The People Rebuilt the Temple (Ezra 2–6)

Dear families,

Imagine this for a moment: It’s late Saturday night, and you’ve been out of the house all day. You’ve gone from place to place with more to do than seemed possible when you looked at all of it on the calendar. You’ve just returned home and sat down for dinner. Suddenly you remember that tomorrow is Sunday. You quickly recall that you are scheduled to serve with preschoolers tomorrow morning, your small group is having lunch together after church, and you are yet to plan out this upcoming week—which is just as packed as your weekend has been. The thought crosses your mind, What if I just sat this one out tomorrow? 

Does this scenario hit close to home? 

In Ezra 3, as the work had begun to rebuild the temple, there was an eager desire among God’s people, leading them to anticipate what that place would afford them upon its completion. As the people worked and waited, even in the midst of their exhaustion, they made time to worship. 

Read Ezra 3:6. Not only was the temple incomplete, but the first stage of the build was not yet done. Still, the laborers did not forget or fail to keep the purpose in front. The goal was not the temple; it was the Lord. 

We often find ourselves in scenarios like the one above, ready to make excuses to not do the things that matter most because we’ve misplaced our priorities—or at least lost sight of them in the whirlwind of life. Our decisions reflect what has the seat of greatest importance in our lives. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” 

Understanding Christ to be our greatest purpose and prize ought to direct our paths toward prioritizing our lives around Christ and His church. Not only will this be good for us, but it will be good for the rest of God’s children as well. When we are eager to be with the Lord and His people, not only will we be productive, but we will be truly satisfied.

Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. 

FAMILY TALKING POINTS

CHRIST CONNECTION

This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.

• Babies & Toddlers: God’s people rebuilt the temple where they could worship God. Years later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to be with His people on earth.

• Younger Preschool: God’s people rebuilt the temple so they would have a place to worship God. Years later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to be with His people on earth.

• Older Preschool: God’s people rebuilt the temple so they would have a place to worship God. Years later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to be with His people on earth. Jesus gave us something better than the temple; He gave us Himself. Jesus is with us wherever we go.

• Kids: God's people rebuilt the temple so they would have a place to worship God. Years later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to be with His people. Now, God does not dwell with His people through the temple. Instead, God dwells directly with His people through His Spirit. Jesus provided something better than the temple; He gives us Himself.

BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER

This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

• Younger Preschool: Can God be trusted? Yes, we can trust whatever He has said.

• Older Preschool: Can God be trusted? Yes, God cannot lie, so we can trust whatever He has said.

• Kids: Can God be trusted? Yes, God cannot lie or ever be wrong, so we can trust whatever He has said.

KEY PASSAGE

This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

• Babies & Toddlers: Trust in the Lord. Jeremiah 17:7

• Younger Preschool: The person who trusts in the Lord is blessed. Jeremiah 17:7

• Older Preschool: The person who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence indeed is the LORD, is blessed. Jeremiah 17:7

• Kids: The person who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence indeed is the LORD, is blessed. Jeremiah 17:7

** Next week: God Can Always Be Trusted (Jeremiah 31)

Zechariah Gave Hope (Zechariah 13–14)

Dear families,

Peace and security are words often heard in the whirlwind of our news cycles. They are used as ideas or desires that require work to achieve. They are used in the negative sense of not being a current reality. They are used as the aim, answer, or solution to the world’s problems.

Though the idea of peace and security are not foreign to our vernacular, they are most certainly foreign to much of our world’s reality. It is hard to find a pocket of the earth that might be described with these terms. Rather, what is most found is chaos and fear.  

When we understand the true impact of sin on the world, this comes as no surprise. It’s not shocking to see the news of war and violence. It does not bring amazement to hear of murder and strife. There is no astonishment at the experience of disappointment or pain. Because we know that we live in a world riddled with sin and its implications. 

Read the words of Zechariah 14:11. What comes to mind? “People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of complete destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security.”

Are you struck by the thought of such a place that could be described as secure? Are you left longing for that to be your reality? Are you doubtful that this could ever be a reality? 

Ultimately, this is a promise that is sure to happen. This promise is reiterated in Deuteronomy 7:7-9:

“The LORD had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.” 

