New Beginnings -

a walk through Haggai

Life can be hard
It can wear us out
Run us down
Drain our enthusiasm
Make us lose our focus
..... our passion
...... our direction

Sometimes we need to take a step back and ask ourselves,

“What did God call us to?”

“Have we lost our way?”

The people of Judah were struggling. Their crops were failing and they were barely scraping by. All their energy was going into trying to make a living in a time and place where life was hard.

But why was life so hard? Could it be that the tough times had made them lose sight of what really mattered? Were they so busy trying to work through their problems that they had forgotten why they were there?

In this series we will step back into that situation in the company of the prophet Haggai. We will see how God helps the people to realise that they have lost sight of what really matters and shows them the importance of putting the first things first. As they get back on track, we learn that God is not limited by our expectations and he is able to use anyone and anything for his glory, no matter how we may view them. We are taught the importance of having the right attitude when it comes to God’s work, and finally we see the faithfulness of God and how he always keeps his promises.

We may have let the worries and troubles of life distract us from what God has called us to do. But just like the people of Judah, God is leading us back to what matters the most and offering us a new beginning.

15/01/12	Ste McLean	New Beginnings	Haggai 1:1-3	Introduction, background and context of the book. The distractions and discouragements that can prevent us from doing Gods work.
22/01/12	Doug Heke	What Are We Building?	Haggai 1:3-11	What has God called us to build? Are we building it or have we got side tracked? If not, why not?
05/02/12	Andy Hirons	First Things First	Haggai 1:12-15	God and His calling on our lives needs to be our top priority. We need to have the faith to put the first things first, even when the circumstances are tough.
12/02/12	Doug Heke	Don't Limit God	Haggai 2:1-9	God is not limited to our point of view. Something or someone may appear weak or feeble in our eyes but God is still able to use them in a mighty way.
19/02/12	Pete Goulding	A Heart For His House	Haggai 2:10-19	Our work is tainted if we do not have the right focus. We must build God's house in our hearts before we can build it in the world.
26/02/12	Ste McLean	God Is Faithful	Haggai 1:20-23	Even when the world around us is falling apart, God is faithful. His promises are true and see their fulfilment in Jesus.