Category: Ezra

Where is the focus? entertainment or worship?

August 2, 2012

Stephen Cole, of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship comments on Ezra 3- Note first  that both personal and corporate worship focus on God and affirm by faith His goodness and covenant love (3:11). Worship requires skillful musicians (3:10), but if the focus is on them, you’re into entertainment, not worship. Worship praises the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness … More Where is the focus? entertainment or worship?

Piper: God never leaves his prophesies dangling uncertainly

August 1, 2012

John Piper, in “A Hunger for God” p 166: Israel had been taken into Babylonian exile. They had been there for decades. Now the time had come, in God’s reckoning, for their restoration. But how could this happen? They were a tiny, obscure ethnic minority in the massive Persian empire. The answer is that God rules empires. And when … More Piper: God never leaves his prophesies dangling uncertainly

Getting “the sense”

August 19, 2011

Since we have just finished reading Ezra and Nehemiah, this article will bless you- John Piper, at Desiring God Blog: Here’s another reason I am joyfully committed to expository exultation, that is, preaching. Look at this amazing statement of what biblical exposition is like when it’s done well—in the power of God’s Spirit and riveted … More Getting “the sense”

Faithful Gospel Preaching

August 14, 2011

Phillip Graham Ryken writes in Thermelios: Ezra also had a mind for biblical truth. Perhaps the best example comes from Nehemiah 8, where Ezra gathers the Israelites to renew the covenant in Jerusalem. The heart of that renewal was the reading and preaching of God’s Word. Ezra gathered people in the square in front of the … More Faithful Gospel Preaching

“Genuine repentance must be primarily toward God.”

August 8, 2011

Pastor Steven J. Cole of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship comments Ezra was prostrating himself and praying “before the house of God” (10:1). Shecaniah admits, “We have been unfaithful to our God” (10:2). It was with God that they made this covenant because they trembled at His commandment (10:3). They needed to confess their sins to the … More “Genuine repentance must be primarily toward God.”

How a person reacts to the news of sin tells a lot about that person.

August 7, 2011

Pastor Steven J. Cole of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship comments on Ezra 9: Because we are so desensitized toward sin, we fail to have the proper response toward it, whether it is our own sin, or sin in others. We minimize it, justify it, or ignore it and go on our way unaffected by it. If … More How a person reacts to the news of sin tells a lot about that person.

Opposition!

August 3, 2011

Ray Stedman on Ezra 4-5 (from a sermon “Ezra: The Way Back”) The third factor in this return under Zerubbabel is the opposition that immediately develops, as we read in chapters 4 through 6. A force is at work in every human heart, as in world affairs, that immediately rises up to oppose everything that … More Opposition!