Hey, Pastor Don Spivey here. Thanks so much for tuning in today and downloading or streaming this message. I pray that the Lord uses it to grow you in your faith.
Here's a couple of things I want to run by before we get started. First off, I pray that as you consume this material, it will be a supplement to your growth in the Lord. I also pray that you won't use it as a replacement for gathering together with your church family in person for worship.
Secondly, if you are looking for a church home, I'd love to meet you and answer any questions that you might have. You can text the word "online" to 352-822-3878. That's "online" to 352-822-3878.
Now, friends, as we listen to God's word being preached, my prayer is that our hearts will be stirred and our love and affection for Jesus will grow deeper and deeper. That's my prayer for you and for myself. God bless you. Have a great day.
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I've been an educator since I was seven because I was teaching my dolls. But certified, I've been an educator since 2003, where I started in Orange County as a chemistry and physics science teacher. Then I moved over here to Lake County. I loved it and was hired by our mentor, Miss Cole, over at East Ridge High School, where I remained for 14 years and taught AP Chemistry.
Then my child was struggling, and it was time for me to step out of the classroom. I was at the district office for about three years as a program specialist for new teachers. I did prevention, bully prevention, drug dating violence, all those types of prevention things. Then I had a strong calling to go into administration. So then I started at East Ridge Middle as an AP in 2017, and then I guess the Lord saw it fit that in 2021, I became the principal of Groveland Elementary.
So I've been in for a while.
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Nothing going on in 2021.
How long have you been?
Well, I started when I was 12. I'm now entering my 27th year, so looking pretty good for 39, wouldn't you say?
So no, I have been—I feel like education has called me. I haven't sought out education; it has definitely been something that has been part of my whole life. I started in Orange County also as an athletic trainer and PE teacher at Colonial High School, and I was there for nine years. Then I was hired by Miss Cole at East Ridge High School, where I was at East Ridge High for 14 years, serving in various roles: athletic trainer, athletic director, assistant principal. I just really feel blessed with the opportunity to lead Gray, and I'm entering my third year at Gray as the principal.
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Very good. So you started to answer another question I wanted to ask. So why? That's the question. Why? Why did you come into this role?
And the same question for all of you.
So as an athletic trainer, you know, sports was my first love. Helping athletes to overcome adversity and injury was part of our undergraduate program. They really encouraged us to become teachers, and I was like, "Nope, I'm not going to be a teacher. I'm not a teacher; I'm an athletic trainer."
It's really funny how God knew more than I did because my first job was in a school. To think that I have been in a school since I was four years old, you know, there's never been a time that I haven't been in a school. So it's just been a journey and a blessing from God to really mold and shape not only children but adults now too.
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It's all great.
Yeah, mine is very similar. I really thought I was going to school. My degree is in biochem; I did everything for pre-med. I had very instrumental teachers in my life growing up because I was kind of one of those latchkey kids. My parents were at work, and I was either before school or after school, or my parents were going through something, and teachers took me in.
So in my senior year, I was like, "You know what, God, you're right. I'm going to give back." So my whole thought was, "Oh, I'm going to do three years, get my med stuff together."
And when I tell you I fell in love with it, I realized that I am somebody else's inspiration, like my teachers were for me. They just continued that love of learning. It is one place where I can just consistently learn and then give of myself to others—not just students, but now I can give it to teachers and families and the community. So it's just been a wonderful ride when you let go and let God have His way.
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Coach?
Oh yeah, God pointed me in the direction of education at 42 years old. I was the oldest person to graduate at UCF that night, and Coach O'Leary was still the coach there back in 2004 when I graduated. He recruited me in high school. I had no business going to college; I grew up in a really tough area and then moved to a very wealthy area.
So I took my criminal behavior there, where I learned to be an educator. I worked at a juvenile detention center in Beverly, Massachusetts, for inner-city gang kids from Boston. I was very familiar with that. It was easy for me because I had attended that school when I was in seventh grade. I missed seventh grade; I went to juvie and learned a lot from the street kids.
I got into a career in the restaurant business, and my wife does very well. At 41, she said, "Go back and get your college degree because it really irks you that you played four years of college football and never got a degree." So I did, and I went back and got it in education.
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Was it Alabama and not Florida?
I'm just wondering, maybe with the University of Florida?
Yeah, okay, all right. I'm old. I opened the Carrier Dome, so that was a long time ago.
But to make a long story short, I got into it. I was at Olympia for a year under a really good coach, Bob Head. My daughters went to Foundation Academy; they begged me to come there. I went there, became a history teacher, an AP history teacher, the history department head, and there I had a football coach for 16 years. My daughters wished that I never was there when they were in high school, though.
