You Build More Than You See

Haggai 2:1-9 January 25, 2026 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis You build more than you see — ordinary faithfulness in the mundane work God has given you is building something far more glorious and eternal than you can comprehend.

Series

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Type

Expository

Tone

pastoraldidacticcelebratory

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

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

Pastoral correction · unit #18

"Alcantar applies the principle to the sphere of ministry service. The seemingly insignificant acts — handing out donuts, teaching crafts, strumming guitar, encouraging someone at home group — are kingdom work, and God will do far more through them than the servant can imagine."

Doctrinal loci· 12 surfaced

Sanctification · 9 Ecclesiology · 7 Theology Proper · 6 Eschatology · 5 Pastoral Theology · 4 Providence / Sovereignty · 4 Christology · 3 Hamartiology · 3 Soteriology · 3 Bibliology · 2 Doxology / Worship · 2 Anthropology · 1

Bible citations· 10

Illustrations· 3

hypothetical · unit #4 — Alcantar uses participatory questioning with kids, teens, and adults to establish a cultural pattern: when asked what we're doing, we answer 'nothing' — not because we're literally doing nothing, but because the work feels mundane, unremarkable, and insignificant. This illustration sets up the emotional baseline for the sermon's central problem.
historical example · unit #25 — Alcantar uses John Piper's own ministry trajectory as a historical example of the principle. Piper preached 'you build more than you see' from Haggai 2 two years into his pastorate when Bethlehem's best days seemed behind it and no one knew what God would do. Thirty years later, the fruitfulness is visible — but at year two, Piper had to trust the principle himself. The illustration loops back to validate the principle and encourage those in their own 'year two.'
historical example · unit #27 — Alcantar tells the historical chain linking Edward Kimball (Sunday school teacher) → D.L. Moody (shoe salesman saved by Kimball) → F.B. Meyer (pastor changed by Moody) → J. Wilbur Chapman (evangelist lit on fire by Meyer) → Billy Sunday (baseball player hired by Chapman) → businessmen in Charlotte (moved by Sunday) → Mordecai Ham (invited by businessmen) → Billy Graham (saved under Ham). Each link in the chain was a 'nothing special' moment — a Sunday school teacher seeking out a young man at work — but the chain led to 100 million hearing the gospel through Moody and global impact through Graham.

Theological claims· 4

God's answer is unexpected because he promises to use the current shaking not as evidence of failure but as the means to build something unshakable — a pattern seen throughout the history of God's people. unit #10
The Lord is saying that each ordinary brick placed in faithfulness is building something more glorious than Solomon's temple — more glorious than the builders can imagine. unit #13
God's people in Haggai had to trust the promise by faith, but we can see in retrospect that the temple rebuilding was paving the way for the greater temple — the person of Jesus Christ. unit #19
God is trying to help his people see that the mundane, ordinary next-thing faithfulness that feels like nothing special is being used by God to build something incomprehensible — and we have now seen a glimpse of it in Christ and the eternal temple. unit #24

Quotations· 2

"the shaking of the nations is often in order to the settling of the church and the establishing of things that can't be shaken" — Matthew Henry (unit #11)

"In other words, take courage, work, and fear not, because you build more than you see. All you see is a paltry temple. But God promises to take your work, fill it with his glory, and make your labors a million times more than you ever imagined. There is a principle here that applies to you and me. God takes small, imperfect things and builds them into a habitation for his glory." — John Piper (unit #14)

Read it

Full transcript

26,758 characters 31 units ~30 min reading time Listen instead →

0 · Alcantar reframes the congregation's physical circumstances — broken technology, difficult weather — to establish that church is not dependent on external conditions but on the gathered people, the Word, and God's presence

Amen. Well, friends, church. Church is not a building. It's not a fancy screen. It's not even a functioning sound system. The church is not always easy to get to. The church is the people of God gathered around the person of Jesus in the presence of God as we open up the word of God. Right? That is what church is. And so thank you for being here, minus screens, minus clear roads, minus sound system. Because we have three things we need. We have the people of God, we have the word of God, and we have the presence of God with us. Amen.

1 · Alcantar transitions to the sermon proper, setting expectations for length and participatory engagement

So let's open up God's words. A Haggai Chapter 2. This will be a briefer time in the Word today, but I think still. Still really encouraging and meaningful. And I'm going to warn you, I'm going to need your help a little bit today as we explore the word of God together. So, Haggai chapter two, we're gonna read verses one through nine. And as we do, let's remember this is God's word. Amen.

