SESSION ONE

DAY ONE + TWO:

During your introduction session you spent some time discussing the definition of a disciple and how being a disciple impacts our church and community. The process of being a disciple is called discipleship. Discipleship is the process by which disciples grow in the Lord Jesus Christ and are equipped by the Holy Spirit and is at the core of the Christian faith. The marks of a disciple can be found in Mark What is a disciple? 8:34-38 (Jesus comes first above all things), John A DISCIPLE is a follower of Jesus Christ who is 8:31-32 (followers must be obedient), John 15:5- empowered by the Holy Spirit and whose life is 8 (abiding in Christ yields fruit that will last), centering on: Loving God supremely John 13:34-35 (our love for others proves our Loving neighbor humbly dedication) and Matthew 28:18-20 (disciples Serving the world sacrificially, and make disciples and teach them to obey). Leading others to do the same. As you enter in to this study on Nehemiah, we believe it will be fruitful for you to take part in a discipleship assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to help you discover the areas of your faith that may be strong and the areas of your faith that are ready for growth. As part of Day One and Two of Session One read through the discipleship assessment and at your convenience answer the questions honestly. This is a self-assessment. There are no wrong answers. The purpose of this test is to help you grow in faith. After you answer the questions (ranking 1 through 5) you will grade your assessment and plot your answers on the Discipleship Wheel. Phase two of this assessment will challenge you to enlist up to 3 people to complete a Discipleship Growth Observation on you. Once all is completed, youll fill out a Discipleship Growth Plan, which will help you, set action goals as you strive to become a more Christ-like disciple.

NEXT STEPS:

complete the Discipleship Assessment.

SESSION ONE
DAY THREE:

If you havent already, try to read through the book of Nehemiah in one sitting. This should take you about 45 minutes. If you dont have the time to read it in one sitting, read as much as you can. Read it through quickly. This will give an overview of Nehemiahs purpose and calling as well as a general sense of his perspective. As you read, jot down on the space provided below any terms, themes, things that stand out or are repeated or emphasized. (If you have already read through Nehemiah, go back and skim it and jot down some things). Write down any questions you have, or things you hope to learn during this study. Dont spend a lot of time with this. We will dig deeper in the weeks to come. SIDE NOTE: Remember, the purpose of this study is not just to gather more information about the Bible but to move from information to transformation. God doesnt call u s to simply know more about him and his word God calls us to p ut His words into action. May the words found within the book of Nehemiah not just b e informative but also transformative.
Pray that your body, mind and spirit would be open to a God-driven transformation that would lead to action.

NEXT STEPS:

read through the book of Nehemiah.

SESSION ONE
DAY FOUR:

Re-read chapter one of Nehemiah (text below)

Nehemiah 1

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my fathers family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. 8 Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name. 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man. I was cupbearer to the king.

Notes:

After a time of exile, the Israelite people were finally granted return to the holy city of Jerusalem. Upon their return, it became a city of ruin surrounded by crumbling walls and gates burned. Shortly before Nehemiahs return, Zerubbabel (the head of the tribe of Judah) and Ezra (a scribe), orchestrated the rebuilding project of the destroyed temple. (See Session One Appendix, pages 8- 10, for a more detailed historical background) The story of Nehemiah is what follows. A journey into the personal world of Nehemiah shows that he is on a pilgrimage with God. He is working in the government of Persia as a wine taster for the king and is a man of simplicity but in the end he makes a significant impact in the history of his people, the Jews. The book relates to us the way God used Nehemiah in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah became a world changer because of his personal vision for his people. We look today at how he grew into this type of person. verb [ no obj. ] to respond or behave in a particular way in response to something: Nehemiah REACTED to the desolation of Jerusalem: 1. He faced up to the realities of his world, Nehemiah 1:3 SIDE NOTE: 2. He took in the pain of these realities, Nehemiah 1:4a Go to the new Wadsworth UMC Discipleship blog (www.disciplesteps.tumblr.com) 3. He let this be the seed of a holy vision for him, and watch a short video titled: HE IS NOT Nehemiah 1:4b (A deep, holy discontent FAR FROM US. began to build strength within his spirit which would LINK TO VIDEO: drive him to God in prayer.) http://disciplesteps.tumblr.com/post/31054 558905/he-is-not-far WHAT 5 THINGS DID NEHEMIAH DO UPON SEEING Think of moments in history where JERUSALEM IN RUIN? (1:4) society has collectively wept, mourned and prayed. ______________________ ______________________ Psalm 30:5 reminds us that: Weeping may ______________________ ______________________ last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. ______________________ And Acts 17:27 says: His purpose was for What does that tell us about Nehemiah? the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him though he is not far from any one of us. Have you ever reacted similarly? If so, in what type of circumstances? Celebrating or mourning Joy or pain God is never far from u s. 4

[re]act

 Nehemiah was mourning the destruction of Jerusalems walls. How might the lack of city walls reflect badly upon the character of God in the eyes of Judahs neighbors? Despite the exile, despite a broken down city, God was still with the Israelite people. It took Nehemiah, a humble, simple servant of God, to help the Jews see a better way, the plan of God. Nehemiah was able to see this vision of a restored city because of what happened in chapter one verse four: He sat down, wept, mourned, fasted and prayed. Because he paused, slowed down, and was silent, he entertained the presence of God.

