Anchored and Aimed! - September 1, 2024
Dennis R. Wiles
First Baptist Arlington
September 1, 2024
FALL 2024
Together . . . for the Future
September 1 – November 2, 2024
Preaching Voice: Shepherd
Anchored and Aimed!
Ezra 7:1-7; Nehemiah 1:1-3
CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
Theme for 2024: Together
Theme for Fall 2024: Together . . . for the Future
the New Devotional Guide for the Fall
CONTEXT: Come, let us rebuild! The stories of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah are told in Ezra-Nehemiah.
The checquered story of the Kings, a matter of nearly five centuries, had ended disastrously in 587 BC with the sack of Jerusalem, the fall of the monarchy and the removal to Babylonia of all that made Judah politically viable . . . It was a death to make way for a rebirth. A millennium before this, Israel had been transplanted to Egypt to emerge no longer a family but a nation. Now her long night in Babylon was to mark another turning-point, so that she emerged no longer a kingdom but a little flock with the makings of a church. This is the point at which the book of Ezra begins.
-Derek Kidner
ANCHORED IN THE FAITH: For God’s people, the journey of rebuilding begins with an acknowledgement of our heritage of faith.
AIMED TOWARDS THE FUTURE: You cannot stay where you are and follow God’s leadership! God invites us on a journey towards His future!
