Brian's Sermons

Haggai 1:12-15 Last week we looked at the first chapter of Haggai, where God spoke through the prophet to a poor and defeated people who had limped back to Jerusalem, still under foreign rule. The accusation was that they were focused on their own houses while the house of the Lord lay in ruins. God called them to obedience, and in the last few verses in chapter 1, we see the response: Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. The response of the people is immediate and unanimous. The people feared the Lord. Don’t let that phrase slip past you just because you’ve heard it a million times. Do you really know the fear of the Lord? Jesus isn’t just your “homeboy” – he is God Almighty, and putting ourselves before him is a terrifying thing. God isn’t just a kindl...

Haggai 1 This week as I was preparing to preach, I realized that I only have seven weeks left to preach. In deciding what to preach on, I was looking through my sermon archives, and I realized that I had never preached from Haggai. In fact, I don’t remember ever hearing a sermon series on Haggai. As I read through the book – it’s just a short little two-chapter prophecy – I thought that God could use it for us. So you are being the pilot congregation for my first foray into Haggai. Have you ever been in the pilot program? Haggai knew how this felt – Haggai was the first post-exilic prophet. In 520 BC, the word of the Lord came to the people through Haggai. I wonder what it felt like – for so many years, God was silent. Now the people are back home, and God finally speaks again. Now, for a little perspective, God’s people did not triumphantly ride back into Jerusalem. They were allowed to go back, and there is a huge difference. They are still a conquered people, disappointe...