Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
At Faith Presbyterian Church we are seeking to exalt Jesus Christ the King and to exhibit and extend his Kingdom through worship, community, and mission.
Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Ezra 1:1-11; A Foundation for Hope
Jason Sterling August 17, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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If you have a copy of God's Word, please turn with me to the book of Ezra. And if you're wondering where Ezra is, you can look in your table of contents. Or here's another way to find Ezra Go to the center of your Bible. So go to the book of Psalms, which is where we've been this summer. So open it up in the middle and just start turning backwards, which is where we've been this summer. So open it up in the middle and just start turning backwards. And if you start flipping backwards a couple of books, you'll run into a couple of books from Psalms. You'll run into the book of Ezra. We're going to start a new series this morning on Ezra Nehemiah.
Speaker 1:This time of year it's a fresh start for a lot of people new routines, new school year, new opportunities. And for us as a church, I think it has even more significance because not only are we starting a new ministry year, but we are anxiously anticipating and preparing for the completion of our new sanctuary. And I'll be honest with you, I've gotten more excited. I come onto the property every day and I see the progress. And I'll be honest with you, I've gotten more excited. I come onto the property every day and I see the progress and I get more excited as time goes on. And here's why you only build one sanctuary in the life of a church, and I say that just to say that this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment for us. This is a really big deal in the life of our church. This is something our church has dreamed about, you could say for 50 years, since the church started, but also definitely in the last 25 years when we acquired this property, and it's an amazing story how we acquired this property. And once we got this property, we started master planning for this day, the day of a new sanctuary, when the property would be complete, and that day is coming very quickly.
Speaker 1:But as we move to this milestone in the life of our church, I want us to remember Remember that this is a spiritual thing as much as it is a physical thing. We are building a building that will serve the kingdom of God in this city for generations to come. We're building a house of worship for the living God, where people will come, lord willing, for many, many years in the future and encounter the living God through the person of Jesus Christ. That's why this fall, we're going to walk through these books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Why these books? Well, because they were building too. Well, because they were building too. After decades of being in exile, they are returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and to restore the city walls, and through their story, we're going to discover essential foundations that we need in order to build something that will last, that we need in order to build something that will last. And so this morning, we're going to look at a very crucial foundation through this passage, ezra 1, the foundation of hope. So follow along with me. This will be in your bulletin and on the screen.
Speaker 1:This is the word of the Lord In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia. That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing. Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Is that not the most amazing thing I mean? Think about this. This is amazing stuff. Whoever is among you, of all his people. May his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem, and let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the heads of the father's houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, and all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts and costly wares. Besides all that was freely offered, cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus, the king of Persia, brought these out in charge of Meridath, the treasurer, who counted them out to Shezbazar, the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them 30 basins of.
Speaker 1:Let's ask the Holy Spirit. God, let me pray. Let's ask the Holy Spirit to help us this morning. Father, I pray that you would take this passage thousands of years ago and that you would apply it to us this morning, sitting here in August of 2025. This passage in some ways seems like a million miles away. Holy Spirit, show us its relevance in our lives this morning. I can't do that. Only you can do that. Through your spirit, you have brought us here and we're asking, I'm asking, that you would teach and minister to every heart that is listening. In Jesus' name, amen, how many of you have ever looked at something in your life and had the thought this is never going to change.
Speaker 1:This is never going to change? Maybe it's a broken relationship. Perhaps it's your marriage that has been fractured for many, many years. Maybe it's a financial situation that you're in and it seems impossible for you to overcome. Maybe it's an addiction or a sin pattern that never seems to loosen its grip on you. Maybe it's a dream that has been deferred for so long that you've just finally given up and said I'm done. I am not hoping any longer. We've all been there, haven't we? And perhaps you're there right now, at this moment. Whatever it is in your life, we've all had those things that we've looked at and thought this is permanent. This is never going to change. This seems hopeless. This is never going to change. This seems hopeless. What am I going to do, friends?
Speaker 1:The book of Ezra starts with people who were in that exact same situation. They had every reason to believe that the situation they were in was permanent. 70 years they had been in Babylon. Think about that. A whole generation was born and they had lived and died in Babylon. The temple was in ruins. Jerusalem was a ghost town. If you were an Israelite or a Jew living in that day, you would have had every reason to believe that this is it. This is how things are going to be.
