Building a Legacy | Ezra 3:8-13

[0:00] Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we're dedicated to encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ. Located in Ontario, Oregon, Pastor Patrick Daly preaches insightful sermons from the Word of God, offering practical applications for modern living.

[0:16] We're delighted to share this sermon with you. Well, good morning, everyone. It is great to be with you as we are continuing through our biblical exposition of the book of Ezra.

[0:29] We have been going through verse by verse, line by line through this wonderful book in the Old Testament, where we've been talking about the rebuilding of the altar, the rebuilding of the temple.

[0:43] Let us be reminded about how the people of God, they were in Babylonia for 70 years and they returned with some 40,000 families.

[0:55] This was done by the inner working of the Holy Spirit. This last week, we learned about how the people of God, they were coming together, united as one in love and in unity to rebuild the altar first.

[1:10] They did this because they were dedicated to praising the living God. They wanted to praise God continuously before they continued with anything else.

[1:23] That's just like building a sanctuary before you're building the rest of the church. They wanted to go with praising the Lord, offering their burnt sacrifices.

[1:34] They wanted to do all of that, get in the rhythm of attending once again. This is so important for us. We learn about this building of this altar and they praise God first and it's an echo.

[1:49] This is an echo of how we see in scripture that we're to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And that all of these things will be added unto us.

[2:00] This leads us to today where we are finishing chapter 3 in the book of Ezra. We will see that at this moment in time, the foundation of the temple is being laid.

[2:14] And there's some spiritual truths that we can see. We'll see that as the foundation is being laid, there is progress that is being made. There's cause for celebration with the progress of the foundation of the temple being laid.

[2:29] Worship, praising the living God and thanksgiving. And yet amidst all of this, there's something that's very important for us to note. And that is that there were some people that rejoiced and there were some people that wept.

[2:46] And that's very important for us to see, well, why is this in scripture? And so just as the foundation was laid for the second temple, let us remember there was the destruction of the first temple, Solomon's temple.

[3:01] Here in Ezra, we're seeing the rebuilding of the second temple, which is known as Zerubbabel's temple. And then of course for us as Christians, the scripture mentions the promise of the third future temple, which you'll find all of that in your notes.

[3:16] We see this parallel between the three temples, just like how we're going to learn today, how people reacted to the foundation. The significance for us as a church, building a lasting legacy and pouring into people today.

[3:32] And just as Jesus Christ calls all of us to enter in a relationship with Him through faith and salvation, we are to go out and do good in the name of Christ.

[3:42] We are to pour out into people just as the Holy Spirit had poured into so many others. Jesus Christ loves us and we are to love others.

[3:53] So before we go any further, let's open in a word of prayer. Let's ask the Holy Spirit to stir our hearts for revival, for restoration and renewal, not just in our own lives, but also in the lives of our friends, our families and our church.

[4:12] Let us continue, let that stirring continue out in our church and in our community. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this time and this opportunity for us to gather together as the body of Christ.

[4:24] We ask that the Holy Spirit will stir our hearts and will encourage us, yes, encourage us to come to know who you are, to believe in you, to grow in faith and to spiritual maturity, and to be moved to be ambassadors for Christ, doing good in your name, not only in this church, but also as a beacon of hope in the community.

[4:46] We ask Father today that the word that is spoken, what is preached, what is taught, that it will be easy to understand, that we as the people of God, we can understand what's happening in Scripture.

[5:01] We can learn these lessons and most importantly, well equally important, is that we apply this to our own lives. May we be reminded that upon faith in you, we are to go out and do good in the name of Christ, being a doer of the word and not just a hearer.

[5:17] Father, we ask for healing, we ask for restoration, we ask for renewal, but we also ask for spiritual transformation to occur in our own lives.

[5:29] We say all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our saving King, and together we say, can I get an amen? Amen. So let's start off with observation, right?

[5:40] What is happening in this first set of verses? If you turn your Bibles to page 460, you will see here, we left off in verse 7, where the people of God, they started putting money into these specialists, right? It says in their carpenters, right?

[6:01] They gave the money to the masons and the carpenter, food, drink and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea to Jopah, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus, King of Persia.

[6:15] And I always, I love reading that because it's like how there were grants back then, there are grants now. But we go into verse 8 here, where it says in here, it states that now in the second year after they're coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel, and then it goes on Jeshua, right?

[6:35] It goes on together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from captivity. They appointed the Levites from 20 years old and upward to supervise the work of the house of the Lord, right?

