This past Lord's Day, was really a good day at the First Mount Zion Church. I have noticed the mood and atmosphere of the church change for the better, ever since I began our time in early morning prayer. It makes a statement to our church, when they walk into church before Sunday School, the first thing they saw was my wife Penny and I on our knees at the altar. I believe with everything in my heart, this is going to be the very thing that will jump-start our ministry as we head towards our new location.
Penny did her usually outstanding job teaching our Sunday School class on evangelism. I am amazed at her ability to take the scholarly aspects of the Word and make it palatable to people who have never been students of the scriptures. I am grateful to have such a partner in ministry like her. The truth is that she really wants to only be the First Lady, but because of need, she has to wear other hats. What I am truly thankful for is her spirit of cooperation to get our church moving in the right direction.
We continued our series on the book of Ezra, entitled Restoration and Rededication, with an exposition on chapter 4:1-5, which I tagged the message, Dealing With Distractions. The children of Israel came back into Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God in his name, and they were faced with opposition from the inhabitants of the city in an attempt to distract them from the work.
Every church that belongs to Jesus Christ will face an attempt to distract them from doing the Lord's work by our common enemy, Satan. The church succeeds in doing the Lord's work is dependent upon standing up to the devil and finishing what we have started. Here is the sermon outline:
Text: Ezra 4:1-5
Thesis: we handle satanic distractions by our willingness to stand tall in the face of our enemy and finish what we started
I. Recognize Your Enemy's Description
-verse 1...now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin
-no way to effectively do the Lord's work until we recognize who our enemies are
II. Recognize Your Enemy's Deception
-verse 2...they approached Zerubbabel and the head of fathers' houses and said to them; let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do
-their offer of help was kind, but their motive was demonic
-must recognize that Satan is cunning in his attempts to gain our confidence only to hinder our ability to do God's work
III. Respond to Your Enemy With Strong Denial
-verse 3...but Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the heads of the fathers' houses said to them, you have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God
-when the enemy tries to deceive you, you must come back at him with a powerful rebuke
-God is looking for his people to fight off the advances of the devil with the power provided by the Holy Spirit
III. Recognize Your Enemy's Determination
-verses 4-5 says that even though the enemy was rebuked, they kept coming back to hinder the work
-we must realize that our enemies will not limit their attempts to just one...but they will keep trying to stop the agents of the Lord
-but the more determination they have, the more determined we must be because we have something they don't have...Jesus Christ...as long as we have Jesus he's more than enough
5 comments:
Doc,
As a member of your internet ministry, I will be waiting on my "love gift" for the month of February in the form of this sermon on DVD.
Keep running,
Owens
My, my, my... another powerful message. Put me down for a DVD too.
Keep Preaching Pastor
Ron
Great work my brother. Praying all is going well with the re-location project.
Great post and outline. I say it over and over again that it amazes me to see how much can be gleaned from the same word and same passage of scripture so many times with new insight and message that will change men.
I understand how Penny feels about just being the First Lady. That in itself should be ALL she is required to do. It is a job, a divine ministry, being the helpmeet, and so close to the man of God, insuring all needs are met surrounding him and the family so that the Pastor can be a more effective, powerful, and a strong warrior for Christ. I have also had to pull off the First Lady hat and put on others to fill the gap but, ONLY for a short season. Take care my Son. Love you.
Mother
Excellenet report my brother. There's no denying the power in prayer. It has been said that, "prayer is to a church what an heating element is to a clothes dryer. Without them, there will be a lot of movement but no effectiveness." It's good to see that you and your wife have begun to lead the congregation with this visual demonstration of prayer and supplication. Also, the outline is great. Man, we are already anticipating this kind of word
when you come this way.
Much Love,
Kevin
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