Hear, O Our God, For We are Despised

Nehemiah 4:1-14


Proximity doesn’t always equal intimacy; Judea and Samaria were neighbours but always at odds with one another. When Sanballat, king of Samaria, sees the Israelites rebuilding the temple, he opposes them by questioning their strength, motives, capacity, vision, and ability. The devil doesn’t antagonise God’s people with thunder, but by questioning truth and identity. He sneaks just enough poison to pull people apart.


In the world, we are despised. As we pursue God’s presence and seek to live a godly life, evil will push back. When it does, we don’t stay silent but fight for justice and truth — yet we remember the battle belongs to God, and our weapon is prayer. Even when evil pushes back as we pursue the presence of God, we trust that in Jesus God will fight for us and grant us victory over the darkness and the lies we face. Jesus always has the final word.

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26 Jun 2022

Luke Nelson

Luke is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne West. He joined City on a Hill in its early days, serving as the Community Pastor in Melbourne, before being asked to lead a new church plant. Having grown up in Melbourne’s western suburbs, he has a deep knowledge of and passion for the area, and a great desire to see the gospel bring transformation. A gifted communicator, he loves the work of pastoring a church, opening God’s word each week and seeing the Spirit work. Luke graduated with a BA (Hons) from Melbourne University, has a Grad Dip in Divinity and a Masters of Ministry from Ridley College. He is an ordained Anglican minister in the Diocese of Melbourne.

19 Jun 2022

Guy Mason

Guy is the founding and Senior Pastor of City on a Hill, a church that began in 2007 with a small team and a big vision. Today City on a Hill is a movement of many churches that gathers across multiple locations, in different cities and is united around the central mission of knowing Jesus and making Jesus known. Guy is a passionate communicator of the gospel who is committed to engaging culture with the beauty, truth, and relevance of Jesus. Guy graduated with a BA in Public Relations from RMIT University, has a Masters of Divinity from Ridley College and is currently completing a Doctorate of Ministry with Wheaton College. He is the husband to Vanessa and the father to four children. He is an ordained Anglican Minister and serves as an Archdeacon in the Diocese of Melbourne.

19 Jun 2022

Nick Coombs

Nick is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne East. He loves Jesus, is passionate about connecting deep theology with everyday life, and eager to make a difference in the time he has by helping plant as many churches as possible. After Jesus, Nick loves his wife Jules, and his two kids, Axel and Aria. He holds an MDiv from Ridley College, is an ordained Anglican minister and gives too much of his time to fantasy sports.

19 Jun 2022

Louis Glazebrook

Married to Esther and father of three girls (Evelyn, Audrey and Winifred) Louis is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Surf Coast. The story that God has written for his life has thus far seen him enjoy a country upbringing, service in the army, working as physiotherapist and now most recently completing an MDiv at Ridley College. A few of his many weaknesses include caramel slice, boys toys, and not putting away his shoes.

19 Jun 2022

Andrew Grills

Andrew is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Geelong. He has spent most of his life as an officer in the Australian Army. Graduating with the Sword of Honour from the Australian Defence Force Academy, he served in Infantry and Intelligence, including operations in East Timor with the commandos. He holds a postgraduate degree in International Relations from Oxford University and an MDiv from Ridley College. Andrew later became an Army Chaplain at the Australian Recruit Training Centre at Kapooka, before leaving the full time Army in 2013 to plant City on a Hill Geelong. Andrew has been married to his beautiful wife Danna for over 20 years and has five young children. He loves the ocean, traveling, camping, playing with his kids (including attending their innumerable sporting matches), and reading military history.