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But the biggest thing that I saw education-wise was this past year at the Nike Coach of the Year Clinic. I was going to go see James Franklin speak at Penn State because he's really awesome; he's inspirational. He gets everyone fired up, and I've seen him speak before.
Then there was a little small seminar on coaching today's athletes, and I think this is where we need our prayers.
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Okay, that's going to take me into the next one.
Okay, good.
What are some things that we can be—what are some needs you guys are seeing in the schools, and how could we as a congregation partner with you in some of those needs?
So if you could, I'll do it quick because they've been at it longer than me in the public school system, and they're teaching me. But Billy Graham says a coach will impact more lives in one year than the average person will in a lifetime.
I'm not going to say it's just a coach; it's a teacher; it's a principal. I have never seen school workers work as hard as they have since I've been at South Lake High School in February. These people around the clock, they're doing God's work. Teaching post-COVID and coaching post-COVID, it's a different game. We can't say, "Well, we did it this way in the old days." It's a new kid; it's a new way of teaching, and we're all learning.
So if you could pray for us with guidance and protection over the youth and protection and guidance for our administrators and teachers, I think that would be a huge thing for us.
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Absolutely. Ditto. Our number one—and that was my number one—is prayer. Even though we don't see you and you're not side by side, I know I can speak for all of us: we feel the prayers. Anytime you think of our schools, we just ask that you lift everyone up, even our school board, because they're making the decisions that fall down on all of us.
As we know, everything falls downhill because of gravity, right? But for other reasons, I don't want anything to fall on our children. So when it becomes hard on us or teachers, it then kind of filters out into the classroom.
So prayer is huge. That is the one thing I think all of us can do in order to just continue to ask for strength and a hedge of protection wrapped around all of us at the school because of all the things that are happening outside. I just thank God for those things.
Other things that we are asking for at Groveland, if you have time, we would ask that you become a volunteer. We love people coming on campus to assist teachers with whatever—putting posters up, putting things together. Even if we have to send them home, that will be an awesome piece, either on campus or off.
But those of you that have any type of landscaping, we are working on our landscaping on our campus. We need hands in doing—we're trying to do community gardens, so those types of volunteering pieces. And of course, we will always take monetary things that we can do for our students and our teachers on campus. But any type of work that you have as well, we welcome all of those things.
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The hard part about going live is because you're right, you're like, "Okay, what they said, what they said."
So from Gray's perspective, I feel that we definitely benefit from your prayers—not only for the adults in the building but for the students as well. Unfortunately, we've had some recent instructional openings that have come up unexpectedly, and so we really need your prayers for the right people to enter our space.
We feel like the culture of our school is very important, so bringing people who have a passion and a heart for children and working together. We would also appreciate volunteers. We have some things going on with our positive behavior support system where we need adult volunteers to help us run these programs.
One of our focuses for this school year is really just helping our students manage some of the difficult parts about being in middle school, right? All of us can remember that in-between time of, you know, we're still trying to figure things out. So one of our focuses for this year is really focusing on student behavior and how we can help teach students appropriate ways to deal with some of the heartache and conflict that comes with just trying to figure out how we are going to manage as adults.
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Okay, so lots to pray about. If anyone here wanted to volunteer, they would just call the office?
So there is actually, on the Lake County Schools website, there's a volunteer button. It has each school's volunteer coordinator, and it is from a level one volunteer. It's truly just a few clicks on the computer and an agreement to do a background screening. It's very simple.
The level two, which is where you're able to supervise children without the direct supervision of a Lake County employee, is a little more detailed, but it's still—there's no cost to you. The impact that it has on our schools and our students is immeasurable. Your time is something that is so valuable to us, especially during peak times when a lot of people are working. So if you have the flexibility in your schedule, we would be so grateful for your help.
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That's great. That's really good to know.
Very good. I know that here in a couple of weeks or in a few days, maybe we're giving, you know, we're giving you guys some fruit and stuff, I believe, for like a teacher breakfast. I think so. We're excited to be a part of that.
I'm just trying to let us know if there's anything that we can maybe provide.
You could send Shelby back to us.
Send Shelby back to you?
I understand it; I get it. I just adore her with my whole heart, and so she is great. She is fabulous. We'll see what the Lord has to say about that.
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It's hard to compete with Him, man.
Yeah, so we're excited, Coach, that James, our student ministry, he's been able to come out and be a part of that. When James got here, I was like, "We need to get you on the campus." And he's like, "We can't do that." I said, "Well, yeah, we can." He said, "Well, you can't do that in Washington State." And I was like, "Well, you can in Florida, brother. We're going to get you, and we'll figure it out."