2 · Alcantar reads the primary text in full

Verse one. In the seventh month, on the 21st day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet. Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people and say, who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes yet? Now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak the high priest, Be strong all you people of the land, declares the Lord, work for I am with you, declares the LORD of Hosts. According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, my spirit remains in your midst. Fear not, for thus says the LORD of hosts. Yet once more in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all nations shall come in. And I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of Hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of Hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.

3 · Alcantar invokes God's blessing on both preaching and hearing, positioning the sermon as a moment dependent on divine enablement

And God, we thank you for your word. We pray for your blessing on the preaching and the hearing of your word in Jesus name. Amen.

4 · Alcantar uses participatory questioning with kids, teens, and adults to establish a cultural pattern: when asked what we're doing, we answer 'nothing' — not because we're literally doing nothing, but because the work feels mundane, unremarkable, and insignificant

All right. Well, I need a kid's help for this very first part of the message. So if you're a kid, I want you to answer this question. When your parents ask you what you learned at school or what you did at school, what is a one word answer you will give? Your mom asks, what did you do at school? What'd you learn at school? What's your answer? Yes, that's right. Nothing. Do kids agree? Yeah, that's right. Nothing. Raquel, good job. If you're paying. Have you ever, as a parent, asked your child, what did you learn today? And their response is nothing. And you're like, well, then why am I paying these property taxes? You better be learning something right now. If you're a teen. All right, if you're a teen, answer this question. If your parents are like, hey, who are you hanging out with? You know, and you say you're friends and they ask you, hey, what did you guys talk about? What's the teen answer? What'd you talk about? Nothing. Nothing. And as a parent, you're like, I'm trying to connect with you here, kid. What? Nothing. Give me something. Nothing. You know, but listen, parents, adults, we cannot be too harsh on the kids because I need an adult to answer this question. When you see a coworker, a buddy on. At work on Monday and your coworker asks, what did you do this weekend? What is your response? Nothing. Well, this weekend you did something. You. You. It snowed. But usually nothing, right? Nothing. And that question just continues on and on and on. And it's the same answer that we'd give for most of our lives, right? If we're right. If. If somebody asks us, hey, what's new at work? You'd say, nothing, right?

5 · Alcantar exegetes the historical and emotional situation of Haggai 2

And most of the time, here's what we're doing in life. We're trying to. To just do the thing in front of us, but it doesn't feel particularly meaningful, does it? It doesn't feel particularly significant. It feels mundane. And in fact, if we're honest, it feels a little discouraging sometimes because maybe we thought we'd be doing this and this is what we're doing where the point of our life, the goal of our week is basically stay employed, keep the kids fed and clothed, and show up at church to serve maybe, you know, once that week. That's the goal of life. And it feels like we're doing nothing now. That is exactly the attitude Haggai2 is written into, because that's the same answer probably the lord's people would give. They have just begun the work of Rebuilding the temple. And the challenge is this. They are one month looking at the date stamps or one month into the work. And here's the challenge. Maybe Haggai, chapter one stirred them up to rebuild the temple. And they're going, okay, here we go, let's go, let's rebuild. Day one, everybody's up here, right? Let's go. And day two, everyone's like, okay, we got this. Day three, okay, thought there'd be more progress. But day four, day five, you know, and now this is 30 days later, they are discouraged and internally they are questioning what they are doing. And so the way this text is structured, we're going to really kind of do part one this week and part two next week. Part one, we're going to look at the beginning and the end of this text. The beginning lays out the problem and the end lays out the solution, or God's answer. And the middle is the action as a result. So today we're going to do the beginning, the end. Next week we'll do the action. Result. So two parts today. What we see and what we build first. What we see is nothing special. Look at verse three. Look at the attitude. Who is left among you? Who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes now? Notice this. Sixteen years prior, when God's people stopped building the house, they stop building it because of external pressure, right? Threats from the outside, stuff coming in from the outside. But right now, their challenge is not external, it's internal. Isn't that the way it is in life? Sometimes it's not some pressure outside of you. It's what's going on in your own heart that is the challenge. And what's going on in their own heart? Well, it's something mundane, something common, but something deadly to the work of God at times. And that is this simple one word answer. What is causing the work of God to slow? What might end the work of God altogether? It's one word comparison. Comparison. These people are comparing what they are building to the former glory of the Temple. And think about this. Some of the old men among them would have remembered the former glory of Solomon's temple, Temple that had been destroyed. The youth would have grown up hearing stories about Solomon's Temple. According to one commentary, Solomon's Temple required a workforce of over a hundred thousand men. And even with that many workers, it took seven years to complete. And its construction involved 285 tons of gold, 625 tons of silver, and so much bronze. It was uncountable. All of this is in First Kings and First Chronicles. And that was what they were used to. They were used to that temple, the pinnacle of Israel, even as Israel was in decline. They would say, well, at least we still have this beautiful temple. At least this is a symbol of. Of our nation. And yet it's all gone. And they have a comparatively meager stockpile of fine materials, plus whatever they had on hand in a downturn economy. But that's what they're rebuilding with. So you might think, okay, this used to be beautiful gold, and it's just a brick now. This used to be ornate, and now it's just. Well, it's standing. It's something. They're comparing the work they're doing now to the work that they used to do.

