Flight

Haggai 1:12-15 January 18, 2026 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis When God calls His people to obedience, He accompanies that command with His presence and power, so that what appears to be a leap into a void is actually a step into His sustaining strength.

Series

Renewal

Type

Expository

Tone

pastoraldidactic

Method

grammatical-historicalcanonicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

22 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #16

"Brings Hebrews' command to corporate life into conversation with Haggai, addressing common excuses for avoiding involvement in the church."

Doctrinal loci· 3 surfaced

Sanctification · 5 Providence / Sovereignty · 2 Ethics / Moral Theology · 1

Bible citations· 10

Illustrations· 1

historical example · unit #4 — Introduces the Wright brothers' discovery that air is not a void but provides lift when engaged at speed, setting up the sermon's controlling metaphor about obedience and God's power.

Theological claims· 2

When God commands obedience, He accompanies that command with His power to accomplish it. unit #7
Most complicated choices in life reduce to a simple question: will you obey the Lord? unit #10

Quotations· 2

"all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable and useful and good" — Paul (unit #1)

"don't neglect meeting with one another" — the writer of Hebrews (unit #16)

Read it

Full transcript

14,263 characters 22 units ~16 min reading time Listen instead →

0 · Opens by acknowledging Haggai's obscurity and inviting listeners to find the passage, setting up the expectation that this lesser-known text holds valuable truth

Haggai Chapter 1. It is a lesser known book in the Bible, so don't feel shy about consulting the index at the beginning. It tells you what page it's on. It's only two pages long. But one of the great things about the Bible is there are there are treasures and gems in every section of the Bible, not just the well known ones.

1 · Establishes the authority of all Scripture via 2 Timothy 3:16 and frames the sermon's place in a series on renewal

And as second Timothy says, all scripture, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable and useful and good. And so we're going to see what the Lord has for us as we turn our attention in this new year to the topic of renewal. How do we pursue renewal personally and as a church enjoying what the Lord is doing.

2 · Reads the primary text aloud, introducing the key actors (Zerubbabel, Joshua, the remnant) and the central action (they obeyed and worked on the house of the Lord)

So Haggai chapter one, we'll begin reading in verse 12. This is God's word. Then Zerubbabel the son of Sheltiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord there God had sent him and the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai the messenger of the Lord spoke to the people with the Lord's message. I am with you, declares the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the Son of sheltiel, the governor of judah and the spirit of Joshua the hun of. Son of jehozadak, the high priest and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on house of the lord of hosts, their God on the 24th day of the month in the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king. This is God's word.

3 · Brief prayer asking for God's blessing on the proclamation and reception of the word

And lord, we pray your blessing over the preaching and the hearing of it in your presence. Amen.

4 · Introduces the Wright brothers' discovery that air is not a void but provides lift when engaged at speed, setting up the sermon's controlling metaphor about obedience and God's power

Well, the greatest discovery of the wright brothers is not what you are probably thinking of. The greatest discovery of the wright brothers wasn't the little engine that powered their airplane. It wasn't the specific design of their airplane either. There's a pretty good reason why most airplanes don't look like that one anymore. Their discovery was far simpler and far more profound because in the 1800s, people misunderstood a couple of crucial things about flight. First of all, everybody assumed that to fly forward, you must fly up first and then begin flying forward. So you have to get in the air and then go. And so that's why you get so many weird contraptions. If you look at 1800s designs of people like flapping, like, giant wings or mechanical things like trying to flap their wings, and you're like, yeah, airplanes don't look like that. Well, there's a good reason it doesn't work. The second thing, though, was that most people assumed, or scientists at the time assumed, that the air around us was just a void, that there was nothing in it, that. That it simply sort of moved through it, but you couldn't. Nobody thought of using the air in order to fly. And so the wright brothers were part of this very small group of people that discovered something. They discovered that the air around us is not avoid. In fact, it can. It provides the ability to lift you up if you catch it in the right way. And the way you catch it, by the way, is running forward with great speed, pushing forward with great speed. So they discovered this profound thing that sounds crazy. The air that they thought was a void and that nothing was there actually held the power to lift you up.

