A Future and a Hope

# Jesus, be the center of it all # # From beginning to the end # # The Lord feeds always # # And you, Jesus # # Jesus, to from my heart # # Dear heavens # # Jesus, be the center # # It's all about you # # Yeah, it's all about you # # From my heart # # To the heavens # # Jesus, be the center # # It's all about you # # Yeah, it's all about you # # Jesus, be the center # Welcome to Delta Fellowship. Let's just continue to engage the Lord this morning. Give him a praise, or ship him for what he's worthy of. # # Oh, you're worthy, oh, you're worthy, oh, you're worthy, oh, you are worthy. Oh, you're worthy, oh, you're worthy, oh, you're worthy, oh, you're worthy. Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you are, Jesus, you raise our voice of the light, heaven and earth of the light. We'll see your face full hand, you'll see the way it's done. Oh, can you blend down, oh, can you say it's done? To be entroned upon the phrase of love, the sounds of generations, you are worthy, oh, until you're the slave, you raise the key. We'll have a voice of heaven, singing and whirling, oh, yeah. And all throughout, and in all serums, lives, we'll leave.

And on to eternity, our endless praise will drown. Jesus, we glory and fire, Jesus, we glory and fire. To be entroned upon the phrase of love, the sounds of generations, you are worthy. Until you've slayed the grace and key You've left our voices and singing worthy Lord above You can throw it on the praises of As loud as the generations You are worthy Lord above Until you've slayed the grace and key You've left our voices and heaven Singing worthy Lord above God is praises for your own hopes. God is praises for your own hope. God is praises for your own hopes. God is praises for your own Hires praises for your own hope. This is what we got. Hires praises for your own hope. You can throw it on the praises of As loud as the generations You are worthy Lord above Until you've slayed the grace and key You've left our voices and heaven Singing worthy Lord above You can throw it on the praises of

As loud as the generations You are worthy Lord above Until you've slayed the grace and key You've left our voices and heaven Singing worthy Lord above And I am praises for your own hope. And I am praises for your own hope. God is praises for your own hope. God is praises for your own hope. We left you higher than I am. Is praises for your own hope. And I am praises for your own hope. Lord above You can throw it on the praises of As loud as the generations You are worthy Lord above Until you've slayed the grace and key You've left our voices and heaven - Yeah, let's keep singing that. ♪ Long to be in throne ♪ ♪ Long to be in throne ♪ ♪ Down generations of our world ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ To be in the sweet race ♪ ♪ Let our force defend ♪ ♪ To be in worthy ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ In the sweet race ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ In the sweet race ♪ ♪ And the light of our world ♪ ♪ To be in the sweet race ♪ ♪ To be in the sweet race ♪ ♪ To be in the sweet race ♪ ♪ To be in the sweet race ♪ ♪ To be in the sweet race ♪ ♪ To be in the sweet race ♪ ♪ Oh, yes, in the heart of death can separate us ♪ ♪ Heart in no death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Oh, from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of no death can separate us ♪ ♪ Heart in no death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Oh, from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate us ♪ ♪ Heart in no death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Oh, from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate us ♪ ♪ Heart in no death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Who brought this is worth your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Heart in no death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Oh, there's nothing that can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Heart in no death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate us from your love ♪

♪ Oh, you are worthy of me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are worthy of me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are worthy of me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are worthy of me ♪ ♪ Oh, there's nothing that can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Oh, there's nothing that can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Oh, there's nothing that can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Heart in no death can separate us from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate us ♪ ♪ Heart in no death can separate me from your love ♪ ♪ In the heart of death can separate me from your love ♪ ♪ You're in between, you're in front ♪ ♪ You're behind, you're all around ♪ ♪ You're all around ♪ ♪ You're in the front, you're behind ♪ ♪ You're in between, you're all around ♪ ♪ Every tribe in it, all creations ♪ ♪ For the death ♪ ♪ Oh, there's nothing that can separate us from your love ♪ No creation with one for a thousand gems Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems

Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems Holy One Here our hearts have found out Gathered all around us For a thousand gems Holy One There's no one like you

No one like you No one like you No one like you No one like you No one like you No one like you No one like you No one like you No one like you No one like you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Here's where I lay down every prayer and every cry. This is my story. This is my story. This is my story. This is my story. This is my story. This is my story. I want to make for you. I want to do what everyone wants to do. I want to do what everyone wants to do. I want to make for you. I want to do what everyone wants to do. I want to do what everyone wants to do. Here's where I lay down. You are all I'm chasing down. This is my story. This is my story. Here is where I lay down. Every light and every day. This is my story. I want to make for you. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. I want to make for you. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. I want to make for you. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. To do whatever you want to do. For my tradition, your name is better. You lose better, shake up the ground.

