I must have been moaning, not quite as under my breath as I thought, as I walked through the door last night because Cherie asked, “are you hurt or cold?” My reply… “Yes!” How many of you have moved an arm or leg these past couple of days and sort of sighed as the muscles ached from shoveling a little snow? We live on a corner lot and the snow plows have pushed mountains of snow all around our yard, it looks like we live in a snow fort now - kinda cool, if I’m being honest with you! You maybe didn’t think those snow plows were so cool when they dumped snow in front of your drive way, over and over again…

Nehemiah’s story is recorded for us in scripture in the book that bears his name (along with the book of Ezra) and he maybe doesn’t get the credit he deserves. This fact, by the way, is exactly how Nehemiah would have wanted it! He makes very clear in his journal that nothing he accomplished would have been possible without God. Nehemiah oversaw the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem after the exile, but more than that he oversaw the rebuilding of God’s people.

And so it is with our own relationship with Jesus. It is constantly under construction and in constant need of rebuilding. If this rebuilding is a constant need individually in Christ, it is a constant need of His church corporately as well. As a body of believers we must continue to refocus ourselves so that we may keep the main thing, the main thing.

January 12 we will kick off a new series, “The Main Thing,” as we learn from the leadership of Nehemiah. I’m excited for this series and the chance it provides for each of us to center our attention on Jesus and the ministry He has in store for us.  Pleas join me this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 am as we begin to learn with Nehemiah how to keep the main thing, the main thing!

- Lance

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

              - Nehemiah 6:15-16