Mission Focused Men for Christ

Summary: Our hearts were designed to find satisfaction by delighting in God. In fact, satisfying our heart in this way is the foundational starting point for our mission. God has designed life so that our heart loves must be ordered properly. The first commandment and Great Commandment are about giving God first place in our affections—“Have no gods before me.” “Love me with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” We were created to be worshippers, to delight ourselves in the Lord—to find pleasure in praising God’s moral beauty.
In fact, Peter tells us that the purpose of our redemption is to fulfill our created role first and foremost as worshippers. Peter writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9). Nehemiah 12 is the story of God’s people celebrating God and proclaiming his excellencies. From it we remember again how to keep our heart properly aligned by filling our heart with the joy of praising him 
For Further Prayerful Thought. 
Why do we not devote ourselves more to delighting ourselves in him?
Nehemiah inspired thankfulness to God in his people’s hearts for what God had done (enabling them to complete the wall in 53 days) by having them physically walking on the wall they built. How can we, as Christians, do a better job of setting our focus on what God has done for us?
What else stood out to you about this joyful worship celebration planned by Nehemiah?
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Episode Summary:  In this episode we examine Nehemiah 10 to see what it can teach us about false and true repentance.
For Further Prayerful Thought.  
Why is saying “I’m sorry” easier than true repentance?
How would you summarize these words of John? And by this we know that we have come to know him (Christ), if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked (1 Jn 2:3-6.)
Although we no longer live in a theocracy as God’s people did before Jesus came, why might Israel’s law that warned that oppression of the poor was not to be compensated for by partiality towards them in court help inform our thinking about how best to show mercy to the poor.
How does the example of God’s repentant Old Covenant people stepping up to fully fund ministry challenge you?
What have you learned about walking in the Spirit, i.e. experiencing his power in your everyday life? 
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Episode Summary: One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is that fruitfulness comes not from strength but from brokenness. Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains by itself alone. But if it dies it bears much fruit.” Peter was the arrogant leader of the disciples who boasted “Lord even if all the other disciples forsake you, I never will.”  Before the next morning, he denied knowing Jesus three times and when the cock crowed, he went out and wept bitterly, a broken man. Never again in Scripture do we see that arrogance in Peter. Instead, he passes on to others a lesson that he learned through his brokenness “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Can you imagine God pulling out his big guns AGAINST YOU? The fastest way to see that happen is pride. And one of pride’s most subtle manifestations is taking our sins lightly rather than weeping over them. Today’s episode from Nehemiah is a great picture of a nation, broken by its sin.  
For Further Prayerful Thought:
What stood out to you most as the priests recounted the cycle of Israel’s history—God’s goodness and mercy, Israel’s rebellion against him, the punishment for their sins (covenant sanctions)?
Why do you think James is so insistent that to draw near to God we must feel broken over our own sin?
In the Beatitudes, Jesus ranked mourning over sin second on the list of kingdom attitudes ahead of meekness, purity of heart, etc. How would grieving over our own sins, and grieving over the suffering of those who are still enslaved to sin because they do not know Jesus impact our heart attitudes towards the lost?
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Episode Summary: 
One of the films making its rounds the past two weeks in movie theaters is “A Great Awakening” produced by Sight and Sound. The film tells the story of the First Great Awakening in America through the lens of Benjamin Franklin, the friend of George Whitefield the great preacher who was largely responsible, along with Jonathan Edwards, for the awakening which historians say had a tremendous impact on the founding of America thirty years later. 
One of the primary responsibilities of Christians is to impact their culture, retarding the decay brought about by sin by functioning as salt and shining the light of God's truth into spheres of our own culture where the darkness of sin prevails. In other words, Christ wants us not only to be individual disciples of his but to make disciples of all nations. In this episode we find insight about this process as we look at how God discipled nations in the past by bringing about a great awakening and spiritual renewal in Israel (recounted in Nehemiah 8) and inspiring The Great Awakening in America. 
For Further Prayerful Thought:
Why do you think Jesus told us our mission is to “make disciples OF the nations” instead of “make disciples IN the nations”? What is the difference? What does this command say to Christians who want to give up on our culture because “the culture is so evil it is going to hell in a hand basket”?
What stood out to you about how God discipled his nation, Israel, through Ezra and the Levites during the month of Tishri? What parts of this process seem applicable to America? Which parts don’t?
What stood out to you about God discipling America through The Great Awakening? What lessons, if any, can you draw from it about how God might “disciple” America through us.
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Summary: As we pick up our study of the Book of Nehemiah, we come to the eight chapter where a national revival takes place in Judah. Before studying that next week, we need to think carefully about some issues—issues that happen to be very much in the news today, which surround America’s war with Iran, Israel our ally, and the war itself. Is God on our side? Is this a just war? Are Christians right who seem to say we should blindly support Israel in its conflict with Islamic Jihadists? Is America a Christian nation? This episode seeks to find clarity in Scripture about these issues. 
For Further Prayerful Thought:
How would you describe the difference between ethnic Israel and spiritual Israel. How does this difference make sense? Why is it important?
Why is it important to recognize that God’s covenant with spiritual Israel is continued in the church?
Contrast Israel’s theocracy with America’s democracy.
What is the difference between recognizing the influence of Christians in America’s founding and constitution and saying America is a Christian nation?
What is your opinion of the Islamic Jihadi cry, “from the river to the sea.”
For the printed version of this message click here.
For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.
For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.
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