​Haggai’s forth & final message comes on the same day as his third. This time the message is personally directed at Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. All the people needed to hear from God, but as a leader Zerubbabel especially did. He needed the encouragement found in these verses. The building of the city walls had not even begun; meaning anyone could invade the city before the temple was complete. There were a lot of uncertainties & God’s people were very vulnerable to attacks from much more powerful nations. Zerubbabel needed a big & personal vision from God to sustain & assure him & that is exactly what Haggai’s final message gives him & us. We are safe in God's hand!

It’s been almost three months since the people begun work on the temple again & it’s now planting season. At this time things would not have looked any different than previous years. So God gave Haggai a third message for the people which finished with a strong assurance that God is ready to bless them. Yet just before he promises his blessing he gets them to stop & consider how things went when they did not prioritise God’s house with how things will go when he blesses their work. This message challenges us as Christians to stop & consider our ways & then devote ourselves wholly to God again while trusting in his promise of blessing in Christ!

It’s one thing to respond to God’s word & begin working on his house again. It’s quite another to keep working until the job is complete. As with the returned exiles of Judah a single message from God can help encourage & motivate us to action again, but it takes more than this keep us motivated through all the ups & downs that come. What we need is something that does not wear off! God has given us that something in the abiding presence of his Spirit with us & in his promises which constantly assure us that the best days are always ahead!

​The book of Haggai is made up of four messages that God spoke through the prophet to the returned exiles of Judah. After being discouraged by opposition to rebuilding the temple Haggai’s first message challenges the priorities of God’s people before encouraging them of God’s empowering presence with them. Haggai’s words bring the same challenge & encouragement to New Testament believers today!

Time To Build Again (1): Sermons on the Old Testament book of Haggai

“There’s the thing you plan to do, & then there’s the thing you end up doing. Most of us start off life with some Plan A which we abandon... switching to a Plan B, which becomes our lives.” Iain Duguid is his commentary on Haggai tells how these words once introduced a radio show tracking stories of people whose lives had turned out different than they anticipated. Maybe for you, life hasn’t turned out the way you envisioned it 10 or 20 years ago & now you find yourself settling for Plan B. If so Haggai might just have something to say to you. In this sermon Pastor John introduces a new sermon series on the Old Testament book of Haggai.