For my tradition, break down the walls. For my tradition, your name. You lose better, shake up the ground. For my tradition, break down the walls. For my tradition, your name. You lose better, shake up the ground. For my tradition, break down the walls. For my tradition, your name. You lose better, shake up the ground. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you. For my tradition, your name. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you. For you to do it every once, for you to do it every once, for you to do it every once ♪ You stand, you stand ♪ ♪ You stand, you stand ♪ ♪ Shake up the ground ♪ ♪ You want my tradition ♪ ♪ Break down the walls ♪ ♪ You want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my tradition ♪ ♪ You want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪

♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand, you want my religion ♪ ♪ You stand up around ♪ ♪ You stand up around ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Let's go! (upbeat music)

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

(upbeat music) Come on, I feel like I'm doing something right now. Don't just sit back and work this the same. He did it. Worship him with all your heart. Let him drink the boundaries around you. Let him drink the walls. All the things, baby, that you believed, that you have to fit into a box. That Jesus fits into a box. He can't fit into a box. He's so much bigger than you can imagine. Come on, I just feel a spirit of freedom in this room right now. Maybe a spirit of freedom that you have never experienced. But this is your moment. Come on, Jesus, it's so good. He's so good. And this is his church. So come on, let's worship him. ♪ To break open this box ♪ ♪ Around my head, around my heart ♪ ♪ You're better than I think ♪ ♪ So much better than I think ♪ So break open this box, around my head, around my heart You better than I think, so much better than I think, oh Who is worthy of your trade? Yes, so worthy, oh You were worthy, so worthy, you were worthy, so worthy, oh Hey, come on, every voice You were worthy, so worthy, you were worthy, so worthy, you were worthy, so worthy

You're holy, you are holy, so holy, you are holy, so holy, ohh! You are worthy, so worthy, you are worthy, so worthy! You are holy, so holy, you are holy, so holy, ohh! You are holy, so holy, ohh! You are holy, so holy, you are holy, so holy, ohh, holy, ohh! You are holy, so holy, ohh! You are holy, so holy, ohh! You are holy, so holy, you are holy, ohh! You are holy, so holy, ohh! You are holy, so holy, ohh! You are holy, so holy, ohh! You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love You saved me Now I'll never leave your love

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# For your name is great # # And greatly to be brave # # I give glory to your name # # Oh Lord # # Glory to your name # # Oh Lord # # For your name is great # # And greatly to be brave # # I give praise to your name # # Oh Lord # # Praise to your name # # Oh Lord # # For your name is great # # And greatly to be brave # # Passing praise to your name # # Oh Lord # # Praise to you # # Oh Lord # # For your name is great # # And greatly to be brave # # Oh Lord, we praise your name # # Let your name be lifted high in this place # # We raise a banner up to you this morning # # We lift up a shout of praise to you Jesus # # And we say you're worthy # # You're holy # # You're magnificent # # You're excellent # # You're awesome # # And mighty to save #

# Thank you Lord # # For being mighty to save # # And stretch out your hand # # To heal each and every one of us in this room # # Right now just where you're at # # Is watching right now # # If you have a need # # If you need a miracle in your family # # You need a miracle in your finances # # You need a miracle for a loved one # # You need a miracle for your home # # For your neighbor # # Stretch out your hand # # God sees his children this morning # # So Father, right now # # We ask that you would come # # And be the breaker # # You would come and break through # # Lord, if you would bring the supply # # For every need in this house # # Father, I pray that you would come and meet # # Every unsaved loved one # # Every unsaved friend and neighbor # # That we're praying for this morning # # Father, I pray for those who are dealing with emotional trauma right now # # I pray that you would come and stretch out your hand # # To heal in Jesus' name # # Lord, you see us this morning # # You are not blind to see the needs of your children # # You love to come and rescue your kids #

