Well, good morning, church. Today we're beginning a new series in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah.
That's page 362 in the Pew Bible. Go ahead and turn there with me. If you're new to the Bible,
the big numbers are the chapters, the small numbers are the verses. And in our English
Bibles, Ezra and Nehemiah are two separate books, but originally they were one single story
about how God stayed faithful to His promises and brought His people back from exile and advanced
His kingdom. So this spring and through the summer, we're going to be walking through both of these
books together in a series that we're calling Rebuilding the Ruins. Now, as you know, as Jeff
and Birch mentioned, we're in the middle of a building program and a capital campaign as a church.
And if you've been around churches for a while, you know that oftentimes pastors will gravitate
towards these books when their church is doing a building project. I mean, hey, they're building
stuff in Ezra and Nehemiah. We're building stuff. It seems like the perfect fit, right?
Well, that is not why we're doing Ezra and Nehemiah in this season as a church. We're looking at Ezra
Nehemiah because these books at the end of the day are actually about mission.
They're about being the people of God, relying on the greatness of God to fulfill the mission of God.
It's easy as a church to forget that we are a people with a mission. Last Sunday, we celebrated
Easter, and the risen Jesus across the Gospels and into Acts has commissioned us to go forth into all
the nations, declaring the victory that he has won, declaring that Christ is king, that he's ended
our exile from God, and now in the midst of the nations, we're meant to be salt and light in his
name, advancing God's kingdom of grace and renewal until Christ returns and makes all things new.
But we forget sometimes that we're meant to be this people with this mission.
How does that happen for us? Well, for starters, life gets busy, doesn't it? There's work, there's
family, there's school, there's bills, there's Netflix, there's Reddit, there's the incessant flow
of notifications on our phones, and with all that going on, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger
picture that God has a mission for us. But on top of that, it can be easy in a city like ours,
where people are so transient to lose sight of the mission. After all, every August and September,
there's a whole new crop of people who will arrive for work or for school, and many of them will come
already looking for a church. And they'll land here at Trinity, and they'll be a new part of our family,
and that's really exciting. It's one of the joys of the work that God has given us.
But with all those new faces, almost every year, it's easy to forget that our mission as a church
isn't merely to be a home for Christians who are new to the area. Our mission is also to introduce
new people to Christ, people who've never heard of Christ, or people who've never really heard what
the gospel is all about. We're meant to be a place where people are coming to know Jesus for the first
time. God has a mission for us. Third, it can be especially easy to lose sight of God's mission during a
building project, believe it or not. We can get more animated by stone and steel and dollars and cents
than about why we're doing any of it in the first place. That is the mission God has given us,
to see His grace transform our city. And fourth, it can be easy to lose sight of the mission God has given us
when we feel like we've messed it up and fallen short and failed the first time around.
Is there hope for Christians, for churches who've gotten off track, who've gotten distracted by the
busyness, by the transients, maybe by the buildings? Can God still use us? Does He still have a plan for us
in the advance of His kingdom of grace? And that's where Ezra and Nehemiah come in.
God is a God who rebuilds the ruins and who invites us, even us, to join Him in the work.
So today, I want to give an overview as best I can of Ezra and Nehemiah. We're going to walk through
the details chapter by chapter in the coming weeks. But before that, I want to hopefully help us see
the whole mountain range before we get up close and start the ascent. And that will help us, I hope,
not to lose our way along the way in our sermon series. And if we take a step back and take in this
book as a whole, I think the mountain range looks something like this. That after all seems lost,
God advances His kingdom in sovereign faithfulness and He restores us, His people, to participate in
the work. After all seems totally lost, God advances His kingdom in sovereign faithfulness and restores
us, His people, to participate in the work. So the sermon this morning is going to have two parts.
First, God, then us. So let's jump into chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, and we'll get started.
Ezra chapter 1, verse 1.
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. 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.
Now there are two things we see about God, even in these opening verses, that will come up again and
again as this book unfolds. First, God's sovereignty, and second, God's faithfulness.
But in order to really get the fullness of that, we have to pick up the threads of this story.