5 · Provides historical context for Haggai's audience—16 years of delay, external pressure, resource scarcity—and establishes the parallel between their perceived impossibility and the Wright brothers' problem

Now, why bring that up related to haggai? Well, in haggai, they actually have a very similar problem. The lord has come with his prophet haggai, and he's come to this group of people that returned to the promised land after exile. They've been there for probably most estimates say about 16 years. They made an initial attempt to begin rebuilding the temple. They got the altar and the foundation stones, but that was it. Because soon external pressure stop them, political pressure stop them. Their lack of resources as well seemed to stop them. And the Lord comes and he says, arise. He sends Haggai and Zechariah, these two prophets, and says, arise and build the house of the Lord. But there's a problem for most people in, in among God's people. It probably felt like the Lord was, was, was taking them to the edge and saying, jump. And the people are going. There's nothing there to jump onto, right? And so that's one of the reasons they had been delaying and delaying and saying, not yet, not yet. Doesn't look like the right time yet. I don't see anything out there yet. There's no steps yet. I think we're going to wait. And the Lord is saying, no, go. I want you to not just go. I want you to run and I want you to jump. And I want you to obey this command, even if you don't understand how things will work.

6 · Applies the metaphor directly to the congregation, diagnosing the universal problem of feeling that obedience requires stepping into a void

And friends, don't we have the same problem in our own lives today? I so often when, when the Lord says, okay, obey in this area, do this thing. Trust me, in this area, obey and, and. And take a step. It feels to me like I. But there's no step there. And the Lord's saying, obey. And I'm like, there's nothing there. I think it's not yet, not right now, right? That's. Maybe that's where you've been. Maybe that's where you are today. The Lord is calling you to do something, and you're going, no, nothing there. I can't. There's nothing to step onto. How do I do this?

7 · States the sermon's controlling claim: God's commands are always accompanied by His power to accomplish them

And yet here's what we're going to see. That God, when he calls his people to do something, accompanies them with his power to do it.

8 · Previews the sermon's two-part structure: human obedience and divine power

And so we're going to look at two sections today. What the people do and what God does. What the people do and what God does.

9 · Begins exposition of verse 12, highlighting the remarkable nature of the people's obedience after 16 years of inaction and in the face of persistent uncertainty

So first, what the people do. Think of this as the. The run, right? Gathering speed, getting ready to. To leap out into the void. Look at verse 12. The leaders and with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared the Lord. This is remarkable. You might just think, okay, well, they heard and they didn't know. They had been doing nothing for 16 years. This is a remarkable moment. They are, they are. They don't know how this is going to work. They don't know how politically this is going to go. They don't know about the threats around them. They don't know if they're going to have the resources to do it. And yet they obeyed.

10 · Distills complex moral decisions to a single question of obedience, cutting through rationalizations and complications

And here's the thing. Most complicated choices in life are actually not that complicated because many choices in life come down to a simple question. Will you step out and obey the Lord? Right? For God's people, it seemed really complicated, right? It seemed like, oh, man, what about our resource pile? And do we have enough political capital? And what about these people? And what about this sort of. We need some political cover here. And you have all these things. And the Lord brought it all the way down to a simple question. We. Will you obey? Will you step out and obey?

11 · Warns against cultural tendencies to redefine, shade, or evade the clear meaning of Scripture, noting that Haggai's audience faced the same temptations

