Well, good morning, everyone. Good morning. Good morning, and welcome to Old Providence Associate Reform Presbyterian Church. As you're coming in, make sure that you have your bulletin as our music and other pertinent things are in there for you this morning. And again, I welcome you all, especially our visitors. We're so glad that the Lord has brought you here to worship today. Now, as we come together, let me just point you to your bulletin and encourage you to be aware of the goings-on. One of these is that Monday midday resumes tomorrow at 11 a.m. There's a write-up about that. Also, we have typical things going on, like youth group tonight at 5.30, Little Lambs this afternoon, And y'all let me just tell you right now start marking your calendars. It's March. Easter comes early this year. It will be here before we know it. So be aware that there's lots of things in there revolving around Easter like an Easter egg hunt. We're having a Monday-Thursday communion service with a dinner, and it looks like we'll be back in the sanctuary in time for that. Also, we're doing sunrise service at 7 a.m. at Stone Hall, breakfast, Sunday school, and then a regular service at 10 a.m. Again, it's going to be here before we know it, so start making plans to attend with us on Easter. There are other things going on, but I'm going to let you find those. I do want to call, is Carol Misch here? Carol, there you go. I want to call on Carol. Carol is doing our Minute for Missions this month as she talks about things that are going on at WRE, but come on up, Carol. So Pat asked me to do a moment for mission, because I know I won't get it in a minute either. But I will let you read what's in the bulletin and what's in your newsletter about what's going on with WRE. And if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. I do want to share a story that Dana shared with us at the last meeting. Everybody wants to know if the kids are getting reached through WRE. And as you've seen in the bulletin, we do have 570 kids coming to the WRE, and that's only kindergarten through fifth grade. Unfortunately, we're competing with PE. So as they get older and they realize, if I don't go to Bible, I go to PE. So sometimes we lose some, but then we gain some at the same time. But the story I want to share is that Dana has it set up where the Gideons come in and talk and they share with the fourth graders about what they do and placing the Bibles and giving out Bibles. And then after they speak to the fourth graders, the fourth graders get the New Testament. With that being said, the fifth graders get a Bible at the end of the year when they graduate out of elementary school. So this little boy had been in class and he received his New Testament. And then that weekend, he went to a wrestling competition. And of course, they were staying overnight at a hotel. And the first thing he did when he went into the hotel room was to go to the side table pull the drawer out to see if the Bible was there. And there was not a Bible in there. And so he left his New Testament in the hotel. So he came back after the weekend and saw Ms. Cash and was like, Ms. Cash, Ms. Cash, I became a Gideon this weekend. And she was like, what? He became a Gideon? And, you know, he relayed the whole story about how he had left his New Testament. And, of course, you know, Dana's, you know, heart. because, you know, the kids are listening. So Dana went back and talked to the representative, and the representative actually brought her some more, and then he gave that same little boy a couple more New Testaments, so that if he wants to continue to spread it, the word, that he has the tools to do that. So, again, if you have any questions about the goings-ons, let me know. Thank you. Thank you, Carol. That little boy has called the church five times now asking about when he can come and make a presentation. I'm only kidding. The Gideons are relentless. Anyway, but they do wonderful work. So thank you very much for sharing that, Carol. If you have any questions, again, please feel free to reach out. Now, there's other things going on that I'm going to let you find. Again, I welcome you. It is the Lord that has called us here, and he's called us here to worship him. So let's prepare our hearts for worship as Donna leads us in the prayer. Our call to worship this morning comes from the 89th Psalm where we read, I will sing about the Lord's faithful love forever. I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations with my mouth, for I will declare faithful love is built up forever. You establish your faithfulness in the heavens. The Lord said, I've made a covenant with my chosen one. I've sworn on oath to David my servant. I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations. Lord, the heavens praise your wonders. Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies can compare with the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord? And then from here, the psalmist goes on to talk about the splendor of this God that we serve, all the ways that He makes His glory known, His graciousness known, His power being so evident. And indeed, as we come together today knowing that this promise here, made to David is fulfilled through Jesus Christ, the one who sits on the throne of David is the King of kings and Lord of lords. But also, we see this fulfillment in what the Lord has done. And we're invited to ask this same question, who can compare to the Lord? And the answer, of course, is that none can compare. And even so, this is the Lord that has called us here to worship him today. So let's stand together as we sing of the King all glorious above, as we sing in our insert number 26, oh, worship the King. Please stand with me. All glorious above O gratefully sing His power and His love Our shield and defender The ancient of days Our field yond in splendor Anchored and with praise O sing of his