The Rock Family Sermon of the Week
The Rock Family Worship Center is a multi-cultural non denominational church led by Pastors Scott & Britt Silcox.
The Rock Family Sermon of the Week
Believe For Your Seed - Pastor Britt Silcox
When Jesus looked at crowds, He saw people who were "helpless and harassed" and responded by sending disciples to preach the kingdom and heal the sick – this powerful pattern shows us how to respond to brokenness today.
• The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give abundant life now, not just in eternity
• We often normalize the work of the enemy (fear, addiction, chronic pain, mental torment) when we should be confronting it
• Jeremiah's story teaches us that God asks us to do things that don't make sense as a sign of hope
• Even when executing judgment, God is already working on His plan for restoration
• As a covenant God, He has promised to remain faithful as long as the sun rises and moon shines
• When we call to God in difficult circumstances, He promises to show us "great and hidden things"
• God delights in us before we know how to love Him back
Will you buy the field? Will you be willing to do what doesn't make sense as a sign of hope that God has a plan?
Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week. For more information about our church, please visit therockfamilytv Now. Join us for a message from our special guest speaker.
Speaker 2:Last week. One of the things you said, babe, just stood out to me and I've thought about it all week. Y'all were all here. Y'all were all here, y'all felt the conviction. But it was when he was talking about when Jesus in Matthew 9 and 10, when Jesus looked out. Remember he sees the people and he's moved with compassion. But it was these two words, I guess it was just a different translation than what I had read. He said that Jesus saw they were helpless and they were harassed. Do you remember him saying that? Remember that on the screen, that Jesus looks out with compassion, they're helpless and they're harassed. And then we know a few chapters or a few verses later when he's saying so I need you to pray for that harvest. And then he sends them. But what does he send them to do? Because they're helpless and harassed. He sends them to preach. Right, who remembers it? Let's look it up Proclaim as you go, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The second thing he sends them out doing is healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers and casting out demons. So he sends them out preaching and praying.
Speaker 2:Everybody say preaching and praying because they're helpless and harassed. It's not because we're trying to be all super spiritual, it's not because we're trying to be almighty. Jesus is saying I'm seeing people helpless and harassed so I need to send you out preaching and praying. What are we preaching? Are we preaching, oh, it's your best life? Yet no, he's saying you're preaching that a new kingdom is here. See, there's a new way to think now. There's a new option available to you. There's a new opportunity. There's a new king, there's a new covenant, there's a new baptism of the Holy Spirit. There's a new king, there's a new covenant, there's a new baptism of the Holy Spirit. There's a new reality available, new, new, new, new, new. Are we following? So because of that news? Leprosy, sickness, disease, torment it has to go because Jesus has power over that.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I want to read John 10, 10 and 11. This is Jesus talking and he says the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. I actually missed only. The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus is saying I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Everybody say abundantly, abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. So what we're doing today in this verse is contrasting the difference between the good shepherd and the thief. Can you see the difference? Because of the brokenness in our world for generations upon generations, upon generations, we as the believers can start to normalize the work of the thief and accept that as just our fate. We believe that it'll all be made right in heaven. But right now, sometimes we just accept.
Speaker 2:The enemy comes to steal, kill, destroy. What is he stealing? He's stealing finances, peace, relationships. What is he coming to kill? It was physical illness, tormenting, sickness to the point of death. Our doctor reports speaking death. What does he come to destroy? Self-esteem, a sound mind, your future, your destiny, your inheritance. Self-esteem, a sound mind, your future, your destiny, your inheritance. So if it looks like a thief, if it acts like a thief, smells like a thief. So in this series that we're all loving, we got our stickers, we got our T-shirts. I see you wearing them.
Speaker 2:Do you believe that Jesus has power over the thief? Well, we will have abundant life in heaven, eternal life, yeah, we will have eternal, amazing life one day. But he didn't say eternal life. He said I have come to give you abundant life. That's now. Well, does this mean that everything is just rainbows and unicorns and gumdrops and gummy worms. That's what my Evie thinks. The dream day is all the candy that you could ever eat in the whole world so abundant life.
Speaker 2:When we look at scripture, that doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It doesn't mean everything is easy. When I look in scripture, I see people encircled in pain. I see people persecuted. Right, we can expect that. Jesus said I was hated, so if you're my followers, go ahead and expect that, okay, so that's going to be normal for us. We see suffering for Jesus. We all like to skip the book of Job. I think we might be having some sermons coming up this summer on that. That was God filtered. That was brought on by the Lord, but yet he was fully encircled in covenant the whole time.
