Session 2: Take The First Step

For most of us, the hardest step is the first step. That's not only true for you, but for many in the Bible, including Nehemiah and Isaiah. We're going to be looking at people from the Bible, just like you, who overcame the challenges of rebuilding.

CATCHING UP/LOOKING AHEAD 

1. Talk about what you experienced in your fasting or prayer times during this last week. 

2. When you think about how a baby takes his or her first steps, what does it say to you about first steps in our lives as adults? 

KEY VERSE 

The king said to me, “What is it you want?” 

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” 

Nehemiah 2:4–5 

DISCOVERY QUESTIONS 

1. Is there some point where you already have taken—or still need to take—a stand for what God wants to rebuild? 
2. What can you do to prepare for what you’re dreaming God will do? 
3. How have you seen God work to calm your fears as you’ve faced a risk of faith? 
4. Is it easy or difficult for you to ask for help? 

LIVING ON PURPOSE 

God’s five purposes for each of us are evangelism, discipleship, fellow- ship, ministry, and worship. In this section, we’ll look at how we can take practical steps to fulfill one of those purposes based on the truths we’ve looked at in this study.

FELLOWSHIP 

Who can stand with you as you rebuild? Who do you need to ask for help? 

Start with this group and ask them to specifically pray for you. To see how God works during these seven weeks of meeting, start a group prayer request sheet. 

PRAYING TOGETHER 

Pray for the requests you shared a moment ago, as well as for other needs your group members might have. 

Creators & Guests

Host

Tom Holladay

Tom Holladay is a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Tom’s passion in ministry is to help people discover a love for the Bible and an understanding of God’s truth that changes the way they live. In addition to his pastoral leadership and weekend teaching ministries at Saddleback, he assists Rick Warren in teaching Purpose-Driven Church conferences to Christian leaders all over the world. Books he has written include The Relationship Principles of Jesus, Love Powered Parenting with his wife Chaundel and (with Kay Warren) Foundations: Core Truths to Build Your Life On. He and Chaundel have three children and five granddaughters.

Producer

Saddleback Church

💙 Find your purpose and place at #SaddlebackChurch! 🏠 One family, many locations.

What is Putting It Together Again When It's All Fallen Apart: Saddleback Small Group Series?

Life crises can throw you into a tailspin, a lost job, a failed relationship, a struggling business, a financial mess. Where do you start? How do you pull it together? How do you begin again? Tom Holladay experienced a catastrophe first-hand when a sudden flood in California destroyed his home, his church, and the homes of many church members. Tom and his congregation had to rebuild, and they used the principles in the book of Nehemiah to get back on their feet. Now a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church, Tom will help you discover seven principles for putting it together again that will give you the direction you need to get rolling on that fresh start. Holladay will walk you through seeing every problem as an opportunity, facing the obstacles head on and taking your first step, knowing how to expect and reject opposition, build on your success, and dedicating yourself to the One who rebuilds our souls. The task of starting again can seem impossible. And sometimes you just need to rebuild your confidence and regain a sense of purpose. If you're trying to find the emotional energy, but you just don't have it in you, let Tom Holladay encourage you. He understands how difficult and rewarding the business of rebuilding is.

Download the study guide with each episode. And of course, check out the book "Putting It Together Again When It's All Fallen Apart" by Tom Holladay on Amazon or your favorite bookstore.

Keywords: Saddleback devotions, rick warren, tom holladay, lumivoz, audio curriculum, small group curriculum, Bible study, small group bible study

