"`Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong O Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. `Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, `and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’ Haggai ch 2 v 3 - 7
"This is what the Lord Almighty says: `In a little while I will once more shake the heavens & the earth, the sea & the dry land. I will shake all nations, & the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty."
Right now I particularly want you to notice the question in the middle of the third verse, "How does it look to you now?" That is a good question to ask during the first few weeks of a new year, "How does it look to you now?"
Look back at the past year. How does it look to you now?
It probably looks a little different than it did back at the beginning of 2008. Now we can look back & see all the pounds we lost and then regained...... We can see the promises we broke. We can see all the hopes and dreams the disappointments and mistakes ..........of 2008
We can also ask this question about the coming year. How does that look to us now? As we look forward to the prospects of the New Year year, what do we see?
Do we see doom & gloom? Some of the prophets of doom tell us that 2009 will see a recession. They say that it is going to be a bad year economically.
But other forecasters tell us that 2009 will be a great year, and that we can expect wonderful and exciting things to happen in our nation and the world.
So what do you see? Do you see clouds, or sunshine? Do you see despair, or hope? What do you see as you look forward in 2009 ?
Behavioral scientists have discovered that we usually the things that we are prepared to see, and that this is all centered in a network of nerve cells called the "Reticular Activating System." And everybody here today has a "Reticular Activating System." Did you know that? MmMm
The Reticular Activating System works like this. Once something has been brought to our attention and we have been prepared to see it, we’ll see it virtually everywhere we go.
For example, if you decide to buy a new car. You decide that you are going to buy a certain brand, a certain body style, certain colour, all of a sudden you’ll see those cars everywhere. You’ll see them on the roads, in TV advertisements, in newspapers and magazines. They’re everywhere.
Now what has happened? They were always there, but the moment you were prepared to see them, your Reticular Activating System kicked in, and suddenly you saw them everywhere.
It happens in other areas of life, too. We see what we are prepared to see. If we are prepared to see doom and gloom in 2009, that’s what we’ll see. If, on the other hand, we have prepared ourselves to see sunshine and opportunities, then that is what we are going to see. Hallelujah! Amen....in Jesus
On the other hand, if we see ourselves as failures, if we see ourselves as weak and sickly, chances are pretty good that that’s what we’ll be.
So let’s ask the question, "How does it look now?" and consider it in 3 different areas.
I. HOW DO YOU LOOK TO YOURSELF?
First of all, how do you look to yourself? When you look in the mirror, what kind of person looks back? Who are you inside? What do you see, someone who is weak and constantly failing,..... someone who isn’t worth very much?................
Do you see an eager, optimistic person who can hardly wait for the next day to begin because there are so many things to do? What do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror?
I often hear people say things like, "Why, I can’t do that." Or, "That’s just too hard." Others say, "I know I’m hard to get along with, but that’s just the way I am. Lord knows, I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to change."
But the Bible says that when God’s Holy Spirit comes to live in our lives He can bring about dramatic and drastic changes, if we will let Him.
When Jesus came into the life of Saul of Tarsus, who at the time was breathing out threatenings and slaughter on the church of believers,......... Jesus changed Saul into the gentle, yet strong Apostle Paul who preached throughout the world of his day. And He can do the same in our lives, too.
But a lot depends upon what we see. How do you look to yourself? Let me challenge you from Scripture to see yourself the way God sees you.
In Philippians 2:13 God says something that ought to influence how we see ourselves. "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."
Paul is saying that we are a part of God’s investment in the future. We are bundles of unlimited opportunity and potential. God wants to change us, and then through us He wants to influence and change the world.
So don’t ever go around saying, "Well, that’s the way I am.. You’ll just have to accept me this way." Because nothing is further from the truth. God can change you, if you’ll let Him work His will in your life.
Someone said, "Life can be hard if lived by the yard. But it is a cinch by the inch. " So place your life in God’s hand and live it one step at a time.
Some years ago two 8-year-old boys decided to pour kerosene in the pot bellied stove in their school room because it was cold and they wanted to warm things up.
They poured what they thought was kerosene on the fire, but it was gasoline, and the stove exploded. One boy was killed. the other left with badly burned legs. Doctors told his parents that they must amputate his legs right away or his whole body could become infected.
The parents said, "Let’s wait a day." The next day the doctors said, "His legs must be amputated." The parents said, "Let’s wait another day."
This went on for several weeks, until finally the doctors discovered that the legs were healing, but that the left leg would be 2 1/2 inches shorter than the right leg. The doctors said, "He will keep his legs, but he’ll never be able to walk."