praise, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O sing of his praise, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O sing of his praise, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, Almighty thy power hath founded of old, hath established it thus by unchangeless decree, and round it hath cast like a mantle the sea. I pouted, O care, what tongue can recite? It breathes in the air, it shines in the light. It streams from the hills, it descends to the plains, and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain. Real children of God, and feeble as frail, In Thee do we trust, nor might we do fail. Thy mercies, how tender, how firm to the end, Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. You may be seated. Now let's take this time to go to our Lord in prayer as He has called us here, after which we'll pray the Lord's Prayer together and then confess the Apostle's Creed. Let's go to the Lord now. Our God and our Father, we praise You that You are all of the things that we have read in Your Word, that You are all of these that we have just lifted up to You, that You are our Maker, You are our Defender, You are our Redeemer. And because of Jesus Christ, you are our friend. Sometimes we dwell on one aspect of your majesty more than others, but let us not forget that ultimately we are here right now. And Father, I know different circumstances have gone into today in bringing everybody here, but we are here because you love us. because you've set apart this time that we can come together and lift up praises because you alone are worthy and you've created us to be worshipful creatures. So as we come, we thank you for the opportunity and we pray that you would guide us now by your Holy Spirit. We pray all of these things in Christ's name and we also pray as he taught us to pray by saying, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Now as we say the Apostles' Creed together, let me ask you, Christian, what is it that you believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From this he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Amen indeed. And now let's continue to sing of our Lord's love as we stand together and sing number 399 in our bulletin. Please stand with me. Love divine, all was excelling, Joy of heaven, come down. Fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure unfounded love thou art. Visit us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart. Let us find the promised land. Take away the love of sinning. and liberty. Almighty to deliver, let us all thy light receive. How doth he return, and never, nevermore doth thy temples leave. ♪ We would be always blessing ♪ ♪ Serve thee as thy host above ♪ ♪ Pray and praise thee without ceasing ♪ ♪ Glory in thy perfect love ♪ ♪ Finished with thy new creation ♪ ♪ Pure and spotless let us be ♪ Let us see Thy great salvation Perfectly restored in Thee Change from glory into glory Till in Heaven we take our place Till we cast our crowns before Thee Lost in wonder, love, and joy You may be seated, and now at this time, children may be dismissed for children's church. But as they're being dismissed, let's take this opportunity to go to our Lord in silent prayer. And what you bring before the Lord is between you and the Lord, but I'd encourage you to dwell on His love and mercy. But then after a short time, I'll lead us in the pastoral prayer. Let's go to Him now. Eternal God and Heavenly Father, it is with grateful hearts that we come before you now, praising you for all that we can read about you and your word, all that we've lifted up to you in song and for the testimony of our own lives, that we can see your hand at work. Not only on a broad scale in the midst of the world around us, some are so short-sighted that they don't see your hand at work every day, but Father, we know you're working. Your restraining hand of mercy prevents so much calamity, but not only on the broad scale can we see you working, we can see you working in our lives. All the ways that you've protected us, all the ways that you've provided for us, and if we ever doubt that provision, we need to only recognize that you've given us this opportunity right now. Again, this opportunity to stop and to focus on you. This opportunity to praise you and fulfill our purpose of glorifying and enjoying you. This opportunity to gather together, not just as individuals, all from different parts, but instead as the bride of Christ, as your church. which Christ is both building and perfecting at the same time. All of these point to your provision, but even deeper to your love, to your grace that you've given that we don't deserve, but you give it nonetheless. So Father, give us grateful hearts as we consider these things and as we consider the fact that we're not here just as individuals, but instead as one We pray that you would work in our hearts to unite us together. That our unity would be such a high priority that it becomes our focus, it becomes our motivation, and that our unity not just be unity over things that don't matter, but instead that we unite around the cross of Christ. recognizing this salvation that you have given, and also recognizing the world around us and its vast need for Jesus Christ. As we survey the world, we see so many things that are confusing, troubling, sometimes things that make us angry, and we're puzzled at the world's foolishness. But Father, we know that Jesus Christ is the answer. So again, we pray that you would unite us together and that we would testify to his greatness. We pray for the challenges that we face to this, certainly our own desires, our own motivations. Father, please give us the mind of Christ that considers equality with you nothing to be grasped, but instead humbled himself. Please, in your mercy, we ask that you would humble us, again, in your mercy, for this is a dangerous thing to ask, but we ask it not for just our sake, but for your sake and for your