INTRODUCTION:

Describe how you feel when that one thing you love doing is suddenly taken away from you? Not just
for an hour, a day, a week, a month
but for half of a year?

TS: Having all that, imagine NOT JUST ONE THING YOU LOVE but EVERYTHING was taken away
from you, not just for a month, a year, or a decade but for 70 years.

TS: let us see first what it is like to be in exile, their captors tried to change their L.I.F.E.
 LANGUAGE - PASSION
Daniel 1:4 CEV
The king said, "They must be healthy, handsome, smart, wise, educated, and fit to serve in the royal palace.
Teach them how to speak and write our language

 IDENTITY - PURPOSE
Daniel 1:7 CEV
But the king's chief official gave them Babylonian names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became
Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abednego.

 FOOD - PURITY
Daniel 1:5 BBE
And a regular amount of food and wine every day from the king's table was ordered for them by the king; and
they were to be cared for three years so that at the end of that time they might take their places before the king.

 EVERYTHING
Daniel 1:1 CEV
In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem.

TS: WE ALL KNOW THAT THOUGH THEY SPEAK THE LANGUAGE, THEIR IDENTITY HAS BEEN
CHANGED, THEY WERE OFFERED DIFFERENT FOOD AND EVERYTHING, THEY RESOLVED NOT
TO DEFILED THEMSELVES.

Daniel 1:8 ESV

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank.
Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

DO NOT LET LIFE CHANGE YOUR WORSHIP BUT LET YOUR WORSHIP CHANGE YOUR
LIFE.

TS: THEIR WORSHIP SUSTAINED THEM DURING THE EXILE, I HOPE AND PRAY THAT
WORSHIP ALSO SUSTAINED YOU AND YOU SUSTAINED WORSHIP IN THIS TIME OF
PANDEMIC.

NEVERTHELESS, SHOULD THIS KIND OF EXILE OR QUARANTINED, DESTROYED YOUR

LIFE AND LET MANY THINGS IN YOUR LIFE IN RUINS, LET TODAY’S DEVOTION INSPIRE
YOU TO…

TITLE: REBUILD OUR RUINS THROUGH WORSHIP / WORSHIP WHILE YOU BUILD

BODY:
Ezra 3:1 WEB
When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves
together as one man to Jerusalem.

THESE people of God, after suffering for 70 years in a place of captivity were so excited to be back in the
Promised Land that they hit the ground running.
 WHEN they got back to Israel the 50,000 returned to their ancestral homes and villages.
 THEIR homes and villages and fields must have been in an incredible mess.
 DO you realize how long my grass is already...with the warm weather we have been having?
 CAN you imagine the condition of your yard after 70 years without any care?
 THE fields had been neglected for 70 years.
 Fences down in the pasture lands.
 Agricultural fields overgrown by weeds and brush.
 Abandoned houses all dilapidated and run down, probably overgrown by wild vines.
 THERE were houses to build back to code.
 THERE were fields to cultivate and plow.
 THERE were pastures to secure, livestock to breed.
 THE work load required just to cope with the demands of this season in Israel’s life must have been
incredible.

TS: With 6 months in quarantine, perhaps you might says there are still many things that require much attention
in family, in our personal life, others.

TS: BUT THE PASSAGE SAYS

Ezra 3:1 WEB

When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves
together as one man to Jerusalem.

NO EDICT WAS REQUIRED TO GET THEM TO THE CITY OF GOD, NO LAW, NO COMMAND.

The seventh month, called Tisri, was the most sacred of all months in the calendar of the Jewish people.

 It started on the first day of the month with the blowing of the trumpets to the Lord...a sound of victory
and praise.
 Then the tenth day of that month was the day of Atonement for the sin of the people.
 Then, from the 15th to the 21st of the month, the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated....the celebration
of their ingathering, the end of their wanderings.

#1 SEIZE THE TIME TO REBUILD

THEY HAD GONE FOR 70 YEARS WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO CELEBRATE THE LORD IN
THIS WAY.
 SO, without coercion, or guilt, or a sense of “have to,” all 50,000 of the returning remnants people,
HAD A COMMON IMPULSE TO COME TO THE CITY OF GOD TO CELEBRATE HIS
GOODNESS.
 THE phrase “as one man” is a very emphatic statement in the Hebrew.
 THEY left all business appointments and household duties to come serve the Lord. THEY ALL
LONGED TO SERVE THE LORD.
  THEIR SERVICE TO THE LORD WAS UNCONSTRAINED AND SPONTANEOUS.

****
Ezra 3:2 CEV
The priest Joshua son of Jozadak, together with the other priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his
relatives rebuilt the altar of Israel's God. Then they were able to offer sacrifices there by following the
instructions God had given to Moses.

When they arrived home, Ezra and Nehemiah SAW THE RUIN THEY WERE DETERMINED TO change all
of that.
 One man was a Bible teacher, and the other was a motivator.
 One knew the law, and the other one knew people.
 One was committed to preaching; one was committed to action.