# Father, your word says # # That is the Father's good, pleasing will # # To give us the kingdom # # Thank you, Yahweh, for giving us # # Your kingdom, Lord # # And I pray, Holy Spirit # # That we would be a people of faith # # Like in Luke, when Jesus, who taught your disciples how to pray # # You said in the end that you hope to find faith on the earth # # So I pray that you would raise our faith this morning # # To match your power # # Lord, raise our faith this morning # # To match your power # # That you are able, you are able to do it, Lord # # There's nothing impossible for you, God # # You said, Lord, for man, this is difficult # # But for God, all things are possible # # Just say with me right now # Come on, all things are possible. We believe that Yahweh. We stand on the power of all things being possible. We stand on the immovable, the immovable foundation, Christ the cornerstone. Thank you Lord that you know us by name. I thank you Lord that there's not a single person this morning with their hand raised, that you don't know the amount of hairs on their head, or do you know every most intimate detail about us and you love us? You created each and every one in this room this morning

and you said, this is good. You created us in your image. And so I just pray Holy Spirit this morning if there's anyone in this room that's having a hard time loving themselves this morning. I pray that they would see you. I pray that they would see you and understand the adoption that they have in the family of God. As son or as daughter of a king, making them a prince or a princess. Father, just come and meet us here this morning. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for this time that we had to minister to you for you are worthy. It's just an hour of our day, Lord, but we say you are worthy. You are worthy, Lord. You are worthy to be praised. Jesus mighty name, amen. Psalms 105 verse two, it says, sing to him, sing praise to him. Tell of all of his wondrous acts. Glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. So I don't know if we got any rejoicing people here this morning. If you've got a word of praise to the Lord, you better tell them he's worthy. Rejoice, rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength. Seek his face always.

Can we be that, can we be that people that seeks his face always? That rejoice in the good and the bad. We got a lot to celebrate though, don't we church, amen? But would you all just join me in celebrating this amazing team of musicians this morning that bless the Lord? Thank you guys, so good. That last song brought me back to the little Nazarene church I grew up in in Iowa. I sing praises to your name, man. We would sing that song with tears in our eyes. If you can, you can find a seat. Young people ask you, I think we're a little bit extra full this morning, if you're under the age of 18, I'll ask that you find a seat down here on the front, on the floor. It's the best seats in the house. If this were a paid event, those seats would cost extra. We want you to take those for free. Thank you very much. Well, it is September 27th of 2026. And I don't know if any of you guys remember, but it was two years ago today that Hurricane Helene sent the raging flood waters of the Nolichucky, of the Dobe, of the Toe rivers and other streams and creeks ravaging through our area. And that was the time when we really got to see the church, be the capital C church, amen? The Alter Fellowship was able to help

an incredible amount of people in that. And when we sent out the call, when we sounded the siren for help, y'all turned out and turned up. And just last night I was remembering some of the incredible things that happened through the generosity of the Alter Fellowship through the generosity of you and your families, your businesses. We were able to donate an entire 40 foot shipping crate of over a quarter million dollars of food, of generators, diapers, formula, yeah. Water filters, heaters, gas, propane and more. Many of y'all came and turned up here day and night organizing those supplies, distributing those supplies. I know who y'all are. I can't see each and every one of you this morning, but man, we were on the phone getting those things out to those in need. We gave out over $80,000 in cash to people here in Carter County who lost everything, funded the full rebuild of three homes, housing provided showers for eight families, sent out over 160 relief teams, which was many of you, to cities and towns around the area. We gave over 3,000 man hours of labor to deliver over 45 generators, 200 heaters, 800 propane cans and five pallets of water. You guys paid for the delivery and installation of a brand new mobile home for a family in need.

You got it and cleaned out dozens of homes and businesses. Many of your clothes will never be the same because of that. You tore down and removed dozens of trees from properties. Some of you live here now that traveled out here just to help people in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. You paid for the rental of heavy machinery to clean out dozens of properties. And members in our church launched what is called the 100 Homes Project, which has rebuilt or restored over two dozen homes from scratch. In the last year alone through that project, the church distributed over a million dollars. to act. Is that right church? And I was reflecting on that. This last Wednesday night, Owen Barclay brought a word from God about love out of 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It's the love chapter and it's actually where I've been reading as well in my own devotional time. And so this has been on my mind a lot. As we get to do a lot of incredible missions, we get to do a lot of aid and a lot of charitable work to help those around us. Something that we must never forget is this. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 1 says, "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels but do not have love, I'm only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have a faith that can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing." And I'll tell you what, we could have done all of that in the name of the government and it would have meant absolutely nothing. But we did it in the name of Jesus. Love has a name and his name is Jesus. We did it in his name. And so it meant everything. In fact, we beat the government there by about two weeks, but we're not to keep in score, right? But we did it in the name of love. And so, Church, I want to invite you to stand with me this morning and I want to challenge you this morning to