kingdom. We pray for those that are experiencing all different sorts of situations that have prevented them from being a part of us. Whether it's sickness, whether it's hurting, whether it's travel, you know all these things, Father, so please come to their aid and unite us together for the sake of Christ. We pray all of these things in Christ's name, amen. you ♪ For our pleasure they are bearded ♪ ♪ How our worthy, O Lord ♪ ♪ How our worthy, O Lord ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ Now I'm worthy, now I'm worthy, now I'm worthy. Thank you very much, Pars. That's great reminders there, not only that the Lord is indeed worthy of our praise and our honor, but that piece about Him being the Creator, we being the created. When we worship the Lord, again, I alluded to this in an earlier prayer, when we worship the Lord, when we pay Him the tribute that He is due to the best of our ability, We fulfill one of the purposes for which we were created. In fact, as we talked about last week in the message, that our chief end, the reason that God is created is for us to glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever. So, thank you so much for that, Kwame. Now, if you were here with us last week and you came back this week, Let me just say thank you for that. And I say that kind of jokingly because if you were here last week, you'll remember that we went through all of Ezra chapter 2 with its gigantic list of descendants who returned to Judah, which is a list that included over 125 names and places. Some of which are very difficult to read. And you suffered with me as we went through all of these hard to pronounce names. But hopefully it wasn't too much suffering. And hopefully last week you saw beyond the list, right? All the way to the names and the faces of those that the Lord had roused to return to Jerusalem. those whose hearts were roused by the Lord to the point that they left life as they knew it, trusting God because of their conviction that nothing in all of Babylon or Persia's splendor, nothing could compare to God's splendor and nothing could fulfill them as doing what God told them to do would fulfill them. And I hope that you also saw that if God could rouse their hearts, well, He can rouse the hearts of the world around us today. He can turn these United States around. He can change old Providence. Yes, He can change. He can set us on fire for Him. He can change the difficult people in your life, even the most difficult person, which if we're honest with ourselves, we're the most difficult people in our lives, right? The Lord can change you. That's the God that we serve, the God who roused the hearts of His people 2,500 years ago still. rouses the hearts of his people today. But that's what we saw last week in Ezra chapter 2. Today, we're moving forward to Ezra chapter 3, which in many ways is the most important chapter in all of Ezra. Think about it. In chapter 1 and in chapter 2, it's kind of big picture, right? In chapter 1, you get Cyrus, which is the Persian emperor's decree that all of God's people that want to go should return to Jerusalem. Also, you get both he and the Persians not only Endorsing this but financing the return, you find Cyrus returning articles that were stolen from the temple. And in 1.5 you see God roused the hearts of His people. I've been talking about it. Ezra 1.5, so the family heads of Judah and Benjamin along with the priest and Levites, everyone whose spirit God had roused. prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord's house in Jerusalem. So chapter 1 serves as sort of the big picture start of the story, which remember, I say story. This is true. It happened in time and space. It's history. But then in Chapter 2, as we saw last week, it's also really a big picture of whose heart was roused by God, all the way down to whose descendants they were, how many of them there were, even down to the number of horses and donkeys that they took. So, Chapter 1 and 2, big picture. Chapter 3, though, is where we really start to zoom in. It's where we start to get down to the mechanics of what God actually did to restore His people to their land. Yes, but even more important, what God did to restore them to right relationship with Himself. Because remember, that's the two struggles here. There are two great struggles in the book of Ezra. One is to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem after it had previously been destroyed, and I mean destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. So they had to rebuild the physical structure, but the other struggle is to rebuild that right relationship with the Lord. And as big of a task as it was to rebuild the actual physical temple there, the bigger task was to restore that right relationship and worship of the Lord. And today, as we start to zoom in, we really see the start of both. But in seeing where they started, We learn a lesson about where we need to start, too. and what we need to continue in. So with this in mind, let's go to the Lord in prayer, and then we'll begin reading in verse one of Ezra three. And yes, the text is available right before our last hymn in your bulletin, if you don't have your Bibles. But let's go to the Lord now. Our God and our Father, as we come today to your word, we pray that you would help us. We're continuing along this story that points to struggle, this story that points to hardship, but ultimately, this story that points to your faithfulness. And oh, Father, you are faithful. You are faithful, and you alone are worthy. So please guide us now by your Holy Spirit as we come to your word that we would see what you would have us to see, and that, Father, we would be changed by your word, by your spirit. And we pray all of these things in Christ's name, amen. So, Ezra chapter 3 beginning in verse 1, hear now the word of the Lord. It says, when the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered as one in Jerusalem. Yeshua, son of Josedat, and his brothers, the priest, along with Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel's God in order to offer burnt offerings on it as is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord, even though they feared the surrounding peoples. They celebrated the festival of shelters as prescribed and offered burnt offerings each day based on the numbers specified by ordinance for each festival day. After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month and for all the Lord's appointed holy occasions as well as the freewill offerings brought to the Lord. On the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, even though the foundation of the Lord's temple had not yet been laid. They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they would bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia." And for today, we'll stop reading right there. May God bless the reading. of his holy, inerrant, and infallible word. Amen and amen. Well, my friends, what we've just read is the impossible that I've been alluding to all along as we have gone through the book of Ezra, but certainly in this sermon as well. I really talked more about it last week. The impossible, that God has taken his people, remember who they are, they're exiles. They're strangers in a strange land, bound for a land that they didn't even really know. They're poor, they're wandering, they're wandering. Doubtless they were scared and certainly they were in new territory, but not just physical location, also new territory in terms of this worship of the Lord. God has taken this and He has worked through it. We've read about worship. sacrifices being restored in Jerusalem here. And it's interesting I may spend more time on this next week we may loop back around to it. But we've also read that all of this took place again verse 6, on the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord even though the foundation of the Lord's temple had not yet been laid. We read about the fact that all of this is taking place and they don't even have the temple yet. The foundation for the temple has not even been put down yet. But they're worshiping. They're sacrificing. They're united as one. And when you think about where they came from, And what they've just left, again, the impossible has taken place. Just think back, right, and we're not going to go into deep detail. Think back to your Sunday school stories that you might remember, some of the things that they endured while they were in captivity. Anybody remember what happened to Daniel, for instance, when he was caught not offering sacrifices on an altar to the God of Israel? When he was caught praying in public. God of Israel. And even when it wasn't really in public, just praying, not making sacrifices, not building altars, just for praying. Remember, he was thrown into the lion's den, wasn't he? Think about some of those other Sunday school stories, stories like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they refused to bow down to this giant idol erected by Nebuchadnezzar, what did they get? fiery furnace, didn't they? You remember that one too. Now, as we know from these Sunday school stories that they're real life events. I don't use that term story in terms of fable or myth. Real life events in time and space. The Lord delivered those characters, but we know that this was not the case with all of them, don't we? Many perished for calling themselves Jehovah's people, but many, many more abandoned their God. And they did turn after the idols of Babylon. After all, remember what got them in Babylon in the first place. They had left the god of Judah, and they had turned to these false gods and goddesses, to the high places. And so the Lord sent Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them. Now, all of this took place, what I've just talked about, over a period of 70 years, so two generations. And so when we read Ezra 3, 1 again, that when the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered as one in Jerusalem. When we read that they gathered as one, this is the first reason why I said that the Lord has done the impossible here. And this is also why going back to chapter one, verse five, where it says God roused his people. This is why I've said so many times all along the way that when God calls, when God rouses the heart, he does so comprehensively, completely. And when he rouses the heart, he equips. Such was the case then. Such is the case today, now. And the first hallmark that we see of when the Lord rouses the heart, the first sign of the Lord working in his people's heart that we find here is unity. Yes, unity. How important is unity? Well, you and I could talk all day about how important it is to be united. We could talk about how unity makes for efficient work. Unity presents a positive image. Unity accomplishes so many things, and indeed it does. But instead of focusing on what we would place value on, let's consider what our Lord has said about unity and how important it is that his people be brought together as one. Now, the very practical side of it is what we're beginning to see in Ezra here that talks about the fear that they had. We're going to find out about the opposition that they faced. Unity was absolutely crucial for them to do what it was that the Lord was calling them to do. But let's zoom out a little bit. Let's look at ourselves here in terms of unity. These are God's people 2,500 years ago. We're God's people now. What is the Lord told us about being united together? I preached on this passage before, but John 17 is so important to our understanding, not only of Jesus, but to how our relationship with him works. It's, it's referred to as his high priestly prayer in John 17, but Jesus is offering this prayer just prior to his arrest. It's subsequently his crucifixion and his resurrection. But if you turn to John 17 