Together, the two men were used by God to rebuild the city, rebuild the Temple, and rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem.

Inspired by Ezra and Nehemiah, there were other leaders rising from the ashes. Men like Zerubbabel came to be
household names in Israel, because they followed in the courageous footsteps of Ezra and Nehemiah.

The Bible tells us of the heroic actions of Jeshua, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum
and Baanah. There were also Shealtiel, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mispereth, and Nehum. There were
others, but here’s the point. EVERY ONE OF THE NEW HEROES JERUSALEM CAME TO KNOW,
DID THEIR WORK IN THE HARDEST TIMES THEY HAD EVER KNOWN.

#2 HOST OTHERS TO RISE

TS: Isn’t what we do when we lead other people in worship? When you sing, dance, play music, right sound,
lighting and presentation.

COURAGE IS CONTAGIOUS. WHEN A BRAVE MAN TAKES A STAND, THE SPINES OF

OTHERS ARE OFTEN STIFFENED. - BILLY GRAHAM
****

Ezra 3:3 ERV

They were afraid of the other people living near them, but that didn't stop them. They built the altar on its old
foundation and offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD. They offered sacrifices in the morning and in the
evening.

#3 OVERRUN FEAR WITH WORSHIP

FEAR CAN EITHER DISTRACT OR ENHANCE YOUR WORSHIP

TS: GOD INSTRUCTED JOSHUA TO WORSHIP TO DEFEAT JERICHO, KING JEHOSHAPHAT

CONQUERED THREE KINGDOMS THROUGH WORSHIP

2 Chronicles 20:15 BBE

And he said, Give ear, O Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat: the Lord says to you,
Have no fear and do not be troubled on account of this great army; for the fight is not yours but God's.

THIS IS HOW WE FIGHT OUR BATTLES!

****
Ezra 3:4 ERV
Then they celebrated the Festival of Shelters just as the Law of Moses said. They offered the right number of
burnt offerings for each day of the festival.

#4 UNBENDING OBEDIENCE

How did they know to set up the altar? We read (3:2), “as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.”

Why did they observe the Feast of Booths? We read (3:4), “as it is written,” and “according to the ordinance.”

 They were not making this stuff up according to their own preferences.
 They did not take a poll to find out what the people wanted to do.

THEY WENT BACK TO THE WORD OF GOD AND THEY OBEYED IT.

YOU CAN OBEY GOD WITHOUT WORSHIPPING, BUT YOU CAN’T WORSHIP WITHOUT
OBEYING
****
Ezra 3:2 CEV
The priest Joshua son of Jozadak, together with the other priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his
relatives rebuilt the altar of Israel's God. Then they were able to offer sacrifices there by following the
instructions God had given to Moses.
HIGHLIGHT rebuilt the altar of Israel's God

Q: WHY REBUILD THE ALTAR FIRST INSTEAD OF THE WALL OR THE TEMPLE?

Therefore, as God’s people they are saying that their WORSHIP WAS NOT RESTRICTED TO A
BUILDING. They had spent 70 years away from their land, but they had still worshipped God, without
confining it to just one or two places

A: SACRIFICE WAS THE HEART OF TRUE WORSHIP

#5 TURN TO TRUE WORSHIP

Romans 12:1 TPT

Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender
yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his
heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.

TS: LET YOUR LIFE S.H.O.U.T. YOUR WORSHIP WHILE YOU BUILD

SEIZE THE TIME TO REBUILD

HOST OTHERS TO RISE
OVERRUN FEAR WITH WORSHIP
UNBENDING OBEDIENCE
TUNE TO TRUE WORSHIP

CONCLUSION:

TS: AS THE ALTAR BEING REBUILT,

  IT USHERS THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE AND
 THE REBUILDING OF THEWALL AND
 REVIVAL TO THEIR NATION

Ezra 3:10-13 ERV

10
The builders finished laying the foundation for the LORD'S Temple. When the foundation was finished, the
priests put on their special clothing. Then they got their trumpets, and the sons of Asaph got their cymbals. They
all took their places to praise the LORD. This was done the way King David of Israel had ordered in the past.
11
They sang the response songs, Songs of Praise and Praise the LORD Because He is Good. His Faithful Love
Will Last Forever. Then all the people cheered - they gave a loud shout and praised the LORD because the
foundation of the LORD'S Temple had been laid.
12
But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders, who could remember seeing the first Temple,
began to cry aloud. They cried while the others there shouted for joy.
13
The sound could be heard far away. All of them made so much noise that no one could tell the difference
between the shouts of joy and the crying.

WHATEVER IS RUINED TODAY, LET US WORSHIP WHILE WE BUILD

ALTAR CALL SONG: DESERT SONG BY HILLSONG (CHORUS TO BRIDGE)