This Sunday - New Sermon Series: "The Time is Now - A Study of the Book of Haggai"
When I (Sarah) was in high school, I remember frequent late nights sitting at our family computer completing (or sometimes just beginning) assignments that were due the following morning. My parents would inevitably ask, “When did you get this assignment?” and whether my answer was, “One”, “Two” or “Three weeks ago”, the follow up question was always, “Why haven’t you been working on it since then?!” In high school, there were just too many friends to see, too much sport to play and too many non-school-related books to read to spend time on assignments before the night before they were due. It’s not that I didn’t like school, or that I didn’t love to learn. There was just too much other fun to be had and far easier, more exciting things to be doing that tackling big assignments. Most of my distractions seemed way more intriguing than school work. So, I put it off. I left it to the last minute. I procrastinated.
Procrastination is the habit of avoiding urgent tasks despite negative consequences. When people procrastinate, they often delay priorities and instead focus on less important, more enjoyable, simpler tasks. That was certainly the case for me in high school. Procrastination is sometimes hard to avoid. Most of us are naturally inclined to put off doing something when the task seems too big, or when we’re met with some resistance. Take the Jewish community at the time of the Prophet Haggai, for example. After beginning to rebuild the temple, the people were met with some opposition and so they ceased their work. Things got hard, and so the work stopped. For 14 years they focussed their attention elsewhere. They put it off. They got distracted. Haggai 1:2 says, “The people procrastinate. They say this isn’t the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of God.”
Haggai was sent to prophesy to the people - the time of procrastination was finished. It was time to rebuild the temple. The time is now. While we have no temple to rebuild, there are many lessons for us to learn through Haggai’s words and the response of God’s people. Through this book we see how to choose the hard right, how to persevere through discouragement and about the blessings of living in obedience. We ask ourselves, what is God calling me to start or rebuild? The time is now.
We can't wait to see you in person or on our live stream this Sunday.
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