What a God Part 18 (Sermon)

Junkyard redemption names the scene Scripture keeps showing. Engines burned up, parts busted, dreams bent beyond repair. Jeremiah 32 drops that scene right in the middle of Jerusalem, a city under siege, starving, terrified, the temple about to burn. It looks like the promises to Adam, to Abraham, to David are headed to the junkyard. Into that wreck, God speaks his Name and his strength. He is Yahweh. He simply is. He is one, eternal, unchanging, sovereign, holy, righteous, transcendent and near, just, merciful, loving, gracious, faithful, jealous, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. He cannot be stopped. So he asks a question that blows the dust off despair: Is anything too difficult for me?

Jeremiah tries to give God a reality check. Siege ramps are up. Famine is in. Pestilence is everywhere. The Chaldeans are taking the city. And God answers with a purchase order. Go buy a field. Everyone sees ruin. God sees redemption. Judgment is not denied. God owns it. He will hand the city to Babylon. The temple will fall. Exile will come. Why? Because the people turned their backs, not their faces, filled his house with detestable things, even burned their sons and daughters. Judgment is real. Consequences are real. But even judgment cannot stop the omnipotent God. Right on the heels of wrath, God says, I will gather them, bring them back, be their God, give them one heart, cut an everlasting covenant, and plant them in this land with all my heart and all my soul.

That is the thread that holds the whole Bible together. Rebellion cannot stop God in Eden. Flood-wreck cannot stop God in Noah’s day. Pride cannot stop God at Babel. Broken bodies and barrenness cannot stop God in Abraham’s tent. Seas cannot stop God before Moses. Wicked rulers, wicked nations, even split kingdoms and burned temples cannot stop God. Seventy years pass because God picked the number, then he brings them home. Four hundred years go quiet, and then God speaks Mary’s name. Death itself cannot stop God. Jesus is crucified and buried, and on the third day he walks out. The empty tomb outside Jerusalem is the loudest proof. In the new covenant, the same God moves the same way. That means failure is not final, addictions are not sovereign, diagnoses are not the end, and prodigals are not out of reach. He specializes in junkyard redemption. He may not pull someone out of the junkyard today, but he can rescue in it, change hearts in it, and one day he will redeem the whole junkyard when Jesus returns, making all things new. So the call is simple and strong: turn your face to him, bring the impossible to him, and stand in the junkyard and sing, It is well.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God is omnipotent, unstoppable Yahweh His Name is not a label but reality itself. He simply is, needing nothing, lacking nothing, ruling everything. Omnipotence means no sin, no ruler, no grave can hem him in. When God asks, Is anything too difficult for me, he is not seeking information, he is giving assurance. [03:47]
• 2. Judgment is real, redemption is certain God does not paper over evil; he names it and brings consequences. Yet even as judgment falls, his promise presses through to a new covenant, one heart, a planted people, joy from his own soul. Wrath is not his last word because mercy has more to say. [20:32]
• 3. Buy the field in Babylon Faith makes purchases that look foolish to fear. God’s command to secure land under siege trains the eyes to see beyond smoke and rubble to soil that will grow again. Hope is not vague optimism but obedience tethered to God’s future. [13:27]
• 4. Your failure is not final Sin brings real wreckage, but it does not get the last line in the story. The new covenant puts God’s fear into the heart and chains break that felt unbreakable. Despair shrinks when sovereignty looms large and grace runs deeper than shame. [30:40]
• 5. The empty tomb anchors hope The strongest link in the chain of reasons to trust God is a stone rolled away. If death folded under his power, then every lesser darkness must give way in time. The graveyard already heard the verdict that every junkyard will one day hear. [31:56]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:18] - VBS theme: Junkyard Redemption
• [01:21] - Feeling busted in the junkyard
• [03:47] - He is omnipotent
• [04:03] - Turn to Jeremiah 32
• [10:08] - Siege, starvation, and grief
• [13:07] - Junkyard city and buying land
• [15:54] - Behold, I am Yahweh
• [18:59] - Promise to gather and renew
• [22:19] - Nothing can stop God’s story
• [27:50] - Silence breaks with Mary
• [28:53] - Death cannot stop God
• [30:40] - Your failure is not final
• [31:56] - Empty tomb and future hope
• [37:13] - Praise, repentance, surrender, prayer

Bible Reading
Jeremiah 32:27 (ESV)
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”

Jeremiah 32:37-41 (ESV)
“Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”

Matthew 28:5-6 (ESV)
“But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.’”

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Observation questions

1. In Jeremiah 32, what was happening in Jerusalem when God told Jeremiah to buy a field? How did the people’s actions lead to this moment? [09:44]
2. What specific attributes of God does Jeremiah 32:27 emphasize, and how does God contrast human limitations with His power?
3. According to the sermon, what does the empty tomb prove about God’s power over seemingly irreversible situations? [31:56]

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Interpretation questions

1. Why do you think God commanded Jeremiah to buy land in the middle of a siege? What does this act symbolize about faith in hopeless circumstances? [13:27]
2. God says He will plant His people “with all [His] heart and all [His] soul” (Jeremiah 32:41). What does this reveal about His commitment to redemption even amid judgment?
3. How does the resurrection of Jesus (Matthew 28:5-6) address the fear that our failures, addictions, or losses are beyond repair? [30:40]

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Application questions

1. What “impossible” situation in your life (a relationship, habit, or fear) do you need to bring to God, trusting His omnipotence over it? How might praying, “Is anything too difficult for You?” shift your perspective? [03:47]
2. The sermon says, “Your failure is not final.” Where have you felt defined by past mistakes or current struggles? How can God’s promise of a “new covenant” (Jeremiah 32:40) reshape your identity today? [30:40]
3. Buying a field during a siege seemed foolish. What step of obedience or hope is God asking you to take right now that others might not understand? [13:27]
4. The empty tomb proves death cannot stop God. What “death” (a lost dream, a broken relationship, a persistent sin) do you need to surrender to His resurrecting power? How can you actively trust Him with it this week? [31:56]
5. When have you given God a “reality check” (like Jeremiah did) instead of trusting His sovereignty? What practical step can you take to turn your face toward Him in that area? [14:36]