Now, notice something else. This obedience came in obedience to the word of God that's been revealed. And let me just make a comment here, because in our culture, it has gotten popular to redefine what the Bible says often to shade the meaning of the Bible, to massage the Bible, to skip over the uncomfortable parts of the Bible. And don't you think that the. That the people of God had all those temptations when this word came? When this word comes, arise and build the house. And they're like, what is it? What does build mean? You know, build, build. Think build means. Let's redefine build to be. Let's think about the house spiritually. We. We build the house. Right? Right. Or. Or to be like, well, you know, that, that. Let's go back to some other things God says to do first. You know, he says to love your family, says to do this. Let's focus on those. And then we'll. We'll get to that. You know, if the Lord's. But look, here's the reality. Our culture is full of people who are very willing. You can find them in an instant on YouTube. Anything you want to not do that God's telling you to do. You can find somebody trying to explain from the Bible about, oh, it's okay, it's okay. Like, the Bible says, live like this, and you'll find people that are going, well, what does live mean? You know, what is. What is this mean? And then they begin to redefine or massage or. Or maybe there's just places and teachings and churches or teachers that just don't ever cover parts of the Bible because it's just like, man, well. Well, we don't like those parts.

12 · Highlights the radical discomfort of Haggai's command and the people's refusal to soften it, establishing this as the pattern for believers today

Look, here's the reality. This command is as uncomfortable a word or a command could be. It is stop everything you are currently doing with great risk, with great danger, with great uncertainty, Arise and do something that that man. Don't you think they would want to. To shade that a little bit? And yet the people simply receive it and obey it. Oh, friends, that's what we are called to do as well. That's the call to God's people. Simply obey.

13 · Expounds the theological significance of rebuilding the temple as encompassing relationship with God, corporate identity, and mission to the nations

Now, a couple things you need to notice about this call to rebuild the temple. We covered a lot of this last week, so I'm not going to belabor this, but the call to rebuild the temple is really a call to relationship with God. It's a call to God's people and their purposes, and it's a call to mission. Right. The temple realm wrapped up all of those things. It was a place of relationship with God. It was the center of God's people's life, and it was a place of mission because the people of God were meant to be a light unto the nations around them. And the temple was sort of the centerpiece of that work.

14 · Applies the temple-rebuilding call to believers today as a call to relationship with God, emphasizing concrete obedience in personal sanctification

So similarly, we are called to the same things. We may not be called to build a physical structure in the ancient Near East. I don't think maybe you're called to do that. Maybe you've got a contract coming up, I don't know. But almost everybody in this church is not called to do that. Instead, we're called to the same priorities. We're called to relationship with God. We talked about how in Christ we are that we become the temple of the Holy Spirit, which means we are to give attention to our relationship with God. If there are things that God is telling us to do in relationship, to spend time with him, to pursue him, to run to him, to change in ways that honor him, to become more like Jesus in particular areas, we. We must pursue those things. Rather than shading or adjusting or ignoring, we. We simply go, yes, I need to change. Similarly, if the God says not to do something, if something in relationship with him is dishonoring to him, we're just not do it. And you think, well, but God doesn't understand all the factors here. No, it's not complicated. It's actually simple. Will you obey the Lord?

15 · Applies the corporate nature of the temple-rebuilding command to the church's life together, noting the shift from individualistic focus to corporate purpose

And then in addition to being called a relationship with God, we're called to relationship with God's people. Notice that this is. This is a corporate command. This isn't just. In a sense, if you think of the, the motion of this passage, everybody's working on their own houses and the Lord calls them together to his purposes. And one of the things God is doing is he's bringing the people back together. And similarly, sometimes we need to be called back together.

16 · Brings Hebrews' command to corporate life into conversation with Haggai, addressing common excuses for avoiding involvement in the church

The writer of Hebrews says, don't neglect meeting with one another. Don't neglect being in one another's lives. You need this so that you can exhort, so you can strengthen, so you can help one another. And there are lots of times we can give excuses to be like, well, I don't want to serve. I don't want to do this. I don't want to be part of that. It's too inconvenient. It's too difficult. That person's messy. That person annoys me. What. You know, whatever. And yet the Lord is saying, come. Come and build.

