https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/DayOfSmallThings.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Haggai 2:1-9<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. As Israel began to return from seventy years of captivity, there was great excitement<\/p>\n
A. Zerubbabel lead the first wave of less than 50,000 people back to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n 1. There was a lot of work to do because Jerusalem was completely\ndestroyed.\n
2. But worship restarted immediately – Ezra 3:3-4<\/p>\n
B. The next year work began on the foundation for the temple – Ezra 3:9-11<\/p>\n 1. It was wonderful and sad at the same time because it just wasn’t what it\nused to be – Ezra 3:12-13\n
2. However, they met with local resistence to the project – Ezra 4:1-5<\/p>\n 3. Eventually those opposed to the rebuilding of Jerusalem got a government\norder to stop work on the Temple – Ezra 4:17-23\n 4. In the stoppage, people began focusing on their own homes and farms. The\ninitial enthusiasm has waned.\n
5. So only about a year was spent on the Temple.<\/p>\n
C. The prophet Haggai came about 14 years later to stir the people back up<\/p>\n 1. Work started, but after a month people became discouraged. The temple\nwould never be like the glory of Solomon’s temple\n
2. Haggai again stirred the people up – Haggai 2:1-9<\/p>\n
D. Zechariah delivered a message about the same time – Zechariah 4:6-10<\/p>\n 1. The Jews were despised. They have been beaten down. Their land is in\nruins; all its wealth is gone. Only a small portion of the population even\nreturned.\n 2. They are working, but the problems are great and they just don’t have the\nresources to put things back.\n 3. Yet God works through small things. Glory would come through those\nsmall things, glory that will prove to the world and Israel that God\naccomplishes His will\n
II. Big things are accomplished through small steps<\/p>\n A. The lesson of the ant is that significant results come from small things – Proverbs\n6:6-11\n
B. We have a false tendency to ignore or discount small actions<\/p>\n
1. Actions like giving a cup of water – Matthew 10:40-42<\/p>\n 2. A chat with a stranger might seem like a small thing. But consider Jesus’\ntalk with a Samaritan woman at a well. The result was the conversion of a\ntown – John 4:27-29, 39-42\n
C. Many churches start in homes – I Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1-2<\/p>\n
1. This is what Jesus said would happen to the church – Matthew 13:31-33<\/p>\n
D. A little salt makes a big difference – Matthew 5:13<\/p>\n
III. God chooses to work through things the world overlooks – I Corinthians 1:27-29<\/p>\n
A. God often doesn’t want the mighty to accomplish His tasks – Matthew 11:25<\/p>\n
B. Eight people building an ark to save the world – I Peter 3:20<\/p>\n C. How often has God used single, seemingly insignificant people to turn the world\nupside down? – Hebrews 11:32-40\n D. The glory is that God always accomplishes His Will, despite the seeming\nimpossibilities of the odds – Isaiah 55:11\n
E. God’s power is shown in weakness – II Corinthians 12:7-10<\/p>\n
IV. God’s people have never been numerous – Matthew 7:13-14<\/p>\n
A. Seven thousand faithful in all Israel – I Kings 19:14-18<\/p>\n B. Only a small number returned from captivity, but Isaiah said they would take root\nand grow – Isaiah 37:31-32\n
C. Only a small number of Jews became Christians – Romans 11:1-6<\/p>\n D. It is because of the small number that we realize that people are not saved because\nof their ability.\n E. Of the seven churches in Asia, it is the weak church in Philadelphia that no fault is\nmentioned – Revelation 3:8-10 \n 1. And it is this church whose members would become pillars in God’s\ntemple – Revelation 3:12\n
V. I may be small and despised, but there is a might big God behind me – Psalms 119:141<\/p>\n
A. He cares and protects even the smallest – Matthew 18:1-5<\/p>\n
B. No one here is unimportant – I Corinthians 12:14-26<\/p>\n
C. If you are not yet a member, you are needed<\/p>\n
D. If you are a member, don’t deceive yourself that you are not needed<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Haggai 2:1-9 I. As Israel began to return from seventy years of captivity, there was great excitement A. Zerubbabel lead the first wave of less than 50,000 people back to Jerusalem. 1. There was a lot of work to do because Jerusalem was completely destroyed. 2. But worship restarted immediately – Ezra 3:3-4…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[634,448],"class_list":["post-62176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-attitude","tag-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62894,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-jerusalem-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":62176,"position":0},"title":"The Jerusalem Conference","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 11:1-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The meeting in Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 15, is used to justify many things \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The gathering of denominational bodies to consider issues is justified by this passage. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many go a step further to justify decisions of what rules the denomination will support\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10765,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-big-was-jerusalem\/","url_meta":{"origin":62176,"position":1},"title":"How big was Jerusalem?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How big was Jerusalem in say, square miles? Answer: In David's day, Jerusalem occupied a space of about 12 acres (0.02 square miles), and the estimated population was about 2,000 people. During Solomon's day, the size of the city increased to 125 acres (0.2 square miles) and the estimated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51883,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/coming-with-the-clouds\/","url_meta":{"origin":62176,"position":2},"title":"Coming with the Clouds","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Revelation 1:4-7 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is easy to make mistakes by assuming that a phrase always applies to the same event \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Revelation 1:7 - What is meant by \u201ccoming with clouds\u201d or \u201ccoming with the clouds\u201d? II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Clouds \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God rides clouds - Psalms 68:4 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Psalms 104:3 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23227,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-isaiah-born-in-jerusalem\/","url_meta":{"origin":62176,"position":3},"title":"Was Isaiah born in Jerusalem?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was told that Isaiah was born in Jerusalem but cannot find the passage to verify it.\u00a0 Is it true? Answer: We know that Isaiah lived in Jerusalem because the places he was sent to and those who were sent to Isaiah all were in the area of Jerusalem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24731,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-are-the-daughters-of-jerusalem\/","url_meta":{"origin":62176,"position":4},"title":"Who are the daughters of Jerusalem?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who are the daughters of Jerusalem? Answer: The phrase \"daughters of Jerusalem\" was first used in the Song of Solomon. These are the ladies of the court, the wives of Solomon\u2019s political marriages, potential brides for future arrangements, as well as the wives of Solomon\u2019s noblemen who attended him\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12234,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-fall-of-zedekiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":62176,"position":5},"title":"The Fall of Zedekiah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Jeremiah 52:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The fall of Jerusalem and the end of the kingdom of Judah was a sad time period. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Josiah was the last good king of Israel, but the kings that ruled after him did evil in the sight of God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0King Jehoiachin began\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}