Sermon Tone Analysis

Communion

matt 26.26=29

1 Cor 11.232

Vision Minute

A big thank you to all who gave in the children’s ministry offering a couple of weeks ago (Just a little over $900).

Some of those funds are going towards helping to sponsor some children for Kid’s camp July 8-12th.

($160.00 - Give online, use offering envelope or see Pastor Robin).

We must be strategic about reaching the next generation!

Introduction

Leadership Journal - “Churchgoers may seek a ‘life-changing experience’ but only if it doesn’t affect their lifestyle.”

Two Part Series: A Minor Prophet with a Major Message

First things first: God’s presence is priority

Don’t Quit: the best is yet to come!

The Book of Haggai, the second shortest in the Old Testament (38 verses)

It was written to people like us, who would say that God must be first, but they had drifted away from this truth.

It was written to people like us, who would say that God must be first, but they had drifted away from this truth.

They lived with misplaced priorities.

Haggai was sent to help God's people get their priorities in line with what they knew they should be.

The phrase “thus says the Lord of hosts” (and its variations) occurs 29 x’s pointing to a sense of urgency!

Background

First of three books (Haggai, Zechariah & Malachi) written after people returned from exile.

Israel (north) & Judah (south) fell to the Babylonians by 586 B.C.

Persians came into power 539 B.C.

King Cyrus issued a decree allowing Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple

Isaiah & Jeremiah prophesied about this event

isaiah 45.

jer

First company of Jews returned to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for a new temple in 536 B.C. with great excitement.

Workers soon encountered strong physical opposition (Samaritans) ()

Workers became discouraged - project stopped in 534 B.C.

Spiritual apathy and laziness took the place of excitement

The people turned their attention to rebuilding their own houses and personal lives.

In 522 (14 years after the project started) Darius the Great came to power (ruler of Persia - Persians replaced the Babylonians)

He had great interest in the religions of his kingdom

In 520 Haggai began urging Zerubbabel to resume rebuilding God’s house

With Darius’s full support, the workers overcame discouragement and opposition and according to finished the project four years later.

During a four month period in 520 B.C. Haggai delivered four brief but firm messages.

Each of the four messages are introduced by the phrase “The Word of the Lord”

Haggai’s message was blunt.

He pulled no punches and wasted no words.

Haggai spoke like a foreman on a construction project.

With a hard hat and a tool belt, walking around the construction site, he bellowed out orders.

The prophet Haggai was like an alarm clock—unwelcome but necessary.

Twice in these messages the prophet urged them to “Consider your ways” or “Give careful thought to their ways.”

(NIV) In response Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the people were overcome with Godly fear.

As a result they started to work on God’s temple.

“Churchgoers may seek a ‘life-changing experience’ but only if it doesn’t affect their lifestyle.”

(Leadership Journal)

Today I want to present to you a few practical steps about putting “First Things First”

1. Stop Making Excuses

There were some good reasons why they might say this; The land was still desolate after 70 years of neglect, The work was hard, They didn’t have a lot of money or manpower, They suffered crop failures and drought, enemies resisted the work, and they remembered easier times in Babylon.

Excuse #1 = The people were waiting for a “convenient” time.

Excuse #2 = The Lord had not blessed them with a good harvest.

Excuse #3 = The Fear of the Samaritans (they opposed the work before & would not allow the Jews to gather timber)

The people made their excuse sound spiritual.

The couldn’t speak against the idea of building the temple, so they spoke against its timing.

“It isn’t God’s timing to rebuild the temple.”

The people made their excuse sound spiritual.

The couldn’t speak against the idea of building the temple, so they spoke against its timing.

“It isn’t God’s timing to rebuild the temple.”

Guzik, D. (2001).

Haggai ().

Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

“This People or These People” vs. “My People” = When you begin to ‘Make Excuses’ instead of simply doing what God tells you to do, you remove God’s favor from your life!

Benjamin Franklin wrote, "I never knew a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else."

“Everyone has enough time to serve God.

Everyone has enough money to give to God.

But we have become consumers, so we serve ourself first” Francis Chan (Crazy Love)

(vs.

2) “This People or These People” vs. “My People” = When you begin to ‘Make Excuses’ instead of simply doing what God tells you to do, you remove God’s favor from your life!

(Example: how I jokingly say to my wife “your son” or “she is your daughter”)

2. Stop Being Selfish

Closely aligned with excuse making is a selfish mindset that permeates everything.

Haggai challenged the people's selfish behavior.

Paneled houses = They had finished the walls of their homes with costly woodwork.

(possibly with the timber (Cedar) that was to be used for building the temple)

This was a practice which was considered luxurious even for a king!

Jeremiah’s prophesy harshly condemned King Jehoiakim for his cruelty and injustice in governing the people of Judah.

He was later taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during his first invasion of Jerusalem.

Nothing is wrong with having a nice home.

This statement is not an attack on riches or big houses.

What's wrong is spend all your money on selfish needs while ignoring the things of God.

What's wrong is to spend one's time, one's best hours, and one's talents on selfish pursuits while the things of God are left undone.

It is easy to drift away from God's agenda to our own.

It is easy to pursue selfish desires while ignoring God's.

In fact, it is the default mode of our lives.

Like William Cowper, the hymn writer and pastor, penned: "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.

Prone to leave the God I love."

(Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)

“Whenever we place a higher priority on solving our problems than on pursuing God, we are immoral.”

3. Don’t Miss God’s Blessing

As a consequence of their excuse-making and selfish living, the people in Haggai's day experienced hardship.

They sowed plenty of seed, but there was a drought and the crops didn't yield as much as they had hoped.

They were laboring but showing no profit.

No matter how hard they tried, they seemed to be spinning their wheels.

No matter how much money they made, they could not keep it.

Haggai is saying, “It pays to serve God.”

What they did not see was that God caused their predicament.

They hadn't stopped to consider that God was trying to tell them something.

Haggai basically said: "Hey!