In Nehemiah 9, we see the people of Israel go through a confession of their sin after the Feast of Booths, as well as a prayer from Ezra, going through the Old Testament, showing God’s blessings followed by Israel’s unfaithfulness. Johnny talks about the importance of trusting God in times of wealth and of poverty.

Nehemiah is faced with a conflict within the community. The poor, facing burdensome taxes and a famine, have had to take out loans but their creditors, their fellow Jews, are exploiting them with exorbitant terms. Many have lost their lands, vineyards, homes, their very source of income and identity, and some have had to sell their children into debt slavery. Nehemiah confronts the nobles and officials who are doing this with a call for justice out of fear of the Lord and compassion for their fellow brothers and sisters.

In Ezra 7 and 8, the priest and scribe, Ezra, arrives on the scene for the first time in the book. Ezra is authorized by the Persian king, Artaxerxes, to lead a 2nd wave of exiles from Babylon back to Jerusalem to see to the restoration of faithfulness to the Law of God. How did Ezra find such favor in the eyes of the Persian King? The hand of the LORD was upon him and He had set his heart to seek, obey, and teach the Law of  the LORD.

This week, we read about the first steps the returning exiles take towards rebuilding the temple. Johnny recognizes the work it takes to rebuild this temple, and the laments of the oldest exiles as they compare the new foundations to Solomon’s temple.

As we begin the series on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, Johnny takes us through the beginning of Ezra, and the history surrounding the Israelite’s exile in Babylon and Persia.

In this passage, we see Paul and Barnabas called to be missionaries to the Gentile Church. We see Paul preaching in the synagogue at Antioch in Galatia, and we learn about the importance of listening to God’s calling.

On the 2nd Sunday of Easter, CCV begins a series using the Lectionary Year C readings, focusing on The Acts of the Apostles.

In Acts 5, Peter and the Apostles are arrested for preaching Jesus. But when the Angel of the Lord sets them free and calls them to preach the gospel in the Temple they are re-arrested. But Peter and the Apostles refuse to be silenced: “Should we obey God or men?” he asks. And what about us? What keeps us from proclaiming Jesus is the Christ? Fear. How do we live with same joyful in the face of suffering, love for enemies, boldness for Jesus that the Apostles did?

Easter Sermon: In a culture of an increasing hopelessness, the Christian hope, grounded in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ offers a real hope–Jesus did rise bodily from the dead; and a living hope with ongoing implications for lives. The Christian living hope is upside-down, forward-back, and inside-out.

In Luke 20: 19-26, we hear Jesus say “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Johnny explains the history behind those testing Jesus, the meaning of Jesus’ statement, and what this means about how we live our lives.

This week, Johnny takes us through two stories, one as Jesus enters Jericho, and the other as Jesus leaves. Johnny discusses the faith of the blind beggar, the only one who sees Jesus as the Messiah, and Zacchaeus the chief tax collector who, like everyone there, has a deep need for salvation in Jesus.

In Luke 12, Jesus addresses our fears, calling us to not fear man, but instead to fear God, and not to worry, because God will provide for us. Johnny addresses our modern fears and anxieties, and shows what it means to fear God.

In Luke 10, we read a story of Mary and Martha, who are friends of Jesus. We see how Mary decides to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from him, how Jesus commends her for this decision, and learn from Johnny how to apply this to our decisions today.

Simon, the Pharisee, invites Jesus to a dinner party. He fails to offer Jesus the customary greetings and honors. But a woman of the city, a known “sinner,” who joins the poor in the room has come to honor Jesus–she begins weeping, then wiping his feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with expensive oils. Everyone is scandalized. Except Jesus, who accepts her acts of worship, honors her publicly, and affirms that forgiveness and salvation are hers.

(Unfortunately the normal audio recording process was not available this week)

This week, we read about two of Jesus’s healings, one the servant of a centurion and the other a widow’s son. In covering these two stories, Johnny shows us how the stories are not so much about the healings as they are about the people Jesus does them for.

This week, we read in Luke 6 about Jesus’ confrontations with the Pharisees on the Sabbath. Johnny talks about the significance of the Sabbath in First Century Judaism, what it meant for Jesus to claim Lordship over the Sabbath, and what the Sabbath means for our own rest today.