give in the name of love to continue in the spirit of we give because he first gave to us, right? We love God because he loved us first. We weren't the first ones. He loved us in our mess, right? And I want to thank you so as we're remembering this two years of that horrible hurricane, I'm remembering two years of those incredible testimonies of the people that y'all helped save, of the families that y'all helped rebuild and restore their lives from scratch. And I believe that the the the legacy of that ultra fellowship will continue on through the spirit of generosity as we do things out of love. Amen. Amen. So if you want to prepare your offering where you're at on the screen, you'll see there's three ways you can give. There are envelopes in your seat back, you can fill those out and give by cash or check or card. You can scan the QR code with your phones and give on there. That's my preferred method. Or you can also use the ultra fellowship app and give by there. And as we're getting ready to give, I want to go ahead and pray for each and every one of you that are giving this morning. And let's give with a grateful heart because he is worthy. Yahweh, thank you so much for the incredible family that we have here in this house and first and second service and those who are watching at home today. Father, I pray that you would bless every giver this morning in the offering. Father, I thank you that we get to give not out of obligation but out of love. We love you, Lord. It is a pleasure and a privilege to serve you. It's a blessing to be able to contribute to your house and to tribute to these incredible things like I just read. Lord, thank you for letting us be a little part of that. Lord, thank you for the times that we got to move trees and we got to scoop homes out and for the offerings we got to give and the checks and cash we got to turn over to your people. Lord, thank you that you don't turn a blind eye to those who are hurting around us but you're there and you're present. You are a manual. God with us, your present and ever helping need in Jesus. So I just pray you would bless everyone who's given this morning. Provide for all of their needs, Father, and multiply it. Lord, I thank you that you love a cheerful giver. So help us to give this morning with gratitude and excitement and joy in Jesus. Holy name. Amen. Thank you. You can be seated. Thank you. It's good to be back. I missed you all these last couple weeks. I was in Alaska shooting the biggest moose anybody has ever seen. This is a dream. I chased for a long time for a whole bunch of years and I got to make it a reality this last week. So thank you guys for holding down the fort while I was away. And I, full transparency here, I came home a bit early because there's some things going on under the surface of the church that have been

difficult. And so I flew out of the mountains and flew home to try to figure out what's happening and find out how I can help serve the church through it. And so I don't know that this is like the right place to litigate or navigate any of that. But I will tell you, I know like this this evening or this afternoon after second service, I'm going to be meeting with our whole worship team to just talk about the future, what is happening, some of the changes and transitions. And then on Wednesday night, Pastor David mentioned this just to about anything you may have heard through the grapevine. I know that things travel around very quickly and be happy to be transparent and to have some dialogue just to make sure that we can move together. I've said many times through the years that if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. And I think the reality is if we as a community are going to get to where God is inviting us to go, we're going to have to go together. And that takes communication. It takes trust. It takes cooperation. And I want to make sure that I'm doing everything I can to cultivate those things here in our community. All right? Y'all know I love you. This doesn't mean I'm about to yell at you. Nobody's going to yell at that. I love you guys. I really do. I'm grateful. I'm really grateful to be here. Y'all, like I know that I'm the pastor of this church, but y'all don't know how much this community ministers to me and to my family. Like I am a member of this church before I'm the pastor of it, you know? And so I'm really grateful just to be here to be in the house of the Lord with the people of the Lord. I am reminded this morning, you know, as I've been praying and preparing for the opportunity to dedicate kids, like 30 kids to the Lord, babies to the Lord that have been born into this amazing family God has given us here. You know, as I've considered this, you know, I was reminded of many years ago when I was when I was only eight years old when my father passed away, my mom taught me this, this verse at the time, you know, when it felt like losing my, losing my dad felt like my whole universe fell apart and my mom forced me to memorize Jeremiah 29 11. You all have heard that. I bet if we were to ask people, you know, what's your life verse? I bet half the people in the room would point to Jeremiah 29 11, for I know the plans I have for you declares to the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope in the future. And I think we hear those words. Some of us have heard that verse so many times, it doesn't mean anything to us anymore. And I want to make sure that