The first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, is about 539-538 BC. For 50 years, the people of Israel have
been in exile. In other words, they've been a totally conquered people. Their temple, their capital city,
all of it has been burnt to the ground. Their families have been displaced. They're living in a
foreign land under foreign kings far from home. And the worst part about it is that this exile they
were in was ultimately because of their own rebellion against the Lord. Because they had rejected God as
their king in the land that God had given them and worshipped other gods that were no gods at all,
the Lord, after centuries of warning them and warning them through the prophets, finally gave them what
they were asking for. He gave them over to the other gods. And in 587, the Babylonian empire conquered
Jerusalem and burnt it to the ground. And then they could go worship those other gods in exile.
And now Israel lived in exile, in shame, their homeland and their lives in ruins.
But was that going to be the end of the story? Would shame and ruin be the last word? You know,
throughout those dark years of exile, it must have seemed that way on many days. And worse was the
growing realization that this was what we deserved for our sin, for abandoning our allegiance to the Lord.
But through those dark years of exile, there was a light. There was a light that began to shine.
You see, the great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, they had all foretold the coming destruction
as a result of Israel's sin. But all had foretold something in addition to that.
Isaiah also spoke about a new exodus that would come. And Jeremiah spoke of a new covenant.
And Ezekiel even spoke of a new temple. Glimmers of hope that God had not abandoned his mission
to fill the earth with his glory and to redeem a people for himself. Adam had been cast from the
garden because of his sin. Israel had been cast from the promised land because of their sin.
But neither would be the end of God's story.
In 539 BC, Cyrus, the Persian, conquers Babylon. And a new chapter begins in world history.
But God begins a new chapter in redemptive history. The ruins will be rebuilt. The promises will be kept.
And the kingdom of God will advance.
And all of this is as a result, on the one hand, of God's sovereignty.
Look again at verse 1 where it says,
The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom.
In and through the human events of history, God's hand is at work bringing his good purposes to pass.
We're going to find this throughout Ezra and Nehemiah.
You know, if you read through this sort of twofold book of Ezra and Nehemiah,
you'll notice that there aren't any so-called miracles in this book.
If you're looking for red seas to be parted in two,
if you're looking for fire to come down from heaven,
you're not going to find it in Ezra and Nehemiah.
And yet, God is no less active.
The hand of God is at work stirring the hearts of kings,
protecting the journeys of his people,
empowering his people in the face of opposition,
humbling his people in the face of their sin,
bringing about genuine repentance and change.
The events of 539 were no accident.
God was not caught off guard when Cyrus, king of Persia,
ousted the Babylonians and began to rule.
No, the God, the Lord of heaven and earth,
who holds every human heart in his hand,
was bringing his plans to pass.
But the exercise of God's sovereignty
isn't some arbitrary display of force.
The second thing we see about God in Ezra and Nehemiah
is that God is above all faithful to his promises.
The whole book begins this way.
Look again at verse 1.
That the word of the Lord
by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.
In Jeremiah chapter 29,
God promised the Israelite exiles
that one day he would end Babylon's tyranny
and bring his people home.
And this book starts by saying
that God made good on his promise.
God's glory is displayed
not just in that he is sovereign,
but that he is sovereignly faithful,
keeping his word forever without fail,
even in the face of our faithlessness.
This is the stunning fact of Ezra and Nehemiah.
None of God's faithfulness to the people
was deserved.
The people hadn't loved God with their whole hearts.
The people hadn't loved their neighbors as themselves.
In fact, as Ezra and Nehemiah unfolds,
we'll find that they still need a rescuer.
God was under no obligation to rescue them,
to restore them,
or to rebuild the ruins they had made.
But God's faithfulness to the unfaithful,
this is the banner that flies over this book
and flies over the whole biblical narrative.
God is faithful to the faithless.
And friends, that's the message that's being sung
in every sunrise,
in every cool rain that falls,
in every crop that grows.
God is faithful to the unfaithful.
Friends, nothing that the Bible says
will stir you,
or electrify you,
or wake you from your sleep,
until you get this utterly profound reality
that you and I have been
completely unfaithful to God,
and yet God has remained faithful to us.
So faithful
that He was willing to take on flesh,
die on a cross,
be raised to new life
so that He could keep His promise
to redeem a people for Himself.