Speaker 2:I see resistance from enemies hoping that people will back down. I see pruning. I see feelings of anguish when you have to lay your will down to follow God. Think about Jesus in the garden. That wasn't rainbows and unicorns. I see travailing prayer when you are in a place of intercession, with great intensity and persistence, praying for God's purposes to be fulfilled. I see disappointment. I see people overlooked and underpaid. I see unmet expectations. That's why we know his thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. So sometimes we have an idea of how God's going to do something and it isn't that way and we experience disappointment.
Speaker 2:He says offense, talking about impossible. He says you know what's impossible is for you to do this without offense. Offenses are going to come, and even death. We know it's appointed for all men a time right. We know that our bodies do wear out. But what we cannot normalize in our abundant life with Jesus debilitating fear, insecurity, chronic pain, nightmares, terrors, fear of death, addiction, bondage, sin cycles with no breakthrough, harassing negative thoughts, taunting accus, accusation and shame, depression, isolation, belief systems that rob you of your identity or tell you people will never accept you.
Speaker 2:All right, church. Just in case you didn't see it coming, this series Believe for the Impossible. We're not spinning the wheel. Let's see if you're going to win a prize today from Jesus. When God breaks into impossible situations, his power is making lesser things submit to his lordship. Believing for the impossible is the power of God confronting evil. We just had Easter four weeks ago, so we're all caught up. Jesus defeated the powers that held humanity in bondage.
Speaker 2:So when you see crumbs left behind of the thief in your thought life, in your family life, in your finances, in your children. I don't want you, ladies, bringing your southern charm. I don't want to call anybody out. You know I don't want to make a big deal about anything. I don't want to just draw too much attention to anything. No, this is our moment where we say I see you, I see what you're trying to do, I see what you're trying to do with my friends over here. I see that. You see this family over here. I see my neighbor over here. You see my coworker. No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not abundant life, that's not what you paid for Jesus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and in that, once we see it, we recognize this is an opportunity. This is an opportunity for the power of God to be made manifest in this person, in this family, in this situation. It's not always overnight, it's not always right away when breakthrough and healing comes, but I just need to make sure we're all on the same page. It won't be because it's too hard for God and it won't be because we don't believe. I don't feel like y'all are with me, I don't feel like Okay. Which is why this next one, right here If we are not emboldened to confront the thief with truth. There is something we don't yet know about God. I'm going to read it again. This is what he's saying to me. You guys just get to be the benefactors of that If we are not emboldened to confront the thief with truth. There is something I don't yet know about God and he wants to reveal it to me.
Speaker 2:And do you know that thieves don't come after what's not valuable? The last time I checked Evie's little sequin backpack that has all the little paper things that she has made and the trash that she thinks is treasure ain't nobody coming to try to steal that? She leaves it everywhere we go and it's just right there. We'll come back five days later. It's still sitting in the driveway, but you leave a Louis Vuitton purse full of cash In 20 minutes. It's not there, right.
Speaker 2:So when you say, or when you feel I'm not valuable, when you feel worthless or a failure, if you see this coming on your kids any mamas seeing that at times, come on them. If you hear things in your head or you have friends that are hearing things like that, are attacking their value. The thief's been dropping some crumbs. Gender, race size, learning, exceptionalities, different ways of learning If the enemy is using any of those things to make you feel less valuable. He's been dropping some crumbs.
Speaker 2:We are the imprint of God, like the stamp, the image of God himself, and I need you to know today he delights in you. We just forget, I'm telling you he delights in you. We just forget, I'm telling you, I forget all the time we go right back into trying to earn, trying to perform, because he's so awesome and so holy Lord, we want to do it right and he's like I delight in you and I delighted in you before you knew me, and I delighted in you before you knew how to love me back, and I delighted in you, in you knew me and I delighted in you before you knew how to love me back. And I delighted in you, in your weakness, and I delight in you today, every day, and I am here. I'm here to help you. We got to remember this and this is the message that we're preaching.
Speaker 2:When we see people who are receiving the lie that they're not valuable, when the liar does what he does and we don't confront the lies, we allow those lies to hold space. Okay, I want you to begin to ask, holy Spirit, where have I been allowing things to hold space, because there's something I don't yet know about you that you want to reveal to me, know about you that you want to reveal to me, okay. So our teaching text today is going to be in Jeremiah, and I really want to encourage you, do this with me. We need to be reading Scripture, not to just find ourselves in the story, not to place ourselves as the hero of every story. We're reading Scripture to see what can I learn about you, god? What is there to learn? You interacted with people. This is how you acted, this is how you responded. This is what they said, this is what happened, and we're learning God's nature, we're learning His character through reading Scripture and we're learning what's possible, right. So Jeremiah 1. Where's all my teenagers, my young people, in the room? I know there's some up here, but you're kind of spread out and you know what? If you want to miss Loretta, she says I'm young. Yeah, I'm going to find myself in that one too.
