Gary and Kathy Howse continue in the series titled STRONG@home, learning from the Book of Nehemiah. We will take a quick look at chapters 5 and 6 this morning regarding Relationships Inside Our Homes and share ways to overcome the challenges we all currently face.

When their enemies were planning an attack, Nehemiah gathered the people and encouraged them with this: "Remember the Lord...and fight" (Neh. 4:14​)! And who did he say to fight for? Their families. Today we continue tracking the story of Nehemiah as we look specifically at how to fight for our kids — and we're joined by Ralph and Kathleen Hernandez, founders of BStrongLife student ministries.

God cares about your emotional wellbeing! Today we continue tracking the story of Nehemiah and learn how his enemies worked to bring confusion and fear to God's people (using the exact same tactics our enemy uses against us today!). We're also joined by therapist and university president, Angie Richey, to gain insight on how to rebuild emotional strength.

God has given us incredible minds to help protect us from becoming overwhelmed with the arguments swirling around us. But for some, the number of things they've had to process over the past year has been like rising floodwaters — just too much. How can we rebuild strong minds after they've begun to crumble?

The walls of our home (and our life!) are critically important. When they are cracked or lie in ruins, our strength is gone, our enemies can rush in, and even the good things we do have will leak out. But before we can rebuild, we have to do some home inspection to find out what needs rebuilding. Download your "inspection worksheet" here: https://bit.ly/sm4-home-inspection​

We've all found that home is the new hub for our lives! But if home-life isn't strong, it negatively impacts everything. In this new "Strong at Home" series, we're tracing the story of Nehemiah, who was used by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Along the way, we'll be discovering how to inventory our homes, then restore and rebuild anything that's started to crumble around us.

Life is full of distractions — especially over this past year! But God doesn't call us to live distracted lives. And he's given us his word to provide us with the direction we need to live on purpose. Pastor Gary unpacks five questions to help us see if we're directing our lives around God's word.

When faced with painful hardship — like a gut-punch to the soul — the temptation is to give up or give in. But the way of Jesus is to get after it in faith. And one of the most consistent ways believers over the centuries have chosen to "get after it" is with prayer and fasting. Fasting is a season of unplugging from other power sources to more fully plug in to Jesus.

This message is a call to join the Santa Maria Foursquare Church family in fasting and prayer for the next 21 days, from Monday, January 11 through Sunday, January 31. More resources are available on our church website: sm4.org.

At the start of a new year it's always good to ask: What should I be focused on now? Today we're asking that question through the lens of the Lord's Prayer — looking at what Jesus calls us to, and what he richly provides.