritual renewal like never before. There should be love for another like never before. There should be selfless service like never before. There should be bearing of one another’s burdens like never before. There should be sharing the gospel like never before. There should be generosity, hospitality, authenticity, vulnerability like never before. Why? It’s never before because the fresh move of God that transforms the hearts and the lives and the attitudes of his people. That’s what revival is all about.

Prayer, Renewal, and Nehemiah 8 (Scripture Reading)

And I want to invite you to be praying for a deeper work of renewal in all of our lives. In Psalm 85 in verse six, the psalmist said, will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?

And over a decade ago, before we had our grand opening in this new auditorium, which the grand opening was in March 2016, a number of us, when the floor was still concrete, before the carpet was put down and all of that came in. And with markers in our hand, we wrote Bible verses all over the auditorium up here on the stage where the worship team is. Just as another reminder that our ministry stands on the solid foundation of the word of God. And the Bible verse that I wrote down on that particular day was in Habakkuk chapter three, verses one and two, where it’s a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet. Lord, I’ve heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. repeat them in our day. In our time, make them known. In wrath, remember mercy.

And Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who is the most influential pastor in the world back in the 1800s in London, England. He said that whenever God determines to do a great work, he first, the first thing he does is he sets people to pray.

And so tomorrow we’re launching into 21 days of prayer. And I want to encourage you, there’s a resource table in the lobby. If you’d like a hard copy of this prayer guide, daily devotionals, and some other tips and ideas there to help you together in your chair time over the next 21 days. It’s also available digitally, but I want to draw your attention to that.

And we’re asking everybody to make three pre-decisions, right? Because we’re only as good as our commitments to pre-decide three commitments about 21 days. Number one, to have a daily quiet time, to actually take the time to be still in your chair time before God. And we’ll give you the devotions. They’ll also, you know, you get it if you have Renew, it’ll come in digitally as well, but to have a daily quiet time. Secondly, we’re asking people to actually practice fasting on Wednesday. We have three Wednesdays coming up, and Nehemiah fasted. There was a national day of prayer and fasting, and Nehemiah, Jesus fasted. The early church often fasted, so maybe it’s to fast from a meal or fast from several meals that day, or maybe it’s a fast of technology or social media or television, but just to really fast for spiritual breakthroughs and for God to do some new things in all of our lives. And then thirdly, want to encourage you to go deeper with a resource. So I’ve cherry picked four books on prayer that I know will be an incredible blessing to you. Some of you maybe have some of those books. Not likely that all of you have all of the books except me. I’ve read all four of them. They’re fantastic. And so you can stop by the table in the lobby. We want to help resource you to understand more about prayer. And then a little bonus, if you’d like to join a midday prayer gathering on Zoom, Wednesday at 12.15 for about 30 minutes or so, there’s a link that’ll go out in the E-blast. And if you want to join me and some others in prayer time on Wednesday, do that.

Okay, with that in mind, let me just jump in here and read this incredible story that I’ve been setting up for you here today. At the end of Nehemiah 7, it says that when the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people, right? This is a huge moment. 40,000 plus people came together as one. There’s a real spirit of unity here in the square before the water gate. And they told Ezra, the teacher of the law, to bring out the book of the law of Moses. That’s the Pentateuch. That’s the first five books of the Bible, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra, the priest, brought the law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. And get this, hear this, he read it aloud from daybreak till noon. In other words, this was a six-hour gathering. Have you ever been in a six-hour gathering where God’s word is read and taught? And yeah, and he faced the square before the water gate and the presence of the men, women, and others who can understand. And all the people listened attentively. Imagine that, attentively to the book of the law.

The People Respond: Conviction, Joy, and Celebration

This is like one of the longest sermons, you know, in scripture, six hours. And then they did this for several days in a row, if you can imagine. And I was thinking about it. I think the longest sermon I’ve preached over the years, I remember one, and I didn’t realize it had gone that long, but I preached for 58 minutes, if you can imagine. Yeah, I had come back. I was year 20 of ministry here. I’d just come back from a break, and I guess I just had all kinds of stuff stored up. Karen and I had been on a cruise in the West Mediterranean, whatever. And I came back, and I thought it might be a 35, maybe a 38-minute message, but it was actually at 50. Anyway, so promise no 58-minute message here today, I promise you.

