Mariners Church Weekend Message Podcast

Episode: November 16 - Perseverance: Fighting and Trusting He is Fighting
Speaker: Eric Geiger
Date: November 17, 2025

Episode Overview

In this message, Senior Pastor Eric Geiger continues the church's teaching series on the Book of Nehemiah, focusing on the theme of perseverance—how to fight for God's vision while trusting that God is also fighting for us. The message explores the raw realities of leadership—both thrilling victories and deep challenges—and illuminates biblical principles for steadfastness, particularly when faced with criticism, opposition, and internal struggles. Geiger weaves personal stories, church updates, and deep scriptural insights, inviting listeners to embrace both the fight and the faith required to persevere.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Celebrations & Church Update

• Mariners Church recently witnessed 748 people stand and confess faith in Jesus—celebrated as a “thrilling” moment.
• Announcement of launching new congregations in San Clemente and Yorba Linda, expanding to 11 across Southern California by January.
• Special prayer for volunteers and cities receiving new churches, emphasizing the church’s role as a small part in God’s broader movement.
  ([05:00-08:30])

2. Leadership: The Thrilling and the Troubling

• Leadership is a mix of highs and lows—often experienced simultaneously.
• Memorable analogy:

  “Leadership is like a big bowl of sugar and horse manure. You never know what bite is next.” ([09:40])

• Eric Geiger shares personal stories from business and ministry to illustrate how leaders must navigate both exhilarating achievements and painful losses in the same day.
  ([08:50-13:00])

3. The Story of Nehemiah: From Vision to Opposition

a. Setting the Stage

• Nehemiah begins with victorious progress: a burden to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, support from a pagan king, enthusiastic agreement from the people, and successful early stages of construction.
• The narrative shifts in Nehemiah 4—where opposition intensifies.
  ([13:30-16:00])

b. Facing Verbal Criticism and Insults (Nehemiah 4:1-6)

• Enemies resort to harsh mockery:

  “What are these pathetic Jews doing?... Even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall.”
  — [Speaker: Eric Geiger, quoting Sanballat and Tobiah, 16:30-17:30]

• Geiger debunks the saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me" as “completely foolish and untrue.”
• Not all criticism contains truth; sometimes accusations are groundless.

  "If you believe the lie that there’s a kernel of truth in every criticism, you could be enslaved by criticism." ([19:00])

• Nehemiah’s response: Decisive action.

  “He responded to criticism with construction.” ([20:00])

• Notable verse:

  “So we rebuilt the wall...for the people had the will to keep working.” (Nehemiah 4:6)
  ([20:00-22:00])

c. Escalating External Threats (Nehemiah 4:7-9)

• Verbal attacks shift to physical threats—Nehemiah and his people are literally surrounded by adversaries from all directions.
• Dual response: Prayer and practical action.

  “So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard because of them day and night.” ([23:20])

d. Battling Discouragement and Fear Within (Nehemiah 4:10-12)

• Internal fatigue sets in; the people doubt they can complete the vision.
• External threats and internal discouragement intermingle, echoing the dual pressure that leaders often face.

e. Adaptive Leadership in Crisis

• Nehemiah adapts: institutes security protocols, divides workers and guards, calls for nightly vigilance—while never abandoning the mission.

• “He adjusted, but he didn’t slow down the vision God had given him.” ([25:15])

4. The Heart of Perseverance: Fighting and Trusting

• Perseverance defined as both fighting for the vision and trusting that God is fighting for us.

  “It’s believing I’m gonna fight because God gave me this vision, but I’m not fighting alone. God is fighting for us.” ([27:25])

• Nehemiah mobilizes the people:

  “Fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14)
  “Our God will fight for us.” (Nehemiah 4:20)
  ([26:50-28:10])

• “If you want the fruit of perseverance, you need both the roots of fighting and knowing and trusting that God is fighting for you.” ([28:35])
• Applies this truth to all believers:

  “Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world... If God is for you, who can be against you?” ([29:15])

5. Ongoing & Unexpected Challenges

a. Internal Conflict in the Faith Community (Nehemiah 5)

• The greatest pain sometimes comes not from external enemies but from problems within one’s own community.
• Nehemiah is “extremely angry” at the injustice among the Jewish people—especially as it violates God’s covenant command.

