God’s people were waiting for a deliverer, the Messiah, to come. They were expecting a lion to crush their enemies. Instead they got Jesus – a lamb who would take their sin away. But Jesus was no pushover. He stirred fear in the heart of the opposition and amazement in the heart of the onlookers. He goes head-to-head with demons – even the Devil himself. He does the impossible. Contemporaries of Jesus Christ saw firsthand what it meant to be more than conquerors.

We’ve heard the story before – An angel’s message. A miraculous conception. No accommodation. Shepherds. Wisemen. Saviour.

John’s rendition of the birth of Christ forgoes some of those details. He writes, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” (John 1.14) Greek readers understood the word “logos” as the representation and the essence of God. Hebrew readers also understood John’s message. John writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” “In the beginning” are the first words of the book of Genesis.

John says the beginning of all creation is with the Logos, the Word of God who has become flesh. For the Greeks, he was reason who became flesh. For the Hebrews, he was the Creator who became flesh. For us all, he is God who became flesh.

We all know people whose defences have fallen down. Their lives have become ruinous, absolutely hopeless and helpless. For a ruined life, what does it mean to rebuild defences? Can a ruined life be rebuilt to strength and power and purpose again?

This week in The Story, we look at the book of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. God’s people return from captivity and begin the arduous task of rebuilding Jerusalem’s defences.

This week we will be looking at the greatest complete story in the bible. It reads like a movie. There are plot twists along with villains and heroes. In the middle of it we see normal people caught up in the great plans of God. We see a God who is never mentioned but works behind the scenes without the use of incredible miracles or prophetic words. We see the faith of an orphan girl with no aspirations, move the wheels of history. Connect with the life of Esther and find how we can choose to connect with the plans of God that He has for each one of us.

When is success actually failure? When is plenty not enough?

Israel has been in exile for 70 years but the time of judgement is over and the people begin to return and rebuild. They start well...but soon need a little bit of reminding from the prophet Haggai. This message also comes to those of us today who have good intentions, but miss the big picture.

Lets examine a vision of what a life without regret can look like. Lets encourage one another to pursue this with our whole hearts!

Imagine you are a young man who has seen his beloved city invaded, his king humiliated and his whole life stripped away as he is taken captive. He arrives in an impossibly grand city in the middle of a vast empire. It is a center of learning and culture and new gods which seem to grant their worshippers unlimited power and happiness.

How does a young man keep his way? What does faith look like? Can it look that way in our lives today?

We will be looking at Daniel, a young man who saw the world as it was and it changed his life.

This week we are delighted to welcome John Snelgrove back to The Bridge Church. John will be looking at Chapter 17 of The Story - The Kingdom's Fall.

Israel, chosen by grace, had a history with very few righteous moments. As far back as the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, the nation continued to pull further and further away from the Lord. Not even Joshua or David were able keep the nation righteous for a long period of time. Israel’s history betrays our sin nature: sin is always humanity’s default mode.

In chapter 16 of the Story we see the pattern of human sin, God’s justice and His hope. Despite His people’s disobedience, God delivered a promise through Isaiah – a new King, a suffering Servant, a Saviour, the Messiah.