Sermon 15 March 2015 By Bruce McCallum

1. Building for the Future 4
It’s not equal giving but equal sacrifice

2. 1 Chronicles 29
1. The leaders set the example (1Chr 29:3)
2. Heads of each family gather their family & decide
what to give sacrificially (1Chr 29:6-9
3. They held a service of praise and thanksgiving
(1Chr 29:10-20)
4. They celebrated the great offering with eating,
drinking and great joy (1Chr 29:21-22)

3. 1 Chronicles 29:21-22 (NIV)
22 They ate and drank with great joy in the
presence of the Lord that day. …

4. A history lesson
 Mid 10th C BC - Solomon’s (First) Temple
 586BC - destroyed by the Babylonians.
 70 yrs 0f devastation
 538 BC Cyrus of Persia’s decision
 Ezra & Nehemiah (with Haggai & Zechariah)
 King Artaxerxes

5. Haggai 1:1-2:23 (NIV)
3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:
4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses,
while this house remains a ruin?" 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty
says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but
have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but
never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn
wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." 7 This is what the
Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the
mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may
take pleasure in it and be honored," says the Lord. 9 "You expected
much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew
away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which
remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.

6. 9 'The glory of this present house will be greater
than the glory of the former house,' says the
Lord Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant
peace,' declares the Lord Almighty."

7. The American self characteristically chooses advertisers
instead of apostles as guides. (Eugene Peterson)

8. History Lesson cont’d
 516BC – 2nd Temple completed
 20BC – Herod the Great & major Temple
upgrade!

9. Cyrus
Artraxerxes
King Darius
Herod the Great

10. Isaiah 60:3 (NIV)
3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to
the brightness of your dawn.

12. Mark 12:41-44 (NIV)
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the
offerings were put and watched the crowd putting
their money into the temple treasury. Many rich
people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow
came and put in two very small copper coins, worth
only a fraction of a penny. 43 Calling his disciples to
him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow
has put more into the treasury than all the others.
44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of
her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live
on."

13. IT’S NOT ABOUT EQUAL GIVING
BUT ABOUT EQUAL SACRIFICE

14. Exodus 35:1 (MSG)
1 Moses spoke to the entire congregation of
Israel, saying, "These are the things that God
has commanded you to do:

15. Everyone praying & worshipping
Exodus 33:10 (NIV)
10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud
standing at the entrance to the tent, they all
stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to
his tent.

16. Everyone Giving
Exodus 35:5 (NIV)
5 From what you have, take an offering for the Lord.
Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an
offering of gold, silver and bronze;
Exodus 35:21-22 (NIV)
21 and everyone who was willing and whose heart
moved him came and brought an offering to the
Lord for the work 22 All who were willing, men and
women alike,

17. Exodus 36:6-7 (MSG)
6 So Moses sent out orders through the camp:
"Men! Women! No more offerings for the
building of the Sanctuary!" The people were
ordered to stop bringing offerings! 7 There was
plenty of material for all the work to be done.
Enough and more than enough.

18. Everyone Serving
Exodus 35:10 (NIV)
10 "All who are skilled among you are to come and
make everything the Lord has commanded:
Exodus 35:24-25 (NIV)
24 … everyone who had acacia wood for any part of
the work brought it. 25 Every skilled woman spun
with her hands …

19. Exodus 35:21 (AMP)
21 And they came, each one whose heart stirred
him up and whose spirit made him willing,