Nehemiah 9:22-38; 10:30,31,39b
The Israelites recognise from their history a pattern of rejection and rebellion against Yahweh that leads to disaster, followed by His rescue and redemption; and so seek to put in place disciplines that will prevent a future repeat - they pledge themselves to not compromise with the values of those around them, to honour the Sabbath and to fulfil their obligations to worship.
Nehemiah 9:1-21. The rediscovery of the Book of Law of the Lord leads the people of God to repentance and worship so that they, once again, can become those who change the world rather than be conformed to it.
Nehemiah 8. With the walls of Jerusalem now secure the people gather to hear Nehemiah read from the Book of the Law of Moses. The rediscovery of God's ways leads to weeping and then rejoicing.
John 17:20-23. This weekend we hosted the Connexion Youth Conference reunion and our guest preacher was Ben Quant, the pastor from Wormley Free Church. He spoke from John's Gospel on the importance and privilege of the unity we share in Christ.
Nehemiah 6. As completion of the wall draws near, opposition to the building changes from a general attack on the whole project, to specific targeting of Nehemiah himself. The enemy employs three unsuccessful strategies - isolation and attack, destroy his reputation, and make him look like a coward. Nehemiah overcomes them all and sets an example for us to do the same in our own lives.
Nehemiah 5. Having dealt with repeated external opposition to the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, Nehemiah now finds himself having to tackle a more domestic problem which had the potential to derail the whole project from within.
Nehemiah 4. As opposition to the rebuilding of the city walls continues to mount, Nehemiah remains consistent in his response - appeal to God for help and then take practical action to address the problem. As a consequence his enemies withdraw and the building continues.
Nehemiah 3. The work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem begins - everyone (well almost everyone!) gets involved and works together in a common task. As we seek to build the Kingdom of God through the local church, the devil tries to knock us off course by suggesting that the task is too big, we have nothing to offer, and we could do it if we had the gift that see someone else has! Nehemiah 3 answers all of these objections.