Hi, I'm Pastor Tom, and I want to welcome you back to week two of our video studies that go along with putting it together again when it's all falling apart. We're talking together in your group about rebuilding and what God wants to do in your life about rebuilding, building. You've been reading this week in the book about where do you find the strength to take the first step? And you saw that Nehemiah has an awful lot to teach us about this. As I said last week in these studies, we're going to look at some other places in the Bible where some other people teach us about rebuilding. And Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah also has a lot to teach about rebuilding. Isaiah prophetically pointed to the fact that Israel was going to rebuild their nation after they returned from a time of exile, a time of captivity. Israel was going to rebuild their nation. He taught them again and again so that God could rebuild or restore the purpose that he had for their lives. A lot had been lost for Israel. You can read the history of them going into captivity, but all that had been lost. God had not forgotten them. God had not given up on them, and he was going to restore their purpose. It's a reminder to us that no matter what you've lost in life and if you're thinking about rebuilding, it's probably because there's some things that you've lost. No matter what you have lost, god wants to rebuild his purpose in and through your life. There's nothing that you can lose. There is absolutely nothing that you can lose that would say that you've lost somehow god's purpose for your life. You cannot lose God's purpose. He always has a purpose for your life. Now, when you look at what Isaiah taught the people back then, in order to get started, even in bringing the hope that God could rebuild, there were some resources they needed to rebuild with. Anytime you're going to build anything, you have to have resources and you have to have labor. If you don't have resources, the wood and the nails, then you can't build anything. If you don't have labor, then you can't build anything. So what are the resources that you need as a rebuilder? Isaiah talks about this. In fact, he talks about three specific resources that God has for rebuilders. In Isaiah, chapter 58, beginning there, we're going to take a look at them together these next few minutes. What are those resources? Number one resource is confidence. You have to have confidence. Not self confidence, but God confidence. Another word for confidence. This God confidence that I'm talking about is the word hope. Hope is being confident that God will act. Hope is the assurance that God will work. Let me read you a verse about this from Isaiah. Isaiah 58 says this then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear then your righteousness will go before you and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Your light will shine out of the darkness no matter how dark it seems. God can bring light into that darkness in your life because he's greater than any darkness. So your light will shine even out of the darkness you may feel in a very dark place in your life right now. And this need to rebuild. Your light will shine even out of the darkness. God can bring light to your crisis, to your problem, to your struggle, to your place where you need to rebuild, to your confusion, to your darkness. God can bring light. He specifically does this. The Bible teaches us through Jesus Christ. Two Corinthians, chapter four, verse six says for God who said, let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. When you put God's light on it, you get hope. When you put God's light on it, you get hope. And once you have hope, then you have the direction, then you have the motivation that you need to rebuild. So one of the resources is this confidence, this confidence of hope. A second resource that we need that Isaiah talks about is guidance. Guidance. God showing us the way, god directing our way, guiding us in his way. Isaiah 58 verse eleven, first half says this the Lord will guide you always. He will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land, and he will strengthen your frame. The Lord will guide you always. And then Isaiah talks about how usually when we think about guidance, we think just about God showing us the way. Here Isaiah reveals to us that it's more than that. God's guidance is not just God showing you the way, it's also God empowering you to go in the way that he's showing you. So he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land. He will strengthen your frame. When God guides you, he satisfies your needs in that direction. He gives you the resources that you need in order to go in the direction that he's guiding. When God guides you, he strengthens your frame. He gives this physical body the emotions that we have, the ways that we think that seems so weak to us sometimes. God strengthens even that frame in order to go in the direction that he is guiding. The old phrase is where God guides, God provides. Where God guides, God provides. So as God is guiding you, he's also providing for you his way. He's giving you his supply. So if you're going to rebuild, you need confidence, the confidence of hope. You need guidance. You need the guidance of God. And then you need a third thing. You also need abundance. Last half of verse eleven talks about that. It says this you will be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. I love that picture. It's the picture of a wellwatered garden, of a never failing spring. It's the picture of the abundant life that Jesus Christ wants to put into your heart and life. And that's what you need to get started, is the abundance that only he can give. Abundant life given by Christ. It's one of the prime resources that's needed by rebuilders. Not trying to do it on your strength, but doing it by his abundance. Abundance means more than enough. Jesus Christ is willing to give you not just enough, but more than enough. That's what the cross of Christ is all about. That's what the resurrection of Christ is all about. His love is willing to give you more than enough. That abundance that we're talking about doesn't just come from a story of something that happened 2000 years ago. The Bible says the abundance that we're talking about comes from Christ in you. The power of the cross, the power of the resurrection is put into your life so you can live this life with abundance. In a few minutes, you're going to discuss in your group is there some point where you have already have, or you need to take a stand for what God wants to rebuild in your life? You're only going to have the courage to answer that question if you know you have the resources to rebuild. Why would I say I want to rebuild? And I think there's no possible way I can do it. Well, those resources begin with what God gives. The confidence of hope that he wants to give into your life. The daily guidance, and also strengthening you in the way that he wants to go, the abundance that he wants to put into your heart through Jesus Christ. Those are the resources that you draw upon as a rebuilder, somebody who is looking to God to do what only he can do. So let's look to Him together. Would you pray with me, Father? We're thankful for the confidence of hope. We're thankful for your guidance in our daily lives. We are praising you right now for the fact that the abundant life of Christ has put into our hearts. Help us. We pray together to draw on these resources. Not our own resources, but your resources, because we need your resources for what you want to do in our lives. We don't want to do just what we want done. We want to see done what you want done. So we look to your resources right now. In Jesus name, amen. All right, enjoy the next few minutes talking in your group. Bye.