[6:48] So it had been two years since the exiles returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and during this time they attended services. They offered burnt offerings and they celebrated festivals.

[6:59] The text is mentioning that Zerubbabel, Jeshua and others were present with them. The scripture says, and this is something that's very fascinating, right? It says they appointed the Levites from 20 years old and upward, right?

[7:12] To supervise the work of the house of the Lord. Verse 9 then it says that in Jeshua with his son and his brothers and Kadmeel and his sons, the sons of Junah, together they supervised the workmen in the house of God along with the sons of Henedad and the Levites and their sons and brothers.

[7:32] So you have a lot of people who are coming together. We see here what we can observe is that there are generations that are working side by side in the laying of the foundation of the temple.

[7:42] These verses show the importance of generations working together. The older generation, some of them might have been alive during the time of the first temple, right?

[7:55] They might have remembered Solomon's temple and they appointed younger people. They were focused on the next generation to contribute to the construction of the temple. They were laying the foundation and look, that's not an easy task to do.

[8:09] In fact, the laying of the foundation is the most important thing that has to happen because if you don't have a good foundation, well, the rest of the structure is not...

[8:20] You're not going to have a foundation to build your temple on. And it requires a lot of hands. It requires collaboration. What an amazing sight that we're seeing that you have the older generation working with the younger generation.

[8:33] That's something that as Christians today we should consider when we're thinking about the younger generation. Let's read what happens next. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments, they came forward with trumpets and the Levites, the son of Asvath, with symbols to praise the Lord according to the directions of David, king of Israel.

[8:56] And what did they do? They sang, right? They sang responsively. They were praising and giving thanks to the Lord. And they said together, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever towards Israel.

[9:11] Right? It goes on with there. Let's see. We have verse 11 there. It goes on. Verse 12. Many of the priests and Levites. Now, this is important for us. Many of the priests and Levites and head of Father's houses, old men who had seen the first house, what did they do?

[9:26] They wept. They wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy. So what an interesting scene we're seeing here.

[9:37] We're seeing that people, there are some people who are weeping and some people that are celebrating. They're shouting for joy. Verse 13. So that people could not distinguish the loud sound. This is very loud, right?

[9:49] They couldn't distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people weeping. So number one, that's very loud. You have a lot of people coming together, right? And you can't even distinguish the difference.

[10:01] I mean, for some of us, we might have heard a very loud penetrating sound, but it's almost like you're getting drowned out by the differences of the weeping, right? And the joyful shout.

[10:12] The people shouted with a great joy. The people shouted with weeping. And I love that ending of that verse. What's it say? The sound was heard far away. So it was so loud.

[10:23] I can imagine if you're maybe a traveler going, what is that sound? Is that weeping? Is that a joyful shout? I don't know, but it's just showing how loud these voices are.

[10:35] And so here we see that the foundation of the temple is laid. The people of God are celebrating. What's so interesting about these verses, right, is the two types of reactions.

[10:46] One hand you have people celebrating, right? You also have those celebrating with a joyful shout and those that are weeping for the foundation being complete.

[10:57] And this kind of reaction is natural. It's something that we can think about today because there will be moments of celebration when changes happen in our own lives. There may be changes that happen in our lives, in our church, and in the community, but there will also be moments of sorrow, moments of remembrance for what once was.

[11:18] And it's important to acknowledge both of these emotions and to offer them before the Lord, right? Trusting that God is in control, that God is sovereign over both the past, the present, and the future.

[11:33] And with this in mind, in your notes, you'll see that there's this chart that has the three temples. I'm not going to put this on the screen. I mean, you will see the kind of the condensed version here.

[11:44] You have the first, second, and the third temple. And these are kind of representations at this moment, at least, of the past, the present, and the future. You have Solomon's temple, which is the first temple.

[11:56] That is a representation of the past. You have Zerubbabel's temple, which is being rebuilt after the exile. That is a representation of what's happening in this moment today with the people of God.

[12:10] And then we also have, in your notes, you'll see there are verses that speak of the third temple. This is known as, it's found in Ezekiel's vision, if you want to look on your notes.

[12:22] You can check those verses out. But you see also that in the future, and one of the things that we can look at when we're observing here, is that there is an importance of a temple being built for God's people.

[12:36] That's one thing, but also that, you see how God is consistent? You see the beginning, the middle almost, and then the end. And so that's just something to keep in mind.

[12:48] The temple is being built at this moment, and I mentioned that it's a representation. Solomon's temple, again, it represents the past. Zerubbabel represents the present, and the third temple representing the future.

