Courage | Part 3 · Rewind

Courage | Part 3 · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · Jul 31, 2018

Big Idea

Courage means stepping out of the safe harbor into the radical faith God designed us for, trusting Him even when His answer to prayer looks terrifying.

God didn't design us to stay safe in the harbor of our lives; He built us for the deep ocean of the calling He has for us. Like Nehemiah, real faith means surrendering completely to God and stepping out even when the door He opens looks scary, trusting Him to show up.

Key points

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1A boat is safe in the harbor, but it wasn't built for the harbor.
Pastor Bill tells the story of a friend with a beautifully restored sailboat who never took it out of the harbor, only used it for barbecues and Christmas lights. He calls this the dumbest thing he'd ever heard, and draws the parallel that many of us settle for a safe, harbor-bound faith when God built us for the deep ocean.
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2Courage is a condition of the heart, not a change in circumstances.
He explains that if you wait until you're not scared to act, it isn't courage at all. Courage means trusting God even while circumstances still look terrifying, not waiting for things to line up first.
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3Nehemiah's courage grew out of a dislocated and broken heart before it ever became radical faith.
Pastor Bill recaps the series: Nehemiah's heart dislocated toward Jerusalem even while he lived comfortably in Susa, and his broken, repentant heart turned his prayers toward God's agenda rather than his own. These two conditions, he says, always lead to action.
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4Radical faith is choosing to step out and fulfill God's clearly revealed will at possible personal cost.
He defines radical faith as believing God's character and trusting His promises enough to actually act on them, even when it's scary or improbable. This is the condition of the heart Nehemiah models in chapter two.
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5God often opens the door to His will in a way that looks like it might destroy you, not rescue you.
Working through Nehemiah 2, Pastor Bill shows how Nehemiah could not appear sad before the king without risking death, yet his grief showed on his face and the king confronted him. Nehemiah says he was terrified, but replied anyway, which Pastor Bill calls the definition of biblical courage and the biggest but in the Bible.
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6The one thing radical faith requires is absolute surrender, not a single decision but a repeated one.
He distills the whole message into one bottom line: complete surrender of everything to God, not trying to get God to surrender to our plans. He shares his own recurring surrender prayer he prays whenever God calls him into something scary.
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7Being part of God's plan, like the Rock Point building campaign, is a privilege, not a manipulation tactic.
He connects Nehemiah's call to rebuild the wall to Rock Point's call to build new space for the growing community, stressing that God will accomplish His will whether or not they participate, so the real question is whether they'll get to share in it. He closes with the story of his friend Jimmy diving for a game-winning catch, bloodied but wanting the ball thrown to him again, as a picture of wanting to be part of God's victory no matter the cost.

Application

Pastor Bill's charge is to leave the harbor: stop waiting to feel safe and take the scary step of surrender God is asking for.

Pray the surrender prayer
Whenever God calls you into something scary, pray 'anything, anywhere, anytime, anyhow, I'm yours' as a way of surrendering completely instead of asking God to surrender to your plans.
Recognize the privilege, not the pressure
Stop viewing sacrifice for God's plan as an obligation to make something happen, and instead ask whether you will have the privilege of being part of what God is already going to do.
Pray about your pledge to the building campaign
Prayerfully decide what you can pledge over the two-year campaign and what you can front-load as first fruits, aiming for a step that lands in the 'courage zone' rather than a comfortable amount.
Turn in your pledge by the deadline
Bring your pledge card in on one of the pledge weekends, August 11, 12, 18, or 19, either online or on paper, as a concrete step of the surrender you've prayed about.
Keep saying 'throw me the ball'
Like Jimmy diving for the game-winning catch, keep coming back willing to take the next scary assignment from God, even after it costs you something.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

Related passage

Nehemiah was a cupbearer — well-positioned, relatively comfortable, and a long way from Jerusalem. He had every reason to keep his head down. But when the report came back about the broken walls and the disgrace of his people, he didn't manage the news from a distance. He sat down and wept. He mourned for days. Something in him refused to stay comfortable while God's purposes lay in ruins. That kind of response has a name in this sermon: a dislocated heart. It's what happens when your heart stops being anchored to your own plans and starts beating in rhythm with what God cares about. Nehemiah wasn't scheming yet. He wasn't making a plan. He was simply letting the weight of the moment land on him fully. This is where courageous faith almost always begins — not with a dramatic decision, but with an honest, unhurried reckoning with reality. Before Nehemiah ever said a word to the king, he let himself be broken open by something bigger than himself. Today's invitation is simply this: what is it that you already sense God caring about — in your family, your neighborhood, your church — that you've been managing from a safe distance? You don't have to have a plan yet. Start by letting it land.

For reflection

What report, need, or broken thing have you been keeping at arm's length — and what might it look like to let it actually touch you?

Pray

Pray for the willingness to let God's concerns become your concerns, even when that's uncomfortable.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Think of a moment — maybe from a movie, a sport, or something you've watched someone else do — where someone stepped into a genuinely risky situation and it paid off. This message is about what it takes to actually do that when the risk is real.

Discussion questions

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The message opened with the image of a boat that is safe in the harbor but not designed for it. What does that picture suggest about how God might think of a life built around avoiding risk?
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The sermon described two conditions that prepared Nehemiah for the moment with the king: a 'dislocated heart' — caring about what God cares about — and a broken, repentant spirit. How do those two things work together? What would be missing if someone had one but not the other?
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In Nehemiah 2:1–8, the door God opened came without warning, in a scary situation Nehemiah didn't choose or plan for. What does that tell us about how God tends to invite people into His plan?
Related passage
4
Nehemiah 2:2–5 captures the moment: 'I was terrified, but I replied.' The sermon held that up as a working definition of biblical courage. How does that picture change the way we might think about what courage actually feels like from the inside?
Related passage
5
The sermon drew a contrast between praying 'God, go where I want to go' and praying 'where do You want me to go?' — and tied both to what kind of heart someone brings to prayer. What shifts, practically, when a community starts praying the second way instead of the first?
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The message closed with the idea that being part of God's plan is a privilege, not a burden — and that the person who keeps saying 'throw me the ball' is the one who gets to share in the victory. How might that framing change the way a group like ours thinks about the costly steps we're each being invited into right now?

Pray together

A willingness to say — and keep saying — 'Anything, anywhere, anytime, anyhow, I'm Yours'

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Topics

Courage and Fear God's Plan and Purpose Radical Faith Risk and Trust Surrender to God's Will

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