Speaker 2:So there's a conversation that Jeremiah, who is a youth this is in the Bible, jeremiah, chapter one he begins to have with the Lord. Okay, so we're going to read this here. The Lord says to Jeremiah before I formed you in the womb. I knew you Before you were born. I consecrated you, I appointed you a prophet to the nations. This is what Jeremiah says back to God oh Lord, god, behold, I do not know how to speak. I'm only a youth. God responds back. Do not say I'm only a youth, for to all whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you. And behold, I have put my words in your mouth. I have set you this day over nations, over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant, all right.
Speaker 2:So what are we learning about God here? What are we learning teenagers? God talks to teenagers. That's the first thing we're learning today. God talks to teenagers. His youth pastor didn't have to come and tell him that God had a call on his life. He talked directly to Jeremiah. What else are we learning about this? God had a plan before he was even born, for his life. And did you know that that plan wasn't what people thought it was going to be, because Jeremiah's father was a priest, so it would have been assumed that he would have followed in his family's footsteps and that he would have ministered in the temple. But that's not what the Lord had planned for Jeremiah. See, god gets to choose our way. It has nothing to do about our family or our tradition or our history. God has a specific and unique plan for each one of us. I love this because ministering in the temple is very important, but there's never been an hour where we needed people on mission on assignment from the Lord anointed, called by God, young, starting young out, being God's mouthpiece outside the four walls. Amen.
Speaker 2:What else do we understand? We understand that God understands our fear. He already promised. He got in front of it. He's like yeah, I know you're afraid, but what does he say? I'm going to be the deliverer when you need it. He says but I can't God. So what else are we learning when we can't? What does he do? He equips. He said I know you can't, see, I've already put my words in your mouth. Yeah, you don't have words or you don't have good ones. I'm going to take care of that. So, and if we could read on? I don't, I can't because of time. If we could read on, we'd see.
Speaker 2:He also confirms his word to Jeremiah Anybody ever heard? I think I heard, I mean, I feel I mean I did, it was in that service and it was so strong. But now that I'm in my car, now that I slept on it, I'm not sure. Lord, can you confirm it? So we learn that God's into that. And what's so funny to me is the way he confirms it to Jeremiah is he has him see something specific that was very meaningful to Jeremiah, that if any of us had seen it we would have just been like, yeah, and you probably have had the Lord confirm a word to you, right? But God does that. He's very specific, he's very personal, he's very unique. He knows the things that you'll go. No, that flavor's never there, hadn't been there for five years. I'm telling you the Lord knows he's got my number right. And then my favorite part also don't have time is he tells Jeremiah I'm going to be the one to perform it. You can tell I struggle with performance, so that really ministers to me. He says, because you have seen well, he's talking about the confirmation, because you've seen well, I'm ready to perform my word.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's keep reading. This is God speaking to Jeremiah, verse 17. But you, jeremiah, dress yourself for work, arise and say to them everything that I command you Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you. You wanted me to just read the happy parts. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. All right, that's for somebody in here. Yeah, he's like am I doing things wrong? Because, man, I'm in a warfare? No, they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord to deliver you. So what are we learning about God? When he calls you, he prepares you, he fortifies you for the warfare.
Speaker 2:Why is God going to have to protect Jeremiah, you ask? Because people kill the messenger, and he is God's messenger. So let me give you the backstory, real, real quick, and then we'll jump into our teaching text. The backstory is God's people have been breaking his covenant for generations. They have been unfaithful to God, they have worshiped other gods, they have disregarded his ways. He has sent warnings, he has sent messengers to them, he has sent prophets, he has pleaded with them. He has begged them to return. He has been patient, he has been kind, he's been long-suffering. For over a hundred years he had been sending warnings that if you don't turn back to me, trouble is coming. I'm going to have to punish this. I can't just allow this to continue. Your heart is far from me. They were even worshiping. The Bible says they were worshiping false gods. They were allowing their children to be sacrificed to Molech. I mean, like what's going on with God's people? And so he's gonna use Jeremiah to send in the warning like, hey, it's time God's done. This is where we're at. So they don't like the message.
Speaker 2:And he's going to deliver a message to the king himself that his days are numbered. There's chaos everywhere. The city is under siege because God has removed his hand of protection and he's allowed the enemy to come in because his people would not return to him. The king wants to get the people of Judah to fight and Jeremiah's message from the Lord is trying to tell them there is no point in fighting. This is from the Lord. You've known this was coming. This is what happens when we don't obey God.