6 · Alcantar voices the internal monologue of the discouraged builders, recreating the emotional texture of comparison-driven discouragement

And friends, this is probably what their internal dialogue sounded like. What I'm doing feels like nothing. This feels disappointing. It's not anything like what was here before. It's. It's not like anything previous generations did. They got to build great things. This is what we're building. They were better. The old days were better. I thought this work would go faster. I thought this work would be more glorious. I thought it would be easier. I thought this would be like the good old days. I thought God was going to show up like he did in those stories we heard. Oh, all of that is going on in their minds.

7 · Alcantar applies the diagnosis of comparison-driven discouragement directly to the congregation's lives

And friends, where might your internal dialogue sound a little bit similar? Where might you be comparing your life right now and what's going on right now to something else, where there's one way to find it? Where is your strength and your work getting sapped and slowly drifting down into apathy? Maybe you're comparing yourself to people around you and you thought, I thought I was going to have that life and I have this one. Maybe you're comparing yourself to your life expectations. You thought this is what life was going to look like, but this is what it's like. Maybe you're comparing your spouse or your family. Maybe you're comparing your job. Maybe there's a time in the past that you thought that was. That was when God was really using me. That's when God was really at work. And maybe. Maybe you long for the Jesus movement or some. Some previous era where it seemed like God was really showing up in your life or in the nation. And yet here you are. It looks like nothing.

8 · Alcantar signals the structural shift from the problem (what we see) to the solution (what we build), creating a clear hinge between the sermon's two major movements

Now take that and then move to the second section. What we build. What. What we see is nothing special. But what we build is something glorious.

9 · Alcantar re-reads Haggai 2:6-9, now positioned as God's counter-answer to the people's discouragement

Look at verse five. I mean, sorry, verse six rather. For thus says the Lord of hosts. Yet once more in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations so that the treasures of all the nations shall come in. And I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.

10 · Alcantar identifies the theological principle at work in God's promise: God's method throughout redemptive history is to shake what can be shaken in order to establish what is unshakable

Now, God's answer is unexpected. God's answer is unexpected because he says, I'm going to continue a pattern that you've seen throughout the whole people of God, which is this, that there's a great shaking. And in that shaking I use the shaking to. To build something that is unshakable.

11 · Alcantar quotes Matthew Henry to establish theological authority for the shaking-to-establish pattern, then applies the pattern retroactively to the Exodus and conquest narratives, showing the people that God's current shaking fits the redemptive-historical template they already know

Matthew Henry says this, that the shaking of the nations is often in order to the settling of the church and the establishing of things that can't be shaken. Meaning God is saying, don't you remember when I shook Egypt and I brought a people out? When I shook the promised land and I did this, I am shaking. Things are shaking. But you don't see yet what I'm building.

12 · Alcantar unpacks the scope of God's promise by contrasting each element of the people's discouragement with God's counter-promise

And notice this. What he's saying is this. What I will build is so far beyond your expectations, so far beyond what you could compare it to that it is. You're unable to fully comprehend it. Look at the. Look at the. What he's saying. He's saying, I'm gonna fill the house with glory. They thought, well, there's no glory here. What's here now is nothing. And he's saying, no, the comparison is there's not nothing. There's glory in the house and all of these precious gems and jewels. You think, we don't have as much silver, we don't have as much gold? No, it's all going to be more glorious. And you think, well, the nation used to be great and people used to come from all over to. To look at the wonders of Israel. No, I'm going to bring in not just a few nations around you. I'm going to bring in the entire world to see this. And all the treasures of the nations are going to flow into this temple and it will be greater than Solomon's temple. Now, the people at the time would have thought, what?

