BROADHURST YOUTH MONTH CRUSADES

13 MARCH 2011-23 MARCH 2011

TSHOLOFELO- EXTENSION 27- LEDUMANG

VISION:

GATHERING TOGETHER LIVELY STONES, AND BRINGING THEM TOGETHER INTO UNITY WITH THE CORNERSTONE TO COMPLETE THE TEMPLE.

THE UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

BROUDHURST YOUTH FELLOWSHIP

PREACHERS AND THEIR LOCATIONS

Date Location Preacher Sun 13 Tsholofelo Rev KgeretlhwaMon 14 Tsholofelo Bro GiftTue 15 Tsholofelo Bro Gift

Thur 17 Ext 27 Rev MphatoFri 18 Ext 27 Rev MphatoSat 19 Ext 27 Bro Erick

Mon 21 Ledumang Rev SilwengaTue 22 Ledumang Bro AlfredWed 23 Ledumang Bro Alfred

PRAISE AND WORSHIP TEAM

KOLOBENG REGIONAL PRAISE TEAM- SIS KEARATA

COUNCELLORS

KOLOBENG REGIONAL COUNCELLING TEAM- SIS LAME

INTERCESSORS

The prayer team shall be comprised of all ministers i.e. preachers, praise and worship, Broadhurst youth group and UCCSA soldiers of Christ. Prayer team to meeting every Friday for prayer from 5pm to 6:30pm.

PRAYER WEEK

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Leader

Theme

VISION EXPLAINED

COME LET’S BUILD THIS TEMPLE ( THE BODY OF CHRIST)

Teacher Tumelo Billy Morolong

Scriptures: Haggai 1: 2-11 1 Peter 2: 4-10

As I was growing up, in the primary school I went to we used to sing one wonderful song which talked about building a temple for/of Jesus. The song was something like this:-

“Re aga tempele re aga tempele re aga tempele ya JesoBasimane re thuseng Basetsana re thuseng go aga tempele ya Jeso”

This song now takes me to the two scriptures, one from Haggai and the other from 1 Corinthians 16: 19-20. The scripture of Paul to the church in Corinth taught the people that we all make up a body of Christ, i.e. all of us in this world Christ died for us, paying a price for us so we may all be saved. Collectively we make up this body of God, Temple. This same scripture teaches us that we are all called to serve a unique but different purpose hence we are different parts of this body which needs to work closely and united to perform a common purpose, a purpose of the church… The great Commission!

We will today open the book of Haggai. Haggai is a prophet. A prophet was a man who received a message from God to deliver to the people. A large part of the Old Testament contains the books of the writing prophets. These are messages from God to the people then. But they are living messages, so they are also messages to us. The people he spoke to are those who returned from Persia to Jerusalem. Israel was in exile for 70 years, and a group of people went back to restore the City that had been completely destroyed. This message comes about 18 years after that first group had returned. Let me illustrate what this means.

The grandparents of these people had lived in the Promised Land. They were not faithful to God, but they mixed the true faith with the beliefs of the people around them. They worshipped idols. Because they were unfaithful they were sent into exile. The next generation then were born and raised in Babylon. They lived their whole lives in Babylon. They buried their parents in that place. They did their best to survive and prosper, but they were always second class citizens. The generation after that was the one which was able to return.

When the people returned to Jerusalem they were full of enthusiasm. They began to rebuild the city. The first thing they built was the altar for sacrifices. Finally, after more than 70 years they were able to worship God as he had commanded them. There was no temple, just an outside altar. Next they laid out the foundation for the new temple and began to rebuild. With this second chance, the Returnees started well. They put the things of God first in their lives. While they still lived outside or in tents or shelters, they made a place for worship.

After that came opposition. There were opponents to this building project. They did whatever they could to stop progress. Soon all building stopped because the governing officials in the area stopped the

building. So what began well stopped. And it remained in that situation for 16 years, down to the time of Haggai’s message in 520BC.

The reason I chose to speak from Haggai is that UCCSA and other mainline Churches like Lutheran etc which are the first churches to crusade this country are in the position of the Returnees in the sense when the churches started their missionary work in this country, they went all across the country preaching and baptising people in the name of the Lord as the great commission says we should do building up churches as the structures can still be found in Serowe, Molepolole etc and ordaining pastors just as Paul did all across the gentile nations.

Through from then to some point not to far ago until the rise of Pentecostal churches, the churches now received some form of opposition just as the people in Returnees. The form of opposition they received, that is being called “KEREKE YA BALOI” for mostly people in these old churches where in their old ages. And just as it happened to those people back then, they quit into the idea of crusading and ever fulfilling the great commission which is building the temple. Since then this churches gave up their objective of preaching Christ but then the church turned into being a worship center, which only cares about themselves and their household, contrary to what Haggai taught in vv. 4 saying “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?” The church gave up on seeking new members that is forgetting about the temple only caring about their houses.

