and this is his promise you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart do you realize that every single second of your life is a plan by god for his glory
well we did it uh we got through our first week of vbs all right there's four of you who are awake let me say this again the first time in oasis history we got through our first vbs there we go i knew we'd get somehow some way uh let me just tell you it was a great week we did anything and everything we did silly games uh i was responsible for just running kids getting them all tired uh we did bible stories we taught on the great call of the christian faith to take the gospel to not only one country but to all countries every single corner of this earth to proclaim god's glory and it was a weak just filled with that in church i i want to take a few moments and say thank you to you church you we as a church are incredibly generous in our giving and i want to thank you for that commitment to this church because because of that we were able to offer vbs for completely free to our community so that money would not be a stumbling block to proclaiming the gospel to little kids and let me just share with you why that is so important why we should celebrate that because the bible says that when we give of our finances we lay it up in heaven where moth and rust will not destroy and so church i want to thank you for being so generous in your giving that we're able to do that for free what a joy that was i want to thank you to you leaders who gave your time because was a whole lot more than this week wasn't it that there was things leading up to this there was there was prep that had to be done and i want to say thank you because i know that there's those moments when we're tired and we just kept pumping you full of sugar and coffee to get you through the next hour i'm still jonesing from that right and so i just want to say thank you and if you missed out on it this week go find someone in a cool red shirt like this and ask him this question was it worth it because it was and it was great go ask somebody who was there how much it was worth it uh we usually if you're new with us we usually are we've been walking through mark we've been flying our way through mark we have been just sprinting our way through mark but what i wanted to do this morning is i wanted to look at what our vbs verse was our vbs verse was jeremiah 29 13. we sang about it in that first song you will seek me you will find me when you search for me with all of your heart and i want to preach on that so if you have your bibles go and grab them we're going to be in jeremiah chapter 29 for you kind of mark fanatics don't worry we'll be back there next week sethridge i'm going to get the week off he's going to take the fun one i told him i gave him the divorce one so he gets to have some fun next week with that so i want you to come back and i want you to hear what that what the bible has to say on a really difficult topic and so but what we're going to do is we're going to be in jeremiah chapter 29 if you have been around church at all in any sort of length you've seen a quote from jeremiah 29 it's usually in someone's kitchen or someone's bathroom or someone's hallway especially if you've kind of been to the bible belt it's what jeremiah 29 11 for i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you plans for welfare not for evil to give you joy to give you hope i mean i love that verse but so often we miss the thrust of that text because we have no idea what's going on in the biblical redemptive history and so i want to work all my way through 1 all the way to 13. so i've got a lot of work to do so uh we're going to be flying this morning but i want to make sure we don't just kind of wind up in the middle of jeremiah that we understand where even jeremiah sits and so you got to go all the way back to the book of genesis in the book of genesis god comes to abraham and he says i'm gonna make a nation out of you and i'm gonna you're gonna be more numerous than the stars this nation will be my nation the people end up in slavery nexus god raises up mo mo works by god's power to take the people out of slavery cross red sea destroy the egyptian army god does this right so new fighters just let me know god does the fighting right swallows up the egyptian army and then moses takes his people and he goes up to mount sinai where he gets the law this becomes very important there's only been one country in the history of the world that's been god's country and it's israel because god through that country said you will be my people i will be your god you will follow these directions and he gave them the law and he said and i'm going to give you the promised land of course we know because this is not a shock to anyone the people sin so god punishes them says you will die in the desert your grandchildren will enter into the promised land god gives the people the promised land and what happens sin keeps coming in and so they neglected the law why did they neglect the law because they wanted to build their kingdom not god's the law was something that they found they're trying to get around rather than an obedience to walk in the law was relational the law was given so that the people could have a relationship with god uninhibited by their flesh but yet they didn't see it that way why because the people wanted the things from god but they actually did not want god and this was the essence of sin and let me tell you friends this is the essence of your sin and my sin we want the things from god but