The God of Disruption
Sermon Notes
1 Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.
2 And he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate, by the way facing east. And behold, water was spurting out from the south side.
3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep.
4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist.
5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.
6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”
- Ezekiel 47:1-6
“I would summarize the modern sense of self as that which prioritizes inner feelings over pretty much everything else.”
- Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
If your mind gets distracted ten thousand times in twenty minutes of prayer, it’s “ten thousand opportunities to return to God.”
- Thomas Keating
7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work.
- Ezra 3:7-8
68 When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site.
69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work.
- Ezra 2:68-69
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel.
11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
“He is good;
his love toward Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
- Ezra 3:10-11
Table Group Resources
Mixer
What was your favorite thing about the last day of school?
‘Neighborly’ - Daily Devotional
To get the Daily Devotionals delivered to you every morning, text ‘dailydevotional’ to 97000.
In Pastor Ken’s 6/2/21 entry, Daniel’s Prayer, he writes out Daniel 2:20-23 for us. Who is God in verses 20-22 - do you believe it? And who are you in vs 23 - do you believe it?
In Middle School Director Christina’s 6/3/21 entry, Bah! Humbug!, she says “maybe now would be a good time to reflect on the second chance we have all been gifted through Jesus.” Live this out and watch how joy, love, and the “spirit of Christmas” overflows from you onto others.
Sermon Questions
Scripture: Ezekiel 47:1-6, Ezra 3:7-8, 10-11
Pastor Jared said: Disruption is the beginning of a great story. Is there a time when you have wrestled with God over disruption? How does knowing disruption is coming help you to live in it without getting derailed - while the story is unfolding?
What are the benefits of expecting your best days to be ahead of you, not behind you? What are the things that need to be shed from your thought life in order to do that?
How does the “flowing river” passage from Ezekiel 47:1-6 help you to seek depth in your faith in a society that is shallow and polarizing?
Do you believe if you committed to Pastor Jared’s two step plan for growing depth, you would find a new passion in your faith?
Silent prayer - “winning the day”
Slowly reading the Scripture - meditate on it; “chew” on it
Ask yourself today: Do I want to be a part (lay my brick) of God’s future work through The Church at RB? What is my area of influence and what steps can I take to move from the sidelines to getting some “skin in the game”?
Go Deeper - with Goodbook
Dr. Mark Strauss & Pastor Ken Ingold World Religions
Week 2 || Session 2 || Judaism
Can you name some of the key points in Israel’s history, starting with God’s call of Abraham?
What was unique about the nation Israel? What does it mean that God made a “covenant” with Israel? What were the expectations and consequences for keeping or not keeping the covenant?
What is “Rabbinic Judaism” and how does this relate to the destruction of the Temple and the role of the Law (Torah) in Israel?
What were the general tendencies in the relationships of Jews and Christians in Europe?
What is Zionism and how does this relate to the modern State of Israel?
What is the most important belief in Judaism?
What role does the Law play in Judaism? What role did the temple and the priesthood play?
Name some of the Jewish Holy Days and what they celebrate?
What are the main features of the following: Orthodox Judaism; Conservative Judaism; Reformed Judaism; Messianic Judaism?
*Are you joining the Goodbook Q&A Zoom on Tuesday evenings? Email ken@thechurchrb.org
Serve
Grab your Table Group and join us for Good Neighbor Day on June 26! Register online or in app!
Pray
Holy Spirit, deepen my river of faith and widen my influence for Your Glory in the world around me. I praise You and give You thanks for the things You have done for me in my times where disruption was a troublemaker. I want to look at better days ahead beside You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.