That's how faithful God is
to the faithless.
And the mission of God
will make no sense to us as a church.
We will remain distracted
by our worldly cares,
we'll remain comfortable
with the people who are already like us,
we'll be more excited about
sticks and bricks
than hearts and lives,
until the Holy Spirit
gives us ears to hear
that in the face of our unfaithfulness,
God's been faithful.
after all seems lost,
praise God in His faithfulness,
in His sovereign faithfulness,
He advances His kingdom.
That's the first major thread
running through this whole book.
And the second is this,
that God restores us,
His people,
to participate in the work.
When we take Ezra and Nehemiah
as one story,
we see that it kind of roughly
falls into three parts,
and each part involves
a sort of major element
of the rebuilding
that takes place
in the return from exile.
First, there's the temple,
and second,
there's the law of Moses,
the Torah,
and third,
there are the city walls.
That's sort of the structure
of the book
as it sort of plays out.
Temple, Torah, walls.
Worship, word, city.
In other words,
when God advances His kingdom
and His sovereign faithfulness,
the people make
the worship of God central again.
And they order their lives
around the word of God again.
And they devote themselves
to the rebuilding
of the city of God again.
So first, worship.
We see this in Ezra chapters
one through six.
If you want to just sort of
glance down,
and skim over those six chapters,
the events in this part of the book
take place over a 20-year time period,
roughly from 538 to 516 BC.
And this section of the book
tells the story
of the first generation,
the first remnant
to return from exile
under the leadership
of a man called Zerubbabel
and another called Jeshua,
who's the priest.
We see a list
of that first generation
in chapter two.
And then in chapter three,
they rebuild the altar
and lay the foundation
of the temple.
In chapter four,
they face external opposition
and the building
grinds to a halt.
And then in chapter five,
the rebuilding starts up again
after a 17-year hiatus.
And then in chapter six,
at last,
the temple's finished.
Now, the temple
was the center of worship
under the old covenant.
It was the symbol
that God dwelled
in the midst of his people.
And it was a sign,
it was a signal,
it was a foretaste
that one day,
God's glory would cover the earth
like the waters cover the sea.
It was sort of the beachhead
in the midst
of fallen creation
saying that God
was going to reclaim
his creation again.
And so before anything else,
the first thing
after returning from exile
was the temple.
And we'll see that this work
didn't come without a struggle.
In chapter five,
the people have to be reminded
and exhorted
by two prophets,
Haggai and Zechariah,
to make this work central
and to finish it.
But nonetheless,
the first thing,
the priority,
was the temple.
Now, as New Testament believers,
we don't have a physical temple anymore.
When God became incarnate
in Jesus Christ,
the true and better temple arrived.
Now God really was dwelling
in the midst of his people.
Now the sacrifice for sin
could really happen.
All of that,
all that the temple stood for
was fulfilled in Christ.
And so we don't need
a physical temple anymore.
In fact,
because Jesus poured out
the Holy Spirit on the church,
because we're united to Jesus
through the Spirit by faith,
Paul can even say
that the church
is the temple of God now.
But even though we don't have
or need a physical temple anymore,
the priority of worship remains.
Rather than gathering at the temple
to praise God
and commune with him,
we gather in the name of Jesus
to praise God
and commune with him.
And Jesus says,
where you are gathered,
there I am in the midst.
As we think about our mission then,
as we're encouraged
by the example
of these Old Testament saints
in Ezra 1 through 6,
we see a critical truth
that praising
and thanking God
for his grace,
in other words,
the worship of God,
is the first part
of the church's mission.
Before the doing,
there has to be doxology.
Before going,
there has to be gratitude.
After all,
when we think about mission
in the traditional sense
of the term,
as in taking the gospel
to people who don't know it yet,
why does mission exist?
It's been said
that missions exist
because worship doesn't.
Why do we take the gospel
to people who don't know it yet?
So that they too
might know God
and praise him
and love him
and give him thanks
and worship
as their creator
and redeemer.
In other words,
so that they might worship God
as their God.
That's why missions exists.
And so,
because God through Christ
has forgiven our sin
and brought us out
of our spiritual exile,
our first business
must be worship.
