We are on week 3 of our “Lupang Hinirang” series on the Book of Nehemiah.
Here’s a quick review:
Week 1 – Nehemiah 1–2 – PRAYER
Week 2 – Nehemiah 3–6 – UNITY & DIVERSITY
Week 3 – Nehemiah 7–9 – SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
Week 4 – Nehemiah 10–13 – NATIONAL REFORMATION
Two short stories about renewal. . .
1. My Philippine driver’s license expired in 2005. I did not get it renewed because it is too much trouble dealing with the traffic and the transpo dept. (Don’t worry, I am a legal driver. My USA license is valid for two months upon entry, and I seem to have an international trip at least once every two months.)
2. Friday night I had the honor of officiating the 50th wedding vow renewal service of long-time church members, Bomboy and Vicky Fabregas. Hours of planning went into the event. Thousands of pesos were spent on flowers, clothes, food, invitations, photos. . .
I decided not to renew my driver’s license because it was too much trouble. Bomboy and Vicky decided to renew their wedding vows because their 50th anniversary is too important to ignore.
– Questions:
Do you approach spiritual renewal like my driver’s license or like a 50th wedding anniversary?
Do you treat spiritual renewal as too much trouble to mess with or as too important to ignore?
Nehemiah 7 – rebuilding the wall is finished, now the real work begins—renewing spiritual life and reviving the heart.
Nehemiah 8 – reading, understanding, and responding to the word causes spiritual renewal.
Nehemiah 9 – longest prayer in the Bible—a prayer of confession of God’s greatness and man’s sinfulness. When the word is read and understood, people respond with humility and confession.
Next week, we will see how spiritual renewal leads to national reformation.
I’m preaching 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. @ Victory Fort and 4:00 and 5:30 p.m. @ Victory MetroEast. Hope to see you at one of these, or on a podcast.
