Return and Anticipation // Ezra 1:1-4 // Chris Meads

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Pastor Chris Meads launches a study through the book of Ezra by asking a simple but critical question: Why should we care about a book that is rarely quoted in the New Testament? Starting in 2 Timothy 3, he reminds us that all Scripture is breathed out by God and able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. That means even books like Ezra are not just history or administrative details. They are training us in righteousness and pointing us to Christ.

As Ezra opens, we see the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s 70 year prophecy. Cyrus, king of Persia, decrees that God’s people may return and rebuild the temple. On the surface, this feels like the climax of restoration. The exile is ending. The temple will rise again. God appears to be activating every promise he spoke through Jeremiah.

But the book does something unexpected. Instead of delivering full restoration, it exposes a deeper problem. The people return from external exile, yet their hearts remain in internal exile. The hero does not arrive. The new covenant promised in Jeremiah 31 is not yet realized. What looks like the moment of completion turns into anti-climax.

Ezra and Nehemiah teach us that external reform cannot fix an internal problem. What we ultimately need is not better circumstances or more effort. We need a King. We need a new covenant. We need a transformed heart.

Pastor Chris points us to the fulfillment of those deeper promises in Jesus Christ. The Messiah has come. He does not merely rearrange externals. He renovates the heart. He baptizes with the Holy Spirit. He gives new birth. True renewal comes when the Spirit of God replaces our exile of sin with a new heart that loves God.

The sermon closes with a challenge: Does your life truly hang on the promises of God? Or are you still living under the illusion that you are your own king? Ezra reminds us that we are caught up in a world where God’s promises are driving history. We do not live in Bible land and real life. We live in the world where Christ has risen and is restoring all things.

Sermon Title: Return and Anticipation
Sermon Series: Ezra
Speaker: Chris Meads
Date: February 15, 2026

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