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Call to worship: Ephesians 4:10-16

Text: Haggai 2:1-23

Summary:

The Lord sends Haggai with three more messages to support the people in the building of God's house and beyond it. He speaks first to the means of the House---serving in the strength that He supplies. He speaks next to the ministry of the House---its sanctifying effect in the life of His people. Finally, he speaks to the man of the House---by Zerubbabel, the Lord will resume the Davidic dynasty, effectively bringing His throne and His house together. He will bring about an exodus event by the regal authority of God---a prophecy that finds its fulfillment in the death and resurrection of Jesus. So we have a House built by God that sanctifies a people through the reign of Christ. The local church is a visible outpost of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Sermon Outline:

1. The means for God's house made glorious. (2:1-9)
2. The ministry of God's house made glorious. (2:10-19)
3. The master of God's house made glorious. (2:20-23)

Prepare

Discussion Questions:

1. Read Haggai 2. Compare with the texts given for our call to worship and intermediate reading above.
2. By the comparison that He makes (2:3), what is the Lord after with the people? What is His charge to them? Why is that His charge? On what basis does He comfort them? What finally is the means of building the house that then lay in ruins? What promise does God make in 2:9? What is the most important resource for a church?
3. What point does the Lord mean to make in 2:11-14? What's the point behind the question in 2:15? What does the building of God's house and, particularly, the laying of its foundation signal for the life of the people?
4. How does the sanctifying impact of God's house find its fullness in Jesus? When Jesus touches the unclean, does He become unclean or they, clean? How does the relate to the ministry of the church today? In what way does it serve the life of all who center their lives upon it? How does it offer blessing for a curse?
5. Why might Haggai close with a word to Zerubbabel? Consider his lineage in 1 Chronicles 3:19. What does God reveal for him? To what does 'the horses and their riders . . . chariots' quite probably allude? What would be the significance of that in relationship to the rise of the Davidic dynasty? What does it mean for Zerubbabel to be as the Lord's chosen signet ring? What is the relationship between God's house and God's throne? How is this fulfilled in Jesus Christ? Where is the Kingdom of God made visible today?