Nehemiah 13 Many of the stories that we tell children in our culture tend to end with the same phrase: “And they all lived happily ever after.” As we’ve gone through the first twelve chapters of Nehemiah this summer, the story has followed that typical narrative arc, bending toward a “happily ever after.” At the […]
Nehemiah 11 & 12 God does extraordinary things with ordinary people, doesn’t he? In Nehemiah’s day, Jerusalem would not have been a glamorous place to live. Moving there would have been like moving to a bombed-out city. Yet many of the returnees to Judea did just that. Ordinary people moved to Jerusalem because that was […]
Nehemiah 10 Many of us struggle to make commitments, whether it’s commitment to an employer, a diet, or a significant other. We may feel tempted to think of commitment in negative terms, as if we’re “closing doors,” “boxing ourselves in,” or “eliminating options.” But, as we will see in Nehemiah 10, when it comes to […]
Nehemiah 9 Everyone loves a good story. We read stories to children before bedtime. When we meet new people we get to know them by telling stories about where we’re from and what we do. When we spend time with family or friends we regularly tell stories, and we often retell old stories. At our […]
Nehemiah 7 & 8 What are you hungry for? Your favorite dessert? A juice steak? Fresh fruit? How about The Word of God? The Holy Spirit was clearly moving in an amazing way among the people of Judah in Nehemiah’s day. Thousands of people of all ages had crowded into the open square near the […]
Nehemiah 6:1-19 What’s your favorite Olympic sport to watch? Any votes for the steeple chase? That’s probably one of the lesser-known events. The steeple chase is a nearly-two-mile race over various obstacles, including water-filled pits. In some ways, the steeple chase reminds me of life itself. Hebrews 12:1-2 picture the Christian life as a race […]
Nehemiah 5:1-19 When it comes to warfare, the largest and most intimidating threats typically are external ones – nations or groups of people from the outside who seek to harm or conquer. But threats from within can be just as serious, as those who’ve been bound together in their war efforts can be tempted to start seeing each other […]
Nehemiah 4 In a poem called “Cromwell’s Advice,” poet William Blackner attempted to put into verse a phrase that Oliver Cromwell was alleged to have said to his English troops as prepared to cross a river as part of their invasion of Ireland. The last line of each stanza reads something like this: “Trust in […]
Nehemiah 3 Are there parts of the Bible that you sometimes find boring? We’re hesitant to admit it – it sounds sacrilegious – but there are parts of the Bible that we would just as soon skip over, aren’t there? Is Nehemiah 3 like that for you? It seems like a bunch of names that […]
Nehemiah 2:9-20 The Apostle Paul knew he was soon to be executed for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had one last letter to write – to his “son-in-the-faith,” Timothy. We know this last letter as 2 Timothy. In that letter, Paul called on his “son” to live a life “useful to the Master” […]