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Good, good.
Yep, right, right.
Well, it's a joy to be able to partner in some ways already, and I hope and pray that we can do more.
So we're going to gather tonight, right? We're going to meet here at 6:30, and then we're going to go out to these various schools. We want you to pick a school that you might have a general God leaning towards, and we're going to go there. I know my wife and I are going to the elementary school, and James is headed to the high school. I know we got some people headed to the middle school, and we're going to be praying.
But we're also praying with other churches too. There will be other groups there, and so we're going to pray around those needs right there. But we're going to pray for those needs now.
Also, let me ask this question: Do we have any teachers in the room? You're a teacher in the public school system? Great, great.
So friends, look around. You see those teachers?
Now let me ask this question: Do we have any homeschool parents and teachers in the room? I know we do, absolutely.
And so there's a lot of prayer needed right now.
So let's go to the Lord. Let's pray.
Father, we are thankful for Your goodness and Your grace. God, we thank You for Your mercy. Now we thank You that You have provided in so many ways, and namely, Lord, through Jesus Christ, You are the sure foundation.
So God, we look back to what You have done, and we look forward to what You will do, and we are thankful for all things. God, we just lift up Coach, Lord, to You right now, and I pray, Father, that You would encourage him and strengthen him. God, that You would bring vision and passion into his life.
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Father, I gratefully thank You, Lord, for what he said. The first question, Lord, he didn't say anything about football. He said we wanted these men to be beacons of light.
So Father, I pray that that is attainable, Lord. It is attainable. We pray that that would be the thing. Father, give him opportunities to speak about You and point these kids to something bigger than sports.
And Father, thank You for his influence in those lives. Lord, we thank You for Miss Moses, Lord, and just personally, Father, I thank You for her friendship, her husband's friendship, and I thank You for the times that we've prayed together.
So Lord, I pray that You continue to encourage her, strengthen that school. Father, that You would encourage the other administrators and the teachers. Lord, everybody is fairly excited right now, but Lord, we want to pray for them at Christmas time as well. We're going to pray in January when it's getting tough.
And so Father, I pray that they would be strong and faithful. Lord, pray for these kids. Lord, we pray that they would know You and that they would see Your light.
Father, we thank You, God, for Miss Frana, and although we pray for Gray Middle School, we pray, Lord, as that transitional time, middle school, that You would get a hold of kids' hearts and shape their emotions.
Father, I pray that You'd continue to give these principals and these teachers just an encouragement to be a light for You.
Father, I pray that Your light and Your love would reign and rule throughout these campuses.
And Father, we pray, God, that You would continue to protect and keep the teachers and campus safe. Father, we pray for behavior on the middle school. We pray for behavior all the way across.
Lord, we pray that You would break into these schools, and Father, that You would encourage the teachers and the administrators who love You, but Father, they're just not exactly sure how to express that love on campus.
I pray that You'd encourage them, equip them, and Lord, just give them opportunities to be that light for You.
Father, we pray for the teachers that are in the room. God, thank You for their hearts for people, for kids. Nearly every teacher I've ever talked to does not do it for the paycheck; we know that.
And so Father, thank You that they give and they sacrifice, and I pray that You'd encourage them and give them strength in You today.
For our homeschool parents, Lord, who are navigating all of the education and curriculum, Father, and the behavior in the home and the dynamics that happen there between parents and kids, and Father, I pray that You'd give them grace and mercy.
Lord, that You would help lead them and direct them, and Father, that their kids would grow to love You above all other things.
God, we praise You. We are thankful for what You're doing in our community, and we thank You, Lord, that we can be a small part of that.
We love You. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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Amen. Thank you for praying. Thank you so much.
Yes, thanks for coming. I know Miss Moses, you got to go for sure. Her husband's a pastor, and you guys meet at Groveland Elementary, right?
Yeah, fantastic.
And Coach and Mr. If you guys are able to stay, you're more than welcome to. If you have to go, we completely understand that. But we want to make sure we at least right now say we love you guys, and you're going to be praying for them.
Who else is going to be praying?
Amen.
All right, thank you.
Well, all right, friends. If you have a copy of God's word—and I hope you do—we are jumping out of Proverbs. We've been in Proverbs for several months now, but we are making a transition out of Proverbs.
Today, we're going to be in Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 29. So if you have a copy of God's word, I hope you do, go ahead and turn there to Jeremiah 29.
If you're using an app on your phone, fantastic; that's fine. If you got a hard copy, that's great as well. I will also have some of the verses on the screen here in a little bit.
But Jeremiah 29 ties into what we just did. It ties into what we just did in prayer. And so we're going to highlight that this morning, this idea of living as sojourners or pilgrims, living as exiles.
