Renewed Worship

RENEWED WORSHIP
Ezra 3
Steve Poole

OUTLINE
1. ReNEWed sacrifice  - Ezra 3:2-6
The first thing Jeshua and Zerubbabel did is build an altar to the LORD and make burnt offerings. They made daily burnt offerings, morning and evening, they celebrated the festival of Booths and they freewill offering in worship of God.  These offerings were not lasting, temporary, so they were repeated regularly. What does this mean for us today? 

•  Isaiah 53; Romans 3:23-25; 1 John 2:2
•  ReNEWed worship is sacrificial living

2. ReNEWed Temple - Ezra 3:7-9
The second thing that Jeshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the prince, did was to lay the foundation and rebuild the temple. This was immensely significant because in the past the Lord’s very presence was in the temple.

•  God’s temple is His people. (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16; Ephesians 2:19-22
•  Just like the sacrifices pointed to a higher, more pure sacrifice, the physical temple, being rebuilt by Jeshua and Zerubbabel is just a shadow of the temple of God in heaven.  Our hope in that one day we will be with God, worshipping Him in that temple. We see this truth in Hebrews 9:12 and Revelation 7 and 20.

3. ReNEWed Praise - Ezra 3:10-13
Finally, we see that Jeshua and Zerubbabel renewed the singing of praises to God. They bring out the trumpets, cymbals and other musical instruments. They get the priestly praise band back together and sing:

• Ezra 3:11; 1 Chr. 16:34; Rev. 7:9-10

APPLICATION
1.  Sing more praises this week. Sing more praises with fellow believers, even in masks and small groups.
2. Be transformed by a deeper understanding of the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice.
3. Ask God to reveal one way you can better “offer your life as a living sacrifice” this week?
4. Reflect on, “How am I doing at taking care of God’s temple?”

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