LWC SERMON GUIDE

I WILL RESTORE

Scriptures to read and ponder

  • Joel 2:25–27 (main teaching text).

  • Joel 1:4; Joel 1:10–12; Joel 1:6 (the devastation and “invading army” of locusts).

  • Joel 2:12 (“Return to me with all your heart” — shuv / turn).

  • Joel 2:18 (the Lord’s compassion when the people return).

  • Joel 2:25 (promise of restoring “the years” — shillamti → shalom).

  • Joel 2:26–27 (“never again will my people be shamed… I am in your midst”).

Sermon Recap

Big Idea: “I. WILL. RESTORE.”

God doesn’t just patch up losses; He speaks restoration into the very years devoured by sin and opposition, moving His people from ruins to shalom—nothing missing, nothing broken.

1) The World of Joel — A People in Ruins

  • A comprehensive collapse: fields ruined, vines wasted, joy withered.

  • Not bad luck—sin opened the door.

  • Locusts pictured as an invading army—a metaphor for total spiritual and societal loss.

2) God’s Call to Repentance (The Hinge)

  • God’s first word into the rubble is “Return”—not “try harder.”

  • Hebrew: shuv = turn, reorient, reverse course.

  • Repentance is a directional change, not a passing emotion.

  • Repentance with all the heart is the doorway through which restoration walks.

3) Compassion Activated

  • When the people turn, the Lord is jealous for His land and takes pity on His people.

  • Grace moves toward the repentant.

4) The Great Promise: “I Will Restore the Years”

  • God promises more than stuff—He speaks to time itself: the wasted seasons, damaged years, stolen joy.

  • Hebrew: shillamti (to repay, make whole, compensate) shares the root with shalom (wholeness, completeness). Restoration aims at wholeness, not merely replacement.

5) The Climax: Shame Removed, Presence Restored

  • Double declaration: “Never again will my people be shamed.”

  • Evidence of restoration: living under the power of His presence—assurance that the Lord is among us.

Memorable quotes

  • “Repentance is not tears on a Sunday — it is how you live on a Monday.”

  • “Repentance is the doorway through which restoration walks.”

  • “God doesn’t restore you to where you were—He restores you to shalom.”

  • “He did not say ‘I will restore the things’… He said, ‘I will restore the years.’”

Questions for discussion

  1. Ruins to reality: Where do you recognise “locust–like” losses (relationships, calling, joy)? What opened the door—and what would closing it look like this week?

  2. Define repentance: How does shuv (turning) reframe repentance beyond emotion? What one concrete reorientation do you need to implement by next Sunday?

  3. Compassion on cue: Joel 2:18 shows compassion following repentance. How does that shape the way you approach God after failure?

  4. Restoring the years: If God’s target is years, which season do you want Him to redeem, and what obedience step partners with that promise?

  5. Shalom vs. status quo: In what areas do you settle for “back to normal” instead of nothing missing, nothing broken? What practices cultivate shalom in your home group?

  6. Shame to presence: What does “never again… shamed” look like in daily discipleship, and how can your circle host the presence of God more intentionally?

Further reading

  • Isaiah 61:1–7 (beauty for ashes; double portion instead of shame).

  • Psalm 23 (restores my soul; shepherding presence).

  • Hosea 14 (return and renewal after unfaithfulness).

  • Luke 15:11–24 (the Father’s restoring heart toward returning children).
    (These were not cited in the sermon but they einforce the same restoration arc.)

Prayer points

  1. Return with all our heart: “Father, we shuv—turn—fully to You. Realign our desires, agendas, and habits to Your ways.”

  2. Compassion encounter: “Lord, as we return, let Your jealous love and pity break in—lift heaviness, reverse despair.”

  3. Restore the years: “God of Joel 2:25, speak over our wasted seasons. Redeem time, opportunities, and joy that were devoured.”

  4. Shalom wholeness: “Bring us into shalom—nothing missing, nothing broken—in our minds, marriages, families, and ministries.”

  5. Shame removed, presence known: “Establish us under Your presence. Silence shame. Make it unmistakable that You are in our midst.”

  6. Obedience culture: “Give us th grace to change direction—a Monday-through-Saturday discipleship.”