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Courage | Part 1 · Rewind

Rock Point Church

75 min

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Jul 16, 2018 · 4 min read · 75 min listen

The big idea

The first condition of a courageous heart is a dislocated heart — letting your heart go to where God is calling you, even while your body stays comfortable.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 7Courage is not the absence of fear but stepping out despite it
Point 2 of 7God uses ordinary people, not fearless superheroes

Point 3 of 7Courage is a condition of the heart, not the circumstances
Point 4 of 7Nehemiah's story sets up the pattern of a dislocated heart
Point 5 of 7Nehemiah heard of Jerusalem's disgrace and his heart dislocated
Point 6 of 7A dislocated heart begins by stopping to see and listen
Point 7 of 7A dislocated heart requires honestly asking, do I really care, and accepting the discomfort that follows
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Nehemiah 1:1-4
Nehemiah 1:1
Nehemiah 1:2
Nehemiah 1:3
Nehemiah 1:4

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Jul 16, 2018 · 75 min watch · 2 min read

Courage | Part 1

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Nehemiah 1:1-4
Nehemiah 1:1
Nehemiah 1:2
Nehemiah 1:3
Nehemiah 1:4

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

The first condition of a courageous heart is a dislocated heart — letting your heart go to where God is calling you, even while your body stays comfortable.

Courage isn't the absence of fear; it's stepping out despite it. God uses ordinary, scared people who let their hearts dislocate from comfort toward what He cares about — and that dislocation, seen in Nehemiah weeping and praying over Jerusalem's broken walls, is the first step toward the difference-making life God built us for.

Key points

1
1Courage is not the absence of fear but stepping out despite it
Pastor Daniel tells the story of cliff diving as a teenager, frozen at the top while his friend Jimmy jumped, calling him a coward, until he finally leapt himself. He ties this to his dad's teaching that if you're not scared, it's not courage — quoting John Wayne's line about saddling up scared to death anyway.
2
2God uses ordinary people, not fearless superheroes
Because courage requires fear, the people God supports and uses are ordinary people who feel afraid but go anyway. Pastor Daniel notes that someone who feels no fear in a genuinely dangerous moment isn't courageous, just reckless or naive.
3
3Courage is a condition of the heart, not the circumstances
He explains that waiting for the right timing or for fear to disappear is not courage; the word courage comes from the Latin cor and Greek cardio, meaning heart. He introduces the six-week Nehemiah series and the church's need for courage to build new walls, i.e., buildings.
4
4Nehemiah's story sets up the pattern of a dislocated heart
Pastor Daniel retells Israel's history — chosen, blessed, comfortable, exiled to Babylon, and partially returned under Persian rule — and introduces Nehemiah as an ordinary cupbearer, a trusted royal advisor living a comfortable, prestigious life in Susa.
5
5Nehemiah heard of Jerusalem's disgrace and his heart dislocated
Working through Nehemiah 1:1-4, he shows how Nehemiah asked his brother about Jerusalem, learned the walls were torn down and gates burned leaving the people in danger and disgrace, and responded by sitting down, weeping, fasting, and praying for days — his body stayed in Susa but his heart moved to Jerusalem.
6
6A dislocated heart begins by stopping to see and listen
Pastor Daniel says Nehemiah, despite a busy, important job, stopped his routine to see what God was doing and to hear God speak. He warns that busyness, including treating church as just another routine stop, keeps people from ever hearing God.
7
7A dislocated heart requires honestly asking, do I really care, and accepting the discomfort that follows
He challenges listeners to ask why they don't care rather than shaming themselves, warning against a consumer, spiritual-restaurant view of church. He points to Jesus leaving heaven's comfort for the cross, praying not my will but Thy will, as the ultimate example of letting God's agenda supersede personal comfort.

A story from life

Cliff-diving story with a high-school friend named Jimmy, illustrating courage as acting despite fear

Application

Pastor Daniel frames the charge as developing a dislocated heart — letting your heart go where God's heart already is, even before your feet follow.

Stop and get out of your busyness
Set aside the routine, including treating church as just another item on your schedule, so you can actually see what God is doing and listen for Him to speak.
Ask yourself honestly, do I really care
Whether or not you feel connected to what God cares about, take time to examine it honestly rather than assume the answer or feel shamed by it.
If you don't care, ask why
Rather than forcing yourself to care, dig into the tragedy, hurt, habit, or lie that may be blocking you, since understanding it can unlock the rest of your life.
Accept the discomfort of a dislocated heart
Recognize that following where God's heart leads will be uncomfortable, and choose it anyway rather than waiting to feel ready or safe.
Jump in and give courageously to the church's mission
As the church prepares to build new buildings, Pastor Daniel asks everyone to get uncomfortable and scared enough to trust God and give, rather than treating giving as a leftover tip.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“we're just gonna look at the first four verses of Nehemiah chapter one. And the big idea today, the first condition of a courageous heart is this”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“So here we go. Verse one, these are the memoirs of Nehemiah, son of Hakaliah. In the late autumn, in the month of Kislev”
From the transcript
“Verse two, Hananiah, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. Now, but when they just arrived, his brother comes”
From the transcript
“Verse three, they said to me, things are not going well for those who return to the province of Judah. They're in great trouble and disgrace”
From the transcript
“the wall of Jerusalem has been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire. That both answers the question as to why they're in trouble, danger, and why they're in disgrace”
From the transcript
“It says verse four, when I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the god of heaven. We're gonna stop there”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