Speaker 1:But God, something happened. God moved, god stirred, and when God stirs, it changes everything. Here's the main idea this morning. Everything. Here's the main idea. This morning. We're going to see how God builds a foundation of hope in a hopeless situation through God's moving, orchestrating and restoring. So that's where we're headed this morning. Here's the points. God moves number one. Where we're headed this morning. Here's the points. God moves number one. Secondly, god orchestrates. Lastly, god restores. So let's take those in turn this morning. Number one God moves. Look at verse one. I mean this is stunning when you look at the context and I mentioned it as I read.
Speaker 1:But think about Cyrus. He's a pagan king, the most powerful ruler in the earth at this time. He worshiped Persian gods. Most likely he had never heard the Bible read, talked about the Bible, and most likely he had never been to Jerusalem, didn't care about Jerusalem. He would be the last person on earth that, you would think, cared about Jewish exiles rebuilding their temple. And so why did he?
Speaker 1:The verse verse 1, because the Lord stirred the spirit of Cyrus. If you have a new international version, it says that the Lord moved in the heart of Cyrus. That word there means to stir up, to awaken, to arouse someone to action. This wasn't, friend Cyrus just having a good day. This wasn't Cyrus just thinking, hey, I think I'll be charitable to these Jewish people and do something kind for them. No, no, no. This was God intervening in the heart of a pagan king. Why? Because Proverbs 21, who holds the hearts of the kings in their hand and directs them like a water course. The living God does. Look at what Cyrus says. Verse 2, thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord, the God of heaven, has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem. That is just amazing, because he is calling him the God of heaven and he is saying I am going to help make sure he gets a house, his temple, rebuilt in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1:It reminds me of this famous story in church history. Perhaps you've heard this story of Constantine from 312 AD. Constantine was a Roman emperor. He persecuted Christians. He's marching into battle again, worshiping his Roman gods, not liking Christians at all, the night before the battle of Milvian Bridge. Constantine sees this vision and in this vision he sees a cross and he sees the words in this sign conquer. This emperor, who had every reason to suppress Christianity, was not only converted to Christianity but became the first emperor to legalize Christianity in the Roman Empire. You see it, just like Constantine, cyrus had no reason, logical reason, to help God's people, but God moved in their hearts and defied all human logic.
Speaker 1:And so here's our question. You know our question right. What does this mean for you on Tuesday at 2 pm? Here's what it means God can use anyone, anywhere, at any time, to advance his purposes in your life. Some of you this morning have written people off. Maybe it's yourself, actually, because you think you can never change. Or you've written other people off around you, perhaps it's your boss, perhaps it's a friend or a family member or your spouse. You have written them off as impossible cases. There are no impossible cases with God. The person that you've given up on, the relationship in your life that seems beyond repair, friends, that's where God hangs out, that's his specialty is impossible cases.
Speaker 1:And so what does that mean very specifically for us this morning? Well, one thing it means is that we should stop praying generic prayers like God, help them, and we should start praying very specifically bold prayers. And we should start praying very specifically bold prayers. We should start praying God, will you move in their heart and in my heart the way you moved in Cyrus's heart? Would you soften what seems hardened and would you open what seems closed? Do whatever it takes Lord. Do the unexpected. I am waiting by faith. And then maybe you're thinking hey, I've done that. I've been praying for decades for my spouse to change, or my situation to change, or my job situation to change, and nothing has changed. Here's the key. This decree did not happen year one. It did not happen year 20. It happened year 70. It happened year 70. God's timing is always perfect. Who knows, your year 70 might be tomorrow. Don't you dare give up now. Keep praying, keep walking by faith.
Speaker 1:As we prepare for this new building and sanctuary, we are not just building walls. We are building a foundation of hope that says at Faith Church, we don't give up on people. We want to be the kind of church that looks at ourselves, looks at other people and says God is not done with us yet, that he's at work and he is on the move. The foundation we're building is a community that refuses to give up what God only God can do in the human heart at any time. That's the first thing God moves. Secondly, god orchestrates.
