Sermon

Introduction:
Zechariah's message is one of encouragement. But he was aware that not all the returned remnant were fully sincere in their desires to serve God, and he therefore counseled them to repent of sin and return to God with all their hearts and minds." Zechariah shows how God is interested in lives, not only buildings. God wants us to rebuild our relationship with Him and this New Year, He has 4 words for us to help us:

1.    A Word of Alert (Zechariah 1:2-6)
The opening verses seemed ominous unless we understood the background. Zechariah is speaking to the children of those who disobeyed God and caused the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple, and the captivity in Babylon of tens of thousands. The Persian king Cyrus released 50,000 Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. But because of much opposition by the rulers in Jerusalem, despite their right to build, the people gave up out of frustration. God raise Zechariah and Haggai for the purpose of encouraging the people to resume building the temple. The prophet declared that “If they returned to their primary task, God’s blessings will come, and overtake them.”

2.    A Word of Intention (Zechariah 1:16; 2:1-5)

The Lord says by the prophet “I have made up My mind, I am going to get the temple building completed. I will also get the core of your life settled. Then I will build Jerusalem so it will be larger than you could imagine. And for its protection, I will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.”

3.    A Word of Deliverance (Zechariah 3:2-7)

In a vision, the prophet sees Jesus (the Angel of the Lord), with Joshua (high priest) on one side (representing all believers) and the devil on the other side. This is a picture of spiritual warfare. Jesus turns to Satan and rebukes him, and asks for clean clothing for Joshua, as well as a clean turban, which represent the Lord’s righteousness and authority. Jesus gives Joshua (us) the authority to invade the devil’s territory and take away from hs hand those that have been bound by the works of darkness.

4.    A Word of Hope (Zechariah 9:9-12)

 This prophesied the crucifixion of Jesus and the establishment of the blood covenant that could not be broken. It’s a call to come into the stronghold of God’s promise and be imprisoned by hope. To be imprisoned by hope means that we allow ourselves to be chained to God’s promise even when it looks like it’s not going to be fulfilled. Rather than saying “Cut me loose from this situation because I don’t see it happening,” we should choose to hope in the promises of God’s word, and be chained to that hope.

LIFE APPLICATION DISCUSSION

Discuss among homecare group members:
-    How we can make the word of God’s promise the central part of our life, and learn to obey His will for us, for the different seasons of our walk under Lord Jesus

-    How we can fully receive His promise to enlarge us, prosper us, and believe that He will protect us, even as we celebrate His glorious presence in our life

-    How we can serve Him as instruments of deliverance, by reaching out to unbelievers, and helping them to understand and believe the saving grace of God

-    How we can trust in His promises even when we don’t see their fulfillment, instead be “chained” to the hope (assurance) of His faithfulness, because in the end, we will receive the blessings doubled and multiplied