Letting God be God
and thanking him
and praising him
and walking with him
and trusting him.
Of course,
worship isn't something
we just do on Sundays.
We're meant to worship God
Monday through Saturday as well.
I wonder, friend,
what forms does that take for you?
At work,
at home,
during your commute,
with your kids,
at bedtime,
over breakfast,
how are you giving thanks
and praise to God
in word and in deed?
You know,
the beautiful thing
about Christianity
is that that worship of God
will take on
as many forms
and as many sort of
colorful manners
as there are believers
in the church.
How are you giving thanks
and praise to God
throughout your life,
throughout your week
in word and deed?
That might be a good question
to talk about today
over lunch
with your family,
with your friends.
What does that look like for you?
But if worship is meant
to be happening
Monday through Saturday,
it is the particular business
of Sunday.
To gather as the church,
to join our voices together,
to be present physically
with one another
and give our corporate
thanks and praise to God.
I wonder,
how do you prepare
for this great privilege
on Sundays?
I mean,
you're here.
I'm kind of preaching
to the choir.
I get that.
But how are you preparing
for this gathering?
Our Sunday gatherings
are meant to be
a public demonstration
of the supreme worth
of our triune God.
God,
why not spend some time
on Saturday nights
praying and preparing
your heart
for gathered worship?
Why not pray
for the Holy Spirit
to move in power?
Pray for open ears
and soft hearts.
Pray that the praise
of God
in and through the church
will draw men
and women to Christ
who don't know Him yet.
That's what we actually see
in Ezra chapter 6.
Flip ahead to the end
of this section
to Ezra chapter 6.
After completing the temple
and dedicating it,
the people celebrate
the Passover festival.
And in verse 21
of chapter 6,
we see that it's not just
the people of Israel
who eat the Passover,
but also,
as it says there,
everyone who had joined them
and separated himself
from the uncleanness
of the people of the land
to worship the Lord.
the God of Israel.
In other words,
their neighbors
were turning to God
from idols
to serve the living
and true God.
They joined the feast.
Pray that it would be so
for us as a church as well.
So the people make central
the worship of God again.
And then second,
they order their lives
around the Word of God again.
We see this in Ezra chapter 7-10.
Now, if you glance down
at the beginning of chapter 7,
the reign of Artaxerxes
is mentioned.
And that means that the events
of chapter 7-10
happen almost 60 years
years after the first part
of the book
in chapters 1-6.
This is about the year
458 BC.
And it's in these chapters
that the man Ezra
steps onto the stage.
Ezra actually isn't involved
in the rebuilding
of the temple
during that first generation
that returns.
Rather,
he comes
60 years later
on a mission
of the Word.
Look at chapter 7-10.
It says,
Therefore,
Ezra had set his heart
to study the law
of the Lord
and to do it
and to teach
his statutes
and rules
in Israel.
What a wonderful verse.
I am sure
we're going to circle back
around to that one
once we get to those chapters
in our series.
But you see there
that Ezra comes
teaching the Word.
In chapters 7-8,
we read about Ezra's journey
from Babylon to Jerusalem.
And then in chapters 9-10,
we read about Ezra's ministry
once he gets there.
And what we find
is that it is far
from comfortable.
The journey is risky
and dangerous
and the ministry
is difficult.
Ezra shows up
in Jerusalem
and finds
that the people
have actually broken
the law of Moses
by marrying people
outside the faith.
And in so doing,
they're opening themselves
to the danger
of falling into
the worship
of other gods.
the very thing
that put them
into exile
in the first place.
So Ezra has to
call them back
to faithfulness
through confession
and repentance,
back to a sincere
devotion
to the Lord alone.
Friends,
reordering our lives
around the Word of God
is rarely
comfortable for long.
many parts of God's Word
challenge us,
humble us,
even at times
offend us.
But then again,
if God's Word
is actually
God's Word,
isn't that what
we should expect
from time to time?
I take it as a fairly
safe working assumption
that I am not God
and I am not perfect.
I think we can all
agree on that.
And so when God
encounters me
in His Word,
there are going
to be times
when I hear things
I don't expect to hear
because I am not God.
and there are going
to be some things
that I don't want
to hear
because I am not perfect.
