SERMON OUTLINE:
1: Your story matters (Ezra 2:1).
2: Your name matters (Ezra 2:2a).
3: Your household matters (Ezra 2:2b-20).
4: Your place matters (Ezra 2:21-35).
5: Your role matters (Ezra 2:36-58).
6: Your purity matters (Ezra 2:59-63).
7: Your belonging matters (Ezra 2:64-67).
8: Your sacrifice matters (Ezra 2:68-70).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What does our world say it takes to have a life that matters? How does Ezra 2 contradict that?
- Which of these 8 reasons discussed today stands out the most to you? Why?
- What would it feel like to belong to a church that valued these 8 things? How is that different from the rest of society?