We'll see that in Jeremiah 29, verses 4-14.
Now, let me ask you a question: Are you from Florida? Is anybody here from Florida, like you're born and raised?
My hand's raised. I was born at the road in Pine Hills. My mom and dad met in Winter Garden at Lakeview High School.
So we've got a handful from Florida.
Do you ever think about the fact that you can tell a lot about a person by where they're from?
Yeah, right?
Okay, all right. Like they don't know how to drive; we figure that out. I'm sorry, that's just a running joke with us.
You can tell a lot about—have you ever traveled? Have you ever been out of the country?
Right now, the country—we used to go to Haiti a lot. My wife and my kids and from our church, we would go to Haiti and work at an orphanage. You never know what you're going to eat, right?
We have some retired missionaries in our church, and you understand this: the motto of a missionary is, "I will go where He sends me, and I will eat what they feed me."
You know?
Have you ever traveled? Have you ever been on vacation?
Yeah, of course. I mean, most—yeah.
And so every time we go somewhere, obviously that place is different.
So how did you end up here? That's a question I've been asking some of our new members who have been attending and coming into the church.
Last week, we baptized several, or like three, 20-something-year-olds. Then we had the engaged couple. If you were here, you saw Christopher and Adeline, and they're in their young 20s.
One of the questions I asked them, I said, "Why are you here? Why did you come here? How did you get here?"
And they gave a great answer. I can save that for later.
Yesterday, I did their wedding, and it was beautiful. It was outside in August, and it was so blistering hot, but they're married. God bless them; they're going to the Greek Isles, and they're going to experience beautiful and unique culture.
How did you get here?
So whether or not you're visiting and you're on vacation or you're just here for a short time, you're here. You're here in this location.
You know, my wife and I used to live—like I said, we were from Florida, but we used to live in Canada, in western Canada. We lived there for several years, and it's a beautiful place, beautiful people, great food, and it was a great time.
But there was something about coming home. There's something about coming back home when you fly into Orlando and you come across, and you're like, "How did we build so many houses around all of these lakes?" Like there's water everywhere.
You know, you fly in, and you know you're home when you get off the airplane, and you go through that little concourse area, and then you get on that tram that goes across. You know you are home when the humidity smacks you in the face like a hot, wet blanket, and Buddy Dyer's voice is over the intercom, and you're like, "Now we're home."
There's something about coming home.
Well, there's something about being an exile, being a sojourner, being a pilgrim—not being from the location that you have found yourself in. There's something unique about that.
And actually, every single one of us, we are that. The Bible speaks about being a sojourner, a pilgrim, or being in exile quite a bit.
We're going to look at that here in just a minute in Jeremiah, but it also talks about it in 1 Peter as well and other places in Scripture.
What we're going to do for the next several weeks is just talk about what it looks like to live as an exile, to live as a pilgrim, to live as a sojourner. What do we do? What kind of relationships do we need to have? How does that work?
So today, we're in Jeremiah, but for the next several weeks, we're going to be in 1 Peter. We're not going to do like we normally do, going verse by verse and chapter by chapter. We're going to look at three big buckets in 1 Peter, and then going into September, after Labor Day, we are going to jump into 1 Samuel, and we'll be there for quite some time. It'll be a beautiful thing.
But an exile—what do we do when we find ourselves someplace that we're not from?
And so as a Christian, again, we know that the Bible tells us this. If you're familiar with Bible study, you know that if you're a Christian, you feel that. But here's another thing we need to remember: even if you're not a Christian, even if you're not a believer in Jesus, you don't follow Jesus, you are an atheist, an agnostic, or just whatever, you're not following Jesus Christ, you're not a Christian, you are still an exile.
You are still a pilgrim, a sojourner.
Why is that? Because every single one of us has been created to live somewhere forever. We will live somewhere forever. This is not your home, whether or not you're a Christian or not a Christian. You will live somewhere forever.
And I pray that by the end of today's time, that you would choose to follow Jesus Christ and be assured that you can live with God forever in a beautiful place called heaven.
But none of us are just hanging out; we're all pilgrims. We're all exiles.
Now, just a little bit of a background for Jeremiah right here in chapter 29. Jeremiah is writing some letters—obviously, the book is named after Jeremiah. He writes several letters throughout chapter 29 that are addressed—well, through these chapters that are addressed. Again, we're just kind of focusing on the one aspect here in 29.
But you need to know this: Jeremiah is writing to the Judeans, so he's writing to people from Judah who have been taken captive into Babylon. They've been taken captive, and he's writing sometime after 597 BC, if you're interested in historical things like that.