There are going
to be things
that challenge
my cultural assumptions
that go against
my feelings.
Sometimes the Word's
going to be like
a sword that pierces
down into soul
and marrow,
Hebrews says.
But here's the good news.
When
like Ezra,
we let the Word of God
take center stage,
something amazing happens.
God moves.
People change.
Communities are transformed.
The prophet Ezekiel
once had a vision
from God
of a valley
of dry bones.
And the bones
were actually symbolic
of the people
of Israel in exile.
Israel.
And then God
tells Ezekiel
to do something
very strange.
He says,
preach to the bones,
Ezekiel.
Now,
if God ever told me
to go down
to Grove Street
Cemetery,
not seminary,
that's a different thing,
cemetery,
and start preaching,
I would probably
ask the elders
for a little counsel.
And yet,
God says to Ezekiel
in this vision,
preach to the dead bones,
Ezekiel.
And so Ezekiel,
in faith,
starts doing just that,
preaching to a valley
of dead bones.
And as the Word
of God
goes forth,
so does the Spirit
of God.
And Ezekiel
sees the bones
resurrected,
and standing before him
is no longer
an open mass grave,
but a living
and breathing
host of men
and women
exceedingly great.
Sometimes we think
that the Word of God
needs to be watered down
or modified
or adjusted
in order for the mission
of God to go forth,
but just the opposite
is true.
The Word of God
brings the Spirit of God,
and the people
come to life.
After all,
people don't need
to hear something
they already know.
People need to hear
something
that we don't know,
that God created
us in His image,
and that even though
we've turned away
and sinned against Him
and that we deserve
His just judgment,
God sent His Son,
Jesus,
as a substitute
who was willingly
judged in our place
so that all who receive Him
can be made right
and accepted by God
and filled with His Spirit
and made truly alive forever.
We need to hear something
that we don't already know.
We need to hear good news.
No one listens to a TED Talk
because you think
you already know that.
No one wants to listen to that.
Listen to a watered-down TED Talk,
right?
Why would we think
anything else in the church?
Ezra shows us
that the mission
of reordering our lives
around the Word
is the only path
to real renewal.
This is when the bones
start taking flesh
and come alive again.
As uncomfortable
as sometimes it is.
the God
who rebuilds ruins
is doing it
through the instrument
of His Word.
And that brings us
to the third part.
They reorder their lives
around the Word of God again
and then third,
they devote themselves
to rebuilding
the city of God again.
This is the main theme
of the 13 chapters
that we call
the book of Nehemiah.
In 445,
a man named Nehemiah,
who was a Jew,
was a cupbearer
to the most powerful man
in the world,
the Persian king,
Artaxerxes.
And this Nehemiah
gets word
way out in Susa,
the capital
of the Persian Empire,
that Jerusalem's walls
remain broken down
and burned.
And this breaks
Nehemiah's heart
so much
that in chapter 2,
he risks
his position
with the king
and requests
to go back
to Jerusalem
to rebuild
the city.
And just like
there was a decree
in chapter 1
that sent that
first generation
of exiles back,
and just like
there was another decree
in chapter 7
that sent Ezra back,
again,
this next section
of the book
starts with another decree
of Artaxerxes
and a miracle of God
sending Nehemiah back
to rebuild the walls.
And the rest
of chapters 2 through 7,
in the midst
of external threats
and internal pressures,
Nehemiah,
along with the people
in Jerusalem,
accomplished something
almost utterly
inconceivable.
In just 52 days,
without a crane,
without a bulldozer,
they rebuild
the city walls
around Jerusalem.
And the rest
of the book
tells about
the covenant renewal
that takes place.
Ezra again
teaches the word
of God
to the people
and they respond
with obedience
and faith
in chapters 8 through 12.
And then the whole book
ends in chapter 13
with Nehemiah
recounting more
of the reforms
he made
during his leadership.
So what are we
to make
of this work
of rebuilding
the city walls?
Well,
from the perspective
of the New Testament,
I think we can
understand it like this.
The city of Jerusalem,
you see,
was always more
than just a city.
In the Old Testament,
it was a city,
but it was a very
symbolic city.
