Living a Life that Makes a Difference in 2009
Haggai 1:8b, 9 (Message)
“…rebuild the Temple. Do it just for me. Honor me. You’ve had great ambitions for yourselves, but nothing has come of it.”
Good morning and Merry Christmas! And I will through in a Happy New Year as well! This morning I want to talk about this new year coming up. 2009! You know, I grew up in the 80’s and anything that has the numbers 2000 in it just sounds futuristic to me. 2010 Space Odyssey, Wonder Blender 2000, Super Soaker 2000, Windows 2000, ect. I was thinking about this and got to thinking about the history of our church and what things must have been like in 1796 when our church was founded. What were the people like? What were their goals for this church? What were their lives like? How dedicated were they to Christ and His commandments, “Love God with your all and love your neighbor as yourself?” Did they face the same struggles that we face as individuals? How did they go about making a difference in the church 200 years ago? Where did they think the church would be nearly 200 years later? Would they be pleased with the progress we have made for the Kingdom of Christ on the Eve of 2009?
I guess the main thought is that they made a difference by building this church. The question is, “How can we make a difference in the in 2009?”
Lets take a look at our text this morning. Turn with me to Haggai. It is a really short little book towards the end of the New Testament. It is right before Zachariah and Malachi. Let me give you some background on Haggai before we get into the text. You see the Israelites have been in captivity. Their homeland and everything in it has been destroyed including their temple that King Solomon built. The king of Persia, King Darius, has allowed some of the Israelites to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple but after living there for over 20 years they got discouraged with it and never really even got started. They got preoccupied with their own lives and neglected God and His House. Enter Haggai! Haggai was a prophet of God that God sent to these people to give them a message. Get off your duffs and finish my House! That is where our text begins.
Haggai 1:1-15 (KJV)
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built. 3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. 9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD. 13 Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. 14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
From this text I have found at least 3 ways that we can make a difference in our church. The first is this, God Wants us to Defeat materialism.
Haggai 1:4-11 (NIV)
4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”
God wants us focused on Him, not on earthly possessions. The people of Israel were more concerned with what color to paint their walls, more concerned with whether they should put up sheetrock or go with the 1970’s version of wood paneling in their homes, than the work that God had given them to do over 20 years previous. We do the same thing you know. Let us look at this way. Let me preface by saying that in the New Testament that the Temple is the body of a believer and the church is a group of believers that fellowship together, not a building. However, our church is where we meet and where we invite guest to come and learn about our great God. That being said, how many of us can say that we care more about how our church building looks than the way our house looks. We have done a lot of work to this old building, but there is a lot left to do. We cannot become complacent; we cannot allow nostalgia to dictate how we use our building for God either. If we are not careful, we can be as guilty as the Israelites when it comes to building neglect I believe.
However, this passage speaks to more than just a building; it speaks of a lifestyle choice. We as Christians have to make a choice. Is our God really the Lord, manager, CEO of my life? If He is then I must surrender every portion of my life to Him, including my money, and time. The first step to defeating Materialism, the love of things, is to
Make God the priority of your life. You have to live every waking moment for him. Spend every penny with the idea that you are doing so for him.
Greed is what makes this so difficult. Greed is just another form of sin rearing up and intruding in our lives and our efforts to serve God. The bible says,
Luke 12:15 (NIV)
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
We have to Love God more than things. We say we do, but often times our actions say otherwise. We say I love God and want to serve Him, but we fail to follow the simplest of his commands to give our tithe. The Israelites did this and you see what God did to them. Haggai said that they went out and planted and only harvested ½ what they should have. God sent a drought to take away their possessions. They ate and drank their fill, just to discover it wasn’t satisfying, they were hungry and thirsty again in no time. The more money they made, the more money the needed, it was like they had holes in their wallets. Anyone here today feel that way? Like you just can’t get ahead? It may be because you have let greed into your life. You have let the Love of things crowd out your love for God and He is reminding you of that fact by “rearranging” your finances for you. Many people say, “I can’t tithe, I don’t have the money, when God blesses my finances I will tithe, but I have to pay the bills first.” If that is what you say, you will never ever give God what is His. God wants an attitude change. He wants you to give in faith what is His, so he can show you His power by supplying your needs in a way that baffles the World.
The third step to defeating Materialism is to
care about others more than you care about yourself. It is hard to be focused on our materialism when we are looking after and caring for others that are less fortunate than ourselves. Did you know that God will only bless Christians with wealth when they are surrendered to using that wealth for the honor of His kingdom? It all comes down to that great commandment again. Love the Lord God with all your heart… and love you neighbor as yourself.
So in order to make a difference in your church you must defeat Materialism in your life. You must also
Devote time to His Word. You must study it, learn it. It was the Word of the Lord that made a difference in the lives of the people of Israel.
3 Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:
The Word of God can and will make a difference in your life.
