Abraham Lincoln said, "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

There is a need to remember that in the church God uses ordinary people, often doing ordinary things, to accomplish His will. What is it that God is calling you to do?

They, too, were living in tough times! What can we learn from how the people and leaders responded during their time of crisis as to how to maintain the family unit?

How can we learn from the past so that we are not only motivated, but that much more aware of what God wants us to do? How can we than commit ourselves to that task?

Jesus said he when he was 'lifted up' he would draw all men to him. Was he referring to being 'lifted up' on the cross or 'lifted up' as the King of Kings (on the cross)?

When Jesus was 'lifted up' to draw all men unto himself the cross became both his means of physical death and his enthronement as the King of Kings.

A short interruption from Nehemiah. Matthew 20:17-21:17... A 'triumphal entry" or a "royal entry"? Have we missed the emphasis that Jesus came to be our King, which includes being our Savior?

The cycle is quite common - we rebel or slip away, we cry out for help, in his mercy God forgives us... but then we rebel or slip away again. Though we shouldn't tempt God, isn't i good to know that we have a merciful and forgiving God?

We are in a period where chaos and disruption seem to be the norm. Is your God too small to provide during such times? Nehemiah didn't think so - as we reiterated the story of how God had provided for even the rebellious Israelites.

If we gather expectantly to hear God's Word and listen intently, we should be spurned into action... to be doers, not just hearers. When they heard the Word (Neh. 9:1-5) they not only wept, but they confessed their sins and also confessed the praises of God with their lips.