[13:02] And this is just a symbolic representation of a biblical truth here. Now, with all of this in mind, what can we learn here? So the first thing that comes to mind is passing the torch to the next generation.

[13:18] How many of us are watching the Olympics? Some of us might have, some of us might not have them in either case. Some of you may know the sport where there are people that are running and they are carrying the torch.

[13:31] Or you can think of that as symbolism. Someone that is carrying the torch and they're running and they're going to pass the torch as it were to the next person. And this is a great concept that we can think about, right?

[13:43] Because you have in Ezra here the people of God, they are working with the younger generation in building of the foundation of the temple. And in the same way that this is happening in Ezra, this should be encouragement for us to do the same.

[13:57] The first lesson, right? It's the importance of passing the torch to the next generation. It's a fitting analogy, right? In Psalm 145, verse 4, this is a verse that really sticks out where it says, One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.

[14:16] This is showing the passing of the torch. It speaks to the greatness of our God and passing on from one generation to the next. And in today's church, it is important for us to pour into the next generation, but also the current generation.

[14:33] We have young people in the church that we have got to pour into, right? We think of the next generation, yes, they're going to grow, they're going to know the word, and they're going to lead as well.

[14:45] And that's an encouragement for us that we have got to focus on the current generation as well as the next generation. That's why here at our own church, we have so many people who are helping with the children.

[14:59] I mean, do you realize if we had a full house, we'd have about 10 to 15 kids for our church, and that's praise God for that. It goes to show how important generations are, how important younger people are.

[15:13] As you are growing and you're getting older and you're knowing the things of God and the deeper things of God, you'll learn that there is an importance to pass the torch on to the next generation.

[15:27] And so ask yourself this question. Who is a younger person you know, someone from another generation that you can pour into with your wisdom, your experience in your stories of faith, someone you can take under your wing.

[15:42] Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 6 through 7 also instructs us to diligently teach God's commandments to our children. It doesn't stop with us. It continues to flow, right?

[15:53] It's just like the love that God has for us. It is available for all who believe the grace of God. That's why we share in the gospel with other people to everyone.

[16:04] And so in Ezra, we see that the people of God, they focused intentionally on those. I love what it says in the verse. If you guys have your Bibles open, it says, the, where'd it go?

[16:18] They appointed the Levites from 20 years old and upward. Well, we're not going to take this literally, that we only need to focus on people in their 20s and upward. This is going to be, the lesson for us is that we focus on younger people as well, from children to teenagers to young adults, right?

[16:33] That we invite them, that we develop them, that we empower them, right? It's not specific to a age group, but in the context of what you're finding in Ezra, yes. And I have to tell you, there are many young men and young women who desire to be mentored, to grow and to have an opportunity to serve in the church.

[16:54] It's always disheartening when we hear about churches that are in decline or they're closing their doors, because unfortunately, sometimes what happens, and I can't account for all churches, but there are sometimes where there wasn't a pouring or a focus on the next generation of people.

[17:12] And that's a very unfortunate thing. That is why we continue the momentum. This should encourage us and not discourage us. This should motivate us to pray, to find young people that we can pour into.

[17:25] And we are to be a church that does the work of Christ and lay the foundation for future generations. Just as the elders in Ezra appointed young people to come alongside and rebuilding the temple, we too, we too, my friends, must be intentional about involving and mentoring the younger generations.

[17:45] We must be a church that is actively engaging with empowering the younger generations to carry the torch of faith as it were forward. And this is how we build a legacy that honors God and continues to impact the world for Christ.

[18:00] Let's go to that next slide. So we see celebrate milestones in our faith. And we see, it says on that slide, once the foundation was laid, the people celebrated the progress.

[18:12] As people and as the church grows, we should celebrate progress together. And you'll see there, there's personal and then church, the community, right? You see faith in Christ, baptism and growth, new families, marriages, right?

[18:27] And this is, that's not the only things, right? There are other things that just examples here. But this is a lesson that we can learn, right? Celebrating the milestones of faith. Isn't it interesting?

[18:39] I mean, think about it. You have the people of God. They are laying the foundation, the importance of putting the foundation before the construction of a temple. Right? How important that is to lay a firm foundation as it were in order to build a temple.

[18:54] What a wonderful parallel and a connection that we can think of our own walk with the Lord. How important it is for us to have a foundation that exists in Jesus Christ. Do you see what I'm saying here?