we so often neglect the relationship with god and so this is what happens then the next thing that happens is as israel progresses in its history you get the kings and then god raises up a people called the prophets and the prophets had one job and one job only and that was simply this thus says the lord this is what god's word says and so he raises up the prophets and let me tell you the prophet's job was not a fun job and it was not an easy job the people hated hearing thus says the lord recognize the prophets were the original bible thumpers they were the original ones that says well this is what god's word says and so jeremiah was probably the epitome of the prophets why because the book of jeremiah is the longest book in the bible that tells you god found the ministry of jeremiah incredibly important yet we must recognize from a human perspective jeremiah was the biggest failure in all of the bible why years of faithful faithful preaching and only a handful of people followed him they neglected the phrase thus says the lord and may i remind you this morning may i remind you this morning it was the people of god that shut their ears and said i don't want to hear thus says the lord jesus makes this point where he says who killed the prophets was it the world was it those who hate god no it was god's own people and so we must take heed church we must take heed of the old testament that although the pastor although in home groups we're going to hear difficult things of thus says the lord the que the question the call you and i have is are we going to submit to what god's word have to say or are we looking to get our ears tickled my friends if you're finding people who just agree with you you are not searching for the right people may we surround ourselves with people that says this is what the bible says and that's where i will be one of my favorite passages in jeremiah is found in jeremiah chapter 20. um jeremiah he's prophesying and this was the essence of his prophecy this country's going to burn this country is going to be destroyed no brick will be left on another it will be gone destroyed all by god's plan that was his big prophecy and they said you better stop preaching that nonsense this is god's promise land this is god's country and jeremiah kept preaching so the priest takes jeremiah he tortures him and they let him go and you know what he says he says this in verse 9 if i say i will not talk about him i will not mention him there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones and i am weary of holding it in and i can not be silent oh may that we have the heart of jeremiah i tried to shut up but i could not shut up of preaching and proclaiming the glory and the majesty of god this was someone who was entranced and captive by the love and the word of god and so he had nothing to say but thus says the lord may that be your heart in my heart this morning and may we allow the word of god to change us because we will do no good trying to change the word of god and so this morning we're going to see what happens remember jeremiah's prophecy recognize how hard this prophecy was this country will be destroyed and burnt to the ground and he is writing the letter to the to the people who are in captivity and he's saying this is now my letter to you and so that's where we're going to be in our redemptive history of jeremiah 29 so before we dive into this text let us pray together would you pray with me
father god we thank you for this morning we thank you for your word god we thank you god that we are your people god that we don't have a country we don't have a nation we have a kingdom and that kingdom is in heaven and so god we just thank you for this text because it is so true to us today now church says you pray for me i ask to pray i'll be helpful to you pray that god will speak through me that he'll hide me behind and beneath his cross this morning now church has to pray for yourself pray that god open up your ears your heart and your mind to hear from him this
morning
father god this time is yours we pray this because of your son's atoning work on the cross through a spirit that's alive and active within us amen jeremiah 29 verses 1 through 4 this is the word of the lord these are the words of the letter that jeremiah the prophet sent from jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exile to the priests the prophets and all the people whom nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from jerusalem to babylon this was after king jehoiachin and queen mother the eunuchs the officials of judah in jerusalem the craftsmen the metal workers had departed from jerusalem the letter was sent by the hand of alassa the son of shafan and gamaraya the son of helichia whom zedekiah the king of judah sent to babylon to nebuchadnezzar king of babylon it said thus says the lord of hosts the god of israel to all the exiles whom i have sent into exile from jerusalem to babylon i want us to get i want us to picture i want us to empathize with what israel is going through they had been hearing for the last year the prophet stand and declared to them this country is going to be destroyed this country is going to be destroyed you're going to be removed from this land you're going to be removed from this land and everyone told them shut up shut up shut up and then here comes the babylonians and what happens they're all removed from their land so the people of israel are sitting not in their home country they're sitting in enemy territory in captivity in slavery think about what is going on