Hello Everyone,

Another element of this worship was it was marked by an Honor for the Word.

Nehemiah 8:5-6 ⁵ Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. ⁶ Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

There it is! They said Amen! When you say amen you honor the word of God.

They lifted up their hands!

The Bible says in many places for us to lift up holy hands to Him. Is He worth the effort of that? Is He worth the effort of an Amen? If you're not comfortable with that atmosphere you might not like Heaven!

Is He worth the effort of coming forward and bowing our faces to the ground at the altar?

Another element of this worship was it was marked by their Handling of the Word.

Nehemiah 8:7-8 ⁷ The Levites…instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. ⁸ They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

It wasn't enough for them to just read the Word, somebody had to explain it. It's called preaching! If it's not exposing the POWER of the Word it's worthless!

Preaching is taking the Word, explaining it, illustrating it, and applying it to everyday life! And there's a famine in the land for that kind of preaching. That's the kind of preaching that builds great Christians, and I believe great churches!

These men in v. 7, and the Levites, were leaders who explained the Word, even one on one as needed. That's real discipleship! That’s mentoring!

I'm glad we have a handful of mentors here who take very seriously the way they handle the Word.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil