4. How many of you
are not a link in a chain of faith?
How many of you
are a strong link in a chain of faith?

5. You do love and serve the Lord.
You know you’re not perfect, but
you are strong, you are growing,
you are giving, you are caring, you
are learning, you are serving.

6. How many of you are the first link
in the chain of faith?
How many of you—raise your
hand—you’re the first Christian in
your family?

8. NANAY
JOVEN
5
CHURCHES
PLANTED
TBL, POLITICS,
TNB, IJM &
FCC FAMILY
TATAY,
VIVZ &
JOVZ
Friends,
Relatives
& Others

9. Ask yourself,
• Am I a link in a chain of faith?
• Am I a strong link in a chain of faith?
• Am I a first link in a chain of faith?
• Am I the weak link in the chain of faith?
How many of you are the weak link?
THE WEAKEST LINK

11. YOU
(Equipper)
D1
D1-H3
D2
D2-H3
D3
D3-H3

12. “And before we can understand
the words of God, we need to first
understand the heart of God.”

14. • That’s exactly what the book of
Malachi is and that’s exactly the
heart of God who sends it.
• He says in Malachi 1:6, “I am a
Father.”
• He says in Malachi 2:10 that he
is “one Father.”

15. • I want you to think of Malachi
every time you open or close a
door.
• And there’s going to be about
400 years of silence.

16. Malachi 1:1
The man who delivers this message is
Malachi. His name literally means, “My
messenger.” That exact phraseology is
used in 3:1. He is a messenger. So, God
speaks through Malachi. We will hear
Malachi’s voice, but we are hearing
God’s words. So, it’s God’s words
through Malachi’s voice.

17. • Even the fatherless have a Father.
• Even those who have a good father
have a perfect Father.
• God the Father speaks to us.
• God the Father, beginning with this
sermon through Malachi, wants to
speak to you.
HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS:

19. • Well, the first thing we learn is
that our Father loves us.
• Malachi 1:2, here’s God’s first
statement. God speaks. God has
something to say: “I have loved
you.”

21. • What should their response be?
“And we love you, Father!”—
that’s not their response.
• “But you say, ‘How have you
loved us?’”

22. • How many of you today, if I
told you, “God is a Father who
loves you,” you would say,
• “I don’t feel that. I don’t see
that. I don’t believe that”?

23. • They were struggling financially.
They had an economic
downturn. Their nation was
struggling politically. It was
waning in power and prestige.
They were struggling morally.
There was a lot of rebellion,
anarchy, sin, and folly.

25. • The answer is Everyone.
• “It doesn’t look like God loves us.
It doesn’t feel like God loves us. I
know that God says that he loves
us, but he’s not showing that he
loves us. Why am I so broke?
Why is it so dark? Why are things
so hard?” Be honest with God. He
already knows your heart.”

28. Esau & Jacob
Isaac
Abraham

29. ISRAEL Family Tree
JACOB
Rachel
(younger sister)
Leah
(elder sister)
11
Joseph
12
Benjamin
Bilhah
(Rachel’s slave)
5
Dan
6
Naphtali
1
Reuben
4
Judah
3
Levi
2
Simeon
10
Zebulun
9
Issachar
Dinah
Zilpah
(Leah’s slave)
8
Asher
7
Gad

32. • God our Father absorbs a lot of hurt
caused by us.
• Do you think that hurts God’s heart?
Sin is not just breaking God’s laws; sin
is breaking God’s heart. It says in, I
think, Genesis 6 that “God was grieved
in his heart that he made man because
his sin was only evil all the time.”

35. • Discipline is one way that God
loves us.
• It says in Proverbs, it says in
Hebrews that God is a Father who
disciplines the children he loves.

37. • Rebellion
• Form of religion.