First Baptist Church of Hoquiam
Sunday Worship, 07_05, 2025

      • Psalm 119ESV

  • Patterns of imperfection and the promise of grace.

    The people repent and worship

    Nehemiah 9:1–5 ESV
    1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
    The Word of God reveals to us our sin and God’s grace.
    The Word of God draws us into worship.
    Nehemiah 9:5 ESV
    “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

    The God who made it all sees even the faithfulness of one person.

    Nehemiah 9:6–8 ESV
    6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

    God saved His people from Egypt.

    Nehemiah 9:9–15 ESV
    9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. 12 By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. 13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

    The people rebel but God is gracious

    Nehemiah 9:16–17 ESV
    16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

    The people sin greatly but God is merciful

    Nehemiah 9:18–21 ESV
    18 Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

    God gave them everything He promised and the people continued to disobey and rebel

    Nehemiah 9:22–28 ESV
    22 “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. 25 And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness. 26 “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27 Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28 But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies.

    God’s longsuffering and His discipline

    Nehemiah 9:29–31 ESV
    29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

    God is righteous and we are wicked

    Nehemiah 9:32–35 ESV
    32 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works.

    This generation cries out to God

    Nehemiah 9:36–37 ESV
    36 Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

    The people declare their resolve

    Nehemiah 9:38 ESV
    38 “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.

    The pattern is the problem

    God Blesses us
    We chase sin
    God beings punishment/discipline for our sin
    We suffer under that consequence
    We cry out to God
    God hears us and saves us
    We obey God
    God blesses us
    We chase sin again
    but in the midst of the pattern are those who seem to stand out. The stand out in the midst of the mess and become examples to us all.

    Examples in the mess

    What made Abraham, Moses, David and so many others different? Although the nation fell away, these men remained faithful. These were not perfect men, they were faithful men.

    How can we be examples in the mess?

    What is our mess?

    Because of the 250th anniversary of our nation, I got to thinking about this pattern. I asked the question, what has caused the hearts of many Americans to abandon God? As I looked over the list, I found the same themes as we find in the Bible. A nation who has experienced God’s blessing. A nation that has taken God for granted. A nation that chases sin. In this list we find the mess that we live in. Let’s look at our mess in a list.
    Decline in church attendance, Bible reading, and biblical literacy Loss of belief in the Bible as final authority Acceptance of sex outside biblical marriage Normalization of pornography, adultery, and divorce Acceptance of same-sex marriage and gender ideology Legal protection and cultural acceptance of abortion Growth of materialism, greed, and consumerism Entertainment increasingly celebrating sin Removal of Christian influence from public schools and public life Moral relativism: “my truth” replacing God’s truth Individualism and self-expression replacing self-denial and obedience to Christ Increasing hostility or indifference toward biblical Christianity Religious profession without real repentance or discipleship Prosperity leading to self-reliance instead of dependence on God

    How do we remain faithful in the mess?

    Do not fall in love with the world and compromise your convictions.

    1 John 2:15–17 ESV
    15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

    Do not give in to the spirit of the world

    Philippians 2:14–16 ESV
    14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

    Live according to the will of the Lord

    Ephesians 5:6–21 ESV
    6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

      • Nehemiah 9:1–5ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:5ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:6–8ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:9–15ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:16–17ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:18–21ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:22–28ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:29–31ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:32–35ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:36–37ESV

      • Nehemiah 9:38ESV

      • 1 John 2:15–17ESV

      • Philippians 2:14–16ESV

      • Ephesians 5:6–21ESV

First Baptist Church of Hoquiam
fbchoquiam@outlook.com
3605324887
http://fbchoquiam.com
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