PRESENCE is one of the five areas of the discipleship process. (A commitment to the
incarnational presence of Jesus meaning being the physical presence of Jesus to your world.) Being present to God, the world and ourselves; Hospitable to friend, neighbor and co-worker; Participating in the life of our faith community through worship, small group and on mission. In what ways did Nehemiah show his concern for the captives who had returned to Jerusalem? How was Nehemiah present to both God and his people? How is presence a part of your daily living? How can Nehemiahs presence to God inspire you as you continue along in your faith journey?

NEXT STEPS:

actively pursue the presence of God today. Take a walk in silence around your neighborhood or downtown. Take note of your senses while you walk. LOOK. LISTEN. SMELL. TOUCH. Where did you experience God along the way? Where did you hear Him, see Him, feel Him, smell Him? Write down your observations on this page.

SESSION ONE
DAY FIVE:

Re-read vs. 5-11 of chapter one. This is Nehemiahs heart-felt prayer after hearing of the destruction of the city walls. What parts of his prayer stand out to you? Jot down some notes in the space provided below.

PRAYERS is another one of the five areas of the discipleship process. (A commitment to a
life of Spiritual Formation) Praying daily; Reflective reading of scripture; Fasting from food. One form of prayer is called an ACTS prayer, a prayer consisting of ADORATION (showing deep love and respect to God), CONFESSION (admission of wrong-doing), THANKSGIVING (an expression of gratitude) and SUPPLICATION (humbly asking God for something needed). In Nehemiahs prayer, where do you see examples of: ADORATION, CONFESSION, THANKSGIVING and SUPPLICATION? How might this be a pattern for your own prayers? Look again at verses 6 and 7. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my fathers family, have committed against you Why would Nehemiah include himself in this confession? Re-read verses 8 and 9. What does that tell us about Gods character? 6

[re]store
verb [ with obj. ] bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate: the government restored confidence in the housing market. return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position: the effort to restore him to office isn't working. repair or renovate (a building, work of art, vehicle, etc.) so as to return it to its original condition: the building has been lovingly restored.

What does the prefix re mean? It means to do-over. To be re born means to take a person and give them a second chance. It means to take that same person and give them a new life. It means to take the same person and give them a new purpose. God is a God of do-overs. He does not create disposable throwaways, Gods purpose is to restore. What does that mean? It means, when God calls you, or makes a promise to you, that promise cannot be undone no matter how bad you screw up. God is the God of restoration. Take a moment and praise God for giving us all a do-over, a second chance. Nehemiah had full confidence in Gods restoring power (vs. 10-11). He was confident that a great work of God could, should and would happen. Nehemiah had a vision. What kind of payer confirms and solidifies a vision in ones heart?

NEXT STEPS:

What ingredients of Nehemiahs prayer do you want to add to your prayer life?

SESSION ONE
APPENDIX:
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The book of Nehemiah is set in the middle of the fifth century BC (499 BC to 400 BC) and brings a conclusion to the period of recorded history in the Old Testament. Abraham | 2000 BC Moses King David | | 1500 BC 1000 BC Destruction of Jerusalem | 586 BC Nehemiah | 445 BC Jesus 1 AD

The following is intended to give some historical background for this study. Some may ask, Why do we have to understand and know the history of the Bible, especially the Old Testament? The best answer is, If we want to understand what God is doing today, we have to understand what God was doing back then. So, heres a brief history of the significant events leading up to the time of Nehemiah. Saul, David and Solomon Around the year 1050 BC, Samuel the priest was the spiritual leader of the Israelites. The Bible says, In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions (1 Samuel 3:1). The Israelites battled with their archenemies the Philistines year and year, and when Samuel was getting up in years, the elders of Israel asked him, Look, you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have (1 Samuel 8:5). And reluctantly, Samuel anointed Saul as the first king over Israel. Saul started well as king, but soon proved to be unworthy because he was disobedient and the Lord rejected him as king. The rightful king was the young, but godly shepherd boy, David, from the line of Jesse from Bethlehem. Samuel secretly anointed David as king over Israel while Saul was still on the throne. David served in Sauls palace as a musician, and after David killed the Philistine giant, Goliath, and the people praised David, Saul became angry and sought to kill David on several occasions. But later, when Israelite defeat was certain in a battle against the Philistines, Saul took his own life and David was made king over Israel. David is described as a man after Gods own heart, but his life is by no means perfect. His is a life marked by great highs and even greater lows: victories, defeats, failures, sins and heartache. But in spite of it all, God promised David that his kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom. One of Davids greatest and most strategic accomplishments is that he conquered the city of Jerusalem by defeating the Jebusites, and he brought the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem making that city the center of Israelite political and religious life. But David is never granted the privilege of building a Temple for the Lord. The task was left to his successor. The kingdom flourished 8