Speaker 2:So we're going to pick up Jeremiah 32, verse 3 through 5. This is what the Lord has Jeremiah deliver. Behold, I am giving the city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will capture it. Zedekiah, king of Judah, shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans. He shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye, and he's going to take Zedekiah to Babylon and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed. So the king is furious because the city's under siege, no way, in no way out, no water, famine, pestilence, sword, and he wants the people of Judah to put up a fight. And here's Jeremiah delivering the word of the Lord, saying no, don't fight. This is silly, there's no point in fighting.
Speaker 2:Jeremiah 32, verse 7 and 8, he continues. He says the Lord begins to tell him even more things while he's stuck in prison. I don't know if I mentioned that Jeremiah is in prison as he's delivering this message because the king did not like the message he was bringing. He's been beaten, he's been persecuted, he's been thrown into a pit and now he's in the royal prison and the Lord comes to Jeremiah again. He says Behold, hanamel, the son of Shalom, your uncle, is going to come to you, jeremiah, and he is going to say buy my field that's in Anathoth, the right of redemption is yours. Then Hanamel, my cousin, came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said buy my field, it's in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours, buy it for yourself. Then I knew this was the word of the Lord. What are we learning about God here? We're learning that while Jeremiah is in prison, while Jeremiah is obeying God, while Jeremiah is doing God's will, but things are not going well because the enemy is very angry with him, that the Lord sends a word, that your cousin's going to come and ask you to buy a field, a field that's two miles away from this prison.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you can see in this picture here the city's falling apart. The enemy is on every side. They are in distress, they are in chaos, they are in crisis. There is no way in and no way out. Siege warfare. I didn't know much about this. This is where the enemy would surround all four walls of the city, build up mounds to be a blockade so that they would just slowly suffocate them. You couldn't get in. You couldn't get out Food couldn't get in, couldn't get out Water, couldn't get in, and then the armies outside could crawl up to the top and begin to do warfare and you're like a sitting duck inside. So this is going down and he's in prison and the Lord says I need you to buy the field. This is a very valuable piece of land right now, I'm sure, right. So what are we learning about God here? We're learning that we're not the only one that he asks to do things that make no sense.
Speaker 2:Now, I love real estate. Do I have any real estate people in here? I absolutely love real estate. It's just I grew up my parents that was their thing like flipping houses. So our Sunday afternoon activity after we would eat lunch would be to just go drive around the neighborhoods, even if we weren't buying, just to see if there was any sleepers. You got any house flippers out there? You're looking for the sleeper. It's in a great neighborhood and it looks like garbage. That's our next treasure, right? So I'm all about the real estate, I'm all about it, but not when it's a piece of property under siege right.
Speaker 2:But what does he do? He does exactly what the Lord tells him to do, and it's one of the most detailed business transactions you'll find in scripture. I mean down to how the deed was signed, how they stored the deed. They had to put it in an earthen vessel and do two copies, because Jeremiah knew this was going to have to last a long time, like this paperwork, this legal deed. This is going to be 70 years that God's people are in captivity, that this field is going to be worthless. But he does the thing he calls, even from prison. They do this whole big business deal right there from the prison. And when it's all done, jeremiah looks back.
Speaker 2:Do you ever do something the Lord asks you to do and then you just feel great about it? Well, he didn't. He's like God, why? And he prays for understanding. So what are we learning here? It's okay to ask God for understanding. Okay, let's read. Actually, I'm going to read this to you because it's a little bit long. It says this is Jeremiah's prayer to God, asking for understanding. Jeremiah's prayer to God asking for understanding.
Speaker 2:After I've given the deed of purchase, and I prayed to the Lord, saying oh God, it is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. I know nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of the fathers to their children after them. Oh, great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, your eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man and you reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. You have shown signs, you've shown wonders in the land of Egypt and, to this day, in Israel and among all of mankind. You've made a name for yourself. You brought your people out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror, and you gave them this land.
Speaker 2:He's rehearsing a covenant, god, are you following with me? He's rehearsing. You're the one that gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them a land flowing where's Jenny? With milk and honey. And they entered the land you gave them and took possession of it, but they did not obey your voice and they didn't walk in your, your law and they did nothing of all that you commanded them to do, and that's why you have made this disaster to come upon them.
Speaker 2:Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it and, because of the sword and famine and pestilence, the city has been given into the hands of those who are fighting against it. What you spoke, god, that's what Jeremiah's saying to the Lord what you spoke has come to pass. And behold, you see it. See, jeremiah knows he didn't just give me a word to deliver from a far, far, far off place. God's actually present. He's here with me, god. You see the devastation, you see what's going on. You see the city under siege, but yet, oh Lord, you said to me buy the field for money and get the witnesses. You know he had to pay, he had to use his own money.