17 · Applies the temple-rebuilding command to personal evangelism, surfacing the internal resistance believers feel when prompted to share Christ

And last the area of mission. We're called to God's mission, right? Just as God's people were meant to be a light in the Old Testament. How much more are we called to be a light under the world around us? And there are moments where maybe you've built a relationship with a coworker, and you. You can almost feel the voice of the Lord saying, hey, when are you gonna. When are you gonna introduce a spiritual conversation? When are you gonna. They're hurting. When are you gonna share something in Christ that has served you or helped you instead of just saying that sounds hard, you know, When. When are you gonna take that step? And you're going, oh, man, I don't know yet. God says, come, follow me. Follow me. Take that step.

18 · Identifies 'the time has not yet come' as the universal excuse for delayed obedience, applying it to multiple concrete areas of discipleship

Look, these are all areas, friends, in which we are tempted, just like the people in Hagai 1 to go. You remember their excuse in chapter one for why they hadn't rebuilt the temple? The time has not yet come, right? And we do the same thing. We go back to the same excuse when God says, hey, I want you to. Want you to spend time with me. I want you to. I want you to reconcile with your spouse and really get at what's going on in your marriage. And you go, well, the time has not yet come, Lord. You know, or you feel a pull from the Lord, man, I want you to begin to work on. On discipling your kids, getting the Bible open. And you're like, maybe in a year, maybe two years, May. The time has not yet come, Lord. You. Maybe you feel like there's a particular announcement, you know, about a service team, and you're like, maybe I should join that. And then you think, the time's not yet come. My time has not yet come to join that team yet. When will it come? I don't know, but it. I'll know I will know you know, and it will be clear, clearer than the Lord saying to do it. Well, you know, that's what's going on in this passage and that's what goes on in our hearts.

19 · Presses the question of delayed obedience directly to the listener, asking where they are saying 'not yet' to God

And so friends, let me encourage you. Where might the Lord be calling you to obey, to step out, to step away from something, or step to something in obedience to his command. But you are are saying not yet.

20 · Introduces Hebrews 3 as diagnosing the historical pattern of hearing God's voice without acting, paralleling Haggai's audience and contemporary believers

Hebrews 3 has a good word for us here. Oh friends, this is so helpful. Hebrews 3 actually surveys the whole history of God's people and points out a common pattern. And the common pattern of God's people was often they heard the voice of the, of the Lord and they went, they nodded, and then they didn't do it right. Over and over they were like Lord says, do this and they go and then did not change.

21 · Reads Hebrews 3:15 and applies its urgency to immediate action, pressing 'today' as the proper response to God's voice

And so Hebrews 3:15 says this to us, friends, receive this. If you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, friends, of the Lord's calling you to do something. Take a step, do it today. Make a plan today. Talk to your spouse today. Begin today. That's what the Lord calls us to. He calls us to obey today.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Jan 4, 2026

How to Grow For Sure in the New Year

Lasting Christian growth comes not from new techniques or special programs but from embracing our gospel identity—being flipped right-side-up by God's mercy and bound together in Christian community—and living that out through open tables, open Bibles, and open lives.

Romans 12:1-2, 4-5, 15

Jan 11, 2026

What Are You Building?

God calls his people to stop building their own kingdoms and instead invest in building his house—which in Christ means relationship with God through Jesus and participation in his church—because this is the only building project that leads to lasting satisfaction, mission, and legacy.

Haggai 1:1-11

Jan 12, 2026

How to Grow For Sure in the New Year

Lasting Christian growth flows not from better resolutions but from a gospel-shaped identity that flips us right-side-up by God's mercy and binds us to other believers in Word-centered community.

Romans 12

January 18 · This sermon

Flight

When God calls His people to obedience, He accompanies that command with His presence and power, so that what appears to be a leap into a void is actually a step into His sustaining strength.

Haggai 1:12-15

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

Read Haggai 1:12-15 together. What specific action did the people take in response to God's word through the prophet, and what do you notice…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week, we walk with Haggai's people from paralysis to obedience—discovering that when God commands, He supplies the power to accomplish it.