Some of the people were able to stay, but then many, many have been taken into captivity. Now, that's who he's writing to.
And remember this: as Christians, we are in Christ. As Christians, we are in Christ, and we are at home in Christ. But also, as Christians, we are in transit, and we are not from this place.
So let's see what Jeremiah says. Let's start with verse 4, and we'll work our way through verse 14, and we'll come back and talk about it for just a moment.
This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon:
"Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Find wives for yourselves and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to; pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive."
Verse 8: "For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says: Don't let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don't listen to the dreams you elicit from them, for they are prophesying falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them. This is the Lord's declaration."
In verse 10: "For this is what the Lord says: When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place."
"For I know the plans I have for you," this is the Lord's declaration, "plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call out to me; you'll call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you," this is the Lord's declaration, "and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you."
This is the Lord's declaration: "I will restore you to the place from which I deported you."
This is the Lord's declaration.
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Who's writing those words? This is the Lord's declaration.
So Jeremiah is pinning a letter to these people who are in exile, who have been taken prisoners, and he's telling them, "This is what the Lord is saying to you. This is the Lord's declaration."
So what I want us to do is think about three ideas here in our remaining time together and how they apply, even to what we were just doing—praying for the schools—and how we might apply these in our lives today.
Let's talk about this big idea right here: Jeremiah is writing to people who think they have no future, to those who have no future.
And he's writing to them, and he's telling them this idea: even though you are in exile and most likely feel like you are never going to get out or you are depressed and you are beaten down, he says, "I need you to understand this: God is the one who's in control of this."
God is in control of that. That's what he says again in verse 4. He said, "This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon."
You see, they may have thought that there was another organization or another group of people or something else that was in control, but ultimately, the God that we serve, He's very sovereign. That means He's in control of all things, and God is the one who deported them into exile.
Now, why would that be encouragement? Why would it be encouragement? Because we know the faithfulness of God. We know the heart of God. You and I have the complete words of God; we have the Scriptures.
And for us, we can look at it and say, "God is going to be faithful."
So here's something I want us to make sure we understand: I don't know what's going on in your life. I don't know what's happening to you. I know a lot of what's happening to people in the church, but I don't know everything.
But you need to know this: God knows, and God is in control. God is in charge. God has not forgotten you.
And so he's writing to people who feel like there's no future, like, "What happens now? What in the world are we going to do now?"
It reminds me of the words in Acts chapter 17. Paul says it like this: "From one man, He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live."
Who determined those things? God.
You see, when all my years as a student pastor, a youth pastor, I would always tell the kids, "You thought your assigned seat was assigned to you by a teacher? No, your assigned seat is assigned to you by God, and you're sitting next to Johnny and Susie because God wants you in that seat, and you have an opportunity to influence Johnny and Susie. That's why you're there."
You thought you chose the job that you're in, but God's got a bigger plan for that. God is the one—you thought you wanted to move into that neighborhood. I don't know why you thought you wanted to move to Groveland. No idea what in the world you thought you moved to Groveland because the housing was cheaper, but God has a bigger plan for you.
You are here on purpose for a purpose, and you can trust the heart of God.
And so I don't know, again, what might be happening in your life, but it might be tough and difficult. Know this: God is good. God is in control. You have a future. Please do not feel like you have no future. Go ahead and accept and trust the heart of God.
He's also writing to people who have a false future.
He's writing to people who have a false future. What does that mean, a false future? Because he tells them not to believe the prophets. Don't believe those prophets who are prophesying to you and telling you these things.
And one, we learned later, some of the things that they were telling them was that this is going to be a short time. You're only going to be here for a couple of years.
And what Jeremiah ends up telling them, "No, that's not the case. You're going to be there 70 years."
70 years you will be in exile.
He's writing to people who have a false future.
And so the people that are believing in lies, in verse 10, he tells them again, "70 years."
You see, they had a false hope, a false future. Their hope was in going back, but God wants them to have hope in today and going forward.
So they would basically do things like this: they were being encouraged to, "Don't plant gardens; don't build houses. You don't need to do any of that stuff. Don't live in the community, in the city that you're in and the country that you're in. Don't live; don't do anything. Just hunker down and hide and wait. It's going to be a short trip, and you're out of here. Just wait. Just hunker down. Just don't worry about it. Just get into your little huddle and stay there and insulate yourselves."
It's not going to last for very long.
But what does he end up telling them? He says, "No." He says, "No." He says, "Go and plant gardens; build houses."
He says, "Get married; have children. Let your sons find wives for your sons," blah, blah, back and forth.
What are we talking about? We're talking about living life, right? Being productive in society, living for the glory of God in a place that they have found themselves as exiles.