But you know, I don’t feel bad. Actually, Paul, in Acts chapter 20, you can read the story, he preached until midnight, and a little kid fell out of a window from the third floor. They had to pray a miracle, and he came back to life. And then Paul went back into the gathering, and he continued to teach, it said, until the morning. Yeah, because he was going to be leaving Troas, and this was like his last chance to really teach and instruct, and so he went for a long time. But I came across this little cartoon meme the other day, and here you got a pastor giving a message, everybody’s sound asleep, and he quote Jesus in the garden where Jesus said to the disciples, so you had not the strength to stay awake with me for one hour? Come on, you know, I couldn’t stay awake.

Well, let me just continue to read on. In verse 4, Ezra, the teacher of the law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Ezra opened the book and all the people could see him because he was standing above them. And as he opened it, the people all what? They stood up. And this was a sign of reverence for the authority of scripture. And periodically, you know, when we read the Bible, we want to stand to acknowledge the word of God. And Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, amen, amen. And then They bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

And then it lists the Levites, you know, Jeshua and Bonnie and Sherebiah and Jameen and a whole bunch of other ones there you can read. They instructed the people in the law while the people were standing there. And they read from the book of the law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning. So all the people, the people understood what was being read. And you see, that’s the heartbeat of our church. We want to give you something on Sunday that’ll make a difference in your life on Monday, as people can understand it.

And then said, Nehemiah, the governor, Ezra, the priest, and the teacher of the law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, this day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep. You see, people were weeping and mourning because as God’s word was read and explained to them, they realized that they had been wayward. They had been rebellious. They hadn’t been living fully for God. And it was really bothersome to them. So they began to cry out. And it said that all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the law.

And Nehemiah said, go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared. I love that. Like thinking about people who maybe didn’t have food, invite them to the party, right? And this day is holy to the Lord our God. Do not grieve. There’s a time to grieve and mourn, but for the joy of the Lord is your strength and the sense of celebration. It said the Levites calmed all the people saying, be still for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy now they understood the words that had been made known to them. And then it goes on and talks about how there had never been a day, a gathering like this ever since the time of Joshua, which I mentioned earlier, a thousand years prior to that.

Three Marks of Revival

Let me just summarize three marks of the revival in Nehemiah’s day.

Number one, the Bible came alive, transforming their hearts and lives. In other words, they not only believed in the authority of God’s word, but they allowed God’s word to have authority in their life. And there was a spirit of responsiveness. And I just pray that, you know, as a church, that when you come to church on Sunday, all of us, that we come with a sense of hunger and eagerness to open up the scriptures and to listen and to learn and to respond to what God’s word, you know, tells us to do. And we do that in our life groups. And we do that in our chair time personally to be responsive to the word of God. We did the red letter challenge. Remember blessed is the person who not only hears, but who puts into practice the things that I have taught. And so we want to put those things into practice.

The second mark of revival is joyful, authentic worship was restored. You know, the Bible says in Psalm 29, ascribe to the Lord the glory that is due his name and joy permeates this revival. In fact, four or five, six times, it says that they experienced a level of joy that was palpable. And it was in response to the goodness and the grace of God.

And in fact, they went on in chapter 12 and it talks about the dedication. They built the wall. Now they needed to dedicate it, right? So can you imagine being on the planning committee? Imagine the logistics to plan a special worship celebration of the dedication of the walls. And it talks about musicians and choirs and it goes on and says they offered incredible joy. It was motivated by this great joy that God had placed in their hearts.

And then finally, the third mark of revival in Nehemiah’s day is high devotion to God and the community of faith was normalized. It became normative. They said, no, we should commit ourselves fully to God. We should do this together in a spirit of unity. And they signed that covenant renewal. And then they said, you know what, that we want to fight for our faith. And if we’re going to really fight for our faith and remain faithful to God, we need be committed, and we need to tangibly invite accountability and community into our lives and habits and practices that will help us to fight well for our faith, because we know in a world of deconstruction, in a world where there’s so many Christians who have gone AWOL, who have become lukewarm, whose hearts have grown cold to God, that God, you know, he wants a people who are fully devoted to him.

Fight for Your Faith: Don’t Drift

Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1 says, we must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard so that we do not drift away. You know, the only thing you need to do in order to drift is to do nothing, to remain passive, to remain ambivalent, to remain complacent. And you just have to do nothing, and I guarantee you that you will drift. But if you want to have a faith that is strong and robust and meaningful and glorifying to God, you have to be willing to fight for your faith and take your promises seriously and invite accountability and community in your life.