Prayer

Prayer for Obedience in the Void

Father, we come before You in awe of Your covenant faithfulness. You are Yahweh, the God who keeps His word and sustains all things by Your…

Family table

The Void That Isn't Empty

This card anchors in the Wright brothers' flight metaphor that Ricky uses to explain obedience. The goal is to help your family name one are…

Couples

Obedience and the Presence of God

When you heard that God accompanies His commands with His presence and power, what area of your life came to mind where you've been hesitati…

Memorize

Haggai 1:14

This verse captures the sermon's central claim: God's command to obey is always accompanied by His power to accomplish it. When the people moved from 16 years of paralysis to action, it was because the Lord stirred their spirits—they didn't generate the obedience themselves. This is the verse that answers the question: how do we step into the void? By receiving the supernatural empowerment God provides with every command.

Couples · three questions over coffee

Obedience and the Presence of God

When you heard that God accompanies His commands with His presence and power, what area of your life came to mind where you've been hesitating to obey?
How have you seen God's presence show up in our marriage when one of us has stepped forward in faith, even when it felt risky?
What is one way we could pray for each other this week to take a step of obedience we've been delaying—and to trust that God will sustain us as we move?

Draft · pending review

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

Read Haggai 1:12-15 together. What specific action did the people take in response to God's word through the prophet, and what do you notice about the *speed* of their obedience?

Haggai 1:12

→ The text says they 'obeyed the voice of the Lord their God.' What made the difference between their 16 years of delay and this sudden movement?
Verse 14 tells us that 'the Lord stirred up the spirit' of the people to come and work on the temple. In your own experience, when has God's presence or His Spirit made obedience possible when it otherwise felt impossible?

Haggai 1:14
The sermon uses the Wright brothers' discovery of flight as a picture: the air was always there to hold up the plane, even though it looked like empty void. How does that image help you understand what obedience looks like when God commands something that *feels* risky or beyond your strength?

→ Is there an area of your life right now where God seems to be calling you forward, but it feels like stepping into nothing?
In verse 13, God says 'I am with you,' and the people's response is to 'fear the Lord' (verse 12). Why is the fear of the Lord—reverence for who He is—the antidote to paralysis and delay?

Haggai 1:13, 1:12
Most of us are delaying obedience in some area—a spiritual discipline we haven't started, a reconciliation we haven't pursued, a word we haven't spoken, a service we haven't begun. What is the Lord asking you to stop delaying on, and what would it look like to move forward this week?

→ What would change if you believed—really believed—that God's presence and power were accompanying that obedience, not just commanding it?
The sermon says that 'most complicated choices in life reduce to a simple question: will you obey the Lord?' When you strip away the fear, the doubt, and the 'what-ifs,' is that the real question you're facing in whatever area God is calling you forward?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

This week, we walk with Haggai's people from paralysis to obedience—discovering that when God commands, He supplies the power to accomplish it.

Monday Hebrews 3:15

The Hebrew writer echoes Psalm 95: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.' Notice the urgency—not tomorrow, not after you feel ready, but today. Haggai's people heard God's voice through the prophet and moved. When we delay obedience, we're not protecting ourselves; we're resisting the very voice that calls us into His sustaining strength.

Tuesday 2 Timothy 3:16

Paul tells Timothy that Scripture is useful for 'training in righteousness'—not just for knowing doctrine, but for becoming obedient. Haggai spoke God's word to a paralyzed people, and that word became the hinge on which their future turned. When we open Scripture and hear God's call to rebuild, reconcile, or serve, we're not reading suggestions—we're encountering the power that transforms paralysis into action.

Wednesday Haggai 1 (earlier verses)

In the verses leading up to our passage, Haggai diagnosed the people's condition: they plant but reap little, they eat but are never satisfied, they earn wages but the purse has holes. Why? Because they delayed rebuilding God's house. The emptiness they felt wasn't random—it was God's way of showing them that prosperity apart from obedience is an illusion. Our delay today produces a similar hollowness.