13 · Alcantar articulates the core theological claim linking the text to the sermon's thesis: the individual brick that looks like nothing is actually part of a work more glorious than Solomon's temple

Now notice this. It's very specific encouragement. They're thinking, the brick I'm putting in is nothing like I thought it would be. This is what I Thought my life was going to be like. And it looks like this. It looks mundane. It looks lame by comparison. It looks. It looks like nothing special. And the Lord is saying that brick and the next and the next and the next. By placing those, you are building something more glorious than you can imagine and more glorious than the Temple of Solomon.

14 · Alcantar quotes John Piper to establish the sermon's controlling metaphor and thesis statement: 'you build more than you see

Now, one quote from John Piper here that I think is so great, he says this. In other words, take courage, work, and fear not, because you build more than you see. All you see is a paltry temple. But God promises to take your work, fill it with his glory, and make your labors a million times more than you ever imagined. There is a principle here that applies to you and me. God takes small, imperfect things and builds them into a habitation for his glory.

15 · Alcantar steps out of exposition into direct pastoral address, naming the congregation's discouragement and speaking directly to their need for encouragement

Oh, how we should take courage and our little spheres of influence take courage. You build more than you see, friend. I want you to be encouraged today. If you're here, God has you here for a reason. This morning, if you're watching online, God has you watching for a reason. Because think of the spheres of our life.

16 · Alcantar applies the 'you build more than you see' principle to the sphere of family

Maybe you think in terms of family, you think, well, I'm not doing much there. I'm just, you know, trying to love my wife. I'm just trying to do a Bible study with wiggly kids, you know? And you're like, hey, I'm making a really important spiritual point. If you could just sit still for a minute, right? This just doesn't feel like it's advancing at times. But friends, what we do with our spouse, what we do with our kids, that is kingdom work. God is building something through that greater than we can imagine. We're, we're, we're pointing at our marriages to the beauty of Christ in the church. We're showing the character of the Father to our kids.

17 · Alcantar applies the principle to the sphere of work

Or think of your job, right? Maybe you're thinking, I'm not doing my job is nothing. In fact, I don't even like this job. I don't even want this job. I wish I had a better job. Friends, you're not just holding down a job in working. You're working, the scripture says, for the Lord. Colossians says, you are honoring God. You have the opportunity to point others to him. You are serving people made in the image of God. And, friends, that is kingdom work. Each day, God is glorified. And as Daniel's testimony illustrated, who knows how God could use those relationships to serve and reach others along over the, over the years, you're doing kingdom work.

18 · Alcantar applies the principle to the sphere of ministry service

Maybe in ministry, maybe you think, man, I'M not doing much in ministry. I'm handing out a donut. I'm teaching a kid's class, I'm doing a craft, I'm strumming a guitar. I don't even have a job. I just show up at home group and I happen to see somebody who looks a little bit sad, and I try to encourage them. That's my ministry. I mean, that's not what I thought it was gonna be. Be friends. That's kingdom work. That's kingdom work. And God is and will do far more through that than you can imagine.

19 · Alcantar pivots from abstract principle to redemptive-historical fulfillment

And here's the thing. God's people in Haggai had to trust that God was going to do that. But we in Christ on the other side of the New Testament, we can see how much the Lord did through the simple act of one brick after another. Because here's what God is doing with that temple. With that temple, God is paving the way for the greater temple to come in the person of Jesus Christ.

20 · Alcantar unpacks the glory-fulfillment: the glory promised in Haggai is not incrementally better than Solomon's temple but categorically different — the glory of the incarnate Christ, fully God and fully man

Because he's saying when he's speaking of glory, what you should be thinking in your minds is not. Well, you know, it's going to be a little bit nicer, I guess, than Solomon's Temple. No, no, it's going to be so far beyond Solomon's temple. It's going to be incomprehensible. Think of the person of Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man, united, dwelling together in this holy temple of God, of Christ's body, and you see the glory shining out. Remember the story of the Transfiguration where just for a moment, God's disciples got to see a little bit of the glory of God and they are absolutely awed. Do you see how much greater that is than Solomon's Temple?