Within a few weeks the boy was standing up and hobbling around on crutches. The doctors changed their prediction. "Well, he may be able to walk, but he will never be able to walk without crutches."
But within a few more weeks he was walking without crutches. So they said, "Well, he may be able to walk without crutches, but he’ll never be able to run." But then he broke into a wobbly jog and soon he was running.
That boy was Glenn Cunningham, who won gold medals and set world records in track, and in his day was called, "The fastest human being on two feet."
With God everybody has that kind of potential. God can even take crippled bodies and shattered lives, and with them change the world. So how does it look to you when you look in the mirror? What do you see?
II. HOW DOES THE WORLD LOOK TO YOU?
The second question is, "How does the world look to you?" The Bible teaches us that God so loves this world that He gave His only Begotten Son so that the world, when it believes in Him, might have everlasting life. God sees the world as redeemable, and He sees each of us as channels through whom His redemptive message might travel.
So what do you feel when you look at the world? Do you feel anything at all? One of the crippling influences in the church today is the apathy and indifference that is so prevalent. "As long as my world is secure, as long as I am comfortable, then I don’t really give the world a second thought."
But God challenges us to see a world that needs redemption, and to see ourselves as channels through whom the message of salvation may reach the world.........But who cares? Who really cares that the suffering, the lost are crying out for help? Who cares about the situation of our world?
What do you see when you look at the world? How do you see it now? Is it an opportunity and a challenge for the church? Is it a world to be reached with the message of Jesus Christ,.......... or do you care? Does it make any difference at all?
III. HOW DOES THE CHURCH LOOK TO YOU?
Finally, how does it look to you when you look at the church of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Our text is an exciting passage in Haggai. God instructs the prophet to speak to Governor Zerubbabel, to the high priest, and to all the people.
The occasion is this. They had been set free from their Babylonian captivity, and they had come back to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple of God.
So God says to the prophet Haggai, "Speak to them and ask them first this question, `How many of you remember what the Temple was like before it was destroyed?’"
Several hands must have gone up. There were some who could remember when the temple stood in all of its glory, when people came and worshiped, when great sacrifices were offered, when prayers rose up to God. Those had been exciting times of worship and fellowship as people of God came together in God’s house.
Then God asks, "How does it look to you now?" And what they saw was just a pile of rubble, because the temple lay in ruins.
But then three times God says, "Be strong." "Be strong," to Zerubbabel. "Be strong," to the High Priest. "Be strong," to all the people.
He said, "Here is the reason you can be strong, I’m with you. I have made a covenant with you. My spirit remains among you. Do not fear, for I’m going to shake the heavens and the earth. I’m going to shake the sea and the dry land. I’m going to shake all of the nations."
Then He said, "The desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory."
How do you see the church? As you look around, what do you see? Do you see just a beautiful building, or do you see a room full of people with the potential to make a difference in the lives of men and women, boys and girls, with the Salvation Message for the glory of God?
What do you see as you look at your future? Do you see a human being who hasn’t much potential at all, or do you see someone in whom lives the Holy Spirit and out of whom flows the words of life? Because such is the case if Jesus is your Saviour.
What do you see when you look at the world? Do you see destruction? Do you see despair? Or do you see unlimited potential, a world that can be redeemed by the power of God?
It is an important question, people, because we see the things we are prepared to see, and what you see is what you get.
A shoe saleman went to Africa but came home disappointed and reported that shoes are not worn anywhere in Africa. Another shoe sales person was sent to the same place, he sent back a telegraph almost immediately which said, "Send me all the shoes you can produce, all sizes. Nobody here has got any shoes"
How do you see it?
2009 approaches. The way we see it, with God’s help, is the way it will be. God is alive. God is on His throne. Nothing is impossible with Him. He wants to do great things through His church.
He waits for a willing church to answer His call, to respond to His challenge, to reach out to a world that desperately needs to hear His message.
I heard of a Childrens Nurse who used to work with young children in the pediatric ward of a hospital said, "When I worked in the pediatric ward, before I listened to the little ones’ chests, I would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe.
"But I never got a response to equal 4-year-old David’s. I gently tucked the stethoscope in his ears and placed the disk over his heart. `Listen,’ I said. `What do you suppose that is?’
"He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin. `Is that Jesus knocking?’ he asked."
Somewhere, maybe in Sunday School, David had heard that scripture where Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts, knocking and asking for admission.
If you are reading this today without knowing Christ as your Saviour, it is my privilege to extend His invitation to you, with the assurance that He can take whatever you are right now, at this point in time, and change you in ways that you never thought possible, because all things are possible with God.
