DONT STOP BUILDING

Don’t Stop Building
Bible Text: Haggai 2:1–9
“Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts.”
—Haggai 2:4
Today marks a great milestone in the history of West End Baptist Church. For 103 years, people have walked through these doors. Thousands of sermons have been preached, countless songs have been sung, children have been taught, missionaries have been supported, and many souls have been saved through the ministry of this church.
Today, we honor the people who built West End Baptist Church—not merely the building, but the people.
At one time, this building was the schoolhouse for the mill village. Children met here, and the church began meeting here in 1923. In 1961, this building was deeded to West End Baptist Church, and it has served as a church ever since.
We are thankful for this building, but today we are especially thankful for the people who have built this church through the years.
We honor their prayers. Every time we come into this church and lift our voices in prayer, we are honoring those who prayed before us.
We honor their labor. Every time someone cuts the grass, cleans the building, paints a wall, changes a light, cleans a baseboard, or does one of the countless jobs that keep this church going, we are honoring those who worked before us.
We honor their giving. Why should we give to the work of the church? Because people before us gave so that we could sit here today.
And we honor their service.
I believe we are foolish if we forget our past. Paul said we are to forget those things which are behind and press forward, but I don't believe Paul was talking about having spiritual amnesia. He wasn't telling us to forget God's faithfulness or forget what God has done.
West End Baptist Church has a wonderful history, and we should never forget it.
I don't believe we can fully enjoy the blessings of today without honoring those who came before us.
So today, let's give God thanks for them.
But while we honor the past, we also have a responsibility for the future.
We have a job to do.
We must continue building a local church for the glory of God.
This isn't a civic organization. This isn't an “us four and no more” club. This is a church built upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our mission is to encourage the saints, build up believers, train those who have been born again, and reach those who are lost by giving them a clear presentation of the Gospel as often as we can.
We must build—and we must build wisely.
So we have to ask the question: How would God have us build West End Baptist Church in this generation?
That brings us to Haggai 2.

1. Their Perception Was on Yesterday
The people of God had drifted away from God.
If you read the Old Testament, you will see this pattern repeated over and over again. They would serve God, then fall into idolatry and turn away from Him. God would judge them, they would return to God, and then eventually the cycle would begin again.
God sent prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and others to warn His people.
Eventually, Babylon came. Jerusalem was destroyed. The great temple Solomon had built was destroyed, and many of God's people were taken captive.
For seventy years, they lived in captivity.
Then a king named Cyrus conquered Babylon and allowed God's people to return to Jerusalem.
When they returned, they didn't want to go back to their old ways. They had learned their lesson.
The first thing they did was build an altar. Then they began laying the foundation for a new temple.
Think about that.
The temple Solomon had built had stood for more than 400 years. It had enormous cedar timbers, gold, beautiful artwork, and incredible craftsmanship. It was one of the greatest structures of its day.
And now God's people were trying to rebuild it.
They laid the foundation. They started the work.
But something happened.
They lost their excitement.
The work stalled.
The construction stopped, and for sixteen years the temple sat unfinished.
Sixteen years!
For 86 years total, God's people were without the temple they had once known as the center of worship.
Then God sent a prophet named Haggai to stir them up again.
Haggai comes along and begins challenging them to get back to work.
He says in Haggai 2:3:
“Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?”
In other words:
“Who remembers the old temple? Who remembers what it looked like? And now look at what you're building. Doesn't this seem like nothing compared to what you remember?”
Some of the older generation had actually seen Solomon's temple. They remembered its greatness.
And now they looked at this new foundation and thought:
“Is this all we're going to build?”
Their perception was on yesterday.
They couldn't see what God could do today because they were focused on what God had done in the past.
And one of the greatest dangers for any church is to become so concentrated on the past that we fail to see what God wants to do today.
I love our past.
We honor our past.
We are thankful for those who came before us.
But if our worship stops in the past, our vision will stop there too.
Their eyes were on yesterday's temple instead of today's job.
The new temple seemed too small compared to the one they remembered, so they complained and quit working.
And that's still a danger for churches today.
The danger isn't remembering Solomon's temple.
The danger is trying to recreate Solomon's temple.
Some of us remember great services. We remember great revivals. We remember times when people were saved. We remember nights when the altars were full.
I remember a service where we baptized 26 or 27 people in one night.