here the house that they built they will never go back to their favorite restaurant they'll never taste again the street where the neighborhood kids would go and play football they would never see again the great hiking paths in which they often went up and got a view of the beautiful country of israel was to never be seen again and the prophet has told them over and over and over again this is god's plan this is god's doing god is going to destroy this country now we start to see why jeremiah was not a well-liked guy right could you imagine hearing that for years and years and years i'm sure most of you are ready come punch me right now it's okay come on and so we can see through the book of jeremiah this one truth that god often uses difficult circumstances to discipline his people this is how we know that god loves us because he disciplines his people so when god rips his people from the country that they love and brings them into slavery it was done as a discipline so god's people were recognized his greatness because as i said the people started to give lip service to god their lips said god but their hearts were far from it they they believed in materialism they found comfort and joy in the things they own rather than in god and they just saw their whole country destroyed and you had people saying well this cannot be god's doing and this is my encouragement to you this morning friends this is what the text says anything and everything that happens in this world is all done according to the plan of god this is the truth of the bible that our god is sovereign over all things don't believe you pastor you've got to prove it good i'm glad there's not a lot of amen so you all don't believe me so here we go here we go follow with me verse one these are the words of the letter that jeremiah the prophet sent from jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exile and to the priests the prophets and all the people pay attention to verse 1 whom nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from jerusalem to babylon so verse 1 nebuchadnezzar has taken god's people from jerusalem into babylon now jump down to verse 4 thus says the lord of hosts the god of israel to all the exiles whom i have sent into exile from jerusalem to babylon do you see what is going on here do you see what jeremiah is saying do you see this good news that nebuchadnezzar this evil horrific king is a tool in the hands of god do you realize that every single evil person evil leader in this world is a tool by god for his glory and so what happens is we hear that we say that doesn't sound right and i want to share with you church i want us to understand that is the best news we can hear from this morning for if it is not done by god's plan then what is happening now what is happening in the future is utterly meaningless and it means our god is not powerful enough to control what is happening that's blasphemy the bible you unanimously from genesis 1 all the way to revelation 22 states over and over and over again god is in charge of all things things as great and as grand as world-changing events things as great and as grand as leaders being in plates all the way down to something so seemingly insignificant like a dice being rolled at vegas or an animal dropping dead in the middle of a forest in some little tiny part of this world this is what the bible uniformly tells you and i and encourages you and i that god is in control of all things but it also says the second part that god is good and so that everything that is happening is for god's goodness for god's glory and so this is what we must hold into both hands that everything that's happening is happening according to god's plan and it is all good you cannot read the bible and say those are not true why because jeremiah says it is true and so everything that is happening everything that has happening everything that will happen is happen is happening according to god's plan for his glory how do i know that what other text do i have to prove that what is the worst moment to ever happen in the history of the world it would be when jesus or when god's son jesus the second person of the trinity was crushed on a roman cross if there's any time you can look throughout all of history and say this is the worst atrocity to ever happen it would be that moment and what does peter say about that this is acts chapter 2 this jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of god you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men if there was ever a time in history we could say god's lost control it would be at the cross and what do we realize that it was that moment that brought about the most greatest redemptive history god often uses suffering to set the stage for magnificent glory and so as we affirm as we hold on to that god is in complete sovereign rule reign and control of what is happening that he is working all things together for his good for his glory but it hurts yes i know it hurts but i can't see what he's doing i know because you're not infinite but it says god is already at tomorrow because he's planning and working everything together for his plan and this is a reminder for you and me this morning are we setting our eyes on the greatness of god do we find ourselves constantly in our prayers giving great thanksgiving to god in all circumstances because that's what paul says right in philippians thank god in all circumstances in every circumstances do we trust god in the most difficult of times even if we cannot see how or why god has done or is doing the