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
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...
Ezra-Nehemiah
April 12th, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Russell Johnson continued through the book of Nehemiah, covering chapter 4 and the escalating opposition that met the builders as the wall went up. Pastor Russell opened with a story from his college days hauling hay with his father-in-law Ken, who taught him to always roll a bale of hay toward himself before picking it up in case something was hiding underneath. One day he rolle...
Ezra-Nehemiah
March 30th, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Lance Terry continued through the book of Nehemiah by covering chapters 3 and 7 and asking one central question: "What does it take to build?" Pastor Lance opened with the story of the Galveston seawall — how after the devastating 1900 hurricane, different groups came together to plan, fund, and construct a massive seawall while raising much of the city by fifteen feet, completin...
Ezra-Nehemiah
March 23rd, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Russell Johnson continued through the book of Nehemiah, covering chapter 2 and the remarkable sequence of events that followed Nehemiah's four months of prayer. Pastor Russell opened with a personal story from 2015, when he was leading a church plant in San Saba, Texas — "the Pecan Capital of the world" — and needed a teaching job to support his family of seven. He and his leader...
Ezra-Nehemiah
March 15th, 2026
On Sunday, Pastor Russell Johnson launched a new series through the book of Nehemiah, beginning with chapter 1. Pastor Russell set the historical context by explaining that Nehemiah's account picks up thirteen years after Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes I (445 BC) — a king whose own father, Xerxes, had been assassinated in his bedchamber by a court attendant. When ...