Larry Siegle · Jer. 6:16; II Chronicles 7:14
Link to sermon video: The Elements of Restoration – L Siegle
The Time to Build and Rebuild
“The ELEMENTS for Restoration”
(Jer. 6:16; II Chronicles 7:14)
Series: The Time to Build and Rebuild
Thesis: God wants to build a house of those who love Him and are determined to accomplish His purpose.
INTRODUCTION
1. We begin a study to identify and explore the desire of God to build something of value and the need to rebuild our lives.
2. The title of the series is The Time to Build and Rebuild
3. The title of our message today is: “The ELEMENTS for Restoration”
RESTORATION IS AN ACTION WORD
1. As a little boy, my father took with me with him into the woods…he was hunting for something…
2. After we had walked for several hours underneath the thick vegetation, trees, and obstacles…my little legs were so Tired…he saw how weary I had become and so we paused them for awhile…no clue at to exactly where we were (no
maps, no GPS devices, not even a compass)…so we sat down to revive ourselves…
3. We rose to continue our journey…I had no idea just how “lost” we were at the time, but somehow I trusted my dad to find a way back to the warmth and safety of our home.
a. Nearly every day we come across people around us…not lost in the forest vegetation, but somehow wandering through life with no real sense of purpose or direction.
b. “Does a person find God?” Or is the reality that “God finds us”—in situations and circumstances they could never have imagined, feeling lost and even desperate to find a “way out”
c. As long as I was ‘walking beside my dad’ I did not worry because I trusted him to “find a way back”
4. The sun had set and the feeling of the darkness all around us was overwhelming…
5. Hours passed and in the distance there were voices calling our names…we had been found.
a. Someone cared enough to search for us, not giving up, even in the darkness of the night, to rescue us.
ISRAEL HAD LOST ITS WAY
1. During the time of Elijah there was a famine in the land that lasted three and a half years…God’s blessing had “dried up” because the people had forsaken their God—had forgotten what Moses had told them (Deut. 11:13-32).
a. In life we sometimes find ourselves in the “middle of nowhere” and we have no clue as to how we got there.
1) The temptation is to make “excuses” of how we got lost in the first place…
2) The temptation is to look around and find someone else to blame…
3) The temptation to just take on the role of being a victim.
b. Restoration is impossible unless we pause to examine ourselves and to confess our failures and weaknesses to the Lord—we do not “have the right to remain silent” and expect the situation to change or magically disappear.
2. Ahab was a king in Israel in the 9th century BC who reigned over the northern kingdom from Samaria for 22 years…
a. He was a wicked ruler who promoted the worship of Baal and who set up “golden calf” worship throughout the north as a means of discouraging people from traveling to the temple in Jerusalem to worship God (I Kings 16:30-33).
b. Israel needed to be reminded of what God had told Moses hundreds of years before, what would happen to those who forsook the worship of God to go after the false idols of the nations…(Deut. 28:15, 23, 24).
3. In Israel there was two seasons of the year when rain was expected—
a. the early rain (from October to early November)—to soften the soil for plowing and sowing seed.
b. the latter rain (March and April), to bring the crops to maturity before the time of “harvest” would arrive…
1) In the prophets the seasonal rains were looked upon as a “blessing” and “vindication” of God’s provision for His people (Joel 2:23, 24)—but it would only come when Israel had returned to the Lord and repented of their past transgressions.
2) Because of their disobedience Israel faced a time of “judgment” in the “land” (Joel 2:1, 2).
3) The “judgment” of God affects every area of their lives and intensifies the reality of what was happening (Joel 1:9-12)
c. “Those who fail to learn from the history of the past are destined to repeat them over and over.”
4. Israel needed genuine restoration through ‘repentance’ and a wholehearted return to the Lord (Isa. 55:6-11)
5. Ahab is looking for a “plan” of how to survive this “famine” in the land and to save some of the animals (I Kings. 18:3-6).
6. Obadiah meets Elijah along the way and the prophet tells him to contact Ahab (I Kings 18:7-16).
1) There is no love lost between Ahab and Elijah and the king refers to the prophets as the “troubler of Israel” (I Kings 18:17)
2) Ahab blames the prophet for Israel’s problems—as the one who “disturbs” “stirs up” “troubles” “causes disaster” to Israel.
a) Was Elijah the “troublemaker” or was the situation caused by the departure of the people from God and becoming lost and thus facing the consequences that had been foretold would come against them?
b) Ahab and the wicked rulers before him were the source of what had happened to Israel (I Kings 18:18).
7. When God’s people repent and return to Him, there is restoration of what had been lost (Joel 2:12-14, 19, 21, 23-27).
RESTORATION TODAY
1. When we awaken to the reality of who we are and where we are in our relationship with the Lord today—then we can do whatever is necessary to experience genuine restoration.
2. We have so many things for which to be thankful to have joy and gratefulness unto the Lord, and instead we complain about the “small things” of life…
3. God wants to bless us so that we can become a blessing to others (II Cor. 9:6-12).
CONCLUSION
1. The concept of restoration is not just about ‘fixing’ various doctrines that had been corrupted along the way…
2. Restoration begins within the hearts and minds of believers who know and understand what must be done in order to have a victorious relationship with the Lord.
3. Restoration is not just about stopping doing “bad things” but rather involves the positive step of doing good things that replace the “bad things”
a. I took courses years ago about the principles of becoming a heath coach through “Institute of Integrative Nutrition”
b. The idea was to develop a custom program for each person in order to meet their individual needs…
c. They would begin to slowly remove small amounts of the foods that were “bad” for a person and slowly substitute small portions of the foods that were “good” for a person…
1) This action took away the “withdrawal” symptoms a person would have if they were told to immediately remove something the person enjoyed and had eaten for years…
2) When a person becomes a child of God, the process of restoration begins as God changes our thoughts, words, actions, and the desires we have for certain things…
3) When you look back on life years later, you do not even miss the “old” things any longer…
d. Are we ready to experience full and complete restoration in our lives today?
c. Are we ready to experience a “new life” under the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
d. Are we ready to take the journey along the “covenant path” that molds and shapes every part of our being into the “image” of Christ?
Outline (Word document): Time_to_Rebuild_III.docx