Joining God in His Work (14 of 19)
Series: Ezra
Mike Stone
Ezra 7:11-28
Part of the series:
EZRA - Praising the God Who Rebuilds and Restores
I've reminded you in each lesson that the work of God is never about building a building. The work of God is about God building a people for the glory of His Son Jesus Christ.
One way that God gets glory is by doing stuff only God can do.
That way, when it's done, only God can get the credit.
I want you to SENSE and to SEE that God is at work in our congregation. And since He is working, I think it only makes sense for us to join Him in that work. With that in mind, we turn in our Bibles once again to Ezra 7. And we are going to see some incredible principles that will be necessary as we go about:
I want you to see 3 aspects of the work God was doing through Ezra and I want you to see how Ezra joined Him in that work.
The granting of permission
Some people have said it's easier to request forgiveness than receive permission! All jokes aside, Ezra didn't think that way.
He was a religious exile, a captive in Babylon, and had no legal right to return to Jerusalem. He needed permission. And he needed permission from a pagan king who was only concerned with his neck and not God's will.
So, in an encounter only hinted at in the text, he took his request to King Artexerxes.
As we began to talk and pray about building a new building, I too, needed to seek the permission of various individuals and groups.
I needed to prayerfully seek the wisdom of our staff, our deacon body and stewardship committee. I needed to speak to the congregation about moving forward, which you've already affirmed on 3 specific occasions and will finalize in the next couple of months. As we build there will be ''permission'' to receive from the government in terms of code inspections and building codes.
But the most important thing is to be sure you have the permission of God and the authorization of heaven. As Ezra ...
Series: Ezra
Mike Stone
Ezra 7:11-28
Part of the series:
EZRA - Praising the God Who Rebuilds and Restores
I've reminded you in each lesson that the work of God is never about building a building. The work of God is about God building a people for the glory of His Son Jesus Christ.
One way that God gets glory is by doing stuff only God can do.
That way, when it's done, only God can get the credit.
I want you to SENSE and to SEE that God is at work in our congregation. And since He is working, I think it only makes sense for us to join Him in that work. With that in mind, we turn in our Bibles once again to Ezra 7. And we are going to see some incredible principles that will be necessary as we go about:
I want you to see 3 aspects of the work God was doing through Ezra and I want you to see how Ezra joined Him in that work.
The granting of permission
Some people have said it's easier to request forgiveness than receive permission! All jokes aside, Ezra didn't think that way.
He was a religious exile, a captive in Babylon, and had no legal right to return to Jerusalem. He needed permission. And he needed permission from a pagan king who was only concerned with his neck and not God's will.
So, in an encounter only hinted at in the text, he took his request to King Artexerxes.
As we began to talk and pray about building a new building, I too, needed to seek the permission of various individuals and groups.
I needed to prayerfully seek the wisdom of our staff, our deacon body and stewardship committee. I needed to speak to the congregation about moving forward, which you've already affirmed on 3 specific occasions and will finalize in the next couple of months. As we build there will be ''permission'' to receive from the government in terms of code inspections and building codes.
But the most important thing is to be sure you have the permission of God and the authorization of heaven. As Ezra ...
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