"This is what the Lord Almighty says: `In a little while I will once more shake the heavens & the earth, the sea & the dry land. I will shake all nations, & the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty."
Right now I particularly want you to notice the question in the middle of the third verse, "How does it look to you now?" That is a good question to ask during the first few weeks of a new year, "How does it look to you now?"
Look back at the past year. How does it look to you now?
It probably looks a little different than it did back at the beginning of 2008. Now we can look back & see all the pounds we lost and then regained...... We can see the promises we broke. We can see all the hopes and dreams the disappointments and mistakes ..........of 2008
We can also ask this question about the coming year. How does that look to us now? As we look forward to the prospects of the New Year year, what do we see?
Do we see doom & gloom? Some of the prophets of doom tell us that 2009 will see a recession. They say that it is going to be a bad year economically.
But other forecasters tell us that 2009 will be a great year, and that we can expect wonderful and exciting things to happen in our nation and the world.
So what do you see? Do you see clouds, or sunshine? Do you see despair, or hope? What do you see as you look forward in 2009 ?
Behavioral scientists have discovered that we usually the things that we are prepared to see, and that this is all centered in a network of nerve cells called the "Reticular Activating System." And everybody here today has a "Reticular Activating System." Did you know that? MmMm
The Reticular Activating System works like this. Once something has been brought to our attention and we have been prepared to see it, we’ll see it virtually everywhere we go.
For example, if you decide to buy a new car. You decide that you are going to buy a certain brand, a certain body style, certain colour, all of a sudden you’ll see those cars everywhere. You’ll see them on the roads, in TV advertisements, in newspapers and magazines. They’re everywhere.
Now what has happened? They were always there, but the moment you were prepared to see them, your Reticular Activating System kicked in, and suddenly you saw them everywhere.
It happens in other areas of life, too. We see what we are prepared to see. If we are prepared to see doom and gloom in 2009, that’s what we’ll see. If, on the other hand, we have prepared ourselves to see sunshine and opportunities, then that is what we are going to see. Hallelujah! Amen....in Jesus
On the other hand, if we see ourselves as failures, if we see ourselves as weak and sickly, chances are pretty good that that’s what we’ll be.
So let’s ask the question, "How does it look now?" and consider it in 3 different areas.
I. HOW DO YOU LOOK TO YOURSELF?
First of all, how do you look to yourself? When you look in the mirror, what kind of person looks back? Who are you inside? What do you see, someone who is weak and constantly failing,..... someone who isn’t worth very much?................
Do you see an eager, optimistic person who can hardly wait for the next day to begin because there are so many things to do? What do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror?
I often hear people say things like, "Why, I can’t do that." Or, "That’s just too hard." Others say, "I know I’m hard to get along with, but that’s just the way I am. Lord knows, I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to change."
But the Bible says that when God’s Holy Spirit comes to live in our lives He can bring about dramatic and drastic changes, if we will let Him.
When Jesus came into the life of Saul of Tarsus, who at the time was breathing out threatenings and slaughter on the church of believers,......... Jesus changed Saul into the gentle, yet strong Apostle Paul who preached throughout the world of his day. And He can do the same in our lives, too.
But a lot depends upon what we see. How do you look to yourself? Let me challenge you from Scripture to see yourself the way God sees you.
In Philippians 2:13 God says something that ought to influence how we see ourselves. "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."
Paul is saying that we are a part of God’s investment in the future. We are bundles of unlimited opportunity and potential. God wants to change us, and then through us He wants to influence and change the world.
So don’t ever go around saying, "Well, that’s the way I am.. You’ll just have to accept me this way." Because nothing is further from the truth. God can change you, if you’ll let Him work His will in your life.
Someone said, "Life can be hard if lived by the yard. But it is a cinch by the inch. " So place your life in God’s hand and live it one step at a time.
Some years ago two 8-year-old boys decided to pour kerosene in the pot bellied stove in their school room because it was cold and they wanted to warm things up.
They poured what they thought was kerosene on the fire, but it was gasoline, and the stove exploded. One boy was killed. the other left with badly burned legs. Doctors told his parents that they must amputate his legs right away or his whole body could become infected.
The parents said, "Let’s wait a day." The next day the doctors said, "His legs must be amputated." The parents said, "Let’s wait another day."
This went on for several weeks, until finally the doctors discovered that the legs were healing, but that the left leg would be 2 1/2 inches shorter than the right leg. The doctors said, "He will keep his legs, but he’ll never be able to walk."
