Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

We are excited to begin a new sermon series this week on the book of Nehemiah. In the last few months, we have studied the foundations of our faith through The Lord's Prayer and Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Now it is time to start building on that foundation!

 

Nehemiah was cupbearer to Artaxerxes, king of the Persians. The cupbearer had to be one of the king's most trusted servants and confidantes. But Nehemiah was also in exile. Several generations earlier, his people had been captured by the Babylonians. The Persians then defeated the Babylonians. A few of the captives had returned to their native land near Jerusalem, but Nehemiah had remained in the king's court.

 

One day, a group of travelers from Jerusalem traveled to Persia. Nehemiah received word of the current condition of Jerusalem, and he had one reaction: he wept. The wall was in ruins and the city lay exposed to every robber and raider that came through. In his deep grief, Nehemiah began to pray. And his prayers changed everything.

 

Over the next eight weeks, we will see how Nehemiah's prayers lead him to favor before the king, to wisdom in developing a plan, to courage fighting both internal and external enemies, to justice for his people, and to a miraculous achievement - he completed the wall around Jerusalem in just 52 days.

 

We hope you will pick up a study guide, join a Sunday School class or small group to follow along, and dig into the amazing story of Nehemiah.

 

One other treat to look forward to-MLEPC's former pastor, Larry Selig, will be joining us next Sunday, February 4, as a guest preacher. He is in town to lead a workshop on Spiritual Gifts, and we are thrilled that he can come and be with us as well. We are grateful for all the seeds Larry planted in this congregation over the years, and we look forward to drawing from his wisdom on prayer once again.

 

Blessings,
Pastor Carolyn