October 8, 2023

150th Anniversary - Rebuilding Can Be Bittersweet

Preacher: Rev. Tom Cox Series: Sesquicentennial Sunday Scripture: Ezra 3:8–13

October 8, 2023 Rev. Thomas M. Cox

 

Rebuilding Can Be Bittersweet * Ezra 3



  1. A) REBUILDING GOD’S HOUSE IS W____.



 

  • REBUILDING CALLS FOR C____________________! (vss. 10-11)

 

 

 

  • Steadfast Love: 

 

 

 

  •  REBUILDING GOD’S HOUSE IS MET WITH M_____ RESPONSES.

 

 

  • Some people are R________________ but some are G_______________.

 

  • Their Restoration was only P____________.

 

  • (We are awaiting the consummation of all things in C__________.)



 

  • WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE AT Flat Branch?

 

  1. T________ God for the godly H______________ of FBCPC.

 

  1. Welcome and E____________ the N____ things that God is doing.

 

  1. Don’t R__________________ the P_____. (Remember Lot’s Wife & Ecc. 7:10)

 

  1. Keep S___________ Christ and reach O____ with His love (See Phil. 3:13-14)

Ezra 3:8-13 (ESV)

Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. 9 And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David, king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

GOD IS DOING NEW THINGS AT FLAT BRANCH:

  • Called a new Pastor (November 2022)
  • Created new digital Instant Church Directory (Winter 2022-3)
  • New Logo (June 2023)
  • Newly refreshed Website (August 2023) www.flatbranchpc.org 
  • Sale of church van (Aug/Sept 2023)
  • Reactivated the Nursery during worship (September 2023)
  • Sale of Land to Build ADA Accessible Bathroom off Sanctuary (TBD)
  • Mission Insite Demographics Study (TBD)
  • ECO Church Governance course (TBD)
  • Other(s)?