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

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Nehemiah was not a prophet or a priest. He was a cupbearer — a man with a good job, a stable routine, and no obvious reason to upend his life. Yet the story begins not with a dramatic vision but with a simple encounter: his brother Hananiah shows up with news from home. Nothing about that moment looks like the start of something historic. It looks like an ordinary conversation. That is worth sitting with. God rarely announces His invitations with fanfare. More often He works through the ordinary rhythms of life — a conversation, a piece of news, a nagging question that won't go away. Nehemiah was in a place of personal comfort and relative security when the moment arrived. He did not go looking for a mission. The mission came to him through an open door and an honest report. Pastor Daniel reminded us that God looks for ordinary people whose hearts are available. Not perfect people, not fearless people — available ones. The question is not whether God is speaking. The question is whether we have slowed down enough to notice when He does. Nehemiah's story starts in an ordinary hallway, and so might yours. The first act of courage is simply being present enough to hear the knock.

For reflection

When was the last time you slowed down long enough to notice what God might be placing in front of you — through a conversation, a need, or a moment that wouldn't leave your mind?

Pray

Pray for eyes to notice what God is putting in your path this week, even in ordinary moments.

Day 2

The report Hananiah brings is not softened: the wall is torn down, the gates are destroyed by fire, and the people who returned to Judah are in great trouble and disgrace. It is a blunt, uncomfortable picture of real suffering. And it is the kind of news you can hear in two very different ways — you can take it in, or you can let it wash past you. Pastor Daniel called us to stop and truly see — not just glance at the brokenness around us but actually look at it. There is a difference between knowing in the abstract that people are hurting and allowing that knowledge to land somewhere real inside you. Nehemiah let the news land. He did not immediately form a plan or offer a quick fix. He just sat with what was true. We live in a world that rewards busyness and efficiency, and both of those things can quietly protect us from being moved. We can attend church, check the box, and still keep a careful distance from the places where walls are broken and people are struggling. This passage is an invitation to lower that guard — not to be overwhelmed, but to be honest. Seeing clearly is not a passive act. It is the beginning of caring, and caring is where courage is born.

For reflection

Is there a person, a community, or a situation in your life that you have been aware of but perhaps not truly looked at? What would it mean to really see it?

Pray

Pray for the willingness to see what God sees — without flinching or turning away.

Day 3

Verse four is one of the most quietly powerful verses in the Old Testament. Nehemiah heard the report, and then he sat down and wept. He mourned for days. He fasted. He prayed. He did not rush past his grief into action. He let the condition of God's people actually break his heart. Pastor Daniel described this as a dislocated heart — a heart whose body is in one place but whose deepest concern has moved somewhere else entirely. Nehemiah was still physically in Susa, still the king's cupbearer, still surrounded by the comforts of a royal court. But his heart had moved to Jerusalem. That dislocation was not comfortable. Weeping is not comfortable. Mourning is not comfortable. But it was real, and it was the very thing God used. It is worth asking what moves you to genuine grief. Not performative sadness, not a momentary pang — but the kind of mourning that makes you sit down and stay there for a while. That grief is often a signpost. It points toward what you actually care about, and caring is not something you can manufacture on your own. Nehemiah's tears were not a strategy. They were evidence that something had already shifted deep inside him. A dislocated heart weeps before it acts.

For reflection

What, if anything, has genuinely moved you to grief or mourning recently? What might that be telling you about where your heart is being drawn?

Pray

Pray for a heart that is soft enough to be moved by what moves God.

Day 4

Related passage

Pastor Daniel challenged us to stop — not as a spiritual technique, but as an honest interruption of the noise. He pointed out that busyness can become its own kind of hiding place, even when that busyness is religious. You can fill a calendar with church activities and still never create the quiet in which God can actually speak to you. 'Be still and know that I am God' is a short verse that lands like a weight. The word 'still' here is not a suggestion to relax. It carries the sense of releasing your grip — letting go of the frantic effort to manage everything. Before Nehemiah could act, he had to stop and sit in the discomfort of what he had heard. That stillness was not passive; it was the posture of someone making room for God to be God in the situation. In practice, stopping looks different for everyone. It might be putting the phone down. It might be sitting quietly before you get out of the car. It might be asking honestly, before a week gets underway, what God is already doing around you that you might be running past. The goal is not silence for its own sake but the kind of attentiveness that makes you available. You cannot hear a question you never let be asked.

For reflection

What would it look like, practically, for you to build one honest moment of stillness into your week — not to perform it, but to actually create space to listen?

Pray

Pray for the courage to stop, even briefly, and invite God to speak into the quiet.

