TAKE GROUND IN YOUR FAMILY

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TAKE GROUND

When the Word Moves a Generation

BIG IDEA

Generational change does not require perfection, but long-term faithfulness.
God does big things when we are faithful in the small things.

OPENING: GOD IS MOVING

  • God is in the business of changing people’s lives.

  • Entire families are getting baptized.

  • Many people walk in saying:

    • “I wanted a Word-forward church.”

    • “Something felt missing in my life.”

  • That ache is not random.

  • It is a good God calling people home.

Question:
Do you want to see an entire generation change?

INTRODUCTION: TAKING GROUND (Ezra 1 & 7)

  • God’s people were:

    • Taken captive

    • City destroyed

    • Spiritually ruined

  • And yet — God raised leaders.

  • God stirred a generation.

  • God brought renewal out of ruin.

RUIN → RENEWAL

Cultural Reality

  • Our world feels like a house on fire.

    • Political corruption

    • Rioting

    • Depression

    • War

    • Division

    • Confusion

  • It feels like everything is burning.

But:
God raises things from the dead.
God brings beauty from ashes.
God uses ruin to expose need.

EZRA 1: GOD STIRS A REMNANT

Ezra 1:1–5 (ESV)

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.”

Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.

What do we see?

  • God stirred a pagan king.

  • God stirred His people.

  • God fulfills His Word.

The word “stirred” = awakened.

Before God moves in a generation,
He awakens a remnant.

PRINCIPLE

When a generation crumbles,
God calls a remnant to seek renewal.

WHAT DID THEY DO?

  • Traveled 900 miles back to Jerusalem.

  • Before:

    • Walls

    • Houses

    • Protection

  • They built the house of God first.

Worship before comfort.
Presence before protection.

TAKE GROUND APPLICATION

We believe we are in a unique season.

We are stepping forward to:

  • Buy land

  • Build a house of worship

  • Raise $3 million in 3 years

Not to build a building —
But to create space for:

  • The addict to confess

  • The desperate mom to find hope

  • The skeptic to hear the gospel

  • The sick to encounter the God of miracles

This is about making space for God to move.

EZRA 7: THE SECOND WAVE

60 years later.
Temple rebuilt.
But hearts still need renewal.

Ezra appears.

Ezra 7:6–10 (ESV)

This Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

For 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.

WHY WAS EZRA READY?

Because the Word had moved him first.

If you want God to work through you,
start by letting His Word work in you.

EZRA’S HABIT (7:10)

He:

  1. Studied the Word

  2. Did the Word

  3. Taught the Word

Study → Practice → Teach

Doctrine → Obedience → Multiplication

PRINCIPLE

Lasting change begins with private obedience
before public influence.

Generational renewal is not fueled by hype.
It is fueled by consistency.

GENEALOGY (7:1–5)

A long list of names.

Not boring.
Hopeful.

Behind every name:

  • Corruption

  • Pressure

  • Temptation

  • Faithfulness

Generational change does not require perfection.
It requires long-term faithfulness.

PARENTS

There is no spiritual gene that automatically passes on faith.
There is no spiritual osmosis from a Bible on a shelf.

It takes:

  • Intentional discipleship

  • Saying no to sin

  • Saying yes to Christ

  • Teaching your kids the Word

Child dedication is a declaration:
“We will raise our children in the Lord.”

THE WORD MOVES A GENERATION

When God brings revival:

  • There is a new love for the Word.

  • A new hunger to obey.

  • A new courage to teach it.

Renewal takes place in society
when the people of God,
moved by the Spirit of God,
crave the Word of God.

SUMMARY FLOW

Celebration – God is changing lives.
Ruin – Culture feels like it’s burning.
Remnant – God stirs a people.
Rebuild – Worship comes first.
Habit – Study. Do. Teach.
Generations – Faithfulness over perfection.

FINAL CALL

To see generational change:

Don’t chase spiritual intensity.
Pursue spiritual consistency.

Don’t complain about the culture.
Build the house.

Don’t wait for revival.
Open your Bible.

God does big things
when we are faithful in small things.

Take ground.

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