“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 . . . ”
Ezra 1:1a

Today, we finally get back to our study of the Old Testament. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. For, while it’s true that we are New Testament Christians and the New Testament must rightly have a priority place in our faith, it is just as true that the Old Testament lays the foundation we need to fully understand that faith. So rather than “unhitching” from the Old Testament, as one popular “celebrity” pastor has (foolishly!) urged, we must instead ground our faith very solidly upon this foundation!

Now, those of you who’ve been part of Rockport for the past ten years may remember a series of message called “Christ in the Old Testament.” In that series, we were looking at how Christ can be seen on virtually every page of the Bible. We began with Genesis in November of 2010 and traced the presence of Jesus all the way to the end of 2 Kings (with a few messages from Isaiah and the Psalms thrown in for good measure). I then paused that series in December of 2012 with the promise we would come back to it.

Well, as happens far too often, one thing led to another, and we never got back it – that is, until today. And so it is with a great joy and a sense of anticipation about good things to come that we return to our study with the books of Era and Nehemiah. This morning’s message will attempt to lay the foundation we’ll need to understand what God is doing in these books. But in a nutshell, the theme we’ll be exploring, here, centers on how God is faithful to restore the broken who trust in Him! Throughout this study we’ll encounter the faithfulness and sovereignty of God as he works all things in heaven and earth to keep his promises to his trusting people. I can’t wait to get started!

Still learning to trust His promises!

Pastor Scott Lee