21 · Alcantar traces the redemptive-historical arc further: Christ is not only the temple but the sacrifice offered in the temple

That each brick is preparing the way for that temple in the person of Jesus Christ? And not only that, here's the great thing. Not only that, but the temple work of Jesus is that he goes as the sacrifice to the cross to offer himself on the altar for the sins of God's people, so that a miracle can occur, so that the temple would be expanded, banded not with physical bricks, but with, first Peter, two living stones. The temple of Jesus Christ. And his body is torn apart so that living stones, you and me, the people of God, could be added into the body of Christ and become a holy temple unto the Lord.

22 · Alcantar traces the geographic expansion of the temple from Jerusalem to Samaria to Asia Minor to Rome to 'the ends of the earth, even unto El Paso, Texas' — a localized application of the Great Commission trajectory

And this, this temple, oh, friends, it's not just going to be in one place in Jerusalem. It's not even going to be in just Israel. It's going to be to Samaria and To Asia Minor and to Rome and to the ends of the earth, even unto El Paso, Texas. The temple has expanded globally and worldwide and the Lord continues the work of building it. And friends, do we not see the nations coming in, the glory of the nations coming in and the glory of God being exalted? Friends, that is what the Lord is building and not. You're just thinking, man, this is great. Okay. Each brick prepares the way for Jesus Christ. Each brick prepares the way for the church of Christ.

23 · Alcantar brings the redemptive-historical arc to its eschatological climax by reading Revelation 7:9-17

And yet we have not even seen yet the greatness of the temple fulfilled in your Bibles. Just for one second. Turn to Revelation, chapter seven because I want you to see when you place a stone today what you are building. When you love your wife, when you open the Bible with your kids, when you teach a kid's ministry lesson, when you talk to a co worker about the Lord, when you work hard as unto the Lord, this is what you are building, friends. Revelation chapter 7, verse 9 says this. After this I looked, and behold a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. And look at verse 15. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his what? In his temple. And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst no more. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

24 · Alcantar articulates the sermon's controlling claim in its most direct form: God is trying to help his people see that what feels like nothing special is being used by God to build something they cannot comprehend

Now friends, do you. Do you see what the Lord is trying to help his people see? He's trying to say? It may feel like nothing special when you do the next thing and the next and the next, but you have no idea what I am using your work to build. Do you see just a glimpse of it?

25 · Alcantar uses John Piper's own ministry trajectory as a historical example of the principle

Oh my goodness, look. I read that quote from, from John Piper and I think it's a wonderful illustration itself because remember, John Piper is saying, take courage. You build far more than you see. Well, we saw John Piper last year at the pastor at a pastor's conference, our denominational pastors conference. And of course, now many people know who John Piper is. He's a pastor who's written over 50 books. He's sold millions of copies of books. He has trained hundreds of people through his Bethlehem seminary over the years, thousands of people came to the church he pastored. And you're like, okay, it's pretty obvious that the Lord used that brother. Okay? You know, as he enters the last phase of his ministry, the Lord used him. But friends, he said that take courage. You build more than you see. He preached from Haggai two, two years into his pastorate at Bethlehem, when the best days of Bethlehem were behind it and when no one in that church had any idea what the Lord was going to do. And he said, take courage. You build more than you see. And just looking at the last 30 years of what God has used him to do should encourage all of us, shouldn't it? You may feel like, yeah, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not the end of Piper's Bench. I'm year two. Well, I don't know what's going on. I don't know if this is even gonna work. I don't know if I'll be able to keep serving this way. Take courage, friend. You build more than you see.

26 · Alcantar previews next week's sermon (covering 'be strong, work, fear not' from Haggai 2) and distills the current sermon into a single headline: 'you build better than you see

So here's. Here's the call. Be strong. Be strong. Be strong. Work. Don't be afraid. We're going to cover all that next week, but I want to leave you with one final illustration because I want you to be considering where. Where are you discouraged today thinking you're building nothing that the Lord wants you to say, wants you to see rather that he is building far better than you see. The mate. The headline today, if you get nothing else, is just build better than you see. You build better than you see. So build better than you see, right? You are building better than you see. So get in there and build better than you see.