things he is doing this is the question we must ask church do we trust him or do we not we as a church just read through the book of philippians together and what a joy that book is i i love the book of philippians they're the joy and the gospel those words are mentioned more in the book of philippians than any other book in the new testament so what does that tell us it tells us that the main themes of philippians is simply this joy and the gospel now here's what's amazing if paul is commanding us calling on us have joy rejoice be thankful in all things you and i might be able to look at paul and say well easy for you to say and then we realize paul wrote that letter from prison and so what does that remind us church it reminds us that our joy is not dependent upon our circumstances it's dependent upon who we worship if our god is materialism if our god is the things of this world if our god are the are the things that we can hold on to then we will realize as jeremiah writes to the people that can be taken from us in an instant can it not and so if your joy and my joy is dependent on what happens tomorrow then let me tell you tomorrow can change really quickly but if our joy is dependent upon the god who is unchanging he is the same yesterday today and forever then we have great reason to rejoice we have great reason to be thankful we have great reason to celebrate every single day do we not and this is the truth friends this is the good news your ability to rejoice will be based on what holds you not what you are holding on to if god's holding on to you you have great reason to rejoice in all circumstances through famine or through much great food and so this is the joy we see and in jeremiah 29 we saw how circumstances can change in an instant next i want us to notice in our reading plan last week what did paul say in philippians 4 rejoice in the lord always again i will say rejoice church may i put in front of you and me this morning this simple fact that there is not a more important command in worship than the call to rejoice there is not another command in scripture that says again i will say it does not say do not murder again i will say do not murder it doesn't say do not covet again i'll say do not covenant it's the only command that's repeated again i will say what is paul getting at you and i if we understand the cross if we are changed by the holy spirit our natural reaction to everything that is happening is to rejoice in the lord because that is where our joy is found and so when we find our struggle to rejoice the question is is what are we rejoicing in and this is the question because our hope and our joy is found in christ paul makes the same point in romans chapter eight what then can separate us from the love of god confess or famine no can height near death no can war or peace no we are sure of this that not even hell itself can separate us from the love of god we have great reason to rejoice and in case you're wondering if i'm kind of just picking my favorite scriptures may i point you to the book of habakkuk i know that's kind of everyone's favorite like nightly book right i know everyone's just like loving habakkuk but i would encourage you tonight if you're thinking i'm wrong i would encourage you to read the book of habakkuk do you know what the book of habakkuk is about three three big questions and complaints by habakkuk to god habakkuk's looking around at the world and he's saying this is what i'm seeing things aren't going well this is not going well this is not right wickedness is winning wickedness is winning wickedness is winning wickedness is winning that's the whole book of habakkuk and this is how he ends his great letter yet i will rejoice in the lord i will take joy and the god of my salvation so what do we see the bible constantly calls you and i to get your eyes off of self get your eyes off of your circumstances set your eyes set your mind on christ and let him transform you into the great joy that is salvation this is the call mission this is your call and my call i think we need to repent of our lack of joy during difficult times verses five through nine build houses and live in them plant gardens and eat their produce take wives and have sons and daughters take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters multiply there and do not decrease but seek the welfare of the city where i have sent you into exile and pray to the lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find welfare for thus says the lord of hosts the god of israel do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you and do not listen to the dreams that they dream for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name i did not send them declare the lord so i want us to recognize what the command of scripture is get comfortable in enemy territory this is not anything new to the bible we have seen this it is all throughout the bible in second corinthians chapter five paul says that we the church are ambassadors ambassadors where in enemy territory peter and peter and first peter says we are soldiers and strangers in enemy territory this home is not our home we are here on mission as a church and this is what jeremiah is saying you better start getting comfortable in enemy territory get comfortable in enemy territory not only do i want you to unpack i want you to unpack and start building for the future here in the place you hate think about what god has said in his first nine verses of his letter he tells them that they being in captivity them being in slavery the worst