Malachi: His love endures forever Brightons Parish Church Podcast
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- Christianity
Preached on: Sunday 10th October 2021
The sermon text is given below or can be download by clicking on the “PDF” button above. Additionally, you can download the PowerPoint PDF by clicking here21-10-10 Message PPT slides multi pages.
Bible references: Malachi 1:1-5
Location: Brightons Parish Church
Show sermon text
Let us take a moment to pray before we think about God’s word
Holy Spirit, come among us and soften our hearts to the word of God.
Holy Spirit, draw near and reveal to us the heart and ways of almighty God,
Come Holy Spirit, with power and deep conviction, for we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen
so in our reading today we find God’s people waiting, waiting in the time of Malachi and even cynical there were those great leaders Zerubbabel and Joshua whom both Haggai and Zechariah said were the men God’s chosen men for the new age and yet they’ve died and sure the temple has been completed but nothing momentous has occurred like Ezekiel said would happen that the temple would be filled again with the glory of the lord and what is more the day of miracles has passed with Elijah and Elisha and yes religious duties continue but it’s done without much enthusiasm whether by priest or by people and so the people are asking where is the God of our fathers does it really matter whether we worship him or not and they’re asking these questions because they see generations dying without receiving the promises God made there’s injustice there’s poverty there’s corruption and so the people are in this downward spiral feeling forgotten by God losing their faith such that some are apathetic and others are just downright antagonistic and belligerent towards God on the whole the people feel distant from God and are choosing to distance themselves even further from him because they think their attitude is more justified than that of faith and obedience so when God starts by saying I have loved you the people are quick to respond they take exception and say but how have you loved us how have you loved us the people doubt God’s love for them their whole situation undermines their confidence in God’s love and from that starting point all the rest of their issues all the rest of their sins and waywardness which God will challenge in due course all of these stem from this central problem of doubting God’s love you probably know you’ve probably experienced that living in difficult times or in times of waiting can be so very hard it can raise all sorts of issues all sorts of questions those times can places under strain it can raise temptations that we normally just shrug off and most often it those times of difficulty and waiting just undermine faith and can lead us to a place of cynicism because it feels like God just doesn’t care that maybe God’s not even there and so God’s people were doubting God’s love in their present and I wonder friends is that you is that you have you experienced something and hardship that has maybe broken your faith maybe broken you
or maybe in your faith you’ve just got to that point where it’s routine you maybe had glory days in your youth where faith was alive and vibrant but as time has gone on it has waned I know it’s just a tick box exercise most days maybe we’re waiting maybe we’re doubting in our lives we might feel neglected we might feel just a bit more apathetic than we once were is that you friends is that maybe someone you know I’m sure we’ve all been there at one time or another but it’s not where God wants to leave you it is not where God wants to leave you and it wasn’t where he wanted to leave his people in Malachi’s time either it’s striking that the first words of the lord are to affirm his love for Israel it’s not a long list of what they’ve done wrong or what they have done it’s not a long list of things that they have done to God he starts with his love for them he has loved them and the Hebrew terms here convey an ongoin
Preached on: Sunday 10th October 2021
The sermon text is given below or can be download by clicking on the “PDF” button above. Additionally, you can download the PowerPoint PDF by clicking here21-10-10 Message PPT slides multi pages.
Bible references: Malachi 1:1-5
Location: Brightons Parish Church
Show sermon text
Let us take a moment to pray before we think about God’s word
Holy Spirit, come among us and soften our hearts to the word of God.
Holy Spirit, draw near and reveal to us the heart and ways of almighty God,
Come Holy Spirit, with power and deep conviction, for we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen
so in our reading today we find God’s people waiting, waiting in the time of Malachi and even cynical there were those great leaders Zerubbabel and Joshua whom both Haggai and Zechariah said were the men God’s chosen men for the new age and yet they’ve died and sure the temple has been completed but nothing momentous has occurred like Ezekiel said would happen that the temple would be filled again with the glory of the lord and what is more the day of miracles has passed with Elijah and Elisha and yes religious duties continue but it’s done without much enthusiasm whether by priest or by people and so the people are asking where is the God of our fathers does it really matter whether we worship him or not and they’re asking these questions because they see generations dying without receiving the promises God made there’s injustice there’s poverty there’s corruption and so the people are in this downward spiral feeling forgotten by God losing their faith such that some are apathetic and others are just downright antagonistic and belligerent towards God on the whole the people feel distant from God and are choosing to distance themselves even further from him because they think their attitude is more justified than that of faith and obedience so when God starts by saying I have loved you the people are quick to respond they take exception and say but how have you loved us how have you loved us the people doubt God’s love for them their whole situation undermines their confidence in God’s love and from that starting point all the rest of their issues all the rest of their sins and waywardness which God will challenge in due course all of these stem from this central problem of doubting God’s love you probably know you’ve probably experienced that living in difficult times or in times of waiting can be so very hard it can raise all sorts of issues all sorts of questions those times can places under strain it can raise temptations that we normally just shrug off and most often it those times of difficulty and waiting just undermine faith and can lead us to a place of cynicism because it feels like God just doesn’t care that maybe God’s not even there and so God’s people were doubting God’s love in their present and I wonder friends is that you is that you have you experienced something and hardship that has maybe broken your faith maybe broken you
or maybe in your faith you’ve just got to that point where it’s routine you maybe had glory days in your youth where faith was alive and vibrant but as time has gone on it has waned I know it’s just a tick box exercise most days maybe we’re waiting maybe we’re doubting in our lives we might feel neglected we might feel just a bit more apathetic than we once were is that you friends is that maybe someone you know I’m sure we’ve all been there at one time or another but it’s not where God wants to leave you it is not where God wants to leave you and it wasn’t where he wanted to leave his people in Malachi’s time either it’s striking that the first words of the lord are to affirm his love for Israel it’s not a long list of what they’ve done wrong or what they have done it’s not a long list of things that they have done to God he starts with his love for them he has loved them and the Hebrew terms here convey an ongoin