One very simple reason they needed to have some children and have some families is because in 70 years or so, they were going to go back to their land, and there needs to be people that go back to the land.
So we need to have children.
And these things—false future.
See, biblical exile—let's see how I wrote it down—biblical exile is not fighting to get your past back.
We need to understand this as Christians. We look at the past, even in our history, in American history. We look at the past, and we long for those days. But that is not biblical exile.
Biblical exile is not about going back. Biblical exile is about, again, being faithful here and going forward with God.
Biblical exile is not a longing for the past.
Now, this has become more and more of a thought and a thing that keeps rushing through my mind as we think even about some of our young adults that we read about or hear about who have just left the church.
And some of my generation, who's kind of the popular phrase "deconstructed," you know, all of those types of things.
You know who else deconstructed? Peter deconstructed.
Peter, the Apostle Peter, who was walking with Jesus when Jesus was taken captive the night before His betrayal. And then a little 12-year-old, 13-year-old girl said, "Hey, aren't you one of them?" And he says, "No, I'm not with Jesus."
I mean, in a way, he deconstructed.
And then he took his friends and went off to go fishing, and they all followed him.
And Jesus came and found him, rescued him from his own stupidity and his big mouth, changed his heart. He became a powerhouse for the gospel.
So yeah, deconstruction—we see people in the Bible denying Christ.
Thomas—Thomas, "I'm not going to believe it until I see it." And then he sees Jesus, and he falls on his knees. He says, "My Lord and my God."
So these destruction things have been happening for a long time. It's been happening for a long time.
But in our context, we're not going to look back; we're going to be faithful today and push forward in God's purpose and God's glory.
Because here's the thing: there was a point in American history in the past when to be an American was also to be religious. It was seen almost hand in hand as the same thing.
Why was that? Who was the enemy back in the '50s and the '40s and the '20s and the '60s? Who was the enemy?
It was communism, and communism, by most nature, was atheistic.
And so as Americans, it was common—I'm not saying this is what you did, who are old enough to have been from there. I'm not saying this is what your parents did. I am saying is what a lot of our culture did.
We're not—we're Americans because we believe in God. We're not like those communists because they don't believe in God.
So we believe in God, and we're Americans.
That's a cultural Christianity that infected our country, and God is calling us to something better and bigger than that.
And what happened in recent times? In recent times, who's the enemy now?
The enemy are terrorists, and most of them are connected to some form of Islam.
And so now it's like they're religious extremists.
And so a lot of the young people in our lives are saying, "I don't want to be a part of that. I don't want to be connected or identified with religious extremism."
So I don't know what I believe, and so I'm just going to kind of step back a little bit.
It is up to us, followers of Jesus, to show them what it means to be a follower and a lover of God.
And it is not a longing for the past; it is a faithful today and looking forward to the future and what God will do.
That's my prayer.
You see, He tells them to plant gardens and build houses and do these things and seek the welfare of the city. What is He telling them to do?
It's not unlike what Jesus told us to do. Jesus says, "Love your neighbors" or "Love your enemies." He said radical things.
Jeremiah is saying the same thing. What is he doing? He's saying, "Be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker. Be a peacemaker."
So we're living in exile as followers of Jesus Christ. We're not called to be troublemakers; we're called to be peacemakers.
And so may we have that attitude, making peace wherever we go, being part of the city, part of the community.
What else? He said being praying people, not pessimistic people.
Let's be praying people—people who are legitimately praying for the city.
You see, I love having been here for three and a half years or so. I get lots of opportunities to go to the City Council meetings.
Anybody like going to a city council meeting?
That's kind of what I thought you'd say. Sometimes they're exciting; most of the time, they're not.
But you know that happens like twice a month, and I get to go, and I get to open in prayer, and that's a beautiful thing.
Oftentimes, I'll step up to the podium, and I'll say something like this: "An ancient prophet, an ancient Jewish prophet, said in the book of Jeremiah to pray for the welfare of the city."
That's what we're doing today as a church.
We're part of the South Lake Chamber of Commerce. I had somebody ask me last night at the wedding, "Why would a church be a part of the Chamber of Commerce?"
Why wouldn't a church be a part of this Chamber of Commerce? Are you serious?
The business leaders in our communities are right there, and we get to rub shoulders and have conversations with people, and we're seeking the welfare of the city.
Almost every time when I get together in a smaller group, they'll give you an opportunity to speak—give the preacher an opportunity to speak, and I'm like, "Yes!"
And so I'll say things like this: "Hey, we believe that everybody wants to live an amazing life, and life is too short to get it wrong. That's why we've been teaching the words of Jesus for 101 years, and Jesus said, 'I've come to give you life and life more abundantly.'"
