O Lord, Let Your Ear Be Attentive

Nehemiah 1:1-11 & 2:1-8


Nehemiah could have minimised the tragedy of the destruction of his home city, or felt apathy toward it. He is living in Susa, the most liveable city of Persia, and has influence as the loyal cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I. Yet, Nehemiah wept and prayed. First, he adores God and praises his glory, realising that he cannot do anything without God. Second, aware of God’s steadfast love, Nehemiah prays on behalf of his people, bearing the responsibility for Israel’s disobedience, prefiguring Christ.


Many times we come across mess in our lives, our work, our family, the church, and the world. Everytime we have the choice to keep calm and carry on, or to reckon with the mess and do something about it. It is easy to shift the blame, and the responsibility, to someone else. Yet, we ought to take the responsibility on ourselves. May we repent of the deceit, false teaching, hypocrisy, hardness of heart, misplaced love, worship of idols, disdain toward the church and contempt toward our fellow brothers and sisters. We repent of our personal and collective sin, praying alongside Nehemiah: “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant.”

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12 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.

12 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.

5 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.

5 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.

5 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.

5 Jun 2022

Pat Donohoe

Pat is the Community and Missions Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne East. Pat is passionate about Jesus and passionate about people. His heart is for searching people to coming to know Jesus, as well as helping Christians grow in maturity through their faith walk linking theology with life. He is the husband to Carly and father to two children. Pat loves wild cooking and trying to source his own food from the outdoors.