thing they could imagine is all part of god's plan and now what does god say he just drills them even harder he says what i want you to seek the welfare of your enemies i want you to seek their peace and look at what the text says he is commanding them to seek their enemies peace and welfare this is an if then statement if you pray on my behalf for your enemies for their welfare for their success if you do that then you will have welfare then you will have peace then you will have success do you recognize how hard this call is think about those enemies that you have and god is saying here's how you're going to have success you've got to pray for their success because what do we naturally want to do i don't want my enemies to succeed i want them to fail do y'all realize that this is that jesus picked up the same thought for us in matthew chapter five what does he say you have heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemies but i say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you pray for what pray for their peace pray for their success why because god is going to get the glory i don't believe you luke chapter 6 but i say to you hear love your enemies do good to those who hate you bless those who curse you pray for those who abuse you so what do we see is the center the heart of the gospel that we love our enemies why because paul says this in romans chapter 5 he says while you and i were enemies christ died for us so so let's just have an honest conversation here this morning right this is why i said preachers sad that a lot of people don't want to kill preachers anymore okay here's the deal i want us to see this text no christian no christian with a straight face can say i have no desire to pray for the success of my enemies i have no desire to pray to serve to love my enemies why because while i was still an enemy christ died for me and so so what happens is the gospel destroys your pride and my pride of our refusal to love our enemies to serve our enemies well you don't know what they've done to me well let me remind you jesus knelt down and washed judas's feet before judas went and betrayed him with a kiss
i may not know but christ does and christ still purchased you while you were enemies of his and so this is the heart of the gospel that god brought us near through his sacrifice
and then it says pray seek and pray seek and pray prayer is incredibly central to the christian life why because we realize that prayer is not about getting stuff from god it is about getting god and so what prayer becomes is about us hearing from god learning from god getting our marching orders from god if prayer and scripture reading is not a everyday occurrence in your life you will be tempted to walk in the way that your flesh wants rather than the way the way god wants and then jeremiah has one final final warning and it's simply this beware of the false prophets so the false prophets would come and they'd say what this is how i'm feeling and jeremiah would say well this is what the word of god says jeremiah was the original bible thumper so let me share with you church i want to remind you paul warns young timothy he says here's how you're going to know it's the end of times because people will neglect sound teaching neglect sound doctrine they will throw away the full counsel of god and they're going to find for themselves teachers who make them feel good they will itch their ears but they will not give them good sound doctrine and what what jeremiah says what all the new testament says is run from the people who are here to please man and not to please god for they are not good and so what does the people of god say they say this is god's word this is god's word whatever happens in this world fine may it be but i'm going to stand with what god's word calls verses 10 through 11 for thus says the lord when seventy years are completed for babylon i will visit you and i will fulfill my promise to you and bring you back to this place for i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans for welfare not for evil to give you a future and a hope pay attention to verse 10 10 is so important after 70 years are completed for babylon after that is completed it'll all be over and god will bring them back do you see what god is reminding the people of there you're going to die in captivity think about if you're hearing this you're at youngest 13 years old you'll be 83 by the time this is over you're going to not make that trip back to israel jeremiah's reminding them again do not be waiting to go home why because this is your home this is where you are to be god has placed you here on purpose friends this is what we must understand what is happening in our world right now is not god losing control it's god calling his church to display his glory in all things and that starts in the call of prayer and this is why 70 years is so important this is why it is so important because god tells them plant gardens build houses marry give your sons give your daughters in marriage why so my greatness may be displayed in the worst of circumstances and then he says what for i know the plans i have for you do you notice that the plan that god has is his plan and do you realize he has crafted it for you do you realize that every single second of your life is a plan by god for his glory do you think of your year like that do you think of your month like that do you think of your day like that do you think of this next hour as being the hour that you are going to glorify god in all things this is what this verse is