It was not just
the place
where the temple
was housed,
but it was the place
where the great
King David
and all the kings
who came after him
ruled God's kingdom
on earth.
In the book of Psalms,
we actually find
whole psalms
devoted to praising
and adoring Zion,
which is another name
for the city
of Jerusalem,
the city of the king.
This was the place
where the king ruled.
This was the place
where the kingdom of God
touched down to earth
and began its spread
to the nations.
But when Jesus came,
fulfilling all the hopes
of Israel
for their long-awaited
Messiah,
their long-awaited king,
something very surprising
happens.
He doesn't take up
residence in Jerusalem.
After being crucified
for our sins
and resurrected
in indestructible life,
just like God
had said the Messiah
and seed of David
would be,
Jesus didn't ascend
to the throne
in Jerusalem.
He goes one greater
and ascends
to the very throne
of heaven.
He burns a hole
through the sky
and sits
at the right hand
of the Father
in heaven.
And when Christ
ascended and sat
on that throne,
it meant that
his kingdom
on earth
would no longer
be confined
to a single city
in a single country.
Because Christ
sits on the throne
of heaven,
the whole earth
is his rightful
dominion now.
Do you remember
when the disciples
asked Jesus
after his resurrection
if this was the time
when he was going
to restore
the kingdom to Israel?
Do you remember
what he said?
He said,
oh, you don't get it yet.
After I ascend
to the Father
and pour out
my spirit on you,
you're going to be
my witnesses
not just in Jerusalem
and Judea
but to Samaria
and to the ends
of the earth.
So now,
wherever the church
of God
gathers in the name
of the ascended
King Jesus,
whether it's in
New Haven
or whether it's
in New Delhi, India
or whether it's
in New Castle, Australia,
there, friends,
is an outpost
of the kingdom of God.
There is the presence
of the new Jerusalem.
There is the city
of the king.
And like Nehemiah,
our hearts should long
for the renewal
of this great city,
the city of God,
the church.
We should pray regularly
for its revival,
for its health,
for its growth,
for its stability,
for its safety.
And the beautiful thing
about the book
of Nehemiah
is that as much
as it's about
a great leader
like Nehemiah,
it's as much
about the people
themselves
and how everyone
has a part to play.
So brother, sister,
where is your place
on the wall?
Where are you
building the city?
Where are you
advancing the kingdom?
Yes, there will
be opposition.
Ezra and Nehemiah
assure us of that.
But God is sovereign
and God is faithful
and the Lord Jesus
will be with us always
even to the end
of the age.
There's a song
we sing
that goes like this.
His kingdom
cannot fail.
He rules
or earth
and heaven.
The keys
of death
and hell
are to
our Jesus
given.
lift up your heart.
Lift up your voice.
Rejoice.
Again, I say rejoice.
God is rebuilding
the ruins, friends,
and he invites you
to join him
in worship,
in the word,
and in the building up
of this glorious city,
the church.
Through your gifts
of love
and service
and ministry
and prayer
and witness,
we've all got a part
to play.
this is the mission
before us.
May we follow
our risen Lord
wherever he leads.
Let's pray.
Our Father,
we thank you
how you moved
so powerfully
during
this
period of history
so many years ago.
God,
as we look back
and as we read
these stories,
we acknowledge
that
as many great
triumphs
and victories
that you allowed
your people
to have
during those years,
God,
there was many ways
in which the work
was still incomplete.
So,
Father,
as we think about
this mission
that you've called us to,
we acknowledge
that we need you
desperately.
Father,
we need your spirit
to be poured out
upon us.
We need the new hearts
that only the gospel
can bring.
We need the energy
and strength
that only your spirit
can give.
Oh,
God,
we need
our loves
to be realigned,
which is something
only you can do
in your
beautiful
and glorious
grace,
God.
Lord,
would you rebuild
the ruins
of our hearts
and our families
and our churches
and our neighborhoods
would you bring
hope,
God,
and life
and would you
use us?
God,
we humbly ask
that you would
use us as a church
in this great work.
Help us to find
our purpose
and joy
in following you.
We ask all this
in the name of Jesus,
our strong Savior
and in the power
of his Holy Spirit
at work within us.
Amen.