[19:06] There's a connection here that we can see, right? And people of God laid the foundation. They celebrated. Don't you think we should celebrate when the foundation is being laid, when someone comes to Jesus Christ and they believe in the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

[19:26] Or what about when someone gets baptized or they're growing in their faith and they're changing, they're seeing the transformation of God, the Holy Spirit working in and through their life. That they're becoming someone that God wants them to be and not what the world has to offer.

[19:43] Not being in constant sin. And so that is a cause for us to celebrate, right? I think of 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 11, which says, no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid in Jesus Christ.

[20:01] And so what a wonderful connection when it comes to that. And let's not stop there. We have in the slide, right? Church, new families, marriages, projects that are happening.

[20:12] Just as there was the laying of the foundation that was happening in the temple, as our church grows in a healthy manner, when we have new families that are coming into the doors of the church, when people are getting married, right?

[20:27] When lives are being changed and people are walking away from their sin. That's a cause for celebration. Or when we are taking on a new project, let's say we're doing a new building project or whatever it may be, what a cause for us to celebrate progress that happens as it goes along.

[20:46] So just a wonderful thing that we can think about, right? If our church is growing, which it has been growing, we thank God for everything that He is giving us and blessing us.

[20:58] The priests, and I love what it says in that verse, the priests and their vestments, right? They celebrated with the trumpets, right? The symbols, they sang together.

[21:10] They're saying that God is good, right? They're thanking Him for the love that God has, because God's love endures forever. And all of the people, they shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord.

[21:24] How encouraging is it for us? Think of when someone becomes a Christian. Do you celebrate that? We all should celebrate that.

[21:35] It's very significant from what we can realize. It's important to recognize that these milestones are about the spirit, the new life, the new creation, and the growth of the body of Christ.

[21:49] Let's go to the next slide here. The third lesson that we can learn is to honor the past and to live in the present. When the foundation was laid, some people wept and some people celebrated, right?

[22:03] It was so loud, you couldn't tell the difference between the two. And this is much like any sort of change, right? As the body were to be present with those who celebrate and those who weep. When God is doing a new thing in our lives, when we are growing in Him, when we are progressing in Him, when we're experiencing the stirring of the Holy Spirit, experiencing revival or reconciliation, there may be times where we have mixed emotions.

[22:30] There may be times where we might be weeping or we might be celebrating. And this is the lesson that we can learn today. We embrace progress as it happens in the context of our spiritual journey, the context of our spiritual journey together as a church, but to be joyful.

[22:48] And when there are times where we weep, that is a moment for us to honor what has happened in the past, right? And it's not recognizing that, look, God did an amazing thing, because you think of the context of the people who are weeping from the first temple.

[23:05] They might have been weeping because of what happened that they remembered that temple, that Solomon's temple that was built, that was destroyed. They might have been weeping because while they were in exile for 70 years, that's something to be sad about.

[23:19] I mean, some of us can't even wait a year for something to happen, right? But that's the thing. They're weeping in that. And seeing that now there's a temple that's being laid here, the foundation being laid.

[23:33] Just think of it like this. I saw the, I saw the old temple. I saw Solomon's temple. And now I'm seeing the progress that's being made in the second temple. Wouldn't that bring tears to your eyes?

[23:45] That's something to think about, right? Mixed emotions, right? Many of the older priests, the heads of the family, they'd seen the first temple. This scene is powerful as we move forward in our faith journey as, as a church.

[24:00] We may feel joy for the things that God is doing in our life, but we may also feel sorrow. We may mourn for what happened in the past or things that might have been lost.

[24:11] It's important for us to acknowledge and to care for each emotion, to bring them before the Lord, offer them to the Lord and trust that God is working in the past as he does in the present and as he will in the future.

[24:25] We must, in remembering the past, the other thing is a lot of us, we get nostalgic at times. We remember things that happened in the past.

[24:36] Honor the past, but don't be bound by it, right? Because you are in the present moment where God has worked in the past, the same God that has worked in the past will work in the present and will work in the future.

[24:50] And let's go to the application then at this point is, okay, so how can I apply and live out these verses in my own life? Okay, I've seen that, okay, there's the next generation that's being raised up.

[25:03] I see that the people are celebrating and I see there's a sound of joy and a sound of weeping. So what do I do with this? Well, the first thing is that as you learn, you teach.

[25:15] As you grow in your walk with Christ, you teach others, right? As you learn the Word of God, right? It's a call for us to share how God is working in our lives, right?

[25:26] The things that you're learning from the Word of God and let this be a call for you to share in the Gospel. Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 2 says, What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, right?

