Pastor Lawton's Sermon

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January 31, 2010 - "Spiritual Blues"

Sermon Outline

Spiritual Blues
Nehemiah 4:4-15 (p.344-45)

Nehemiah’s Story

• Nehemiah arrives in 444BC
• Rebuilt the walls
• Reordered people’s social and economic lives

• Nehemiah’s vision (ch. 1 – 2)
• Began when he heard the report from Judah
• Moved by a holy discontent
• He went to the Lord
• Implemented a plan

Discouragement

• Discouragement does not always mean we have gotten off the right path
• Discouragement makes us feel alone
• Satan wants us to feel disconnected

Identify the Cause of Discouragement

• Opposition
• Doing the right thing is not always the popular thing
• Comes from a variety of sources        

• Wrong approach
• Need to apply  godly wisdom

• Lack of faith
• Misguided faith
• Selfishness
• In our prayer life
• Our expectations of other believers
• Our expectations of the church

• A passive approach
• If we don’t intentionally take steps to grow in our faith we can become prone towards discouragement

Coming Out of  Discouragement

• Be honest and real
• Tell God and others
• Listen to God
• Remember the Lord who is great and awesome (v.14)
• God does not want us to be discouraged (Jeremiah 29:11)

• Listen to the right others
• Seek out encouragers

Conquer Discouragement

• I am discouraged in my walk with God when __________.

• I will find encouragement this week in…
• God’s word
• Prayer
• Fellowship with believers

• I will remember God’s plan is for me to grow!

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