about i know the plans i have for you for i am the one in charge here kneel and love my goodness next i want you to see i know it says welfare and a lot of translations um but this is so far beyond money don't think of welfare as money think of it as an overwhelming peace and goodness that is happening and the same promise he gave him when you pray for your enemies they'll receive that peace you'll receive that welfare you will receive it as well their hope is found in god and so what is the point right here is god's helping the people understand things may seem bleak like right now but no there is hope for tomorrow you may be wanting to go back you may be wanting to return to things but i have a different plan for you and my plan is better than your plan my friends in our darkest moments do we look to the promises of god and we walk out the promises of god this is what faith is walking out the promises of god regardless of what we see god's promises are the bright stars and the darkest of nights next i want you to understand something about verse 11 do not make this verse so small that it is about you and your comforts if you do you're going to put a weight on yourself and you will find yourself constantly and consistently frustrated it is about the comfort found only in the god of the universe and found the unexplainable unshakable joy that is found in knowing god the king of kings and the lord of lords and so the question is how do we know god loves us how can i be sure god loves us and the answer is simple how do i know he has a future how do i know he has a plan because for one reason god sent his son to die for his church and this is the best news that we all were children of wrath like the rest of mankind walking in our own ways in our own flesh having no desire for what the word of god says not not wanting the things of god and not wanting god but god made us alive together in christ jesus that we were saved not by what we did not by what we do not by what we're going to do we're saved by grace through faith alone so that no man may boast and this radically changes how you and i live because now we live that christ may be high and lifted up in all things that we do and then this happens so he may show us the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in christ and this brings us to the promise of the next section verses 12 and 13 then you will call upon upon me and come and pray to me and i will hear you you will seek me and find me when you seek for me with all of your heart so why does god use nebuchadnezzar as a tool why does god use any leader put in place by god as a tool why does god bring about babylonian captivity babylonian slavery on his people the reason why god does anything is so that we would recognize that god is god and he answers us anytime and every time we pray that our god hears our prayers that he is not far off he's not left us he's not abandoned us he's not taken a vacation he hears us and he answers us and let me remind us sometimes the answer is no and it is for your good that the answer is no why because if the answer was yes all the time you and i both know it would not be glorifying to god it would be glorifying to ourselves
and this is the whole purpose is that our is that prayer becomes about us knowing god about relating to god about us being in communion with god why because sin has separated us from seeing the glory and the majesty of god and god does one thing he brings him his people to himself he had to strip away every comfort everything they loved and held most dear so all they had left was him and he said this is where we will plant and grow and build our problem is is far too often we neglect prayer because we do not believe prayer actually does anything when without prayer we're actually doing nothing no matter how hard we fight no matter how hard we work prayer is our first option not our last resort and so what is the prayer of the church the prayer of the church the prayer for you the prayer for me should always be this god show me your glory god i want to see you high and lift up and everything that i do today may you be high and lifted up may you shine through in the bleakest and darkest moments at whatever the cause i want your name to be praised today oh lord is that how we're starting off our morning in prayers answers those prayers in big ways and this is his promise you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart and what does that mean all of your heart here's what it means all your heart mind soul will and strength may we be constantly setting our eyes on heaven not the things of this world seeking god seeking his goodness seeking his glory in all things at whatever the cost to this world
and god is not hiding god is not taking a break god's not stepping back even in the worst of the times in fact he says the opposite even in the worship time worst of times i become more clear
and this is the promise this has been the promise of god all throughout scripture this is the promise you and i hold on to this is the promise that keeps us going in the morning genesis 17 god made a promise that his people will be their god and he will be there excuse me the people just restart god make a promise at his offspring he will make a people and they will be he will be their god and they will be his people and is repeated over and over and over again throughout all the old testament and then you get to the new testament jesus purchased for his purchases for himself his church and he sends his church out and says go into all nations so there's not one country there's all countries every tribe tongue nation language go be my disciples and lo and behold i'll be with you to the end of the age that time will never stop and god will never leave us because there is eternity that awaits and then john picks up the same language in revelation chapter 21 when he says this behold the dwelling place of god is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and god himself will be their god so often we miss that great promise because we are so distracted what's happening around us we miss the glory of god happening right in front of our faces