[25:45] It's the passing of the torch, right, that you're pouring into other people. Let us also think of the Great Commission, right, where we are commanded by Christ to go and make disciples of all people, right?

[25:59] And to be a disciple is to be a student of Scripture, to be a student of Christ and we're always learning and we're always growing, right? That's something we have to think about.

[26:11] So teaching others, it's an essential part of our Christian walk. It's not just about acquiring knowledge for ourselves, but passing on the knowledge so that others too can grow in their faith and their relationship with Christ.

[26:24] There are some people who will even say that you learn more when you teach, which is a wild thing in my humble opinion, right? But it's sharing what you have learned in Scripture or sharing in how God has worked in your own life as a testimony to the power of the God that we believe in.

[26:42] That's something we must keep in mind. Teaching others what we have learned, it's a way to multiply the impact that we can have for the Kingdom of God. And as we invest in others, we are equipping them to do the same.

[26:56] It creates a ripple effect and this is how we fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. The next slide that we have is to mentor the next generation, right?

[27:08] It says just as the elders in Ezra worked alongside with the younger generation, it's an encouragement for our elders, so to speak, those who are older to work with younger people.

[27:20] If you are a older Christian or even if you are a younger Christian that you learned a little bit more than you did yesterday, right? Let this be a find someone that you can pour into.

[27:32] Find a younger person that you can mentor. The idea is to engage the younger generations for Christ, right? That can be with just a simple invitation that can also be through mentorship, right?

[27:46] In Proverbs 22, verse 6, it reminds us, train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Part of doing good in the name of Christ is mentoring.

[28:00] It's pouring into younger people as they grow in Christ and that's something that all of us can do in some capacity. Do any of us know someone who's younger?

[28:13] You don't have to raise your hand here, right? You might have a neighbor. You might have a family member. You might have a friend, whatever it is. And this can be applied broadly to mentoring in the church, whether you're an older man or a woman.

[28:27] You have valuable experiences. You have wisdom that you've learned from the Lord or lessons that you've learned from Scripture. Or it's even how God has worked in and through your life.

[28:39] I'm telling you, people want to hear that. There's a lot of young people out there that want to have mentorship or someone that takes them under their wing. I remember when I was a teenager, I had quite a few, I've had quite a few mentors over the years.

[28:55] Some of them were good mentors, some of them maybe not so good, but the Lord had provided one way or another. And that's so important because think about where you are today. And think about the people who have poured into you in the same way we are to do that with those who are younger.

[29:13] Your life is a testimony to God's faithfulness. And by mentoring the next generation, younger people, you're helping to shape the future of the church. And again, it's not just about passing on knowledge.

[29:26] It's about building relationships and coming alongside with others in their faith journey. It's about encouraging others to grow in their relationship with Christ.

[29:39] The next application is honor the past, is to live in the present. You learn from the past, you live in the present moment. I know for some of us who love reading multiple books, there's many lessons that we can learn.

[29:52] If you read biographies or autobiographies or history books, you can learn a lot of things. And the same applies, importantly, with Scripture. We honor the past because we have a book.

[30:05] I'm sorry, how old is the Bible? It's an old book. Yes, we can get a new Bible, but it's a new packaging for an old book.

[30:16] And we learn lessons from that. So we honor the past and we live in the present. We're called to learn the history of Scripture. It's important to learn what the Word of God has to say, opening your Bible, reading and studying it.

[30:28] And in all of this, don't let history hold you back from living your new life in Christ. We live as a Christian by following in the footsteps of Christ and doing good in the name of Christ.

[30:41] We learn from history and we live out our faith in a way that honors and glorifies God. That's why you hear me say, do good in the name of Christ. Don't you dare do evil in the name of Christ?

[30:53] And unfortunately, there have been people that have done evil in the name of Christ. We do good in the name of Christ. We honor and we glorify the Lord. We make a greater impact in the church and within the community.

[31:05] Psalm 90 verse 12, it asks God to teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Philippians 3 verse 13 through 14 says, and this is a hard one, right?

[31:20] Forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. So we're not neglecting the past.

[31:33] We're not ignoring it. We are learning from it and we are honoring it and we move forward in our life. Just like how Christ tells us we're not to worry about tomorrow, right?

[31:44] So we're not to be bound up by the past and we're certainly not to be so anxious for tomorrow that it hinders our ability to live today. We live in the present moment.

[31:55] Must be fully engaged with what God is doing in the here and the now and looking forward to the future hope that God has for us. Let's go to that next slide, which is live in the present.

