KEY DEFINITIONS

Exile is living in the displacement of what was lost and what is not yet, held by a God who has not forgotten where we belong.

Liminal space is the disorienting experience between what was and what's next; where the old normal is gone, but the new one hasn't arrived.

Exile is where we are. Liminal space is what it feels like to be there.

SETTING UP NEHEMIAH

» In 586 BC, Babylon besieged and decimated the city of Jerusalem, taking many Jews captive. Later, Persia overtook the Babylonians. 

» Esther helped preserve. Ezra helped reform. Nehemiah helped rebuild.

» Nehemiah's name means "The Lord Comforts."

The Broken Wall: (Nehemiah 1:1-3) A wall in rubble slowly convinces people that broken is normal.

The Response: (Nehemiah 1:4) Rebuilding begins when we allow ourselves to feel the weight of what is broken.

The Application: What we don't name, we can't surrender. What we don't surrender, God can't rebuild.

The Conclusion: (Nehemiah 1:11) Even in the rubble, we have access to the Most High King.

Rock Exercise: Write down what feels broken and what you want the Lord to rebuild.