Thursday Bible Study

  [Nehemiah] TWELVE: Love that challenges_   Nehemiah 13_   If relationship with God is THE most important thing in the world... then to help people get back into right relationship with God is the best thing we can do for them.   When we DON’T do this, what we are really saying is that we are more concerned about what that person thinks than what God thinks...     [Discussion starter] Why do you think that we find it so hard, in this culture, to correct a sister or brother in the Lord?     Between Nehemiah 2:1 – 13:6, Nehemiah spent twelve years in Jerusalem before going back to king Artaxerxes. We don’t know how long it was before Nehemiah came back to Jerusalem to check up on things, but chapter 13 tells us about how things were when he returned...     [Read Nehemiah 13]     What are the indications, in this chapter, that the Israelites have backslidden?       Think of a time when you have been corrected or wh...

  [Nehemiah] ELEVEN: Service & integrity_   Nehemiah 12     “If a job is worth doing... it’s worth doing right!” is a saying we’ve all heard and it’s because it’s true. And it’s true in our church community too. We would be of much better use to God, others and ourselves, if we didn’t volunteer for everything that comes along... but rather did a better job on the things we can realistically complete.     [Group discussion] Imagine a big company, at a posh awards ceremony, recognising the hard work done by the people who clean the toilets. THAT would be unusual!   Why do you think that we see some jobs as important and others as menial?   What jobs / tasks do you do that give you a lot of fulfilment and satisfaction?     [Read Nehemiah 12]     Why do you think the author mentions so many people in this chapter?       As a church, how do you think that we do at appreciating the supporting roles of people withi...