It was a great start!

The Lord stirred the hearts of His people to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Materials and financing were arranged. Dedicated, devoted, motivated people moved to Jerusalem, gathered in unity, built the altar, laid the temple foundation and with joy and exuberant emotion worshipped and celebrated for a season, as the Lord had commanded!

It was a great start … then opposition, fear, and discouragement set in.

The people of God got stuck. The work stopped. Not just for a season – for years.

How do you get unstuck?

In his book, “How to Get Unstuck” author Matt Perman offers several remedies for getting “unstuck.” Among other things, God’s people must “understand the power of vision.”

God’s people were stuck, but God’s plans and purposes were not.

Once again, the Lord took the initiative. He raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah whom God used to revive vision and jump start the stalled restoration of the temple.

As we see the strange and shattered world all around we may face opposition, fear, discouragement, and find ourselves, individually and collectively, stuck.

Stalled out on the road.

God’s Word is ready to jump start us again and get us back on the move again.

This Sunday we will consider Ezra chapter 5 and restored vision.

The Lord is Gracious!

Bob Landon

TREASURE SEEKERS

This Sunday Treasure Seekers resumes after its short summer break.  Over the next few Sundays, the children will look at the book of Daniel.

As seen in the book of Jeremiah, God allowed his people to be conquered and exiled as a punishment for their persistent unfaithfulness and idolatry.  Daniel was a young Jewish man exiled when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem.  He served several Babylonian kings and saw the fall of the Babylonian empire.

The kids at Treasure Seekers will see some of the experiences of Daniel and his contemporaries as they navigated what it meant to worship the one true God in a foreign land.

Discoverers and Explorers will be together this Sunday.  Please can Explorers kids bring their bibles?

Sunday 11 August

Lesson Title: The Food

Text: Daniel 1:1-21

Big Idea: Daniel refused to eat the Babylonian king’s food to show that he was different because he worshipped the one true God.

Aim: To teach that Christians need to live differently to show that Jesus is their king.

ICFD Kids and Youth Ministry
“Every child knowing Christ’s love”