Week #1: September 12 – 18

Nehemiah 1:1 – 2:9 (Praying & Planning)

MAIN POINTS:

  • Prayer: look at how Nehemiah prayed and how we can use his prayer as a model for our own prayers
  • Planning: after we pray, we still need to plan

Describe the role of a cupbearer in the ancient kingdom in which Nehemiah lived. What position would this be similar to in our government today?

What news did the brothers from Jerusalem bring to Nehemiah?

How might prayer help you respond to the challenges that lie ahead of you this week, month, or year?

An excellent way to learn how to pray specifically and effectively is to write out your prayer in a prayer journal and then read it to God. Using Nehemiah’s prayer (Nehemiah 1:5-11) as an example, write out a prayer of your own. Choose a specific challenge you are facing the express your need for God’s help. Include the four components of Nehemiah’s prayer noted in question 4. Once you have composed your prayer, pray this prayer to God. You may share this prayer with someone in your small group for accountability and support.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [69Kb]

Week #2: September 19 – 25

Nehemiah 2:10 – 3: 1 – 32 (Rebuilding the Walls: A Team Effort)

Main Points:

  • In God’s kingdom, working together is necessary.
  • Each person has something unique and valuable to contribute to the building up of God’s kingdom and God’s church.

Among the following which do you prefer and why?

a) individual or team sports?
b) solo music performances or ensemble concerts
c) living on your own or in some group living arrangement?
d) self-employment or a closely knit work team?

After resting for 3 days to recover from “camel lag” (he took a 1,300 km trip), what did Nehemiah do in 2: 12-16? Why do you think he did this by night?

What is interesting about the crew assembled by Shallum in v. 12? How about the work crews mentioned in v. 10, v. 23, v. 28, v. 29, and v. 30b?

Name some principles that we have learned from Nehemiah which will help us “work well with others” as we rebuild our wall. Please share one of these principles with the group.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [141Kb]

Week #3: September 26 – October 1

Nehemiah 4 (Defeating Discouragement: Dealing with Criticism and Opposition)

MAIN POINTS

  • How Nehemiah helped the people to overcome the criticisms and opposition by:
    • praying
    • taking action

“Stick and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me” – How did that childhood taunt affect you? What teasing and name-calling actually did get to you?

Why do you think Sanballat and Tobiah were so opposed to Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem (see also 2:10)?

Which do you tend to do “with all your heart”: Work? Worry? Worship? Warfare? Why?

What is one area of your life where there seems to be “so much rubble”? In what ways are you trusting God and cooperating with others to build something out of that rubble?

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [219Kb]

Week #4: October 3-9

Nehemiah 5 (Resolving Conflicts Within: Dealing with Complaints)

Main Points:

  • While the city wall project was in progress, Nehemiah had to deal with a great outcry from the people against the nobles and officials who were exploiting them.
  • Nehemiah’s response to the issues in chapter 5 highlights his leadership qualities and godly character.

1. How do you typically deal with conflicts?

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [27Kb]

Week #5: October 10-16

Review of Nehemiah 1-5 (Principles on Rebuilding Broken
Walls)

Walls are important boundaries. Walls protect and shelter the inhabitants who live
inside; they repel destructive intruders attacking from the outside. In the ancient Near
East, a city without walls was unthinkable!

Jerusalem was a city without walls, a city with broken down walls. The people of Jerusalem had no physical security – their city wall had been in ruins for over a hundred years. The returning exiles from Babylon had rebuilt the temple many years earlier, but the wall around Jerusalem was still in disrepair.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [35Kb]

Week #6: October 17-23

Nehemiah 6 (Dealing with Distractions: Resisting Satan’s Schemes)

Main Points:

  • To observe how Nehemiah handled the “attacks” aimed specifically at him from the “enemy”
  • To learn how we can also respond to these “challenges”, as Nehemiah did, as we try to finish rebuilding the broken walls in our lives

1. Which is easier for you: to start a project, or to finish it? Describe why.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [38Kb]

Week #7 October 24-30:

Nehemiah 7 (Counting for God: Purpose and Meaning in Life)

Main Points:

  • For Nehemiah, the building of the wall was only a means to an end. The end was the restoration and well-being of God’s people. In this chapter, Nehemiah started the work of “rebuilding” the people of Jerusalem
  • God’s grace is shown in the fulfillment of His promise to gather together people of Israel from the exile and re-establish His chosen nation again.
  • God prompted Nehemiah to take a census of the people. Nehemiah’s life has been one that was constantly guided and led by God.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [48Kb]

Week #8 October 31-November 6

Nehemiah 8 (God’s Word and Spiritual Renewal)

Main Points:

  • Spiritual renewal among the exiles (the remnant) came about by the corporate reading, understanding, and application of God’s Word.
  • Our own spiritual renewal will also come as we read, understand and apply God’s Word.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [42Kb]

Week #9: November 7-13

Nehemiah 9 (Ongoing Repentance and Spiritual Renewal)

Main Points:

  • To note the major themes in this beautiful corporate prayer of confession led by the Levites.
  • To pay careful attention to God’s character as unfolded through Israel’s history.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [62Kb]

Week #10: November 14-20

Nehemiah 10 (Applying God’s Truth and Spiritual Renewal)

Main Points:

  • Renewal of duties and responsibilities of the people of Israel toward God
  • Renewal of their total obedience to God in all aspects of life (finances, marriage, family, work, community, church).

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [41Kb]

Nehemiah 11

Chapter 11 is the account of Nehemiah’s efforts to repopulate Jerusalem. Although the city wall had been rebuilt, Nehemiah discovered that he had a problem. He had a fine, well-defended city – but with very little people! His solution was to draft families to move there, for a capital must be inhabited since it is the heart of the nation.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [41Kb]

Nehemiah 12 : Real Heroes and True Celebration

Chapter 12 qualifies as one of those “let’s skip this boring list of names” chapters in the Bible … at least from verses 1 to 26. Note though that the latter part of this chapter (vv.27-41) describes the tremendous joy and celebration as the people of Judah dedicated the completed wall of Jerusalem. Why did God the Holy Spirit include another long list of names here, before telling us about the dedication of the wall? Let’s find out by not skipping this chapter altogether in our journey through Nehemiah.

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [79Kb]

Nehemiah 13

For SGs with parents:

  • Why do you think your children disobey your instructions?
  • How can you help (or “make”) your children obey?

For SGs with non-parents/employees/students:

  • Why do we disobey our parents/managers/teachers even when we know they are right?
  • In what instances do you obey them even when you don’t understand why?

To view complete study, please download the PDF file [36Kb]