and look at verse 20, we find that Jesus offers something incredibly important in his prayer. He's praying for his disciples that are there with him, but then he switches, and as we'll read in verse 20, he prays for those who will believe. So John 17, beginning in verse 20, how important is unity, our unity, to the Lord? John 17, 20, I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. that they may all be one, just as you, Father, and me, and I, and you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me. and love them as you love me. Now, back to that question, how important is unity to Jesus? Again, y'all, there are all sorts of practical reasons that unity is of vast importance. But according to Jesus, the way that you and I are united together, did you catch what he said there? The way that you and I as God's people today are united together tells the world two things. First, our unity tells the world that Jesus is the real deal. that the story of Jesus and His testimony are true, that He is indeed the Savior, that He was sent by God His Father to be the atonement for our sins. That's what our unity points to, it tells that. But second, our unity tells the world not only that God sent Jesus, but our unity points to God's love for them, just as He loved His one and only Son. And you might say, well, how does unity do that? It makes sense if you really think about it, because what is Christianity if there's no transformation? Now, we talk about telling the world, oh, they need Jesus and that sort of thing. And it used to be that you could talk to the world about needing Jesus because the world was fearful of heaven and hell. And the world around you that even believes in heaven anymore, almost nobody believes in hell. Y'all need to recognize that, okay? And you may not believe in hell. the same way with the devil. You don't have to believe in the devil because the devil believes in you. But nevertheless, the world that we're living in, people don't even have that fear anymore. They think that everybody gets into heaven until you ask them something like, oh, really? Well, what conversation will you have with Adolf Hitler when you get there? And they say something like, well, I guess everybody doesn't get in. Well, who does? Well, the people that aren't really bad. Well, who defines what's really bad? Well, I don't know. That's the world that we're living in here. So the world doesn't work that way anymore in terms of fearing hell. So it's gotta be something else that points to the value of Christianity for the world around us. And what we see from Jesus is that our love for one another should be that thing that the world looks in and sees and says, wow, I don't see that anywhere else. The world around me doesn't have that sort of unity. I don't see that kind of love from other people. Look at how those people love each other. That's what the world promises all the time if I buy the right car and vote for the right party and do the right thing here, the right thing there, but the world never offers it. But what they have is genuine. It is our unity that conveys this. Now as a side note, Y'all, if unity points to these things, if Jesus is telling the truth, and he is, right? If unity is that important, what does it do when we don't have unity? What message does that send to the world except for, why do I want to be involved in that? It ain't any better off than I am. Nevertheless, while we prize many things as important in the church, and there are many things that are important that go on in churches, I fear that we do not value unity as we should, that we don't place enough value on it. Our unity is part of the foundation of our testimony. It is the product of our testimony, so much so that if we don't have unity, we crumble. Such was the case for ancient Jerusalem and God's people, bringing it back to them there in Ezra 3. If they didn't come together as one, they wouldn't go anywhere. There would be such easy pickings for all those around them that did not want the temple, certainly, but definitely did not want Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Now, we don't see it yet. But it's coming, y'all, where they will face real oppression and even danger for daring to rebuild the Lord's city. If they weren't united, they would have been failures from the start. And yet again, go back to what I said, when God rouses the heart, he equips. As evidence of God rousing their hearts, they come together as one, as verse one says. But unity wasn't their only foundation, just like unity is not supposed to be our only foundation. When God works in the heart, he begins with unity, uniting you to fellow believers, but he continues with right worship and with dealing with sin. That's why after in verse one, when we read about them coming together as one, we read in verse two, that Yeshua, son of Yozadak and his brothers, the priest, along with Zerubbabel, son of Sheol, and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel's God in order to offer burnt offerings on it as is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. Now, Paul said, this is another of those passages that we read And we're tempted to say, okay, check, build the altar, offer the sacrifices all based on the law of Moses. But if we do that, then we miss the significance of the fact that, again, these people have been in exile for 70 years. They had no temple, no tabernacle. They had no regular worship of the Lord, yes, but also, That crucial act of bringing sacrifices before the Lord to atone for sin. That crucial act of bringing goodwill or freewill offerings before the Lord to build right relationship with the Lord. They didn't have it for two generations. But now they're back. The temple is gone. All that's left is the foundation and the site of where the altar used to be. So what were they to do? Well, here's the thing. As I've already said, when God calls, when he rouses the