In a literary manner, the story of Esther is well-written and yet simple: it has a setup, a conflict, and is followed by a resolution. It is, however, different from all the other Old Testament narratives in that it is meant to read like a good book. While being entirely true and…

Sermon Text: Nehemiah 13 The books of Ezra and Nehemiah offer us various glimpses into God’s ongoing work to bring together and build up a community of men and women who are fully devoted to displaying His glory. Throughout the last 18 weeks, we have seen that this is an…

Sermon Text: Nehemiah 11-12 Our lives teem with the ordinary. Vital components of everyday life upon which we are deeply dependent even without conscious thought or recognition. And Nehemiah 11-12 is very much like those ordinary, everyday objects we’re prone to miss. These…

Many of us pray in one of two ways: we either set aside dedicated time to get down on our knees or sit at a favorite desk to focus on prayer, or else we pray as we are going about our day. We actually ought to have both of these present in our lives - time to press in and pray…

For the follower of Christ, the meaning of freedom in Christ is very clear: We are set free from slavery to sin by the finished work of Jesus Christ so that that we can do what we ought to do, which is to serve God and love our neighbors as ourselves. Thus, we seek one…

Christians spend a great deal of time today talking about and hopefully practicing spiritual disciplines. The two primary disciplines for many of us are Bible intake and prayer - and rightly so! The profound emphasis on these two disciplines is not misplaced. David Mathis, a…