A Warning, Awakening the Church From Spiritual Apathy | Pastor Chris Searcy | 6.29.25

 A WARNING

Awaking the Church from Spiritual Apathy

God is pouring out… But Why… We answer that today.

Who is Joel
Prophet Joel (Yahweh is God) — Son of Pethuel

• Likely from Judah, given his knowledge of the Temple and priests.
• Date: 9th–6th century BC. Believed to be 586 BC
• Theme: Yom YHWH (Hebrew)– The Day of the Lord.

• Judgments on Israel and the nations.

• But: Hope for the Remnant.

• Purpose & Occasion:

Joel calls inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem to lament and return to the Lord during a time of national calamity.

Understanding the Day of the Lord

Yom YHWH — 5x in Joel, 13x in 7 other prophetic books.

• Occurrences in Joel: 1:15, 2:1, 2:11, 2:31, 3:14

Indicates a time when the presence of the Lord brings judgment 

or deliverance and blessing….. depending on the circumstances!

Three main movements in the the text

• Judgment
• Repentance
• The Promise of the outpouring of the Spirit

Structure

1. Past Events

When God saved His people and confronted evil in the Old Testament

2. Current Events
How God can save us

3. Future Day of the Lord

When God will defeat evil for the whole world as seen in Revelation (Johns vision.)

OLD TESTAMENT JUDGMENT

Throughout the Old Testament, God's judgment often came in the form of active discipline—plagues, famines, invading armies—not merely to punish, but to turn His people back to Him.

NEW TESTAMENT JUDGMENT

John 3:16–18

16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."

Jesus came offering life, but those who reject Him stand already condemned. They are not struck down instantly—they are left to the destruction of their own rebellion.

ROMANS 1

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

THE REMEDY

If God’s Judgment is handing people over to their dishonorable passions then the inverse is a turning of hearts to God and his commands 

The remedy is:

Matthew 28:18-19

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

"if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

Sins that Judah lead them to Judgment

1. Idolatry

They worshiped other gods alongside or instead of Yahweh.

Jeremiah 2:11–13
11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods?

But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate,

declares the Lord,

13 for my people have committed two evils:

they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

2. Violence, Bloodshed, and Injustice

Leaders oppressed the poor, accepted bribes, and failed to uphold justice.

Ezekiel 22:6–9

6 Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.

7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.

8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.

9 There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst.

3. Religious Hypocrisy

They kept the outward rituals of worship but their hearts were far from God.

Jeremiah 7:8–10

8 Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.

9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,

10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?

4. Child Sacrifice

They sacrificed their children to Molech — a horrific act of rebellion.

Jeremiah 19:4–5

4 Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods… 5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind—

INVASIONS OF JERUSALEM AND JUDAH

 First Invasion – 605 BC

• King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar II (for all 3)

• King of Judah: Jehoiakim

• What Happened:

• Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and made it a vassal state.

• He took the first wave of captives from Jerusalem to Babylon — including Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 1:1–6).

• Temple Status: Still standing

 Second Invasion – 597 BC

• King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar II

• King of Judah: Jehoiachin (briefly), then Zedekiah (installed by Babylon)

• What Happened:

• Nebuchadnezzar invaded again, laid siege to Jerusalem, and took 10,000 more captives (including Ezekiel – see Ezekiel 1:1–3).

• He also looted the temple treasures.

• Temple Status: Still standing, but defiled and partially looted.

 Third and Final Invasion – 586 BC

• King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar II

• King of Judah: Zedekiah

• What Happened:

• Nebuchadnezzar launched a full-scale siege of Jerusalem lasting nearly two years.

• Jerusalem was breached, the temple was burned, the walls were torn down, and the city was destroyed.

• Most remaining people were either killed or exiled; only the poorest were left to tend the land (Jeremiah 52:12–16).

• Temple Status: Completely destroyed.

Fathers Day Expository Teaching From Nehemiah | Pastor Chris Searcy | 6.15.25

Fathers Day
Expository teaching from Nehemiah

Who was Nehemiah:
Position: Nehemiah was a Jew in exile because of the Babylonian captivity,which later became the Persian captivity after Persia conquered Babylon.

Faithful Jew: Deeply concerned with the welfare of his people and the holy city of Jerusalem.

Role: He was a cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes I.

Theme:
The Lord's protection of his people and the need for faithfulness and keeping the Torah and their faithfulness and worship.

What Happens:
Nehemiah led the effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.

Nehemiah 1:1-11

1 These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:

In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

3 And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”

4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

5 Then I said:

“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites.

I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that You gave Your servant Moses.

8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’

10 They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and mighty hand. 11 O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Nehemiah 2:3-5, 8
3 and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 “What is your request?” replied the king.

So I prayed to the God of heaven 5 and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

8…. And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

Nehemiah 2:16
16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers. 17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

Nehemiah 4:1, 6-11
1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews

6 So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

7 When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious, 8 and all of them conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem and create a hindrance.

9 So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.

10 Meanwhile, the people of Judah said: 

“The strength of the laborer fails,

    and there is so much rubble

that we will never be able

    to rebuild the wall.”

11 And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”

Nehemiah 4:13
13 So I stationed men behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

Nehemiah 4:15
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their scheme and that God had frustrated it, each of us returned to his own work on the wall. 16 And from that day on, half of my servants did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor.

Nehemiah 4:23
23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.

Nehemiah 4:14
14 After I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”