heart, he equips. They did the only thing they could. They began on the site where the altar used to be, and they offered sacrifice. Verse three, they set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord, even though they feared the surrounding peoples. Y'all, equally amazing as them being united in their worship, or them being united is this worship that we find that they were exposed. Jerusalem was destroyed as was its walls. The temple was gone. All they had left was the foundation, but they rebuilt the altar. And despite their exposure, despite the danger, they chose to worship God. They chose to be faithful, to offer sacrifice in order to seek forgiveness for their sins, in order to offer free will offerings, in order to be obedient. You see, just like it was with leaving Babylon, God roused their hearts to see that nothing was worth disobeying God. So it was here in chapter three when God roused their hearts to see that nothing was worth disobeying God, that he caused them to see even their safety wasn't worth it. Y'all, like I said, when God calls, he equips and he provides. What we've seen is a story of provision. He doesn't call on us to provide. He promises that he will provide if we obey, right? They couldn't provide for their own safety, yet God provided as they obeyed, and it's in their obedience that we see what we're called to do. Ezra 3 is the start of the start, where first we see unity, but as we continue along, we see worship. We see dealing with sin. We see trusting. So much so that as we read beginning in verse 6, on the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, even though the foundation of the Lord's temple had not yet been laid. They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre. So they would bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia. Y'all, what this is really saying is that God took care of the rest, so much so that God used pagan peoples to finance and provide for the rebuilding of his temple. giving them the safety they needed along the way, the provisions required, the labor necessary. But as I've said, it's in their obedience. And the example offered to us in Ezra 3 that we see our calling. They started at the start. Where do we start? What is God calling us to do at Old Providence? As we've seen here in Ezra 3, God's calling us to unity, just like Jesus prayed for in John 17. Our unity must be the foundation of our testimony. But second, what must also be the foundation of who we are? It's gotta be trusting Christ and dealing with our sins. Our foundation must be these things. It must be our dedication, our obedience, our repentance in seeking the Lord must be evident. Just like they started at the start, so must we. And Ezra 3, as a result, serves as an opportunity for reflection. First off, realizing that what we've just read is about the restoration of the sacrificial system, rebuilding the altar. I'm not saying we need to build some altar here. There's no need for it. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that, right? Remember Hebrews 10.10, that it's by Jesus' sacrifice we've been made holy once and for all. We don't offer sacrifices because Jesus is the last sacrifice, final. We don't need any others. We don't have priests because he is our high priest. But we do still have this calling to trust, to believe on the name of Jesus and be saved. And in so doing, if you'll do this, you become part of the family of God and this unity that is so sweet and beautiful. So if you've never done that, turn to it. That's the start for you, if you know you're not trusting in Christ, turn to Him today, that's your start. But if you've done this, make sure you're contributing to the unity of God's people. Don't be a dissenter, love one another, and realize that the call of repentance is still ours. To trust in Christ daily, to confess sins as we need to, to turn to Him in worship again and again, and it's only in these. that like the Hebrews from of old, that we will really move forward together. And in moving forward through starting with unity, through continuing with confessing sins, continuing with right worship, that we will move forward in God's will. and for his glory, as was the case with the people of Ezra's time. Let's pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you for the message of your word, for its calling, for the opportunity you give us to reflect on how we confess, on what we bring before you to deal with, on how and if we trust Christ, and certainly on how we love one another. After bringing your people back, they started at the start, and all because you roused their hearts. Would you rouse our hearts to do the same, that we would start at the start, uniting together and dedicating ourselves to you? Oh, Father, we can't read all of Ezra today and see the end of the story, but we know that indeed you equipped your people. Wonders were wrought. but all because of your grace and love. So would you show us that same grace and love now? Work in our hearts. And I pray it in Christ's name, amen. Now let us close this time by standing together and turning to number 214, the church's glorious prospect. Bible Psalm 214, stand with me. ♪ Thou shalt enforce thy advice ♪ ♪ Viewing her with pity eyes ♪ ♪ Thou shalt thy own favor see ♪ ♪ Kiss the time deeply by thee ♪ For thy saints, thy promise shows, Loving in earth, so tend us. So shall we then fear God's name, O'er things thy goodness show. All earth's kings thy glorious name. Zion's walls, middle club shall be. All shall there God's glory see. Be the death's throne. ♪ And will not despise their prayer ♪ ♪ And will not despise their prayer ♪ ♪ Of this true shall a record be ♪ ♪ That the coming grace may see ♪ Receive the benediction. May the grace and the peace and the mercy and the love and the fellowship and the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit be upon you both now and forevermore. Amen. Okay.