Speaker 2:You know, sometimes we think the Lord, like, shows us something that needs to be done and that meant we're just supposed to prophesy it and somebody else is gonna do it. Somebody else is gonna write the check for that. Somebody else is going to write the check for that. He had to count out 17 shekels of silver. Do you think that money might have been a little bit important when there's no water or food for anybody? God answers him. See, when we pray for understanding, we can read this and learn about the character and nature of God. He doesn't just ask us to be like servants that he doesn't share what he's doing. It doesn't mean we have to understand what he's doing, to obey, but we can seek him and he'll reveal things to us. So this was the Lord's response back to him. Let me tell you why I had you by the land.
Speaker 2:Verse 37,. Behold, I'm going to gather them from all the countries that I drove them to in my anger and my wrath. I'm going to bring them back to this place and I'm going to make them dwell in safety. They shall be my people and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever. I'm going to pause right here In worship today. What I felt like the Lord was doing in the room was filling us with the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord. I just felt him. That's not the scary thing, that's the awe. That's where you're just. You're just so in awe of his goodness and his beauty and his mercy and his power, that you, just, you just want to look at it. You're not even worried about all these things, you're not even worried about the city under siege around you, because all you can see is how amazing and powerful and huge he is. That's the fear of the Lord, and this was part of what Jeremiah was speaking. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:When I pause and I lose my place. Okay, we were in verse 39. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for their own good and for the good of their children after them, and I will make with them an everlasting covenant. See, we're not people of covenant by nature, so that word doesn't even resonate with us. We're actually very selfish by nature. But that's not God's nature. He is a covenant God. He's like a forever, everlasting God. And so he says I'm going to make with them an everlasting covenant that I will not turn away from doing good to them and I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they may not turn from me. And I will rejoice in doing them good and I will plant them in this land of faithfulness with all this. Is God saying this I'm going to plant them in faithfulness with all my heart and all my soul. I don't even think I've ever thought about God using language like that towards us. Okay, so he reveals to Jeremiah that, even though there's consequence right now because of their actions, that he already has a plan to gather them back. He already has a plan to redeem, he already has a plan to restore because he's a covenant God. All right, so we have these two things here that we're going to look at.
Speaker 2:While God is gracious, he's also sovereign and he's just, and he holds people accountable for their responses to him. We don't like that. Just tell me about the ooey-gooey forgiveness of Jesus. Can we just stop there? He is righteousness and justice. He's sovereign, he's good, but he holds people accountable for their responses. You know, every single time when you go and read Scripture, you don't have time to look at it today. Every single time we see the Lord have to issue a punishment, you know that he's already worked on the back end to bring about the remedy. Go look for it, it's really fun. Go watch it. When he exercises divine judgment, it's always to elicit a specific response from his people. It's just like a good father does with his children.
Speaker 2:I got parents in here. If you never, ever, ever, ever, ever do anything, when your children are pummeling each other and hurting each other over something silly and you just allow a play fight to become a wrestle fight, to become a punching fight, to become a swinging elbows fight, teeth are getting knocked out. Oh, but you're so good, You're so patient, right, isn't there a? There's a line where you move from patient and kind to no. I need to take care of this. This is not healthy for the family. This is not good for them. This is not creating a safe place for my children. Are you following?
Speaker 2:Hebrews 12, 5 through 11 says have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord and do not be weary when reproved by him. He addresses you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Speaker 2:Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live For? They disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful and not pleasant, but later it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. We have a good father, we have a good king, and the tension between the two here is that, at the very same time, the city is under siege.
Speaker 2:He has a word for Jeremiah saying behold, I am the Lord. Is anything too hard for me? Yeah, come on, do that. Maybe while you do this it'll start to sink in a little bit. See, he already knows it's too hard for them to get their act together, so he's already got a plan in motion because he loves his people. He is a covenant God. He loves you, he already knows all the stuff you've messed up and he's already gone in front of you to make a way back. Isn't that amazing?
Speaker 2:I don't know what you're going through right now. I don't know a room this size, the diversity, the amount of things happening in people's lives and families and extended lives that could be causing you to feel a lot like a city under siege, you know. But there's things with people close to us and I see the pain, I see the struggle. It feels like there's no way in and no way out. It feels like this is how it has to be. Maybe somebody you love has rejected God so many times, over and over and over, and what you're watching before your eyes is painful because God's finally given them what they want. You know, eventually we have a free will. He reaches out, he extends, he calls to us, but then eventually he's like, okay, well, if that's what you want, then go ahead. Go ahead, have what you want, right. But when you're the loved one and you're watching that closely, it's painful to see.
