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Please post your responses in the comments section. Thanks!
Lessons from Nehemiah 5: Preaching and Bible Study
Nehemiah chapter eight opens on the first day of the seventh month with Ezra the Priest preaching a sermon—and it’s a good one, lasting from early morning to midday. He preaches through the Law of Moses, and the people begin to feel the weight of their sin and mourn. Ezra admonishes them not to grieve, itself a positive response to the reality of sin, but to rejoice “for this day [the Day of Atonement] is holy to the Lord.” The people rejoiced and celebrated, because they understood the words proclaimed to them.
The next day, the leaders of the people came together to study the Law, where they found that they were commanded to celebrate the Feast of Booths, remembering their time as sojourners in the wilderness. And they obeyed, and there was much rejoicing. Ezra read from the Book of the Law in the presence of the people each day of the celebration, which lasted seven days.
Here’s the big idea that we learn from this passage of Scripture: A passion for Jesus and Scripture is created and fueled by the right preaching of the Bible. If the Bible is not preached in our churches, people will not be brought to repentance.
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Vintage Saints: Robert Robinson
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Robert Robinson was born in 1735 in Swaffham, Norfolk, England. His father died when Robert was very young and he turned to a life of reckless abandon. One night, Robert and his friends harassed a drunken gypsy, demanding that she tell their fortune for free. She pointed directly at him and told him that he would live to see his children and grandchildren.
These words shook Robert, and he lived in fear of where his life would lead him were he not to change.
This led Robert, under the guise of going to mock him with his friends, to hear the preaching of Methodist evangelist George Whitefield. Whitefield’s sermon, dealing with John the Baptist’s words, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7). These words filled him with a deep conviction of sin. After three years of wrestling, Robert repented of his sin and became a Methodist Pastor.
Two years later, he wrote his best known hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.This hymn, with its passionate portrayal of our tendency to wander from our gracious and merciful God, is still a favorite of many Protestant Christians today. The original lyrics of which are reprinted below.