  “He doesn’t use this angered language against the external enemies. He uses it about a problem he has internally among God’s people.” ([33:30])

• Internal sin, disunity, and neglect threaten the vision more than outside opposition.

b. Leadership Lessons

• Many challenges leaders face are not external, but internal—such as unresolved sin, pride, or lack of integrity.

  “You should be killing sin, because sin is killing you.” —Eric Geiger quoting John Owen ([39:25])

• The collapse of leaders is most often rooted in inner failings, not outside attacks.

6. Personal Transparency: Pastor’s Own Trials

• Eric Geiger shares painful personal experiences—infertility, a daughter’s illness, his wife’s diagnosis, and his father’s decline.
• These challenges, while unrelated to his job, impacted everything.

  “None of these had anything to do with my job, but they sure impacted me.” ([36:30])

• Geiger testifies that pain, though never desired again, produced greater empathy and maturity.

7. Biblical Wisdom on Trials (James 1:2-3; 2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

• Encourages proper understanding of James’ call to “consider it joy” in trials—not a command to feel joy, but to “do the math” and see God’s purpose through difficulty.

  “The word consider is not about how you feel, but how you think. Consider—do the math.” ([37:10])

• Assures that on the other side of trials is growth and endurance.

8. Call to Courage & God-Dependence

• Christianity requires a “fighting spirit”:

  “Christianity is a fighting religion... God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting things right again.” —C.S. Lewis, quoted at ([40:00])

• Fight externally for God’s vision, and internally against sin.
• Always fight knowing God fights for you:

  “You can rest knowing that your gracious King of the universe is also your Dad who fights for you and loves you and cares for you.” ([40:50])

9. Application: Real-Life Struggles and Hope

• Addresses young men candidly about fighting sexual sin, encouraging their honesty and calling their struggle “sacred and holy.”
• Practical encouragement:

  “Are you up for a fight? Are you gonna fight for righteousness, purity, the life God wants for you? But, good news: you’re not fighting alone.” ([41:10])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On church community:

  “We do not view ourselves as, hey, we have it figured out, and you're new. Every one of us needs God's grace. So welcome to the group of people who need God's grace all the time.” ([05:15])

• On perseverance:

  “Perseverance is both: it’s fighting and trusting that God is fighting for you.” ([27:45])

• On criticism:

  “If you believe the lie that there’s a kernel of truth in every criticism, you could be enslaved by criticism, when sometimes the criticism has no truth in it at all.” ([19:00])

• On trials:

  “None of these [personal pains] had anything to do with my job, but they sure impacted me.” ([36:30])

• On internal threat:

  “What takes leaders out more than anything… is not some external attack. We spend so much time thinking about all of the external attacks. But what takes most leaders out… is the internal sins that they carry.” ([39:10])

• On hope for the surrounded:

  “We are afflicted in every way, on every side, but we're not crushed...because Jesus was crushed in our place.” ([44:40])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Celebrating New Faith Decisions & Church Planting: [04:50-08:30]
• Leadership is Both Thrilling and Troubling: [09:00-13:00]
• Nehemiah’s External Opponents & Criticism: [16:00-23:00]
• Responding with Prayer and Action: [23:10-25:00]
• Dealing with Internal Discouragement: [25:20-26:30]
• Dual Nature of Perseverance: [27:10-29:30]
• Nehemiah Faces Internal Conflict (Nehemiah 5): [32:30-35:00]
• Personal Stories of Trials: [36:15-37:00]
• James’ Wisdom on Suffering: [37:00-38:30]
• Dangers of Internal Sin: [39:00-40:00]
• Final Encouragement & Blessing: [43:45-46:45]

Tone & Style

Eric Geiger’s delivery is candid, encouraging, pastoral, and practical. He acknowledges both the hardship and the hope in following Jesus, never minimizing the pain but urging the church to hold onto God's promises. The message is filled with real-world application, biblical depth, and heartfelt authenticity.

Summary Takeaways

• Leadership and Christian life are guaranteed to present both challenges and victories, often simultaneously.
• Genuine perseverance is possible only when we both fight for the vision and trust that God is fighting for us.
• Leaders (and all believers) face threats from outside and weaknesses from within, but internal struggles can be far more dangerous than external ones.
• The trials we endure, though deeply painful, are shaping us for greater maturity and fruitfulness.
• True courage and fighting spirit rest on the assurance that God is fighting for us—He is with us, upholding and shaping us through every battle.

“You fight, but as you fight, you trust that God is fighting for you. This is the secret to Nehemiah's perseverance.” —Eric Geiger ([29:00])