Speaker 2:Maybe you've had a doctor's report with no hope. I'm so thankful for doctors, but I have also been in the room before when a report is given and everything. The way that that doctor released that to me was hopeless death. I mean like you didn't even have the results from the test and you're already saying that my child's not going to live. You think you might want to wait and see what those chromosomes say before you go ahead and speak that Like are not going to live. You think you might want to wait and see what those chromosomes say before you go ahead and speak that Like you can be in a place like that. I don't know what the pit is that you feel like you've been thrown into. People got thrown into pits a lot in the Bible if you looked at it. Jeremiah wasn't the only one. Maybe you feel like you've been thrown into a pit by people who want to suppress the truth. You're speaking truth. You are God's mouthpiece, but because of that, you've been thrown into a pit.
Speaker 2:Well, I just came here today to remind you you serve a covenant God. He doesn't leave us in that place. I love in verse 20, I love this, I love this, I love this. He's talking about what it is to be a covenant God to his people. He says let me okay, you people don't understand this because you're not covenant people, you're contractual people. So when you get tired of somebody, you move on. When that friend isn't fun anymore, you move on right. He's like let me explain how, when I am a covenant God to my people, what that looks like. So when the sun stops coming up this is verse 20, when the moon stops shining, that's when I'm going to stop showing up for you. Just get a picture of that Every morning. When you get up and the sun comes up, god, you're still here with me, you love me, you have a plan for me. You have a plan for my family. You're not done. This is not the end of the story, because he's a covenant God. You know, I don't even know.
Speaker 2:On this Mother's Day, we're always so sensitive to this because Mother's Day is very happy for some and it's not happy for others. Many of us have lost a mother in this room, even recently. There's still pain, there's still pain, there's still frustration. And a couple of people just come to mind and I want to talk to you. If you're in this room and you've been battling infertility, I want to talk to you.
Speaker 2:The enemy is a liar and he likes to tell us that this is just the way it's going to be. He likes to tell you there's something wrong with you, that what he can give, what the Lord can give to everybody else, he can't give to you. It causes fear. You start to feel like you're going to all the things you're going to miss out on. In fact, the enemy will be real clever to just kind of parade in front of you all the things that you don't get to experience because of that.
Speaker 2:And so I want to read Psalm 127, three through five. It says behold, children are a gift of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is a reward, like arrows in the hand of a warrior. So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. Children are a gift of the. Are they a gift from the fertility clinic? Are they something that you earn because you're so perfect? Children are a gift from the Lord. So, lord, we come into agreement with you that he gives good gifts to his children. Who ask today? Maybe a doctor has said this is impossible. Well, good news we're learning that with God, all things are possible. Well, good news, we're learning that with God, all things are possible. I want to say over you Psalm 145.16.
Speaker 2:This is about the God we serve. We're reading scripture to learn about the nature of our covenant God. It says God, you open your hand and you satisfy the desire of every living thing. Why would he put a desire in your heart that he doesn't plan to satisfy? Is anything too hard for God? It's not up to us how he does it. The Lord will give grace and glory. This is Psalm 84. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Speaker 2:The enemy's favorite thing to tell you and this works in any situation, not just infertility that you're the only one and that no one understands. Classic Like. The more you're around this stuff, you realize he doesn't have anything new to throw at you. And that's why you need the body of Christ, because the minute that you're vulnerable enough to tell your friend group, to tell your church family, this is what I'm feeling. They go oh, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He came at me with that, like 10 years ago. Let me tell you how you're going to get victory over that. But when we keep it inside, trying to just fight it on our own, he tells you that no one can understand. Right, you're the only one. You're the only one in your friend group.
Speaker 2:But when we read scripture, we see Sarah, rebecca, rachel, the wife of Manoah, hannah and Elizabeth. They experienced childlessness. So no, you're not the only one. And when we read their story, we find out that their barrenness was an opportunity for the outworking of divine purpose. If that's, you just hold up your hand, lord, let my barrenness be an opportunity for the outworking of divine purpose. We find out that the children finally born to these women in Scripture all became very important figures in God's story, ones that we draw hope from today and preach about on a weekly basis. Their names were Isaac, jacob, joseph, samson, samuel and John the Baptist Jacob Joseph, samson, samuel and John the Baptist.
Speaker 2:We come alongside you today and we repeat the words of the Lord in Genesis 18, 14, that he said to Sarah is anything too difficult or too wonderful for God at the appointed time? That's what God has to say about it. When the season comes, the Lord says I will return to you, sarah, and you will have a son. So, lord, we come into agreement with our church family, with families here today. Oh, britt, that was what he did for them. Okay, as a church family today, this is gonna be our theme song, it's going to be our fight song, okay.