27 · Alcantar tells the historical chain linking Edward Kimball (Sunday school teacher) → D

One final illustration and then we'll all just pray and ask the Lord to be with us today. One final illustration of how God can take a nothing special moment and do something glorious. Okay, so stick with me here. I'm going to give you a bunch of names. If you can't keep track of them, it's okay. Here's the story. It'll be encouraging. Edward Kimball was a Sunday school teacher who encountered a young man at church. Who do we have that are Sunday school teachers? Any Sunday school teachers in here? This is for you guys, for real. Like, I want you to be encouraged today. Edward Kimball was a Sunday school teacher who encountered a young man at his church. Newly moved to the big city, Kimball, sensing a spiritual need in this young man, sought him out at his first place of work. A shoe. He was a young shoe Salesman found him at work and Kimball sought him out and spoke to him forcefully about the Lord and the young man. His heart was moved and he was saved. And that young man became an evangelist that was later well known by the name of D.L. moody, who preached to over 100 million people in his lifetime. Just one man, one Sunday school teacher sought out a teenager that, that didn't look right. Sought him out, prayed for him, the lord saved him. 100 million people. But it doesn't end there. It was only the first domino of the chain because a young pastor named FB Meyer later went to hear Moody preach. And initially Meyer was put off by DL Moody's pre. Plain spoken, forceful style. But Meyer, as he heard Moody preach, realized there was a Holy Spirit gospel power in the simplicity of the gospel presentation. And it absolutely turned Meyer's own ministry upside down. Later, FB Meyer became a well known teacher and evangelist and he, well, he was heard by another man named J. Wilbur Chapman. Wilbur Chapman went to hear Meer and he himself was changed into a passionate evangelism. He'd been burnt out, he'd been tired, and the Lord lit a fire in this man Chapman, who became an evangelist forcefully touring the country. Now this man Chapman hired a formal baseball player as an advanced evangelist as part of his ministry. That former baseball player had the name Billy Sunday. Anybody know Billy Sunday? Yeah, Billy Sunday, a powerful evangelist God used in many places in America. And he swept through Charlotte and you know, like many do. And yet in Charlotte, God did something. A group of businessmen were so struck by this, this gospel encounter that they kept meeting, they kept praying, and they kept inviting other evangelists to town, asking the Lord to powerfully work, trusting that he would. And 10 years later, after 10 years of faithful prayer, this group of businessmen in Charlotte invited a. A teacher called, named Mordecai Ham, which is a great name for a future kid. Mordecai Ham comes and preaches to a large crowd. And in this large crowd there was a young man who by his own admission was far more interested in girls and baseball than the Lord. And yet, as Ham preached, this young man described his heart beginning to beat like a trip hammer. And he walked the sawdust aisle down to give his life Christ. And that young man's name was Billy Graham.

28 · Alcantar applies the Kimball → Graham chain directly to the congregation by discovering in real time that a congregant (Amanda) was saved under Billy Graham's ministry

Do you see that this Sunday school teacher, Kimball had no idea that when he sought out a young shoe salesman at work that he was setting in motion a chain of gospel dominoes that ripples to this day. I am just curious, does anybody, Was anybody, Does anyone know Someone saved under the ministry of Billy Graham. Really? You knew somebody? You guys as well. Anybody over here? I thought I'd say, yeah. You know somebody who's saved under the military? Billy Graham, you were saved? Are you serious? I did not know that. That is awesome. That's awesome. Let's thank the Lord for that. Okay, so. That's so wild. That's blowing my mind right now. As I've known Amanda for many years. I did not know that. So this guy Kimball seeks out a young man, preaches the gospel to him, and years later, the Lord uses it to save people. You and I know, friends, the point is this. You build better than you know. Just doing the faithful stuff, one brick in front of the other, and. And yet the Lord will use it to do far more than you can imagine. Amen.

29 · Alcantar transitions to the closing prayer, marking the sermon's end and inviting the congregation to stand

Would you stand and let's pray? I love hearing that.

