The Well Church OKC

The people of Jerusalem had grown accustomed to seeing their walls broken down, heaped in piles. They walked around the rubble. They did not care that the gates of the city, actual and symbolic for the power and protection of a people, were destroyed. They were making due, simply accepting what was, not seeing what could or should be.

Nehemiah was in a pretty good place. His life was good, in fact. Elevated to a high position, his life was made. He was personally in no need of a mission or work like what he was taking on. However, he was willing to move on it once God revealed what needed to be done.

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Guest speaker Dr. Henry Chan teaches the importance of preserving unity in the church.

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Visiting Pastor Lucas Lunsford takes us through life and times of the unwilling prophet, Jonah.

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The book of Nehemiah could be read as a sequel to the book of Ezra, and some scholars believe the two were originally one work. It is possible that Ezra compiled Nehemiah’s original accounts with other material to create the book of Nehemiah. However, most scholars believe the book was written by Nehemiah.

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Some people think that we become fully perfected autonomous driving vehicles when we are saved. That we are simply on spiritual autopilot and now we can sit back and just cruise through life. As if we now have a way of avoiding sin, destruction and all other aspects of our carnal nature. Wow. Wouldn’t that be something.

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Last week we talked about our tendency to want to return to the things that we were once practicing as unbelievers. Paul balances the very clear contention against works as required for salvation with the equally clear expectation that once saved, we will act like we are saved.

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We are prone to wander, inclined to return to our mess from which our God has saved us. We are weird like that, given to a gradual slide back into the lives and tendencies we once had. We once wore a groove of sin in our lives. We got up every day and chased sinful goals, sought sinful experiences. Associated with other sinful people. We worked to become experts in sinning through repetition and practice. It was our whole way of living. It was a path willingly chosen that was leading to complete destruction of both our own eternal lives and often, those around us. We were so good at living in anti-God ways that sinning was as easy as breathing. In fact, it didn’t even seem that bad to most of us. It just was the way we moved through life.

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I picture Paul a bit like the following when he is dealing with the churches in Galatia who are falling prey to the Judaizers. He was, however addressing a very common misconception in the Church, even today. We are so prone to message and believe that our works are what is required to make us acceptable to God. Even in our most earnest moments, with our best effort, this is still not true. In fact, it is a dangerous tendency and a terminal belief. This is why Paul was so passionate about correcting it in the churches.

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There is simply not a better understanding of God’s love, our sin and Jesus grace and sacrifice than the Gospel.

No other God, no other Savior. No other way than Jesus. There is no other Good News No other means by which we can be saved. No other attempt by any God to save us. No other opportunity by which we can save ourselves.

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What is your story of redemption? How were you brought to an awareness of who God is and your position before God? When did you know how dire your condition was and when did you deeply desire to be His child?

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