Go to the Book: Desire, Understand, Rejoice, Do

``You know, there's something inspiring about what these people do in Nehemiah eight because listening to God's word being read for five to six hours did not come from a heart that says that that I'll read God's word when I feel like it. No. No. No. You devote five to six hours to something straight where you will stand to something that you were certain is essential for life itself. And Jesus said in Matthew four that his word is more essential than food. Jesus is saying God's word is better than breakfast. It's better than lunch. It's better than dinner. [00:47:38] (37 seconds)  #ScriptureIsLife

You know how, when somebody is sick and you are a caretaker for them, maybe it's a kid or a parent that you're caring for or a sip no. You don't take care of your siblings. But, it's somebody else that you're taking care of and they're sick and and they don't wanna eat, what do you do? You find something. Toast, you crush up saltine crackers and shove them down their throat. You know what I mean? You Sprite, ginger ale, whatever wives tale you believe. Like, you just give them anything you can give them and try to get them to stomach it. Right? Because we all know that that is needed. [00:48:15] (39 seconds)  #CareToNourish

You might look at Nehemiah eight and what happens here, and you say, you know, something like this. Well, I read God's word when it speaks to me or when the natural desire wells up because I wanna guard against legalism and religiosity. I've heard that my whole life. But like sick people, we need to eat whether we feel like it or not. And a 100 times out of a 100, do you know that sick people report that once they start to eat good nutrients, they start to regain their energy and feel better, see life better. [00:48:54] (33 seconds)  #NourishRegardless

But I wanna take a couple of minutes today to help kinda ground us in a gospel centered biblical way about how to be who God has called us to be in the midst of a time like this. And this matters because what we're going to do is we turn to Nehemiah today is try to answer the question, where do God's people go when the world is loud and unclear? And that was true in Nehemiah's day, and would you agree it's true today? [00:30:45] (30 seconds)  #GospelCentered

So where do we go? When the world is loud and the issues are complicated and our emotions are confusing. We don't go to opinions because they change. And if you've been watching and listening, they've changed their tune 15 times. We don't go to outrage because there'll be something else to be outraged about tomorrow. We go to the book. That's exactly what God's people do in Nehemiah chapter eight. I wanna invite you to turn in your Bibles there because we're not just gonna talk about it. We're gonna be about it. They go to the book and so will we. [00:36:12] (36 seconds)  #GoToTheBook

If you here's a good example of where this might have kinda gone wrong. Is if you watched the video of what happened with Alex Preti this week and your first reaction was to attack, vilify, or denigrate anyone in the scenario, then I wanna admit to you that that's a temptation we all face to try to make sense of something that's hard to understand. But if that was the first thing you did, then we might have lost focus of who God has called us to be as bible believing Christ followers. We champion justice in all of its forms, but we lead with compassion and we're patient with issues without demonizing those who have a different perspective. [00:34:00] (43 seconds)  #CompassionBeforeCondemnation

It's almost as if they know they need to hear what God has to say more than anything else they would do at that time or what anyone else has to say. You know the average person in 2026 spends two to three hours on social media every day being fed all kinds of junk food? Many, if not all of us, are guilty of that. And it's no wonder that our worldview is warped because it is being shaped by profiteering disciplers called influencers. You know, we're always being discipled. It's not a matter of whether or not you are in discipleship. We are all being discipled. The question is by whom? [00:46:50] (38 seconds)  #ChooseYourDiscipleship

That people's opinions, and if we did rule the world in all of our power, it would pale in comparison to what Jesus has come to do and how he has come to save us and set us free. The way that we talk about these things matters. Our tone often preaches louder than our logic. And if you're listening right now and you're saying, Corey, I hope you say this specific thing to verify my opinion, then you might have lost the point. [00:35:23] (31 seconds)  #ToneMatters