Within a few weeks the boy was standing up and hobbling around on crutches. The doctors changed their prediction. "Well, he may be able to walk, but he will never be able to walk without crutches."
But within a few more weeks he was walking without crutches. So they said, "Well, he may be able to walk without crutches, but he’ll never be able to run." But then he broke into a wobbly jog and soon he was running.
That boy was Glenn Cunningham, who won gold medals and set world records in track, and in his day was called, "The fastest human being on two feet."
With God everybody has that kind of potential. God can even take crippled bodies and shattered lives, and with them change the world. So how does it look to you when you look in the mirror? What do you see?
II. HOW DOES THE WORLD LOOK TO YOU?
The second question is, "How does the world look to you?" The Bible teaches us that God so loves this world that He gave His only Begotten Son so that the world, when it believes in Him, might have everlasting life. God sees the world as redeemable, and He sees each of us as channels through whom His redemptive message might travel.
So what do you feel when you look at the world? Do you feel anything at all? One of the crippling influences in the church today is the apathy and indifference that is so prevalent. "As long as my world is secure, as long as I am comfortable, then I don’t really give the world a second thought."
But God challenges us to see a world that needs redemption, and to see ourselves as channels through whom the message of salvation may reach the world.........But who cares? Who really cares that the suffering, the lost are crying out for help? Who cares about the situation of our world?
What do you see when you look at the world? How do you see it now? Is it an opportunity and a challenge for the church? Is it a world to be reached with the message of Jesus Christ,.......... or do you care? Does it make any difference at all?
III. HOW DOES THE CHURCH LOOK TO YOU?
Finally, how does it look to you when you look at the church of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Our text is an exciting passage in Haggai. God instructs the prophet to speak to Governor Zerubbabel, to the high priest, and to all the people.
The occasion is this. They had been set free from their Babylonian captivity, and they had come back to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple of God.
So God says to the prophet Haggai, "Speak to them and ask them first this question, `How many of you remember what the Temple was like before it was destroyed?’"
Several hands must have gone up. There were some who could remember when the temple stood in all of its glory, when people came and worshiped, when great sacrifices were offered, when prayers rose up to God. Those had been exciting times of worship and fellowship as people of God came together in God’s house.
Then God asks, "How does it look to you now?" And what they saw was just a pile of rubble, because the temple lay in ruins.
But then three times God says, "Be strong." "Be strong," to Zerubbabel. "Be strong," to the High Priest. "Be strong," to all the people.
He said, "Here is the reason you can be strong, I’m with you. I have made a covenant with you. My spirit remains among you. Do not fear, for I’m going to shake the heavens and the earth. I’m going to shake the sea and the dry land. I’m going to shake all of the nations."
Then He said, "The desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory."
How do you see the church? As you look around, what do you see? Do you see just a beautiful building, or do you see a room full of people with the potential to make a difference in the lives of men and women, boys and girls, with the Salvation Message for the glory of God?
What do you see as you look at your future? Do you see a human being who hasn’t much potential at all, or do you see someone in whom lives the Holy Spirit and out of whom flows the words of life? Because such is the case if Jesus is your Saviour.
What do you see when you look at the world? Do you see destruction? Do you see despair? Or do you see unlimited potential, a world that can be redeemed by the power of God?
It is an important question, people, because we see the things we are prepared to see, and what you see is what you get.
A shoe saleman went to Africa but came home disappointed and reported that shoes are not worn anywhere in Africa. Another shoe sales person was sent to the same place, he sent back a telegraph almost immediately which said, "Send me all the shoes you can produce, all sizes. Nobody here has got any shoes"
How do you see it?
2009 approaches. The way we see it, with God’s help, is the way it will be. God is alive. God is on His throne. Nothing is impossible with Him. He wants to do great things through His church.
He waits for a willing church to answer His call, to respond to His challenge, to reach out to a world that desperately needs to hear His message.
I heard of a Childrens Nurse who used to work with young children in the pediatric ward of a hospital said, "When I worked in the pediatric ward, before I listened to the little ones’ chests, I would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe.
"But I never got a response to equal 4-year-old David’s. I gently tucked the stethoscope in his ears and placed the disk over his heart. `Listen,’ I said. `What do you suppose that is?’
"He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin. `Is that Jesus knocking?’ he asked."
Somewhere, maybe in Sunday School, David had heard that scripture where Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts, knocking and asking for admission.
If you are reading this today without knowing Christ as your Saviour, it is my privilege to extend His invitation to you, with the assurance that He can take whatever you are right now, at this point in time, and change you in ways that you never thought possible, because all things are possible with God.