Would you like to have another night like that? Absolutely!
I remember services where people were standing in the aisles, people were at the altar, and the Spirit of God seemed to fall on the place in a powerful way.
I remember hearing the Hegwoods sing and thinking the roof was going to come off the building.
I remember services where we said, “Sing it again!”
Those are wonderful memories.
But if we're not careful, we can build monuments to those moments.
We can say, “It was good then, but it isn't as good now.”
We can become so focused on what God did that we fail to see what God wants to do.
It's wonderful to remember the past.
But if your vision and allegiance are only to the past, you'll miss what God has for you today.
And that isn't just true in church.
It's true in life.
It's true in relationships.
It's true in every season of our lives.
Don't stop building because yesterday was different.

2. God's Presence Matters Most
Look at verses 4–5:
“Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:
According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.”
Three times God says:
“Be strong.”
And then He tells them why they can be strong:
“I am with you.”
God didn't promise them more money.
He didn't say, “I'll send you Solomon's resources.”
He didn't promise them more workers.
He didn't promise them cedar timbers like Solomon had.
He didn't promise them gold.
He promised them His presence.
And I just want to say today:
That's enough.
They didn't need Solomon's money if they had God's presence.
They didn't need Solomon's wisdom if they had God's presence.
They didn't need Solomon's connections if they had God's presence.
God said, “I am with you.”
And that is the same promise we have today.
In 103 years, a lot has changed at West End Baptist Church.
Pastors have come and gone.
Members have come and gone.
Music has changed.
The building has changed.
The community has changed.
Today we have livestreaming, social media, websites, apps, and technology that nobody could have imagined 103 years ago.
But one thing has not changed:
God is still with us.
It doesn't matter who's sitting in the pulpit.
It doesn't matter who's sitting in the pew.
It doesn't matter who used to sing that song.
It doesn't matter who used to teach that class.
What matters is God is with us.
Some people can't move forward for God because they're thinking about the resources they used to have.
“I can't do this anymore because I don't have that person.”
“I don't have my right-hand man.”
“I don't have that teacher.”
“I don't have that singer.”
“I don't have the people we used to have.”
Can I tell you something?
None of that limits God.
God is with us.
This group of people probably thought they couldn't move forward without Solomon's money, Solomon's wisdom, or Solomon's connections.
But God said:
“Be strong. I am with you.”
God was reminding them that He was the One who empowered Solomon in the first place.
Solomon didn't build that great temple because Solomon was so great.
God was with him.
And if God could use Solomon, God could use them.
And if God could use them, God can use us.
God wants to use every person in this room to build West End Baptist Church.
I'm not just talking about building a bigger building. I'd love to have a newer building and a bigger facility one day, and if God wants us to do that, we'll do it.
But we're not just building a building.
We're building people.
We're building classes.
We're building ministries.
We're building families.
We're building disciples.
We're building one another up.
And God will do that through us if we will lean on Him.
God's power isn't in a building.
I love this building.
I'm thankful for this building.
But what happens if we don't have this building?
What will the church do?
We'll have to rest on Him.
God's power isn't in a program.
It isn't in an event.
It isn't in a singer.
And I'll even say this:
It's not in a preacher or pastor.
Our hope is in God's power, God's resources, God's promises, and God's ability.
And God's ability isn't limited by time, space, location, or generation.
Our hope is in Him.
God is everlasting, and He will meet the needs of this church if we will be obedient and work for Him.

3. God's Place Is Still Worth Building
The people had been focused on the past.
Then they realized that God's presence mattered most.
And finally, they understood that God's place was still worth building.
Let me put a plug in right here:
Working around West End Baptist Church is still something valuable to do.
If you're on the grass-cutting team, can I say thank you?
That is not wasted time.
If you cleaned the building this week, that's not wasted time.
If you've changed diapers in the nursery, that's not wasted time.
If you've taught boys and girls, that's not wasted time.
If you've stayed after church for choir practice, that's not wasted time.
If you've sat and listened to me preach week after week, that's not wasted time!
We are working together to build God's place.
The people in Haggai's day looked at this new temple and compared it to Solomon's temple.
They looked at the smaller foundation and thought it was inferior.
But eventually they realized something:
God wasn't in the cedar beams.
God wasn't in the gold.
God wasn't in the size.
God wasn't in the artwork.
God's presence was what mattered.
And once they understood that, they got back to work.
But the story doesn't end there.
In verses 6–9, God gives them a promise that is almost too big for them to understand:
“Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”
God didn't say, “Go back and rebuild Solomon's temple.”
He said, in essence:
“Build what I have given you to build, and I will fill it with My glory.”
Then He says:
“The silver is mine, and the gold is mine.”
God was saying, “Get your eyes off the silver and gold. Get your eyes off the size. Get your eyes off the appearance.”
Then He makes this incredible statement:
“The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former.”
How could that be?
Solomon's temple was bigger.
It was more elaborate.
It had more gold.
It had more impressive architecture.
So how could this smaller temple have greater glory?
Because about 500 years later, something would happen in that temple that would make it greater than Solomon's temple ever was.
A young Jewish couple would walk into that temple carrying a baby.
They would bring Him to a man named Simeon.
And Simeon, led by the Spirit of God, would take that baby in his arms and say that he could now depart in peace because he had seen the salvation of the Lord.
That baby would be circumcised according to Jewish tradition.
That baby would be given the name that the angel had told His parents to give Him.
And that name was:
Jesus.
Jesus never walked into Solomon's temple as a baby.
But Jesus walked into this temple.
The little temple.
The temple that looked inferior.
The temple that people had compared to Solomon's and said, “This is nothing.”
That was the temple God chose to glorify.
And I believe there is a message for us in that today.
What you do for Christ doesn't have to be big to be valuable.
It isn't about bigger.
It isn't about smaller.
Greater isn't necessarily more.
Less isn't necessarily better.
The question is:
Are we doing what God wants us to do?
That's the most we can do for Him.
Don't Build Monuments to the Past
Let me close with this.
Be careful about building monuments to people, places, and things simply because they are great memories.
We say:
“I remember when…”
And there's nothing wrong with remembering.
But if we're not careful, those memories can discourage us from giving our best today.
I appreciate the music we have around here. Brother Brant and our people work hard to keep things fresh, and I appreciate that.
I like fresh music.
And if you're going to expect me to come in here week after week with a fresh message, you can hold the music department to the fire too!
Give us some new songs once in a while!
But I've seen something happen through the years.
Somebody sings a song at Christmas, and somebody says, “That was a good song.”
The next year, Thanksgiving rolls around, and somebody says, “Are you going to sing that song again?”
The next year, somebody says, “It just wouldn't be Christmas if you don't sing that song.”
And before long, we have built a monument around that person and that song.
There's nothing wrong with singing the old songs.
There's nothing wrong with the old hymns.
Bring them out!
Sing them!
Enjoy them!
But if all your soundtracks are still on tape, get a new song!
Get some new material.
Why?
Because sometimes we build monuments around what was and what we enjoy, and then we become unable to see what God wants us to do next.
We say:
“It isn't the same if she doesn't sing it.”
“It isn't the same if we don't do it that way.”
“It isn't the same if we don't have that person.”
And we've forgotten something:
God isn't in that song.
God isn't in that particular service.
God isn't in doing things the same old way simply because that's how we've always done them.
God's presence is powerful.
And God wants to do new and fresh things in our lives and in His church today.
So as we celebrate 103 years of West End Baptist Church, let's honor yesterday.
Let's thank God for the people who prayed, gave, served, sacrificed, taught, sang, preached, cleaned, worked, and built.
Let's thank God for every soul that has been saved.
Let's thank God for every life that has been changed.
Let's thank God for every sermon that has been preached and every prayer that has been prayed.
But let's not stop there.
Let's keep building.
Let's keep reaching.
Let's keep serving.
Let's keep giving.
Let's keep praying.
Let's keep preaching.
Let's keep teaching.
Let's keep singing.
Let's keep telling people about Jesus.
Because there is still a community around us that needs a church that is alive.
There is still a generation that needs to hear the Gospel.
There are still boys and girls who need to be taught the Word of God.
There are still families that need hope.
There are still sinners who need Jesus.
And there is still work to be done.
So, West End Baptist Church:
Honor the past.
Trust God's presence.
Keep building.
Don't stop building because yesterday was bigger.
Don't stop building because things have changed.
Don't stop building because you don't have the resources you once had.
Don't stop building because the work looks smaller than it used to.
Don't stop building.
God is still with us.
And if God is with us, we have everything we need to keep moving forward for His glory.