In order to make a difference in our church we must be willing to hear from God. We must be willing to let Him instruct us in to show the ministries we need to be active in. Here is the way we do this. We must read His Word. We live in the 21st century folks. This is not hard. Don’t like to read? Get the Bible on tape or CD. Need a visual to watch, get the Bible on VHS or DVD. Spend all your time at a computer? Get the Bible on MP3’s or even get it to listen to on your IPOD! There are more ways to study the Bible today than ever before. We are with out excuse. You want to have victory over sin? You want to live a life that makes a difference? Study the Word of God. Let God’s truth make a difference in your lifestyle. How do I know it will work? King David once penned these words. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” If it worked for King David and all he had was a bunch of leather scrolls to read, then I dare say that we, with all our technology, should be able to study God’s Word and hide it in our hearts, that we too can avoid sin and temptations such as materialism.
Once you have put the Word of God in your heart and in your mouth, you really do not have any choice in the matter. Jeremiah refers to God’s Word as a fire. A fire spreads. You cannot contain it. The Word of God will make a difference in your life. God will use His word in you to change you, to make you a better person, to make you accomplish great things for him.
It is great to memorize versus and stuff, but you don’t have to know the entire Bible word for word to use it or for God to use you. You want to tell some one about Jesus? How to get saved? Tell them what the bible says. Everybody has sinned. Jesus lived and died and rose again to pay for those sins. If you believe in Jesus and what He did for you and ask Him to forgive you of those sins He will save you. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to be the manager of your life. Ask Him to be and He will.
Did I quote any Bible verses? No, but I gave you the Word of God didn’t I? It is hid in my heart, God can use it through me and my tongue because I have studied it and understand it. Once you have started studying the Bible, by personal bible reading time, Sunday school, bible studies, you will find that you can use it too and that you have a compulsion to do so. Because it is like a fire shut up in your bones. You have to let it out!
To make a difference in your church you must Defeat Materialism, Devote time to study God’s Word, and you must
Determine to do His Work.
The amazing thing about this story of Haggai is the response that he got to the message he delivered. You see in just over 20 days after he delivered the message of the Lord, the people of Israel started in working again on the Temple. They heard and studied the Word, they then were convicted of their materialism, repented of it, then decided to devote themselves to the doing of the Word. James 1:22 tells us to not just listen to the word but to do what it says. We cannot go through life just swallowing up the Word of God like a sponge. We must be doers of Word. We must squeeze the sponge. We must serve others. We must build this church. We must tell our friends and neighbors and coworkers and relatives about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We must clothe the homeless; we must feed those children who don’t know where that next meal is coming from. We need to ask that person that is crying at work, what is wrong and if there is something that we can do to help, and must mean it.
God will not bless this church until we understand that this life is not about the accumulation of possessions but it is about doing His work. The children of Israel had to learn it the hard way. Haggai tells us that they were working their fingers to the bone trying to accomplish things for personal gain. But God blew it all away because it brought no honor to Him.
If we spend our life working for our purposes or even doing God’s work for our purposes, many people do that you know. They have 15 ministries in the church but everyone they do, they do for personal glorification. If we live that way we are told that God is displeased. The Bible says that all of our works, whether for ourselves or for God will be judged by fire. If you are living for yourself you are building a foundation of wood and straw. If you are living for God, obeying his word, tithing, giving of your time to further this church, giving of your self in every way you can, then you are building a foundation of gold and precious stones. Which will last through the fire? The Lord knows the difference.
So, what do you need to do to Determine to do His work? It is really pretty simple but so hard to do. You must surrender. You must surrender your self to His will.
I Corinthians 15:58 says, “Stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Nothing you ever do in this world will ever matter unless it is done for the Lord. Nothing that you do for anyone else will count. It will all burn away in the fire. But, nothing that you ever do for Jesus Christ and His Kingdom and His Church will ever be forgotten. It is not in vain. Every time you show up for choir practice, every time you show up to clean the church, every time you help prepare a meal for a church fellowship, every time you teach a Sunday school class, every time you tell a 5 year old child that Jesus loves them, every time you do one of these things, and many more, you are giving to Jesus. You are doing His work. You are being a doer of the Word. And that is never in vain, the rewards are immeasurable.
So let’s close like this. I want you to ask yourself a question. Here it is, real easy. How can I make a difference in my church? Do I need to defeat materialism in my life? Then do so this morning. Just talk to Jesus and say, “Jesus, I surrender my love for things to you. I am sorry that I have loved things more than I have loved you and your work.” Maybe you need to devote time to His Word. Then pray a prayer like this on from your heart. “Jesus, I ask for forgiveness for neglecting the study of your Word. Please give me the strength to make Bible study a priority in my life. Please help me to make it to every Bible Study that I can. Speak to me through your Word Jesus.” Maybe this morning you realized that you need to Determine to do God’s Work that he has for you to do. That you have been neglecting His work, or maybe you have been working for the wrong reasons, or with the wrong motivations. Would you give that over to God this morning with a prayer like this one, “Jesus, I am sorry for neglecting your Work. Help me to defeat personal greed, and focus on loving you and loving others. Help me to find the task that you want me to do and then to have the strength to do it. Help me to make serving you a priority in my life over the accumulation of things or self promotion.” If you prayed a pray like that this morning, would you simply take raise your hand so that I can pray for you?
We can make a difference. Together if we all determine to live for God all the time, Addison County will not be able to contain us. There will not be a lost person in the area that will be able to resist us. If we all determine to live for God and to serve Him with everything we have, we will experience revival like none of us or the builders of this church nearly 200 years ago, have ever seen. Together, let us live a life that makes a difference in 2009.