Speaker 2:Habakkuk 3.2 says Lord, I've heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds. Repeat them in our day. Yeah, that was their story. But if you could do it, then you're the God who doesn't change. If you could do it for all those ladies, I believe you can do it for me. Maybe you're another family in here that just says you know, god gave us children and we did everything we knew to do. We weren't perfect parents, but we did everything we could, trying to serve God. And our children have chosen a different path In your heart as a mom, as a dad.
Speaker 2:Prodigals, prodigals. So we read in scripture Lord, what is your nature over prodigals? You know, we have the classic parable of the prodigal son, Every one of you in here knows the story. The story is actually about two sons who receive their inheritance, but one of the sons squanders the inheritance. He wastes the inheritance. That's the one that we always reference. Okay, so the story we know. Because you've been in church a long time, many of you have been in church a long time we know that the story isn't actually about the sons. It's actually about the covenant, love of the Father.
Speaker 2:Okay, and so when you think about inheritance, all through the New Testament, inheritance was always spoken of as what we have received from Christ. Everything that you've been given in the new covenant a new heart, a new mind, forgiveness of sin that he would not remember anymore, the ability to serve him right, the Holy Spirit, all the things that were available to you in the new covenant those were your inheritance, that is, your spiritual inheritance. In fact, it says Jesus looks at us and says that we are his inheritance and we look at him and say that he is ours. So if the story is about a son who is wasteful with inheritance, I think that every one of us in this room can be the son in the story. I can.
Speaker 2:I've been wasteful of the inheritance, of what Jesus has done for me at times, but what we read about this is the covenant love of the inheritance of what Jesus has done for me at times, but what we read about this is the covenant love of the Father. And the part of the story that I want to highlight today is the thing that brought the turn for the son. The thing that brought him home was when he had the aha moment and he was able to compare the lack that he had now to the abundance that he had in his father's house. And I just say that over to you, instead of us worrying about the path that they're on, what if we just come alongside this passage of Scripture and say, lord, I just pray that whatever you need to do to open their eyes, that they would be able to compare the lack from this path that they've chosen to the abundance of love, perfect love, provision, peace of mind that was found in you and found in our home, and that they would come and that they would come home. So, lord, we trust you today. Lord, we trust you, jesus, over the sons and daughters represented here that need to come home. Lord, we trust that you're a covenant God, that you actually love them more than their biological parents do and that even when they began to turn away from you, you were already making a plan and a path to bring them back, Because that's what a covenant God does.
Speaker 2:Jeremiah 31,. I'm going to say this to you, mamas who are hurting over a prodigal son or daughter this is what the Lord had Jeremiah say. Thus says the Lord. The Lord had Jeremiah say. Thus says the Lord. A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, because Rachel is weeping for her children. Pause. The Lord hears. What are we learning through this? The Lord hears when we weep over our children. I don't feel like minor prodigals, but I weep over them because I can see, sometimes, the hardness of their heart towards the things of the Lord. He hears me when I pray.
Speaker 2:Rachel is weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children because they are no more. And this says the Lord Stop. He says Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord. They shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the Lord. They shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country. So we come into agreement with you over this. There will be a reward.
Speaker 2:Last group, near to my heart You're caretaking. You're caretaking Family members. There's times you don't get to be a part. Miss Jeanette, pastor Tim's wife caretaking for her sweet and precious mama. You have to lay down things that you want to do to take care of people that are in your family. Maybe you're a shut-in. Maybe you're isolated. Maybe health the body wearing out it doesn't allow you to be at all the things anymore that you always want to do. Ms Loretta, you know about this right. Maybe there's been doctor's reports. Maybe you're like Miss Betty, watching from home every Sunday. I love you, miss Betty Kibler.
Speaker 2:She texts me from her recliner, jeremiah, verse 3, 33, 3. He says call to me, jeremiah. You're in prison, the city's under siege, you can't get in and you can't get out. Everybody wants to kill you. You've already wasted your money on a piece of land that has no value, but if you'll call to me, I'm going to answer you and I'm going to tell you great and hidden things you have not known.
Speaker 2:He's a covenant God in old age. He gives another example just like the sun and the moon, he says when you can measure all of the heavens and the foundations of the earth, so when you figure out that little math calculation of all the heavens and the earth, that's when I'm going to stop showing up for you. That's covenant love. He says there's a divine exchange. I'm just picturing people in their recliners right now. I'm picturing people that can't get out all the time. I'm picturing people that can't walk up the big ramp to get here, but they're watching from home. When you call to me, there is a divine exchange. It's more than just me showing up for you, says the Lord. I'm actually going to tell you things. I'm going to share with you things, miss Loretta, great and marvelous things that you do not know.