Speaker 1:Look at verses three through six with me. I wish we could spend more time, but for time's sake we can't. But let me point out a couple of things here in verses three through six. There's a lot here and one of the things you see is there's a lot of stirring going on. God stirs in Cyrus's heart, God stirs in his people's heart. And one of the questions again, we could spend more time but what does that actually mean? What does it look like when God stirs?
Speaker 1:God stirring is usually a persistent sense about something that aligns with the purposes of God, and that thing not always, but is often towards something that is uncomfortable, difficult and hard, because think about these families they had been in Babylon for 70 years. That was their community, that was their people, and they were leaving to go to Jerusalem, which was a ghost town and in ruins, to start over. I call that uncomfortable, and so being uncomfortable might actually be again not always, but might actually be the confirmation that God is stirring in you. And then also notice that not everyone went to Jerusalem. Did you notice that? Some stayed in Babylon? And here's what I want you to see the text doesn't condemn them for that.
Speaker 1:God's not in the business of guilt-tripping his people into his purposes. He stirred specific hearts for specific missions at specific times, and so here's what this means for you you don't have to feel guilty if God hadn't stirred you in the same way he stirred other people towards things, and the reverse is always true If you're really excited about something, don't guilt trip. Don't shame everybody else for not being as excited as you are about your particular thing. God moves hearts with different purposes at different times towards different things. Focus in on this passage and this is where I want to spend the rest of our time is did you notice the stunning complexity of all the things God's doing here to get his people back to Jerusalem and to accomplish his purposes. There's not just one thing happening. There is lots of things happening on multiple levels. Think about a political level. There's lots of things happening on multiple levels. Think about a political level.
Speaker 1:God is working and stirring Cyrus's heart. On a personal level, he's working in his people, stirring them to return and rebuild the temple and the walls in Jerusalem. On a community level, he's working in the people's hearts in order to provide for this project. On a prophetic level, he's fulfilling a prophecy of 70 years from Jeremiah. And so what appears on the outside to the naked eye and observation is like this is just a bunch of random events that are converging all at once in a favorable way. No, random events that are converging all at once in a favorable way. No, no, no. This is the handiwork of a sovereign God who's been at work for years in many different ways in order to accomplish his purpose in the world and in his people.
Speaker 1:Think about our new sanctuary or really any new construction project. One of the things just coming up onto the property every day is like construction is really amazing. I mean, I'm just fascinated by all of it because it seems like organized chaos at all points, but everything is very precise. But everything is very precise. I mean when the plumbers are here and the electricians are here, and the foundation crew and framers and all of their timelines, and they probably don't know each other's schedules, but they come at just the right time. They work towards the same goal. The materials show up on a truck at just the right time that were ordered months ago, permits are being pulled, inspections are taking place. We see none of that and we're going to walk into a sanctuary that is finished and beautiful and has purpose, and all of these things have been going on behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:That is exactly how God orchestrates circumstances in your life. He uses people, different people who have different roles, they're working at different timelines and most of them they don't even know they're involved in your project and what God is doing in your life. But they're all working together and God is orchestrating them to bring about his purposes in your life. And that should completely change the way you and I think about seasons of waiting in our lives. Some of you this morning you think nothing is happening. Nothing is happening in your life, you've been praying about your marriage, you've been waiting for the new job, you've been seeking direction for your children and your parents and God seems silent. But what if God is orchestrating things on levels that you cannot see? He is working and preparing opportunities and positioning circumstances and working in your heart in order to prepare you for what's coming.
Speaker 1:This passage calls us to get our eyes up, to walk by faith, to trust the bigger picture of what God is orchestrating. We can only see one level most of the time and we're not called to figure out every level of what God is doing. We're called to trust and to walk by faith that God is the master builder, that he knows what he's doing, that he's at work, he has not forgotten us, he hasn't given up. He is orchestrating. God has orchestrated all of this in the life of our church for the last 50 years, and specifically the last 20 when we got this property. And he is at work now. Did you know orchestrating what's going to come next? The families that will come into that new sanctuary and come to Christ. The children that will come to Christ and be baptized. The ministries that will be launched out of our church that will impact our community for generations to come. Friends, when you are tempted to think God has left the building, nothing is happening. Read Ezra 1. God is always at work. God is always at work. He's orchestrating, preparing what he's going to do next in your life and in the life of our church. Lastly, god restores.