30 · Alcantar prays the sermon's thesis back to God as petition: that God would give the congregation vision to see what they are building through ordinary faithfulness, that he would pour encouragement into discouraged hearts, and that anyone present who does not know Christ would come to him and join the eternal building project

Oh, heavenly Father. Lord, I just pray right now that in the place in our life where it feels like we are doing nothing special, we're just trying to love our spouse, we're just trying to parent our kids, we're just trying to follow Jesus faithfully. We're just trying to teach a kid's lesson or just trying to keep our nose clean at work and honor the Lord. If there are those areas, God, where we feel like if somebody asks us, hey, what's going on in that area, our response would be nothing. Or at least nothing special. Lord, I pray that you would give us this vision of what you are building through our work, that those ordinary moments of faithfulness build something far more glorious than we can imagine. Lord, I just pray you'd pour encouragement into my brothers and sisters hearts where they might be discouraged or feeling like nothing's happening. Lord, you are using them. You will use them. And so, Lord, who knows what, through their ordinary faithfulness, you might. While you might do. And, Lord, I pray that you would pour in encouragement. And I pray for anyone that may have found themselves in here today and does not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, the reality is this. Everything else we build in life is dust and air and ashes in the end. But in Christ, we have an opportunity to join a work that lasts. So I pray that they would come to Christ today, trust you for their salvation, and trust you as Lord that they might join. Join this glorious building project. And we pray for that in the name of Jesus, amen.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

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

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

Jan 18, 2026

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

January 25 · This sermon

You Build More Than You See

You build more than you see — ordinary faithfulness in the mundane work God has given you is building something far more glorious and eternal than you can comprehend.

Haggai 2:1-9

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

What comparison was sapping the strength of the temple builders in Haggai's day, and what comparison might be sapping your strength right no…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we meditate on the promise that ordinary faithfulness builds something far more glorious than we can see — a pattern God has woven through history, culminating in Christ.

Prayer

Father, Help Us See What We're Building

Father, we come before you humbled and grateful that you see what we cannot see. You know the glory of what we are building in our ordinary…

Family table

What Are You Building That You Can't See?

This prompt invites kids to think about ordinary work they do — chores, schoolwork, kindness to a sibling — as building something bigger tha…

Couples

Building Together What You Cannot Yet See

When you heard that your ordinary faithfulness in marriage and parenting is building something far more glorious than you can imagine, what…

Memorize

Haggai 2:9

This is the promise that reframes the entire sermon's thesis: ordinary faithfulness in the mundane work God gives you is building something far more glorious than you can see. The verse directly answers the discouragement of comparison and becomes the theological anchor for why your marriage, your parenting, your work — though they may feel small — are kingdom work pointing toward Christ and his eternal dwelling place.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

What comparison was sapping the strength of the temple builders in Haggai's day, and what comparison might be sapping your strength right now?

Haggai 2:3

→ Where do you feel most tempted to measure yourself against others, against your own past, or against some expectation you're carrying?
Ricky said that God's answer to the builders' discouragement was unexpected—he didn't promise to remove the shaking but to use it to build something unshakable. How does that reframe the way you think about difficulty in your own life right now?

Haggai 2:6-7
Read 1 Peter 2:4-5 together. How does Peter's description of believers as 'living stones' help you understand what the Haggai builders were actually constructing, even when it felt like nothing?

1 Peter 2:4-5

→ What does it change about your daily faithfulness if you're not just building a building but being built into a living temple?
The sermon claimed that your marriage, your parenting, your job—even a job you dislike—is kingdom work that builds something more glorious than you can see. Which of these spheres feels most ordinary or invisible to you right now?

Colossians 3:17

→ What would change about how you approach that sphere this week if you believed Ricky's claim?
Ricky said the temple builders had to trust the promise by faith, but we can now see in retrospect that their work was paving the way for Jesus Christ—the greater temple. What does it mean for your faith today that you can look back and see how God has been building something eternal through your obedience?

Revelation 7:15-17
If you believed that the mundane, ordinary next-thing faithfulness you're doing this week is building something incomprehensible—something that will outlast you and matter in eternity—how would that reshape your priorities or your posture in the work God has given you?

→ What is one specific 'next thing' God is calling you to in the coming week, and how can this group pray for your faithfulness in it?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

This week we meditate on the promise that ordinary faithfulness builds something far more glorious than we can see — a pattern God has woven through history, culminating in Christ.

Monday Colossians 3:17

Paul's command to do everything 'in the name of the Lord Jesus' reframes the ordinary. Your marriage, your parenting, your job — none of it is separate from the work of God. When you work for the Lord rather than for applause or comparison, you are laying bricks in something eternal, even when the work feels small and unnoticed in the moment.

