Return Lesson 3: Sacrifice

1 IMMEDIATE OBSERVATIONS

What is promised?

Not directly mentioned but worshipping God always requires sacrifice.

What are the problems?

There was no place to worship

What are the solutions?

They did what they could to worship the Lord. Setting up a makeshift altar and beginning work on the foundation.

What are the commands?

The harken back to the 7th month worship commands from Lev. 23

What error should I avoid?

Thinking worship doesn’t require much effort or sacrifice.

What example is here?

The returning exiles.

What does it say about Christ?

- They have entered the foreshadow of His protection in the Promised Land and in the foundation of the Temple.

- His earthly family is part of the return

Other comments, questions or needs further study:

Zerubbabel is a key figure at this time and an ancestor of Jesus.

2 THE NEED ELEMENT

Needs mentioned directly or indirectly the text: worship

Symptoms of someone facing these needs: many excuses for why we can’t

Assumptions of someone facing these needs: someone else can take care of the work to worship.

Consequences of someone facing these needs: Don’t really understand what worship is all about. Personal sacrifice to show who is really worthy.

Feelings of someone facing these needs: self-assured.

3 THEOLOGICAL THEME WORDS FROM THE TEXT:

What is the meaning of the text in one word? Sacrifice

What did the writer have in mind? The writer of Ezra detailed how important worship was to the returning exiles.

Where does the text fit into the sequence of the chapter or book? very early on

What is the genre and structure of the passage? historical narrative.

Where does it fall in light of the cross? Long before the cross but a foreshadow of true worship in Christ’s sacrifice.

Choose a pivotal verse. What is the one word to name the verse? v. 3, altar

What is the text subject in one word? Subject: sacrifice

What is the text subject complement? Complement: worship

4 W HAT ARE THE TEXT PRECEPTS

1 Theological = God is…holy

2 Doctrinal = God does…deserve it when we sacrifice everything for Him

3 Spiritual = ...Therefore, we should…sacrifice everything for God.

5 DEFINING THE DIVISIONS

Using the subject and complement, write a working title for the sermon:

Worship requires Sacrifice

Using the subject and complement and the Biblical setting, write the textual idea: The writer of Ezra detailed how important worship was to the returning exiles.

Using the subject and complement and current setting, write the sermon idea: Today, our worship should be the most important part of our life and it should still require sacrifice.

Restate the sermon ideas as a question, write the interrogative: What can we learn about the worship of the returning exiles?

Write the answers to the interrogative found in the text here:

Worship is an automatic response to encountering a loving God! v. 1-3

This story details how important it was for them to worship as soon as they could. Because they knew who God was and what He had done.

Look at what He has brought us through and how He still accepts us.

2. Worship requires effort on our part. v. began to build

3. Worship requires sacrifice on our part. v. 7

4. Worship will remind us how far we have come and how far we have to go.

What is a key word that sets a pattern for the division statements? Key word: Worship

Using the subject, complement and key word, write the transition sentence that answers the interrogative:

Using the answers to the interrogative and the key word, write the division statements:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

6 PASS THE TESTS?

Are they complete thoughts supporting the sermon idea?

Do they follow the textual genre and structure?

Are they congruent to one another?

7 SUMMATION : RECAP , “ SO WHAT ”, AND APPEAL

8 INVITATION : WHAT DOES THE EXPOSITION CALL FOR US TO DO?

9 INTRODUCTION : WRITE OUT AND MEMORIZE AND MAKE IT POWERFUL