How many of you

are not a link in a chain of faith?

How many of you

are a strong link in a chain of faith?

You do love and serve the Lord.

You know you’re not perfect, but

you are strong, you are growing,

you are giving, you are caring, you

are learning, you are serving.

How many of you are the first link

in the chain of faith?

How many of you—raise your

hand—you’re the first Christian in

your family?

NANAY

JOVEN

5 CHURCHES PLANTED

TBL, POLITICS, TNB, IJM & FCC FAMILY

TATAY, VIVZ & JOVZ

Friends, Relatives & Others

Ask yourself,

• Am I a link in a chain of faith?

• Am I a strong link in a chain of faith?

• Am I a first link in a chain of faith?

• Am I the weak link in the chain of faith?

How many of you are the weak link?

THE WEAKEST LINK

YOU

(Equipper)

D1

D1-H3

D2

D2-H3

D3

D3-H3

“And before we can understand

the words of God, we need to first

understand the heart of God.”

• That’s exactly what the book of

Malachi is and that’s exactly the

heart of God who sends it.

• He says in Malachi 1:6, “I am a

Father.”

• He says in Malachi 2:10 that he

is “one Father.”

• I want you to think of Malachi

every time you open or close a

door.

• And there’s going to be about

400 years of silence.

Malachi 1:1

The man who delivers this message isMalachi. His name literally means, “Mymessenger.” That exact phraseology isused in 3:1. He is a messenger. So, Godspeaks through Malachi. We will hearMalachi’s voice, but we are hearingGod’s words. So, it’s God’s wordsthrough Malachi’s voice.

• Even the fatherless have a Father.

• Even those who have a good father

have a perfect Father.

• God the Father speaks to us.

• God the Father, beginning with this

sermon through Malachi, wants to

speak to you.

HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS:

• Well, the first thing we learn is

that our Father loves us.

• Malachi 1:2, here’s God’s first

statement. God speaks. God has

something to say: “I have loved

you.”

• What should their response be?

“And we love you, Father!”—

that’s not their response.

• “But you say, ‘How have you

loved us?’”

• How many of you today, if I

told you, “God is a Father who

loves you,” you would say,

• “I don’t feel that. I don’t see

that. I don’t believe that”?

• They were struggling financially.They had an economicdownturn. Their nation wasstruggling politically. It waswaning in power and prestige.They were struggling morally.There was a lot of rebellion,anarchy, sin, and folly.

• The answer is Everyone.

• “It doesn’t look like God loves us.It doesn’t feel like God loves us. Iknow that God says that he lovesus, but he’s not showing that heloves us. Why am I so broke?Why is it so dark? Why are thingsso hard?” Be honest with God. Healready knows your heart.”

Esau & Jacob

Isaac

Abraham

ISRAEL Family Tree

JACOB

Rachel(younger sister)

Leah(elder sister)

11Joseph

12Benjamin

Bilhah(Rachel’s slave)

5Dan

6Naphtali

1Reuben

4Judah

3Levi

2Simeon

10Zebulun

9Issachar

Dinah

Zilpah(Leah’s slave)

8Asher

7Gad

• God our Father absorbs a lot of hurt

caused by us.

• Do you think that hurts God’s heart?

Sin is not just breaking God’s laws; sin

is breaking God’s heart. It says in, I

think, Genesis 6 that “God was grieved

in his heart that he made man because

his sin was only evil all the time.”

• Discipline is one way that God

loves us.

• It says in Proverbs, it says in

Hebrews that God is a Father who

disciplines the children he loves.

• Rebellion

• Form of religion.