Pastor Lloyd Ashworth

Background – Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai – these two were the first two prophets to speak into the nation’s lives after the return from exile in Babylon. They may well have been children who returned with their parents from exile to try and rebuild the nation. The people returned to brokenness and devastation. Their temple had been destroyed their hopes deflated. It was likely that those who returned were not wealthy, the wealthier stayed behind to make money in Babylon rather than face the journey homewards with risk and uncertainty. So here they were in the Promised Land, living in inhospitable terrain, with few resources trying to scrape together an existence, believing that somehow God was going to rejuvenate them. In their hearts there resided this hope that God would do something new in their midst and rekindle their dream…and re-fire the glory of their days gone by. The year was 520BC and Zechariah filled with the Spirit speaks a message of hope and inspirational leadership where the people discover that empowered by the Spirit they themselves are the answer to their dilemma.