Tuesday 1 Peter 2:4-5

Peter's vision echoes Haggai's promise but reveals what the Judean builders could not yet see: they were not just rebuilding a building, but becoming part of a living temple. Your faithfulness — your steady presence in your family, your integrity at work, your obedience in seasons of waiting — makes you a stone in God's dwelling place. The temple they built was pointing toward the temple you are becoming.

Wednesday 1 Kings 6:1-2

The comparison that sapped the builders' strength may be the same one sapping yours. You measure your marriage against others, your parenting against Instagram, your career against the highlight reel. But God is saying: you are not called to rebuild Solomon's temple. You are called to lay the next brick in faithfulness, trusting that what you cannot see is far more glorious than what you remember.

Thursday Revelation 7:9-17

This is what the Haggai builders were building toward without knowing it. Every brick they laid, every discouragement they endured, was preparing the way for this: the great multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue, standing before God in his presence. Your faithfulness in the mundane — raising children who know Christ, speaking truth at work, loving your spouse as Christ loves the church — is building toward this unshakable, eternal reality.

Friday Revelation 21:3-4

This is the hope that sustained the rebuilders and sustains us: 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them.' When you show up faithfully in the ordinary — when you lay another brick in your marriage, your work, your service — you are building something the shaking of all things cannot touch. Trust what you cannot see.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Father, Help Us See What We're Building

Father, we come before you humbled and grateful that you see what we cannot see. You know the glory of what we are building in our ordinary faithfulness — the bricks we lay in our marriages, in our parenting, in our work, in our service — even when our eyes tell us it amounts to nothing. We confess that we measure our lives against others, against what we imagine we should be doing, against the spiritual high points we remember, and we conclude that our current work is small and insignificant. We grow discouraged. We question whether the mundane next-thing faithfulness you have given us matters at all. Forgive us for the comparison that steals our strength and threatens the work you have called us to do.

But here is the good news: you have promised us that the latter glory of what we build will exceed the former. What looks like nothing to us — a patient conversation with a spouse, a bedtime story told in faith, a day's work done for your glory, a brother or sister served in love — you are weaving into something far more glorious than we can imagine. You are building an eternal temple, a dwelling place for your people across all nations, and every brick of faithfulness we lay in Christ's name is part of that unshakable kingdom. Give us eyes of faith this week to trust your promise, even when we cannot see the glory ourselves. Help us lay the next brick in faithfulness — in our homes, in our workplaces, in our relationships — not because the work feels grand, but because you have called us to it and because you see what we cannot see. Fill us with confidence that ordinary obedience is building something incomprehensibly beautiful. To you alone be glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

What Are You Building That You Can't See?

For the parent

This prompt invites kids to think about ordinary work they do — chores, schoolwork, kindness to a sibling — as building something bigger than they can measure right now. Listen for moments where they realize that small, faithful things matter eternally, not just today.

Think about something you've been working on lately — maybe helping around the house, practicing something at school, or being kind to someone in your family even when it's hard. It might not feel like much right now. But what do you think might be growing or being built through that faithfulness that you can't see yet?

works for ages 7+ — younger kids may need a parent to help name one specific task they've been faithful in; teens will see the deeper connection to their future

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Building Together What You Cannot Yet See

When you heard that your ordinary faithfulness in marriage and parenting is building something far more glorious than you can imagine, what comparison or discouragement did the sermon surface in you?
Where in our marriage right now are we tempted to measure ourselves against others or against what we thought we'd be by now—and how might God be calling us to trust that he's building something greater through our faithfulness than we can see?
What is one way you see Christ being built in our marriage through the mundane, daily work we do together, and how can we pray for each other's eyes to be opened to that glory this week?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Haggai 2:9

The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.

Why this verse: This is the promise that reframes the entire sermon's thesis: ordinary faithfulness in the mundane work God gives you is building something far more glorious than you can see. The verse directly answers the discouragement of comparison and becomes the theological anchor for why your marriage, your parenting, your work — though they may feel small — are kingdom work pointing toward Christ and his eternal dwelling place.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

About us · What we believe

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# Cross of Grace Church

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

## Sermons
- [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)
- [You Build More Than You See (Haggai 2:1-9, 2026-01-25)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2026/01/you-build-more-than-you-see)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

The page itself ships with Schema.org Article + Church markup, Open Graph + Twitter cards for share previews, and a canonical URL. Transcripts are server-rendered HTML — no JS dependency for the readable body.