we keep our hearts soft to the word of God, to the voice of God. I want to make sure that we don't just, you know, it's easy, I think, to hear a voice like a verse like that. It's easy to hear a promise like that. And to just call that feels nice, you know, it's good to hear God likes me. He's got good plans for my life. The truth is, I think in many ways, we maybe, maybe that verse doesn't, doesn't quite mean what we think it means often. And I think sometimes we, you know, we take it out of context. I want to try to put it back in its original context so that we can understand the impact or the significance of those words. But I want us as a family to consider that verse that maybe so many of us have heard, maybe even many of us have committed to memory. There's a friend of mine that has a tattooed on his wrist so we can look at it every day. It's like, it's a, it's a, it's a verse that I think is really familiar to many of us. But I, I think it is something that the Lord is, is whispering to those who have ears to hear in this community. You know, this verse like all of the Bible was, was not necessarily written to us or I should say most of the Bible was not necessarily written to us, but was written for us. I think this is an important point of clarity to provide that this, this verse was written by, I should say, who wrote the book of Jeremiah? That's great. That's a great guess. Baruch wrote the book of Jeremiah who is, now this is, here's the thing that's weird, right? So you've got, God inspires it, Jeremiah proclaims it, Baruch writes it and then you and I read it. And so there's a whole bunch of like failure points here that, that are, that are sort of, I should say a whole bunch of potential failure points here. And so we have to like look at the, at the context and if we're going to, if we're going to ask ourselves, what is the context of a particular verse or a particular passage? I think the first thing we have to ask is who wrote it and who did they write it to. So we know that Jeremiah spoke these words. Baruch, his scribe, wrote these words down to make sure that they could be remembered. But, but I think we've got to ask ourselves, who was Jeremiah? Why would Jeremiah declare, for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope in a future. Now, Jeremiah, you, might think is, was like a great prophet of the Lord who proclaimed the word of the Lord common. He was, I should say this, maybe we don't have so much in common. Jeremiah preached for 40 years and you want to know how many people's hearts were softened and ears opened

because of his message? Zero people. 40 years of passionate ministry on behalf of God and his ministry was numerically, financially, socially, a complete failure. Jeremiah was a priest who served during the last decades of the southern kingdom of Judah leading up to the siege of Jerusalem and the beginning of the Babylonian exile. So Jeremiah for 40 years prior to the invasion of Babylon's invasion of Israel and their capturing of the Israelite people. For 40 years Jeremiah preached a message of warning to the Israelites. God is going to, in Jeremiah chapter 7, he specifically highlights that it would be Babylon will invade Israel and will burn the temple and will ruin our city and will take our people captive if we do not turn away from our sin. He says he's known by scholars as the weeping prophet because much of his message revolves around God's wrath and judgment towards sin and the compromise of Israel and he, for 40 years, pleaded with the people, begged the people, turned from your sin, repent of your idolatry and your compromise and no one listened to him. You can read, he's got an interesting ministry. You know, I think when we think about ministry leaders we often think that a ministry leader's job is to build people up and to inspire people. This is the instruction God gives Jeremiah in chapter 1. Jeremiah 1 verses 9 and 10. Jeremiah says, "Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the Lord said to me, 'Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have this day set over you, the nations, excuse me. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.'" And I feel like that's a perfect summary of Jeremiah's ministry. It was not just to encourage and uplift, no matter how much we hear that the job of a Christian ministry is to encourage and inspire and uplift. Here's what Jeremiah was assigned by God to do, to pluck up and break down, to destroy, to overthrow, to build and to plant. So the reality is if we're going to build or plant something beautiful, there has to be a preparation for that that involves plucking up and breaking down and destroying and overthrowing. This is where God said, Jeremiah, I've called you to the uncomfortable task of preparing the soil, preparing the atmosphere for what I'm going to do in the days to come in Israel. For 40 years, Jeremiah preached and no one repented. You know, I'll tell you as a young preacher that I've found a lot of comfort in the story of Jeremiah, you know, when I feel like God, no one's listening. I'm preaching my guts out here and nobody hears me. Listen,

