The books of Ezra-Nehemiah tell the remarkable story of God bringing His people home from exile in Babylon to rebuild what had been ruined. This story follows three faithful leaders, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, who are directed by Persian kings to lead the people back to Jerusalem. Against fierce opposition, the altar is restored, the temple is rebuilt, and the walls of Jerusalem stand once again, but even after all that hard work, the story ends with a surprising ache. Something is still unfinished. The people’s hearts remain unchanged, their obedience falters, and the long-awaited restoration never fully arrives. We hope you join us as we trace the faith, courage, opposition, and perseverance of God’s people. We will be reminded that outward rebuilding can never replace the deeper work only God can do within us. The exile’s story of return points forward to our story: we don’t just need rebuilt walls, we need renewed hearts. Only Jesus can complete the restoration we truly long for. Until that takes place, the work remains unfinished.
Discussion Questions
Ezra-Nehemiah
May 17th, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Russell Johnson preached through Nehemiah 10, the chapter where Israel's confession and prayer from chapter 9 become a signed, public covenant. Pastor Russell opened with two stories about the weight of putting your name on something — the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence knowing their signatures were evidence of treason, and his own experience as a newlyw...
Ezra-Nehemiah
May 10th, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Russell Johnson preached through Nehemiah 9, the longest prayer in the Old Testament and the spiritual climax of the book. Pastor Russell opened with the story of Bill Miller — a man who in 1940 crashed his car into a snowbank at 110 miles an hour and was pulled out by a stranger named Warren Felty. Five years later, Miller collapsed during a POW march through Germany, and Warren...
Ezra-Nehemiah
May 8th, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Lance Terry preached through Nehemiah 6, framing the chapter around the determination of William Wilberforce, who first introduced a resolution against the slave trade in British Parliament in 1787 and spent twenty years pushing for abolition in the face of relentless opposition. Pastor Lance then walked through three waves of attack against Nehemiah as the wall neared completion...
Ezra-Nehemiah
May 3rd, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Russell Johnson preached through Nehemiah 8, the chapter where the brick and mortar work gives way to spiritual restoration. Pastor Russell opened with the story of Albania under communism — the world's first officially atheist state, where owning a Bible carried a five-year prison sentence and making the sign of the cross could get you three. When the country opened in 1991, mis...
Ezra-Nehemiah
April 19th, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Russell Johnson continued through the book of Nehemiah, covering chapter 5 and a crisis that came from inside the community rather than from its enemies. Pastor Russell opened with the story of American contractors from Vermont and New York during the War of 1812 who supplied two-thirds of the advancing British army because the profits were too good to refuse — "myopic, self-defe...