This promise was for God’s people then, and it is for all who follow Jesus today as well. This peace and security is ours in Christ. As sure as Christ has come, lived, died, and risen, so can we find rest that this promise is true and this day will come.

Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. 

FAMILY TALKING POINTS

CHRIST CONNECTION

This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.

• Babies & Toddlers: God would one day set up a new and better kingdom with a new and better King—Jesus. God kept His promise by sending Jesus. Because of Jesus, we can have hope and forgiveness of sins by trusting in Him.

• Younger Preschool: Zechariah spoke a message of hope to God’s people. God would one day set up a new and better kingdom with a new and better King. God kept His promise by sending Jesus. Because of Jesus, we can have hope and forgiveness of sins by trusting in Him.

• Older Preschool: Zechariah spoke a message of hope to God’s people. God would one day set up a new and better kingdom with a new and better King. God kept His promise by sending Jesus. Because of Jesus, we can have hope and forgiveness of sins by trusting in Him.

• Kids: Zechariah spoke a message of hope to God’s people. God would one day set up a new and better kingdom with a new and better King. God kept His promise by sending Jesus. Because of Jesus, we can have hope and forgiveness of sins by trusting in Him.

BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER

This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

• Younger Preschool: Can God be trusted? Yes, we can trust whatever He has said.

• Older Preschool: Can God be trusted? Yes, God cannot lie, so we can trust whatever He has said.

• Kids: Can God be trusted? Yes, God cannot lie or ever be wrong, so we can trust whatever He has said.

KEY PASSAGE

This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

God’s People Were Taken Captive (2 Chronicles 36)

Dear families,

Throughout 2 Chronicles 36, it is easy to see that God is the one who raises up and removes kings and rulers and all who are in authority. But this reality can sometimes shake us in profound ways. It may cause us to ask why. This question is fair considering that we often see rulers who don’t love God making decisions that display their lack of belief in God, and it is hard to imagine that God is the One who placed them in leadership.

Why would God allow bad leaders to be in charge? This is a tough question, but Scripture speaks to it in several ways. For one, Romans 13:1-2 remind us to submit to those in authority since they are instituted by God himself. Therefore, to resist authority is to oppose the commands of God, so long as the authority doesn’t demand disobedience to God.

Another place we see this principle play out in Scripture is with Daniel. We find Daniel rebelling against the king’s demand to worship something other than God. But we also find Daniel willfully subjecting himself to the king’s leadership in other circumstances that do not demand his disobedience. Further, we find Daniel actually praying to God and confessing that He is the One who changes brings about the rise and fall of leaders.

Daniel 2:21 says, “He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”

The Bible teaches us that God stands sovereign over all things, even the rise and fall of leaders. That includes the most godly of leaders and even those that are most opposed to the things of God. The Lord, in His good purposes may be seeking to wake us up, bring consequence, or refine His people, but His purposes are always good.

God is always working in all times and seasons. And though we may wonder about His purposes in certain circumstances, we can trust that they are always ultimately for His glory and our good, even when that is hard to understand or believe.

Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities.

FAMILY TALKING POINTS

CHRIST CONNECTION

This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.

• Babies & Toddlers: Jesus took the punishment for our wrong choices.

• Younger Preschool: God was right to punish His people because they sinned. Many years later, God sent His Son, Jesus. Jesus took the punishment for our sin.

• Older Preschool: God was right to punish His people because they sinned. But God still loved them, and He was going to give His people a good king, just like He said He would. Many years later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to be our King forever. Jesus took the punishment we should get for our sin.

• Kids: God was right to punish His people for their sin, but He kept His promise to provide a king through David’s family. Ultimately, God punished our sin through His Son, Jesus, and made Him our King forever.

BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER

This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

• Younger Preschool: What makes people special? People are special because God made us.

• Older Preschool: What makes people special? People are special because God made us in His own image.

• Kids: What makes people special? People are special because we are made in God’s image, as male and female, to know Him.

KEY PASSAGE

This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

• Babies & Toddlers: God made me. Psalm 139:14

• Younger Preschool: I will praise God because He made me. Psalm 139:14

• Older Preschool: I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. Psalm 139:14

• Kids: For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. Psalm 139:13-14

** Next week: Every Person Matters (Psalm 139)