Brian's Sermons

Haggai 2:20-23 They say that timing is everything, but I have to admit that in my scripture reading, I often read right over time and place names, but God inspired the authors to include those names on purpose, and by reading over them, that purpose is thwarted. In today’s scripture, we find the last word of the Lord that came to Haggai. There is a specific date included, and it’s the same date that the last word came, which is also the same day that construction started on the temple. This is significant, because the word that God now delivers is in direct response to Zerubbabel’s actions. I believe that God spoke again in direct response to the people. There are people who believe that God set things into action and then stepped back, but this belief simply does not follow from a biblical understanding of God. In this prophecy, we see God responding to the action of his people! Remember that last week in God’s previous word: God promised to shake away all created things...

Haggai 2:6-19 Last week, we were given to be strong in God and work, do not fear, because God is with us. As we continue in Haggai 2, Haggai brings the word of the Lord. As we read, notice how Haggai refers to God. Five times in four verses, he refers to the Lord Almighty. There are tons of names for God and descriptors of God throughout the Bible, so it’s not by accident that Haggai calls Him the Lord Almighty, especially that he uses the same phrase five times. Haggai wants to reassure a discouraged people of God’s power. I think this is appropriate to remember now – that our God is all powerful. There are times when it’s easy to get discouraged – if you’re not already discouraged, then just check out the political and economic landscape of our nation. And it’s only getting worse. But God is still God! Haggai needs to remind the people of who God is, because of what God is going to do. He prophesies: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once m...

Haggai 2:1-5 When I was in college, Northwestern University had a big observatory on the shore of Lake Michigan. It was really cool – it kind of looked like a giant alien bug. It was right by the intramural soccer fields, where I spent a lot of my time on the weekends, and it was even part of the logo for the college of arts and sciences. There was just one problem. Our proximity to Chicago rendered the observatory ineffective. You couldn’t see much of anything because of the light pollution. So they took out the telescope and sent it to Arizona or somewhere, and they tore down the observatory. Actually, that was a story in itself – the strange design of the observatory ended up causing the demolition team fits trying to destroy it. They tried to implode it with explosive charges, but instead of imploding, it just leaned. Then they tried to pull it over with big tow trucks, but that didn’t work either. They finally got it down and out of there, and a campus landmark was gone. ...

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...