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Nehemiah 3 Nehemiah 3 is one of those chapters we mentioned last weekfull of strange names and unfamiliar places, a chapter we're tempted to skip. In the midst of this strangeness are two key words: rebuild and repair. Behind them, a word that pervades Nehemiah's book: remember. Re- words denote doing something again, typically something that needs redoing because it has...
Keep ReadingNehemiah 2 As we read our way through Nehemiah in the weeks ahead, we'll likely skip around one-third of the book: those lists of names of people who pretty much don't appear anywhere else in Scripture, and those genealogies that Scripture just can't seem to get enough of but which bore us to tears. Why would the Scripture-inspiring Spirit insist on including all those na...
Keep ReadingI went to JerusalemI set out during the nightthen I said to them (excerpts from Nehemiah 2:11-18) Nehemiah had become a wise man by the time he entered Jerusalem that day. His was a wisdom honed by focus on the One True God who got him there. Contained in that wisdom was a treasurethe mission God had entrusted to him. Nehemiah didn't know these inhabitants of Jerusalem;...
Keep ReadingI went to Jerusalem I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heartto do for Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:11-12). If you were asked to name the most important people in your life, you could do that pretty easily. How about the most important places? Maybe it's your childhood home or hometown, or a favorite vacation spot you return to year by year. Perhaps you enjoy visit...
Keep ReadingI had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:12). Have you been depressed by the breadth of brokenness surrounding you? Have you been overwhelmed with a looming project or the sheer volume of work that needs to be done? I certainly have! Gosh, it seems as if the world is crumbling around us right now! Nehemiah is overwhelmed with ...
Keep ReadingNehemiah 2:11-20 [Editor's note: Good to be backthanks for letting us take a brief break! We're always looking to add to our Connect Devotional writing team. You don't need to be a professional writer or Bible scholar. If you're at all interested in exploring the possibility, contact Alex or Brian.] Why rebuild? In Nehemiah's day Jerusalem was a shattered city on the far...
Keep Reading8"Rememberthe instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatteryou among the nations,9but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gatherthem from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.' (Nehemiah 1:8-9) (Note: If you're just joini...
Keep Reading8"Rememberthe instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatteryou among the nations,9but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gatherthem from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.' (Nehemiah 1:8-9) (Note: If you're just joini...
Keep ReadingI confessthe sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's family, have committed against you.7We have acted very wickedlytoward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. (Nehemiah 1:6-7) (Note: If you're just joining us, for this week's Connect Devotional I'm recapping the daily exercises that I ended the message with this...
Keep Reading4When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.For some days I mourned and fastedand prayed before the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 1:4) (Note: If you're just joining us, for this week's Connect Devotional I'm recapping the daily exercises that I ended the message with this past Sunday. If you missed the message, you can watch and/or listen to it here.) Nehemiah asked the q...
Keep Reading2Hanani,one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnantthat had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1:2) This week we're doing something a little different with the Connect Devotional. While the team of writers are away, we're going to play! At the end of yesterday's message I closed out with a s...
Keep ReadingAll the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall treeand make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it (Ezekiel 17:24). It's a beautiful picture: Chatham Church as "a noble cedar," planted by God our Father-Gardener, grounded and secured in Christ our King-Taproot, water...
Keep Reading"'This is what the SovereignLordsays: 'I myself will take a shootfrom the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.On the mountain heightsof Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruitand become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find...
Keep ReadingThis is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very topof a cedar and plant it I will plant it I will plant it; it will produce branchesand bear fruit and become a noble cedar (Ezekiel 17:22-23). Most of Ezekiel 17 is a sobering parable about the righteous judgment and justice of God. But it ends with a beautiful messianic promise: in the mid...
Keep ReadingI (the Lord) will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches (Ezekiel 17:23b). Twenty birds were perched on a telephone wire. One of them was shot. How many birds remained on the wire? None. (Since the remaining nineteen were instantly up in the air.) ...
Keep ReadingEzekiel 17:22-24 We're not starting a new sermon series this week; instead, we're looking forward to a "family meeting" this coming Sunday. Alex and Jaime will host a "vision refresh"a chance to catch our breaths, remember who we are in Christ, and revisit what our King is calling us to be and to do as Chatham Community Church. The text for this coming Sunday is Ezekiel ...
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