The message of Haggai comes in three parts. This message Haggai gave now speaks directly to the situation of our church. Now let us consider the scripture…

The Right Time –vv. 2-3. Here we get an insight into what the people were saying about the 16 years of delay. The people say, “The time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built.” That sounds reasonable. After all, they did try, and they faced some opposition. If the Lord was behind the work, wouldn’t the progress be smooth? Now concerning our church, just as God raised a prophet 16 years later to get the people into re-building the temple, i.e. crusading God has raised the youth of UCCSA as it is very evident that in about 5 years back, the youth fellowship came up strong, breaking from the excuse not to do God’s work and stated crusading, having dedicated prayer services, revivals etc. also note that just as Haggai who was probably in his youth, so is the UCCSA youth fellowship.

The people used opposition as an excuse to quit. Then they went on making excuses. And what they said to each other is “now is not the time.” The people were getting used to inaction. They were accepting that there would be no progress. This is a mistake. When is the right time to Obey the word of God? Isn’t it now? Did not God give them permission to Go and promises to bless them. They quit too soon and they made excuses too quickly.

Here is something else – when they were given permission to return, they were also given building materials by Cyrus, King of Persia. Ezra 3 recorded that they had the money to buy stones and to have timber cut and shipped from Lebanon. So where was this stone and lumber? The Lord asks the people: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses while this house remains a ruin?” What where the people doing when it was “not the right time” to build God’s house? They were busy. They were hard working. They did sit and do nothing. They built their own houses. And then they paneled them on the inside. They had decided that it was the wrong time to build for God, but it was the right time for themselves.

Empty Pockets v. 5, 6 --The prophet now tells them something. Maybe they had noticed this already. Maybe they had noticed how they were not getting ahead, and they were not able to enjoy their new houses.

v. 3 “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.”

The People had decided to take care of their own needs first. They made excuses about God’s house, and then they went and worked hard on their own houses. They probably said, “After we make our houses nice, then we can build the temple.” But God acted in a surprising way. He put holes in their pockets. What I mean is that the Lord kept them from enjoying their work. They planted much but harvested a little. They drink, but they were thirsty. They wore clothes but were cold, They earned wages, but they put them in pockets with holes.

God was working against his own people. Does that surprise you? It should not. When anyone ignores God and puts his hopes into some other thing, God will make sure that thing does not satisfy. Many people work hard for money, but do they ever have enough? God does this so we do not settle for less. Anything else but God is less. If we love the world or the things of the world, we are settling for less. God creates frustration so we will come back to him. God is the one who delights us and makes us happy.

Take Action – v. 7- 11 Haggai finally calls the people to action. “Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored.” Again The Lord, through Haggai, explains that God will frustrate their lives until they put his house first. Their priority should again be to build the house of God. So now, since they do not have cedar from Lebanon, they have to go the hills and cut it themselves. But that is what they need to do. Go! Take Action! Put God’s honor first!

What happened? The Governor, the high priest and the people accepted the word of Haggai. Haggai responds with this word of encouragement “’I am with you’, declares the Lord.” What this means is that now that they have put their priorities in the right order God will no longer work against them. He will not be against them, he will be with them. He will no longer withhold the rain. He will no longer cause their harvest to be small. He will no longer put holes in their pockets.

Today – Do you see how this word speaks today? It is as important a message today as it was in 520 BC.

Temple – we do not live in the Old Testament times. We live in the New Testament times. The difference is that the Old prepared the people for Jesus. The New is lived with Jesus. In the Old, they had a temple as the place to meet with God. It was where the priests would offer prayers for the people. It was where sacrifices were given to cover the sins of the people. It was where the people were to see the glory of God. You will find throughout the Old Testament that the temple is central to the lives of the faithful.

Jesus has come. Jesus has fulfilled all that the temple did. We can meet with God in prayer, when we come in Jesus name. We do not need to go to a temple. Jesus said this to the Samaritan woman She wanted to know where is the right place to worship - Jesus said that now we worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus is our sacrifice – he became the last sacrificial lamb, the one who paid for all. There is no longer a need for sacrifices, because Jesus finished that work

Jesus is our priest – he, and not priest or pastor, is who prays for us, who presents his offering to God for us, who is our advocate. So we do not say that building a temple or a church is our first priority. We now say that the temple is no longer a building, it is the world of God in the world. The temple is the people who are God’s temple. If you feel that your pockets have holes in them, then you should ask – “What is my commitment to the kingdom of Christ? What is my commitment to the work of Christ? Do I joint with God’s people in worship? Do I seek to honor Christ?

This message in Haggai is very much the same as what Jesus taught in Matthew 6. “ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

When we seek our own, we have empty pockets. But when we seek FIRST the kingdom of God, we will have all that we need. This is God’s work – he will make sure our pockets are empty, if we choose self first. He will, on the other hand, fill our lives with good things, if we make his kingdom first. Seek God’s kingdom first, not second, or third or last.

Now each time I go out to preach the word of Christ and win a soul, I will sing this song, now with a new meaning that now I am building a temple, I am gathering together different and important parts of this body of Christ, for each stone gathered is more like a rejected stone. 1Peter 2: 4-10 teaches that all this stones he will gather together and will assemble them nicely connected to the chief corner stone to build and complete his temple.

James 5:16- The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

-- If such is true of one righteous man, how about the prayers of many righteous?

Pray with us for a successful crusade and that we may fulfill the vision

May Christ bless you all