Nehemiah 2:13-16Have you ever done a Chinese fire drill in a car? The one where you are stopped and everyone opens the doors, jumps out, and runs around the car and then jumps back in?  If you have, you know it's complete chaos! You don't know which way the other people are going to run or if someone is going to steal your seat! How often do we treat life like that, where we just jump into a proje...  Read More

Nehemiah 2:11-12You may have heard about a third campus coming to Emmanuel! If you’re new to the church, we have two locations. A Flint Campus and a Grand Blanc Campus. The vision of Emmanuel is to multiply by going into different cities and adopting churches that may need help reaching the community. Although the third campus is new to many ears at Emmanuel, it’s been something our lead pastor ha...  Read More

Nehemiah 2:6-10As we continue to look through the story of Nehemiah, we see an interesting section here today. Nehemiah was greatly troubled about what was happening with Jerusalem and wanted to help. We see that he first responded with sorrow but also prayer. Next, we see him before the king and asking that he would grant him the time and passage to go and rebuild the walls. It was exciting that ...  Read More

Nehemiah 2:1-5 Have you ever had a time in your life when you are doing something, but your mind is elsewhere? Sitting at work and thinking of your family at home? For me, this tends to happen most when I am driving (which is not always safe) and I drift into my own thoughts of things I need to do, conversations I had that day, or just thinking about the game last weekend. The next thing you know,...  Read More

“It’s worth the risk!” Have you ever heard that statement? So often, people make the choice to “play it safe,” when God is calling us to come out of our comfort zones to do something mighty! Nehemiah had everything to lose and nothing to gain…by the world’s standards. He was in an elevated position serving the most powerful king in the world, yet he saw beyond the comfort to the crisis. As a resul...  Read More

Nehemiah 1:1-11How do you respond to bad news and deep emotional stress? Do you respond with action? Do you respond with prayer? Nehemiah’s burden led him to tears, fasting, and prayer. He prayed to the “God of heaven,” acknowledging God’s great and awesome character. Prayer is Nehemiah’s first response, his first order of business upon hearing terrible news about Jerusalem. His prayer comes from ...  Read More