3 Ezra 5:1-6:22 "The Sound of Music"

3 Ezra 5:1-6:22 "The Sound of Music"

We'd love to hear from you. Text us. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2401083/fan_mail/new] Imagine for a moment the scene before us as we move from the close of Ezra chapter 4 to the start of chapter 5.  For 16 years all temple construction had ceased.  By force & with haste Israel’s adversaries compelled the returning remnant to cease & desist.  After 16 years of neglect, tall weeds have overtaken the derelict temple site.  A palpable sense of despondency overcomes the faithful. So God’s people returned to their outlying towns & villages.  But they were not idle.  They richly rebuilt their personal homesteads.  They got so engrossed in that exercise that God moved the prophet Haggai to prophesy: “Is it a time for you…to dwell in your paneled houses, while my house lies in ruins?God’s people had forgotten their pledges as the restoration of the temple was seemingly so resoundingly thwarted by the adversaries in their midst & Artaxerxes’ decree from afar.Yet it is the midst of this painful hiatus, when the government had shut them down; when local opposition had beat them up; when God’s people were with making their own nests cozy while God’s house lie in ruins.In the midst of all that negativity God was about to do something wonderful. Something powerful.  Something only God can do.  God restarted His work.  He reinvigorated His workers.  He re-instituted His worship & He revealed His marvelous ways.  Join us today as we hear how God brought back "The Sound of Music" to his Holy Temple.  Grab your Bible, a pen, & print out the free downloadable sermon outline & accompanying study guide at www.washedintheword.life & let's get Washed in the Word! Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for Old Testament books are available at: https://washedintheword.life/ot-study-guides   Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for New Testament books are available at: https://washedintheword.life/nt-study-guides

2 Ezra 4:1-24 "The Dirty Dozen"

We'd love to hear from you. Text us. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2401083/fan_mail/new] Sometimes saints think spiritual warfare is something new to me & you.  It’s not.  Anytime God is at work in this world Satan is skulking somewhere nearby. Satan never wants God’s work to prosper so God’s workers he will pester. Today we turn in the Old Testament to Ezra chapter 4 to endeavor to discover "The Dirty Dozen" ways Satan attempts to pour sand in our gears to try to grind God’s work to a halt.  Grab your Bible, a pen, & print out the free downloadable sermon outline & accompanying study guide at www.washedintheword.life & let's get Washed in the Word! Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for Old Testament books are available at: https://washedintheword.life/ot-study-guides   Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for New Testament books are available at: https://washedintheword.life/nt-study-guides

1 Ezra 1:1-3:13 "The Magnificent Seven"

We'd love to hear from you. Text us. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2401083/fan_mail/new] Have you been in a protracted season of difficulty?  Perhaps you strayed for a season & now you have experienced some hard discipline?  If that is true for you, you are in a similar situation to the Israelites in the days of Ezra.  After 70 years of captivity brought on by their own iniquity, God graciously is restoring them to the Holy Land, but this will be a great adventure of faith, that sadly, few will agree to take.  If you are ready to roll up your sleeves and get to the work of the Lord anew, Ezra is the book for you.  Join us today as we discover together "The Magnificent Seven" of Ezra chapter 1-3.  Grab your Bible, a pen, & print out the free downloadable sermon outline & accompanying study guide & let's get Washed in the Word! Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for Old Testament books are available at: https://washedintheword.life/ot-study-guides   Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for New Testament books are available at: https://washedintheword.life/nt-study-guides

5 Know Your Future 2 Peter 3:1-18

We'd love to hear from you. Text us. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2401083/fan_mail/new] Knowing the future helps us invest wisely in the present.  The problem is we are not prescient.  That is we don’t know the future, but God does.  God is omniscient.  God knows all.  That means God knows the future.  If knowing the future helps us invest in the present, we ought to listen if God offers prophetic truth.  This is exactly where we find ourselves today in 2 Peter 3.  God is urging us to "Know Our Future."  Grab your Bible, a pen, & print out the free downloadable sermon outline & accompanying study guide & let's get Washed in the Word! Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for Old Testament books are available at: https://washedintheword.life/ot-study-guides   Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for New Testament books are available at:  https://washedintheword.life/nt-study-guides

4 Know Your Adversaries 2 Peter 2:1-22

We'd love to hear from you. Text us. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2401083/fan_mail/new] First Peter focused on beleaguered believers bearing up under persecution.  So, the threat in First Peter was external.  Second Peter focuses on false teachers.  The threat in Second Peter is internal but all the more lethal.  The New Testament is quite clear that the greatest threat to the church is not external persecution, painful though it may be.  The greatest threat to God’s church is internal doctrinal pollution.  It is found in false teachers corrupting the gospel, ensnaring the unsuspecting, & bringing the Way of Christ into disrepute.  There is hardly a book of the New Testament that does not warn us against the danger of false teachers.  So in our fourth message from Second Peter in our series, "The More You Know," today, we need to "Know Our Adversaries."   Grab your Bible, a pen, & print off the free downloadable sermon outline & accompanying study guide & let's get Washed in the Word! Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for Old Testament books are available at: https://washedintheword.life/ot-study-guides   Free Sermon Outlines & Study Guides for New Testament books are available at:  https://washedintheword.life/nt-study-guides