and so what do we do whether we eat whether we drink whether we volunteer at vbs whether we work whether we sleep drink coffee we do it all to the glory of god why because we've been crucified with christ it's no longer we who live but christ who lives in us and the life we now live is lived by faith in the son of god who loved us and gave himself up for us and so we glorify god by trusting that he will do all that he has promised to do and we live our lives in the way he's promised what i love about the promise here in verse 13 is reminded that god does not need anything from us and rather he gave all of himself to have relationship win with us one thing about jeremiah 29 i think people so easily miss is they forget what god promised jeremiah back in chapter 1. in chapter 1 when god commissions jeremiah he says listen i have put my word in your mouth and here is what is going to happen you are going to be set over nations over kingdoms to pluck up to break down to destroy to overthrow little did he know is going to be his own country to build and to plant don't you see how beautiful jeremiah is that his word that through god that through his prophecy israel was destroyed and now he says now we're going to rebuild and we're going to do it one way by seeking god we cannot build the kingdom of god and neglect seeking him and so we found we find one great truth that the glory and the majesty of god is found in his word through his church that is lived out for the whole world to see
what a great promise it is to know that god has never left us nor abandon us and the promise follows the command is this seek me abide in me and the promise follows i will give you life and life abundantly even amidst the times of the greatest turmoil imaginable so so how do we live on purpose how do we live this life on purpose this is the question we have is it not sounds all great to you how do we live it on purpose first we first we will never recognize the greatness of god until we understand our need for him this is the great paradox of the christian faith as we mature in christ the more we recognize our need for him if we live our life if we live our life in a way where we only need christ one day a week we're actually not living our lives for christ we're living it for ourselves the more mature believers will find the more they need to spend time seeking god in prayer without reliance on god pride will build and where pride build blindness occurs when blindness occurs you'll be blind to the things god is doing in and amidst your lives you'll be okay having no desire to pursue him no desire to learn from him no desire to grow in your love my friends look at the greatness of god and rejoice in his goodness not your own second our seeking often suffers because we neglect the fact that god reigns over all if we see god as he has his box here i have my box here in our world we'll only pray in certain areas prayerlessness is a result of an infatuation with self it's pride we'll start to believe we do not need god in this area or that area we recognize that god is in control of all things prayer is our only battle plan finally god's sovereignty and human responsibility always work together never separate we must re recognize that god is sovereign overall yet we have a great call to be to participate in his sovereignty god uses the church's participation for his great glory sovereignty doesn't mean we take a step back it means we walk in confidence with what god has promised we have a great god in control of all things and because of that we have responsibility to glorify god in all things and so whatever happens today whatever happens tomorrow next year 10 years we will know that god is sovereign and we will say as job did he gives he takes away but blessed be the name of the lord let us pray father god we thank you for this text we thank you god that you are sovereign over all that everything that's happening is happening according to your plan and so god we trust in that and so god give us wisdom on how we're to walk this out how we're to glorify you god make us worshipers of you in all things and through all things and so father god we thank you that your word promises that you will never leave us nor forsake us that you've not abandoned us but that you are with us even until the end of the age we pray this in your son's name amen
hi i'm pastor scott pastor of the oasis church listen we are so excited that you decide to join us for the preaching and teaching of god's word we just pray that this will stir your affections towards christ but we have one encouragement we want to leave you with please do not allow this to take the place of the local body of believers we pray that you will be involved in a local congregation a local church that you can find yourself submitting under the eldership and the leadership of a local church we pray that you will find yourself stirred towards christ and that your joy in christ will be ever increasing