I have done plenty of empty altar calls in my life. It's a very awkward thing to do. Like if you want to give your life to Jesus, come forward right now and everyone just looks at you. Okay, God, you know, maybe they'll take it home and mull it over later, right? And, but I find kinship with Jeremiah, I think everyone who has ever tried to minister the Word of God has found some way to fellowship with Jeremiah, to say, why are people's hearts so hard? Why are they so, to put it in biblical terms, obstinate and stiff necked? Why can't they hear what I'm saying, God, if they would just hear your Word and respond to it, we could have peace if they would just hear your Word and respond to it. We could have rest, we could have joy, there'd be righteousness in this land, but they just won't hear it. And guys, you should know that sometimes God is going to be glorified by our lives. He's going to be glorified by our story, but he may be glorified by our story in the way that that people can look at us and say. you would recognize his name. Years ago, I had to stand in front of his church and confess to having engaged in an illicit affair. And he's weeping in front of his church, confessing this to them, announcing he's stepping down as ministry. That was a tremendous ministry that reached the world. I've got that saved on my phone because I want to make sure that I can learn from that mistake. I want the fear of the Lord to mark my heart, and I never want that to be my story. And so, Jeremiah, he's preaching and saying, "I want peace for you. I want rest and prosperity and blessing for you." But the Israelite people seemed to be determined to continue to engage in idolatry, and it had actually gotten so bad that they were engaging in human sacrifice. And God said, "I'm going to be glorified through the destruction that comes upon them." And I heard a preacher say once that God will be glorified in your life, but it matters to you, whether it's like Judas or like John. And that is the reality. So for 40 years, Jeremiah preached and no one repented. He was beaten and locked in stocks. He was thrown into a well and left for dead. He was falsely accused and charged with crimes and locked in prison because his message was so unpopular. But when judgment came and Babylon invaded, Jeremiah, of course, was vindicated. And his message to the captives was not one of gloating. Like I told you so, you guys should have listened to me. Jeremiah continued to weep even after destruction came. Even after he found vindication in the eyes of the people who criticized and attacked and rejected him. His message to the captives was one of promise that God's discipline would not

last forever and that God would finish the wonderful thing he'd begun in their nation. How many of you need to hear today that God finishes what he starts? Guys, I need you to know that God didn't bring you this far to abandon you now. The God didn't bring you out of addiction to abandon you in immaturity. God didn't bring you out of rebellion to abandon you in infancy. Like God has started a good work in you and the Bible tells us that he is faithful to see through to completion the good work he's begun in you. And that promise God makes to you today is the same promise he made through Jeremiah all those years ago. And so the first part of the book of Jeremiah or Jeremiah's sort of many confrontations of the idolatrous and corrupt system the Israelites had built. In chapter 7 I mentioned he prophesied that Babylon would destroy the temple and take Israel captive for 70 years. But even in the midst of all that there was hope even for the exiles there is hope and that is kind of where we pick up in Jeremiah chapter 29. It's a letter in fact in Jeremiah 29 the little sub, the caption or the title of that chapter in my Bible says Jeremiah's letter to the captives. And though we are not the Israelite captives being held hostage in Babylon or held in slavery in Babylon we can understand knowing in our hearts that we have a home and yet being forced to live somewhere else. Now we can relate to that right this wasn't written to us but it was written for us and what this does it reveals to us God's heart for pilgrims like us. And so I want to start in verse 4 because I don't just want to take Jeremiah 29 11 out of its context. I want us to start in verse 4 and I want you to understand these are people who have their homes have been burned their friends and family members were killed by the Babylonians they were taken as slaves to another country they're living as captives in Babylon a nation that is not their home a nation that does not speak their language a nation that does not honor their God and they are I think like any of us would be longing for home longing for security longing for stability longing for rest but here is what God says to them in verse we'll start in verse 4 Jeremiah 29 4 thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel to all who were carried away captive whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon build houses and dwell in them plant gardens and eat their fruit take wives and beget sons and daughters and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands so that they may bear sons and daughters that you may increase their and not diminish and seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away through this over the last couple of weeks. This captured me because I realized this is so different