Speaker 1:Look at verses 7 through 11. This is probably, to me, these were the most astounding verses. Cyrus brought the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar remember, daniel from a few years ago, remember. He took the vessels and put them in his temple of his God. That's these vessels that were carried away and Cyrus is saying we're going to get them back. I think this is unbelievable. For 70 years, we're going to get them back. I think this is unbelievable. For 70 years these sacred temple treasures had been sitting in a pagan temple in Babylon as spoils of war and reminder that God's people were done and that the temple was destroyed. And any reasonable person again you and I would be in the same boat If we were in this scene we would say those are gone forever. 70 years, those things certainly have been destroyed, but God, god doesn't forget his promises. Notice the careful detail, all the numbers and the counting that seems so odd and random. No, no, you know why God says this. I kept track of it all. I know where every single piece is and it's all going back. Friends, this is not just about getting back some religious artifacts and vessels. This is a picture of God's covenant faithfulness. This is God saying I will not abandon my people. I love them and I will keep covenant with them. It reminds me if you have children with them. It reminds me if you have children.
Speaker 1:Toddlers tend to have something that they treasure, like a stuffed animal. For ours it was a pink puppy or a bear of some sort that they carry around and sleep with forever. And you know these things. They end up looking and perhaps they're passed down. They end up looking pretty rough. I mean the fur. It's matted down, maybe there's an eye missing or it's been sewn up in some way or there's an ear missing. And to everyone else that walks in the house, they're like this is trash. Why haven't y'all thrown this away yet? Try to throw it away, trash. Why haven't y'all thrown this away yet? Try to throw it away. Try to throw it away and see what happens. Parents don't throw those things away, not because of what they look like, but because of who they belong to and because of what they mean to the child. Amen to the child.
Speaker 1:God has that same kind of tenacity in his love towards you, in his love towards his people. He will not let his treasure go. Think about this Seventy years Israel looked rough, like a worn-out stuffed animal, broken down beyond repair to the outside world. And God says no way. Did you notice, as I was reading, how many times I said Jerusalem? That's very intentional Jerusalem, jerusalem, the emphasis.
Speaker 1:There is a way the text shows us that God refuses to let go of his people. Israel had a hard story. Maybe you've got a hard story too this morning and maybe you think God is going to quit on you and toss you aside. Never God will not. God will love you with the same tenacious love that we see him showing towards Israel here. And just like he restored what seemed lost forever in Israel, he can restore those things in your life.
Speaker 1:And we see the ultimate example of God's refusal to let his people go. It's not found in Ezra 1. It's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, think about this God in Ezra 1, that same tenacious love that says I'm getting every vessel back and I'm holding on to my people, that same tenacious love drove the God of Ezra 1 to take on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and to come into this world and to restore what sin had stolen. And that's what Jesus does. He lived the life that we couldn't live and he goes and he hangs on a cross to die the death that we deserve and to pay the penalty for our sins. Why, in order to restore us, remember John, chapter 10, jesus, the good shepherd, I give them eternal life. They shall never perish. And then remember, and they shall never be snatched out of my hand. God's not going to let you go. God's not going to let you go. Jesus ascends, he gives us the Holy Spirit who continues the restoration process, taking out sin, putting in his righteousness, restoring us what sin has destroyed. And then, one day, we will get the ultimate restoration, when Jesus comes again and he makes all things new.
Speaker 1:It's the beginning of a new ministry year. We've got lots of exciting things in our church. Just like Ezra, we are in a season of building and the foundation, just like with any building, is critical and hope is a very important piece of that foundation. A foundation of hope involves trusting that God's on the move, that he's at work, trusting that God is orchestrating things that we cannot see, and trusting that he is restoring and he will one day restore completely. That's the foundation we're building on God's faithfulness.
Speaker 1:God is always at work. God moves, orchestrates and restores. That's the foundation that I want us to build on together as we move forward into this fall. Let's pray, father, thank you for never letting us go, thank you for being at work even when we can't see it, and I pray you'd give us hearts that would trust that. It's so hard to trust that, but I pray that we would have eyes to see and that we would walk by faith. Lord, I pray that we would, as a church, we would have a foundation of hope, knowing that you're working, knowing that you will be forever faithful. In Jesus' name, amen.