[32:07] Trust in the hope for the future. You've mentioned honoring the past, right? There's still the call and you're seeing it twice here to live in the present moment. And trust in the hope for the future as you live your life in the present moment.

[32:22] Know that God has plans and promises for you. That's the beautiful thing about studying scripture, coming to church and learning about the Lord is seeing how prophecies were fulfilled by the Lord, giving the consistency that God is not a liar.

[32:38] We believe in the living God, the truth teller, right? Just as Christ says that he is the way, the truth and the life. Think about that, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

[32:53] So consider the past and the present and the future. I cannot emphasize enough that what we can apply to our lives is to live in the present moment. Appreciate the legacy, but trust in God knowing that God has a plan for you in the future.

[33:09] And there is hope for the future. Every moment that we have here on earth is a gift for God. So live your life again in a way that honors and glorifies the Lord. Romans chapter 15 verse four reminds us that whatever was written in the former days was written for our instruction.

[33:27] That through endurance and encouragement, we might have hope. Think about that. Right. So it's all connected, the past and the future living in this present moment.

[33:38] And even in times of weeping, in times of trials or in tribulations, whatever it is you're going through, the good, the bad and the ugly know that the Lord is going to be with you.

[33:51] Right. That God provides hope and trust because look, our hope and our trust are in the Lord. Second Corinthians chapter four verses 16 through 18, it encourages us not to lose heart.

[34:05] And even though it's a very hard verse, our outer self is wasting away. Our inner self is being renewed day by day. And finally, build a lasting, there's a lot of reference verses there, build a lasting legacy together.

[34:22] We are stronger together. We can make a greater impact for Christ together and we can make a lasting legacy together. The people of God, they laid the foundation of the temple working together across generations for the glory of God and knowing this.

[34:39] How do we act on this? We are called to build a legacy together. You are not here by mistake. God knew you before the foundation of the world and you were called with divine purpose and intentionality.

[34:55] And that God loves you so much that he gives you the opportunity to choose Christ and to be on a path where you'll be molded into who God wants you to be. And here's the thing. We're constantly being molded. Amen.

[35:09] Right. God's not done with us. We are a work in progress and we're called to make a difference today. Right. I'm reminded of the famous passage from Esther, right, that she was placed in her position for such a time as this.

[35:26] God wants you here today to know who he is, right, to know Jesus Christ, to grow in him and to make a difference for him.

[35:37] For those of us who are older and more mature, take the encouragement today and the legacy that you have been a part of. Many people have poured into you just as Christ has poured into you and the Holy Spirit leads and guides you.

[35:51] Pour into the next generation, pour into younger people, invest in the next generation, leaving a lasting legacy. Because in everything that we do, we should do it in the name of Christ.

[36:04] Everything that we do in Christ matters to God. And be reminded in all this, we're talking about things that we have to do. Christ always remind us that we are saved by grace through faith, right?

[36:19] Upon receiving salvation through faith in Christ, we grow, we do good in the name of Christ. We are to store up treasures in heaven with God as our foundation.

[36:31] And together, let us build a legacy. Let us lay down our foundation in Christ, right? Because Christ is the firm foundation and let us pour into the next generation of people.

[36:43] Let us honor the past, let us live in today and let us look forward to the promises of tomorrow in Christ. With all of that, let's pray together.

[36:55] And gracious Father, we thank you for this time and this opportunity to come together as we have just finished this chapter 3 of Ezra. We pray that there will be revival in this land, that the Holy Spirit, that your spirit will stir our hearts to know you, to grow in you and to do good in your name.

[37:15] We pray that we can be a church that loves you, that honors you and stays true to your word. May we, Father God, may we balance grace, the love that comes from you and the truth from your word.

[37:28] And may we exhibit the light, love and truth of Christ to others. We pray that as we learn, we can teach others. We pray that we can live in this present moment honoring the past, but also placing our hope in the future.

[37:44] We know that it can be a difficult thing for us to do, but may we strive for that. We pray that we can live in today knowing you, growing in you and making a difference for you.

[37:58] Be with us as we sing in this last song, knowing that you call us for something greater in this life. And may we serve the church and serve our community in everything that we do.

[38:13] May we honor and glorify you. May we exhibit love, grace, truth in all that we do. It is in Jesus' name that we pray and we also pray.

[38:24] Thank you for tuning in to the Ontario Community Church sermon podcast. For more about our church and how you can get involved or support our mission, please visit ontariocommunitychurch.org.

[38:36] May God's blessings be with you.