Day 28 | A Word-Centered Church

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. Nehemiah 8:5-8

The book of Nehemiah is the story of God’s people returning to their homeland following a lengthy period of exile. As you read through the book of Nehemiah, it’s clear that the Lord used strategy, logistics, and wise leadership to bring his people back—but most importantly, it was God’s Word that was central to re-establishing his people.

Similarly, we can make plans and scheme logistics and form strategies as we seek to establish ourselves as a church. There is nothing inherently wrong with those things—books like Nehemiah and Proverbs would suggest we would even be wise to do so. But the most important thing we could do as a church is allow ourselves to be built and shaped by God’s Word.

I am reminded of Jesus’s concluding words in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24–25)

Prayer prompt: Let’s pray that we would be a church that is founded on the rock of hearing God’s Word and responding in obedience.