Thursday Hebrews 3

Hebrews 3 warns against the hardness of heart that keeps God's people from entering His rest. The wilderness generation saw the promised land and said, 'We can't.' Haggai's people saw the rubble of the temple and said, 'We can't'—until God reminded them of His presence. The Wright brothers ran toward air that couldn't be seen or touched, trusting physics they'd tested. We run toward obedience trusting a God we've tested.

Friday Hebrews 3:15

Today, if you hear His voice. Not after counseling, not after the committee approves, not after you feel strong enough—today. The people of Haggai's generation had to ask themselves: Do we trust this God enough to rebuild, or do we keep protecting ourselves in the rubble? That same choice sits in front of you: Will you obey what you know God is calling you to? The only question left is whether you'll say yes while you still can hear His voice.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Prayer for Obedience in the Void

Father, we come before You in awe of Your covenant faithfulness. You are Yahweh, the God who keeps His word and sustains all things by Your power. You are Elohim, the sovereign Judge before whom all creation trembles. We worship You for calling us not into uncertainty, but into the security of Your presence.

Yet we confess, Lord, that we have delayed. Like Your people in Haggai's day, we have sat paralyzed for seasons—held back by fear, by the feeling that obedience requires a leap into a void we cannot see across. We have postponed reconciliation. We have withheld our service from the church. We have held our tongues when You have called us to speak. We have let spiritual disciplines languish. Forgive us for treating obedience as a risk You ask us to bear alone.

But here is the good news: when You command, You accompany. As Your Spirit moved upon Zerubbabel and Joshua and all the people to obey (Haggai 1:14), so You promise to move upon us. The void we fear is not empty—it is filled with Your sustaining strength. You do not ask us to step where You are not. What appears to be flight into nothing is flight into the hands of the God who holds all things together. Your word is not just a command; it is a pathway lined with Your presence (2 Timothy 3:16).

So we ask You, Father: give us holy reverence for Your name. Grant us courage to move forward in the areas where You have spoken to us. Whether it is a broken relationship waiting for reconciliation, a spiritual discipline neglected, a word of witness held back, or a place of service in Your church—grant us the grace to stop delaying and to run forward in faith. We trust that as we obey, we will feel the lift of Your power sustaining us. Make us a people who say yes to Your call and discover in that yes the reality of Your presence.

We commit ourselves to You this week, Lord. Strengthen our hearts and our hands for the obedience You require. And receive our gratitude that we are never asked to fly alone.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

The Void That Isn't Empty

For the parent

This card anchors in the Wright brothers' flight metaphor that Ricky uses to explain obedience. The goal is to help your family name one area where they're hesitating to obey God—and to wrestle together with the question: what if the thing that looks scary is actually where God's power is waiting?

Ricky talked about the Wright brothers running off a cliff to learn about flight—and how what looked like empty air below them was actually holding them up the whole time. In your life right now, what's one thing God is asking you to do that feels a little bit like running off a cliff? (It could be telling someone about Jesus, saying sorry to someone, starting to pray, helping at church, or something else.) What would it look like to trust that God is holding you up in that jump?

works for ages 8+; younger kids (6-7) can listen and share with help from a parent

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Haggai 1:14

And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God.

Why this verse: This verse captures the sermon's central claim: God's command to obey is always accompanied by His power to accomplish it. When the people moved from 16 years of paralysis to action, it was because the Lord stirred their spirits—they didn't generate the obedience themselves. This is the verse that answers the question: how do we step into the void? By receiving the supernatural empowerment God provides with every command.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

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# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [How to Grow For Sure in the New Year (Romans 12:1-2, 4-5, 15, 2026-01-04)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2026/01/how-to-grow-for-sure-in-the-new-year)
- [What Are You Building? (Haggai 1:1-11, 2026-01-11)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2026/01/you-re-building-the-wrong-house)
- [How to Grow For Sure in the New Year (Romans 12, 2026-01-12)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2026/01/how-to-grow-for-sure-in-the-new-year)
- [Flight (Haggai 1:12-15, 2026-01-18)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2026/01/flight)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
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