I get to do that in front of all those people, and I get to pray.
And I often tell them at these giant prayer breakfasts, I will often say that, you know, we are called to pray for the welfare of the city.
And I believe that a healthy faith community and a healthy business community will make for a thriving community.
Let's pray towards that end.
We've got to have that type of attitude amongst ourselves for the city and the community and the country that we have found ourselves in.
And so may we be praying people and not pessimistic people.
What does that mean? Let's don't degrade and fight and yell.
Here's the thing, Christians: let's just don't expect non-Christians to act like Christians.
That might be a mic drop, and we'd be done for the day.
Let's don't expect non-Christians to act like Christians.
I'm not saying let's not have legislation and let's do those things and run for office and all that. No, praise God, I pray that you will. I pray that you will.
But let us be a light shining for the glory of God, not pessimistic, not a troublemaker, but a peacemaker, and showing a better way.
You know, the Israelites, God's people, they were called to be a light to the nations.
And so could it be that even in this time, Jeremiah says you're going to live this way? Could it be that they would be showing God's light in those difficult moments and that others would come to follow the God that they come to follow?
Couldn't that happen? Wouldn't that be a beautiful thing?
What if we walked through our neighborhoods and we prayed that God would give us opportunities to speak to our neighbors?
Maybe you said, "God, that neighbor over there, that guy really needs to be saved."
But then you say, "Would You allow me to be a part of that story?"
What if we approached it not making trouble but making peace?
So live your life.
He says, "Pray for the welfare." The welfare there, that idea is shalom. It is the peace of the air, the peace that's way bigger than just like—it's like mental, spiritual, emotional, physical.
It is a complete whole idea of peace, and it is an amazing thing when He says, "When they prosper, so when we pray for these schools, when we pray for the administrators, when we pray for our council members, and we pray for our president and all of those who are in leadership, when we pray for the city, the community, the county, the state, when we pray, and God moves, in their prosperity comes our prosperity."
And praise God that we live in a country called America. Amen?
Like, I love our country and the freedoms that we have here.
But we cannot turn our country into an idol.
We cannot.
We seek God in the moment here.
How do we live it out here into the future?
How God would be a light in us.
One of the things that when we were in Canada—my goodness, did you know that my Canadian friends, when they were traveling overseas, they would always put a little Canadian flag on their backpack?
Not because they're patriotic, but because they didn't want to be confused as being an American.
I'm serious.
I'm serious.
Because there was like this world attitude that we were bringing.
And I would often tell them, I was like, "Hey, I am proud to be an American, but I pray that I am not a proud American."
Amen?
Let's represent Christ in a way that is bringing peace.
You know, prayer changes things.
Prayer changes things.
You know what prayer changes? It changes you. It changes me. It changes us and how we interact with others.
Not to mention that God actually moves in prayer.
And so yes, we pray. We pray that there would be legislation and changes when it comes to abortion. Yes, we pray, and we act, and we move, and we do it in a way that is not a troublemaker but a peacemaker.
Prayer changes things.
Jesus said, "Be salt and light."
Salt—He didn't say, "Go and yell at the dead meat." He said, "Be salt to it."
Be salt and light.
Here we go: praying for our enemies helps us see them as more than opponents to overcome.
Let it sink in.
Praying for our enemies—this is radical stuff.
When Jesus said this, praying for our enemies.
So here's a question: How do I see people?
And I've mentioned this to you before, but how do I see people?
Most of us see people in one of three ways.
How do I see people? Do I see them as machinery? When I go about my day, do I see people as machinery? They're just here to serve me.
Do I see them as scenery? Scenery with people? They're just in a movie about me. They're just part of the scenery.
Or do I see people the way Jesus saw people—as ministry?
When Jesus stood over Jerusalem and He wept, He wept for the people because He knew they were rejecting what God was bringing.
He wept over them, and He sought to love them, and He sought to love us by going to the cross for us.
How do I see people?
Friends, listen: just because you are on your phone, this is not in my notes, so this will get me in trouble.
You like that other stuff was in your notes; you're already in trouble.
Just because we're on our phones doesn't mean the person on the other side doesn't matter.
They're real people.
Just because we think we need to blow something up on social media doesn't mean that there's not people on the other side who are hurting and need to see a better picture of what it means to be a Jesus follower than what we're doing.
Some of you might be thinking, "This guy has an agenda today."
I don't. I really don't.
I'm just nervous for us as a community. I really am.
And I'm praying that God will change some things.
I'm nervous as we go into another election cycle that as Christians, we're going to lose our ever-loving minds.
And I want to help us process these things by the grace and mercy of Jesus.
