Sermons on Ezras Dedication:

Swimming Upstream Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Feb 27, 2008

Do you ever feel like everything is opposing you? That is what the remnant was experiencing. The first step to facing our opposition the right way is to "know our enemy."

In our walk as Christians and in our work as a church… 1. We must stand against the persistence of our opposition (4:4-7) 2. We must stand against the pervasiveness of our opposition (4:8-10) 3. We must stand against the persuasiveness of our opposition (4:11-16) 4. We must stand against the ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 4:4-24

Denomination: Baptist

Obedience Works! Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Mar 3, 2008

In one sense, the remnant was just like us--they had free access to the Word of God. God had just spoken His Word to them through Haggai and Zechariah. God’s Word was available--what were they going to do with it? What are we going to do with it?

1. Obedience was immediate 2. Obedience was inspired 3. Obedience was inclusive 4. Obedience was investigated Imagine if you will, not having access to a Bible. Throughout history, that’s the way it’s been for most people. In the early church, the Bible consisted of the Greek translation of ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 5:1-4, Ezra 5:7-17, Ezra 5:1-17

Denomination: Baptist

Word Blessings Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Mar 17, 2008

God blesses His Word. The remnant heard God’s will clearly revealed in His Word and they didn’t ignore it or put it aside. They no longer stalled and delayed. This time, when they heard God’s Word, they obeyed His will. And when that happens, God blesses.

1. God blessed the remnant with firm audacity (5:5) 2. God blessed the remnant with a fair assessment (5:6-6:5) 3. God blessed the remnant with a fervent advocate (6:6-13) 4. God blessed the remnant with full accomplishment (6:14-15) Back in the book of Exodus, when God was describing the priestly ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 5:1-17

Denomination: Baptist

Follow The Leader Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Sep 2, 2008

Four ways to know that God’s people are ready to accomplish the work He has for them.

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been in Ezra, so I think it’s important that we spend a few minutes remembering where we are. That’s always an important thing to remember in your own personal Bible study. It’s very easy to get so wrapped up in a particular passage or verse that you forget the ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 10:1-5

Denomination: Baptist

Spiritual Leadership / Faithful Followership Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Sep 2, 2008

In these final verses, we see two models we can learn from. We see the model of spiritual leadership that Ezra shows us. And we see the model of faithful followership that the people show us.

Turn with me to Ezra 10 Our passage tonight runs from verse 6 all the way through the end of the chapter. Because the passage is so long, we’re not going to read it to start off with. We’re going to read it as we go along. We have followed our remnant all the way through the book of Ezra. ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 10:6-44

Denomination: Baptist

True Revival

Contributed by John Petty on Jul 24, 2008

We all need reviving at different seasons of our lives. God has given us a picture of what this means through His people Israel.

This morning I want us to look at what true revival is. Revival – It comes from the root word revive which means to recover that which was lost, to repair that which was broken and to restore that which was taken. There are many pictures in the Word of God of times of revival. In the book of ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 9:8-9

Denomination: Church Of God

Héroes: Esdras Series

Contributed by Wilbur Madera Rivas on Jul 25, 2008

Dios se deleita en usar al que ama Su Palabra

Héroes: Esdras Intro: Esta semana estaba recordando un evento de la juventud. Siendo un jovencito participé por varios años en un grupo coral que se llamaba Jubal. Teníamos bastantes compromisos. Casi cada fin de semana estábamos cantando en alguna iglesia o actividad organizada en parques u ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 7:1-10

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Case Of The Unequal Yoke Series

Contributed by Victor Yap on Dec 25, 2007

Prayer Warrrios, Pt. 5

THE CASE OF THE UNEQUAL YOKE (EZRA 9:1-15) This message is intended for youth, young adults and the singles. The weakness of God’s people in the areas of romance and marriage was confirmed to me the week I was preparing this message. I was in Los Angeles on a Monday morning when I decided to call ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 9:1-15

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Hall Of Fame # 7 - The Priesthood Of All Believers Series

Contributed by Jonathan Campbell on Jan 2, 2008

Every Christian is a spiritual priest. Message based on the account of the priests who returned from Babylon.

INTRODUCTION Every Christian is a spiritual priest. Revelation 1:5,6 "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." Revelation 5:9,10 "thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 2:36-39

Restoring Religion Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Jan 5, 2008

Who is worship supposed to be about? God. And it is His worship that He was restoring in Jerusalem in this passage. This message looks at restoring our religion.

1. Worshipped as family (3:1 – they gathered together as one man) 2. Worshipped fittingly (3:2 – in accordance with the Word of God) 3. Worshipped freely (3:3 – in spite of the fear of the nations) 4. Worshipped fully (3:4-5 – they kept all the feasts and offered all the offerings) It seems like ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 3:1-5

Denomination: Baptist

Hall Of Fame # 8 - The Levites Series

Contributed by Jonathan Campbell on Jan 14, 2008

Levites are mentioned throughout scripture. This sermon suggests some adjectives that could be used to describe them.

INTRODUCTION Famous Levites in scripture - Aaron (Exodus 4:14) & Barnabas (Acts 4:36). They were descendants of the tribe of Levi and were assistants to the priests. Four words spring to mind in connection with Levites: 1. PRACTICAL Their work was practical rather than spiritual. OT Levites = NT ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 2:40, Ezra 2:1

Getting Where You're Going Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on May 31, 2008

Are we prepared for the journey that awaits us?

In his book, Gentle Thunder, Max Lucado tells the story of Sir John Franklin. It was 1845 in England. In 1845, America was at the beginning of what was called “Manifest Destiny.” That was the idea that we were destined to explore and inhabit and eventually annex the west. While we were ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 8:21-32

Denomination: Baptist

Where To Start? Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on May 31, 2008

Sometimes the toughest thing about a project is knowing where to start.

Have you ever had a project that was so big, you just didn’t know where to start? My garage is like that. It was a mess before we moved in and it’s only gotten worse. It absolutely drives me nuts. Several years ago, when we lived in Mississippi, I had a beautiful tool shed. I had pegboard on ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 8:33-36

Denomination: Baptist

Counting Change Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on May 31, 2008

Newton’s First Law of Motion states: Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it. Do the forces of sin around you compel you to change?

Turn with me to Ezra 9. EZRA 9:3-5 After putting it off for a long time, a man finally went to the doctor. After the examination and all of the tests and blood work, the doctor just shook his head. He told the man, “You are in terrible shape. In order to pull out of this, you’re going to have ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 9:3-5

Denomination: Baptist

Broken Prayer Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on May 31, 2008

What does the prayer of corporate confession look like?

Three theologians were having a deep theological discussion while they were walking down the street one day. They were talking about prayer. More specifically, they were talking about the most effective positions of prayer. The discussion got pretty intense so they actually stopped there on the ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 9:6-15

Denomination: Baptist