Sermon preview, week of July 9, 2025
God Sees Us Through
This Sunday’s order
- Sunday
- Reading
- Ezra 6:19-7:10
- Series
- Standing on the Promises
- Preaching
- Kendall Ellis
This is a sermon preview for the third week of our Standing on the Promises series.
The readingEzra 6:19-7:10
Visit FBCM’s YouTube channel to view video live stream (live) or audio version of sermon (published week after).
“For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.” -excerpt from Ezra 6:19-7:10
Read Ezra 6:19-7:10
19On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover. 20All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean.
And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves. 21The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. 22For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel. 7:1Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, 2the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 3the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest— 6this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given.
The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him. 7So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants. 8Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king. 9He had begun the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him. 10For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Berean Standard Bible, public domain
Have you ever seen someone fully devoted to something? I had the opportunity to officiate a wedding recently. For anyone who has ever been married. The whole week leading up to the wedding I found myself looking down at my own wedding bands, remembering their symbol of devotion and faithfulness in my own marriage these 6 years and counting.
But of course, there are many other things that one can be devoted to: sports teams, hobbies, clothing brands, restaurants, and social causes. When we find something we are passionate about, it’s easy for us to become devoted to it.
It makes me wonder: What is God passionate about? What is God devoted to? And what does that mean for our faith as we follow in the Way of Jesus Christ?
