Bent Oak Church

Having reminded the people of God's steadfastness and having repented of their own unfaithfulness, Ezra led the people in renewing the covenant. We take a closer look at God's covenant with his people and how the story of Nehemiah helps us recognize the covenant we have received. 

Having celebrated God's faithfulness, the people were finally ready to consider their own unfaithfulness. On the twenty-four day of the month, they came together in sackcloth and ashes to repent before the Lord. But even in their repentance, God's mercy and steadfast love were at the center. Chapter nine offers a long prayer of repentance and remembering. It offers us a model for what our own repentance can look like. 

Having completed the wall, the people of Jerusalem began to gather. They called for Ezra to return and read the law. As the law was read, they began to weep, but Ezra commanded them to stop. Instead, he reminded them that the joy of the Lord was their strength. We take a closer look at those familiar words and how they sustained the people of Jerusalem and how they sustain us as well. 

Nehemiah had faced opposition before. He often faced threats and risks from the neighboring nations, but suddenly Nehemiah found opposition coming from within the walls of Jerusalem. We take a look at how Nehemiah responded to betrayal from friends and learn why God can be trusted in times of our own difficulties. 

In the previous chapter, we saw a picture of unity. God's people shared the work, protected one another, and sacrificed to build a better city. But it didn't take long for things to fall apart. Soon they were taking advantage of one another in ways that aligned them with their pagan neighbors. It's a warning about how quickly we pick up the ways of the world and how naturally we justify it to ourselves. 

Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem began to rebuild the city. Each family took their section of the wall and built it together. But, as has been the pattern, opposition soon emerged. First, it was taunting and then the threat of violence. But the people did not give up. They guarded one another, encouraged greater faith, and committed to seeing the project through. 

When Nehemiah learned of the disrepair of Jerusalem, his heart was broken. He longed to rebuild the city, but Nehemiah also served the king of Persia. His loyalties would be questioned, and his life would be at risk, but Nehemiah prayed, trusted, and sought to return to the city. We take a closer look at the man, his situation, and the complexity of the task.

As we look at the final chapter of the book of Ezra, we ask some hard questions about the book's final image. The book has taken us from the stirring of their hearts by the Spirit to men sitting in the cold rain negotiating the abandonment of wives and children. The final image of Ezra is a complicated question of our unfaithfulness, our need for a plan to fix it, and the tension of what we can never put back together on our own. 

Having arrived in Jerusalem, Ezra discovered that many of the priests and leaders were marrying their foreign neighbors who worshiped pagan Gods. We take a closer look at the situation and Ezra's prayer of intercession. We consider why this sin continually plagued Israel and how Ezra builds our expectations for Christ's intercessions.

Having been introduced to Ezra and his plans to return to Jerusalem and teach the law, we are next given the details of his preparation. Though he returned with a group of Jews, they were small and worried about the dangers of their trip. Ezra wanted to turn their attention back to God. He called for a fast and prayer to overcome their fear. They needed to humble themselves to recognize the hand of God that was on them. 

With Ezra 7, we begin the second story of Israel's return. This return would be led by Ezra, a scholar and expert in the Law. He was commissioned to teach the Jews the Law and to see that they obeyed it. No move of God or church project is complete if it does not include new attention to God's word and a commitment to live it.

With the support of the prophets and a new decree from the king, Israel completed the construction of the temple. They joined together in a new Passover feast that welcomed many of their converted neighbors. We are reminded of God's ability to turn the heart of the Persian king and also God's ability to fill his people with joy. There was gladness for their success, but real joy only comes as a gift from God. 

With progress stopped, God sent prophets to speak to Israel and call them back to their task. We look at the role of the Old Testament prophets and how the words of Haggai and Zacheriah help us learn to respond to God's word in our own day.

After so much progress and celebration, the rebuilding of the temple grinds to a halt. The people became discouraged and afraid of the mounting pressure around them. We take a closer look at how the fear of man can cause us to withdraw from the work of God and how to find courage for our times.

Having arrived back in their land, Israel's first task was to worship. They came together in unity to rebuild the altar and begin the daily sacrifices. We take a closer look at that unity and the priority of worship in our lives and church. 

Ezra chapter two is a list, a long list of names, and a tally of those who returned. The list may be long, but its total represents only a fraction of what Israel had been. It is only a remnant. But still, it is a remnant that has remembered who they are and who God has led them to be. They are a model for any who live through exile. 

In our opening to the book of Ezra, we take a look at the background of the book and how God stirred the hearts of both secular rulers and everyday believers to fulfill his promises. Israel would return to their homeland to rebuild their nation and worship. God was stirring the hearts of people to go and take up the task.

On this Easter Sunday, we take a look at the way Jesus's resurrection impacts how we live in the days that follow Easter. 

Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem was one of the high points of his ministry. The disciples expected rejection, but he was welcomed as king. Jesus wasn't so quickly impressed. He warned the crowds, as he often did, that to be a true faller would mean rejection, suffering, and death to self. This Easter we are reminded that to follow Christ often requires stepping away from the crowd and taking up our own cross.

In our final sermon of the serious, we look at Jesus's unwillingness to offend a tax collector and consider how Jesus calls us to avoid offending others. We are called to be stewards of his offense. Willing to risk the offense of the cross but never allow ourselves or our rights to become the obstacle of offense.