Day 5

Related passage

Pastor Daniel asked us to sit with a hard question: do I really care about the things God cares about? Not do I know I should care, not do I want to want to care — but do I actually, genuinely care? He was careful to say that if the answer is no or unclear, the response is not guilt. It is curiosity. Ask why. Because the honest answer to that question can unlock your life. Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment, and He named two: love God with everything you are, and love your neighbor as yourself. Those two loves are not separate tracks; they are woven together. When our hearts are genuinely oriented toward God, concern for people follows. When concern for people seems distant, it is often worth tracing back to what is competing for our love and attention at the level of the first commandment. Fear, hurt, past disappointment, or quiet lies we have come to believe can all act as walls between what we know we should feel and what we actually feel. Nehemiah had no such walls in that moment — the news from Jerusalem cracked him open. Asking honestly where your walls are is not a confession of failure. It is the beginning of the very dislocation Pastor Daniel described.

For reflection

When you honestly ask yourself whether you care about what God cares about, what answer comes up — and if there is resistance, where do you think it is coming from?

Pray

Pray for honesty with yourself and with God about where your heart actually is, and for grace in whatever that reveals.

Day 6

Related passage

The most powerful example of a dislocated heart in all of Scripture is Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Pastor Daniel pointed to this moment clearly: Jesus, who left the comfort of heaven and took on flesh, came to the hardest moment of His mission and prayed, 'Not my will, but Yours be done.' He did not pray that prayer because He felt no fear, no anguish, no weight. The verses around it tell us He was in such distress that His sweat became like drops of blood. He asked, if possible, for a different path. And yet He went. That is the definition of courage Pastor Daniel gave us: not the absence of fear, but acting in spite of it. Jesus is not an abstract example of this — He is the source of it. The same One who ran to the cross is the One who stands at the edge of whatever step you are afraid to take, asking you to trust Him and let go of the tree. You do not have to feel ready. You do not have to feel unafraid. You are invited to move toward His agenda while you are still afraid, trusting that the One who modeled that prayer knows exactly what He is asking of you — and that He has already proven He will not abandon you in it.

For reflection

Is there something you sense God asking of you that you have been holding back from because it feels too costly or too uncomfortable? What would it mean to pray 'not my will, but Yours' in that specific place?

Pray

Pray for the willingness to surrender a specific area of resistance to God's agenda, even if the fear doesn't go away first.

Day 7

Four verses. A man in a comfortable position, a piece of news he did not ask for, a grief he did not suppress, and a prayer he did not rush past. That is where one of the great stories of courage in Scripture begins — not with a dramatic calling, but with an ordinary man who stopped, looked, wept, and made himself available. Pastor Daniel's sermon was not primarily about Nehemiah. It was about you and about the ordinary life you are living right now. God's plan for changing the world is people — ordinary people whose hearts have been dislocated enough to move toward His concerns rather than retreat to personal comfort. You do not have to have it all figured out. You do not have to feel brave. You are asked to stop long enough to see, to be honest enough to ask whether you care, and to be willing enough to take the uncomfortable step when God makes it clear. As you close this week, sit with the whole passage again. Let it ask its questions of you freshly. Where is God calling your heart, even now? What wall, in your world or someone else's, needs someone willing to stop, look, and eventually move? The same God who used Nehemiah is still in the business of using people whose hearts are simply turned toward Him.

For reflection

Looking back over this week, what has shifted — even slightly — in how you see where God might be calling your heart to move?

Pray

Pray for the courage to take one concrete step this week toward whatever God has been putting in front of you — even while you are still afraid.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Nehemiah was safe, employed, and far from the rubble of Jerusalem — and yet something shifted in him when he heard the news. This message explores what that shift looks like and why it matters.

Discussion questions

1
In Nehemiah 1:1-3, Nehemiah is living in comfort and security when his brother arrives with news about Jerusalem. What do you notice about the way Nehemiah receives that news — and what does his response in verse 4 tell us about what was happening inside him?
2
Pastor Daniel described a 'dislocated heart' as one where your body may be in a place of comfort but your heart has moved toward where God is calling you. What do you think makes that kind of dislocation hard for people to step into?
3
Pastor Daniel said that dislocations begin with stopping — stepping out of the busyness of routine, even the routine of attending church, to honestly see where God is at work. What might get in the way of that kind of honest seeing in everyday life?
4
Pastor Daniel suggested that if we ask ourselves 'Do I really care about the things God cares about?' and the answer is unclear or no, the next question is why — because that answer may reveal fears, hurts, or lies holding us back. What do you think that process of honest self-examination might open up for someone?
5
Pastor Daniel pointed to Jesus as the ultimate example of a dislocated heart — leaving the comfort of heaven, running to the cross, and praying 'not my will but Thy will.' How does that picture of Jesus shape the way we understand the invitation to move toward discomfort ourselves?
6
Pastor Daniel described courage not as waiting until you feel ready, but as jumping while you are still afraid. How might that idea change the way we as a community think about stepping into the things God seems to be asking of us?

Pray together

Hearts willing to stop, see, and move toward what God cares about — even when it is uncomfortable

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Courage

Week 1 · 6 messages

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Acting Despite Fear A Dislocated Heart Courage God's Agenda Surrendering Comfort

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