The work to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall is well underway, and Nehemiah knows that the Enemy won’t take this lying down. So how can he defend the city when every able-bodied person is already engaged in building the wall?

Did you know that the layout of the gates of Jerusalem was a clear story of the coming Messiah and they point directly to Jesus Christ? Did you know that the only gate that was not destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar stands to this day - and it's the one the Bible prophecies that Jesus will ride through when He returns? Pastor Paul teaches from Nehemiah 3.

Doors let things in and also keep things out. It’s important to have good doors so that we and those we love can come in and out safely, but also keep out those that want to hurt or cause damage to us and our possessions. This lesson is also true in the spiritual sense. In today’s message from Nehemiah chapter 3, we see the team that the leader put together begin the arduous work of building the wall. It’s striking to note that Nehemiah put the men of the city to work on the parts of the wall that were closest to their homes. Why? What spiritual application can we take from this?

God will use whatever we allow Him to have of our lives. In the case of Nehemiah, he was the trusted adviser and cup-bearer to the King. So when it came time for him to step in and save his people, he was uniquely placed to bring their plight to the attention of the king.

Pastor Paul Torres starts a brand new series on the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a Jewish man, part of the Diaspora after the destruction of Jerusalem under King Nebuchadnezzar, who served in the court of the king of Persia in Susa. When some of his compatriots from Judah showed up in Susa, he asked after the welfare of the people and the land. What he would discover would break his heart—and fill him with resolve to get involved.

Our sin and rebellion will inevitably bring pain. As we end the book of Ezra, we see the priest launch an investigation into the reports of foreign wives and carefully make a case-by-case determination as to which marriages had to be dissolved. For those women with a heart like Ruth who were willing to convert to the Lord, there was mercy. Families were restored and holiness was maintained. But still, the consequences would linger, leading to a probable attack on Jerusalem in which the walls were burned with fire. And enter Nehemiah.

Sometimes our sin leaves us with no good options and hearts are broken. Today as we enter into the final chapter of the book of Ezra, we’re immediately greeted with an uncomfortable story. As the people of Israel repent of their sins, they are faced with a hard decision: What do we do about these foreign wives and our children with them? Ezra says, “divorce them and send them away.” Wait a minute—is the Bible advocating divorce here? Isn’t this a harsh judgment on innocent people? Is this a contradiction from the rest of the Bible? Here’s Pastor Paul.

We must commit ourselves to turning away from the sin that got us into trouble. We can't repent and then keep going back to the same thing again and again! In this message from Ezra chapter 10, Pastor Paul Torres asks us to consider whether we really mean it when we repent, and asks us how we can influence our nations for good if we ourselves keep repeating the same cycle of sin.

What happens to your sin after you repent of it? Does it simply float away like a balloon and disappear into space? Not at all! Just as with the mortgage on a house that is repossessed or the credit card debt of a person who dies, your sin is debt that must be paid by somebody. And it is paid when Jesus Christ accepts responsibility for it. In this message from Ezra chapter 10, Pastor Paul looks at the two sides of repentance—and forgiveness.

Is grace a New Testament concept? Is it true that the God of the Old Testament was angry and wrathful, but the God of the New Testament is full of mercy and love? Pastor Paul says, “No!” When we look through the Scriptures, we see that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And when you know what to look for, you see that the God of the Old Testament is the same as the one today, which means that He was just as full of love and mercy then as He is now. But God’s mercy and grace should not be an excuse to sin, it should be a reason for us to live in holiness and repentance. In this message continued from last week from the book of Ezra, we see the priest recounting God’s many acts of love and mercy, calling himself and the people of Israel to repentance.