• Hebrews 6:4-8, 11-12
• Purpose – Acts 17:24-27
  • Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, 17-18; 3:10 – Without God, life is vanity.
  • The gospel gives us purpose.
  • Romans 1:18-21
  • Matthew 22:36-38 – The greatest commandment is to love God.
  • Ecclesiastes 12:13
• Hope – I Thessalonians 4:13
  • Proverbs 13:12
  • I Corinthians 15:16-19, 32, 51-57
  • We can take joy in our future because the gospel gives us hope.
  • Ephesians 4:4
• Peace – Philippians 4:6-7
  • II Corinthians 1:12
  • II Timothy 1:13
  • We can have peace because our sins are forgiven.
  • Mark 4:36-39 – With Jesus we can have this perfect calm.
• Love – Romans 5:6-8
  • I John 5:1
  • Romans 2:4 – God’s love leads us to repentance!
• Nothing else in the world can provide these things.

• A second covenant
  • Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:9-13 – God has given us a new covenant established on better promises.
    • Galatians 3:17, 29
  • A second birth – John 3:3,5
    • Matthew 7:21 – Calling on the name of the Lord requires obedience. It is not just saying God’s name.
  • A second law of pardon – I John 1:8-10; Acts 8:22
    • When a child of God sins, he can repent and pray to God for forgiveness.
  • A second coming of Christ – Acts 1:11; Hebrews 9:27-28; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; II Thessalonians 1:8-10
  • A second death – Revelation 20:12-14
    • The second death is eternal condemnation and separation from God.
  • A second home – Matthew 25:46
    • Matthew 7:14
  • Two pseudo seconds:
    • A second chance for one who died in sin if a priest is paid to appeal to God for pardon of a dead loved one.
    • A second change for one who died in sin if one is baptized for a dead loved one.
  • Seriously contemplate two things:
    • What sorrow it will be to hear Jesus say, “Depart into the lake of fire and brimstone.”
    • What joy it will be to hear Jesus say, “Come ye blessed of the Father, enter the joy of heaven.”

• Lead, continued:
  • Leadership qualities, skills, traits (continued)
    • Vision – Philippians 3:14
    • Service – Matthew 20:25-28
    • Communication – Ephesians 4:29
      • Revelation 2:1-7 is a good example of how to deliver constructive criticism: tell them what they are doing well, tell them what they are doing wrong, and then encourage.
    • Competence – II Timothy 2:15
    • Confidence – I Samuel 17:45
    • Commitment – Romans 12:1-2
    • Stable/sober – I Corinthians 16:13; I Peter 1:13
    • Engagement – John 3:16; Matthew 5:16
  • Kinds of leadership
    • Leading well
      • Good leadership
        • Vision – II Corinthians 4:16-18
        • Direction – I Timothy 1:16
        • Motivation – I Thessalonians 2:4
      • Skilled leadership
        • Relation – Hebrews 4:15: Jesus can relate to us!
        • Communication – Psalms 19:1-11: God communicates what we need to know.
        • Timing of action – Hebrews 5:12

• Exile, Return and Rebuilding (Daniel, Ezra, Esther, Nehemiah)
  • Lamentations 1:1-3
  • The remnant returns:

1st return

Ezra 2:1-67

538 -535 BC

Large group led by Sheshbazzar/Zerubbabel and others

2nd return

Ezra 7:28-8:20

458 BC

Large group led by Ezra

3rd return

Nehemiah 2:5-11

445 BC

Nehemiah (group unknown)

• When things aren’t right
  • Daniel 1:8
• God is faithful
  • Deportations:

1st

Jeremiah 25:11-12

605 BC

2nd

Jeremiah 29:10

597 BC

3rd

II Chronicles 36:21

586 BC

• Cyrus Cylinder

• Getting motivated to work

  • Rebuilding the temple (Ezra 4-6)
    • 536 BC – Work starts; adversaries discourage
    • 520 BC – Haggai and Zechariah encourage; work resumes
    • 516 BC – Finished
  • Ezra 3:10
  • Nehemiah 4:1-6 – Nehemiah pushes ahead with the work despite adversaries
  • Nehemiah 6:14-16
  • Rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3-6)
    • 445 BC – 1st month (Nisan) – Nehemiah asks permission to go to Jerusalem
    • 445 BC – (month unknown) – Wall to half its height
    • 445 BC – 6th month (Elul) – finished in 52 days

• Ephesians 5:1-2
• Demanding love
  • Mark 10:17-22 – Jesus demanded sacrifice from the man.
  • Matthew 10:32-33, 16, 22, 25, 28, 34-36; 11:1 – Jesus demanded much from His 12 apostles.
• Tough love
  • Matthew 23:37 – The people needed tough love from Jesus
  • Acts 9:3-16 – Paul’s conversion
  • Don’t let anyone soften Jesus’ love – it should cut us deeply!
  • Love does not mean the absence of rebuke.
• Unpopular love
  • Luke 7:34-50 – Jesus loves even the most lowly people.
• Patient love
  • Matthew 14:30-31; 16:21-23; John 13:8-10; Luke 22:31-32, 50-51, 60-62; John 21:15-22 – Jesus had patient love for Peter through all his mistakes.
• Sacrificial love
  • John 1:29; 10:11; 15:13; 19:1-3, 16-18, 28-30 – Jesus gave Himself for us.
• Personal love
  • Galatians 2:20