What kind of opposition do Nehemiah and the people of God face as they rebuild? What is its ultimate character and source? They counter it with determination, but what is their determination grounded in? In what or whom do they trust? Join us as we consider what challenge this passage presents to us.

In the next chapter of Genesis we find Isaac following his father’s footsteps, in both faith and failings. In the midst of the ups and downs, the schemings and scathings, we are yet reminded of the ordinary and often invisible workings of God’s ever-present care for his people. What will become of this son of the promise and the sons his wife has brought into the world?

What do sea monsters have to do with facing our giants, and what does a little brother have to do with either?

Today we embarked on the next section of Genesis, the “generations of Isaac.” So little ink is devoted to this patriarch and yet there is much to be gleaned from this chapter. Abraham’s life ends and the promise continues.

How are we to respond in the face of discouraging news concerning Christ’s church? Join us as we meet Nehemiah and consider his response of prayer joined with action, trusting in the God of the covenant to honor his word and show favor to his people, noting that underneath it all is confidence in God’s character as a covenant-keeping God.

A king with a tormenting spirit, a court scrambling for an answer, a warrior who happens to be a smash lyre player….

Isaac is pushing forty and still a bachelor. What of the great nation to come? What of people like the sand of the shores and the stars of the heavens?

A grievous and extensive sin comes to light among God’s people gathered in a fragile community with a precarious existence. Will God in his wrath finally snuff them out? How do we consider their sin in light of our own setting in redemptive history? What can we learn from them of the nature of true repentance?

Tonight our focus shifts momentarily from the rejected king to the selection of his replacement.