I just want us to be more like Jesus.
I just forget it; I just want to be more like Jesus.
Me.
I just want to be more like Jesus, and I pray that you do too.
So he's writing to people who have no hope, right?
And the people who have a false hope.
And lastly, he's writing to people who have real hope.
He's writing to people who have a true future, a true hope.
And that true hope is based on God's word.
Why? Why would we say that?
Why would we say this? Because he says in verse 10, "For this is what the Lord says."
He goes against the false prophets, and then he says, "This is what the Lord says."
Our true hope is found in God's word and God's word alone.
It is found in Him, not in a false prophet.
Listen, friends, I love you, but there are false prophets on both sides of that aisle.
There are false donkeys, and there are false elephants.
There are false prophets on both sides of the aisle, and we have to be discerning by God's word to know what voice to listen to and what is being true and told to us.
We have to know God's word.
And so he's writing to people who have a true future, and how is he doing that as we close some things out?
Well, in verse 10, he makes them this promise: "When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place."
And then verse 13—verse 13, He clearly tells them.
Look at verse 13 if you have it open still.
In verse 13, He says, "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart."
That is the same promise to us today that we will know God when we want to know God more than anything else in our lives.
When we seek Him and search Him with all our heart, we can know Him, and that is the same promise that they have and that we have based on God's word.
Now, here's a question that you might be asking, and we're going to actually transition to a time of communion together.
Here's a question you're going to be asking: Does Jeremiah 29:11 apply to me?
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
As Christians, we love to co-opt some verses, you know?
We love Jeremiah 29:11, and we put it on a coffee cup and the back of our t-shirt.
"I know the Lord has plans for me, plans for future and hope, blah, blah, blah."
Does that apply to me?
Or does it only apply to these Jews who are in exile in Babylon?
That's a good question.
You know, we love to take verses like, "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me," and we put them on football jerseys or about like, "I can do all things."
And that's not really the thing that Paul was talking about—that I can be successful in all these things.
He's like, "You can do these things through all of this turmoil and trial because Jesus is with you."
Yes, does Jeremiah 29:11 apply to me?
I know some—this might be your favorite verse, your life verse, 29:11.
It's a good one.
But the question is, does it apply?
And I'm going to say yes, 110%.
Friends, it absolutely applies to all of us because it is in Jesus Christ that it applies to us.
And every time we receive communion together, we say this:
Look at these verses up on the screen.
1 Corinthians 11:25: "In the same way, He also took the cup after supper and said, 'Look, this cup is the New Covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.'"
What is it? The cup is what? It is the New Covenant in my blood.
Jesus is saying, "Yes, the promises of the Old Testament, the Covenant, it applies to you because I am going to the cross. I am shedding my blood for you, and because of that, you have the inheritance of these promises."
And that is a beautiful thing.
So yes, yes, God does know the plans. God does know what's coming. He has designed it, and it is a good, great, and beautiful thing for those who have trusted Jesus as their Savior.
That's why 2 Corinthians 1:20 says it like this: "For every one of God's promises is yes in Him; therefore, through Him, we also say Amen to the glory of God."
Every single promise that God has promised to the people in the Old Testament through the blood of Jesus Christ is promised to you and I here in the New Testament, trusting Jesus as Savior.
That's in part what Romans 8:32 means.
Look at Romans 8:32: "He did not even spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. How will He not also with Him grant us everything?"
Everything—the everything—there's all that is promised.
Yes and amen, it applies to you only through Jesus Christ.
And that is a good thing, and I pray that we will see that we have a true future.
We have a future that is absolutely true that is built on God's word—a true future that is not built on false promises.
It is not built on idyllic past; it is built on God's word, God's word today and into the future, living for Jesus.
Let us be people who love the place we live, serve the place we live, pray for the place that we live, and pray that God would use us to be salt and light in that place.
And I pray that you resonate with that.
I pray that it makes some of us uncomfortable, and I pray that we would come to an understanding of how God is moving in our hearts and in this place to direct us into these things.
Love where we live. Pray for where we live.
You are not here by accident.
You are not going through what you're going through by accident.
Trust the goodness and the mercy and the grace of Jesus, and rest in the promise that Jesus has secured all things for you.
Amen?
Amen.
Hey there, thanks again for downloading or streaming this message. I pray that the Lord will use it to grow you in your faith.
I look forward to meeting you one day soon at one of our worship gatherings. It's impossible for us to recreate online what you'll experience when you gather with us in person for worship.
If you have any questions, go ahead and text the word "online" to 352-822-3878. That's "online" to 352-822-3878.
Look forward to meeting you. God bless. Have a great week.
on Nov 05, 2023
