Do you tend to think of the sermon as a private spiritual discipline performed in public? How will you seek to consider yourself in the context of a community when you hear the word of God?

What are ways you minimize the importance of gathering to hear the word in your life and the life of your family? How can you make gathering to hear the word with the church more important in your life and the life of your family? 

We make a theological statement about the Bible by the way we gather to hear it. We declare this is God’s word through our attention to the Bible. How might we more clearly declare the Bible is God’s word when we gather to hear it? How might you more clearly state your belief that the Bible is God’s word by the way you listen to it? 

We exalt God in our worship by exalting His word in worship. How do you minimize God’s word by exalting yourself in worship?  How might you exalt God word in worship by honoring it, agreeing with it, and submitting to it? 

In your own words explaining this statement, “ The joy of the Lord will be your strength?” How do we make the joy of the Lord our strength by living out the gospel? How does this statement apply to our repentance for sin before the Lord? How does this statement empower us to obey the Lord in joy?

Review the following Bible Study Questions: How can they be applied in your reading of Nehemiah 7 and 8?

How to study your Bible in light of Jesus? 

• Where is Jesus? 
• How am I being encouraged to follow Jesus by faith?
• What is Jesus teaching me about God?
• How is Jesus challenging my thoughts about God? 
• How is Jesus seeking to change my heart?
• Where is Jesus calling me to follow Him in righteousness through sacrifice?