under David, but it was not without its conspiracies and rebellions from within and without as many sought control of the throne. Before his death, David appointed Solomon, his son by Bathsheba, to be the rightful king of Israel. Solomon was the king who built the great Temple in Jerusalem and led Israel to great prominence throughout the world. Israel reached its golden age during the reign of Solomon, a status it never knew again. As king, Solomon was loved by the Lord (2 Samuel 12:24-25), was endowed with the gift of divine wisdom (1 Kings 3), brought unprecedented peace, wealth and prosperity, glory and splendor to Israel during his reign. Solomon achieved international fame as a master builder (1 Kings 6:1-7:12) and a sage (1 Kings 10:23). Yet the latter years of Solomons rule were marked by steady decline and religious and moral decay. Solomon fell prey to the seductions of foreign women within his harem (1 Kings 11:1-3). Consumed by sensuality and materialism, the writer of the books of 1 and 2 Kings attribute the division of Israel to Solomons sin of idolatry (1 Kings 11:33). The collapse of his empire was the result of poor moral choices, bad policies and programs that eventually divided his kingdom. The Divided Kingdom King Solomon died around 931 BC. Following Solomons death, the kingdom divided with the ten northern tribes forming their own nation, with their own king, using the name Israel with the city of Samaria as their capital city. The two remaining tribes in the south (Judah and Benjamin) continued under the name of Judah with the city of Jerusalem as their capital city, and the descendants of King David as their king. During the next 200 years the Northern Kingdom of Israel was disobedient and worshipped false gods until in 722 BC when the Assyrians defeated them and led them off into captivity. The Kingdom of Judah continued for another 130-plus years until 586 BC when the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, laid siege of the city of Jerusalem. The walls of Jerusalem were destroyed, Solomons Temple burned to the ground and all of the Temple and city treasures were taken to Babylon. Many of the leaders of Judah were killed and the rest of the people were carried into captivity to Babylon. Only the very poorest people remained in the Judean hills, and many later fled to Egypt (2 Kings 25:23-30). It has been estimated that about 50,000 people were marched into captivity in Babylon. The Lords grace and merciful and His faithfulness and providential protection towards His people while in Babylonian captivity is clearly seen in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah. God continued to reveal Himself through the post-exilic prophets Zechariah, Haggai and Malachi; all were contemporaries of Nehemiah. God disciplined His people for their disobedience, but He did not abandon them. In 539 BC, Cyrus the Persian King captured Babylon and the Jewish captives were free to return to Judah. Just as the exile to Babylon consisted of three waves, the return from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem occurred as a second exodus. God was faithful to His promises that the people would return (Isaiah 44:28-45:4; Deut. 30:1-5). The first group of Jewish people returned to Jerusalem in 538-539 BC under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the second group was led by Ezra in 458 BC and Nehemiah led a group back in 445 B.C. Zerubbabel re-built the temple and Ezra re-established the Temple practices.

Nehemiah 9

Few are familiar with the life of Nehemiah, and yet he was instrumental in the rebuilding and reestablishment of Jerusalem following the Babylonian exile. Nehemiahs return to Jerusalem probably preceded Ezras by a couple years, but both men worked together to restore the city and rededicate its people to God. Nehemiah was a high official in the Persian court of King Artaxerxes at the capital city of Susa, which lay 150 miles east of the Tigris River in what is now modern Iran. Nehemiah served as the kings cupbearer (Nehemiah 1:11), which evidently put him in a position to speak to the king and request favors from him. After hearing about the sad state of affairs in Judah, Nehemiah acquired the kings permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and its fortifications. He is even given letters from the king to ensure safe passage and to obtain timber from the kings forest for the gates and walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem as the provincial governor of Judah. He immediately surveyed the damage to the entire city on his well-known night journey around the walls (Nehemiah 2:12 15). He enlisted the help of the people to quickly repair the breaches in the wall. He also urged them to set up guards to defend against the constant threat of those who opposed their efforts, including the armies of Samaria, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites. The hurried work of repairing and rebuilding Jerusalems walls and gates was completed in just 52 days, the wall was finished just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. (Nehemiah 6:13-15). Conclusion The two centuries of the Persian Empire were among the most formative periods of Jewish history. Out of the ruins of the little kingdom of Judah there emerged a small community whose concern to be the people of God by ancestry and practice shaped it into the nation which meets us in the New Testament and which Jesus encountered. The future prominence of the Temple and its priests of the Law and its scribes, as well as the enmity between Jews and Samaritans were developing. The Israelites living in the land were fairly passive at this point in history. They had to adapt to the culture around them because they were such a small remnant. Their intermarrying and political ties made this considerably worse. Nehemiahs gifts in administration and perseverance enabled him to mold this people back into the people of God so they could obey Gods commands and have a distinction from the people around them. This is where Nehemiah shines through. It was not enough to build just the wall he had to build a people that would once again stand on their own as God led them.

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