Nehemiah: God’s Big Build

Overview Doc

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Video 1

This video sets the scene for the book of Nehemiah, focusing on chapter 1, where Nehemiah receives heartbreaking news about Jerusalem. His grief leads him to prayer—and ultimately, to action. Show this video at the start of your teaching time to introduce the story. It ends on a dramatic cliffhanger: Nehemiah, cup in hand, preparing to speak bravely to the king. What happens next? That’s for you to share!

Video 2

Chapter 3 of Nehemiah gives a lot of detail about the rebuilding of the walls – who joined in and what they built. Today’s video gives a clear and simple summary of the building project, focussing on people from different backgrounds and highlighting some of the interesting gate names. This should help your group see that lots of people joined in with God’s amazing building plan, without you having to read them the whole of Chapter 3. If you think your children could manage, read the whole chapter and talk about more of the characters we meet.

Video 3

We start where the last video ended, with different people working together beautifully to rebuild the broken walls. We then focus on the mess that resulted as God’s people failed to care for one another, showing the injustice as some families faced hunger, debt and even having to sell their children as slaves, whilst other people profited. The video ends with Nehemiah heading off to try to sort out the mess – the lesson you teach will focus on what happened next.

Video 4

The video should be played at the start of the teaching time to explain the opposition Nehemiah faced as people plotted to try and stop him from building the walls. We see the persistence of their plot as they nag him five times to stop building, get a flavour of the different ways they tried to stop Nehemiah in his work, see Nehemiah’s endurance despite opposition and hear the simplicity of his prayer – “now strengthen my hands” – as he relies on God to help him.

Video 5

It covers all the action and emotion of chapter 8, as the people gather to hear Ezra read the law to them. As he reads, the people begin to cry as they realise they have not done what the Lord commanded. Their leaders tell them not to weep, but celebrate as the Lord has been faithful to them, he has gathered them together and they have a repaired city to live in. The completed walls are a refuge, just as the Lord has been for his people. The most amazing celebrations begin, with feasting, music and even a campout sleepover party. The lesson picks up as the people gather again in repentance.

Nehemiah Prays

When did it go all wrong for you? And what did you do next? And what does that have to do with pajamas? EVERYTHING! Ed and Jam are back with a new series on Nehemiah called God’s Big Build, with the usual fun facts, but also an EXCLUSIVE to a press conference that tells us all we need to know about Nehemiah. Throw in a sketch and song by Slugs and Bugs (Trust in the Lord) and we’re ready to saddle up and clip clop our way back to Jerusalem to get building! You can listen online or find on your favourite podcast app: https://www.faithinkids.org/podcasts/faith-in-kids/126-nehemiah-prays/

Nehemiah Builds

When did it go all wrong for you? And what did you do next? And what does that have to do with pajamas? EVERYTHING! Ed and Jam are back with a new series on Nehemiah called God’s Big Build, with the usual fun facts, but also an EXCLUSIVE to a press conference that tells us all we need to know about Nehemiah. Throw in a sketch and song by Slugs and Bugs (Trust in the Lord) and we’re ready to saddle up and clip clop our way back to Jerusalem to get building!

Nehemiah Cares!

When did it go all wrong for you? And what did you do next? And what does that have to do with pajamas? EVERYTHING! Ed and Jam are back with a new series on Nehemiah called God’s Big Build, with the usual fun facts, but also an EXCLUSIVE to a press conference that tells us all we need to know about Nehemiah. Throw in a sketch and song by Slugs and Bugs (Trust in the Lord) and we’re ready to saddle up and clip clop our way back to Jerusalem to get building!

Nehemiah Keeps Going

Stories of war, battles won by cats, soldiers pretending to be more soldiers and the second most valuable painting in the world. Except it isn’t. With a short prayer – Strengthen my hands! – Nehemiah keeps going for a long time as he contends with stinking fibs made up out of the heads of his enemies. Nehemiah doesn’t really want to be king, does he? A briefing, a sketch and a classic banger from Awesome Cutlery.

The People Make Promises

When did you last make a promise? How did it go? Ed’s promise had him dashing across London while Jam had a great time with a clear plastic cyclone of dust. God’s people have been making promises but they’re not going very well. Fun facts about party food, including the origin story of the Hawaiian pizza. Such a packed show – with a big chunk of Nehemiah, a briefing and a sketch – and a brilliant Awesome Cutlery song about how we are a Good News Family. This is God’s Big Build #5. Only one left!