Thank You God for Homecoming

They Returned to Fulfill what had been Spoken by the Lord

What they did (Ezra 1:1-5)

The return was partial

Not everyone returned at once

They returned in waves

The return was planned

They returned to fulfill the words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah

They returned heeding the instruction of their leaders

They returned with a purpose

Their purpose was to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord

Their purpose was to work for the Lord

What we do

We return partial

Not everyone is healthy to return but this does not mean less faithful

We will return in waves

We return with a plan

We return to do what the Lord has spoken

We are excited and eager, but we return heeding the instruction of our leaders

We return with a purpose

We return with a primary purpose to fulfill the will of the Lord

We return with the purpose to get back to and continue the work of the Lord

They Rebuilt the Altar and Re-laid the Foundation of the Temple of the Lord

What they did (Ezra 3:1-13)

They rebuilt to sacrifice

Most important act of worship was to sacrifice and give back to the Lord

They rebuilt to serve

Each person from each family did their part to serve in praising the Lord

They rebuilt to shout (for joy)

Praise & Thanksgiving

Shouts for Joy challenged by Weeping with a Loud Voice

The priests, Levites, and heads of the fathers’ houses witnessed the first temple dedication cry out because they feared God was not with them since the glory of God did not fill the temple in the same way. Also, the temple building was not as immaculate as that of the first.

The glory is not in the structure but in the soul

They rebuilt to surrender

In Ezra 6:13-22 the temple was completed and the people dedicated it to the Lord

What we do

We rebuild to sacrifice

We must remember that we become living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2)

We rebuild to serve

We are commanded to serve using our special talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

We rebuild to shout (for joy)

Tonight we will talk about joy. Nehemiah later says the joy of the Lord will be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). When we rebuild we need to give praise and thanksgiving to God!

We rebuild to surrender

Each day we must surrender and dedicate the temple to the Lord

We are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16) and must give our lives to Him

They Repaired the Walls around the Temple and City of the Lord

What they did (Ezra 4:1-6; Nehemiah 3-4)

The repaired to protect

The people

The temple

The dwelling place of God

So they would not be separated from God again

They repaired next to their homes

They repaired close to their living places before going to other places (Nehemiah 3:28-29)

After making sure their homes are in order they branch out

They repaired in the midst of opposition

They paused until it was safe! (Nehemiah 4:1-15)

They prepare themselves to build and defend (Nehemiah 4:15-23)

What we do

We repair to protect

Once we have our heart right (our temple) we make sure to protect it by building walls of morality around it

We build walls to protect our people

We build walls of love to make sure that we are not separated from God (Romans 8:37-39)

We repair next to our homes

We address our homes first

Then we address outside

We repair in the midst of oppostiion

We pause, much like we just did, at danger

When it is safe we will resume our normal schedule

We prepare to build and defend

They Renewed their Covenant with the Lord

What they did (Nehemiah 8-10)

They read the Law (Nehemiah 8)

The king send Ezra back to teach the law of God to the people (Ezra 7)

Nehemiah calls Ezra, a man knew the law (Ezra 7:10), to read the law to the people

They revered the Lord

They worshiped God after hearing His law

They responded with Love

They confess their sins publicly (Nehemiah 9)

They devote themselves to the service of the Lord

They separated themselves from the people of the lands (Nehemiah 10:28)

They observed the commandments of the Lord (Nehemiah 10:29)

They give to the Lord (Nehemiah 10:30-38)

They committed not to neglect the house of God (Nehemiah 10:39)

What we do

We read the Law

We study the word of God and store it in our hearts

We revere the Lord

We worship God with praise and thanksgiving

We respond with Love

We confess our sins

We devote ourselves to the service of the Lord

We separate ourselves from this world

We observe the commandments of the Lord

We give to the Lord

We commit to never neglect the house of God

We can learn a great deal from these passages of Scripture. We can especially learn a lot about our homecoming, our return to the building and resuming our normal service to God. However, we learn more when we discuss our Homecoming to heaven. We must renew our covenant with God now in order to have that Homecoming.