Beyond the Weekend

May 9 | God Sends a Message

May 9, 2016

Haggai 1-2

Our new sermon series, Beginning Again, is the story of Haggai that follows on the heels of Jeremiah. While Jeremiah focuses on Israel worshipping foreign gods, leading to the fall of Jerusalem, Haggai focuses on the restoration following their return to the Promised Land. In Haggai 1, the returned exiles are busy building houses and restoring fields, but have neglected rebuilding the Temple of God destroyed in the Babylon siege.

God is disappointed. In Old Testament times the Temple symbolizes his presence and glorifies him in the eyes of surrounding non-Jewish nations. The Temple is where he meets his people who come to confess, sacrifice, and worship. It represents the spiritual heart of the nation of Israel. (In New Testament times, Jesus’ death on the cross makes worshipping God a personal experience through the indwelling of his Holy Spirit making each believer a temple of God.)

So God sends a message through Haggai to Israel, “You need a new priority.” Sixteen years earlier they’d started the Temple foundation, but failed to complete it because they’ve chosen personal satisfaction over worshipping God. They needed to move from “someday” to “today.”

Today in your Chair time, identify a foundation you’ve started to build in your journey with God but then walked away. Maybe it was regular prayer (but you got too busy), finding a new church after moving (but it isn’t like your old church), or continuing to forgive someone who deeply hurt you (but it’s too painful). Ask God to help you begin again by giving you the desire to make your “someday” into “today” as you take one step forward in faith.

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