from the disposition that many modern Christians have with regard to the way we relate to the world. We live in the world and we read the Left Behind book series and we're like, gosh, I can't wait to get out of here. We sing songs like, "I'll fly away, oh glory, I'll fly away." We cannot wait to escape. What we do is we don't plant gardens and eat their fruit. We don't build houses. We don't encourage our sons and daughters and then encourage our sons and daughters to have sons and daughters. We just say, well, we're getting out of here any minute now. There have been so many books written, so many sermons preached, so many conferences held about the end times and they all sort of revolve around this. We're in the end times. We're getting out of here any minute now. Here's the problem. That's been happening for generations. For 2,000 years of the church, every generation has been sure theirs would be the last one. You look around and you say, well, there's wars and rumors of wars. There's famine and pestilence and here's the hard truth of the world we live in. There are always wars and rumors of wars, famine and pestilence, right? Yeah, the world is in chaos and disorder and I'm not saying that Judgment Day is certainly closer now than it has ever been, but I don't know that it's happening next week and so in the meantime, I'm going to raise my three sons to be three godly, God-fearing men who will take three godly wives and raise godly children for themselves. I think, guys, we have to understand that if we won't play the long game, the world will, Babylon will, and so this is a specific instruction that God gives to his people to say, do not let your displacement lead to your discouragement. This place is not your home, but don't neglect to live while you're here. I think that message that God has for the Israelites who are held captive in Babylon is the same message God has for us. This place is not your home, but don't forget or don't neglect to live while you are here. Don't neglect to be fruitful and multiply while you are here. Don't neglect to put down roots to plant seeds and to build homes while you are here. And he says, and I think this is maybe a necessary place to pause in verse 7, he says, and seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive and pray to the Lord for it, for in its peace you will have peace. Much has been said over the last five or 10 years about Christian nationalism. And I don't want to maybe get into the weeds of that right now, but I will say this, if God has caused you to live here, then let's take this principle and apply it to our context and let's seek the peace of our nation. Let's pray for God's blessing and God's mercy to come upon our nation. For in our nation's peace,

we will have peace. Do you understand? We cannot be a people who criticize our nation to death. We cannot be a people who hate our nation or who work for its destruction or division. We must be a people that bless this nation while we are in it, that seek its peace and understand that when the United States becomes more peaceful, so too does our life, the life of our children and our grandchildren. First Peter, chapter 2, calls us sojourners and pilgrims in this world. This is for us our temporary dwelling place, but we, as people of the kingdom, we cannot call this world our home. And so God gives us the instruction here in Jeremiah, chapter 29, that we cannot, like I said, neglect to live while we are here, instructs us to plant gardens, to take wives, to have children, to be fruitful and to multiply. And then I'll skip forward to verse 10, says, "For thus says the Lord, after 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you and cause you to return to this place." What does this minister to us? It ministers something I preached to you just a few weeks ago that suffering for the saint is temporary. and it might feel like the weight of the world is resting on our shoulders, here's the hope that we have in Christ our suffering has a time limit. It's not going to destroy you and it's not going to last forever. We are promised a home. Just like the Israelites were promised a home, their exchange or their time of exile in Babylon is, it's allegorical, it's illustrative of the, it's sort of a prophetic foreshadowing of the pilgrim church that we are a part of today, a group of people who live in the world but who are not of it, a group of people who live in the world but who say that heaven is our home and so God exhorts them, or He promises them that after 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you and cause you to return to this place. Why? For I know the plans I have for you. Now I memorized it, I don't know, 30 years ago in the NIV version but it turns out, I don't know, that's not holy enough or whatever, so, so here's what the new King James says, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you and I was curious, you know, is the word plans or thoughts and so I did some research over the last couple of days.

It turns out that maybe the best translation would be schemes but that sounds like sneaky so I don't think anybody wants to use that word in their translation so, for I know the plans or thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. Now I need you to understand, God is saying this to a people who are staring down the barrel of 70 years of captivity. Two generations of displacement, two generations of oppression, two generations of suffering and sorrow and wandering and instability and so what he's not saying, and this is, I think sometimes we take Jeremiah 29.11 and we say that means that God's will for my life is only good and ease and comfort perpetually and then if we're in a situation that is difficult, if we're struggling, if we're suffering, we kind of look at that and say, all right, God, this must not, you must have abandoned me, you must have betrayed me, but understand that God is talking to a people who are about to go through some substantial suffering and be saying to them, be assured of this, my plans for you are to prosper you and not to harm you to give you hope in the future. Now that may mean at times we have to walk through difficult stuff. That may mean at times that we have to endure suffering. We are going to need perseverance, determination, steadfastness to walk through life in this world, but we know that God's big dream for our life, just like his big dream for the Israelites was to give us, was for peace and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope. I want to take just a minute to talk about this first point here. God says, for I know the thoughts I think toward you, like I mentioned in the NIV, it says, for I know the plans I have for you, and I just want to make sure that we are clear on this. We are a people who live according to God's plan, and we do not demand that God lives or moves according to ours. I want to make sure, like God knows the plans, the scheme, the thoughts that he has for you. Proverbs 16-9 says, "The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps." The heart of man, we may make our plans, we may have our ambitions and our dreams and our hosts, but it is the Lord that directs our steps.