Speaker 2:I'm ready. I'm calling it out Paul and Curtis. I'm calling it out Mom and Dad. I'm calling it out All my Eagles. Where are you? I know y'all blowing and going, but I'm going to go ahead and just put it out there early. I'm ready to start receiving some prophetic words from people that were sitting in recliners and because they called to the Lord and the Lord began to share with them things that we don't know, because, see, we're out busy, we're out working, we're trying to raise kids. Right, it's the generations. It's the generations we need one another today. Receive that today. I pray that you receive that. Stand up with me, everybody.
Speaker 2:You know, if you're hurting today in anything that I said today, remember I said the Holy spirit doesn't miss a thing. You're like, well, you didn't even talk about me. I don't have to. I don't have to. If you were hurting, you're broken. Today you need the power of the living God. Please come down. We've got prayer people, we got deacons, we got elders, some of you on the freedom prayer team. You feel like you're supposed to come down and pray. Please come and pray. We want to pray with you, we want to believe with you. We want to see the power of God activated in your life. But the last thing that I want to share today I actually mean that I think sometimes you think we say that. I actually mean that If the Lord pricked your heart in any place and you want prayer, I want you to come down. I'm going to talk to the rest of them, but I want you to come down because don't miss, don't miss sharing in the power of agreement. Yeah, you believe it, but what about agreement? What about having a leader pray with you, pray over you, speak to you, but for the rest of us, the very last thing.
Speaker 2:Back to this field. Why did the Lord pick this teaching text today, that Jeremiah buys the field? I think my question is, as we're believing for the impossible, as we're leaning in that nothing is too hard for God, as we're calling out to him and he's answering with great and mighty things we didn't know before, words of wisdom, words of knowledge. My question today is will you buy the field? Will you be willing to do what doesn't make sense, but the Lord needs it to be the sign? Can you be the sign? The sign of what? The sign of hope? The sign that God has a plan? The sign that God's not done?
Speaker 2:Can you be the sign that you actually have to invest yourself into something that doesn't profit you? It doesn't benefit you, it's not that wise investment that you're going to talk about at lunch and be able to show what God is prospering in your life? This is just sacrificial. This is just obedience. This is just things that don't make sense. This is things that actually highlight the beauty of the Lord.
Speaker 2:Okay, I want you to be on the look for these things this week. He's a covenant God. God, how do you want to use me to be the sign that when the sun stops coming up, that that's when you'll stop showing up for us? See, people need to know that, people need to see that, people need to feel that and God will actually use us to do things that you know what. They don't benefit us, but it's a sign to those that are coming. You know, 70 years later, god's people were going to be brought back and there was going to be a deed filled out with a notary, hidden in an earthen vessel, stored and protected of God's faithfulness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, come on. All right, let's just pray. Will you pray with me? Bow your heads, let's pray, holy Spirit, we just thank you. We thank you on this Mother's Day. We thank you on this Mother's Day that you are present. Jesus, you are here. We love you, we worship you, we exalt you, we acknowledge you. God, I thank you that you have plans. You have plans for your people. God, I thank you that you have plans. You have plans for your people, god.
Speaker 2:I thank you, lord, that you want to speak to us and God, we're here, saying we're here, lord, we're listening. God, use us, move through us. God, lord, I pray that you would begin to activate within us. Lord, activate faith, activate faith today, god, we want to believe. We want to believe, god, that you are able to do exceedingly, abundantly, more than we could even think to ask you for Lord.
Speaker 2:God, we just repent today, god, for praying small prayers. God, we repent God for normalizing things that are not of you. God. We repent God for normalizing things that are not of you. We repent, lord, for sitting back and letting people around us be harassed and helpless when we know the good shepherd. We know there's a good shepherd who came to heal and to bring abundant life. God, we just place ourselves before you today, god.
Speaker 2:We pray for every family believing for children, god, we pray for every family, god, needing a supernatural work, needing the miraculous power of God to break in into their family, god, and we say, yes, nothing is too hard for you, lord. God, we lift up every son and daughter of this family, of this house, the Rock family, god, we declare that every boy, every girl will serve you all the days of their life. They will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever and ever. They will gaze at your temple and choir in your temple and gaze at your beauty, lord, god, we thank you, god, that you would use us, lord. Use us, lord, to be the sign. God.
Speaker 2:I pray right now, god, for creative gifts to be delivered in your people. Creative and witty gifts, words of wisdom, words of knowledge. God, I pray for the creative arts to be on the move in this room. God, let the beauty of the Lord be on display, god, even through what we make and what we create, god, let it could be a sign and a wonder to the generations and to the world around us. God, we love you today, we trust you, we believe, we thank you, god, lord, and we will be faithful to honor you this week as we go out of this place today. Have a Jesus-filled week.