Psalm 119 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path." Like God, I will only know the way I ought to go as much as your word illuminates it for me, otherwise I am just stumbling through the darkness. It is easy sometimes to think that God's desire for us is to just bless whatever we are chasing after. ambition, some dream, some hope, like Lord, this is what I... sure that you hear that is not how we live. We are people who follow God, not of people that demand God follow us. We are people who join with our Lord Jesus in saying, "Father, not my will, but yours be done." We are and always will be a people who live in surrender and submission to the clear instruction of God's written word and to the personal guidance of God's spoken word through His Spirit within us. On the day we first came into His family, we surrendered our right to our own plans. We surrendered our right to our own passions and purposes. I don't get to say, "Well, this is my opinion and hopefully God will bless and cover me in it." No, friend, I laid my opinions down. I laid my ambitions down when I joined myself to Jesus as my Lord and Savior to say, "Lord, you lead and I follow." And so, the Lord speaks to the Israelites, "I know the plans I have for you. There may not be your plans for you. You may not know where your next meal is going to come from, but I know the plans I have for your life, and they are plans, thoughts, or I should say, of peace and not of evil." And I want you to think about this, you know, people who have been invaded and conquered, whose cities, homes, and temple have been burned down. They are hearing the promise of God, as He says, "My thoughts toward you are for peace and not for evil." Listen, have you ever heard somebody say, "Hey, God is in control and thoughts yourself." Oh, sure doesn't seem like it.

Hey, God loves you so much and everything's going to be okay, right? And it's like, easy for you to say, right? And this is, I'm sure, the feeling of some of these people's hearts, as Jeremiah is proclaiming in his letter to the exiles, the captives that have been taken to Babylon and he's saying to them, "God's plans for you are for peace and not for evil," and they're looking around at Babylon and thinking, "There is no way that's real." But here's the thing that God sees that you don't, it is the end of the story. See, God saw what these Israelites would not. They died there in Babylon. Their children got to come back. Maybe even their grandchildren were the ones that got to come back. But God saw the end of the story that they couldn't see friends. I want you to know that sometimes we get so close to our suffering. We get so close to our situation that all we can see is that. All we can see is the pain it produces, but I need you to hear this morning that God sees the end of the story. And so he can declare, "My plans for you are those of peace and not of evil," to give you a future and a hope. I want you to see how he describes that future here. He says this, "I want to give you a future and a hope." And this is God saying this is what the future looks like. And I need you all to hear this. God says, "Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you, and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you," says the Lord, "and I will bring you back from your captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you," says the Lord, "and I will bring you to the place from which I caused you, from which I caused you to be carried away captive." Guys I need you to hear this. God is saying that whatever you're going through right now is allowed for one reason,

and that is because he's looking forward to the day that it will bring you into unity with him. He's longing for the day that it will bring you into loving, trusting, submission and intimate relationship with him. "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart," God says. So he says, "His thoughts toward you are for good and not for evil. They are to give you a future and a hope. God's promise toward his covenant people is for a future and a hope." You know Isaiah 9 speaks to the same thing. It says that there will be no end to the increase of his kingdom and his peace. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 16, he says, "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Like the promise that God makes to David in 2 Samuel 7 is that there will be a king, that is Jesus, who will be established on a throne, and that throne will last forever and ever. I came to remind you this morning that God's thoughts toward us are to give us hope and the future, though the world does not feel much like home. [BLANK_AUDIO] then disappointment God's plan is for our good and for his glory, and we can find rest and excitement in the knowledge that no matter how your present looks, if your hope is in Christ and your future is bright. And the future that God has dreamed of for us is one where we seek him and find him, when we find rest and peace and revelation in his presence. What better picture of the bright and beautiful future God has prepared for us than the children of this house? What better illustration of the fact that God is not done with you than for us to look at the next generation and to recognize that everything we give our lives to build here will be the foundation that they stand upon. We are building right now with our labor, with our perseverance, with our steadfastness, with our skill, with our resources, with our cooperation, with our love, with our devotion to the Lord and to each other. We are building

what will become the foundation that the next generation stands on. This morning we are going to have the opportunity to dedicate a whole bunch of babies to the Lord. Amen. [Music] [Music] [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]